So, when we last left off (before I clued you all in to what a jerk I can be), I had been referred to a specialist. There are a lot of terms for a "fertility doctor, but the official term is Reproductive Endocrinologist, or RE. I was referred to a local practice, Carolina Conceptions. There are two in my city and this is just the one that my GYN at the time (I've since switched for geographical reasons) worked with. Thank goodness. From the get go, they were amazing to work with. I called and was able to get an appointment much sooner than I thought. I'm not really clear on the timing anymore, but I think I called in December 2010 and was able to get seen in mid January 2011. Since I wasn't referred to a specific doctor, they put me with the first available doctor, Dr. Meyer. I can not say enough good things about Dr. M. He's amazing. He's reassuring, knowledgeable, funny, and will tell you exactly what's going on without sugar coating it but also without being harsh. I went to the appointment (B couldn't go, he'd just started a new job) armed with a list of questions. Dr. M actually answered most of them in our conversation without me even having to ask. We discussed options, testing, and next steps. Since I had already tried oral meds, we decided to go with injectable ones next. Possibly paired with timed interourse or possibly paired with intrauterine insemination (IUI). But, before we even got there, we had some more tests to do. First up, we tested my AMA, basically my ovarian reserve. That was a simple blood test we were able to do that day. Again with the bloodwork without me being able to metally prepare! Then, we scheduled a HSG, where they injected a dye into my utereus and fallopian tubes and x-rayed them to make sure there were no blockages. We were able to get that scheduled super quick. We also scheduled a semen analysis (SA) for B. He was not too excited about that test, let me tell you. But, spoiler alert, he'd learn to get used to them.
My AMA came back really high. I was so unbelievably excited to get that result. I was terrified that I would have none. That level isn't really a bad thing. And, it's honestly to be expected. Since I don't ovulate on my own, I had basically been hoarding my eggs for 27 years. A normal woman that age's level should be around 10. Mine was 22. Super high. This will come in handy if we ever had to do IVF. Lots o' eggs, lots o' chances for success. My HSG was also good. Blissfully, perfectly normal. When dealing with infertility, normal is always a good thing. No blockages, no nothing. Up next was B's SA. Thankfully, it didn't play out like on TV. There was no gross room at the doctor's office filled with porn. He just did his thing at home and took it in to the office. Those results were not good. They were not good at all. There were no sperm in the sample. Not one. Not even one with two head or anything. I was devestated. B is one of those guys who was meant to be a dad. There was no way he couldn't be one. We were so sad. Dr. M immediately referred us to a urologist, Dr. Shaban. Yet another life saver.
Dr. S immediately scheduled another SA to make sure the first one wasn't a fluke. It wasn't. The second one was just as bad. Luckily, we had options. He suggested we do a testicular biopsy to check to see if B even produces sperm. This would be a simple outpatient surgery and we could take him home that day. While in there, he suggested we also harvest some testicular tissue to use incase we had to do IVF. We opted not to do that. We just weren't ready to make that leap. This was all happening so fast, but in a good way. The surgery took place in March of 2011. So, just 2 months after my first meeting with Dr. M.
The surgery went well, and we had some good news. Stay tuned!
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