Infertility Specialist and Testing

Just as one goes in for a post-natal visit after delivering their baby, I had to go in 3 weeks after the miscarriage to have a blood panel done to confirm there were no remnants of the pregnancy left.  I was still on such an emotional roller-coaster.  I would have good days, but the bad ones out numbered the good.  I remember just laying around curled up on my bed crying or even sitting locked in the bathroom crying.  I tried to hide my emotions, especially from the little ones who didn't really understand it all other than mommy's baby died. 

I was also still dealing with the Hudsons, who at this point I partly blamed for our loss.  I was so stressed with their antics that I thought maybe the stress could have caused the miscarriage.  On top of that, I was dealing with the fear, as many Americans, from the terrosist attacks of 9-11.  Matter of fact, I was feeling some guilt because in a conversation with my mother after the attacks I questioned how I could bring another child into this world with the unknown going on. 

The doctor had recommended taking some time to get back on my feet, emotionally and physically before we tried again.  She recommended six months.  So, we lost the baby in early October and by the end of October, we moved from the apartment to a 3 bedroom rental house.  I desparately needed change and I needed to get away from the Hudsons so our kids could be kids.  We did take some time before we started trying to conceive again, but we didn't do anything to prevent getting pregnant. 

After that miscarriage, my menstrual cycles were never the same.  I went from being 28 days like clockwork to so sparatic it was hard to determine when my fertile time - if there was such a time - was.  My OB/GYN at the time didn't seem to concerned because she told me 1 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage and I was still young (I was only 29). 

Since we had had such a hard time conceiving in the past, I thought maybe I would educate myself more.  I read Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility.  I started charting, which the whole charting thing is very stressfull.  So, was that new stress adding to our lack of conceiving, still the doctor didn't want to say it was infertility.

About eight months after the miscarriage, my dear friend had recommended I go see the infertility specialist that helped her.  At the initial consultation he diagnosed me with secondary infertility having ovulation dysfunction.  He did the whole work up to check my FSH, LH, TSH, prolactin, thyroid, etc.  There were no apparent causes for our current status of infertility.  So he started me on clomid and I went in for periodic ultrasounds and blood work to see if the dosage was appropriate.  After three unsuccessful cycles (each one the dosage increased), my symptoms, my family-(maternal sides's female medical history, the doctor thought it best to do a diagnostic laparoscopy.  We figured we'd get through the holidays and do the surgery after the first of the year.