First R.E. Appointment

I had my first R.E. appointment last Thursday. I originally set up an appointment with a different R.E. for May but because the other SMCs in my area kept on telling me it would be better to go and see their R.E., I made a new appointment with their R.E. - let's call her Dr. Stork.

Dr. Stork was very nice. I was told that she was very soft spoken and, as expected, I was very nervous and could barely get a sentence out. So, can you imagine two soft-spoken women sitting face to face trying to figure out how to get a baby into my tummy without a man? Yup, that first consultation was great!  

I think Dr. Stork could not quite figure me out, so at some point she started to tell me everything from donor choices to conception. The flood gates were opened and all the knowledge came out at once. I had already read about most of it in books and wanted to ask some additional questions, but it was too late. There was no stopping of her flood of information anymore. So, I did not get all my questions answered but I still took some important things out of this conversation.

She also told me it would be better if I lost 50lbs before I started trying to conceive (no big surprise) but she was very nice to me about it. She said that she understands that this can be hard and she does not want to wait 2 years for me to lose these pounds. So, if I could not lose the pounds within the next months, we should try insemination anyway. I thought that was extremely nice. At least she did not kick me out of her office just because I am overweight. 

I have already lost about 20 lbs since I started Weight Watchers a couple months ago, but here is to losing 50 more lbs!!! This is the goal I will be focused on for the next few months. I will do everything in my power to ensure a healthy pregnancy. I added a little weight-loss ticker to the side panel on the right (yup, that's me on that bicycle right there) and I will track my losses every Thursday.
Wish me luck!!!

I did not just want to leave Dr. Stork's office with just the weight loss advice. I wanted to know what is going on down there, if everything is okay, if I am still producing enough eggs etc.  Waiting and not knowing is just cruel. So, she agreed to a yearly exam, pap smear, a panel of blood and urine tests and sent me to ultrasound to check my ovaries.

During the pelvic ultrasound, I could see one ovary but not the other one. The one I saw looked like it had some bubbles attached to it and I tried to ask the nurse who did the ultrasound if those were cysts or follicles but she did not really want to answer it. Later that day, I got a phone call from a different nurse who said that everything was okay. And then she wanted to hang up right away. I tried to quickly sneak in a couple more questions but I still don`t know if the bubbles I saw were follicles, if I produce enough of them, if they have the right size, what was going on with the other ovary that I could not even see on the ultrasound. I don`t know if the "okay" included the pap smear or if we are still waiting for the results etc. It all went so quickly. The only other piece of information she gave me was that I do not have any thyroid problems. [Darn, now I cannot even blame my weight on my thyroid :)] I have to call back next week to get the results of the blood tests and maybe I can get some more answers then.

I plan on going home to Europe in July. Ideally, I would like to start trying in August/ September (maybe in late June but that would be pushing the weight loss schedule quite a bit). If it worked in August/ September, the child would be born at the beginning of my summer break 2014 and it would fit perfectly into my academic year. However, when I come back from Europe, my cycle is usually pretty messed up because of the jet lag etc. So, I am also aware that it might not work out as planned.

And I am still a little unclear about the next steps after getting the blood test results. Do I have to do the day 2 or day 3 blood tests that all the women in the online forum keep talking about? Or was the blood I left there on Thursday (not my day 2 or 3) for similar tests? No clue. Maybe I will find out next week.

The plan for now is to wait for the blood test results, to diet and to exercise every day, and to search the interwebs for the best sperm donor for my baby that is out there.