Follow up with second clinic

This morning I met with the doctor from the second clinic to hear her opinions about our file. Between transferring records, her vacation, and getting an appointment on the books, it's been about a month since our first appointment. We've already decided we're not planning to switch because of the cost so it's not such a rush but I was interested in hearing what she had to say.

She read through my entire file and made a colorful spreadsheet summary to reference during our discussion. I definitely love her. We talked for about an hour discussing her thoughts on my file, differences she would do, pros and cons of scratch and other things. The major takeaways were two things: first, she recommended to retest thyroid. For some reason something specific she was looking for wasn't in the file and it was a simple blood test so I just did it this morning; results expected in a few days. Second, she recommended a hysteroscopy. She said it could potentially give valuable information and discover whether there is anything that is preventing implantation. The chances are slim that they'll find something but she said the benefits to make sure outweigh the risks. It can be done under anesthesia, in which case if they do find something they can just remove it then and there, or in the office as a regular appointment and if they do find something they would reschedule in the OR to remove. It's an interesting concept and I'm not opposed but there are risks and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. She said if I do it, it kind of doubles as a scratch since putting a camera (or anything) in there irritates the lining enough for it to count.

We're going to try to get a cycle in before the Jewish holidays which start with Rosh Hashanah on 9/20. Then take a break for the holidays, and hopefully transfer in October after all the holidays. Hysteroscopy would be after I get my period from the IVF but before a transfer so maybe between things during the holiday season. Apparently studies show that the scratch is effective within 60 days of transfer.

I feel like pieces are starting to fall in place with next steps: IVF, break possibly including hysteroscopy, then transfer. We'll see if anything comes back from the thyroid testing. As always, I want to go into the next transfer feeling like we did everything possible to get the embryos to stick. I'm comfortable with not making the decision right now.

One step at a time.  First up: IVF 6.