Today was a big day for me personally. And if I'm being honest, it was actually exciting, too! We had our first visit at Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine here in Denver and it has been one of the first times I've felt truly positive and optimistic about this road we're on in the last several months.
We started off with a nurse taking blood pressure, weight, height and then waited for the doctor to come in. Right off the bat, CCRM impressed me with how prompt everything ran. We expected to be taken at 8:30 and finish between 9:30 or 10am. It was 9:27 when we got in the car! At no point did I feel that we were rushed or that we were just another appointment to check off the list. So I'm glad to see we're in professional hands.
Dr. M was warm and friendly with us and jumped right in to our family and medical histories. When I produced a paper with all of my recent Ovulation Prediction Kit (OPK) strips, Dr. M seemed genuinely glad to check them out! She said it's a great sign that I'm ovulating and, based on the timing, we could do an ultrasound that day and progesterone-based blood work on Monday. J will also go for his analysis on Monday.
Ultrasound
I dropped J off at work so that he could fly out for his first business trip since the new job and then headed back to the office for my ultrasound. They wanted to check out the size and shape of my uterus and the thickness of my endometrium by conducting an transvaginal ultrasound. Right now I'm on Day 12 of my cycle which is exactly when the endometrial lining should be fluffy and thick; a comfy blanket for a fertilized egg to snuggle into and start growing. I came in at 8.2mm which is right in the mid range of what is considered ideal: 6-10mm. Thickness of 5mm or less can present issues since the tissue isn't thick enough to carry enough nutrients for the developing embryo. Since I'm right at ovulation, it should continue to thicken just a bit more in the coming days as I'm in the luteal phase of my cycle.
The other thing the nurse was able to see was the position of my ovaries. She said everything looked great and that my follicle on the right side had already collapsed. That means my egg has already "dropped" which was so cool to hear! I had been confused this morning because my temperature waking up was still in pre-ov lows (97.5) but the OPKs showed that the ovulation window was basically closed. Even though it's been a rough year of disappointments, I always want to make sure we've given it out best shot each cycle!
Blood Work
I already had some blood work done back in December with my NY doctor. That office never shared the results with me other than a voicemail to say, "Everything looks fine." But the results were forwarded to Dr. M's office and she went through the results. Mostly my levels were ok, but estrogen was a little high which can have a negative effect on other hormones.
In addition to reviewing the old test, it is perfect timing in my cycle to go back and have my progesterone tested on Monday. That hormone needs to peak to a certain level in the luteal phase in order for that little fertilized egg to nestle in and stay.
Semen Analysis
This test analyzes a lot more than I originally thought. It evaluates concentration, motility, morphology (shape), and volume. Good money would tell you that all of these factors come out in just the right ranges, but I'm always interested to see results of things like this and evaluate where on the spectrum things fall.
As I said, I'm feeling so optimistic and and really pleased that we are working with this practice. Can't wait for the next report!
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