A Glimmer of Hope

On Tuesday we had our first appointment at RGI (Reproductive Gynecology Inc.) Their closest office to us is in Canfield, OH, only about an hour away from us. Not much of a drive really it's all highway. I love seeing all the rural area right down the street from me. I was excited and nervous all at once. We got there about 15 minutes early. The waiting room was tiny, and there was a little radio playing today's hits. We were only the second couple there, the rest were all women by themselves. I wish I knew their stories. Some looked happy, some nervous, the couple looked angry. My heart went out to them, whatever their story may be, I wish them the best.

We waited for about 5 minutes before being called in for our intake.  The Resident did our intake, and told us that he and his wife were actually seeing Dr. Maseelall for infertility. I felt comfortable immediately. We were asked the typical questions. What brings you here? What medical problems do you have? How is your sperm count? etc. Then the big questions came. How many times have you been pregnant? How many live births have you had? How many miscarriages have you had? I think he realized how hard these questions were for us, when I literally started sobbing when trying to answer.

When we finally got done answering all the questions, he told us that Dr. Maseelall was running late, because she had an emergency surgery, but should arrive within the next 20 minutes. Chris and I went over the questions we had for her. We were confident that she was going to answer our questions, and hopefully with good news.

About 15 minutes in, this adorable, short lady walks in the door. She looked completely different than in her professional picture on the site. Her hair was curly and tied back in a bun, and she was in scrubs. You could tell she was rushing around. She apologized for being late and explained to us that the surgery she had to perform was very serious. Her patient's ovary was twisting around itself and the patient almost died...don't worry, Dr. M saved her! I loved her instantly!

She looked over all of our information, admitted that Chris's sperm was "super sperm" and then looked at me. She said, "Maria, I've suffered 2 miscarriages before having my baby. I've been where you are. We're going to get you ovulating, and we're going to get you a sticky baby." My heart melted, Chris squeezed my hand, and I yelled "Thank You!" The she went on to say "Ok Maria, let's look at your insides!" She said it very cheerily, and I was shocked.

At Pittsburgh, the doctor didn't do any of this. She just simply told me that I needed to lose weight, and she would not feel comfortable putting me on Clomid. That was really the extend of our "relationship." She sent me off to a lab to do some bloodwork, but that was really it. During this last pregnancy she was just like, "Oh I wish you had lost weight before becoming pregnant." The whole time I felt that I was harming my babies.

I've lost almost 40lbs thanks to Nutrisystem. I'm at a weight that I never thought I would be. I feel better than ever, but she still made me feel horrible and at fault. Dr. M told me that she has stick figure patients with PCOS and they can't ovulate. While weight is one factor there are many more. Have I mentioned how much I love her already?!

So we went into the exam room and she invited hubby in to "look at my insides." She gave him a full tour of my uterus and ovaries via a trans-vaginal ultrasound. I really wasn't expecting this. Then they send me off into their lab down the hall for them to draw 8 BIG vials of blood. The nurse was British, and I just loved her accent, and she was calming. I was allowed to call her a Vampire! Now I just have to get some more blood drawn and do a glucose test where I have to drink some nasty orange stuff. Yippee! We're waiting on my next cycle to start and then the game planning begins!

In the meantime: