First RE Appointment

I’ve had a few people asking how the appointment went. Actually, it’s been so many that it’s starting to get over-whelming. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very thankful that so many people care that much about me that they want to know how I’m doing. I wanted people to be aware of our situation so they know how to pray for us & this is what I get. So I can’t complain. But having to tell it over & over again starts to get to you after a while. So I’m just gonna tell all in this one blog which will also get imported onto my Facebook account so the folks who read my blog that way will find the answers they were wanting. So I’m not trying to be impersonal. I’m just protecting myself.

We went over all the bloodwork that my OB had done & the RE said that most of the testing has already been done. That isn’t what I wanted to hear. I was hoping to be told that there were plenty of things left to test. So that was discouraging.

Anyway, there are 5 things that will be tested in my bloodwork:

1. Thyroid – it was normal back in May but since my mother has a thyroid condition it’s good just to be sure it stays normal

2. Anti-Thrombin III – This is the blood clotting disorder I was diagnosed with in June. My RE isn’t totally convinced that’s the main problem. See, the normal range of it is 80-120. Mine was 121. Yes, it’s abnormal, but not that much. So he wants to double-check it.

3. There’s this one test that’s supposed to be done while fasting & when I had it done by my OB I had not fasted. So we need to be sure it’s accurate.

4. There’s one other autoimmune test to do, which I think has to do with blood clotting stuff.

5. And finally, there’s genetic. It’s called a karyotype test. It’s also very expensive.

Jeremy also has to have a karyotype test done. He will go to our family practitioner to have it done. I will go to any local Labcorp for my bloodwork. So I’m at least thankful to not have to go to Plano for that!

If everything comes back normal, our next step will probably be testing embryos. There could be a chance that all is fine with us but we just keep “making” (for lack of a better word) bad embryo after bad embryo. They would test them & if there’s a way for them to “fix” them, we would then go through IVF (in vitro fertilization).

Having said that, please keep any opinions you may hold on IVF to yourself. And I say that not trying to sound rude. I understand that it can be a very touchy subject & especially in Christian circles. We don’t even know yet if that will have to be an option for us. We will cross that bridge if we get there.

I actually left the appointment less hopeful. Maybe it was just the realization that we were having to see a specialist. Maybe because I had it in my head that he was just going to tell us to give up & there’s nothing else that can be done for us. Whatever it was, it was the wrong attitude. I certainly don’t believe that if I just believe hard enough that anything can happen. But my hopeless attitude is certainly evidence of my lack of trust in God. He’s the only One who can really make this happen. So I’ve committed to spending more time in prayer & to really rely on Him. Today I definitely feel better about it than I did Friday night.

I will probably get my bloodwork done on Wednesday & Jeremy is going to try to do his tomorrow once he can get a hold of a nurse. And then we wait. Most of the results will be pretty quick but the karyotype tests will take the longest. Labs don’t pick up genetic tests as often as other tests. Sometime only once or twice a month. So depending on where they are on that cycle for when we do the test will determine how quickly we get those results. My RE did say though that if March rolls around with no call to let them know & they’ll find out what’s the deal.

So that’s where we stand right now. It’s not a whole lot of information & I hope people weren’t thinking we’d actually have THE answer from this one visit. Believe me, I wish it were that easy. But Lord willing we will get some answers in the near future.