We're Off to see the Wizard!

October 2007:

Walking into the fertility clinic is very surreal…… it’s as if I was transported into the land of Oz! Everyone is very friendly and happy. The waiting room is full of couples holding hands, whispering into each others ears, all hoping the “Wizard” could help them. I should have worn my ruby slippers!

As we found a seat, I got the sense that everyone was checking us out…..wondering if we were also “struggling” in the child rearing department. Primary infertility? Secondary Infertility? Or maybe a gynecology patient? It may sound odd, but when you are sitting in a clinic where there are very few reasons to be sitting there, you begin to play that game. I find myself playing it too these days……

I sat down the first time and thought “there is something missing in here? And then it hit me. There were no pop up books, building blocks, or those bead mazes you see in every doctors office. I wondered……don’t parents ever bring their kid(s) here? What if you had no babysitter?

I made a mental note to ask the doctor.

My primary doctor at the clinic is fantastic, besides being kind of cute, he has a sense of peace about him and I give him an A++ for bedside manner. THANK GOODNESS given he has been, and will be by my side for many many appointments.

We chatted a bit and he went through the general process of infertility and the potential causes. The only way to find out what was going on with me was to do a whack of blood work and also a minor procedure called a Hysterosalpingography (HSG). This is an X-ray procedure used to examine the uterus and fallopian tubes. Contrast dye is injected through the cervix and into the uterus and tubes so that these organs can be seen on an X-ray.

If there is one thing I am learning, it is patience……..this HSG can only be done on certain days of your cycle… you must call the first day of your cycle to try and book it. It took 3 months for me to get that procedure done…..and the results were bittersweet….

The dye went in and flowed right out of my tubes like a well oiled machine. No blockages…..so why was I disappointed? Was I hoping for a blockage? Something that could be fixed asap? Concrete evidence? This gathering of evidence was taking too long……

I got my wish a few days later when my bloodwork returned…..I was no longer ovulating. Nada, nil, zippo. I honestly felt like a failure, what on earth did I do to make my ovaries hibernate like this? Was I working out too much? Was I unknowingly stressed? Was I missing a key nutrient in my diet?

While I went into “project ovulation” mode….juicing yams, carrots and apples every morning, doing more yoga and less running, avoiding stressful people in my life…I got a nice little envelope in the mail from the clinic. While the Tin Woodman wanted a heart, and the Cowardly Lion wanted some courage, I received an answer to my request…..

A nice little prescription for ovulation induction - Letrozole………

The road seemed to be a bit more golden than it had before………