Thursday, October 6, 2011

Clomidia

On the way to lunch today, Heather's phone rang.  She handed it to me and instructed, "Pretend to be me." 

Dr. C.

Dr. C's assistant, Ashley, said that they'd gotten the results back from Monday's blood test.  She said something about how ovulation levels weren't quite where they should be, and that maybe they'd tested too late...?  I hesitated, because I wanted to explain that, according to the fertility monitor, Heather hadn't ovulated this month, but Nurse Nina said that it's not unusual for a woman to skip ovulation once or twice a year.  It happened to us twice last fall, yet Heather has regular cycles with regular ovulation every other month, so we didn't take it as an indictment of Heather's fertility this month.



I was trying to decide whether to say that to Ashley, or if it was ridiculous to discuss since Dr. C is the... doctor.  I'm not trying to be an ass, but I don't know if Ashley's a nurse or an admin, and I can only assume (there's that ass again) that Dr. C is the one who would prescribe or diagnose or treat Heather, so discussing it with Ashley might not really get us anywhere other to another office visit.

But then Ashley said, "... so you might want to try Clomid.  It would make you ovulate more regularly, although it does increase the chances of multiple pregnancies."

Pardon?

I suggested mildly that perhaps it would be best to schedule a follow-up visit and I'd call back.

When I hung up, I gave Heather her phone and started chuckling.  I told her what Ashley had said, and with barely a beat we jumped into the "Why do we need to see another doctor?" routine.   

What more do we need to know?  We should learn as much as we can!  I'm sick of waiting.  If you get your period Friday, we'll be in town in time to inseminate this month; talking to Dr. King won't change that.

And my beloved sighed.  "I can see this isn't something you're going to give up."

Inside the restaurant, I hit up the bathroom and scheduled hair appointments for us.  When I got back to the table, Heather was Googling away.

"Did you know Clomid can cause blurred vision?"

Nope.  Sure didn't.  What I also didn't know, but learned from About.com is:

One of the more annoying side effects to comprehend is that Clomid can decrease the quality of your cervical mucus (which sperm need to make their way to the egg), making conception more difficult. Clomid can also make the lining of your uterus thinner and less ideal for implantation.

So Clomid would jump-start Heather's ovulation when we're not sure it needs jump-starting, and then it would undermine every other element.  More annoying indeed.

The upside is that I'm getting my way.  The down side is that "getting my way," in this context, is doing paperwork and sitting in Dr. King's waiting room, early in the morning.  Perhaps fancy ob-gyn clinics offer mimosas.

No comments:

Post a Comment