When I first met my fertility doctor, she introduced herself and hugged me. I tend to say what I’m thinking out loud without filtering first, so I immediately said, “I’ve never hugged a doctor before.” She quickly replied, “If we’re not hugging people, what are we doing here?” LOVE. She had me follow her out of the exam room into her office and I noticed she was wearing cowboy boots with her scrubs and white coat. DOUBLE LOVE. Before going over the results of John’s semen analysis and my medical history, she said, “I know that having to come and see me is awful. And I know that so far this isn’t working out the way you imagined and hoped it would. The good news is that you haven’t tried anything yet, so now we’re here, and we can get started.” TRIPLE LOVE.
To summarize the science-y mumbo-jumbo, here’s what I learned:
John’s Semen Analysis Results
| “Normal” | John’s Sample | My Commentary |
| 200ml | 250ml | Yay! He has a lot! |
| 20 million per ml | 66 million per ml | Whoa! He has a lot, a lot! |
| 30% good sperm | 10% good sperm | 10% of 66 MILLION is only a tad less than 30% of 20 million if you do the math |
Basically, there are some morphologies of his semen, such as bent necks, that resulted in a lower percentage of 10%. However, my doctor said this is slightly less than “normal” and is only a small issue.
My Medical History (only the highlights)
I have a 32-day menstrual cycle. This is longer than a typical cycle of 28 days. Therefore, my doctor thinks I ovulate between days 18-20 instead of the typical days 14-16. She thinks this is a sign of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
My prominent family history of cancer on both my mom and dad’s sides is concerning. Especially because my mom and three aunts had cancer at premenopausal (under 40) ages. My doctor asked, “Do you want to do genetic testing to find out if you have a cancer gene?” I said, “I don’t know. DO I??” (I’m currently considering it.)
Transvaginal Ultrasound
After my doctor explained John’s results and went over my history, I had my first ultrasound done. In the movies, you see women have gel rubbed on their belly, and the doctor uses a device to gently roll around in the gel, then you can see the woman’s insides. I surprisingly had to be bottom-naked, put my feet up in stirrups, and get a wand stuck up my vagina. (I googled this and women are fondly calling the wand, Wanda hah!) It was extra special because my fertility doctor had another doctor and the receptionist come in too, so all three of them got an up-close, personal view of my nether regions. I later learned that they can only do the belly ultrasound when your uterus isn’t empty like mine and the baby is big enough to be detected by it. My inner psychic foresees many more ultrasounds with Wanda to come.
My doctor said, and I quote, “Your ovaries are beautiful! And you’re SUPER fertile!” That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Along with that good news, there was not so good news. She noticed some blood engorgements around one of my ovaries, so that strengthened her initial thought that I may have PCOS. And she found that my cervix is pointing down. (What??? Someone remind me to Google that later because I’m on a roll.)
Bloodwork
I had to get 10 vials of blood drawn to check for levels of various hormones, Vitamin D, Prolactin, testosterone, and more.
Next Steps
My doctor considered doing a test to check my Fallopian tubes but said that although it’s not a terrible test, it’s uncomfortable. She asked, “What should we do first? Check your Fallopian tubes or try to get you pregnant? Check your Fallopian tubes or try to get you pregnant? Hmm… let’s try to get you pregnant!” Ok, I’m down.
I have a follow-up appointment in 3 weeks to go over my bloodwork results. In the meantime, my doctor prescribed that I start taking Ovasitol for 3 months. It is an “inositol powder scientifically formulated to promote menstrual regularity and normal ovarian function.” Sounds good to me.