Imagine that

My last post was number 250. Not bad for a girl who’s never been able to keep up a journal to save her life. When S and I met and decided that we were going to stick together for awhile, we started a journal of us. At regular intervals, we would each write our own version of what had been going on in our lives. The rules were:
1. We would alternate who would write first. So, if I wrote first about how we met, then S had to write first about our engagement party.

2. The person writing second cannot read what the first person wrote until after s/he has finished his/her own entry.

I think we got up to moving to Boston, which we did on our first wedding anniversary.
At the time, THAT was the longest I’d maintained a journal.

I love that notebook. We bought goofy colored pens for the entries…metallic colors, neons, pens that outline the colored ink with silver. I love to pull it out and read S’s entry on our first meeting.

We should get it out and add in the past six years. So much has happened…we moved back to Texas, we bought our first house, my medical adventures, and our quest for baby.

I went in to Dr. N’s clinic today to get my rubella titre re-done. This is the test to see if the vaccination I got 28 days ago “took” or if I’ll need another one (yes, apparently that can happen in a small percentage of people and we all know how I tend to fall on the odds.) I also needed a metabolic panel so I can get my 3-month prescription of metformin. Have to make sure it isn’t destroying my liver. Anywhoo…

If you remember, (if I remembered to mention it) I had to go to my general practitioner to get my rubella vaccination. Dr. N’s clinic did the infectious disease screening, told me I wasn’t immune to rubella and that I needed to get a vaccine. I asked if that was something they could do (the clinic is, while not ON the way to work, it isn’t far off the path. My GP is about as far away from work as you can get and still be in the same city) but the nurse I spoke to said no, go see your gp or your ob/gyn. No problem. I’ve already told you about that fun experience. Fast forward to this morning. I get up 45 minutes earlier than usual so I can get to the clinic by 8 for my blood work. When I get there and I’m checking in, the receptionist says, “So, you’re here for a rubella vaccination?”

“No, a rubella titre. I got the vaccination a month ago and I just need to make sure it worked. I also need a chem 20.”

“Ok.”

waitwaitwait get called back by one of my favorite PAs…the one who remembers, even after almost 8 months that my left arm is the best for drawing blood, but that the vein has a little kink to the left. I love her. As we’re walking back to the corner where the blood draw station is set up she asks, “So, I’m unclear. You need a rubella vaccine?”

“No. Just a titre. My gp gave me the vaccine because I was told you didn’t do those here. I just want to make sure it took. And I need a chem 20.”

“Good, that’s much simpler! I was a little confused by this note.”

I love my doctor and I love one of the associate doctors and I love most of the nurses and most of the PAs, but that front office staff…I’m gonna have to take them off my christmas card list.

We’re finally starting to get things moving. We read through, well, I read through all of the forms we have to sign and get notarized. I looked over the prescriptions. We discussed whether S should do some frozen “stockpiling” just in case the pressure of THE BIG DAY is too much. My argument that it was worth $125 to me to know that if something goes wrong…he drops the cup…someone knocks on the collection room door at an inopportune moment…he forgets his dvd of “inspirational material”…anything at all…we would have back-up, won the day over his frugal tendencies cheap. I also gently broke the news that, since it’s been over 6 months since anyone looked at his boys under a microscope, he’ll have to have a semen analysis. I think my exact words of understanding and compassion were, “Hey, honey! I see a biohazard bag in your future.” We’ll be going in to sign everything, hand over the money, and get this show started the week of April 2. I’ll be on the last week of this pill pack so that would let us move ahead with the start of the third pill pack on the second week of April. Assuming the clinic’s schedule works with mine…that would put us doing our retrieval right around the last third of May. GULP.

Oh, hey…I plan on asking the nurse when we go in to sign everything over to the clinic, but you always have good information…what is antisperm antibody testing? Our paperwork indicates that it is optional but recommended for non-ICSI patients (which we are, although we have the option to change that the day of retrieval if necessary). I’m just trying to find out what it is so we can decide if we want to get it.