Monday, November 23, 2009

Appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctor

First off, I've been a bad blogger. A few days after I met with the new RE, he called me for two reasons. One: he requested I meet with a maternal fetal medicine (MFM) doctor due to my history of polymyocitis, an autoimmune disease and my hypothyroid. Two: he suggested we meet with a genetic counselor due to my family history of colon cancer.

After lots of thought and several heart-to-hearts with Mike, we decided we would not go through with the genetic counseling for the cancer. This was a hard decision as my mother is in remission from colon cancer and I lost a wonderful cousin to colo-rectal cancer at the young age of 36. There were a couple factors that played into our decision, the most major being with my low AFC we weren't all too confident that we'd ever get enough eggs to have the luxury of knowing and selecting the best and healthiest eggs.

We did, however, decide to meet with a MFM and did so this morning. He informed us of all the things that could be associated with autoimmune diseases like gestational diabetes, increased chance of miscarriage and heart development issues in the fetus. He recommended a blood test to check and see if I'm a carrier of two genes that are tied to the fetus heart development issues.

We also talked about my hypothyroid diagnosis and he also mentioned if the thyroid is not regulated properly it increases your chance for a miscarriage. He therefore recommended that as soon as I find out I'm pregnant, I should double my synthroid and get in for blood work right away.

Because of both of my health concerns he said he would recommend a lot of ultrasounds and tests once I actually am pregnant and overall felt confident that I would be able to have a normal and healthy pregnancy.

Mike and I were both happy with him and they way he explained things. He really wanted us to understand the concerns and his recommendations. Essentially what he is doing is laying out my care plan for when I do become pregnant and sharing that with my RE. Its nice to feel like they are looking out for me and our baby.

I am expecting my period any day now and then will go see Dr. D for blood work and the dildocam. We are both excited to get the show on the road for IVF #2.