Lady Parts Visit

As you can probably tell from the title of the post, I finally had my gyno appointment to check out my plumbing to see if it's the cause of us not conceiving. Of course, the one doctor who works at this clinic that ISN'T an expert in child conceiving, bearing, birthing, etc. is the one doctor I got. She was super nice, though! She says they all care for patients from "womb to tomb" (which made me giggle) but that her area of expertise is the latter half of that statement.

 I have a confession to make. This was my first lady parts physical. I know. I know. I should have had one a long time ago. I'm 25. They recommend getting one at 18. I figured since I wasn't sexually active, I didn't need one. There is no excuse for me not getting one before Vance and I got married or since then...but being without insurance, I didn't feel like it was a priority. Please spare the gasps of horror and the scoldings. I know I should have done this a long time ago, but I was kind of scared since we weren't conceiving.

ANYWAY...when I told the doctor (whose name I cannot remember!!) that I had never had a lady parts exam, she didn't make me feel guilty. She didn't scold me. She, jokingly, said, "Never is a long time. It's good that you decided to do this. It's the first step in figuring out what's going on with your body when conceiving." Perfect answer, if you ask me. I didn't need a lecture, so it's nice that she didn't lecture me!

Not even kidding. This totally happened to me! [Source]

As you ladies know, the whole get naked and put on a paper gown and paper blanket and be felt up and down by strangers isn't exactly the most comfortable thing....unless you're a prostitute..., but I really wasn't uncomfortable thanks to this wonderful lady doctor and lady nurse! She explained everything and showed me the ahem...tools...that she was going to use before she used them. Now, I'm not a control freak. I'm a type C (with a few type B traits) not a type A personality, so I don't feel the need to run the show all the time, but I feel more comfortable when I am well-informed. She kept me well-informed, explained what was happening down there before and while it happened, and complimented me on how well I was doing. She also complimented me on my cervix, thankyouverymuch. She said it was perfectly positioned. (Apparently, your cervix could be weirdly positioned.) She said I was the easiest first timer she's ever had, thankyouverymuchagain. She also said I was the most ticklish. (Oops!) When she pushed on my pelvis to feel my ovaries and uterus, I giggled like a school girl. It was ridiculous, but I couldn't help it.

After I got all cleaned up (um yeah...that was gross) the head nurse at the clinic came in to draw my blood. If you read this post, you may remember that last week when they tried to draw my blood, I wouldn't bleed...until after they removed the needle. (What?!) After being poked 5 times with a large and a small needle, we gave up and decided to wait until this week's appointment to try again. (I was seriously sick for the rest of the day last Tuesday!) Well, the head nurse rocks. Seriously. She got blood out of my arm back in July very easily, even though I clotted faster than most people. Well, sad to say, nothing came out again!!! Ya know, except when she removed the needle and it squirted like crazy. (The hubs said it seriously came shooting out. I wasn't watching, so I have no idea.) She even used the large needle right off the bat! I was so disappointed, but I wasn't getting stuck 5-6 times again this week! It was 3:45pm. I had been fasting since 10:00pm the night before. I drank my weight in water (or so it seemed) but I was starving and quite honestly didn't want to make myself sick. The nurse was super sweet about it letting it be my call and didn't try to convince me to try again. She said I am healthy and since I had no symptoms of anything like diabetes, that it isn't pertinent to get the blood draw yesterday. Whew. So glad I didn't have to get stuck again...and again...and again.

Results:
1. I'm overweight. (They didn't tell me that or talk about my weight, but I know this and am working on it.)
2. All my lady parts looked/felt great.
3. Pap smear results will be in in a couple of weeks. The Doctor said she thinks they'll come back completely normal.
4. The hubs gets to go get his swimmers tested soon. (When she mentioned they'll give him a PlayBoy, I pretty much threw up in my mouth. I'm pretty sure he did, too. We're both very against porn and even when he wasn't living a Godly life back in the day, he wasn't into it.)
5. Our next appointment is December 12 to discuss the next step in our TTC journey with a specialist. At that time, it's possible Clomid may be prescribed and/or other options.

Keep praying for us! We can certainly feel them!

Don't forget about the Snugs Boutique going on! It ends November 8th at 12:01am! 

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Things DIdn't Go According To Plan

I went in for my blood work today. Needless to say that if you read the title of this post, things did not go well.

I go to a clinic that services people of lower incomes, since we can't afford to put me on the hubs' insurance right now. His insurance is super expensive since only 4 people work in the business that his dad co-owns. It would seriously cost us around $300/month to cover me with insurance. That's JUST insurance for me. That doesn't cover both he and I...just me. SO...we found a clinic that has lower rates for people without insurance. The nurses there are super nice, the clinic is clean, and the doctors who work there also work at two of the local hospitals in Winston-Salem. It's a nice alternative to having to pay huge bills at other office's and/or having to pay $300/month for insurance that I would rarely use. (I'm not sick very much.)

Anyway...today they were super nice, it didn't take long for them to call me back to get my blood drawn and it wasn't super crowded when we went in. A very nice, semi-unsure of herself nurse called me back to a meeting room/break room. Pretty much every other room had actual patients in them. (Tuesdays are the day that an OBGYN specialist is in the clinic, so they have a higher traffic volume on Tuesdays.) The nurse was super nice. I showed her the vein that nurses usually use to draw my blood and it turned out to be the best vein to try. Sadly, it yielded very little blood. She didn't hurt me until the very end when she had to go in deeper on the second stick. As soon as I said it hurt, she stopped. She apologized a million times, but it really wasn't her fault my vein wasn't producing much blood! She went and got another nurse while I drank some water and tried not to feel sick, even though I felt like I was getting a little nauseated. (I wasn't supposed to eat anything before going in.)

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The next nurse came in and was nice, but not as nice as the first lady, although she was more confident in her abilities. She tried using the same vein, but in a different part. She pumped my veins up a bit more. Sadly, the smaller needle didn't yield ANY blood this time after two different sticks, so she broke out the big one. UGH. That was no fun. It wasn't too bad, but I wish I hadn't looked at it before she put it in. What's worse is that I STILL didn't bleed. My hubs joked that he should have gotten me drunk before we came so that I would bleed freely! By this point, I was feeling REALLY nauseated, almost like I was going to vomit, as well as dizzy, so I said I needed her to stop. So...5 sticks in...one being from a big needle...and still not enough blood to run any test with. That nurse left to get the head nurse to see if maybe SHE could do something. I drank some more water, used the bathroom and tried not to vomit/pass out. I leaned on my hubs and whined a little. (Have I ever told you how great of a husband I have??)

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The head nurse came in and I told her how I was feeling, so we moved into a patient room where I could lay back on a table and focus my breathing to alleviate some of the nausea. Well, every time I leaned back, I felt like I was going to throw up. Every time I leaned forward, the nurse thought I was going to fall over and off the table. She tried a tourniquet on my opposite arm (right one) to see if she could get any veins to pop up. She is the nurse that did my blood-drawn pregnancy test back in July/August. She's super nice and she nailed it last time. Well...she didn't get a chance to try it. I almost tossed my cookies. I won't go into detail, but we all decided it was time to stop treating me like a pincushion and save it for another day. The head nurse, whose name I can barely pronounce, let alone try to spell, was super nice about it all and said they could just do the blood work at my appointment next week.

After we left, the hubs got me something to eat, I took a long nap, and I feel much better now...besides my sore left arm. ;-) Keep praying for us! We're at the beginning of what could be a long road...especially if my veins aren't going to cooperate!

If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!

Tests are for Students...Right?

Tomorrow, I go into the doctor's for some tests. These tests are a prelude to my big "fertility" appointment on November 1st. I am slightly nervous. I hope everything turns out relatively alright. I also hope we're able to get some answers after this visit and next week's visit. We're praying that it will be as simple as "Here's some Clomid; come back and see us when you're pregnant in 1-6 months." However, I realize that may not be the case. I am basically being forced to face up to the fact that we may not be able to conceive with or without drugs. We're taking one step at a time and not going before God. We're just hoping and praying that everything works out. We're also hoping and praying for our little miracle. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

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If you could take 2 seconds and give this a click, it would mean so much to me! Thank you!!