[MotherFrog]

Never ever thought I would admit I think I have fertility issues. You'd think after having 5 my body would know what to do. Not anymore. Roughly 14 cycles of trying.

I am right now back on the pill temporarily till we figure out what we want to do.

What tests do you start with, what questions do I ask the Dr?

Where does a girl start?

[Vicki...]

I don't know what questions to tell you to ask, most of my issues with infertility stem from not ovulating, which is mostly caused by pcos. The tests the did on me was sonograms at cd13 and blood tests at cd21, and allot more also, seems that I became a pin cushion, you may also need to have your dh's spermie checked. Good luck when you go to the doctor, it's hard to admit you have infertility, but surprisingly calming also, I had it with my first also, took us three years to have him, and have been ttc'ing 14 months this time with two losses. I hope you get your bfp soon, by the way, welcome, the ladies here are so very wonderful.

[MountainMomma]

Welcome to the board. I'm sorry that you are having problems, but I am glad you are joining us here. The first things we did was to do a semen analysis on DH. (It's the fastest and least invasive. Most docs prefer to start there.) Then we did blood work on CD 3 to check FSH, TSH, LH, Estradiol and Prolactin levels. We did bloodwork to check my thyroid, and on CD 21 (or 7 days past ovulation if you are charting) they check progesterone levels. I accused them of being vampires for a while, but once they get all those results back, then they have a better idea what they are dealing with. They may also order a HSG to check and make sure your tubes are clear.

In my case I have low estrogen which causes a weak (and late) ovulation, and then low progesterone levels. I also had some adhesions that were removed during a laparoscopy. We tried Clomid for three cycles after the surgery, but I already have bad cramps with AF and the Clomid made that so much worse that we gave up on that. We are now not trying/not preventing. Mostly we just needed a break from all things TTC because we've been at this nearly 3 years now.

One of the first things your doctor is going to want you to do is to chart your cycles to make sure you are indeed ovulating. They usually want to see at least three months worth of charts, so if I were you I would go ahead and make an appointment to discuss things with your OB, and in the mean time....as soon as AF shows up I would start charting. Check out a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It's extremely helpful.

[JCT2005]

I'm sorry you are having problems and I hope it isn't long before you get a BFP. Our problem is that I have hyperprolactinemia, my body produces too much prolactin and it won't allow me to ovulate. I take pills that are supposed to lower it and they take blood tests to see how it is going. Because this is the first cycle we've been trying with medical assistance they haven't done any other tests yet.

[~InHisHands~]

I'm sorry to hear about your fertility issues. Ditto to everything Steph said - you should test your progesterone as well other bloodwork including your thyroid. When they rean the thyroid bloodwork on my we found out my thyroid isn't functioning properly & hopefully that's my problem & we'll be able to conceive soon now that we have that fixed. You'll probably also get an HSG & DH a S/A. Those are the most common that I know of.

GL & I hope you conceive soon!!!

[MotherFrog]

WOW! That is an awful lot to go through! Kuddos to you ladies that have done it!

DH and I had a talk and we did agree to get things checked out. He even agreed to a SA but I'm not sure how much that is going to cost us, I don't think our insurance covers it. (I do know DH's spermies had worked at one point)

I know it's almost time for my yearly, so I am going to bring all this up with my OBGYN during the appt. I know I can get labs done on certain days, but I will still make an appt to talk to him about a plan.

I'm going to ask about:
CD 3 to check FSH, TSH, LH, Estradiol and Prolactin
CD 21 to check progesterone levels

I have had my thyroid checked a few times already, do I need it checked again? My general Dr said I could get an u/s to check for PCOS, but that just confuses me more.

I'm assuming I should start charting as soon as CD 1 rolls around again and then go for labs starting CD 3? I'm going to make an appt before AF shows to make sure he knows about my issues and plans and see what he says.

Am I on the right track?

[Vicki...]

Sure sounds like you are on the right track, the ultrasound to check for pcos, basically checks for cysts on your ovaries or a large number of small follicles, hopefully they can code allot of the tests as checking for pcos or something like that, doctors have a way of getting things covered.

[MountainMomma]

Yep, you sure are.

The cost of a semen analysis can vary GREATLY. Make sure you call around and check first. My local GP does them for around $60 but that's just a general make sure there is enough there. My RE's office they charge $265 but they do a complete analysis checking count, morphology, motility, ($90) and they also test to make sure that the sperm knows how to penetrate and egg ($175). I'm not sure exactly how they check it, because they didn't retrieve an eggs first. Insurance did cover part of the semen analysis for us, so we only had to pay $162 for the whole thing.

Call your insurance and ask them specifically:

Do you cover fertility testing?
Do you cover a semen analysis?
Do you cover IUI/IVF? (also referred to as ART treatments)
Do you cover any fertility medications?

The good news is that even if they say no, in most cases your OB or RE can code things in a way so that some of it will be covered. If something like Clomid is all that you need, you can get the generic 50 mg. tablets at WalMart for $9, so that isn't bad at all.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to post them here or PM me.

[MotherFrog]

You girls are such a big help, I'm glad I came to this board.

Hey Steph, just noticed that William and I share the same birthday. William and James are 2 of my boys' middle names! More eerie things we have in common!

[MountainMomma]

Woah! That's weird. I have things like that happen to me all the time. I said about 5 years ago that I wanted to have another boy and name him Steven Wayne. Steven for my Dad, and Wayne for my god-father. 3 1/2 years ago I met DH and his brother's name is....STEVEN WAYNE. lol

[~InHisHands~]

How long ago have you had your thyroid checked? I'd typically say probably not unless you are experiencing symptoms but b/c you are TTC you may want to (to at least rule it out). Hypo is VERY common in women & very common to come on after giving birth. Pregnancy really does a number on your hormones (as I'm sure you already know)!

[MotherFrog]

I think it's been about a year since I got my thyroid checked. Not sure what's going on, I've dropped 10 pounds since July too.

[Bakin8th]

Welcome Michele this is my Home away from Home!!

Good luck with your testing!

[~InHisHands~]

If you recently lost 10 pounds I'm thinking you are not hypo (now I'm not a dr so I can't say for sure). Typically with hypo you gain weight & can't loose it. You could possibly be hyper but then again I don't know. It wouldn't hurt to get your thyroid checked but I'm guessing if it were me I'd place that as a low priority since my guess is that it's not your thyroid. GL & KUP!

[MotherFrog]

Thanks ladies, YOU ROCK!