Why?
Why are there so many appointments?
When I hesitantly made my initial consulation visit at FCSA (fertility center of san antonio) in March, I had no idea that I would be doing everything short of taking up permanent residence there. It is becoming all too familiar and makes me think Cheers had it all wrong... Sometimes you wanna go where NOBODY knows your name. There is simply no anonymity and these people know way more than just my name :)
I feel like I have spent more time at the doctor's office than anywhere else. Namely my job.
They must think I have something seriously wrong with me for the amount of times I have had to come in late or take random days off. I suppose I do have something seriously wrong with me, but that is beside the point.
Last Saturday I went in for an ultrasound, Monday was the IUI, and now Friday they want me to come back for an estrogen and progesterone test to check my levels. {make sure they're increasing assuming the embryo is implanted} 3 visits in one week!
I am cancelling the appointment.
My reasoning is 3-fold.
First, I am sick of spending every waking moment in that office. It takes a big chunk out of my day and there isn't even any good shopping or restaurants on that end of town to entice me.
Second, I take pride in my (usual) excellent attendance and do not want to miss anymore work for these annoying appointments. Let's be honest, with the large chunk of change that IF treatments cost, I really can't afford to!
Third, this IUI probably didn't take. And Friday morning is too soon to really tell either way, so best case scenario they say that the levels look great and I get my hopes up. Worst case, they say it was a collossal failure and I go into work late, sobbing the whole rest of the day.
There are so many "mechanical" components to this whole process, it feels very contrived and science-y, way more robotic than romantic. To be honest, sometimes it feels completely unnatural. And it is.
Getting pregnant should involve romance and candles, not forceps and catheters!
All that to say I want some part of this process to be normal.
Normal people don't have to track their estrogen and progesterone every week.
I don't want to either.
No more appointments that make me feel like a science experiment!
I can relate to this 100%- I don't get paid by the hour so technically it doesn't affect my salary, but I still hate missing so much work! And I also don't like unnecessary appointments. I do, however, wish I had gone in to have my progesterone monitored after the IUI bc I'm pretty sure low progesterone was a big reason why ours didn't work, but you're right- there's probably not much they could have done about it and it just would have been one more thing to worry about. Anyway, don't give up hope!!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you a bit. I hated knowing all of the staff in my dr's office better than I knew my own friends and family. One of the major reasons we put off (and now have indefinitely postponed/may never try) IVF is because there are no IVF clinics here in Athens; we would have to do it in Atlanta (~2 hours away)...and you KNOW how many appointments there would be??! Even for mundane bloodwork or some other quick something-check, it would mean over 4 hours of driving? I mean, we may as well quit our jobs and just sit and be homeless outside the clinic in Atlanta for as much time as we'd be missing work/spending there!
ReplyDeleteSo anyway. I completely understand your reasoning. Praying for you, girl.