Fertility Specialist and a diagnosis

Nicole had her baby the day before we went to the specialist.  Here is Avalee Dawn Cook, newest niece!

After having a horrible experience with our fertility specialist in Portland (super condescending, expensive, and uncaring), I was a bit nervous to go back to a fertility specialist.  I had heard lots of good things about Dr. Foulk at the Utah Fertility Center and he didn't disappoint!
We went over the TONS of labwork and tests we had done before as well as my fertility history, all of which showed that we both checked out on paper.  Dr. Foulk went over the 5 main reasons for miscarriages since that has been a big problem for me.  One of the reasons I could be miscarrying would be due to abnormalities of the uterus.  You'd think that would come up in all the ultrasounds or the HSG that I've done, but I guess not.  Next month we will do a water ultrasound that will test for any possibilities such as a polyp, fibroid, or septum.  If nothing is found, we will move forward with an IUI.  If there is something wrong like a septum, we will need to do surgery first. 
My appointment was on cycle day 8 so we did an ultrasound to see if there were any developing follicles as I have been on clomid and took the rest that I had this cycle.  Dr. Foulk agreed that if there was something going on, we might as well not miss this cycle!  There was a follicle developing on the right ovary and also a bigger one on the left ovary, but it was oddly shaped so he said it probably wasn't a good follicle.  As we looked at the left ovary there were a few other egg looking things, which at my Portland specialist, she said they were other eggs developing, just not as big as the main one.  Dr. Foulk looked at it and said, "oh yes, there are some cysts, which is common with PCOS." And I said "WAIT! You're saying I have PCOS?!"  He probably thought I was crazy and that this was obvious, but I explained to him that every doctor I've been too said that I DIDN'T have PCOS, even when I asked them about it.  He was surprised that the specialist in Portland didn't give me that diagnosis and I told him that she not only said I don't have PCOS, she told me that I ovulate because I have a period every month.  Which I knew wasn't true but when the "specialist" that you're paying tons of money to see tells you you're crazy, you start to think you're crazy, even if I know my body well.  I've been wondering for YEARS if I have PCOS but have always been told no, even though I have many of the symptoms.  It was kind of a relief to hear that yes, I do legitimately have this issue that is causing my infertility instead of it remaining unexplained.  In our consultation before the ultrasound, Dr. Foulk told us that the reason we're not getting pregnant is because I don't ovulate.  So take that Dr. B. in Portland!
They took some blood (only 1 vial, woot!) for some bloodwork to check my estrogen levels and figure out if that follicle would be a good one or not and we could do an IUI this month.  The bloodwork came back indicating that it's not a good egg and probably just a cyst so we'll wait until next month.
Dr. Foulk started me on Metformin to help balance my hormones and insulin resistance caused by the PCOS. I asked previous doctors about taking Metformin and they never wanted to prescribe me with it.  So I was happy that he suggested it himself without me even having to ask.  I'll be calling them back on Day 1 to get set up for an IUI and the water ultrasound.  We'll be using Brevelle (FSH stimulant), an HCG trigger shot, the IUI, and progesterone suppositories.  So we have a real plan!!!
I'm excited to make this happen and I feel good about working with Dr. Foulk. He knows what he's talking about and it makes sense to me with all my suspicions about my infertility.  I'm also happy that we'll do the progesterone to help against miscarrying too.
Fingers crossed that next month will be a success!

Hey, it could happen!

I started writing this post in January... and now it's February... but not too late for resolutions and goals for the year, right?
I saw that Stephanie Southerland's motto for 2015 is "Hey! It could happen!" and I knew I had to steal it.
That's how I feel about 2015.  There are so many things we are hoping and praying and working on to make happen. I know they can't all happen (we probably can't buy a trip to Hawaii AND a new car AND a house AND a baby), but hey, it could happen.  Especially if Dustin can start making incentives at work with more patients.  And we'll see what we can do to make it happen.  There is a lot of potential for this year.

Here are the Creer resolutions for 2015:

•  Career: Dustin is loving his job and growing his patient base.  Of course, he could always use more patients.  If we can start making incentives this summer, we will be sitting pretty by the end of the year.  Our goal for him is to have a full schedule by the end of the year.  I'm just hoping to learn to love my job and then quit when Dustin's making the big bucks.  I'm working on trying to happy in this stage of life.  It can be tough sometimes when this job is really not what I want to be doing, but I'm working on it.
• Family: WE NEED TO GET A BABY STAT.  Seriously, I'm going crazy here.  I'm on the 4th month of clomid and so far it hasn't worked.  No detected ovulation the past three months.  I've also been on the supplements from Dr. Nielsen but I stopped taking the Vitex.  It's also called Chastetree because it KILLS your libido.  Add that to clomid's side effects and there is pretty much no desire to get it on.  With no gettin' it on, there's no baby.  So I stopped it.  We are meeting with a specialist at the Utah Fertility Center on the 20th.  I'm not sure what they'll want to do, but I'm willing to try IUI again and IVF if needed.  I just want to get a party started in my uterus ASAP (as my friend Alice Anne put it). :)
• Health: We completed a round of Whole30 in January and it was great! I lost 10 pounds, Dustin lost 15 (dang those boys losing weight so easily)! We wanted to transition to an every day lifestyle and it promptly went to crap when the new sushi restaurant opened in Heber and my coworker picked that as her birthday lunch choice.  After that it went downhill over the weekend so we are starting another round of Whole30 today.  We will finish just before we leave for an Anniversary trip to Arizona.  I also want to get us exercising more.  I'd love to join a gym but they are kinda pricey here.  Just Dance will have to cut it until we get a little more moolah.  But maybe my goal should be to get a gym membership.  We're dreaming big here people haha.
•  Wealth: I'd love to buy a house this year, and a car with 4 wheel drive before next winter.  And SAVE.  I'd also like to get student loans paid down as much as we can.  We'll have to start paying Dustin's loans next month and I'm nervous to know how much those payments will be.  I can't wait for his incentives at work to start!  Our definite goal is to get money saved and a down payment for a house.
• Spirit: I'd like to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover again.  I've become a slacker in my scripture reading.  I'm loving teaching our Sunday School class with Dustin and I have a goal this year to make it on time to church with our lesson ready and the Relief Society lesson read.
• Vacation: We didn't make it to Hawaii last year so I have vowed that we will go this year! With us both working and saving, we should be able to do it.  We are excited for a little mini vacation to Arizona in March to visit our friends the Clawsons and spend a night in Vegas on the way back.  We will be staying at The Bellagio with a fountain view room and I'm excited to check that off the bucket list!  While in Vegas we'll also catch a visit with Jeanette and Natalie.  

So there you have it, our 2015 goals.  We're hoping to thrive this year and find happiness every day.
Here's to making it happen!