next steps

My period is due today, give or take (I actually expected it yesterday) and so far, nothing. However, I have a half a dozen negative pregnancy tests under my belt that tell me not to get my hopes up. I spent some time this weekend researching options and working on a "master plan", which is ridiculously OCD and I get that, but you gotta do what works to cope with this BS. For me, that's planning. I'm a planner to the core. For the first time, M and I started to discuss IVF as a realistic option, which is kinda sad and scary, but reassuring at the same time. There are bigger guns out there. We know what they are, and we know what we have to do to get there. Our current thinking puts us at IVF in December of this year if we don't get knocked up before then.

I also did some poking around regarding PCOS. I've asked the NP about it before, and she has dismissed my concerns because of my periods being so regular and all my hormone tests coming back fine. But when I sought out more information this weekend, I found that 25% of women diagnosed with PCOS have perfectly regular cycles and hormone levels, they just aren't actually releasing eggs. Irregular periods aren't diagnostic criteria, just one of many symptoms. And other than that, I have some form of most of the other symptoms. Anyway, there are a couple of random tests I haven't had yet that can indicate PCOS so I planned to request those, and also to talk to her about starting a couple of medications. This conversation did not go as well as I'd hoped and I don't have the energy to write all the details right now, although I should at some point so that I don't forget them. In the end, I left with one of the two prescriptions I wanted and blood drawn for the remaining diagnostic tests. I also left with a plan to take this month off (grrr) to get the darn HSG out of the way. She mentioned that once I schedule the HSG, she will call in an Rx for Vicodin, so that'll help. I'll also have to do a round of antibiotics because of the invasiveness of the procedure. *sigh*

So the plan is: Start Metformin and break for HSG this month. Next month, resume IUIs with NP. After 2-4 more IUIs (she recommends after 4 but will "consider" after 2 depending on how desperate I become - you can already see how this will end up), she will consider giving me a prescription for Clomid. She told me to stop even thinking about IVF for now as I am "too young and too healthy."

M and I will be having one of the most wanted children in the whole wide world.