Down Payment on a Baby

Today we went to Dr. Magarelli's office to tie up some loose ends and kick off the process of IVF.  After we wrote a check for the down payment, reality began to set in.  Depending on how things go over the next few weeks, we may have just bought a baby.  Weird.  


Ryan has already completed all of his bloodwork and given them a sample of his swimmers, so all of the testing that remains is on me.  So far, I've had about four doctors check my plumbing, been tested for STDs and the like (all negative--whew!) and have had some bloodwork done.  In May, I had a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) which is where they push some radiopaque dye through a catheter up my you-know-where and check to see if the fallopian tubes are open using radiography.  The doctors were very impressed with my beautiful fallopian tubes.  They referred to them as "textbook."  


The next round of tests happens on Wednesday.  They will start with a physical to make sure I'm healthy overall.  Then, they do an ultrasound to make sure that everything is located and shaped the way it's supposed to be.  Finally, they finish with more bloodwork.  This round of bloodwork determines something called my Ovarian Reserve or OAR score.  The higher the score, the better.  It is meant to predict about how many eggs they expect to find on the day of your egg retrieval.  The more the merrier!  I won't find out the results of the blood test for about a week.  


After this appointment, they will prescribe birth control to make sure they are in complete control of when my body is doing what.  I will have one more test on Monday, then I'll be ready to start with the injections and whatnot on August 1st.  I don't know everything about that process, but soon I'm sure I will have multitudes to report on the matter.  


In the meantime, my brother and his wife Heather were kind enough to loan us some beautiful baby things in preparation.  Isis very much enjoyed the stroller when we had it out to clean it.  She's been asleep in it for a while now and it's so cute I can't bear to move her.  Guess I'll have to clean it again when she decides to move.