Updates

There have been several things that have happened in the last few days and I haven't had a chance to update on all of them individually, so here goes:

Regarding the contracts:  The first draft is done and in my IPs' hands for their review.  Once they have a chance to talk it over with their lawyer and make any changes, they will send it to my attorney for her and my review.  I'm getting excited/nervous to see what all is in it.

Regarding the egg donor:  This was a big question mark, because if the donor wasn't cleared we would have to start over from scratch in that area, which would mean our transfer would be pushed back a couple of months.  My IPs found out today that the donor cycled as planned, but for whatever reason at the last minute the recipients chose to freeze all of their embryos rather than transferring any of them.  We don't know the reason for this - it could be anything from cold feet on the recipients' part to the woman's body not being ready enough to transfer in time.  Whatever the reason, we do know that the donor had a good cycle and managed to create at least some embryos that were good enough quality to freeze.  My IPs' doctor has reviewed her cycle info and has cleared her to donate for us, as long as my IPs still want to use her.  My IPs have confirmed that they do still want to use her - so we are all clear on that front!

Regarding my local doctor appointment:  I had the initial consultation appointment with the doctor who will be doing my local monitoring on Monday.  I'm unsure whether I liked him, but he was efficient and to the point, and he confirmed that he can do what needs to be done.  Basically, I will have three appointments leading up to the transfer.  At each one, I will need to have an ultrasound to check the lining of my uterus (the first to make sure it's nice and thin, and the second and third to make sure the estrogen I will be taking is doing a good job of making it nice and thick and welcoming for an embryo) and to get blood work checking my estrogen levels so the Chicago clinic knows whether they need to adjust my medication leading up to transfer.  They will need the results of these faxed to them stat, which the local clinic can handle.

You may remember that my medical screening blood work showed that my thyroid levels were high.  At the time, the NC at the Chicago clinic had just told me to consult my local doctor and find out if he wanted to put my on medication or anything.  When I asked the local doctor about it, however, he didn't want to touch that subject with a 10 foot pole.  He said that I am not his patient, he is just providing a monitoring service for me and the other clinic.  If they want me to do something about my thyroid level, they should be handling it.  He is completely uncomfortable making any medical decisions that could affect my IVF cycle.

So I relayed that message to my NC, and she replied that I would need to track down a primary care physician (do people still have these?!?) to manage my thyroid level, and we would not be able to cycle until it was under control.  Um, OK.  If she had told me that two weeks ago, I could have been working on this and hopefully had this sorted out in enough time to keep our current calendar.  Since I have not been to a regular old doctor since college (really, who needs more than an OB and the Walgreens Take Care Clinic?  Oh wait, I guess I do, for the rest of my life!) I attempted to find a primary care physician.  I called the physician referral line for the health care system my OBGYN is associated with, and the first available appointment for any doctor anywhere was August 30.  So, 6 days after I am supposed to start meds.  Crap.

Then I figured I would try calling my OB to see if she could do this for me.  Turns out, as I suspected, she does not diagnose hypothyroidism, but she did give me a personal referral to an internal medicine doctor.  He is able to see me on Monday morning!  So, there is still hope.  Basically I need to get him to write a letter to my Chicago clinic stating that he is willing and able to monitor and treat my thyroid level throughout my pregnancy, and that he believes I am ready to undergo IVF at this point.  So here's to hoping he is able to write that letter without needing to have me on meds for a couple months first...there is still some hope we can make a September transfer!