Basically the appointment boiled down to us doing 3 months of Femara with timed intercourse.
We discussed moving onto IUIs, and my RE said that since we don't seem to have any problems with K's side of things, an IUI doesn't really increase our chances of conceiving. She said that if we are really antsy to conceive, she would be ok moving onto an IUI right now, but unfortunately K isn't able to take the time off work, and we don't currently have the funds. She agreed to three months of Femara to see if the different medication would force my body into working, but doesn't feel comfortable doing more than 6 months of induced ovulation with timed intercourse, (3 months of Clomid followed by 3 months of Femara.) She said that if these next three months don't work, then the next step would be IUI.
I asked about a trigger shot, and she said that she doesn't feel that a trigger shot would help our chances. She feels that our bodies know the right time to ovulate better than medicine does, so as long as I get an LH surge on OPKs, a trigger shot isn't necessary.
She said that it might be a good idea to get frequent monitoring with my first cycle of Femara to see how many eggs I'm producing, but that is difficult to do when I have to take an entire day off work to drive to, and from, my RE. I'm going to call my OB's office and see if they're willing to help out with some remote monitoring, but I'm not getting my hopes up because they're a very busy office.
When I got home tonight, I started bleeding. I'm only 9 days past ovulation, so I'm unsure if it's mid-cycle spotting, or if I'm starting my period super early (this was an unmedicated cycle.) I've never had bleeding at this point of my cycle, so I have nothing to compare it to. If I have started my period, I'm going to email my RE to see if a short luteal phase during an unmedicated cycle is something she's worried about.
As of right now, I'm unsure when our first Femara cycle will be. I'm traveling almost every weekend in May, and K isn't with me for most of it, so trying to time intercourse will be difficult if I ovulate while we're apart. My RE did send in a prescription for a month of birth control so that if we decide to skip May, I can continue to have a regular cycle and not have to worry about when my period will arrive.
I feel defeated that money and lack of free time is what is potentially stopping us from growing our family. If these next three cycles with Femara don't work out, K is going to have to have a serious sit down conversation with his boss about having to take at least one day a month off work. I'm also confused about if there's a point in doing IUI if it won't increase our chances of conceiving. Has anyone's RE said something similar? My RE also said that it won't increase our chances of multiples, which I'm not sure is accurate, either. Looking back at my records, K's last semen analysis was 3 years ago (to the very month!) so I'm not sure if we need to do another one, even though his numbers were good last time.
I'll do a short update come May about if we've decided to do a medicated cycle or not. Thank you as always for the support!
