A Second Opinion

In my last blog entry, I talked about my experience with an OB/GYN and a drug called Clomid that was used to encourage ovulation. I also threw a bunch of medical terms your way. To keep up with the growing list, I’ve created a new FAQ section that includes all the definitions and descriptions of the medical terms you will encounter throughout my blog.

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After being less than thrilled with my experience at the OB, I felt like I needed a second opinion. During the Clomid cycle, I had already made up my mind that if I were to become pregnant, I would be seeking a different OB anyway.

A good friend of mine had given me the contact info for her doula, so I decided to give her a call and see if she had any recommendations for OB/GYNs. One of the things I talked about with the doula was my desire to have as natural of a birth experience as possible. During our discussion, I found out that Texas Children's Pavilion for Women has a midwife program! This would allow me to give birth in the hands of a midwife, but in a hospital setting in case something were to go wrong.

While spending a bit of time on Texas Children's Pavilion for Women website, I noticed the hospital also had a fertility clinic. Since I was still not sure if I was pregnant, I figured having a backup plan wasn't a bad idea, so I made myself an appointment to be seen by a fertility specialist.

Once we found out that I was in fact not pregnant, I was relieved to have made that appointment at the fertility clinic. The wait time was almost 4 weeks (which is actually quite fast) before I could be seen by Dr. Paul Zarutskie. I’m a planner to a fault, so having this appointment already scheduled actually made the disappointment of not being pregnant more bearable.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The day of our first appointment finally arrived, and I was optimistic. At the beginning of our appointment, one of Dr. Zarutskie’s fellows carefully took my complete medical history. She asked a lot of questions, and did not seem as phased by my 90+ day period as my prior doctors had. She was compassionate and patient as I detailed everything.

Dr. Zarutskie joined us, reviewed the fellow's notes, and asked more questions. Then, it was into an exam room for a complete physical and the first of many transvaginal ultrasounds.

We finally left the clinic and were sent upstairs to the lab for a battery of blood draws for the both of us. They took about 8 tubes of blood from me to perform a total of 13 different blood tests. I nearly passed out! I was also asked to come back later that week for a glucose response test.

Chad was asked to make a "deposit" for a semenaisis.

Finally, the doctor asked for copies of my medical history from my old OB's office, including copies of my abdominal MRI from August 2014.

I was scheduled to see Dr. Zarutskie again about a week later to go over our lab results. Chad passed his test with flying color, and my blood work also looked good...except the glucose response test. It showed I was borderline insulin resistant, and I was scheduled to see a dietitian to make changes to my diet so I could avoid any medication.

The last item of interest was my MRI from August 2014. Dr Zarutskie asked if he could send my MRI images to another radiologist to be re-read, which was of course fine with us.

This appointment concluded with a the doctor telling us that he was pretty hopeful about our prospects of getting pregnant, but that it seemed like I was going to need a little bit of help given my medical history. I laughed when his fellow told me I could throw away my home pregnancy test, since they would be managing that process for us going forward.

About a week after that appointment, I got a phone call from the nurse. She said the doctor wanted me to come back in for another ultrasound, and asked if I was available the following morning. When you get a call asking if you can come in the next day for a test, the answer is yes. So of course, I dropped everything and made the appointment.

The next morning, Dr. Zarutskie did another transvaginal ultrasound. Then Chad and I went next door to the consult room. Dr. Zarustkie explained that he suspected I did not in fact have a bicornuate uterus. I say “suspect” because he ended up sending my MRI images to 4 other radiologists, all with conflicting reports. Dr. Zarutskie explained that he had a good level of certainty that I had a septate uterus instead. Luckily, this is something that is reparable via surgery.

From the time I first met Dr. Zarutskie to the time that he presented me with this surgical option was about 45 days. Dr. Zarutskie gained my trust in this short period of time by being compassionate, and fully understanding me as a person (not just a chart of data). For these reasons, I went ahead and scheduled a hysteroscopy and laparoscopic procedure to explore my abdomen and hopefully correct my septate uterus.