Wednesday—February 9th, 2011
I have set a ringtone for Oregon Reproductive Medicine (ORM) so that I can hear if it’s them calling even if I’m in the other room. Missing their calls means phoning back through a crazy maze of numbers that may or may not lead me to the person I am in search of (not their fault, at all… they just need to get on the phone with the next person and I’ left with vmail for an issue that may be time sensitive). So, when I heard the new ringtone and was not expecting a call, I was surprised to say the least.
“Hi Regina, it’s Caitlin.” (btw: I HEART Caitlin- she is AWESOME). “I’m calling with results from your blood test earlier this week and there are a few things to discuss.”
Right. I forgot that I even had a blood test. I ask her to hold a moment while I get Gina on the phone, as this conversation is clearly not one to be missed.
“So”, Caitlin starts, “Your blood work showed that your thyroid is a 2.65. Normal is considered under 4.6 but we have seen correlations to early miscarriages related to thyroid above 2.59. Normally we’d simply put you on thyroid medicine for the IVF and during your pregnancy but since yours is just above that number, borderline, really, we want to check your blood again. If it’s lower than 2.59, you won’t need to take the thyroid meds.” Gina and I look at each other. She gives me the thumbs up sign.
“Okay! Sounds great,” I say to Caitlin. “When should I come in?”
“Well, there’s one morel thing.” Caitlin says. Breathe, Regina. Breathe.
“Your bloodwork shows that you are not immune to chickenpox.” That’s right, I tell her, I’ve never had it. Or, I only had a really mild case of it.
She explains that this can pose a risk to the baby if I were to contract chickenpox during pregnancy. BUT, she says, the risk is very small that I could get chickenpox given that so many people are now vaccinated, etc. She says that if we want to get me vaccinated that it’s a two part process. Each vaccination one month apart. This would mean delaying our IVF process. She says that it’s not something they require and that they totally go with what we choose. Gina and I already know. We look at each other again and she signs to me that we should go forward with IVF and skip the vaccination. I agree.
So, I tell Caitlin. She says that’s fine and good and we firm up my blood work appointment time for 2 days from then. They want it asap given we are underway in our process now.
We hang up the phone and I remember that even when I think we have have the “Green light” to go, there is always potential for a hiccup.
You’d think we would have learned that lesson by now but I guess my enthusiasm got the best of me. Which really, I think is s good sign. I have hope. I am excited. I am positive. I believe.