DH and I went to the RE this morning. Actually, he's the professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Head of the Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine. Quite a mouthful. We'll just call him Herr Doktor for short.
First, we went to the women's clinic next door. DH was coming from work, so we drove separately. The GPS was trying to take me some crazy route, but I pissed it off and made there anyway. So, the women's clinic. I tell the woman at the front desk that we are there to see Herr Doktor. She says fine, but we need to check in at administration. We go into the office after knocking. No one home. There's talking in the office next door, but I'm not sure if she's on the phone or with someone. So, after a little while, I knock on that door. There's someone in there (who I'm pretty sure was a pharmaceutical rep), so we keep waiting. It's about 10 minutes from our appointment. Finally, I can tell the visitor in the office is getting ready to leave. Just as she's wheeling out her suitcase (this is why I'm guessing the pharm rep thing), the office that we originally knocked on is entered by a woman, presumably the office's resident. We are beckoned in and sit down.
"Sprechen Sie Englisch?"
"Nien."
It's always a challenge, being in a country where you don't speak the language.
"I'm here to see Herr Doktor." I hand her my paperwork.
"Ah, Herr Doktor. Go next door to (German words I don't know). You know?"
Alas, I do not know. "No."
"Ah..." while pointing up high and more German.
"Top floor?"
"Ja, in the (German words) building."
Okay. Top floor of some building across the street with German words I don't know. Got it.
We hotfoot it over there and walk around the building, trying to find the words she said. We see a sign that looks promising and follow it down the street. No building that has the German words we were hearing down here. We've gone too far and go back. "Let's just try this building."
We go inside and head into the first office we see. "Herr Doktor?"
"Ja, up two flights." (I'm translating here.)
We head up the two flights and find the sign for Herr Doktor's secretary. We check in, are asked our birth dates and occupations; Hausfrau for me and military for him. Then we're shown to the waiting room. DH heads to the toilet, and I sit down.
Now, I have not been in a civilian waiting room for a long while, so I don't know if it's this way at non-military facilities in the States, but it is quiet in this waiting room. There is a group consisting of one man and two women (maybe mother and daughter, or possibly surrogacy?) and a woman alone. It is completely silent. No one is talking. There is no music. Most amazingly, there is no TV. DH sits back down and the group of three talk a little. We wait, and wait. The woman gets called back. More waiting.....and more. After a while, the group of three gets called back. Waiting...waiting. Another woman shows up, then another couple. They say "Hallo" when they come in. (Oops, guess we were supposed to do that. Oh, well.) More waiting. Finally, after about an hour (not exaggeration, by the way), we get shown into another room.
This room is about the same size as the waiting room and the nurse is in there. She looks like what you imagine nurses to be. White shoes, white shirt, white coat, white pants, white watch. And she has a green scarf. So, we sit in there a while longer, watching the nurse walking between this room and the doctor's office, which is next door. After another ten to fifteen minutes, we are shown into the doctor's office. He introduces himself by his last name only (This must be a German thing.) and we sit down.
Then the questions. First, why are you here? I said the only thing that made sense to me, that I want to have a baby and haven't been able to get pregnant so far. Then the medical questions. Any surgeries? No. Any pregnancies? No. Have you been on Clomid? Yes. How many cycles. Six. You've had the HSG? Yes. And your tubes were clear? Yes, from what I've been told. Was it painful? Yes.
When was the start of your last cycle? Today. I really thought, as I always seem to, that the last cycle was The One. I ovulated on my own in a reasonable amount of time. (Or seemed to.) I was two days late. Some of my PMS symptoms weren't there, and there were some other symptoms that made me hopeful. Alas, it was not to be. I just kept holding on to this appointment as my hope for the future, at least when it comes to making babies.
Now DH's turn. He's pretty good, thankfully. Herr Doktor seems happy with him. At least one of us is okay.
Herr Doktor talks to us about PCOS. He says he's going to put me on FSH. There will be a pen, I will do injections daily. We'll have an ultrasound in a week. Since it's CD1, they can do blood tests without having to wait, so the nurse will take my blood and then we're to stop by the secretary's and schedule the ultrasound.
Another difference from military treatment facilities (MTFs) is that the doctor's nurse is the one taking my blood. At an MTF, they would put the order in and then you would head over to the lab and sit in another waiting room and have the blood draw there. It's kind of nice not to have to go to another office, especially when I am not yet familiar with this hospital. I have a feeling I will get to know it though.
Then we stop by the secretary's office and schedule the ultrasound. 7 a.m. Ugh. I don't have to get up early, and so usually I avoid it. I think this will be worth the effort though. Prescriptions in hand, DH and I head out and get some lunch. I'll go and get the meds after eating something and going home and taking some Advil for these cramps.
So, that was the appointment this morning. And that's what I'm posting for today. I'll get to the pharmacy fun times tomorrow. I'm glad we've finally gotten to this point. It's been a long road, with several unexpected turns. I have hope that there is an end in sight to this path and a new road on the horizon.
CD 1
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