January 29th, 2021

This morning Mike and I had our first Zoom Consult with our new fertility doctor, Dr. Hobeika. And, wow, do I feel like we're in such great hands!

Dr. Hobeika first spent a lot of time with us going over all the answers and information we gave in the pre-visit patient questionnaires. He was very thorough and did not miss a single section.  I can't really explain it, but as we began to speak with him I just got this really good feeling in my gut that he is going to be the one who can help us figure everything out. It was really great to feel so heard and cared about in the thirty minute (or so) meeting we had. Dr. Hobeika explained in great detail all about himself, the facility, and his team/staff. He has an incredible amount of experience (as I've previously mentioned), which is just so reassuring.

The thing I loved most about talking to him was how normal he made everything seem. And rightfully so, because it is 100% normal! It is super common for couples to have some difficulty getting pregnant to some degree. Sometimes it's as simple as it just taking a little bit longer, or needing to be put on a medication to help. And other times you have to take the IVF route or get a surrogate. Everyone's journey is different, but many people experience it to some degree. I feel like there is a huge stigma against fertility issues that cause people to feel ashamed and want to hide it. When in reality, so many of us deal with it to some degree and it's totally normal! Hiding things actually makes it harder and immediately creates a bit of negatively around it all (because it's a "secret" and something that "needs to be hidden"). But by being open and sharing your journey with others, you have a whole other support system there to spread the positivity or lean on throughout it all. And that's exactly what I want for us, so I was so glad to hear him echoing the same things. :)

One thing that Mike told me stood out to him most from the meeting was that Dr. Hobeika continually said "when you get pregnant". There is nothing currently that would indicate we should have a fear of finding out that one of us is infertile/can't have kids whatsoever. The testing we will be doing in the next few weeks will confirm this, but even as of right now our doctor is very sure. I guess I hadn't realized I was thinking it, but somewhere in the back of my mind I must have been fearful that it was a possibly, because I agreed with Mike that it really was so conforming to hear. It's not a matter of if we can get pregnant, it's a matter of when.

During the final part of our consult he explained what the next steps for us were. There are various labs and ultrasounds that need to be done, so they can rule out what's causing my irregular cycles and get me set up with the right medication or hormone to get things going again like normal.

The testing I need to have done includes:

• Baseline labs (aka a blood draw; to check a ton of various hormones and levels)
• "Random" ultrasound, to check my uterus & its follicles
• Genetic testing (to check if I carry any recessive traits that could be passed off to future children)
• Cycle-specific labs (a blood draw that's done specifically on days 1-4 of your cycle)
• Cycle-specific ultrasound (an ultrasound that's done specifically on days 1-4 of your cycle)
• Saline Sonogram (an ultrasound that's done specifically on days 5-11 of your cycle; by injecting saline into your uterus they can check for any structural issues/abnormalities)
• Semen Analysis (for Mike)
• Labs (to check hormone levels for Mike)

Once my insurance clears coverage (which should take about a week), Dr. Hobeika's medical assistant Nicole will call me back to schedule my first set of tests. I'll get the baseline labs drawn, as well as give some extra blood for the genetic testing. And I'll do the "random" ultrasound. From there, we'll see if I get my period naturally (which is doubtful at this point, seeing as its been about four months of not having it now...) to schedule the cycle-specific bloodwork, ultrasound, and saline sonogram. If I don't, they can basically induce a period by putting me on a hormone so we can then take care of those tests. Mike can do the semen analysis and labs at any time.

Once all of those tests are completed and the results come in, Dr. Hobeika will review everything and then meet with us again to start up our plan of action! I'm really excited to get a gameplan started, and I'm eager to find out what we need to do to fix my cycles and get us on track. Overall I'm feeling super optimistic and excited! I feel so blessed to have found such a great doctor! :)