At long last, I went to an RE last Monday. My dh came with me. I glad he did so I didn't have to repeat everything.

They ordered all kinds of infectious disease tests, which we had done this morning. I regret not asking for a German measles test earlier. I'll kick myself if I don't have the antibodies. My sister tested for no antibodies when she was pregnant with her first and had to be homebound for part of her pregnancy when an outbreak was reported in her area. If I don't have the antibodies, it will mean a three month wait after an immunization shot. That would suck.

They also ordered the standard tests - an FSH, HSG, and SA. I might not get the FSH or HSG until the cycle after next because of how much of a pain my insurance company is. But I'm not stressed about it because we wouldn't be able to start any treatments until two cycles from now anyway.

The RE doesn't just prescribe clomid and see what happens. He wants to see how the tests come out first and then if everything looks normal, he goes straight to IUI. Anyway, I'm likely to be ovulating during a vacation to Rome in December, so IUI is not possible until the cycle after that. It is also possible that I'll have to have my Day 3 FSH test over Thanksgiving weekend. I guess we'll deal with that if it occurs.

My husband is actually dissappointed that the RE won't prescribe me clomid now. He thinks that it would be a good idea if it improves our chances while we are waiting several cycles for the test outcomes. I see his point, but I'm more concerned about figuring out whether there is something wrong with me. I know I'm ovulating and I have lots of charts to prove it, so the problem has to be something else. In short, I really don't think clomid alone will make any difference for me so I don't mind that the RE won't prescribe it yet

With respect to charting, the RE told me that I could go ahead and stop charting and stop taking opks. I have enough charts to show that I'm normal and my cycles are normal enough that I should be able to figure out when I'm ovulating without all that stuff. I'm still charting, though, because I just renewed ff and I like how I know when af is expected.

This cycle's chart is a little screwed up. I got a mild cold with a very stuffy nose. I think the fact that I couldn't breathe through my nose when taking my temp affected the temps. I just got my temp rise a couple of days ago and I had to manually enter my o date in ff. I'm pretty confident that I o'd then because I'm getting some late 2ww symptoms now.

I hope that I'm pregnant this cycle, but just knowing that we have a backup plan eases my anxiety about it a lot.

Sorry for writing a book. I haven't been on here in a little while and wanted to fill everyone in. I know there are a few people on here who know how desparately I've wanted to move on to this stage.