It has been 6 months - now what?

[Anonymous]

I am over 35 and we have been trying for 6 months. I have had two chemicals in the first two months and then nothing. Not sure where to go from here. Do I see my OB first and then a RE? Or do you go straight to a RE? FWIW I have two children already (2 and 3.5 years old) and got pregnant on month 2 with both of them. So this is new territory for us. Not sure what is different this time around other than the fact that I am older. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Do not waste time at your ob. Go straight to a RE. But don’t panic.

[Anonymous]

Go to RE and get tested

[Anonymous]

Yep, unless your insurance requires a referral, I'd go right to the RE.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Any recommendations on who I should go see? I am in NOVA. There seem to be so many different REs out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not waste time at your ob. Go straight to a RE. But don’t panic.

Yep. My OB was useless. Told me since I was having regular periods and a previous successful pregnancy, the issue must be my husband. Nope, he's got grade A swimmers and I actually ended up diagnosed with pretty bad DOR.

[Anonymous]

Do you use OPKs and timed intercourse? If not, I'd start doing that while also making an appt with an RE. The fact that you already had two children easily is a good sign. But if you are anxious, see an RE. You don't have to start treatment right away, but they'll do a few diagnostic tests to get a picture of where you are. While that is happening, you keep trying at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you use OPKs and timed intercourse? If not, I'd start doing that while also making an appt with an RE. The fact that you already had two children easily is a good sign. But if you are anxious, see an RE. You don't have to start treatment right away, but they'll do a few diagnostic tests to get a picture of where you are. While that is happening, you keep trying at home.

OP here - yes we are using OPKs and timed intercourse although admittedly the last two months the timing hasn't been the best with travel and illness. I am also a bit worried because DH is slighly overweight and is stressed from working too much and not working out enough. We are both 35.

[Anonymous]

One thing to bear in mind as a PP mentioned is that it takes time to get fertility treatments started, and you can keep trying in the meantime, so don't delay starting the process for fear that you'll be forced into an IVF cycle right away.

To give you a sense of the time it takes:

We needed a referral to an RE from our OB. We saw him in February of this year. He ordered the initial tests. The testing can take some time since the HSG has to be done at a certain time in your cycle. Once we got the results, the OB referred us to Shady Grove Fertility, where we saw an RE (Dr. Jeanne O'Brien - I liked her, though agree with other posters on these boards that SGF has its issues) in March. Getting that initial appointment was not hard. But then she wanted us to do some additional genetic testing - first me, then wait for the results, then my husband got tested as well, then it took time to get the second appointment to agree on a treatment plan, then we had to wait a couple of weeks for the insurance approval, and got in just under the wire to start an IUI cycle in May, so three months after we first got our testing started with the OB. And we were lucky in terms of not having too many delays due to waiting for my cycle to start or due to travel plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you use OPKs and timed intercourse? If not, I'd start doing that while also making an appt with an RE. The fact that you already had two children easily is a good sign. But if you are anxious, see an RE. You don't have to start treatment right away, but they'll do a few diagnostic tests to get a picture of where you are. While that is happening, you keep trying at home.

OP here - yes we are using OPKs and timed intercourse although admittedly the last two months the timing hasn't been the best with travel and illness. I am also a bit worried because DH is slighly overweight and is stressed from working too much and not working out enough. We are both 35.

Right, so I'd talk to an RE while still trying at home. You want to get looked at (an HSG) and your DH will have his sperm tested. All that can happen quickly or it can take time (meaning 2 more cycles for you trying at home). The first time I saw an RE I was ready for treatment immediately, because we'd been trying over a year, had one early miscarriage and then nothing. I was ready for something else to help.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all! I just sent a note to my OB to see what the next steps are in case I need to go through them first. Will try and find a RE as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all! I just sent a note to my OB to see what the next steps are in case I need to go through them first. Will try and find a RE as well.

These boards are a good place to find a RE. Also location is a big factor if you do consider treatments (monitoring etc in the mornings). So consider that when you schedule a consult.

FWIW I was 31 and TTC for 6 months, skipped the OB, went straight to an RE and got tests run. I had terrible DOR and we immediately did IVF. Best decision ever. You must be your own advocate. Nobody cares about your ability to get pregnant more than you.

[Anonymous]

OP here - can anybody recommend a place close to Alexandria VA? Or should I start a new thread?

[Anonymous]

if u look on shady grove's site, you can see the doctors located at each location

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - can anybody recommend a place close to Alexandria VA? Or should I start a new thread?

Dominion Fertility is in Arlington and has a satellite office in Fair Oaks. I had an excellent experience with Dominion after a not-great experience with GW, which has a single location at Foggy Bottom in DC.

Find out what your insurance covers so you won't be surprised, which clinics are in-network for your insurance, and whether you need an OB referral. I did not need a referral for insurance reasons, and did not realize I could have made an appt at a fertility clinic w/o a referral. I wasted a month waiting for an appointment w/ my OB at GW to see what she recommended. The appointment lasted <5 min. She suggested which RE to see at the clinic she was recommending and then ran a couple blood tests. It was a frustrating waste of time.