Hi! Thought I'd post how our first meeting with the fertility specialist went (I refuse to call them infertility specialists which is their proper name). I should probably post this over in Long Term ttc but I've been on this board so much lately that I feel like I know you guys and I'm just not ready to change boards yet (although I know they are also a great group of women).

A little background on what brought us to the specialist. I'm 32, DH is 38. We've been ttc #1 for about 15 mos now. Our first miscarriage was back in Dec 2008, the fetus had stopped developing at 8 wks and was found at our 10 wk appt. Our second miscarriage was in Aug 2009 and was at 5 1/2 weeks. I believe that was a chemical pregnancy as the only indication was a positive early pregnancy test. My cycles have always been a bit irregular, ranging from 26 - 38 days. I obviously do ovulate, but possibly not every cycle. I am also beginning to think that I may have a short luteal phase (just started charting and temping this cycle so hopefully will know more in a few weeks).

When we arrived at the office we were brought into a room and greeted by a resident who works for the Dr. She took our basic information, asked about the dates and durations of pregnancies and basic information about my cycles and any medication we were taking along with info on drinking and smoking. She asked my husband if he ever had performance issues and if either of us had had any surgeries or medical problems.

She then returned with the doctor who said that based on the information we provided that there was no simple explanation of why we were having problems. He asked to perform a transvaginal ultrasound and run some routine blood work (Karyotype to test both DH and I for any genetic problems, and what they call a day 3 FSH test to look into my egg reserve). My regular ob/gyn had already run a few blood tests to rule out any antibody problems, all came back normal (LUPUS Inhibitor Russell Viper, Activated Protein'c resistance, Anti-cardiolipin AB) and also to check my thyroid (again, normal).

With all the miscarriages I'm an old pro at getting the transvaginal ultrasounds. During the ultrasound they found that I have a heart shaped uterus. I believe a normal uterus is usually a pear shape. The problem with a heart shaped uterus is that my uterus divides at the very top and splits into what they call 2 horns (picture the two tops of a heart). This can cause problems with blood supply if the embryo attaches in either of the horns or the section of that dips down between them. The doctor told me that the shape may not necessarily be causing the miscarriages, but that it could be a factor.

He also checked my ovaries as I was on cycle day 12 during the appointment. He said at that point eggs should measure about a centimeter and that mine looked a bit small. Also the lining of my uterus looked thin. I have been experiencing mid cycle spotting (not ovulation or implantation bleeding) and he said that could be caused by a hormonal problem where my brain is not sending the right signal to stimulate the follicles to ready the eggs and the lining. I did let him know that I haven't been ovulating until like day 22 or later of my cycle, so wondered if maybe that was the cause of the thin lining and smaller eggs, but he didn't really seem to pay attention to that (very frustrating!).

After the exam we were taken back into the room and reviewed the pictures he had taken during the ultrasound. He explained more about the uterine shape defect and what my options were. He said there is a minor surgery they can do where they go in through the cervix and basically snip the v at the top of the heart to get the uterus to be normal shape. He was nice and said we would not make any decisions on that today and encouraged me to go home and Google about the condition to learn more about it. He also mentioned that I may need some medicine to help with my hormonal problems. We didn't get into that very much though.

We meet with him again after all of the test results are back (I go for the last blood test a few days after my next period starts, should be around Christmas holiday).

My initial impressions are that I am very glad we decided to see a specialist. My ob is wonderful, but I think seeing the specialists forces them to see you as an individual patient and do a more thorough job of looking into what's wrong. The specialist isn't perfect, I felt a bit rushed and like I said he didn't really seem to take into account the fact that I ovulate late in my cycles. I did some reading up prior to the visit and it appears to be a common complaint among women. Instead of looking for a new dr who will most likely still have the same shortcomings, I have decided to take my health into my own hands and be prepared with a lot of research and a lot of questions that I will force him to answer. I'm still not decided on if I'll do the surgery, but I think I am leaning towards it. I would just hate to get a BFP that implants in the wrong part of my uterus and causes another miscarriage.

I will update this post as we progress with our consultations and treatments. I would love to hear from others who may have had similar experiences. If there are any questions I can answer, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you all very much for taking the time to read and I hope this post may be helpful to others.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope your sticky BFP is arriving soon.

Thanks for posting that - it's good to hear that there is a possible reason for your M/Cs.

Are you getting 7DPO bloods done too?

Bernina, it's nice to read a complete account of what went on at your initial appointment. I, for one, would love to hear follow -ups!! Good luck with making your surgery decision and hope you get your BFP soon.

Thanks for the detailed account, bernina.

I agree with fitzy. Would love to hear your follow-ups. Best of luck and hope you will get your sticky bean soon

Thank you all! I know that there may be others on this board that are hitting the 1 and 1 1/2 year marks and wondering what the next steps could be and hoped sharing my experiences could help.

I'll definitely keep this post updated as we progress, should definitely know more by late Dec/early January.