20 Questions

While hubby has been at work the past few days, I have been compiling a list of questions to take to our “second opinion” appointment.  Just a warning, this list may be quite boring if you are not TTC or battling fertility treatments.

So far, here’s what we have:

1. What is the earliest time slot available for ultra/blood appointments during a cycle?
2. Who will do the ultrasound monitoring appointments during a cycle?
3. What do you feel our chances of achieving a live birth via IVF are after 3 miscarriages? (even though percentages don’t mean much to us, we still like to at least hear them; doesn’t mean we are actually believing them, if that makes any sense)
4. Have you ever had a patient in a similar situation to ours that achieved success?
5. What do you feel the chances of miscarrying again are?
6. Based on our records, why do you think we have miscarried 3 times?
7. For what reasons would you deem it necessary to cancel a scheduled FET? How often does this occur at your clinic?
8. Are there any additional tests you feel would be worth while that we have not done? Believe it or not, there are still a few tests out there we haven’t done. Our current RE doesn’t believe these tests are necessary, which she backs up with studies done from SART.  This would include in-depth auto-immune testing, which I have read a little about (we did the Lupus panel and all that already).  It appears that some women diagnosed with RPL and auto-immune disorders can achieve success after receiving therapy. However, some still don’t.  I know a lot of ladies on here have consulted with Dr. Braverman (I believe I spelled it right??) regarding this hot topic.
9. What method of communication can I use to get in contact with you on a day-to-day basis?
10. Will you do a mock transfer and/or endometrial scratch before our real transfer? We like this idea a lot-in fact, we have had scratches done before all 3 transfers, and each time we achieved a pregnancy.  In addition, I have read many good things about how this helps get the BFP.  Having this done is almost a comfort for me at this point.
11. Explain what an embryo transfer “looks” like at your practice (ultrasound guidance? full bladder? type of catheter? sedation? cleaning of the cervix? bedrest? etc.)
12. Do you think we should transfer 1 or 2 embryos? Why?
13. What are the FET protocol choices available to me? For example, un-medicated with a trigger shot? Totally un-medicated? Estrogen & progesterone only? I’m really over the 2 month-long BC and Lupron protocol where estrogen and progesterone are eventually added in! 
14. What percentages of your embryos successfully thaw and are transferable?
15. How long are embryos stored at your location? Is there a fee?
16. Based on our records, would you have done anything differently than our current RE for any of our 3 cycles? If so, what and why?
17. Looking at our most recent sperm count, what are our chances of achieving a pregnancy on our own?
18. Are there any medications my husband can take to improve his levels, like Clomid?  I have asked our two prior RE’s about this and they have said no, yet I have heard of plenty of couples who have done this and had success.
19. What type of packages do you offer financially? Note: It’s hard to believe this has moved way down on the list! When we first started this IVF journey 2 years ago, it was at the top of our list.
20.   If we achieve a pregnancy, how long will it be before you release us to our OB? How often will you complete blood work and ultrasounds up until our release?

We are trying to stay away from asking any “fresh” cycle questions for now since we still have 3 frosties.  Can anyone think of any other important questions we should ask? Like this list isn’t enough already, right?!?  Maybe I should add a #21, “On a scale of 1-10, rate how big of a pain in the a** you think I will be if we decide to come to your practice.” Oh, well! We are paying out of our you-know-what for all this & we want to feel 100% confident in our next move! I think our motto needs to be “if you don’t want us as your patients, then we don’t want you as our doctor.”