The “I” Word: Background Part II

In February 2011, I switched employers which meant we also switched insurance companies.  The new company's plan year was July 1 - Jun 30 and we wanted to get our yearly physicals in before the existing plan year expired.  After the new insurance kicked-in, we found a PCP near our home and made an appointment.  For some unknown reason, this PCP (who I'll refer to as Dr. B) likes to meet with patients and get to know them for an initial visit before completing a physical.  On one hand it's nice because you feel the provider is taking an interest in you and your health but on the other hand I couldn't help thinking the whole two visit thing is a complete scam because the office would be billing our insurance for both visits.

In May, we went for our initial, new patient visit with Dr. B which took forever...I mean FOR.EV.ER.  We were there for hours as he discussed his background, approach to care and asked various questions about our health.  During the visit, I was sure to bring up our conception process to-date.  By this point, I was still tracking cycles but we'd abandoned the basal thermometer and moved on to ovulation kits.

Those pesky little ovulation kits hadn't helped one bit...the first month we followed the package instructions to a "T" and never got a positive reading.  The next month, I increased the testing window (testing for more than a week) but still no positive reading.  By the third month, I was bound and determined to get a positive reading so I tested for two full weeks...and...NADA.  Come to find out, the ovulation kits don't work for everyone and I was definitely one of those people.  Never having a positive reading didn't mean that I wasn't ovulating...it just meant that the tests didn't work for my body.

After hearing an abridged version of our process over the past 9 months, Dr. B's big-time, professional, medical opinion was that we were trying too hard.  "WHAT?!?!" shrieked through my mind as the words spilled out of his mouth.  He suggested abandoning the ovulation kits, cutting back on exercise and concentrating on us...our marriage, each other, us.  An an avid runner, cutting back on exercise was not something I wanted to hear but if it would lead us to the desired end result, I was on board.  Plus, I'd be spending more quality time with JPug so I looked forward to the change.  Dr. B asked that we push our physicals to August as that would give us some time incorporate his advice into our lifestyle and it would also mark the official 12-month point in our journey.