Love at First Sight - RE Style

My RE is awesome, and I am not going to lie I have been hesitant about screaming it from the rooftop. 

I spoke highly of my RE once in a Facebook Group, and someone had a not so wonderful experience with her many years ago. I have never had the experience this person has had with her, but totally understand that one person's experience is definitely not everyone's experience. 

Chicago is also the home of quite a few large IVF clinics where the majority of the infertility population wind up going.  I contemplated consulting with them in the beginning, but my husband and I later decided my comfort with my RE was worth way more than I thought the other clinics could give me. She doesn't offer an online patient portal and her billing department isn't the best, but she will monitor you on the weekends, personally return your phone calls and schedule retrievals on holiday weekends if need be.  You are not a number - you are a person.  

I will never forget my husband and I's first meeting with her back in June of 2014.  She literally spent 1 1/2 hours just going through our lab results and past history. She was compassionate, she listened to our concerns and gave her recommendations without the typical doctor attitude. We had hoped after this meeting we would never see her again, but fate proved us wrong.

After our second loss we met with her and she was upfront but still compassionate with what she felt would be the next best steps. At this point in time my husband and I were both dealing with grief differently and she literally helped us both through our grief.  She helped us understand why and how we were dealing with things differently. My husband left that appointment with a lot more compassion and I left with a lot more understanding. 

It was after this appointment I coined our visits with her "therapy for my ovaries".  I never leave an appointment feeling down. She emphasizes the positives "your uterus looks great!" "you have 9 frozen PGS normal embryos!"

There are times when I have felt the need to speak to her, and called my nurse in a panic.  She has always returned my telephone call within the hour and talked me down from my insanity. 

I guess you can say, she gets me. 

I have second guessed her in the past, and she is okay with that. She never takes offense, listens to me with open ears and then we come up with a plan or she helps me see her side and reason. She does not have a "this is it, I am the doctor" attitude.  

I think its also important to point out that she has a strong background in Reproductive Endocrinology (more than 25 years!) including working as Medical Director at SIRM. 

She is compassionate, positive and never rushed. She is exactly who I need by my side during this roller-coaster.