Do you ever just want to really get something right? Like, you reallllly want it to be right, and taken the right way, not misunderstood or misinterpreted- you get it. Well, that’s exactly how I feel about this post and the next few.
I have to give this reminder- this is my experience, our experience. I am going to try my best to relay the information as I best understand it. However, the doctors are the professionals and I will very quickly refer you to their contact information if I cannot confidently answer a question myself. I will likely refer you anyways! Yeah, consider this the referral! 🙂
Following my listening to the podcast I shared at the end of my last post, and sharing it with Adrien and a couple of my friends, I scheduled a consult for us with Dr. Natalie Underberg on October 25, 2023. The consult was $45 for a scheduled 20-25 minutes. There was a document to fill out, titled something like, “Tell Me Your Story.”
1. Just being honest, I had an instant fear of writing everything out. It was going to pretty much be everything I have written prior to this post in this blog, in the best summary I could provide. The immediate fear of it being “a lot,” or it having no substance to it and my gut feeling being wrong, or it being dismissed- all of it.
2. $45 felt like a no-brainer. Signed up!
3. But, I also thought to myself, “I heard a podcast, found the doctor on Instagram, paid for a consult, and have a scheduled Zoom meeting with her. I’m really grabbing at straws here and I’m questioning myself, so I really hope this goes well!”
I can say this… I cannot say enough good things about social media when it is used correctly, safely, and with good intent!
The consult lasted almost 40 minutes. YES, DOUBLE THE SCHEDULED TIME!
She told me she had read the document I submitted with my history and present status. THEN, SHE ASKED ME TO TELL HER ALL OF IT IN MY OWN WORDS! Y’all, are you reading this?!
I have not had to be a patient that many times in my life, but I have worked with and have been a patient of some really incredible, empathetic doctors and regardless of what else is going on, you would never know they have zero time to sit and listen to you.
Then, there are those that are not that way, and that’s okay.
But, there is a 100% difference in how it leaves you feeling, especially when fear is involved.
Anyways, I was afraid the whole consult would be gone with me talking through it all, but we made it with time left to discuss.
With everything I said, she had further questions to follow and document.
In first talking to her about our experience with fertility alone, she indicated:
1. Lab levels have to be optimal. Although they may be in a normal range, such as Estradiol, it cannot be on the low end of normal. And they cannot all be on the low end of normal. They must improve.
2. Timing will obviously play a part, but with the correction of hormone levels alone, she always plans for a solid 90 days of using supplements to begin seeing the improvement of hormone levels and all to take place.
3. There was no indication that my many years on birth control “caused” my low AMH or current circumstances. However, she said a good rule of thumb is- for every year I am on birth control, it can take that number of months to turn my body around, and that does not apply to every person.
Specifically, she described our brain and ovarian systems need for effective communication. And she applied the same to men. If the system has been suppressed, they have to get back to talking. My brain has to start sending the correct signals and the entire system working properly in the function and release of hormones appropriately for ovulation and the complete process.
We moved from fertility to discussing my ongoing gut issues and history.
I told her everything, but we specifically discussed the dramatic decrease in water weight/inflammation I had when I cut gluten in the recent past.
I told her I was considering taking a food sensitivity test, because it didn’t seem to only be gluten I had an intolerance to.
We discussed all that I had previously tried and changed in the past, with no long term change.
She said I could take a food sensitivity test, however it is great for knowing symptoms with foods, but not necessarily diagnosing the root of the problem- ie. knowing how the gut is actually doing.
To tie the two (fertility & gut health) together, she said:
1. System inflammation imposes on all fertility processes.
2. If the home (the gut) the food lives in is “bad,” then there is inflammation, and potentially leaky gut, or malabsorption, etc. etc. Therefore, I cannot actually absorb anything- not healthy fats, not nutrients, not even the Letrozole I had been taking.
She told me about a stool test we could use to look further into my gut health and any underlying issues. Her husband, Dr. Jake Roland, would also consult in the gut health process.
At the time of this consult, I was in the middle of a cycle, so we were awaiting the result of a pregnancy test prior to moving forward. Regardless of the pregnancy test result though, we would still want to resolve my gut issues for the long term of my health.
If the stool test was abnormal, we would fix the issues. If it was normal, we would move forward with looking at all results thoroughly and focus on improving all hormones with appropriate supplements and dosing for both of us.
If we moved forward with working with Dr. Natalie, she was going to schedule bloodwork for me, and review mine and Adrien’s previous bloodwork and his counts.
Her two statements that I have held on to so tightly– and also told her not to say them twice, or I’m holding her to them:
1. “I don’t see anything we cannot improve. I see a lot of gaps in discovering a root cause.” For example, lab/hormone levels resulted as low, I was using suggested supplements, but we never rechecked my labs to see if I was absorbing, therefore if all was improving.
2. “I don’t foresee you doing IVF.” —–TEARS! & PRAYERS!
In the meantime, she suggested Adrien and I eat a paleo diet with healthy fat type meals as much as possible. Easy- with a few adjustments, we could do that!
My pregnancy test was negative during this month and we proceeded with drawing new lab work, as the first step to working with Dr. Natalie.
I wanted a consult like this, but I didn’t expect a consult like this. This conversation was EXACTLY what I had been trying to have in my past consults. I knew from her podcast that I felt like our conversation would be this way. But, I was truly blown away by it all. Just the further insight and details briefly discussed at this point.
And, I am trusting that every single piece of this is happening just as it should, with purpose.
Talk soon!
xoxo- Kara
Our Waiting For Little Ouellette 