Operation Keep Myself Pregnant - Step 1

Okay so after a nice long restful weekend I am now faced with the decision to choose a "Keep Myself Pregnant" doctor. Hmmm. I find this task a cross between choosing a spa and choosing a wedding vendor. With something like this I don't want to go for the cheapest deal in town. But at the same time I don't want to be enticed by all the bells and whistles of the highest priced man in town. Does that make sense?

Basically we are down to 3. Two have been suggested by my ob and the other one is all the rave in my husband's office.

Here's a little background:

So my husband, who happens to be a doctor (but as I said before, unfortunately not in this field...and even further more I might add has successfully put all female anatomy data that he ever learned in med school out of his mind) has gotten to know a couple of women who he works with and happen to be pregnant. At first when I heard about them I thought...well isn't that sweet...probably two women who work together that just decided one day - WALLAH! Why don't we have our babies at the same time???! (insert high pitched annoying "eeeeeeeeek" sound here) Wouldn't that be so fun!!!!? Funny how in my mind that's how that scene played out. Anyways flash forward, my husband actually finds out that not only did one but BOTH of these women had issues getting pregnant and were actually trying to get pregnant for something like 7 years and just couldn't! Anyways to make a long story short he started hearing story after story about this AMAZING RE that gets everyone pregnant (well you know what I mean). And so with my persistent instruction I nagged my husband to get this doctor's info. And so this is how Doctor #3 or Dr. Amazing came to be.

Doctor #1 was posted about earlier and I like to call him Dr. Frozen Embryo because my ob told me that she knows him personally, and just raved about him. Oh and also mentioned that he has been written up for successfully transplanting the world's oldest frozen embryo. I'm picturing some freezer burn but I'm assuming that's not really how it happened. But I can't help but be impressed by someone who could make something out of freezer burn. I would have easily given up instantly and just tossed it out. Shows patience if anything.

Now Doctor #2 otherwise known as Dr. Yuppy (also referred to me by my ob - prior to finding out that Dr. Frozen Embryo was technically closer to me) also seems perfectly acceptable with a lovely website featuring his lovely office...his picture (featured on his lovely website) reminds me of someone who would play the role of the infertility doctor to some yuppy couple in a primetime show. So I'm calling him Dr. Yuppy. He's young, he's Caucasian and his offices look well decorated (always a plus in my book since I'm always appreciative of a well decorated office - although I'm not sure my ovaries will take this into consideration as much).

So there you have it. Three perfectly lovely doctors and one major decision to make. And so I am now looking beyond well decorated offices and impeccable websites and getting to the nitty gritty. How many years and publications and board position and etc. etc. etc. do they each have? I feel like I'm giving points for each tally and the one with the most wins. It's enough to make my head spin.

Doctor Frozen Emby has had at least 17 years of experience and has a list to high heaven of research and publications he's been a part of. Not to mention a few nbc news links as to stories covered on him in the news. And let's not forget the frozen emby. He was my ob's top pick because a) has great success rates (which according to his website he does have slightly higher than Dr. Amazing) which makes me wonder, how AMAZING could doctor Amazing be with lower success rates than Dr. Frozen Embryo? b) He's conveniently located right between both my husband and my work locations for easy access (never thought about this but in case my husband needs to dart over for a lunch time deposit this might be important) c) He's been doing this for a long time. My overall take on him is Pros: 1) good website 2) great reviews 3) obviously successful beyond the average RE to get a few news clips of him on a major news story. Cons: 1) is he the shiny penny that I'm going for just because of the glam? 2) Will he be more expensive? (I hate to consider this but in the real world money especially thousands of dollars worth can really make or break us at this point) 3) Although close in location he's still in quite a high traffic area to make getting to his office sort of a pain mid day.

Dr. Yuppy has 11 years experience. Slightly less, but not terrible in my opinion. Great website, great office, no bad reviews but not quite as much press as Dr. Emby, a little out of the way for both of us from our work locations but actually closer to home. Not quite as much glam but still seems high class enough that I sort of feel there might be a possibility of overcharging the average yuppy couple coming to him for help.

And last but not least Dr. Amazing: With an amazing amount of approximately 23 years of experience he blows away the other doctors. But here's the catch...he's no per se an actual RE from what I can tell but simply an OB that has dipped his hands in fertility issues. His clinic seems to do and provide everything that the others do but has has not quite so much press and has just a standard no frills website. On the upside my husband points out that his office has had many referrals from him and that a possible "family discount" may be possible not to mention his usual pricing does offer a "cash" discount which partially thrills the frugal side of me but concerns me on the practicality side. Do I really want the option to use a coupon for the sake of my health? As much as this being a plus I don't really want to choose my doctor based upon a happy hour discount menu if you know what I mean. Oh and I should mention that he is EXTREMELY close to my husband's work which will ideally be the best so that my husband doesn't have to upset his own patients schedule when he has to haul butt down there for a sperm test or possible deposit.

I mean what do they always say? You get what you pay for?

Sigh. I would ideally love to talk to my husband about this until we are both blue in the face and have made a zillion pros and cons lists. Ideally I would love to have the time and money to do initial interviews with all 3 of them and then choose from there but unfortunately I don't have that luxury. So instead I'll do the next best thing...and post a poll. So vote away and let me know your honest opinion about which RE you would pick! Thanks for playing.