Midwife Appointment and Thyroid Issues (or not?)

Last week I had my first appointment with one of the midwives at the clinic where I'm going to do my IUIs. It was just a consultation appointment, and it went pretty well. But one thing that kind of bothered me was that when I made the appointment, I was told I was meeting with the midwife who runs the whole alternative insemination program, but when I got there, they told me I'd be meeting with a different one. I was kind of disappointed. And, it turns out that the one I met with is pretty new to the practice, so I would have much rather met with the one who's been there longer and who's in charge of the AI stuff. Oh, well. It was still fine. There was also a student midwife there, and she sat in. Most of the appointment was going over my (and my family's) medical history and getting all my questions answered as to how the program works, etc.

The midwife didn't like my TSH level, which was tested by my PCP in mid-August and was 2.50. She said that's right on the cusp of being mildly hypothyroid, and that for pregnancy they'd rather it be closer to 1. She said she'd have it re-drawn along with a couple other thyroid labs (free T3 and free T4), and depending on the results, refer me to an endocrinologist. Whatever, as long as it doesn't hold up my plans to start ttc, and she said it doesn't. She called me a couple of days later and told me the results over the phone, but I was in the car and didn't write them down. I think she said the TSH was 3.27, and I have no idea what the other numbers were. She said she did want me to see an an endocrinologist. Of course, each lab has it's own "normal" lab values and that they can be different depending on how the equipment is calibrated or something. What kind of bothered me was I asked her if she could send or email me the lab results so I could have them for an endocrinology appointment, she said something to the effect of they don't like to give out lab results, so she couldn't email them to me, but I could call her back when I could write them down and she could give them to me again over the phone. HUH? How can they not want to give me my lab results in some formal way, like my PCP does by sending out a hard-copy letter AND putting them on a patient gateway website for me to access? I don't get it, and I need to get that clarified.

Meanwhile, I had a follow-up appointment with my PCP a couple of days ago (for weaning off of lexapro, a whole other story), and I told her what the midwife said about the TSH. She agreed that it was right on the cutoff for hypothyroid and that it couldn't hurt to see an endocrinologist, but that it really wasn't high. She also said that number has to be looked it along with the other thyroid lab numbers, so she ALSO redrew the TSH, free T3, free T4, and TPO (some other thyroid test). Those results are TSH: 2.49, T3: 108, free T4: .9, and TPO: 14.7. Does that mean anything to anyone?? Apparently, it's all in the normal range, at least for my PCP's lab values. But, to make the midwife happy and to make sure I shouldn't be treated for mild hypothyroidism during (and/or before) pregnancy, I made an endocrinology appointment for next Friday.

I also mentioned my thyroid "issue" with a friend of mine who happens to be a pediatric endocrinologist. She literally laughed and said my numbers are fine (I only knew TSH numbers at that point, not the other lab results), and pretty much said the endocrinologist is going to laugh me out of his office because I don't have hypothyroid and there's no way they're going to treat me with my levels, because it would just end up making me hyPERthyroid. Lovely.

Oh, so the other thing that came out of the appointment with the midwife is that I do need to have a pap test/pelvic before I can start inseminations. SO annoying that the OB/GYN I went to didn't do it at my appointment, since she said I only need a pap every 3 years! So now I have an appointment to have one of the midwives do it, also next Friday. Next Friday is shaping up to be an oh-so-fun day!