ICLW

Good Monday morning, everyone! I am an ICLW first timer, and so I realize that my little blog may be getting some new visitors this week. I decided that this may be a good time to re-introduce myself and share my story. Even some of my regular readers don't know the "whole" story. :-)

I met the man that would become the love of my life in October 2005. We were introduced by a mutual friend who just knew we were perfect for each other. (I guess she was right!) We dated for the next 14 months, got engaged on New Year's Eve '06, and married on 07/07/07. Being a bit older than most newlyweds in our area (I was 27, he was 34), we decided rather quickly that we were ready to add children to our little family. So, when my samples of BCP that my OB/GYN gave me in May ran out, I stopped taking the pill. (In case you didn't follow that clearly--as sometimes things make more sense in my head than they do when I've actually said them--I quit taking the pill after 3 total months. I never even filled my prescription.) So, we counted ourselves officially "trying" in September '07.

Over the course of the next few months, I read everything I could about TTC--articles, message boards, the whole nine yards. If it sounded like it might even pretend to help me, I read it. Having never had regular, "typical" cycles, I wasn't quite sure how to feel that first time I was "late," which happened to be in October. Like many others, my brain convinced me that I had every pregnancy symptom in the books. But the 10 pregnancy tests I took between October 1 and November 18 kept showing up negative for some reason. By that point, I was just glad SOMETHING was happening. I wasn't too discouraged yet, but I secretly diagnosed myself with PCOS after reading so much about it online. (I'd imagine doctors hate it when patients self-diagnose.)

In May 2008, I was forced to switch to a new OB/GYN because my old one relocated to another state. I love my new doctor, and he expressed some concern on my very first appointment about our unsuccessful efforts to conceive. I hadn't even considered talking to him about these issues yet, since it hadn't even been a year since we started trying (or gotten married, for that matter). He ordered a battery of tests, prescribed Pro.ver.a to jumpstart my AF, and offered to try me on Clo.mi.d to see if that would help.

It was during the 5 months I took Clomid that I discovered that my body does not like to be poked and prodded. I was never one to get sick too often before, so I hadn't had blood drawn but a couple of times in my lifetime. Now, I was having it drawn every single month just to see if I was ovulating. I responded well to the meds, but I was incredibly hard to stick, and often left the lab with bruises. Plus, AF continued to find me each month. In October 2008, the doctor switched me to Fem.ara. I took this drug for 3 months, took a month off to have an HSG (all clear, but complicated--long story in itself) while DH had his first SA (not so great), then did one more month before the doctor decided we should stop treatment for a while.

In May 2009, at my yearly exam, Dr. G. decided to try me on Met.for.min to see if that would help regulate my cycles. It has, but it made my very sick to my stomach for the first several months. (More than once did I abandon my grocery cart to make a mad dash to the restroom...and got there too late. So embarrassing.) Meanwhile, DH saw a urologist, repeated the SA (better results, but still not great), and he decided to see his general practitioner to see if there was something else wrong that could be causing our problems. He discovered that he had a slight thyroid issue, but other than being overweight, he was perfectly healthy. So, in June 2009, we made some MAJOR lifestyle changes. There hasn't been one single food fried in this house since he went to the doctor (June 10). We are on a 1500 calorie/day diet, walk at least 2 miles daily (missing very rarely), and do 20-30 minutes of cardio workouts 3-4 days a week. So far, he's lost 94 pounds and I've lost about 40.

DH plans to get tested again before my next OB/GYN appointment on June 1, just to see if all we've done has made a difference. If things are better, we may be candidates for IUI. At the very least, we may be able to try a new round of Fe.mar.a or something.

For now, we're just taking our vitamins, working on getting as healthy as possible, and trusting that God is waiting until the time is right to make us a family of 3.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. It actually felt pretty good to get that all out in the open. I don't know that I've ever told that whole story at one time before. If I bored you, I'm sorry. I'll try to have something more interesting tomorrow.

I hope your Monday is marvelous!

Always,