It's been a long journey and many mis-diagnosis over the last 8 years. It's ironic, some things that happened I can barely even remember, but now, as my husband and I are 3 years into our journey of a desire to become parents, these puzzle pieces begin to make sense.
I decided to start an online journal of what we are going through, in hopes, that someone who is also dealing with infertility, might stumble upon it and feel comforted that they aren't alone. Thankfully - I have an amazing support group of a few close girl friends (many who recently stepped out of the woodwork and came to my side) and an older sister who has become my rock and crutch. If it wasn't for her - I don't know how I would have gotten through the last 2 years emotionally.
Let's try and catch everyone up real quick. When I was 21yrs old, I was told I could never have children because I supposedly didn't have a cervix. I remember sitting in the hospital parking lot crying hysterically as I tried to call my older sister - who did her best to comfort me. It was then, the first time, she told me she would be a surrogate for me. I saw doctor after doctor (4 in one summer) and the last one wanted me to go into the city and see a specialist.....never happened. When I was 23yrs old, ta-da, I was told I DID have a cervix. Turns out - my hymen just never broke until I was 23! Ha! I didn't know that was even possible?!
When I was 24, I went off birth control for the first time in 10 years. I was put on birth control when I was 14 to regulate my very irregular periods. After going off the birth control, I would have a period maybe once every 6-10 months.
Throughout 24-26 yrs old, I had normal and "red flag" annual paps. I got to the point where I didn't even want to go in for my annual exam, worrying where they would stick, poke, or cut me next. When my husband and I started to try to conceive, I was 26 and had been together a year. We were very proactive initially, but then decided not to necessarily TRY to become pregnant but just, "if it happens it happens".
When I was 27, we began fertility treatments. I initially started on a low dosage of clomid. When that round didn't take, they bumped up the round. The emotions were awful, as was the blood work. During an ultra sound, they discovered I had several cysts on my ovaries, and severe cysts on my right ovary. They diagnosed me with PCOS and told me to lose 10 lbs and it would help (okay, before you go getting upset, hang in there, it gets crazy!). I began my second round just before turning 28yrs old, in 2008. Shortly after I started my second round of clomid, I began having severe abdominal pains. Turned out - my gall bladder had to come out, stat! Surgery happened February 14, 2012. After that - we took time off from the infertility treatments.
We moved this past summer to "start new" and I decided to go back to college to finish my degree. With the move, we lost our health insurance. Still struggling with fertility, through my new job, I now have health insurance....which does not cover fertility treatments. I thought maybe there were things they could help with without labeling them as fertility treatments.
My first appointment was 3 weeks ago with an annual pap and blood work. I passed out twice that day. I have very bad veins - they roll, are deep and are extremely tiny. I received a phone call later that week and was told my blood work came back normal and my thyroid - which I thought was the culprit, was normal as well.
Week 2 - we did a glucose test. I fast for 12 hours, and drank over 4 liters of water in hopes they would be able to access the vein. They did and then I drank a decent amount of this orange sugar liquid and waited for two hours, followed by more blood work.
Last week (week 3), I went back to the doctors for the results..... and .... WOW! We found out that I did test positive for PCOS and asked me what testings my previous OBGYN did to discover I had PCOS and I said all they did was the ultra sound and told me to lose 10 lbs. Whoa - my midwife, was TICKED! She said there's multiple steps that need to be established in order to truly test someone for PCOS, not just an ultra sound.
Turns out, my body isn't producing any insulin, which explains the extreme weight gain I had several years ago (70 lbs in 13 months), why I've struggled to lose weight, and why I seem to have dizzy spells and nauseous when I haven't eaten in several hours. We also discovered my body is barely producing estrogen and my testosterone levels are extremely high.
They decided to treat me with Metformin, which is used for diabetics, but is a secondary medication to treat PCOS. The midwife, was beyond amazing and very kind. Week 1 is one pill a day, week 2 is two pills a day and week three will be 3 pills a day for the next 3 months. I was put on a high protein low carb diet, I was told to exercise at least 30 min a day and to get 15min of sunlight a day.....and to stay on my prenatal vitamin!
I've now been on metformin for 6 days....and only one of those days, I have not been sick. I have a lot of stomach aches now and feel just "yucky" most of my afternoon. I was warned though, as my body adjusts to the metformin, that will be the case. I have however, went from 259 lbs down to 254lbs.
We have been eating extremely healthy and every meal is full of protein. We have been eating a lot of eggs, yogurt, fruit, turkey, chicken and salads. I definitely feel better, I need to begin the working out process, but my work schedule is so chaotic, I'm so tired by the time I have a chance to work out...regardless, it has to happen.
I know I filled this entry with a lot of information spread out over many years..... but now you're up to date and from here on out I feel like I will be able to more describe my own personal feelings with what all is happening and will become a little more personal.
I'm excited to share my story with anyone else who might be struggling. I know it's not easy and i know there's soooo many emotions you go through. But I can tell you, that this is the first time in 3 years I feel like I have hope that if we can get the PCOS under control, I might have a chance at becoming a mother!
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