Monday, August 22, 2011

fur babies

just thought i'd share a pic of my furbabies!!! Foxy, Taz & Tails

Sunday, August 21, 2011

day 12 ultrasound

So day 12 comes, and I go in for my ultrasound appointment. I patiently wait in the ultrasound waiting area watching women come out and show off their new ultrasound pictures of their baby’s, but this time its ok because that will be me soon. Finally I get called back. As she’s doing the ultrasound to check for a mature follicle I can see it on the TV in front of me and I can’t tell what anything is. Everything looks like black and gray pixels. She’s moving the wand around and pushing on my stomach and after about five minutes she asked me if I had taken clomid or anything to induce ovulation and I told her yes I had taken clomid days 3-7, she tells me to get dressed and to wait in the waiting room to see my doctor. I didn’t know what to think but I had a bad feeling, as I sat in the waiting room I became anxious and worried, maybe this wasn’t my miracle drug after all. It felt like an eternity before the nurse called us back, when she showed us into our doctors office instead of an exam room I knew it couldn’t be good. Soon my doctor came in and explained not only was there no mature follicle, but there wasn’t a follicle at all, since there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do the injections this time. This time he wrote me a prescription for the provera and then 100mg clomid with the same instructions to come in on day 12 next month. I was devastated, I had read so many success stories about clomid working and while I knew that we might not conceive the first time or the second time I never expected that it wouldn’t do what it was supposed to, which was to produce a mature egg.

clomid

After my HSG test we went back to see my doctor. He again prescribed me provera to induce my period and then 50mg clomid to be taken days 3-7 and he explained to me that I would come in on day 12 for an ultrasound to check for a mature follicle and then I would receive HCG injections to release the follicle. Leaving the doctors office that day I was ecstatic. I gladly started the provera for 10 days and within four days after my last pill I started my period. Mind you provera gives you the worst periods of your life, they are heavy, like change your pad every 30mins heavy, and the cramps lets just say after 3 Tylenol they feel like normal cramps which are still pretty painful. I went on to take clomid days 3-7, they gave me hot flashes, nausea, and bloating. I felt miserable, but it didn’t even matter because this was the miracle drugs that would make me a mommy.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

HSG

When we got to Fort Benning I went to the doctor and found out I had to be referred to a GYN off post. This process took almost 3 weeks and it felt like a life time to me, I was ready to start a new treatment with a new doctor. My first visit we went in and talked to the doctor. He explained he wanted to run some tests before we would start any treatment. He wanted my husband to get a semen analysis done and I would have to get a hysterosalpingogram or HSG test. So my husband went for the semen analysis the next week and my doctor didn’t indicate any problems with it. I was prescribed provera to induce a period because the test has to be right after your period but before ovulation to ensure you are not pregnant. I went for my HSG the middle of July. I was terrified to do this after some horror stories I read on the internet. So the day of my test I arrive at the hospital at 7am and I end up having to wait 30 minutes for my doctor, this was nerve racking itself. So I go back in this ice cold room and have to get ready and I lay on the table. They pull this big machine over me and then the doctor starts injecting the dye into my uterus, from what I had read I was prepared for anything, I would say it’s a lot worse than period cramps but it could have been worse. I got my test results as soon as it was done, the doctor said I was good and showed me both tubes were open and clear and to schedule an appointment to see him in the next few days. I had cramps and nausea the rest of the day and was sore for 2 days but other than that I was fine. I was so excited, I really honestly felt my dream would become true really soon now that this test came back ok.

metformin

A little over a year ago my husband left for basic combat training, his joining the army was a new beginning for us. After he graduated from BCT I moved to Fort Gordon with him for his AIT. I started seeing a GYN on post there, and was prescribed metformin. These pills were not fun, I had horrible headaches and upset stomachs with them at first and then as soon as I started getting used to them and my side effects would become less severe, they would up my dosage. I was up to four 500mg tablets per day. I still wasn’t even starting my period while on them. I was also prescribed prenatal vitamins and a folic acid tablet every day. I will say while taking metformin I lost 10 lbs and then maintained my weight while on it, but when I stopped taking them I gained 15 lbs and have been stuck there ever since. The metformin alone wasn’t helping me, but we would be PCSing to Fort Benning soon and I would be seeing a new doctor.

Friday, August 19, 2011

diagnosed with PCOS

I got my first period when I was 13 years old, within the next year I only had two periods. So at age 14 I went to the GYN and she put me on birth control pills to regulate my period. When I stopped taking the pill my periods were normal for about 3 months and then they would stop for months at a time. When not on the pill, I usually have an average of 3-4 periods a year. I didn’t have health insurance so what could I do. Finally my husband got a job with a good company that offered great benefits. After our insurance kicked in I went to the GYN and she did multiple blood tests and exams and told me I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) , and if I wanted to have a baby I would have to see the fertility specialist. Well we tried but the insurance didn’t cover this at all, each visit would have to be fully paid out of pocket, there were no payment plans to help with these expenses they would have to be paid at the time of the appointment. We couldn’t afford this right now, our dream of being parents was going to have to wait. But this didn't stop me from hoping it could still happen on our own, my bathroom soon turned into a stock room for pregnancy tests, OPK's, pre-seed, BBT charts and vitamins for everything. Over the next two years we would watched as our friends and family became pregnant and my hope of becoming a mother began to fade. I have to say my husband is always the one with the positive attitude and will not let me give up.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

reminiscing the past

I guess i'll take you back to the begining.... I met my husband in high school we were friends for a little over a year before we started dating, my junior year, his senior year. We have had our ups and downs by no means were we ever the perfect couple, but we are perfect for each other. We knew we would be together forever, we complete each other. My senior year he proposed to me and of course I said yes. About a year after graduation we moved in to our own place together and then a little over a year later we got married. We had always known we wanted kids and figured it would just happen, like everybody else, right? So we just didn't use any birth control. People get pregnant all the time when they aren't even trying so it'll happen for us too.  And this is where our baby story begins....