ok, ok… yes.. I know… why no post in soooooo long? Well, its not THAT long! And it was a holiday y’know
I just wanted you all to know… you have to wait a little longer . Don’t be mad! Its for a good reason! Things have been so hectic and I want to really have a moment to say a lot and catch up. Soon to come are posts about 2010 overview, the book I’m nearly finished with, a review of “The Business of Being Born”, and much more! Some of you know I have the oh-so-important 6 month appointment with the Endocrinologist coming up and I will be addressing that as well. I promise, there will be something new and worth reading by the end of the weekend! Wait for it….
So, this is it… no pressure… right? Easier said than done. This is my last month to try and get a bun in my oven on our own. Next month is my 6th month follow up to the Endocrinologist. I just know he is going to ask what have I been doing to try and get preggers, and I can honestly say everything I can! I know you may be thinking that’s my problem, right? That’s why I am not getting pregnant? Well, on the contrary. I don’t know how many of you have tried to get pregnant but its a lot of waiting. I quickly learned I cant waist energy stressing and hoping that I was successful. SO, when I say “trying”, I mean being conscious of the signals my body is giving me.
For example, I was reading “Taking Charge of Your Fertility”, and it suggests the best way to get a handle on what the body is doing, is to take your basal body temperature. I got the special thermometer, and every morning when I wake up, I take my temperature orally. It has to be before I get out of bed… or it can alter the accuracy. The idea is that by charting your cycle, you can learn about what your body is doing, since we cant very well look down at our abdomen and see the magic happening. If only… but I digress. This is also an excellent method for women who are trying to AVOID pregnancy. The first half of the cycle is the follicular phase. Obviously, this is when the egg is swelling in the ovary. Your temperature is low during this time.. like 97.2º or something. Once you ovulate, your temperature will jump to 98.0º+ and stay there until your period starts which is when it drops back down to low 97º again. What is also awesome is that you can use the temperature to know if you got pregnant or not before a home pregnancy test would show. After ovulating, if you have 18+ days of a temperature over 98º, you are most likely pregnant! If you want to know more about charting, click HERE. Remember, you have to have a basal body thermometer. A regular one for when you are sick wont work. They look and cost about the same as a regular one though.
Also, I have obviously been humping like there is no tomorrow… and I have no complaints from my husband
Aside from that, what can a girl do? Exercise and eat healthy, take her vitamins… check, check, and double check! Cross her fingers… honestly its a miracle anyone is born.. the way everything has to be just right and whatnot. I was happy to hear recently that a girl I work with who is close to 40 finally got pregnant after so much trying. She and I have been confiding in each other through our trying. Congrats to her… and no its not Bobpuin… though I wish it was
Until the time is right, I have my baby books (which I need to finish reading and then review), my baby sewing projects (which you know I’m up to my ears in), and my baby-less friends (some trying too, some excited to be Aunts one day). I am blessed… and it will happen when the time is right
So, I recently went back to see Susan Dopart about 2 weeks ago. She specializes in nutrition and fertility for women with PCOS. I saw her back in June and she gave me some tips that have been helpful to shed a few pounds. For those that don’t know, I have poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. You can read about it HERE but in a nutshell, it’s an annoying hormone imbalance which can make getting pregnant difficult. I have known about it for the past 10 years and I take medication to keep the insulin resistance at bay… So I don’t get gigantic. My body can’t use insulin which breaks down food into energy and things. That means, almost everything gets stored as fat, my metabolism is slow, and I have extra insulin in my blood. The insulin resistance throws off the hormones for ovulation and menstruation which can be non-existent. Now that you know the inner workings of my body, you can understand what it can take to loose weight and get pregnant.
Getting back to the point, I went to see her and she informed me that supplements can make all the difference in the world. Susan discovered that good quality fish oil, vitamin D3, and flax seed together increase chances of ovulation in women with PCOS. Luckily, since I got off the pill I have been having regular periods, which I think is because of good diet, but I may not be ovulating. It’s hard to say. Even those ovulation test strips could be misleading because they test for a certain hormone which is already high in my body. There are very few ways to tell if ovulation is occurring. She then told me, after she blogged about this discovery, about 3 months later she had tons of emails from women around the world who suffer from PCOS claiming they had been trying to get pregnant for a year or more… and after taking her advice, they got pregnant!
So… I’m on ovulation medication. I take 1 tablespoon of liquid fish oil (yuck), 2 tablespoons of flax seed, 1 pill of vitamin D3, 1 prenatal, and 2 metformin per day! I feel like a pill popping old person. The metformin is what I have been taking for 10 years for the insulin resistance.
I’ve got 2 months left… Until I go back to the doctor I see for the PCOS. My apt is Jan 13th. At that time, it will have been 6 months of trying to conceive and failing. I know Dr. Mach is going to want to move forward with fertility assistance. To start, all that means is frequent blood tests to check if I’m actually ovulating and maybe adding Clomid to the pill mix. I doubt I would ever need to go as far as in vetro procedures. That’s not really the solution to what I am facing. I don’t want you all to think I’m in a hurry… On the contrary… But I don’t want to spend years trying to conceive if it’s not going to happen on it’s own. I know what I’m facing, and I truly hope I can get the job done on my own, without help, but I won’t ignore what I need if indeed I need it.
Now is the time to relax, and have fun… which is actually somewhat easy because of the knowledge I have of what I have, and that help is just a phone call away.
