Where should I start?

October 15th

Let’s start at the beginning:

Well, where should I begin…..let’s start with July 2006. I came home one day and felt a little weird. Weird is just the best way to describe it. Anyway, for the sake of not running this story to long, we were in fact pregnant. Unfortunately, a few months later we miscarried. Since that time we have been actively trying to conceive but we no luck.

We started with our OBGYN. She was a really nice, but seemed a little uninvolved and unfamiliar. She put me on all these hormones to help me “sustain” the pregnancy. Needless to say, not only did I gain like 15 lbs, the hormones messed all kinds of stuff up.

Anyway, we finally see the light! Through friends of ours, we were recommended to a fertility specialist. Dr. Werlin a reproductive endocrinologist! (I bet you can’t say that fast 10 times) And let me tell you, what a difference. He is just amazing!
Since it had been about 1 year since our miscarriage, we fell into the “infertility category.” I know, many of you are probably thinking; wait you got pregnant before so how do you possibly need to go to fertility?? Well, refer above. Hormones = all messed up!

So basically, the last year has been a mess. If I saw another thermometer, basal body chart, ovulation test, pregnancy test, OMG! I was going to scream. Oh, and while I am on the things that bugged, let me offer you “non-fertility challenged folks” a bit of advice (all out of love of course!) Please do NOT tell a woman that has pee’d on 300 sticks to “relax” if she just didn’t want it so much it would happen! I seriously had to sit on my hands when I heard that from people. For the record, when you are charting your temps, waiting for LH surges, blaa blaa, it is hard to NOT think about it. (Okay, my rant on that is over now). J

Well, like I was saying before, Dr. Werlin is marvelous! For the first few weeks Christian and I both went through a series of tests to determine what is actually wrong, if anything. And low and behold, I was the problem! I know Christian was excited, but I must say, I was less than thrilled that the “fault” lay on my shoulders.

Dr. Werlin tested all my hormone levels and determined (after many ultrasounds and blood tests at different points in my cycle.) that I had a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Fun! I was put on medication to reduce my male hormone levels (which is a symptom of PCOS) and was advised to “watch my weight” that PCOS is aggravated by weight gain. And worse yet, weight gain was considered anything over 5 lbs. Like, seriously, you have to be kidding! 5lbs? I gain 5llbs in 1 day! One burrito and that scale is up 5 lbs. You have to be joking. Anyway, the problem with PCOS is that in laymen terms, it doesn’t allow you to ovulate. Therefore, we never even had a chance of conceiving. No egg, no baby!

Side Note:
How common is PCOS?
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome affects an estimated 5-10 percent of women of childbearing age and it is a leading cause of infertility. It is the most common endocrinopathy among reproductive age women. As many as 30 percent of women have some characteristics of the syndrome. ** Fun so I am one of the lucky ones! Dr. Werlin said I fell within the 30%.


Let’s fast forward to the more interesting stuff. So I started taking all these meds in order to ovulate. The medication they put you on has some side effects, but nothing unbearable. The thing is though, when you work with a fertility specialist, they do everything for you! No guess work. And to be honest, after the year we have had with all this, it is nice to know that I won’t have to do any of the stuff I had to do in the past. I got to say good bye to all the ovulation tests, thermometers, pregnancy tests, etc. See ya! It was nice.

So on Sat. we went in for a scheduled IUI (intrauterine insemination). I told you, no more guess work. They want to make sure the egg falls and there is sperm there to meet it. They did an ultrasound and saw that my egg was still there but was about ready to drop. Good news! One step closer than we were before, ovulation check! Kinda. Anyway, we had to go in again on Sunday for a second IUI. Dr. Werlin, does back to back IUI’s to ensure that the egg is surrounded by sperm. When we went in on Sun, they did another ultrasound, and viola, egg dropped! Hurrah! Now we are definitely one step closer.

Now, we wait…2 weeks. Although, most of you will never read this blog entry until after we know what happened on Oct 29, and even more than that, after we successfully complete the first trimester of our pregnancy, I thought it would be interesting to see how the events unfold. I will update this entry as often as I can and hope to offer any advice and comfort to any of my friends or family that have or will experience this, you are so not alone!

Soon (hopefully) you’ll all be able to read this blog and enjoy the journey Christian and I are on with us!