Jonathan and I have always wanted kids. We'd always imagined ourselves with a family and often babysat and "played house" together. We had been married for just over a year when we decided we ought to try our hand at the real thing. I went off birth control and even spoke with my doctor about becoming pregnant. I think I had an inkling that something might be wrong because I had always had such heavy, painful cycles. She talked about the possibility of me having endometriosis but assured me I would be fine, and that I was young and healthy and to give it a go.
We tried for 7 months before Jonathan went away for basic training and AIT. I was pretty disappointed when he left and I wasn't pregnant. I knew something was wrong - I was young (almost 21) and we had really tried to make it happen. At that point I didn't know much about charting temperatures, or timing my ovulation, but it seemed to me that it should have happened already - after all it really only takes one time. So when he left I made an appointment with a new OBGYN.
The appointment really did not go well. I explained to him the pain and things that I experienced on a monthly basis and told him my concerns of possibly having endometriosis. He asked some generic questions, did a pap-smear, and kind of shrugged off my concerns, handed me a prescription for Clomid and prenatals and said "Come back when you're pregnant." I asked him if there were any other tests we could run to see if there was anything preventing my getting pregnant and he said that he would only schedule me for a Hysterosalpingogram (You can read about my HSG exams here).
The exam showed no blockage and I still had no answers. My husband was due home in a few short months and it would obviously be pointless to take Clomid when he wasn't around, and so it sat in my cabinet.
When we were reunited in June 2012, we immediately started trying again. We moved to Germany and gave it another full year of trying. I decided not to take the clomid because I felt maybe I just didn't give myself enough time, and I knew that even if I did have endometriosis, the clomid may not even help me get pregnant. I didn't want to pump my body with hormones that can cause some pretty gnarly side-effects without truly knowing what was going on.
In July 2013 Jonathan deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months. Frustratingly enough, I was still not pregnant. I tried not to focus on it before he left, because I just wanted to soak in all my time with him but I knew when he left that I had to get answers and things fixed while he was gone so that when he came home it would finally be our time.
I was referred by my family doctor to a fabulous German doctor who dealt with infertility.
My first appointment with her was in September 2013. I was so nervous and really wanted answers. I had been praying for months for answers to our questions, for help in knowing what we should do. My doctor gave me an ultrasound and said "Wow, you have PCOS. Do you know what that is?" I had heard of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome before but never knew the extent of the condition. She showed me each ovary; both were completely covered in little cysts. She explained to me that she believed even though I was having a period once a month, I was not ovulating - and this was later confirmed by blood tests.
She said that she recommend surgery called Ovarian Drilling. I thought that maybe she didn't know the correct English word but to my horror that is what the surgery was called. She wanted to do some blood work and asked me to think about my options and to come back in two weeks so that we could have a treatment plan. I walked out of the office both devastated and relieved all at the same time.
I finally had a diagnosis, but I was facing surgery to correct the issue. After much research and prayer I decided that I would have the surgery and two weeks later I had a laporoscopy on October 9th. During the surgery the did the ovarian drilling, a D&C, and another HSG exam. The discovered a large cyst on my left ovary that was removed and they also found that my uterus was filled with little growths called polyps which were also completely removed.
Two weeks after the surgery I had a check-up which revealed that I had ovulated. GREAT NEWS! My doctor explained that I needed to wait for 3 months and the try for another 3 months before I come back and then we would try medication. Those 6 months flew by, Jonathan was home and still no baby. I made another appointment and was prescribed Metformin, a diabetic medication. Many times women who have PCOS have insulin resistance. PCOS is an endocrine disorder and it effects not only reproductive hormones but can also effect insulin, thyroid stimulating hormones, and seratonin. My doctor wanted me to try getting my insulin under control for 5 full months before we tried clomid.
So here we are... it is September 29, 2014 and it is day one of Clomid and Metformin together. My last scan was in her words "great and so much better" and she is hopeful that we will have success within the next 3 to 4 months!
Here's to smiling through it all and hoping there is a baby at the end of all of this!
*Update* It's April 21, 2015 - no baby yet, but still trying to smile. My last doctors appointment did not go how I wanted it to, and this is my last chance with clomid before its onto IUI or IVF.
*Update* September 2015 - we've settled into our new home in Colorado and it's time to see a new doctor. Look for posts within the next months on our journey through IUI & IVF.
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