Yesterday I went to the physical with my general doctor, and she had great news. She ran the bloodwork and all of my tests came back excellent! I am so relieved that my weight hasn't totally ruined my body inside and out. My blood pressure was slightly elevated, and when I went back and checked old doctor's reports, it has been slightly elevated for some time now. Also, obviously, I need to get control of my weight.
She did say that the Metformin is the best drug that I can be on right now, not only for my PCOS, but also to help me lose weight. She gave me many tips on what to do to help the pounds come off, despite the difficulty my PCOS will cause me. The no-brainer is that I HAVE to start exercising. It really is pathetic how little I exercise. She also said that the next best thing I can do is "water load" - double or triple the amount of water I take in each day.
The doctor was so hopeful that I would be able to this, that it made me hopeful as well. She even recommended that I come back to her in three months, which is great for me because it hold me accountable. It is also something that will help me get throught the hoidays knowing that I will have to meet with her about my weight after Christmas.
As for the Metformin, I think that I suffered from PMS towards the end of last week. The only reason that getting PMS was uplifiting in any way was becuase it means that something is happening. Also on Friday, my birthday, I had no cravings to go out to eat, and it continued throughout the weekend. I think that the Metformin is starting to stabilize my blood sugar and I am starting to notice the effects. I think that I might hold off until after October 1st on taking the Provera to give my body a few more weeks to respond to the Metformin.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Dye Denied
I got a letter from Kaiser last week telling me that they dye test that Dr. Thompson had recommended would not be covered by insurance. Luckily, I emailed him and he got it all worked out. They misunderstood his referral. A week ago I thought that I was going to get my period and had some pinkish mucus and got my hopes way up. The Dr. told me that it wasn't my period, and that it was too soon for the metformin to do anything. So there really hasn't been anything new except that I continue to take my metformin twice a day. I am going to get my blookwork done today for my physical with my regular doctor on Monday - my birthday present to myself (I give crappy gifts!)
Next week is October 1st, so I am going to take a pregnancy test and start my Provera in a week (unless I miraculously get my period before then). Then I have to schedule the dye test and start taking the clomid. I didn't really think that things would be happening this fast. I guess being at work makes time fly since I'm not really thinking about it on a daily basis. The only thing that I am not doing my best on is exercising. I know that I could do better, but the time just slips away from me so quickly. Unless I am outside walking in the pitch black at 10pm at night, I just don't see when I can get it in. They did just move the weight room in the school to right underneath my classroom. I should bring workout clothes and go down there for 30 minutes before I leave the building each day. Firefighters get paid to workout...so should I?!?!? We'll see if that ever happens. I can't seem to get anything I want to get done at school because people keep coming to me with problems to solve. I really do feel like I run the building sometimes.
Tomorrow is my 31st birthday...30 went by really quickly, and now I realize that I only have 4 really good baby making years left...and it's going to get harder and harder each year that goes by. Though I am excited about the possiblity of getting pregnant, I am also terrified about having our life turned upside down again by another child. The more I think about it, twins would be nice.
Next week is October 1st, so I am going to take a pregnancy test and start my Provera in a week (unless I miraculously get my period before then). Then I have to schedule the dye test and start taking the clomid. I didn't really think that things would be happening this fast. I guess being at work makes time fly since I'm not really thinking about it on a daily basis. The only thing that I am not doing my best on is exercising. I know that I could do better, but the time just slips away from me so quickly. Unless I am outside walking in the pitch black at 10pm at night, I just don't see when I can get it in. They did just move the weight room in the school to right underneath my classroom. I should bring workout clothes and go down there for 30 minutes before I leave the building each day. Firefighters get paid to workout...so should I?!?!? We'll see if that ever happens. I can't seem to get anything I want to get done at school because people keep coming to me with problems to solve. I really do feel like I run the building sometimes.
Tomorrow is my 31st birthday...30 went by really quickly, and now I realize that I only have 4 really good baby making years left...and it's going to get harder and harder each year that goes by. Though I am excited about the possiblity of getting pregnant, I am also terrified about having our life turned upside down again by another child. The more I think about it, twins would be nice.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Nothing New
I've been taking the Metformin twice a day (with food) since Thursday, and since that one day of nausea, I feel fine. I wonder if it is actually doing anything. I have heard that it could help with weight-loss, especially in women with PCOS, but I am not sure how long they need to be on it to start to see moderate results. It doesn't help that I went to Greene Turtle for dinner on Thursday, Outback with Brady on Friday, and we ate tailgating junk food at the football game on Saturday. I have felt some movement down in my pelvis - I'm also focusing on it thinking that I might start ovulating - but I think that it could be my body processing the "not so good for you" foods that I have eaten the past few days.
I also have an appointment set up with my general doctor to have a health analysis. I feel that I owe it to myself to have all the blood work done and find out what other horrible things I have done to my body in my 20s so I can correct it all in my 30s and live out the rest of my long, healthy life.
First thing I need to do is begin exercising, just walking. You wouldn't think that it would take so much effort just to get out the door. It's probably not so much that I don't like exercise, it is more the fear of failure. What happens if I eat healthy and I'm exercising, and I am still overweight? I don't like to do things that are difficult (who does?) and that I think that I am going to fail at. If I sabotage myself, then I am still in control. What's even worse is that I know that I do this, and I still do it. Right now it is a gorgeous day outside, it is 1:15pm, and I am still in my pjs. I'm stopping there, getting showered and out the door. Now!
I also have an appointment set up with my general doctor to have a health analysis. I feel that I owe it to myself to have all the blood work done and find out what other horrible things I have done to my body in my 20s so I can correct it all in my 30s and live out the rest of my long, healthy life.
First thing I need to do is begin exercising, just walking. You wouldn't think that it would take so much effort just to get out the door. It's probably not so much that I don't like exercise, it is more the fear of failure. What happens if I eat healthy and I'm exercising, and I am still overweight? I don't like to do things that are difficult (who does?) and that I think that I am going to fail at. If I sabotage myself, then I am still in control. What's even worse is that I know that I do this, and I still do it. Right now it is a gorgeous day outside, it is 1:15pm, and I am still in my pjs. I'm stopping there, getting showered and out the door. Now!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thus begins my quest...
It was a little over two years ago when Brad and I started trying for another baby and realized that I didn't get my period after having Brady and being on the pill. After struggling to just lose weight to the realization that I may suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) we have decided to turn to the medical world for some help.
This decision was a long drawn out battle within myself. Each month I didn't get my period or tried to lose weight, and didn't, I would get more and more depressed about the situation. I then had a moral dilemma on my hands. What would God think about using medicine to have a baby. I am grateful that he gave me Brady who is so healthy and smart...am I just being greedy? Should I just be happy with what I have? Brad has been the most supportive husband in the world. Though I know that he has always wanted more children, he has never pressured me or made me feel bad about the situation we are in. I definitely think that having Brady gave us the stamina to try to correct the problem on our own before turning to the doctors for help.
I visited the OB-GYN frequently to make sure that I was doing the best I could to try to ovulate on my own. In May I gave myself a timeline. If I couldn't lose weight and make my body ovulate by using natural methods by August, we would come up with a new plan.
On September 9th, I went to see my doctor about setting up a plan to use some drugs to help regulate me to try to get pregnant. We are starting out with Metformin. Because PCOS affects your blood sugar levels, it makes it very difficut to lose weight because your body becomes insulin resistant and your body begins to not react to the massive amounts of insulin in your system. Metformin is used by diabetics to regulate their blood sugar levels. In most cases with women with PCOS it regulates your insulin levels which prompt your body to ovulate. In some cases alone, Metformin can help women with PCOS get pregnant.
I am not a huge fan of "pill popping", and I don't like to be on more medication than I need, so my doctor and I came up with a moderately aggressive plan to try to ovulate and get pregnant. I need to go and get a dye test done to check to make sure that I do not have a blockage in my falopian tubes. This way I won't spend months on medications that won't do anything in the event that the problem is anatomical and not chemical. I have been taking Provera to get my period every three months. Though the doctor suggested that I take it now and get the dye test done this month, I convinced him to let me try just the Metformin for a month to see if I can possibly get pregnant with that.
In October, if I still haven't gotten a period, I will use the Provera, go for the dye test, and also add Clomid to the mix. Clomid scares me slightly. I am under the illusion that once I begin ovulating I will become pregnant, and therefore Metformin will be all I need. The doctor said he doesn't want to go with just one option, and that if we want to try, we really want to try. Clomid increasese your chance of having multiples (usually twins) to 10%. The average chance of conceiving twins is 4%...so the chance more than doubles. When you enter into the world of fertility drugs and injectible medicine, the chance increaesese to 40%. I guess because I have already had once child, and I think that my ovaries are still healthy, that I will be in the 10% that has twins.
On one hand, the thought of having twins in my belly is terrifying, on the other it is very exciting. Twins would definitely be an adventure and a challenge that both Brad and I would be ready for...though there is fear with every new change in life. When I thought about it, I would rather try and have multiples than not try and not have any more children, so it is definitely a risk that we are ready to take.
I began the Metformin yesterday morning and totaly jinxed myself last night by telling Brad that with the long list of side effects that came with the medication, I didn't feel anything...until this morning. The nausea has definitly set in. I took the morning off work to get my stomach settled before heading in. I'm sure that my body will be in for a roller coaster of changes and "effects" within the next year.
As exciting as this time in my life is, I am scared to share it with anyone (even my family). This is such a private and personal struggle, that I really want to keep the details between Brad and myself for the time being. Eventually (maybe), I will release this blog for others to read about what we had to go through to have children.
It is ironic that one of my biggest fears after marrying Brad was that we wouldn't be able to have chidren together. That fear was gone when we had Brady. It was very disappointing to find out that it wasn't as easy to have another. In the past two years I have watched many of my friends and family easily conceive and have children. Though I am happy for them, each time a pregnantcy annoucement is made there is a little stab of pity in my heart for myself...why can't that be me?
This decision was a long drawn out battle within myself. Each month I didn't get my period or tried to lose weight, and didn't, I would get more and more depressed about the situation. I then had a moral dilemma on my hands. What would God think about using medicine to have a baby. I am grateful that he gave me Brady who is so healthy and smart...am I just being greedy? Should I just be happy with what I have? Brad has been the most supportive husband in the world. Though I know that he has always wanted more children, he has never pressured me or made me feel bad about the situation we are in. I definitely think that having Brady gave us the stamina to try to correct the problem on our own before turning to the doctors for help.
I visited the OB-GYN frequently to make sure that I was doing the best I could to try to ovulate on my own. In May I gave myself a timeline. If I couldn't lose weight and make my body ovulate by using natural methods by August, we would come up with a new plan.
On September 9th, I went to see my doctor about setting up a plan to use some drugs to help regulate me to try to get pregnant. We are starting out with Metformin. Because PCOS affects your blood sugar levels, it makes it very difficut to lose weight because your body becomes insulin resistant and your body begins to not react to the massive amounts of insulin in your system. Metformin is used by diabetics to regulate their blood sugar levels. In most cases with women with PCOS it regulates your insulin levels which prompt your body to ovulate. In some cases alone, Metformin can help women with PCOS get pregnant.
I am not a huge fan of "pill popping", and I don't like to be on more medication than I need, so my doctor and I came up with a moderately aggressive plan to try to ovulate and get pregnant. I need to go and get a dye test done to check to make sure that I do not have a blockage in my falopian tubes. This way I won't spend months on medications that won't do anything in the event that the problem is anatomical and not chemical. I have been taking Provera to get my period every three months. Though the doctor suggested that I take it now and get the dye test done this month, I convinced him to let me try just the Metformin for a month to see if I can possibly get pregnant with that.
In October, if I still haven't gotten a period, I will use the Provera, go for the dye test, and also add Clomid to the mix. Clomid scares me slightly. I am under the illusion that once I begin ovulating I will become pregnant, and therefore Metformin will be all I need. The doctor said he doesn't want to go with just one option, and that if we want to try, we really want to try. Clomid increasese your chance of having multiples (usually twins) to 10%. The average chance of conceiving twins is 4%...so the chance more than doubles. When you enter into the world of fertility drugs and injectible medicine, the chance increaesese to 40%. I guess because I have already had once child, and I think that my ovaries are still healthy, that I will be in the 10% that has twins.
On one hand, the thought of having twins in my belly is terrifying, on the other it is very exciting. Twins would definitely be an adventure and a challenge that both Brad and I would be ready for...though there is fear with every new change in life. When I thought about it, I would rather try and have multiples than not try and not have any more children, so it is definitely a risk that we are ready to take.
I began the Metformin yesterday morning and totaly jinxed myself last night by telling Brad that with the long list of side effects that came with the medication, I didn't feel anything...until this morning. The nausea has definitly set in. I took the morning off work to get my stomach settled before heading in. I'm sure that my body will be in for a roller coaster of changes and "effects" within the next year.
As exciting as this time in my life is, I am scared to share it with anyone (even my family). This is such a private and personal struggle, that I really want to keep the details between Brad and myself for the time being. Eventually (maybe), I will release this blog for others to read about what we had to go through to have children.
It is ironic that one of my biggest fears after marrying Brad was that we wouldn't be able to have chidren together. That fear was gone when we had Brady. It was very disappointing to find out that it wasn't as easy to have another. In the past two years I have watched many of my friends and family easily conceive and have children. Though I am happy for them, each time a pregnantcy annoucement is made there is a little stab of pity in my heart for myself...why can't that be me?
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