Hello Family and Friends!!!
First of all, thank you all so much for coming here and being a part of our journey. Just by coming here you have proven (yet again) that you support us and we can't thank you enough for that.
We deciding that blogging about our fertility journey and goings-ons here in Maryland it would keep you all informed and close to us. We miss you all very much and sometimes find it hard to keep you all updated ALL the time. It's also a great way for us to release some anxiety about all the stuff we're dealing with. It can get a bit much to handle and writing it all out it pretty therapeutic (take THAT Dr. Phil).
So, first things first. For those of you who aren't up to speed, Noah and I have been dealing with the issue of infertility (that dirty word) for about 9 months now. We found out last year that for some time now (since puberty actually) I have been battling Polycystic Ovary Disease ( aka PCOS). This condition, as you can tell by the name, means that my "cycles" are irregular due to some hormonal abnormalities. This wonderful disease also comes with some adverse side effects (i.e.weight issues, acne, depression and insulin resistance).
Since this diagnosis, I have begun treatment for my insulin resistance which has meant staying away from sugar (booo) and taking Glucophage daily to stabilize my blood sugar. For the first three months we attempted conception through timed intercourse (I'll give you a moment to calm your stomach). Our RE (Reproduction Endocrinologist) noticed that although he had successfully stabilized my blood sugar, I still wasn't ovulating on my own. FYI: The process of developing follicles in your ovaries that will then release eggs. The actual release is called ovulation. Since then, we have been on a course of Femara. Femara is given to breast cancer suffers to stabilize their female reproductive hormones. The usual course of treatment is with a medication called Clomid or Clomiphene. Femera, however, has proven in some cases to have less side effects. In my case, it has been great.
Then 2 months ago, the Femara stopped working on its own. This happens after the body become adjusted to the medication. We then moved on to...DUM DUM DUMMMMMM... injectable treatments. was placed on Follistim (75 IUs a day for 5 days) along with the Femara. Pretty scary. My fear of needles has officially hit the road. In order to help me ovulate, we have been using Ovidrel which is an ovulatory trigger shot. It basically tell your body to hurry up and let some eggs out.
The last few months we've had just one follicle just before ovulation (which means just one egg to be released). Before I go into that, let me explain a little about follicles. Follicles or as Noah and I like to call them, Follies, are developed all through your menstrual cycle. You start off on cycle days 1-7 with small follicles. Usually around 5-6 of them measuring about 5-8 mm each. After that from cycle day 8-13 they will develop. During this time a dominant follicle will take over. You want a nice juicy follicle to develop to around 20+mm. The last few months we've only have one really get past 20. This month, however, we had two follicles right before ovulation (two eggs to be released) each measuring 21mm and 24mm. Very exciting.
So after ovulation you count the days until you can test. There is whats called the Two Week Wait (TWW). This is the 13-14 days after ovulation in which you agonize over whether you have gotten pregnant or not. It's also the two week period in which I act like i have dynamite strapped to my back and try not to move. It's hard to concentrate, let alone go to work and function like a human being. During this time you count the days. So I ovulated this past Saturday the 15th. So I am 2 days post-ovulation (2DPO). We're praying really hard.
Anyways, I found out today that hot baths may be bad during ovulation!?! WTF!!! Can I have nothing!? I looked it up and its up for debate. I need my baths so I'm going to act like I never heard that info. I wish our RE wasn't a mute so we could ask him (haha :::sigh:::). We also looked at cribs online and decided that we want a round crib (for our non-existant baby). They're really nice and we have extremely talented mothers who I think could make some kickass bedding for it.
Okay!! Come by daily and keep yourselves updated!!
We love and miss you all. Very, very much.
Sam, Noah and Peppy - Out!!