My Journey Towards Getting Pregnant

Since I had a hard time getting pregnant and then a very difficult pregnancy I thought this would be a good place to talk about it!

Everyone has a journey they went through in order to conceive a baby. For some, it is a short and easy journey and for others it is long and difficult. Whatever your journey, I wish you the best of luck!

When I knew I was finally ready to think about getting pregnant, I knew I had to lose weight. And boy did I have a lot to lose. So I got off my duff and decided that I had to diet and exercise. You can read about my journey with weight loss in my Mom's Health section of this website and I also have a post entitled: Why I Exercise, which talks about the gym I attend called Curves. With eating right and exercising I lost 83 pounds in 12 months. Not too shabby, eh?

Once the weight was off I was on track to get off of birth control (in the form of the ever popular "pill") and start "trying" to make a baby. So, we began. But there was a problem. I wasn't getting my period. My doctor said this wasn't really an abnormal thing considering how long I had been on the "pill" and to just keep trying. But my period never came. So, I started charting my temperature. No fluctuation. Fearing something may be wrong, I went to the doctor. You may not know this but when you go to your Obstetrician and tell them you are trying to get pregnant, they will tell you that you have to "try" for a whole 12 months before they will see about helping you. This is what happened to me, and from what I have heard it is a very popular answer. So, I went home and we kept trying.

After a year went by and we weren't pregnant, I went back to the doctor.

After talking to her there were several things that I did. Since I hadn't gotten my period for over 2 months she had me take Provera. That made me have my period. As soon as I had my period I called to have a Hysterosalpingogram done. This is where they injected dye into my cervix to make sure that my fallopian tubes were not blocked (they weren't but that was the most excruciating pain I had ever been in). While all this was being done I was taking Glocophage since my doctor believed I had PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome. David was checked for infertility and, of course, had no problems.

So, what is PCOS? Well, Polycystic ovary syndrome abbreviated PCOS or PCO (also known clinically as Stein-Leventhal syndrome, Sclerocystic ovary syndrome, Hyperthecosis, ovarian, Polycystic ovarian disease PCOD ) is an endocrine disorder that affects approximately 5% of all women . It occurs amongst all races and nationalities, is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age, and is a leading cause of infertility. The principal features are weight problems, lack of regular ovulation and/or menstruation, and excessive amounts or effects of androgenic (masculinizing) hormones. The symptoms and severity of the syndrome vary greatly between women. While the causes are unknown, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity are all strongly correlated with PCOS.

To put in layman's terms, according to FamilyDoctor.org, if your hormones don't work in the normal way, your ovaries might make too many eggs. Those eggs turn into many cysts. The cysts (say: "sists") are like little balloons filled with liquid.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is called PCOS for short. Women in their childbearing years can get it. It often begins in the teenage years. It doesn't go away.

My doctor had determined that insulin resistance was a main factor in my infertility, caused by the PCOS. So, she prescribed me a medication called glucophage. This is traditionally a diabetic medication but in my case it was supposed to balance out my insulin so that I would begin to ovulate. And, after three months on the glucophage, I had my menstrual cycle (on my own) for the first time EVER! It was pretty exciting. When that came about, I was given a round of clomid to insure ovulation and set up an appointment with the doctor to determine if it worked. However, after going to the doctor and having them check my hormone levels to see if I ovulated, they said it didn't look good. So, we would try again the next month with a larger dose of clomid, while I continued taking the glucophage.

But...when I didn't get my period the next month despite mild cramping for about a week and a half, I was getting ready to make an appointment with my doctor for a round of provera (like I had in late August, and would have had again had I not gotten my period on my own in early December) followed my the clomid again when I decided to go ahead and take a pregnancy test, just to be sure I wasn't pregnant. Turns out I did ovulate and I was pregnant! WOO-HOO!!

Then what started off as a great pregnancy turned extremely difficult for me...tune in tomorrow to learn all about it!!

My Pregnancy: Symphysis Pubis Disfunction (SPD)


If you have PCOS, there is a support page you may be interested in: The Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association