OVULATED!

my temp finally jumped today to 97.1 (this is high for me), which means I probably ovulated sometime in the last couple of days. I'm so excited. My body is working! This diabetic thing really works. Two weeks into it, and I ovulate!

I'm very happy. Chances of being pregnant are low, but there is still a chance and my fertility book said it would almost definitely be a girl because those sperm live longer.

Although, Erik doesn't have any vacation until next year, so I'd be more than happy with not being pregnant.

Either way, I'm just excited that I ovulated on my own. GO ME!

normal

doctor just called. My TSH and prolactin were normal. DUh. 

wishing and hoping

okay, I just might be OVULATING! I'm not 100% for sure, but I have many signs pointing towards it. Since Saturday  (today is monday) my cervical fluid has become more wet and turned to eggwhite last night and today. This is a sure sign of ovulation. Yesterday around noon I had a sharp pain in my left ovary that came and went a couple more times throughout the day.

If I truly have ovulated, my morning temp. should be higher tomorrow than it has been since I started recording on the 1st. Today it was 96.3 (low) which was a bit of a bummer.

I have been on a diabetic meal plan for a couple of weeks now, so I'm hoping that I've been able to keep my sugar and insulin levels down which has allowed me to ovulate. 

I hope it's not just wishful thinking and I'm not reading too much into it. I would love if this diet thing actually worked!

I would love to try for a baby now because I don't want to miss my chance. If I only ovulate once every six months, I feel like I'm going to miss the boat. 

But, Erik does not want to try now. He agreed to June, and that's enough for me. 

Although, if I truly ovulated yesterday or today and his sperm are able to live a long time (3 or so days), there is a small chance that I could become pregnant! 

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's hard to do. 

confusion, torture, excitement and relief

This is a much needed update. So, I went to the doctor and had labs drawn and it wasn't what I expected. Instead of drawing estrogen and testosterone like I thought, my doctor ordered prolactin and thyroid stimulating hormone. I already know my TSH is okay because I already had it checked, and I'm not really sure why she would check the prolactin (this is what produces milk for breastfeeding). I asked the nurse about it, but she said I will need to talk to the doctor at my appt on the 23rd.  So, I'm a little frustrated and confused about this and anxious to hear her reasoning.

On a side note- it was torture sitting in the waiting room surrounded by four pregnant women and their husbands. I started to tear up just sitting there for fear that I would never get to be them. 

THEN- later that same day, I talked to Erik about it some more and he agreed to start trying in JUNE! I'm  very excited about this. This will hopefully result in a spring baby, if everything goes as planned. This is such a relief for me, so I don't have to spend the next two years worrying about my ability to get pregnant. We can start doing the investigating now, so that hopefully by the time June gets here, all the kinks will be worked out. 

labs only

I called my doctor to see about getting my hormone levels and a sonogram done before my appt so that we can talk about the results that day. I am going in tomorrow for the labs, but she didn't think a sono was necessary at this time. I'm glad I will be getting labs drawn but a little annoyed that she doesn't want the sono because I think that would be the definitive test for PCOS. Oh well, I'll see what the labs are and go from there.

evidence

I have pretty much given myself the diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian syndrome (PCOS) until I see the doctor in 3 weeks. The things that have led me to this conclusion are:

not ovulating/ no periods

overweight (162 lbs 5' 5")

weight carried mainly in my abdomen

fatty liver with elevated liver enzymes

All of these things are linked to insulin resistance:

some people have a predisposition to getting diabetes (runs in my family), and usually before developing full on diabetes, they are insulin resistant. Most people do not realize they might have this because there are not many symptoms. As I understand it (and I may be wrong), my cells do not receive insulin as well as they should. Every time I eat sugar or carbs, the amount of sugar in my blood goes up. In response, my pancreas spits out as much insulin as I need. Insulin is a hormone that binds with sugar. The cells then recognize the insulin as the transportation for that sugar and then accept the "molecules" to use the sugar for energy. But, my cells don't really respond appropriately to the insulin (unknown cause), so I don't use the sugar like I should and I think this is where the weight gain and fatty liver come in to play. In addition, there is all this extra insulin floating around in my blood instead of in my cells. Insulin is a hormone and because hormones have chain reactions on one another, it throws off my normal hormonal cycles in my ovaries and instead makes them produce more testosterone. This is why I don't ovulate. And in PCOS, every month my ovaries go ahead and make the follicles of emerging eggs, but my estrogen level never reaches the high point it should to make an egg burst out (ovulate). Therefore a bunch of un-ruptured egg follicles or cysts are left covering my ovaries each month and continue to build up, hence "poly (many) cystic".

This can later lead to diabetes because my pancreas tries so hard to produce an over abundance of insulin for my resistant cells, but eventually won't be able to keep up anymore.

So, I have put myself on a diabetic diet. Eating low amounts of carbs in order to keep my blood sugar and insulin levels low. 

Hopefully this will make me ovulate.

background

I have started this blog so I can get some of my thoughts down and document what I foresee to be a long and difficult road to getting pregnant. All fingers crossed, I will be wrong!

Since I was 12 I have not had "regular periods". My cycles always lasted 32-50 days give or take a few. This was never too bothersome, until recently they've become completely wacky.

In August 2006 when I started working nights, I didn't have a period for about four months. Once I went to the doctor, she gave me five days of progesterone to induce a period and jumpstart my body back on track. This worked (somewhat). I began having periods, but they were still 35-65 days apart, and I never knew what to expect.

This past July 2008 was the last time I had a period on my own. After about a dozen negative pregnancy tests, I called the doc and began another 5 day treatment of progesterone and had an induced period on Nov 16th. 

This time it did not have its intended effect. I still have not ovulated and no period since. I've gotten really good at knowing when I ovulate by reading books, practicing the NFP method of birth control and just by the fact that it happens so rarely for me, it's become pretty hard to miss. 

So, needless to say, I am getting worried. I have reached a point in my life that I am ready for kids, but I worry it is not likely to happen for me. Erik said he would like to wait two more years, but I feel as though I need to take advantage of every ovulation I have seeing as how I only ovulate 1-2 times a year. I don't want to wait to long because it may take a long time to get pregnant.

I have a DR appt on Jan 23rd and I'm going to ask her to test my hormone levels as well as do an ultrasound for PCOS. Erik said that he would be willing to start trying if the doctor had a diagnosis that would make it difficult to get pregnant. 

I am a little worried, but I will keep this updated to let you know results and info.