Fit For Future Families - October 2011

AFM: Unfortunately the Dr. Appt didn't go as well as I had wanted. The good news, I've got plenty of eggs! The bad news...the Dr. diagnosed me with PCOS. Luckily I had heard the term thanks to all you ladies so I was a little bit familiar. But I'm still pretty upset. I cried the whole way home. All I can think about is how this is all my fault and if I wouldn't have let myself be overweight this probably wouldn't have happened. My DH wasn't there at the appointment so I told him when I got home, I don't know really how it affected him. I do know that in some ways he felt better now knowing it wasn't just him with a fertility problem. Which might sound weird, but I totally understand. I just hope I can lose some weight. The Dr. said even 5 lbs would make a big difference. I sure hope so. I've been struggling for months to even lose 2. Anyhow, I started Clomid on Friday, 2 pills left then I'll go in next Wednesday to see if it's working and if it is to make sure there aren't too many eggs ready.

I feel a little overwhelmed, but hopeful. Hopeful that if I lose the weight I can go back to normal (or at least close to it), but overwhelmed because losing even a pound is a huge struggle so it almost seems impossible. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, I know a lot of you have had some great successes so I'm trying to keep that in mind and stay motivated.

PCOS definitely doesn't mean infertile. There have been lots of folks that have had successes after being diagnosed as it is completely treatable with blood sugar maintenance (either through meds or food/exercise). I noticed a difference in myself after about 10% body loss....it's not surprising that you have a large store of eggs if you do have PCOS since that means you don't ovulate every month.

Thanks Pam! Definitely make sense what you said about having lots of eggs. Well, if I didn't have a good enough reason before to get healthy, I definitely do now. Sugar is my weakness...I HAVE to overcome it and start losing. I also read that it can be hard to lose weight with PCOS, and I feel like that is definitely me. I worked my butt off for 6 weeks this summer and ate right with minimal results. -Another roadblock I really didn't need.

But I forgot to add that hearing a 10% loss helped you! That keeps me hoping!

Hi ladies! Sorry I've been MIA lately. Things have just been crazy. I wonder if you ladies could give me advice on whether or not I'm being to harsh in a situation. I live in the same very small town as both my parents, and my husbands mom. My parents both have full time jobs (mom is a teacher dad works in a lab at a hospital) and are very VERY active in their church. My MIL has a full time job (works at a hardware store) and 4 kids who still like have home. My parents *BOTH* of them will go out of their way to come by my house at LEAST once a week to see my LO. And many many times throughout the week my mom will text me and ask how she's doing. I can probably count on both hands the number of times my MIL has been to my house since we've lived in it (3.5 years), and the last time was at LOs birthday party back in May. My MIL is (excuse the crude language) screwing our little family right now, because my husband co-signed a loan for her a long long time ago and well, she's not doing very good at paying it. Instead she's doing things like buying her lovely husband a $14,000 motorcycle even though (as mentioned above) they have 4 kids at home. So a couple months ago I decided I was basically done with her. There was no sense in me going out of my was so that she could see LO when she obviously didn't seem to care, and when we did go see her it just caused me a lot of unnecessary stress. Well last week she called and asked to borrow $50. Seriously?!?! We haven't heard from her in weeks and now out of the blue she calls to borrow money??? Hubby and I had just put LO to bed so he took the money over to her by himself. When he got home he said that she didn't even ask about LO. And then a few days later when he went to pick up the money (yes, she paid us back) she didn't ask about her then. So I told hubby flat out "Lets do an experiment... until she ASKS to see LO, lets not let her see her!" Is that too harsh? Ughhhh just thinking about her stresses me out LOL And on top of that AF is being crazy. My last few cycles have been 34 days, 28 days, 35 days, and the last one was 29 days. Don't quite know what to do about that. Except keep doing what I'm doing with the OPKs, right?

Meggan - Congrats on starting AF (I feels weird every time I type that!). Hope your dr appt went ok.


AFM, Yay, I finally broke the 170 barrier! Each time I get close to a milestone number it just seems like it takes soooo long to push past. I know it doesn't really, but it just seems like it. I'm through Day 6 on Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. After days 1 and 2 I really thought I'd never make it even this far, but she is totally right about your body changing. It is way easier now and I'm feeling pretty good about moving to Level 2 on Day 11. One of the cardio exercises in it is called the butt-kicker, which I think is completely appropriate.

Congrats on the milestone!!! That's so exciting! Hopefully the next one will go by quickly.

dexters_dexterity: Hopefully you can figure something out, the unknown can be so hard!

Welcome back Beth!
And welcome to the other newbies!

Karen: congrats on getting your 5 lbs! I LOVE buying new clothes...but only when I FEEL great, so hopefully you'll be buying lots of new clothes!

Luki: don't worry about the pizza! Seriously, sometimes you just need something like that.

Stephanie: Thanks for the support (I agree, it feels way weird to type that).

AFM: Unfortunately the Dr. Appt didn't go as well as I had wanted. The good news, I've got plenty of eggs! The bad news...the Dr. diagnosed me with PCOS. Luckily I had heard the term thanks to all you ladies so I was a little bit familiar. But I'm still pretty upset. I cried the whole way home. All I can think about is how this is all my fault and if I wouldn't have let myself be overweight this probably wouldn't have happened. My DH wasn't there at the appointment so I told him when I got home, I don't know really how it affected him. I do know that in some ways he felt better now knowing it wasn't just him with a fertility problem. Which might sound weird, but I totally understand. I just hope I can lose some weight. The Dr. said even 5 lbs would make a big difference. I sure hope so. I've been struggling for months to even lose 2. Anyhow, I started Clomid on Friday, 2 pills left then I'll go in next Wednesday to see if it's working and if it is to make sure there aren't too many eggs ready.

I feel a little overwhelmed, but hopeful. Hopeful that if I lose the weight I can go back to normal (or at least close to it), but overwhelmed because losing even a pound is a huge struggle so it almost seems impossible. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, I know a lot of you have had some great successes so I'm trying to keep that in mind and stay motivated.

I can so relate to how you feel. I came off birth control June 2010 due to some side affects. One thing led to another and in February 2011 I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was heartbroken. I cried all the way home (and much of the week after). All my life I have wanted to be a Mommy and I felt like every dream I ever had was crushed before I even started to try to achieve it. After a week of feeling miserable, I slowly starting picking up the pieces. I read everything I could (and am still reading) starting reaching out to anyone whose been there and started making changes. It isn't always easy...there are days I still want to break down and cry. But I have lost nearly 30 pounds and my husband and I are so much healthier then we have been in such a long time!! You can so do this. Take one day at a time! :-)

AFM: Unfortunately the Dr. Appt didn't go as well as I had wanted. The good news, I've got plenty of eggs! The bad news...the Dr. diagnosed me with PCOS. Luckily I had heard the term thanks to all you ladies so I was a little bit familiar. But I'm still pretty upset. I cried the whole way home. All I can think about is how this is all my fault and if I wouldn't have let myself be overweight this probably wouldn't have happened. My DH wasn't there at the appointment so I told him when I got home, I don't know really how it affected him. I do know that in some ways he felt better now knowing it wasn't just him with a fertility problem. Which might sound weird, but I totally understand. I just hope I can lose some weight. The Dr. said even 5 lbs would make a big difference. I sure hope so. I've been struggling for months to even lose 2. Anyhow, I started Clomid on Friday, 2 pills left then I'll go in next Wednesday to see if it's working and if it is to make sure there aren't too many eggs ready.

I feel a little overwhelmed, but hopeful. Hopeful that if I lose the weight I can go back to normal (or at least close to it), but overwhelmed because losing even a pound is a huge struggle so it almost seems impossible. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, I know a lot of you have had some great successes so I'm trying to keep that in mind and stay motivated.

I can so relate to how you feel. I came off birth control June 2010 due to some side affects. One thing led to another and in February 2011 I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was heartbroken. I cried all the way home (and much of the week after). All my life I have wanted to be a Mommy and I felt like every dream I ever had was crushed before I even started to try to achieve it. After a week of feeling miserable, I slowly starting picking up the pieces. I read everything I could (and am still reading) starting reaching out to anyone whose been there and started making changes. It isn't always easy...there are days I still want to break down and cry. But I have lost nearly 30 pounds and my husband and I are so much healthier then we have been in such a long time!! You can so do this. Take one day at a time! :-)

I can totally relate to you ladies, I don't have PCOS, well actually I might have mild PCOS but not the full blown kind, but I do have fertility problems. After losing 3 babies I just really feel like a failure, it's not just hurting me and my husband though but all my unborn children too. Fortunately I think we may finally have a starting line for getting back on track!

So I went to my doctor today, he wasn't going to do anything, I asked him why cause I thought testing was just normal after 3 losses, well apparently they had only recorded 2 of my losses. I'm really glad I questioned the doctor's decision there or I wouldn't have been able to get the testing I need. So I go in tomorrow to get various blood tests. I mentioned to my doctor that I seem tired all the time and have felt this way for a very long time, before my 2 most recent miscarriages even. Because of that he thinks I might have hypothyroidism, which can cause recurrent miscarriages and it can be caused by pregnancy so it would explain why I never had this problem with DD and why I've been tired since having DD, which I chalked up to first the pregnancy draining me then to how heavy I was. Also it would explain why I've had such a hard time losing the weight from my pregnancy. I'm about 80% sure that's what the problem is, but the doctor is still going to run some other routine blood tests just in case. I should know some of the results tomorrow and all of them within 7-10 days since some of them have to be sent out. I don't know how soon I will know if I have hypothyroidism but I will ask the nurse who draws my blood tomorrow if that's one that comes back quickly.
I'm excited that we are finally figuring out what is wrong with me so that I may keep my next LO. But I'm also very sad that it's just about certain it's because of me that we lost the LO's. It is much easier thinking that there was something wrong with the baby from the get-go and it would have never survived, or at least not well, anyways. It just tears me apart knowing that my body is killing my babies, I really just wish I would have known about all this to begin with so I wouldn't have had to go through any of this and I would have at least one of my babies still. My first Angel would have been due next month, it's going to be difficult to get through that time.
Anyway, for now I'm back on birth control. My doctor was pretty unwavering about waiting 3 cycles. It's probably good because if the hypothyroidism is the problem it will probably take a few months to get my levels back under control enough to TTC again. So I'm using the NuvaRing for 2 cycles then we will just prevent for a cycle so my body can get back to normal before TTC. In the meantime I hope to find some answers, if it is the hypothyroidism then I believe the meds they put me on will help me lose weight too, because hypothyroidism causes you to gain weight so fixing the problem should help me get back on track to a healthy body. Looks like we will be starting again in January for a Halloween baby.

Hey all, just dropping in for a minute.

School is crazy busy (still) but that will slow down in early November. We had Thanksgiving this weekend so I took a break and went to a wedding in PEI - I daced and drank and enjoyed my break.

I haven't weighed in in awhile, but I did go to a WW weigh in on Saturday morning and was up 7 lbs from where I had been before the August miscarriage. All in all, I'm okay with that.

We're TTC the ol' fashioned way right now. I'm hoping it'll work AND stick. I'm also hoping that this month is the month because it's my first cycle after the mc and apparently that improves the odds. Fingers crossed!

Pam - that's a heck of a loss in one week! Wowsers! Congrats!

Hope everyone is doing well. For those who don't know, Ronya had her baby on Saturday!

TTYL!!!

J

Good Morning Everyone...I am getting ready for work, but my husband is sleeping and I just need someone to talk with....

I posted a few days ago that I am having the strangest cycle. AF hasn't actually arrived it's just been brown spotting. Sometimes I go a day without any spots, sometimes it happens only once or twice, and sometimes it's all day. Because this had been happening for 12+ days, I called my Dr. yesterday to ask what is normal and what is not normal. Of course they told me to take a test to eliminate that, and then today we could talk about next steps. So this morning, I took a test and BFN.

I know what you are thinking....we aren't trying. And I kind of expected the BFN. BUT we aren't preventing either. Part of me still believes that because my husband and I love each other so much there is this magic that will just make it happen and surprise both of us. But I guess we haven't been preventing for over a year and that "magic" still hasn't happened.

I am starting to wonder if waiting until the Spring to TTC is a bad decision. Maybe we should just start now. I was going to spend the winter charting my temperatures to try to find a pattern, but I am just ready to be a Mommy.......

sdavisneill - The move went well ... thanks! Now starting the prep to paint it top to bottom.

I'm not super keen on needles but I thought the acupuncturist was great! I only felt one needle going in and it felt like a mosquito bite. If you would like me to share some of the info on nutrition and supplement recommendations, let me know!

Howdy all!
I got caught up on many of the posts and just wanted to say hello to everyone and give hugs to all that are hurting! Looks like there have been some tough circumstances going around so hugs and best wishes to you all!

AFM: I know I'm taking the month off but even if I were TTC i wouldn't even know where to begin. AF was a week late and I have now been bleeding for about 2 weeks. I'll bleed real heavy for a day or two (especially in the morning) and then she disappears. Friday night I had the worst cramps of my life and just layed in bed for a few hours. At the moment AF seems to be gone so I suppose that's good. We weren't planning to actively prevent pregnancy, but we certainly weren't going to make an effort to conceive just in case I need surgery. Well, now I have no idea when I should ovulate so who knows what will happen. I would go pick up some OPKs but DH and I agreed not to spend money this month on anything but necessities and we are sticking to it! I guess that if next month is wacked then I'll go see a doctor about it. I remember that last time I went off the pill a few month into it I had a very wacky period similar to this one. The doctors said that it may have been a miscarriage but I'm wondering if this is just how long it takes for all the hormones from the pill to dump out of my system in which case I'm wondering if last month was a MC or if that was just the beginning of my body getting back to normal. I doubt that this month was a MC because I had 4+ negative tests the week that my period should have been. I'm really hoping that it's just a matter of my body getting back to normal! I am so glad that my hubby and I agreed never to use BCP again! I hate not knowing if something is actually my body or if it's just the added hormones.

I have an appt with a shoulder doctor on thursday to find out if the issue is spine or my shoulder. If they say it's my shoulder then I'm getting a second openion but either way I'm hoping to have surgery of sorts by the end of the month. I'm not real keen on the idea of surgery but last monday when I got my cortisone injection I couldn't even lift my waterbottle without intense pain which means that if I had been home alone with a baby I wouldn't be able to properly care for him/her.

anyway, hugs and baby dust to you all! xoxo Is anyone doing anything fun for Halloween?

Thanks for the hugs! I hope all goes well with the Dr. appointments. I can't imagine that type of pain, I hope they can figure it out and get you back to feeling better soon.

I'm impressed you are sticking with your money goal this month. Nice job! It's definitely frustrating not knowing why something is happening...there are always so many factors to take in consideration it feels impossible to know for sure. Not going on BC would be a way to eliminate one of those factors for sure. I hope you are able to get back to normal soon!

AFM: Unfortunately the Dr. Appt didn't go as well as I had wanted. The good news, I've got plenty of eggs! The bad news...the Dr. diagnosed me with PCOS. Luckily I had heard the term thanks to all you ladies so I was a little bit familiar. But I'm still pretty upset. I cried the whole way home. All I can think about is how this is all my fault and if I wouldn't have let myself be overweight this probably wouldn't have happened. My DH wasn't there at the appointment so I told him when I got home, I don't know really how it affected him. I do know that in some ways he felt better now knowing it wasn't just him with a fertility problem. Which might sound weird, but I totally understand. I just hope I can lose some weight. The Dr. said even 5 lbs would make a big difference. I sure hope so. I've been struggling for months to even lose 2. Anyhow, I started Clomid on Friday, 2 pills left then I'll go in next Wednesday to see if it's working and if it is to make sure there aren't too many eggs ready.

I feel a little overwhelmed, but hopeful. Hopeful that if I lose the weight I can go back to normal (or at least close to it), but overwhelmed because losing even a pound is a huge struggle so it almost seems impossible. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, I know a lot of you have had some great successes so I'm trying to keep that in mind and stay motivated.

I can so relate to how you feel. I came off birth control June 2010 due to some side affects. One thing led to another and in February 2011 I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was heartbroken. I cried all the way home (and much of the week after). All my life I have wanted to be a Mommy and I felt like every dream I ever had was crushed before I even started to try to achieve it. After a week of feeling miserable, I slowly starting picking up the pieces. I read everything I could (and am still reading) starting reaching out to anyone whose been there and started making changes. It isn't always easy...there are days I still want to break down and cry. But I have lost nearly 30 pounds and my husband and I are so much healthier then we have been in such a long time!! You can so do this. Take one day at a time! :-)

I can totally relate to you ladies, I don't have PCOS, well actually I might have mild PCOS but not the full blown kind, but I do have fertility problems. After losing 3 babies I just really feel like a failure, it's not just hurting me and my husband though but all my unborn children too. Fortunately I think we may finally have a starting line for getting back on track!

So I went to my doctor today, he wasn't going to do anything, I asked him why cause I thought testing was just normal after 3 losses, well apparently they had only recorded 2 of my losses. I'm really glad I questioned the doctor's decision there or I wouldn't have been able to get the testing I need. So I go in tomorrow to get various blood tests. I mentioned to my doctor that I seem tired all the time and have felt this way for a very long time, before my 2 most recent miscarriages even. Because of that he thinks I might have hypothyroidism, which can cause recurrent miscarriages and it can be caused by pregnancy so it would explain why I never had this problem with DD and why I've been tired since having DD, which I chalked up to first the pregnancy draining me then to how heavy I was. Also it would explain why I've had such a hard time losing the weight from my pregnancy. I'm about 80% sure that's what the problem is, but the doctor is still going to run some other routine blood tests just in case. I should know some of the results tomorrow and all of them within 7-10 days since some of them have to be sent out. I don't know how soon I will know if I have hypothyroidism but I will ask the nurse who draws my blood tomorrow if that's one that comes back quickly.
I'm excited that we are finally figuring out what is wrong with me so that I may keep my next LO. But I'm also very sad that it's just about certain it's because of me that we lost the LO's. It is much easier thinking that there was something wrong with the baby from the get-go and it would have never survived, or at least not well, anyways. It just tears me apart knowing that my body is killing my babies, I really just wish I would have known about all this to begin with so I wouldn't have had to go through any of this and I would have at least one of my babies still. My first Angel would have been due next month, it's going to be difficult to get through that time.
Anyway, for now I'm back on birth control. My doctor was pretty unwavering about waiting 3 cycles. It's probably good because if the hypothyroidism is the problem it will probably take a few months to get my levels back under control enough to TTC again. So I'm using the NuvaRing for 2 cycles then we will just prevent for a cycle so my body can get back to normal before TTC. In the meantime I hope to find some answers, if it is the hypothyroidism then I believe the meds they put me on will help me lose weight too, because hypothyroidism causes you to gain weight so fixing the problem should help me get back on track to a healthy body. Looks like we will be starting again in January for a Halloween baby.

Sorry for filling up the board this morning ladies. I'm feeling like I need to just submerge myself in here for some reason today.

Thanks for sharing your experience Smores. I'm so sorry for your losses. I've read some other experiences recently of people who have experienced pregnancy loss and I hadn't ever realized as strongly how terrible of an experience that must be. I'm glad you were able to work things out at the doctor so you could get the tests you need. And hopefully waiting for your hormones to regulate will be what you need to get things back on track!

Checking in quick on my break at work...

The doctor called and said that she would recommend I start taking Metformin to hopefully stop the spotting and help regulate future cycles. She said it is completely up to me though. She is also ok with me just waiting it out. So....do any of you have stories about metformin? Do you take it? Do you like it? Do you have a lot of stomach problems??

clicked..............cute dog!

For those of you who already have kids (or even if you don't) getting a puppy/dog (rescue from the shelter) while TTC. Good idea or bad idea?

Melissa,

I've been diagnosed with PCOS for about 6+ years now. I actually found out before we were TTC. My husband spent a summer in Japan, so I went off all drugs, etc. (including birth control since I didn't need it) in my attempt to generally feel better (I had mood swings and extreme dizziness/nausea on bc) and lose weight in a healthy way. Well, a couple of months into in the summer and my cycle was all out of whack and I couldn't lose a pound. After months of going to different obgyns, I finally met a nurse practitioner who really listened to me and confirmed a diagnosis of insulin-resistance induced PCOS.

I understand feeling like your body is letting you down, but I truly believe it is possible to overcome that feeling of helplessness and take charge of the condition. After awhile, I found the diagnosis to be freeing. I was never an over eater and I had never understood why I had gained so much weight so quickly and the insulin resistance helped explained that, the sugar highs and lows started to explain my mood swings, and once I was on the metformin my cycle became like clockwork. The metformin does take some getting used to, and I tried various dosing before I found the one that was right for me. I take 4 tablets of the max dose in an extended release version each night. I have some stomach/intestinal difficulty in the morning, but it helps that I only have issues at home and over time I've just gotten used to it.

When I started TTC, I knew I had an uphill battle. Doesn't mean I don't still have moments that I want to scream (I do all the time), especially since it is taking so long, but with the help of MFP I've started to have success in losing weight, the exercise makes me feel a million times better and and I'm hopeful. If we have to go to IUI or IVF as our next step, I'll be ready. I'm definitely not an PCOS expert, but at least I know and we can plan around that.

Indulge your frustration for a little while, emotions are just that, and it's ok. But know there are resources, ways to take charge, and above all else hope. We're here for ya girl!

Stephanie