Fertility Specialist 1st Appointment

I am still working through everything I was told at my first appointment.  I meant to take notes but forgot... there is just so much information thrown at you and I feel like you never really get a straight answer.  Now, I say this not out of anger...I really like my doctor and she did the best she could to answer my questions.  All she had to go off of were my previous tests with my OBGYN.  Once I go up for another sonogram with her hopefully we will have some more answers.  So far she seems hopeful and very confident that we will get pregnant.  I asked her if she could give me an idea of what might be going on with the information she had.  She said that on paper it looks like a stress issue.  But, she said infertility is not typically caused by mental stress like a lot of people think but more along the lines of physical stress.  She said that couldn't be it.  I am apparently the perfect weight (thank you very much! lol) and so she does not feel this is the culprit.  She did say that it is possible it is a brain issue (for lack of a better term).  This is where I kind of got lost but she said something to the affect of: My brain is not emitting the signals it should for my body to go through a full cycle and ovulate.  She described it like all of my parts are working ok, they are just not getting the signal they need to get moving.  Hopefully she is correct and further testing won't show anything worse.  Worst case scenario would be I have early menopause which would mean my eggs were depleting far too quickly.  But, she does not feel that this is the problem.  

On a another note, she does believe I ovulated last month and that is why I got my period.  I am hoping to get it again this month.  If I don't I will have to take some more pills to force me to have one.  It would be great if my body would just continue to do it on it's own.  Then we can just focus on getting the lining in my uterus where it needs to be.

She felt confident that if I started taking daily shots we would get pregnant.  This is great news but these shots are typically about $30 per shot and insurance does not typically cover them.

The other option would be for me to do another round of meds like I tried with my OBGYN but with a higher dose to see if that would work.

So, please pray that more testing does not reveal something worse.  Pray that my body will continue working on it's own.  Pray that if we do have to continue with medication that the next round works so that we don't have to do the shots. Pray for Casey and I as we continue on this journey.  It can be taxing at times.

Thank you everyone for your love and support! 

Bonus picture of my fur-baby, Snickers. :)  Yes, she is wearing a diaper.

Aunt Flo Has Arrived!!!!!!

Okay, I know...TMI, Amanda!  Especially since hundreds of people might read this post but I can't help myself.  This is such an answer to prayer!! I know this happened because of all the prayers said for me, so thank you!  This is such a great reminder that God listens to our prayers.  It is also an amazing reminder that it is all in God's timing and it has nothing to do with what we do.

I am sure many of you are just like me and the second you realized you were having fertility issues you started googling ways to help your fertility.  Foods to eat, foods not to eat, the best fertility smoothies, what exercises or yoga poses would help?!?!  So for about six months I gave up coffee.  It was the only thing I was able to stick to.  Eating all wholefoods and smoothies was not happening for me.  Kudos to you if you were able to stick to these lifestyle changes... After about 6 months of no luck, I decided to start drinking coffee again.  I was frustrated and just decided I didn't care.  I was going to live my life enjoying things instead of limiting myself in hopes that maybe it would make a difference.  So, after 11 months of no period, without the help of progesterone pills, and about 3 months of drinking coffee again, I started my period!  Hallelujah!  When I told my mom and sister I told them I felt 14 again.  I was a late bloomer compared to most of my friends so I impatiently waited to start my period and even had anxiety that I never would.  :)  Surely I am not the only one that had that fear!?  Anyway, when I started my period at 14 I was so excited! Well, February 26th I was just as excited but probably more so!

So why does this matter?

From my research (I am not a doctor) I have found a lot of stuff that says a lot of the time when a woman does not have a period it is because she is not ovulating.  Her body might try to ovulate and even show signs of ovulation but does not fully complete the cycle which means you will not have a period because the egg is never released.  So, I am almost positive that I did ovulate in February and since I have been tracking my CM I think I may even know around what day, which was right at 12 days before my period started.  So, this is great news.  My body was finally able to ovulate on it's own!  But, it is possible that it won't this month.  Sometimes it can take a while for everything to start working regularly.  So please keep the prayers coming.  God works miracles!

Habakkuk 2:3
"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.  Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay."

Sidenote:
I attended Deeper Journey's Ladies Conference today and it was so good!  The verse above was actually the theme verse for this Conference and it is perfect for this time in my life.  There were so many wise speakers...
Kelly Minter (she has such a love for the Word of God)
Ellie Holcomb (she has an amazing voice and is so honest about the feelings that women face)
Marilyn Meberg (had a great story about the love God has for us)
Anita Renfroe (she is just hilarious)
Each of their stories were so different but all so inspiring.  I will share some of what I learned from them in my next post.