Not what we hoped for

Well it seems that we are pretty much back to square one on fertility treatments. The injectible medications DID actually work..but unfortunately they worked TOO well, causing too many follicles to develop which could potentially lead to me becoming pregnant with multiples (not just twins, more like 4+ babies..eek!) and as much as I love Jon & Kate, I don't envy their life with 8 children and our doctor is not willing to put us through the risk trying to get pregnant this cycle could bring. So....he thinks our only option is to do IVF when we are ready for it. This is a VERY big step in the infertility process and neither Andy or I is ready for it yet. So after a discussion we've decided to take a break from 'trying' and see if I can try some natural methods of getting a cycle back.

The first step I'm going to take is a Nutrition Response Test to see if there's anything my body is lacking that could help to restore my menstrual cycles. I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow and planning on talking to her about it. I know there must be SOMETHING natural that could help...if anyone knows of anyone with similar problems that I've had (hypothalamic amennorhea) PLEASE leave me a comment with any treatments that helped them. I'm pretty desperate to try anything. I am taking this news surprisingly well considering how upset I was last week when the Dr. told us this may be what would happen. Andy is pretty upset about it too, but we know that God has a plan and we are trying to leave this in His hands. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and thanks to those of you that have been recently, we appreciate it.

Infertility Journey...progress?

I thought it was time to update everyone on my infertility journey. Well, as of January 1st I was officially covered on Andy's insurance plan, which meant we could finally start infertility treatments. Last summer I was officially diagnosed with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and had tried several oral medications to attempt to induce ovulation or a menstrual cycle with no success. We went to our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) on January 2nd and he told us he wanted us to come in for a baseline ultrasound and then start injectible medications, which we did. I started Menopur (75 IU each day) on January 2nd, I went in for an ultrasound a couple days later and found that I was slowly responding, so he wanted to continue me on the same dose as not to hyper stimulate my ovaries. After a couple more days on that, I went in for another ultrasound, found that this dose wasn't working so he increased it to 1 1/2 vials of Menopur per day. I continued this for about 3 days I think and went in on Monday (Jan 19th) and found that my uterine lining and follicles in my ovaries were not responding as he hoped. So he told us we would have to increase my dose to 150 IU of Menopur but he didn't think I would respond properly and we would just have to go directly to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) , needless to say I was devastated. I really hoped this would work and I would ovulate without having to go through such an invasive procedure. I know there's still a *chance* this may be working (I will find out at my dr. appt tomorrow) but I don't have a lot of hope.

Neither Andy or I are ready for this big step in our infertility journey, so after speaking with my chiropractor last week I will be doing some nutrition response testing to see if we can get down to the root cause of my problem and solve it naturally.

This has already been a long journey for Andy and I and we hope that an end comes soon. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive to us by lending an listening ear and being a friend through this tough time.

Check out this video...helps to explain how I feel (warning...if you are/have gone through infertility it's a very emotional video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ

I...

I am: glad to be starting treatments :)
I think: I need a nap!!
I know: that God has a plan for my life
I want: a better shift at work
I dislike: stupidity
I miss: the days of no responsibility
I fear: never having my own children, losing loved ones
I hear: the t.v..
I smell: my house :)
I crave: peanut butter everything!!
I cry: less than I used to
I search: for sales!!
I wonder: what God has in store for my life
I regret: making stupid mistakes
I love: my family & friends
I care: about relationships
I always: have to get up in the middle of the night at least 1 or 2 times to go to the bathroom--me too Sal!!
I worry: about EVERYTHING too much..
I am not: a mean person
I remember: good memories of childhood
I believe: in my marriage :)
I dance: if I'm intoxicated
I sing: a lot :)
I don't always: get enough sleep
I argue: if I'm right!
I write: to get my thoughts out
I win: when I play games with Andy ( hehehe)
I lose: my patience when I'm tired
I wish: I knew what my future holds (sometimes..)
I listen: to music all day long
I don't understand: why life has to be so complicated
I can usually be found: at home or work..
I forget: to keep a positive attitude most of the time..but I'm trying!
I am happy: when the house is clean, I'm done working out and can relax on a day off :)

TAG... if you are reading this... you are it!

Happy New Year!!

HAPPY 2009!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years Eve. We had our first New Years Eve party at our house..which turned out to be a big hit!! :) We had between 10-15 friends over and had fun drinking, playing Guitar Hero, American Idol and card games. I spent most of the night as the bar tender (and making sure the house wasn't *too* messy) but I still had a lot of fun and was relieved to wake up the next morning feeling great! :) We figured since it was probably my last New Years off work for a few years (and without kids-hopefully) we better take full advantage of it!!

All in all it was a great time..some of the highlights in pictures below.

On another note..since it's finally January, that means Andy and I are able to move on with our fertility doctor. We went to our first appointment January 2nd, where Dr. Dudley discussed our game plan. What we've decided to do is for me to start the first cycle of injectible medications to get my hormone levels at the right level and induce ovulation. So..after my baseline ultrasound today, we are ready to start. I got the medications in the mail today (a HUGE box...scary!) and am going to mix and inject my first dose around 4 pm..I'm kinda nervous, and just praying this works and the side effects arent too bad. But I know that if it doesn't, that's God's plan and we do have some other options. Well, I just wanted to keep everyone up to date on what's going on in our world. I hope all is well with you (and that you aren't flooding like many of the homes around here).