Hi all! I just wanted to jump on here for the last time and say thank you to all of those who were reading my blog. I know it's been a long time since I wrote and the feedback and support I received was wonderful, but I am no longer going to blog. At the time it was something I was interested in but I didn't know the plethora of personal feelings I was about to embark upon. I thought I could write in it once a week to share this experience, but after a few months I was kind of tired of talking about it. Honestly I felt like a crazy woman with my thoughts, emotions, and feelings dancing around all over the place! I guess I didn't know what to write about or how to even convey all my wacky thoughts and feelings. One second I was crazy happy and optimistic, the next second I was just crazy!!
We did take the month of May off from babymaking and it was a blessing. We start up fresh again on this Friday June 3. I presume I will start Clomid again at a higher dosage. Dr. Zhang will need to do an ultrasound to get a baseline to start with. My optimism and excitement have been replenished. I can't wait for the next round...wish us luck!
Since this blog will cease to exist, please feel free to message me on fb or give me a call 319-981-1336. I will gladly talk to anyone on a personal level about any questions you might have for me. or, just call me to talk cause I love you all! If anything exciting happens you can bet everyone will know!
xxxxxooooo (five times right mom? lol)
Jess
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Waiting.....
Okay, so can the diarrhea stop already? For Pete's sake! Well Dr. Zhang did say that is usually an ongoing side effect. But, that's how I lose weight. It's working so far...I've lost 8 lbs. I do believe it's mainly because nothing sounds good. Also, I know what eating carbs will do to me, so I tend to stay away. I think Dr. Zhang will be very pleased...I am.
I am also trying to stay fit. My job is fairly physically demanding, so it requires doing stretching exercises before I start my day. I NEED to get back into yoga again. I found that to be a very satisfying workout, except I was on the hunt for a yoga workout that makes me sweat more. I heard about Jillian Michaels Yoga being very intense. That is most definitely on my shopping list.
Since it's been so cold here lately my dogs and I have been on only one nature trail outing in the last couple weeks. Last week, we made an attempt to go for a hike on the super snowy trail at Ushers Ferry. We were just going to hike to the little village and back...it didn't sound so bad. Well, soon after a rocky start of losing my gloves and not being able to turn my trucks' lights off, I realized how deep the snow really was. It was touching Rexx's (he's our 8 yr old miniature pincher) belly. His legs were completely under the snow in some parts. He didn't care, he kept on trudging along and taking care of business. Kapone (he's our 10 yr old pit bull), on the other hand, was not trusting something and kept wanting to turn around and go back. For those of you who know Kapone, knows his story and where he came from and would trust his instincts too. So, I decided to call this hike quits. There was probably a pretty good reason why Kapone didn't want to be there. The hike back to the car was the most intense workout I've had in a long long time. Rexx and I decided to RUN through that deep snow. Granted It was only about 1/3 of a mile, but keep in mind that I am most definitely not a runner and most definitely not through a foot of snow. Well, needless to say I'm sure, I wondered for a good 5 minutes if my breathing would ever slow down! Wow, do I really need to get into better shape..... I am just such an outdoorsy girl...I cannot wait until nice sunny Spring days!
I'm pretty sure I had the worst PMS symptoms I've had since the last go-round with the fertility meds. The overwhelming amount of progesterone corsing through my body puts my snippiness in overdrive. Wow does that suck! I hate to blame my mood on the drugs, but it is the drugs causing my coarseness. It's not something that my body is used to due to the fact that I just don't ovulate regularly. I thank God that the feeling of being super annoyed to the point where I lash out verbally only lasted a few days. I feel better now and able to cope. What a wierd feeling of being out of control. I didn't like it at all!
Now comes the waiting game. I have one pill left which I will take tonight. Then, I just need to wait for Aunt Flow to come visit me...it's been a while...I can't wait to catch up!
Oh, I got a tattoo! It's an owl sitting on a branch perched right on my left upper arm. A friend of ours, Scott, is playing around with a tattoo gun and I was willing to let him experiment !! He's not too shabby! I got an owl in tribute of my Mom. She is an avid owl collector and cannot seem to get enough of them. When I see an owl, I see my mom. So, I just wanted to get something that reminded me of her. Sappy, I know!! I love you mom! And yes, he's clean and safe..lol:)
We had to deal with some water leaking issue that started really becoming a problem last week. To make a SUPER long story short...it ended up being our ice maker! Can you believe it? The little tube on the back of the fridge popped out of the hole and it was squirting all over the floor. I'm so glad that it wasn't a crack in the slab, but am really bummed that we may over time have water damage that now insurance cannot cover. Well, anyways, we are just hoping that it will dry out and will be fine???? It doesn't look bad at all, but who knows what can happen over time. We plan on putting a new floor in sometime this year, so we'll take a good look at it then.
Oh the woes of home ownership. Do you ever wish you would have looked around a little bit more before you bought? Well, so do we. But we cannot go back and change it...just learn from our mistakes and experiences with this house and try not to repeat them on the next house we buy. For reasons unknown, we were meant to live in this house and so we are trying to make the most of it. We are just thankful to have a nice and warm place to call home.
I was just looking around today at how pretty much every nook and cranny has something in it. How are we going to have room for baby stuff???? A bigger house will definitely be on that shopping list too!
I am also trying to stay fit. My job is fairly physically demanding, so it requires doing stretching exercises before I start my day. I NEED to get back into yoga again. I found that to be a very satisfying workout, except I was on the hunt for a yoga workout that makes me sweat more. I heard about Jillian Michaels Yoga being very intense. That is most definitely on my shopping list.
Since it's been so cold here lately my dogs and I have been on only one nature trail outing in the last couple weeks. Last week, we made an attempt to go for a hike on the super snowy trail at Ushers Ferry. We were just going to hike to the little village and back...it didn't sound so bad. Well, soon after a rocky start of losing my gloves and not being able to turn my trucks' lights off, I realized how deep the snow really was. It was touching Rexx's (he's our 8 yr old miniature pincher) belly. His legs were completely under the snow in some parts. He didn't care, he kept on trudging along and taking care of business. Kapone (he's our 10 yr old pit bull), on the other hand, was not trusting something and kept wanting to turn around and go back. For those of you who know Kapone, knows his story and where he came from and would trust his instincts too. So, I decided to call this hike quits. There was probably a pretty good reason why Kapone didn't want to be there. The hike back to the car was the most intense workout I've had in a long long time. Rexx and I decided to RUN through that deep snow. Granted It was only about 1/3 of a mile, but keep in mind that I am most definitely not a runner and most definitely not through a foot of snow. Well, needless to say I'm sure, I wondered for a good 5 minutes if my breathing would ever slow down! Wow, do I really need to get into better shape..... I am just such an outdoorsy girl...I cannot wait until nice sunny Spring days!
I'm pretty sure I had the worst PMS symptoms I've had since the last go-round with the fertility meds. The overwhelming amount of progesterone corsing through my body puts my snippiness in overdrive. Wow does that suck! I hate to blame my mood on the drugs, but it is the drugs causing my coarseness. It's not something that my body is used to due to the fact that I just don't ovulate regularly. I thank God that the feeling of being super annoyed to the point where I lash out verbally only lasted a few days. I feel better now and able to cope. What a wierd feeling of being out of control. I didn't like it at all!
Now comes the waiting game. I have one pill left which I will take tonight. Then, I just need to wait for Aunt Flow to come visit me...it's been a while...I can't wait to catch up!
Oh, I got a tattoo! It's an owl sitting on a branch perched right on my left upper arm. A friend of ours, Scott, is playing around with a tattoo gun and I was willing to let him experiment !! He's not too shabby! I got an owl in tribute of my Mom. She is an avid owl collector and cannot seem to get enough of them. When I see an owl, I see my mom. So, I just wanted to get something that reminded me of her. Sappy, I know!! I love you mom! And yes, he's clean and safe..lol:)
We had to deal with some water leaking issue that started really becoming a problem last week. To make a SUPER long story short...it ended up being our ice maker! Can you believe it? The little tube on the back of the fridge popped out of the hole and it was squirting all over the floor. I'm so glad that it wasn't a crack in the slab, but am really bummed that we may over time have water damage that now insurance cannot cover. Well, anyways, we are just hoping that it will dry out and will be fine???? It doesn't look bad at all, but who knows what can happen over time. We plan on putting a new floor in sometime this year, so we'll take a good look at it then.
Oh the woes of home ownership. Do you ever wish you would have looked around a little bit more before you bought? Well, so do we. But we cannot go back and change it...just learn from our mistakes and experiences with this house and try not to repeat them on the next house we buy. For reasons unknown, we were meant to live in this house and so we are trying to make the most of it. We are just thankful to have a nice and warm place to call home.
I was just looking around today at how pretty much every nook and cranny has something in it. How are we going to have room for baby stuff???? A bigger house will definitely be on that shopping list too!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Side Effects
Okay, so I've started all my meds: Metformin, Synthroid, and Provera (for the next 8 days.) Wow, is this a cocktail for much stomach discomfort! The first day after taking the Metformin for the first time, I had really bad diarrhea. Since Metformin is taken at night, it has all night to work through your bloodstream. That next morning, I was laying there is bed half asleep and out of the blue had horrible cramps, no sooner, I literally sharted myself in bed....yes you read it right. I have never popped out of bed so fast in my life. I was mortified and tried to clean it up as fast as I could before Mike woke up, but of coarse that wasn't the case. He woke and asked me what I was doing, and there was no hiding it. I had to tell him what happened. He was just smiling like he wanted to laugh, but knew he shouldn't. Even though I started hysterically laughing myself. He soon joined me in laughing and made a joke about it. He said " now I know that only happened because of the meds, but if that were an all the time thing, we'd have to talk. Haha, we can count on Mike to make light of a very embarrassing moment.
I quickly learned too that what I eat on this med has a huge impact on how I feel the next day. No carbs are the very best way to go. We do pretty good in this department as far as making sure we have more of the complex carbs. I made a very bad dinner decision last Sunday. We decided to have breakfast for dinner! Yumm, who doesn't love that? We decided to have sausage gravy and biscuits and eggs over easy. The biscuits were the buttermilk kind in the cans. The gravy was homemade with flour and milk. Need I say more? Carb City! I woke up early the next day with such a sick feeling in my stomach. I lay there writhing for a while then when I no longer could take it I got up and sat on the toilet. Well, shortly there after I had it coming from both ends. I did end up going to work, but was very slow moving. I am so thankful for such a great group of girls to work with. We had got as far as we could for the day and decided to cut out early. I was home by noon and just vegged on the couch the whole rest of the day. I ate some soup and drank a lot of fluids. I did eat a small dinner of cereal too. Both Mike and I went to bed early and I for one, slept like a baby. Thankfully, the next day, I woke bright eyed and bushy tailed. I was also excited because this is the day we were getting our new furnace and ca! So I learned a very valuable lesson about being on Metformin. If you eat like shit, you are going to feel like shit!
This week I have decided to try a few new recipes out of a Rachel Ray cookbook that my girlfriend Bri gave me:) Last night we had Bacon Bit Burgers with Baby Spinach Salad. Tonight is one of my own concoctions, a Mediterranean Chicken Tomato Basil Pizza. Yummo:) I have been on Metformin for 1 1/2 wks and have lost 5 lbs so far. Weight Watchers is definitely still an option for us. We are currently checking into meetings around the area. It would be great to have another friend join. Anybody interested? Call me! I need a kick in the butt.
I am taking Synthroid for my Hyperthyroid as well. This med is not causing any side effects thus far. I have been on it only for 3 days though. Time will tell.
It's nice and comforting to know that things in my body are being leveled out. I am curious as to what kind of meds and treatments I will be on post-baby. I enjoy knowing why I feel the way I do. Not, "I don't know why I'm crazy!" Before, when my hormones are wacked, I felt like my feelings might not even be valid, just because it's the hormones talking, not me. That sucks and is very uncomfortable. It's like you can't trust your own feelings. It's just nice to be able to truly trust myself and to know that my feelings are valid and pretty much always have been. Just now, I can deal with things much easier and with less drama. Deep, I know..haha.
I started taking Provera yesterday. I am to take this progesterone pill for 10 days. I should have a period and at that time will call the Dr. to be started on Clomid. The whole situation seems so surreal, like I can't believe it's happening. We are just getting closer and closer to the big days to come.
Today Mike and I are snowed in! Yay! Neither of us had to go to work so it's been a lazy day around here. I went back to bed and he shoveled for about 2 hours thanks to the beautiful blizzard that blew through last night. We had a small breakfast and I found something to watch on TV. Today we watched Raising Sextuplets. What! Six kids! They are all sooo cute too. But I stick to my guns when I say absolutely no more than THREE..Please!
Till next time:)
I quickly learned too that what I eat on this med has a huge impact on how I feel the next day. No carbs are the very best way to go. We do pretty good in this department as far as making sure we have more of the complex carbs. I made a very bad dinner decision last Sunday. We decided to have breakfast for dinner! Yumm, who doesn't love that? We decided to have sausage gravy and biscuits and eggs over easy. The biscuits were the buttermilk kind in the cans. The gravy was homemade with flour and milk. Need I say more? Carb City! I woke up early the next day with such a sick feeling in my stomach. I lay there writhing for a while then when I no longer could take it I got up and sat on the toilet. Well, shortly there after I had it coming from both ends. I did end up going to work, but was very slow moving. I am so thankful for such a great group of girls to work with. We had got as far as we could for the day and decided to cut out early. I was home by noon and just vegged on the couch the whole rest of the day. I ate some soup and drank a lot of fluids. I did eat a small dinner of cereal too. Both Mike and I went to bed early and I for one, slept like a baby. Thankfully, the next day, I woke bright eyed and bushy tailed. I was also excited because this is the day we were getting our new furnace and ca! So I learned a very valuable lesson about being on Metformin. If you eat like shit, you are going to feel like shit!
This week I have decided to try a few new recipes out of a Rachel Ray cookbook that my girlfriend Bri gave me:) Last night we had Bacon Bit Burgers with Baby Spinach Salad. Tonight is one of my own concoctions, a Mediterranean Chicken Tomato Basil Pizza. Yummo:) I have been on Metformin for 1 1/2 wks and have lost 5 lbs so far. Weight Watchers is definitely still an option for us. We are currently checking into meetings around the area. It would be great to have another friend join. Anybody interested? Call me! I need a kick in the butt.
I am taking Synthroid for my Hyperthyroid as well. This med is not causing any side effects thus far. I have been on it only for 3 days though. Time will tell.
It's nice and comforting to know that things in my body are being leveled out. I am curious as to what kind of meds and treatments I will be on post-baby. I enjoy knowing why I feel the way I do. Not, "I don't know why I'm crazy!" Before, when my hormones are wacked, I felt like my feelings might not even be valid, just because it's the hormones talking, not me. That sucks and is very uncomfortable. It's like you can't trust your own feelings. It's just nice to be able to truly trust myself and to know that my feelings are valid and pretty much always have been. Just now, I can deal with things much easier and with less drama. Deep, I know..haha.
I started taking Provera yesterday. I am to take this progesterone pill for 10 days. I should have a period and at that time will call the Dr. to be started on Clomid. The whole situation seems so surreal, like I can't believe it's happening. We are just getting closer and closer to the big days to come.
Today Mike and I are snowed in! Yay! Neither of us had to go to work so it's been a lazy day around here. I went back to bed and he shoveled for about 2 hours thanks to the beautiful blizzard that blew through last night. We had a small breakfast and I found something to watch on TV. Today we watched Raising Sextuplets. What! Six kids! They are all sooo cute too. But I stick to my guns when I say absolutely no more than THREE..Please!
Till next time:)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Here we go!
Wow, have I had a very blessed last few weeks!! It's a wonderful feeling when things are going "right" Mike has finally quit smoking...for good I do believe! He hasn't smoked for 3 weeks now...you go boy! Work is going great for the both of us, which helps the stress levels. My creativity steadily increases. Self-confidence levels are rising. We have had wonderful moments with friends and have met some great new friends. Our home is coming together very nicely. We both feel very grounded for the first time I think...ever.
Last Monday our 25 yr old furnace finally bit the dust. Mike immediately was on it. We plugged in these awesome space heaters that Mom and Dad got for us around the first of the winter when the furnace first started acting up. That was a clear sign that it's time was coming . To make a long story shorter, fortunately we had a little money saved up and we are able to get a new energy efficient furnace. And we decided to spoil ourselves a little bit by getting a central air unit installed too...movin' on up! It's kind of funny that for the last 5 yrs we have wanted a furnace and air installed and we never had the means. I have learned about patience. Everything happens for a reason that you may not understand at the moment, but it always works out in the end. You just need to be patient. This gives me the confidence to know that we can do things on our own and we are going in the right direction. Is it a sign? Nothing like being forced into a large, but needed purchase right before we are trying to get preggo. It was meant to be...before our saving is sucked up by diapers, formula, diapers, diapers, diapers.....from what I've heard!
This past Friday was my 1st appointment with Dr. Zhang. I was prepared. I had been tracking everything about everything on our trusty dusty John Deere calendar. I took that with me just in case she might want to see it. I was shocked when Dr. Zhang came in the room and she remembered me! That immediately took away some reservations that I might have had. I didn't want to have to explain everything again!! That just confirmed to me that we came to the right Dr. She is committed to getting us pregnant and she is just as excited about it as we are which is among the best of traits for a Fertility Dr. to possess.
In the room with us was a student Dr. from I wish I could remember, but I had so many other things on my mind, I must have pushed that out... Dr. Zhang started by asking me about my cycle. I was so excited to be prepared like I was. I whipped out my calendar and knew right away the dates of everything. To find out that we are just going to start from scratch on Feb. 1st. How this is going to work... On Feb. 1st, I will start taking Medroxyprogesterone 10 MG. Brand name: Provera, Amen, Cycrin. It is a type of female hormone (progestin). This info is directly from my HyVee Pharmacy Prescription Information packet, "This medicine is similar to the progesterone that your body naturally makes and is given to replace the hormone when your body is not making enough of it. This medicine has several uses...treat abnormal bleeding from the uterus and to restore normal menstrual periods in women who have stopped having them several months (amenorhea). It is used to help reduce menopause symptoms. It also helps reduce the risk of cancer of the uterus." So, what I will do is take this starting Feb. 1st. In ten days I should have period. When I do, I am to call Dr. Zhang's office and let them know the good news. On the 3rd day of my period I will start on Clomid 200mg which is the dosage that I ended on last time. Remember that Clomid is the drug that helps your follicles mature and be released--ovulate. So the higher the dosage, the higher the chances of having multiple babies!
Not only do we need to get my uterus and ovaries working in sync now we need to get the rest of my body in sync! I was given a blood test before to check my thyroid function. It came back low which is hypothyroidism. It doesn't produce enough of the hormone. So I was given Synthroid to help increase the function. It went from 1.56 to 1.66 which is the right range. Dr. Zhang wants to put me on it this time too. She said that sometimes just getting the thyroid regulated can dramatically increase fertility! Exciting! She ordered another blood test for me and now we are just waiting on the results before officially starting on this drug.
And last but not least, I am going to be on a drug called Metformin. Brand name...Glucophage, Fortamet, Glumetza. My weight was bound to be a topic during this visit. It was a topic last time too and I was 20 lbs lighter! Okay so I have been super freakin hungry lately. It's winter, chocolate and french fries are the devil! Well, come to find out it is really hard for a lot of women who have PCOS to lose weight because we can become insulin resistant which leads to carb cravings among other things. This info is directly off my HyVee Pharmacy Prescrip Info packet, "Metformin is used along with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar which helps prevent kidney damage, blindness, nerve problems, loss of limbs, and sexual function problems, heart attack and stroke. Metformin works by helping to restore your body's proper response to the insulin you naturally produce. It also decreases the amount of sugar that your liver makes and that your stomach/intestines absorb. It is also used in women with a Polycystic ovarian syndrome. Metformin may make menstrual cycles more regular and increase fertility."
There is an added bonus of probably losing a few pounds....I hope so. She did say that I will experience diarrhea and nausea...it's just a matter of accepting that, eating better to ease that, and adjusting the dosage.
I read somewhere that the most drastic increase in ovulation rate occurs with a combination of diet, weight loss, Metformin and Clomiphene. Not that it's exciting by any means to go through this, but it is nice to know that we are headed in the right direction.
Mike and I are going to try Weight Watchers. This is the first eating program I have ever mentioned to him that he was interested in. He actually said yes! I think that per Dr. Zhang's suggestion, she has created monsters!! It is time to get my body where it is supposed to be. You get to a point where you get comfortable, but you still know that it could be a lot better. Weight Watchers it is!
Thanks for reading up on my story. I will for sure keep you posted of any future adventures. Right now we are just going to try to get our bodies ready for the baby!! There's no better time to develop a new and better type of lifestyle. We want to make sure we are around for a very long time.
Last Monday our 25 yr old furnace finally bit the dust. Mike immediately was on it. We plugged in these awesome space heaters that Mom and Dad got for us around the first of the winter when the furnace first started acting up. That was a clear sign that it's time was coming . To make a long story shorter, fortunately we had a little money saved up and we are able to get a new energy efficient furnace. And we decided to spoil ourselves a little bit by getting a central air unit installed too...movin' on up! It's kind of funny that for the last 5 yrs we have wanted a furnace and air installed and we never had the means. I have learned about patience. Everything happens for a reason that you may not understand at the moment, but it always works out in the end. You just need to be patient. This gives me the confidence to know that we can do things on our own and we are going in the right direction. Is it a sign? Nothing like being forced into a large, but needed purchase right before we are trying to get preggo. It was meant to be...before our saving is sucked up by diapers, formula, diapers, diapers, diapers.....from what I've heard!
This past Friday was my 1st appointment with Dr. Zhang. I was prepared. I had been tracking everything about everything on our trusty dusty John Deere calendar. I took that with me just in case she might want to see it. I was shocked when Dr. Zhang came in the room and she remembered me! That immediately took away some reservations that I might have had. I didn't want to have to explain everything again!! That just confirmed to me that we came to the right Dr. She is committed to getting us pregnant and she is just as excited about it as we are which is among the best of traits for a Fertility Dr. to possess.
In the room with us was a student Dr. from I wish I could remember, but I had so many other things on my mind, I must have pushed that out... Dr. Zhang started by asking me about my cycle. I was so excited to be prepared like I was. I whipped out my calendar and knew right away the dates of everything. To find out that we are just going to start from scratch on Feb. 1st. How this is going to work... On Feb. 1st, I will start taking Medroxyprogesterone 10 MG. Brand name: Provera, Amen, Cycrin. It is a type of female hormone (progestin). This info is directly from my HyVee Pharmacy Prescription Information packet, "This medicine is similar to the progesterone that your body naturally makes and is given to replace the hormone when your body is not making enough of it. This medicine has several uses...treat abnormal bleeding from the uterus and to restore normal menstrual periods in women who have stopped having them several months (amenorhea). It is used to help reduce menopause symptoms. It also helps reduce the risk of cancer of the uterus." So, what I will do is take this starting Feb. 1st. In ten days I should have period. When I do, I am to call Dr. Zhang's office and let them know the good news. On the 3rd day of my period I will start on Clomid 200mg which is the dosage that I ended on last time. Remember that Clomid is the drug that helps your follicles mature and be released--ovulate. So the higher the dosage, the higher the chances of having multiple babies!
Not only do we need to get my uterus and ovaries working in sync now we need to get the rest of my body in sync! I was given a blood test before to check my thyroid function. It came back low which is hypothyroidism. It doesn't produce enough of the hormone. So I was given Synthroid to help increase the function. It went from 1.56 to 1.66 which is the right range. Dr. Zhang wants to put me on it this time too. She said that sometimes just getting the thyroid regulated can dramatically increase fertility! Exciting! She ordered another blood test for me and now we are just waiting on the results before officially starting on this drug.
And last but not least, I am going to be on a drug called Metformin. Brand name...Glucophage, Fortamet, Glumetza. My weight was bound to be a topic during this visit. It was a topic last time too and I was 20 lbs lighter! Okay so I have been super freakin hungry lately. It's winter, chocolate and french fries are the devil! Well, come to find out it is really hard for a lot of women who have PCOS to lose weight because we can become insulin resistant which leads to carb cravings among other things. This info is directly off my HyVee Pharmacy Prescrip Info packet, "Metformin is used along with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar which helps prevent kidney damage, blindness, nerve problems, loss of limbs, and sexual function problems, heart attack and stroke. Metformin works by helping to restore your body's proper response to the insulin you naturally produce. It also decreases the amount of sugar that your liver makes and that your stomach/intestines absorb. It is also used in women with a Polycystic ovarian syndrome. Metformin may make menstrual cycles more regular and increase fertility."
There is an added bonus of probably losing a few pounds....I hope so. She did say that I will experience diarrhea and nausea...it's just a matter of accepting that, eating better to ease that, and adjusting the dosage.
I read somewhere that the most drastic increase in ovulation rate occurs with a combination of diet, weight loss, Metformin and Clomiphene. Not that it's exciting by any means to go through this, but it is nice to know that we are headed in the right direction.
Mike and I are going to try Weight Watchers. This is the first eating program I have ever mentioned to him that he was interested in. He actually said yes! I think that per Dr. Zhang's suggestion, she has created monsters!! It is time to get my body where it is supposed to be. You get to a point where you get comfortable, but you still know that it could be a lot better. Weight Watchers it is!
Thanks for reading up on my story. I will for sure keep you posted of any future adventures. Right now we are just going to try to get our bodies ready for the baby!! There's no better time to develop a new and better type of lifestyle. We want to make sure we are around for a very long time.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Education
Yesterday I spoke with an old friend who has been through everything that I am now experiencing. I have learned that I should have educated myself a long time ago about PCOS. Thank the heavens for Google! It brought me to a couple websites that I found very informative:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/polycystic_ovary_syndrome
https://health.google.com/health/ref/polycystic+ovary+disease
In a previous post I mentioned how I felt the ball was dropped and it took way too long to diagnose me with PCOS. One of the articles mentioned that PCOS sometimes isn't diagnosed until the 20's, 30's and sometimes into your 40's! So being 29 and finally being diagnosed with it is not uncommon. That is because PCOS often has a vague presentation and can take years to reach a diagnosis. I feel a little better knowing that my past Dr.'s probably didn't sweep it under the rug like I had previously wondered .
After reading the information provided in these sites, I feel more prepared for my Dr.'s appointment on Jan. 21. I have prepared some questions to ask as well. I know that a lot of my questions will be answered upon completion of my blood work, but other questions will remain. Such as: I didn't detect any LH increase using the ovulation test kit...is there any other way to test an LH surge? Do I consider it day one of my ovulation even if there is little to no blood?
Reading up on PCOS has taught me about the other health risks that can come along with it, like Diabetes! That one scares me. I do not want to be a diabetic. After reading about that risk, I am now more determined than ever to eat healthy and to be more active. Just by dropping 7-10% of one's body weight, ovulation can occur on it's own without the help of hormone pumping drugs. My current weight loss goal is 25lbs. I plan on doing this by eating much better. I will eat lots of fruits and veggies and get my carbs from whole grain sources. I also plan on taking an Omega 3,6, and 9 supplement to help maintain my heart health. Mike and I both recently started taking a multi-vitamin to fill the gaps in the nutrition that we may be missing from foods that we eat. Losing weight alone will more than likely not be a fix all, but sure will help! Losing weight with having PCOS is not going to be easy. Many times PCOS patients are insulin resistant which is a whole other ball of wax. Here is a link to more information about insulin resistance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/insulin_resistance
It definitely will not be easy to drop 25 lbs but it can be done, I've done it before. I just wish the weight would fall off as fast as it accumulates!
Right now I am looking for a great Zumba video and am currently doing Yoga. Yoga keeps me flexible and relaxed and focused. Zumba will be fun and give me lots of energy and is supposed to be an amazing fat burner too. We'll see!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/polycystic_ovary_syndrome
https://health.google.com/health/ref/polycystic+ovary+disease
In a previous post I mentioned how I felt the ball was dropped and it took way too long to diagnose me with PCOS. One of the articles mentioned that PCOS sometimes isn't diagnosed until the 20's, 30's and sometimes into your 40's! So being 29 and finally being diagnosed with it is not uncommon. That is because PCOS often has a vague presentation and can take years to reach a diagnosis. I feel a little better knowing that my past Dr.'s probably didn't sweep it under the rug like I had previously wondered .
After reading the information provided in these sites, I feel more prepared for my Dr.'s appointment on Jan. 21. I have prepared some questions to ask as well. I know that a lot of my questions will be answered upon completion of my blood work, but other questions will remain. Such as: I didn't detect any LH increase using the ovulation test kit...is there any other way to test an LH surge? Do I consider it day one of my ovulation even if there is little to no blood?
Reading up on PCOS has taught me about the other health risks that can come along with it, like Diabetes! That one scares me. I do not want to be a diabetic. After reading about that risk, I am now more determined than ever to eat healthy and to be more active. Just by dropping 7-10% of one's body weight, ovulation can occur on it's own without the help of hormone pumping drugs. My current weight loss goal is 25lbs. I plan on doing this by eating much better. I will eat lots of fruits and veggies and get my carbs from whole grain sources. I also plan on taking an Omega 3,6, and 9 supplement to help maintain my heart health. Mike and I both recently started taking a multi-vitamin to fill the gaps in the nutrition that we may be missing from foods that we eat. Losing weight alone will more than likely not be a fix all, but sure will help! Losing weight with having PCOS is not going to be easy. Many times PCOS patients are insulin resistant which is a whole other ball of wax. Here is a link to more information about insulin resistance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/insulin_resistance
It definitely will not be easy to drop 25 lbs but it can be done, I've done it before. I just wish the weight would fall off as fast as it accumulates!
Right now I am looking for a great Zumba video and am currently doing Yoga. Yoga keeps me flexible and relaxed and focused. Zumba will be fun and give me lots of energy and is supposed to be an amazing fat burner too. We'll see!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Continuation...
Okay, so where were we? Oh ya, forging ahead with tests, pills, shots, and all kinds of fun stuff. I wish I could remember or had noted the meds that I was given, but the one that I remember the name of is, you guessed it, Clomid! The drug that could possibly release multiple follicles causing you to have multiple babies! I thought, wow! I just want one, maybe two, no more than three kids PLEASE, not a whole litter!! Leave that to the rabbits! Needless to say that kind of freaked me out. The idea of twins though really always intriqued me. Now that we are having this issue, the idea sounds even more intriguing just so we can get it done all at once. But I stand firm when I say no more than three. So Dr. Zhang started me on the Clomid right away after giving me something to get my period going. Let the games begin!
Wow, can you say trainwreck?!? Being slightly emotionally unstable due to turning 30, plus quitting smoking, plus trying to watch my weight, plus work issues, and add that to the side effect of Clomid that is known for making one a huge bitch = Not a very fun road to go down! And for every month you don't ovulate, the next month's dosage is higher! Mike was the best. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive man to go through this together with. He knew that it wasn't the real me, just that everything was making me crazy. He got it. Don't get me wrong, he got pissy with me right back. Righteously. But not as much as I would have had the tables been turned.
Mike had his third sperm count done and the results came back that he was low. I'm sorry, I misplaced all my paperwork. I must have put it somewhere safe and forgot where I put it. So this is to the best of my recollection. His swimmers were around 72%...his nonswimmers were around 25%... defected was like 3%. I'll find out for sure and let you know.
I had all kinds of blood work done. One test came back that I had a hypothyroid. My thyroid didn't produce enough of the thyroid hormone. So I had to take Synthroid to bring that hormone level up. I was excited because I thought that maybe I would lose some weight. I did feel less tired and sluggish though, but no weight fell off. Darn it! Dr. Zhang did say that sometimes just correcting the thyroid can increase one's chances of getting pregnant. Nice, there might be a silver lining in this cloud. We were so hopeful, but that didn't seem to be the answer either. Perhaps we just didn't try for long enough. It was only about a 6 month time frame, but felt like years.
At that point, I had been through a job position elimination and placed in a different position. I started becoming totally consumed by that. I was unhappy and felt really stressed out all the time. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but knew that was not it. So, we decided it was not a good time to have a baby and we quit trying. I never did go back to smoking cigarettes. I haven't smoked since Oct. 19th 2009. That is the day of our first appointment with Dr. Zhang. Even though we quit trying, I didn't see a point in starting back up again. I did want to try again someday and really didn't want to go through the agony of quitting smoking AGAIN! That was the best decision I ever made.
A few months had gone by and I was becoming increasingly unhappy with pretty much everything. I tried so hard to be content with where I was, I just wasn't happy and wasn't good at faking it till I make it either. So, I decided if I want to have a baby I need to be in a job that I enjoy or I am not so stressed so I can make a baby! From that point on I was in search of a new career. One that was kid friendly. I started looking at Corporate America! Positions that I probably could have done. And a few I would have done just to be somewhere different. And one that I really wanted and would have been good at. Well, I didn't get any of those jobs and grew increasingly disappointed in my current setting. So one day out of the blue I decided to quit my job. STUPID!! You can't have a baby on one income!!! Now what are we going to do? My night and shining armour comes to my rescue and tells me everything is going to be okay. For the first time in a while, I believed him!
After the initial shock of quitting my job with no back up plan....I was happy! I felt great! I cut my own hair! I was ready to conquer the world! Now, I have been blessed with some time to sit back and learn a few things about me, Mike, and where we want to be in life and how we want to get there. After quite a few disagreements and misunderstandings we are both on the same page and it feels good. I am in a work field that I love; paint and design. The best part is, my creativity isn't bottled up anymore!
So the point of all that was basically to say that now, after having had those experiences, we are really ready for a baby. We know what to expect so we can be better prepared. Our first appointment this year is January 21st. We can't wait...Here we go again!
Wow, can you say trainwreck?!? Being slightly emotionally unstable due to turning 30, plus quitting smoking, plus trying to watch my weight, plus work issues, and add that to the side effect of Clomid that is known for making one a huge bitch = Not a very fun road to go down! And for every month you don't ovulate, the next month's dosage is higher! Mike was the best. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive man to go through this together with. He knew that it wasn't the real me, just that everything was making me crazy. He got it. Don't get me wrong, he got pissy with me right back. Righteously. But not as much as I would have had the tables been turned.
Mike had his third sperm count done and the results came back that he was low. I'm sorry, I misplaced all my paperwork. I must have put it somewhere safe and forgot where I put it. So this is to the best of my recollection. His swimmers were around 72%...his nonswimmers were around 25%... defected was like 3%. I'll find out for sure and let you know.
I had all kinds of blood work done. One test came back that I had a hypothyroid. My thyroid didn't produce enough of the thyroid hormone. So I had to take Synthroid to bring that hormone level up. I was excited because I thought that maybe I would lose some weight. I did feel less tired and sluggish though, but no weight fell off. Darn it! Dr. Zhang did say that sometimes just correcting the thyroid can increase one's chances of getting pregnant. Nice, there might be a silver lining in this cloud. We were so hopeful, but that didn't seem to be the answer either. Perhaps we just didn't try for long enough. It was only about a 6 month time frame, but felt like years.
At that point, I had been through a job position elimination and placed in a different position. I started becoming totally consumed by that. I was unhappy and felt really stressed out all the time. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but knew that was not it. So, we decided it was not a good time to have a baby and we quit trying. I never did go back to smoking cigarettes. I haven't smoked since Oct. 19th 2009. That is the day of our first appointment with Dr. Zhang. Even though we quit trying, I didn't see a point in starting back up again. I did want to try again someday and really didn't want to go through the agony of quitting smoking AGAIN! That was the best decision I ever made.
A few months had gone by and I was becoming increasingly unhappy with pretty much everything. I tried so hard to be content with where I was, I just wasn't happy and wasn't good at faking it till I make it either. So, I decided if I want to have a baby I need to be in a job that I enjoy or I am not so stressed so I can make a baby! From that point on I was in search of a new career. One that was kid friendly. I started looking at Corporate America! Positions that I probably could have done. And a few I would have done just to be somewhere different. And one that I really wanted and would have been good at. Well, I didn't get any of those jobs and grew increasingly disappointed in my current setting. So one day out of the blue I decided to quit my job. STUPID!! You can't have a baby on one income!!! Now what are we going to do? My night and shining armour comes to my rescue and tells me everything is going to be okay. For the first time in a while, I believed him!
After the initial shock of quitting my job with no back up plan....I was happy! I felt great! I cut my own hair! I was ready to conquer the world! Now, I have been blessed with some time to sit back and learn a few things about me, Mike, and where we want to be in life and how we want to get there. After quite a few disagreements and misunderstandings we are both on the same page and it feels good. I am in a work field that I love; paint and design. The best part is, my creativity isn't bottled up anymore!
So the point of all that was basically to say that now, after having had those experiences, we are really ready for a baby. We know what to expect so we can be better prepared. Our first appointment this year is January 21st. We can't wait...Here we go again!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Story Up to Now
The date is January 5, 2011 and we are officially on the path to pregnancy for the 3rd official time. Let me start from the beginning....
First of all it should be known that I have had ovulation problems my whole life. Still period less at 13, my mom took me to our pediatrician to be checked out to make sure I had all the working parts. I remember that as being such an embarrassing moment. Not to mention all the other crappy feelings you get along with having such a problem. Good news is, I do have all the necessary parts to ovulate properly. So what seems to be the problem then?
At that time, very little to nothing was said to me about possible hormone issues or PCOS. I still am not sure if the Dr's knew and just didn't explain my problem to me very good at all, or they would just wait it out to see if maybe I was just a "late bloomer". Whatever the case, I felt weird and different and nobody was giving me an answer. So we just waited it out. Still the period never came.
It wasn't until I was 29 that I finally learned I had PCOS. Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It turns out that PCOS is not uncommon. If it is so common, then why did it take so long to diagnose it as such? I feel like the ball was dropped somewhere along the way. PCOS can cause all kinds of problems if left untreated. Okay, this is the health care system we pay for? I'll quit right there, that's a whole other blog!
Back to the story. At 14 I finally got a period!!! But don't get too excited, I didn't have another one until I was 16. Turning 16 brings on all kinds of feelings, so having a period seemed like the cherry on top! I was finally turning into a woman! Well, that was short lived. After a few spotting episodes, I was taken to a Gynecologist. By the way, this was my first experience opening my legs to a man...not to mention my mother was in the room. Weird! But, I was determined to see if this Dr. could make me normal. He gave me a shot of estrogen in my butt to get my period started. After that I was to take the birth control pill everyday to keep my period regular. It finally felt like my body was doing what it was supposed to do and I felt somewhat normal. But knowing that my period was being forced was always a concern of mine when it comes to wanting to have children later on in life. I wondered what happens if I want to get pregnant? I can't get pregnant if I'm on the pill and I can't ovulate unless I'm on the pill....and so the journey began.
I am not the only one with fertility issues in our coupledom. Mike had informed me that in his previous marriage, they had wanted to have a baby too and were not having any luck. He went to a urologist to have his sperm counted and checked out. He was not given a result but told to come back for a second test. Well, he never did go back for that test due to the dissolution of that marriage.
Mike and I started dating in 2001 and were married on July 10, 2004. We were living in West Burlington, Ia in a cute tiny little house with a huge backyard, a wonderful dog, great family, friends, and neighbors. We were young and in love and feeling pretty stable so we decided to try for a baby about 8 months before we got married. At that time I quit taking the pill and was incredibly uncertain as to what would happen, but tried to remain optimistic. I was terrified, but wanted a baby and knew we could make it work. So, I quit taking the pill with uncertainty as to whether or not I would ovulate. Hallelujah! I most certainly did, and for quite some time, actually. I was feeling "normal"! But after many romps around the bedroom and still no baby on the way, and us knowing of the story of Mike that I will tell you in a bit....we decided to get him checked out. So we were referred to a urologist for a sperm count. Well the result was, "you need to come back in for a second test..." What? Why are they saying that again? What the heck is the problem? Mike felt he knew that it was because he had a low sperm count. But wanted to be certain. He gave them a call and asked them to tell him why he needs to come in. They told him it is looking like he may have a low sperm count and they need to get a second result to rule out any possible related issues. So, with that being said, it pretty much scared us away. We didn't do the second test. But it was good to know that he wasn't sterile too. I think we knew we weren't really ready for a baby, and so just kind of let it be. But the questions still remained. We knew we would need to "try" when the right time came.
To make this even more interesting, there is a reason as to how Mike knew he had a low sperm count. Mike had told me all about when he was a baby and how sick he was. He was born with very bad asthma and was hospitalized for it at one point. The attending Dr. had overdosed baby Mike with too much of some drug (sorry, I don't know the name of it) and Mike was very close to death. Well, after much better doctoring, Mike came around and seemed to be okay. Since then he has grown out of his asthma and has no symptoms. So you're probably wondering what this has to do with low sperm count....well, the doctor informed Mike's mom that one possible long-term effect of the overdose could be low sperm count or even become sterile! Well, after I heard that story, I felt like we are defeated! So, as you can see, it was nice to know at least that Mike wasn't sterile. Since then, we decided that we would just have unprotected sex and see what happens.
Although life was pretty good in West Burlington, we wanted something more. So, we moved to Cedar Rapids, Ia in 2005. Hopefully to find ourselves a future and a home. This whole time, I hadn't been on the pill and was having semi-normal ovulations. Then all of a sudden they quit for quite some time. Then out of nowhere I would have another one. Then it would quit. My periods were very intermittent and came and went as they pleased. Then in summer of '08, I had a part-time job painting. While at work I started having really awful pains. They were BAD. I went to the bathroom and I was bleeding heavy. I was so scared, but remained calm and kept on painting. After we were done I went home and curled up on the couch. Needless to say,- didn't work for a couple days. There was so much blood I thought I would bleed to death. So I called the Dr. and they got me in right away. At this time she did an internal ultrasound on my uterus and ovaries. This is when I was diagnosed with PCOS- Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It all came to a head after many years of it being left untreated. All I needed to do was be on the pill. I wanted to scream! But how am I gonna get pregnant?????
In November 2009 we decided to try officially for the 2nd time. I was working in a job that I found stressful, and I disliked it very much. I knew that having added stress does not create an ideal condition to try and conceive. But again, I remained optimistic! At this time, we heard about a Dr. Sunny Zhang from one of our close friends whose sister got pregnant after many years of trying, with her help! Yay! A point in the right direction. So...to Dr. Zhang we went! Dr. Zhang was very straight forward, honest, and optimistic! I thought we were on our way to having a little piece of us. We were ready as we would ever be. We always thought, "let's wait until we are financially stable." Hahahahahaha!! That's funny. Nobody would have babies if we all waited until we were stable in any shape or form! Well, once we adopted that way of thinking, we really were ready. Except for the job I hated..hmmmmm...that's a problem. We forged ahead anyhow with tests, pills, shots, and all kinds of fun stuff. I will not bore you with the scientific terminology because quite honestly, it's all kind of hard to explain and I don't understand all of it myself.
That's it for now. I need to give my brain a break! I hope to see you all back to hear the rest of our story. Please share with me your thoughts and stories too!
First of all it should be known that I have had ovulation problems my whole life. Still period less at 13, my mom took me to our pediatrician to be checked out to make sure I had all the working parts. I remember that as being such an embarrassing moment. Not to mention all the other crappy feelings you get along with having such a problem. Good news is, I do have all the necessary parts to ovulate properly. So what seems to be the problem then?
At that time, very little to nothing was said to me about possible hormone issues or PCOS. I still am not sure if the Dr's knew and just didn't explain my problem to me very good at all, or they would just wait it out to see if maybe I was just a "late bloomer". Whatever the case, I felt weird and different and nobody was giving me an answer. So we just waited it out. Still the period never came.
It wasn't until I was 29 that I finally learned I had PCOS. Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It turns out that PCOS is not uncommon. If it is so common, then why did it take so long to diagnose it as such? I feel like the ball was dropped somewhere along the way. PCOS can cause all kinds of problems if left untreated. Okay, this is the health care system we pay for? I'll quit right there, that's a whole other blog!
Back to the story. At 14 I finally got a period!!! But don't get too excited, I didn't have another one until I was 16. Turning 16 brings on all kinds of feelings, so having a period seemed like the cherry on top! I was finally turning into a woman! Well, that was short lived. After a few spotting episodes, I was taken to a Gynecologist. By the way, this was my first experience opening my legs to a man...not to mention my mother was in the room. Weird! But, I was determined to see if this Dr. could make me normal. He gave me a shot of estrogen in my butt to get my period started. After that I was to take the birth control pill everyday to keep my period regular. It finally felt like my body was doing what it was supposed to do and I felt somewhat normal. But knowing that my period was being forced was always a concern of mine when it comes to wanting to have children later on in life. I wondered what happens if I want to get pregnant? I can't get pregnant if I'm on the pill and I can't ovulate unless I'm on the pill....and so the journey began.
I am not the only one with fertility issues in our coupledom. Mike had informed me that in his previous marriage, they had wanted to have a baby too and were not having any luck. He went to a urologist to have his sperm counted and checked out. He was not given a result but told to come back for a second test. Well, he never did go back for that test due to the dissolution of that marriage.
Mike and I started dating in 2001 and were married on July 10, 2004. We were living in West Burlington, Ia in a cute tiny little house with a huge backyard, a wonderful dog, great family, friends, and neighbors. We were young and in love and feeling pretty stable so we decided to try for a baby about 8 months before we got married. At that time I quit taking the pill and was incredibly uncertain as to what would happen, but tried to remain optimistic. I was terrified, but wanted a baby and knew we could make it work. So, I quit taking the pill with uncertainty as to whether or not I would ovulate. Hallelujah! I most certainly did, and for quite some time, actually. I was feeling "normal"! But after many romps around the bedroom and still no baby on the way, and us knowing of the story of Mike that I will tell you in a bit....we decided to get him checked out. So we were referred to a urologist for a sperm count. Well the result was, "you need to come back in for a second test..." What? Why are they saying that again? What the heck is the problem? Mike felt he knew that it was because he had a low sperm count. But wanted to be certain. He gave them a call and asked them to tell him why he needs to come in. They told him it is looking like he may have a low sperm count and they need to get a second result to rule out any possible related issues. So, with that being said, it pretty much scared us away. We didn't do the second test. But it was good to know that he wasn't sterile too. I think we knew we weren't really ready for a baby, and so just kind of let it be. But the questions still remained. We knew we would need to "try" when the right time came.
To make this even more interesting, there is a reason as to how Mike knew he had a low sperm count. Mike had told me all about when he was a baby and how sick he was. He was born with very bad asthma and was hospitalized for it at one point. The attending Dr. had overdosed baby Mike with too much of some drug (sorry, I don't know the name of it) and Mike was very close to death. Well, after much better doctoring, Mike came around and seemed to be okay. Since then he has grown out of his asthma and has no symptoms. So you're probably wondering what this has to do with low sperm count....well, the doctor informed Mike's mom that one possible long-term effect of the overdose could be low sperm count or even become sterile! Well, after I heard that story, I felt like we are defeated! So, as you can see, it was nice to know at least that Mike wasn't sterile. Since then, we decided that we would just have unprotected sex and see what happens.
Although life was pretty good in West Burlington, we wanted something more. So, we moved to Cedar Rapids, Ia in 2005. Hopefully to find ourselves a future and a home. This whole time, I hadn't been on the pill and was having semi-normal ovulations. Then all of a sudden they quit for quite some time. Then out of nowhere I would have another one. Then it would quit. My periods were very intermittent and came and went as they pleased. Then in summer of '08, I had a part-time job painting. While at work I started having really awful pains. They were BAD. I went to the bathroom and I was bleeding heavy. I was so scared, but remained calm and kept on painting. After we were done I went home and curled up on the couch. Needless to say,- didn't work for a couple days. There was so much blood I thought I would bleed to death. So I called the Dr. and they got me in right away. At this time she did an internal ultrasound on my uterus and ovaries. This is when I was diagnosed with PCOS- Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It all came to a head after many years of it being left untreated. All I needed to do was be on the pill. I wanted to scream! But how am I gonna get pregnant?????
In November 2009 we decided to try officially for the 2nd time. I was working in a job that I found stressful, and I disliked it very much. I knew that having added stress does not create an ideal condition to try and conceive. But again, I remained optimistic! At this time, we heard about a Dr. Sunny Zhang from one of our close friends whose sister got pregnant after many years of trying, with her help! Yay! A point in the right direction. So...to Dr. Zhang we went! Dr. Zhang was very straight forward, honest, and optimistic! I thought we were on our way to having a little piece of us. We were ready as we would ever be. We always thought, "let's wait until we are financially stable." Hahahahahaha!! That's funny. Nobody would have babies if we all waited until we were stable in any shape or form! Well, once we adopted that way of thinking, we really were ready. Except for the job I hated..hmmmmm...that's a problem. We forged ahead anyhow with tests, pills, shots, and all kinds of fun stuff. I will not bore you with the scientific terminology because quite honestly, it's all kind of hard to explain and I don't understand all of it myself.
That's it for now. I need to give my brain a break! I hope to see you all back to hear the rest of our story. Please share with me your thoughts and stories too!
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