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.