This Led Us to Our Invitro- Fertilization and Frozen Embryo Transfer

So it has taken my husband and I 5 years to get to this point in our fertility journey.  During these last 5 years Ive been told that Im Bi Polar ( nah i just have resting bitch face and have no time for bullshit sorry that imnot overly smiley it doesnt mean anything ), Im Depressed ( nope just sarcastic by nature ), Im Anxious ( i really am anxious though ) and multiple other things from Doctors in the area and they even tried to give me all the PILLS in the WORLD.  As we all may or may not know my husband loves to research things!  So the first thing to research was the GOITER in my neck basically my thyroid blew up and the reason it blew up was because to be honest I wasn’t taking care of myself I was at the gym every morning at 5 am I worked out for 2 hours.  Though I know how to eat ( im a nutrionist ) I was told crazy things by PERSONAL TRAINERS  ( they don’t have degrees y’all ) stop eating carbs ect.  However I never stopped eating the things I wanted, but all that working out led to my HORMONES  to being out of whack!  Hence, I got a goiter and had a very unnecessary surgery had the SURGEON actually taken labs not just a biopsy maybe I wouldn’t have!  However the SURGEON only does what?  Well SURGERIES of course. So he took out half my thyroid and I would lthen have to take hormones to help regulate my body.  Also, this was why I couldn’t have kids on my own and that this would fix the problem.  So I started to see an ENDOCRINOLOGIST who put me on synthroid and took labs so I have an AUTO IMMUNE TYPE OF THYROIDITIS called HASHIMOTOS so my body attacks the thyroid super exciting right LOL.  

So our journey continues I was getting migraines and napping A LOT.  I was gaining weight but wasn’t eating any different I had slacked a bit at the gym but I felt like CRAP all the time I just ached.  So I talked to the ENDOCRINOLOGIST about this and he uped my synthroid still saw no big relief.  7 months had gone by and I still felt like SHIT all the time.  I wasn’t depressed I was ANGRY that no one would listen too me.  Finally, I saw my OBGYN because I bled for 60 days straight.  He took some labs and then sent me for an MRI with contrast, because I had an elevated prolactin level, which would be causing my migraines and constant fatigue because I have a PITUITARY MICRO- ADENOMA (non cancerous tumor in the brain thats controlled by medication ).  So he put me on a drug called CABERGOLINE the first 6 weeks on that fun ride was AWFUL dizzy nauseous ect super fun!  OBGYN told me this is the reason you cannot get pregnant after about 3 months you should be fine though the medication will be lifelong and should be able to conceive alone.  

I didn’t believe the doctors and it led me to the fertility clinic.  There during our first consultation our doctor asked me questions about my cycle.  But by the time we left the clinic after 2 hours I was diagnosed with ANOVULATORY cycles, in short I don’t ovulate.  WOW a simple yet detailed conversation about your period led you to this conclusion.   It made sense though I had PEED on a bajillion sticks daily I never got a smiley face. I did 4 months of testing on my cycle so they got a baseline of my body before we even started treatments.    They did all the labs for testing and took samples from Jonathan and by then we were 8 months into this process.  We had another talk with the doctor and we were ready to proceed my TSH had dropped to 1.8 ( needs to be under 2.5 for healthy pregnancy first trimester ) and I needed to have a procedure to make sure my uterus was HEALTHY, called a HYSTEROSCOPY we had the option of doing the less invasive surgery first however if they found scar tissue and polyps I would have to do another surgery.  We opted for the INVASIVE proceedure which found 2mm worth of scar tissue connecting to both sides of my uterus and a flat polyp.  They also did my yearly exam while I was there and sent all the finding to the lab for testing.  Testing everything came back normal even was testing for pelvic inflammatory disease ( typically seen with a ton of scar tissue ) and nothing was abnormal.  So we talked more and the holidays were rolling around and we rested for 3 weeks and shocker I got my cycle EARLY so we started IVF January 8 with Birth Control after a fun 2 weeks of that we started daily injections and testing at the doctors office with ultrasounds.  ( PS even though I dont ovulate I still get a cycle i still shed the lining for 10-12 days most of the time average cycles are 7 days )

When we started the daily blood tests my LH was way too high with a lower FSH level so not only do I not OVULATE we now have another diagnosis of PCOS ( this is why i responded well to the fertility drugs though with 20 eggs retrieved ).  The injections continued and I was tested for TSH again and I had SPIKED so I would continue to the egg retrieval and then wait a month start new meds ect to get the levels down.  SO the PCOS explained everything in a 30 minute conversation with my REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGIST.  It explained my weight though Im not fat I have gained weight even though Im overly active with the gym, trx bands, meditation and riding horses.  It explained a lot of my moodiness and anxiety it also explained so much more about my body and my cycles and the pain i was in. ( I love how the internet says its painless its not ) My ovaries are ROCK SOLID my retrieval took longer because they had trouble getting the needle through the ovaries.  

Were currently waiting to see if the TSH has fallen I test on monday 3/11 and then we will start implant protocol from the Frozen Embryos we have.  

****I have probably had PCOS for a long time.  As a young woman I can remember going to the OBGYN and they had pressed on my ovaries and I shot up in pain, I can remember him asking me did I startle you or is it painful I said painful.  But as I was close to my cycle that made sense to him.  Little did I know it was more than likely PCOS however back then it was few and far between that women actually were diagnosed with this.  Also Id like to note that POLY CYCSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME doesn’t mean you have to have CYCSTIC ovaries however this is the most common type. 

Im writing this because many women just go with what they’re told and most of the time all of this un-necessarily causes issues had the doctor and or patient taken the time to actually have a detailed conversation.  WE pay for health care but that system is VERY BROKEN I can honestly say that I had 2 doctors listen to me and amazing NUERO-SURGEON whose nursing staff checked on me multiple times and our REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGIST who works tirelessly for I’m assuming all of her patients and right now checks in weekly on me, that will change on monday if we start protocol.  When the protocol starts ill talk to the coordinator daily.  I will not accept anything less in the health care department they became doctors to provide the best care possible they take and oath for it so make sure you receive it! 

Stay Tuned

Love

Felicia