After Birth: Birth Control and PCOS

I’m back for a bit to update you on the recent information I’ve gathered regarding my lovely PCOS and my future birth control plans.

I have my six week checkup on Thursday (has everything healed?  Are my goodies permanently deformed??), but before I go in I decided to gather some information from my RE.  (I absolutely adore this doctor and wish I could pay him to be my doctor for everything).  I asked his opinion on what I should do for future birth control, both for my PCOS and for the future (if we choose to do an FET).  I want my body to be both healthy for now, and healthy for a possible second child.  Since I am on the cusp of menopause (already peri-menopausal) I wanted to also verify that menopause would not deter a future FET.  Turns out it won’t!  It won’t even hurt the chances of success!  Science is on the ball, guys.

So, the birth control options are an IUD, progestrin only pills (refered to as a “mini pill” by the RE), a combined pill with progesterone and estrogen (he is not 100% sure they will still do this for a breastfeeding mother, but they used to ten years ago when he did his residency), and good ol’ condoms.

Condoms are out.  Those are so not fun to deal with.

The mini pill is most likely the way my OB/GYN will have me go.  I already know a girl who was put on this from the same practice.  She said they recommended this as the only option for a breastfeeding mother.  I may not have an option.

The combined pill is what I want the most.  I am worried about remembering to take a pill at the moment, since I am quite tired most days, but it is best for me because of the estrogen.  The estrogen will help keep my not-so-fun PCOS symptoms under control.  I’m just not sure they will let me take a pill containing estrogen while breastfeeding.  We shall see!

IUD is an option, of course, but it worries me that I do not know one person who has successfully had an IUD placed and kept it longer than a couple months.  Constant pain seems to be the biggest complaint, and who wants to live with that?  Only upside?  My RE believes that it will prevent any future periods.  This is good for convenience sake, but I was quite worried about the risk factor for endometrial cancer.  For those of you with PCOS, we have a very high risk of endometrial cancer due to our lining not shedding enough.  The lining stays in and basically rots.  Awesome.  But rest assured, if you go with the IUD, the hormone that is released by the IUD keeps the endometrium from forming, which prevents the risk of the cancer.  Hoorah!

So, these are my options.  I will update and let you all know which I’m going with.  IUD, combined pill, or mini pill??

8 Weeks

Today I am officially considered 8 weeks! Woo!  Since I was going off of an online due date calculator, which ended up not being 100% accurate for me, I ended up having to live through week 7 twice!  That was a long second week!

So far my symptoms are pretty sporadic, other than being tired, which is constant and overwhelming.  Every now and then I am nauseated from breakfast to bed time.  I have realized that milk and milk-like products are a huge no-no.  We made some tetrazzini the other night, which contains whipping cream and mushrooms.  Not sure whether it was the whipping cream or the mushrooms or both, but needless to say I will be staying away from both of those items.  I’ve also been eating cheese and crackers for a mid-day snack, but not I’m just down to crackers.  It’s all totally worth it though!  Also, my breasts are huge, my nipples are tender and getting up even slightly quickly makes me dizzy.  So, nothing really new besides the nausea being really nasty when it decides to visit.  Still haven’t thrown up yet though! Woo!

Last time I mentioned that my doctor said I could stop progesterone the day of my appointment.  That would have been 7 weeks 2 days, so after some super Googling, I realized that almost everyone who has gone through this has been on the suppositories until at least week 10.  So I decided that I would self medicate… ha!  On 7 weeks 2 days I started weaning myself off.  I didn’t want to go from 300 units (forget how they are measured) to nothing so early in the pregnancy before the placenta had even taken over!  So now I’m doing 200 a day.  One suppository every 12 hours.  So far I feel exactly the same, except my boobs hurt a little more and the nausea has stepped up it’s game, but I’m not sure if it’s related to decreasing my dosage, or getting closer to 8 weeks.  I guess we’ll see how it goes when I get down to 1 a day.  I’m going to start 1 a day this Friday and go until the following Friday.  That way when I go into my first OB appointment on Monday and they check my progesterone, if it turns out my body isn’t making enough, i’ll know right away instead of 2 weeks later!  I think that seems like a logical plan, right? RIGHT?!

In other news, I went to a party on Saturday (one my of most nauseated days so far) and I was sitting down to eat with the hostess (one of my most favorite people).  She knows that I’m pregnant, so when I was only eating a piece of cornbread and some mashed potatoes, she understood that I had eaten dinner before arriving.  No way I can wait until 8:00 to eat dinner anymore!  So as we were sitting there, and I was eating slowly to make sure everything was going to settle, I noticed that she wasn’t eating a lot, and when she did eat she was making this “ugh” noise.  So I looked at her and said, “is there something you need to tell me?”  So we went upstairs to have a little chat.  Turns out she got a positive HPT on Friday!  That is SO exciting!  She’s only 3 weeks and a day behind me too, so that’s even more exciting.  I’m wishing the best for us both so that we can get big and pregnant together and then have little ones super close together.  Amazing!  And it only took her three months of trying, which makes me so happy for her.  Sticky vibes!!

I know my updating has been lacking, but I think I’m going to stick with updating each week and after appointments.  It makes me feel more confident that things are progressing. 🙂

Next appointment: November 26th! (2 weeks to go!)

7 Weeks 2 Days – Scan 2

Oopsy, I’ve been a little ahead of myself so far.  Turns out that even though you can calculate your due date from your retrieval or your 3 days transfer, it turns out that may not be the actual due date.  Who knew?!  Anyway, I thought I was 7 weeks 6 days today, but I guess squirrel implanted a little later because he/she is at 7 weeks 2 days.  Completely normal, says the RE.  I will trust her.  Now I’m off to the OB as a normal pregnant lady….weird!

One thing I wasn’t expecting today was that they told me I could stop my progesterone suppositories today.  She said to go ahead and finish what I have (which would be enough to make it through Saturday) but that I could technically stop today.  Whaaaaat?  I thought I was supposed to be on these things until 10 weeks.  Now I’m hearing that I can stop before I’m even 8 weeks?  Hmmm… I’m thinking I may cheat the system.  Instead of stopping today, and instead of taking all three doses each day until Saturday, I may just take two doses per day and drag it out until I am officially 8 weeks.

When did everyone else stop their progesterone?  My friend who did IVF last year said that stopping the progesterone would be stressful and she is absolutely right.  I feel like that’s my baby growing safety net.  Eeeep!!

I am going to call the OB today and see what my next step is…. pretty exciting!  I have no idea what to expect from here on out.  New territory!!

P.S. Baby heartbeat = amazing.  I can’t wait to hear it!

Five Weeks

I’ve made it to five weeks!  As far as I know, everything is still progressing well.  Breasts and nipples are sore, nauseous sometimes (depending on what I eat and if I don’t eat soon enough after waking up and between meals), some aching in my back, and tired.  I’m still getting the cramps when I pee (sometimes, not every time) and right before I realize I have gas.  It’s like a little preemptive warning for me “here comes a cramp, be prepared to poot!”  Too much information? Ah, come on, you guys know me by now!

The fact that it’s been five days since I’ve had any sort of testing to verify that things are still progressing is kind of stressful, but this is the way it goes.  Two week waits are the bane of pregnancy.  I think us infertiles should get special, mental treatment.  Right? RIGHT?!

I’m glad I haven’t had anymore of those pubic pains.  Those hurt like a bia, but the three ladies I’ve talked to about it all said they had those pains in early pregnancy.  I also have all of my symptoms and I haven’t had any normal cramping or bleeding, so I’m hopeful that everything is still progressing nicely.

We are telling the in-laws tonight.  They gave us the loan for the treatments, and they know that we are currently doing the treatments, so my husband wants to tell them tonight when they come to visit.  He figured this may be the only time we can surprise them because they are eventually going to ask what’s going on.  His mother has been calling every two days, which is very unusual, and asking how things are going.  My husband is acting oblivious and just saying “fine, how’s it going with you?” haha I’m sure that’s why they are visiting this weekend, she’s tired of his not-answering her underlying question.  Hilarious.

I’m considering starting my belly pictures today.  I can’t keep thinking that this pregnancy isn’t going to work, I need to act like a person who doesn’t have fertility issues and a miscarriage in her past.  I need my mind to be happy and healthy so that my body can be happy and healthy to support this pregnancy.  Easier said than done, maybe, but I’m going to try my hardest!

Oh, and I saw a picture on Pinterest of a girl doing her belly pictures…. she was 18 weeks and smaller than I am now.  Thank you progesterone!  I don’t mind, I think it helps me even more to see a little pooch there already.  I have something to rub.  I feel like I’m my own troll doll.  🙂

12dp3dt — HPT hehe

I took an HPT this morning when I woke up.  Still pregnant!  Of course, it doesn’t measure HOW pregnant, but the fact that it still shows up at all makes me feel better.  Too bad we have to wait four days instead of two for the second Beta. Poop. I think that was my last HPT too….. I’d like to take one every day this weekend, but maybe I will stay strong?? Eehhhh…

I had some weird discoloration on my pantie liner this morning… Like, light, light brown/yellowish?  Could this be some stuff from implantation coming out?  Or maybe some irritation from shoving suppositories up there for two straight weeks, three times a day? I’m not going to read too much into it.  My mother in law said she had period type bleeding every month while she was pregnant and this wasn’t even pink!

Yesterday brought me some mental relief.  I was finally able to nap!  Now I’m all hyped up again.. waiting for the next appointment….

I seem to have a nightly pee schedule too.  2AM and 6AM… like clockwork!  I like all of my continued signs.  I hope they stay with me! I LOVE the symptoms!  Bring them on! Keep em coming!  Let me keep this baby happy and healthy so that it can be carried and brought into the world! 🙂 Please please please!

The First Results Are In….

…and they are POSITIVE! 🙂  I want to go on and on about how excited we are (because we are SO excited), but since we got a positive on our first beta with our first IUI and then a negative on our second, I’m a bit hesitant to be over the moon just yet.

Our next Beta is set for Monday… the numbers should have quadrupled from today.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

The doctor called me himself (have I mentioned how much I like this doctor?) and told me the good news.  I asked if my numbers were good and he said they were very good.  HCG at 79 and Progesterone at 42.  Since he called himself and told me the numbers were “very good,” I am very hopeful that this is proceeding a lot better than last time.  Last time my first beta was really low.  We are taking this good news one step at a time.

For now, I am still chugging water.  I read that it’s because your body makes more blood for your growing baby and it somehow makes you super thirsty?  I don’t mind at all!  I don’t even mind the peeing every hour on the hour.  I also don’t mind the nausea… which seems to be mainly caused by milk, cheese or yogurt.  I will take all of the symptoms!  I am just so happy that this is starting out on a positive note!

One step at a time… but for now… very happy!

The TWW Is A Million Weeks Long

Is MUCH longer than two weeks.  There is no doubt in my mind that something in the progesterone slows down time.  The more progesterone, the slower time goes.

So far I still don’t have any symptoms that would jump out and give me a solid indication that there is something happening in my uterus.  I have the same twinges, tiredness, backaches, nipple tenderness with slightly sore breasts, moodiness and weepiness that I’ve had since starting progesterone.  I am currently 7dp3dt.  I feel like something should be happening.  Luckily, I’ve read blogs and I have a friend who had no symptoms and still got positives, so I still have hope, but the worry is magnified by a million.  The only thing that has kind of seemed new is the bad taste in my mouth that is accompanied by excess saliva which is making me feel a little icky (slightly nauseated).  I get this sometimes without being pregnant though.  I’ve also been guzzling water, but I think that has a lot to do with the taste in my mouth.

I keep telling my husband that some projectile vomiting would be welcomed as a clear indicator.  He suggested rancid chicken, but that’s not exactly what I’m going for. 🙂

Seriously though… how has it not been two weeks yet??

Things And Such

Today I am 3dp3dt (I said I wasn’t going to do that, but I think I might.  Easiest way to share the time frame with everyone).  Today I’ve been pretty tired, noticed that my heartbeat seems harder or maybe fast or something?  I can feel it pulsing through my body when I’m laying down to rest, and walking upstairs leaves me a little winded.  The pressure in my abdomen is also increasing, and I know it’s not because of “going” problems this time.  (Thank you prune juice!)

Are these symptoms?  Nah, way too early for that.  I’m sure it’s just the progesterone talking to me.  I seem to remember feeling this exact way after every IUI, which leaves me worried because I miscarried after one and had my period after two others.  I know the progesterone has continued to keep my breasts sore after injections ended, so all of this other stuff seems like it would be part of the whole shebang.  I know everyone says they wish they could just know what’s happening in there, and that it gets redundant after a while, but I really, really, really wish I could know.   I feel almost like I do before my period starts, except more pressure and less cramping (although there is cramping).  I am bloated like a beast though, so that could definitely explain the pressure.  Maybe in the future they could transfer embryos and then just put you to sleep for two weeks?  That seems like it would work best for mother and embryos.  🙂  Ah, I guess I’ll just wait some more… tick tock, clock! 8 more days…

Let’s Chat About Progesterone…

So, I guess I am 1dp3dt?  Is that how people do that?  I’m going with it.  I don’t plan on doing that countdown thing everyday though.  I think it would make me more nervous for the up and coming results day.  Anyway…

(A little warning — this entry may contain too much information, but I feel it’s something others may be experiencing, so I’d like to put my information out there so maybe I can help others.)

The progesterone is out to kill me… I’m sure of it.  Along with oily skin, oily hair, bloating and moodiness… I have been super constipated.  Yesterday was day four and I was so miserable I could hardly stand it.  I was told during my transfer that along with Colace (which I had started Saturday morning — took 100mg twice daily) that I should drink a cup of prune juice, warmed in the microwave for 30 seconds.  I don’t mind prunes, so I said “WHATEVER IT TAKES!!”  I tried it, and it wasn’t bad.  I liked it warmed up.  I took my colace, I ate my pineapple (which should also help constipation, along with implantation) and still felt terrible.  Now, this is where it gets a little TMI.  I knew I had to go or I was going to just feel sicker and sicker.  My body health right now is so important that I knew I had to get something out.  Anything!  So I struggled a bit, and strained.  I was so worried about straining on the day of the transfer that I went Google crazy.  Luckily it says that shouldn’t affect anything, especially so early because nothing is attached, they are just sort of floating around in there, hopefully growing and developing before they latch on around day 3-5 after transfer.  Whew… good!  I was seriously freaking out.  It was necessary though.  I finally had some success last night before bed and I almost couldn’t get to sleep I was THAT excited.

So, why share all of this?  Because it’s important for others to know that this is a problem and you need to start early to take care of it.  Before you start progesterone, start drinking more water.  I know everyone says that, but it’s serious.  Also, maybe introduce prunes or prune juice into your diet earlier.  There are lists of foods that are high in fiber and can help prevent things like this online… go find them and eat some of them.  The hard part is making sure they are compatible with trying to get pregnant.  We all know pineapple can assist in implantation, but too much can hurt implantation.  So it’s a little tricky.

As for the oily skin and hair, the bloating and the moodiness.  I can live with that.  I can dance around with that all day, but I cannot NOT go.  I plan to stay on top of this problem.  Right now i’m eating Kale chips.  Kale is high in fiber — fiber yay!

I hope everyone out there is feeling healthy and happy and not suffering quite so much as me.  🙂

Transfer Scheduled – 3 Day

Well, heard from the Embryologist today.  Out of the 8 collected, 5 were mature and 4 ended up fertilizing.  She had already scheduled the transfer when she called me.  Sunday at 9:00am.  She said depending on how they look by Sunday, they may choose to transfer three, which makes me wonder what she knows… why would she assume all of them would be in bad shape by Sunday?  Do they not look healthy?  Can you even tell by this point?  Ugh… again with the stress…

I am currently standing in my kitchen typing this because I was told to “stand up and move around for a little bit” after inserting the suppository.  Feels squishy.  I hope they do the trick and let however many the transfer really stick in there for the long haul.  I know I should start getting excited, but I don’t think I’ll be able to until I go in on Sunday and they let me know the condition of the embryos.  How do people deal with this stress multiple times?

Oh, and why does everyone keep saying “that’s great for your age!”  I’m 28, not 104!

48 hours until transfer….