Thought I'd blog while I listen to the sound of my hubby getting frustrated with the garbage disposal that just broke.
Things are going pretty well over here in fertility land though. I am on day 3 of my dose of fertility medicine, Femara. Only problem is that I'm in Estrogen hell with it...lol.
Time for a little education: Femara is a medication used to induce ovulation. Femara has 2 goals first it blocks estrogen production by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme which causes the final production of estrogen. It decreases the negative feedback of estrogen to the pituitary gland thereby increasing production of follicle stimulating hormone. It results in it results in enhanced follicular and egg development. The second goal Femara acts at the level of the ovary to increase sensitivity to FSH, allowing the ovary to respond to lower levels of FSH. This ultimately makes ovulation easier in my body.
Funny enough, Femara is FDA approved as the first-line of defense in breast cancer treatment. It is not an FDA approved method of fertility treatment, but is becoming more widely used for ovulation.
In 2011 I did 6 cycles of Clomid, which IS an FDA approved fertility medication. Many women are successful with Clomid, but my doctor explained to me that it's usually people with milder forms of PCOS. But Clomid had severe side-affects including horrible hot flashes, upset stomach (on top of my upset stomach from Metformin) and really bad mood swings aka bitchiness. The doc assured me that Femara would have less side-affects as it has a shorter half-life. So far my tummy hasn't been that upset with it, i've only had mild hot flashes and only had to turn on my fan once at work today. But I have been VERY emotional since Saturday. This time it's not quite as bitchy as Clomid, it's just more sad...I HATE it. But I gotta do it.
So bear with me people! I am full of estrogen right now! LOL. For the past few days I'm constantly on the verge of tears, I can barely be around or look at children b/c I want to start crying. This has really not been a problem for me in the past or if it is, I can hide it well...but GEESH. And then I keep having this whole "nobody cares" Eeyore syndrome. Which I know all of you reading this care! I have had an outstanding number of friends reach out to me who have been through similar situations to share their stories.
Oh and I've been REALLY thirsty the past 3 days!
Ok, I also have an outpatient surgical procedure scheduled for Thursday April 12th...yep this week. It has to be performed between days 5 and 10 so it had to be this week. Since I didn't conceive with Clomid but did show signs in bloodwork that I had ovulated, the doctor suspects I have some blockages in my fallopian tubes.
An HSG is Hysterosalpingogram. How graphic do you want me to be? A few things are inserted into a special place which allows the doctor to go in and see whats going on up there and clean everything out. She also said if there was any scar damage or other bad areas she could repair them at the same time. I get a local, but they won't be putting me to sleep. Pain varies from person to person with the procedure, I've had a couple people that I know that have had it tell me it was horrible. These were the people with blockages like me. So I'm super stoked for that...not. I'm very nervous b/c I'm a giant wuss and cannot tolerate pain. I had to take the day off work for it as I'll be sore and need a little recovery time depending on how much they get done that day. I have to stop taking my Glumetza due the complications associated with insulin and the iodine (it can cause some type of kidney damage) and I have to start taking an antibiotic for a few days to head off any infection that may occur from the procedure.
I am hoping that Thursday is the worst part of it for me. But potentially if it goes well, and my Femara works, I could ovulate this month! The rest is up to God (ok, the whole thing is, but I'm trying here).
I'll post and let you know how the procedure goes. I think it's probably an interesting process. Alot of people have contacted me since starting to post to thank me for sharing my journey because they never realized how complicated it all was. Everything is timed out to a T.
And just a bit of language information: When I say "days x &y" day 1 is the first full day of a women's period (sorry for any guys reading this) so you can count from there!
Ok I'm going to finish watching Dancing With the Stars now and pretend I'm that skinny!
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