Let me start with telling you that I am very nervous about writing this for the whole world to see. We have kept it to ourselves for so long but now we feel that the more people that know our story... then we have more people praying for us. I would also like to use this to hopefully help people in our same situation. So bear with me, this will be a long post but it will get you caught up. :)
My husband, Ryan, and I have always been the type of people that plan things out. We saved up money before moving in together, saved up more money before getting married, and saved up even more money and lined up jobs before we bought a house. After we checked all that off our list we decided it was time to start trying for a baby.
This is probably TMI but I have always had painful periods. There was some talk when I was 16 that I had possible Endometriosis but that thought went away when I got on birth control. I had issues with different birth controls but I honestly thought it was just me. My OB/GYN at the time saw no issues. I stopped birth control all together May of 2012 to "get the medication out of my system" before we would start trying. Again, I never had any issues other than really painful periods but my OB just told me that is just how I was. Everything was fine and normal. The summer of 2013 my OB decided to retire so I was on the hunt for a new OB/GYN. I wanted to get pregnant fast and we have been trying naturally for the past year so it was time to get a new doctor with a fresh start.
I met with my new OB/GYN September 4th 2013. The appointment was like any other OB/GYN appointment. She did her exam and I expressed my concerns. She said that I had a small uterus... whatever that means. She said since my periods were so painful she wanted to get an ultrasound just to look at my ovaries. They happened to have an opening later that day and since I took the whole day off work, I took it. I went back at 2:00pm for my first of many ultrasounds of my ovaries. During the ultrasound the tech told me nothing. She quickly printed off the pictures and said she needed to go speak with the doctor. About 10 minutes later the tech came back in and escorted me back to my doctor's office. Yeah, her actual office with big leather chairs and everything. What the heck was going on? I was by myself because this was just suppose to be a normal pap exam. My doctor came into the room and sat right next to me. She was very kind and caring and started explaining to me that I have multiple cysts on my ovaries. She explained that these could rupture by themselves during my period or some are stubborn and need help being removed. She would like to watch them and have me come back in 6 weeks for another ultrasound and follow up doctor's appointment.
Here it is mid October. I go back to for my follow up doctor's appointment. This time I took Ryan with me. I was not doing this alone this time. We had the ultrasound first. My ovaries were completely clear! Whoo Hoo! We went in for my follow up appointment. My OB was very excited to report that I had a clear ultrasound. She stated that I did have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and that it would be a good idea to start taking Metformin to help reduce cyst production and then to start some Clomid to boost fertility. We were all excited about that! That means we should have a baby soon!! I wanted to start the medication as soon as possible! I would then come in for ultrasounds every once in awhile to check on the cysts. She also suggested that Ryan get checked out to make sure the little swimmers were good. Everything came back fine! :)
Couple months went by... I was getting monthly ultrasounds and monthly blood work drawn to check progesterone levels. The medications made me so sick. I was not eating much, tired all the time and super emotional due to the medication. My blood work would come back better each month and we would get our hopes up that we were possibly pregnant then the test would come back negative. The ultrasounds showed more cysts. Some months there would be less than others. Such an emotional roller coaster. We were emotionally drained. My OB was still concerned with how big my cysts get.
January 2014. The weekend of 4th and 5th was horrible. We were throwing a 21st birthday party for Ryan's sister at our house and I happen to start my cycle. Boom! Another negative pregnancy. That evening I started to get my normal very painful cramps but it got worse and worse. So bad that I was up crying in the middle of the night with pain. I called my doctor on call that next morning. I told her the symptoms I was having and she wanted me to take a pregnancy test ASAP. Even though I started my period this could be a miscarriage or a tubal pregnancy. Thankfully, in some way, that came back negative and I did not need to go to the ER. The pain eventually subsided but I called my doctor on Monday the 6th just to keep them in the loop. My doctor said she wanted to see me that same day for another Ultrasound since was also due to start my 3rd round of Clomid that day. I had to get the ultrasound before she would prescribe the medication. I agreed and they got me in. I was at this appointment by myself because it was so short notice. The ultrasound was crazy. The tech once again told me that she needs to notify my OB and would come get me from the waiting room. I knew it was not good. My doctor pulled me into a room and explained that my ovaries were going absolutely nuts. I had 3 huge cysts in my right ovary and 2 large ones in my left with lots and lots of little ones everywhere. Some were simple (with just clear fluid) in them and some were complex (had fluid and tissue). At that time she said that she wanted me to go on a month of birth control to help "calm everything down" and she wanted to send me to KU Reproductive Fertility to be seen by a specialist there. I would not be able to see this doctor until the end of February. More waiting. In the meantime my OB wanted to see me after my month of birth control for another ultrasound. I informed her that I was stopping the Metformin due to it making me feel like complete crap and clearly it was not helping. She agreed.
February 6th 2014, was my next follow up appointment with my OB. Thank goodness Ryan went with me. We had the ultrasound first. We were so sure that we would get good news after me being on birth control for a month. We were wrong. Still more freakin cysts! Nothing was helping. We went back out into the waiting room and we did not say a word. We were downright pissed. Not at each other! Just at the whole situation. We then went back to speak with my OB and I went off. I had so many emotions built up that I just unloaded on the poor woman. She understood and thought that the best thing would be to have surgery the next Monday to clean everything out. Wow.... Ok... surgery in 4 days... sure...
To be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment