My miracle.....

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Keagan is my little miracle. Literally. How did I get him? It was so easy. I got married, went on the pill, and got prego a couple months later. easy. simple. wonderful. I thought I would pop them out like crazy! Yes but I never knew what a miracle he really was til this past Monday. I had an appointment with the doctor to check if my cyst was still there and my blood clot. He looked and they were both gone so we are going to do clomid, shots, IUI, again this month! I was really excited! Then he got quiet and started marking things on the ultrasound and talking to the nurse in another "language". Then he said...I'm not sure how we missed this but you have pcos . I was so shocked because my original family doctor helped us with our fertility the first year. I had read about pcos and thought that I might have it because I have some of the symptoms and my sister has it. I asked my Dr. to see if this was my problem. He said because I  was regular that I didn't have it and we moved on to other testing and option. My next Dr. I went to had us take ovulation test for 4 months. They read that I did each month. What i didn't know was that you can have a period every month and still not ovulate or function properly and have pcos. Then I have been going to the specialist Dr since August and we talked about it and he ruled it out again. I wish we could have caught it a 2 years ago and not thousands of dollars later but I am sure I needed that time to learn a few things.

OK so what is pcos? This is a reminder for me mostly of what I have learned about it.... Doctors are not sure if a person has it right at birth but usually it shows its ugly face around puberty time with weight gain, painful periods, etc.. Pcos is genetic, my sister who has 2 sets of twins (fertility stuff) also has pcos. My daughters will have 50% chance of also having it. When you have pcos, your hormones are out of balance. Your body produces too much androgens. which can lead to yucky side effects of which I am grateful do not have all of them:) Most women who have pcos have a problem with their body using insulin, called insulin resistance. When the body doesn't use insulin well, blood sugar levels go up. This is why 60% of women who have pcos are obese when they are diagnosed. The hormones being out of wack cause cysts to form on your ovaries. Here are some of the side effects....
1. mood swings, hormonal changes rapidly.
2. depression
3. Weight gain or upper body obesity (more around the abdomen than the hips).Very hard to lose weight.
4. thinning hair
5. Repeat miscarriages. The cause for this is not known.
6.Inability to become pregnant
7.Causes too much insulin in the blood
8. Facial hair growth
9. Acne
10 Infertility
etc.
I am so glad I skipped out on the facial hair growth one:) I do have thinning hair and have had weight problems most of my life, had a miscarriage, infertility struggles, not really acne. Polycystic ovary syndrome cannot be prevented. But early diagnosis and treatment of it helps prevent long-term complications, such as infertility, metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease and more but will not be cured just helped.
In reading there are a couple options I have....
1. The pcos diet which I have been following since Monday. Very low carb, no white anything, etc, high lean protein and veggies. When a normal person eats a carbohydrate, insulin levels rise to break down the resulting sugar in the blood. But women with PCOS are insulin-resistant, meaning they have defective cells that hamper this metabolism and increase the risk of diabetes. To try to compensate for the defect, their bodies produce more and more insulin, which can damage the insulin-producing system and make you gain weight which makes it harder to get prego. Vicious cycle huh?

2. Many women also take Metphormin  to help lower their blood sugar and help them lose weight making it easier to get pregnant.

3. Clomid will force ovulation but chances are much higher of miscarrying.

4. some women go on the pill because  it helps regulate their hormones and that is how I got pregnant with keagan....on the pill:) What a little miracle he is to me and I am so grateful for him.

I will go in to the doctors next week and find out more. The diagnoses is bitter sweet. I am glad I know what it is now so we can work on fertility more effectively than wondering in the dark but it is bitter knowing I will always have this, at least in this life and that infertility could be a long hard road.


Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Tis better far for us to strive our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell -
All is well! All is well!
Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!
We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away, in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the saints, will be blessed.
We'll make the air, with music ring, Shout praises to our god and king;
Above the rest these words we'll tell -
All is well! All is well!
And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again to see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!
 
Does anyone follow a PCOS diet? I was looking for good ideas I could add into my diet. 

Comments

Dirk and Trish said…
That would be so frustrating! Even though I'm big on researching stuff myself, it's so frustrating when drs. miss stuff-especially when you point out a long list of symptoms & family history. My sis was just diagnosed with PCOS about 6 mos. ago. She had already decided not to have more kids,so that part isn't a huge problem for her. She did use metformin for a little while and is now weaning off it. I have a couple friends I can ask about the diet and I'll let you know if any of them have tried it. Drives me nuts that infertility is "treated" with birth control. Might work for you though. :) Thank goodness for little miracles-mine is almost 4 and I am so thankful for her! Good luck at your next appt. Hope they can find some good options.
December 09, 2009 12:38 PM
Dirk and Trish said…
K, I saw one of the girls tonight and asked her. She's done the diet & highly recommends it, but is wary of the medications b/c she said it's a lot of trial & error and they can have cruddy side effects. She said it's low carb/low sugar, and the easiest way for her to start was to cut out regular soda and switch to diet. If you drink a lot of pop, she said you will start to notice pretty fast. Switch from white pasta & bread to wheat. Limit your carbs to 15 grams per sitting. I think that's all she mentioned. If I can get a hold of the other girl I thought of, I'll let you know if I hear anything else that may be helpful.
December 11, 2009 12:14 AM
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