Thursday, February 21, 2013

Yoga

I started doing yoga.  I actually love it.  It helps keep my mind clear of everything and it is my me time.

I try to do this 4 times a week.

With everything that is going on in our busy lives it is kind of nice to have some time to relax and have time to yourself without any interruptions.

In the definition of yoga it says to give you a state of permanent peace, just another reason why I love it!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

High FSH = Premature Ovarian Failure

When I had my blood drawn my original FSH came back as 114, the doctor thought maybe it was a false reading so I went back in and had my blood drawn again on 2/11/13 and that level came back as 104.  Below is a chart of what normal FSH ranges are:

PhaseLevel
Premenarchal0 -- 4.0 mIU/ml
Through Puberty0.3 -- 10.0 mIU/ml
Menstrual4.7 -- 21.5 mIU/ml
PerimenopausalHigher than 30 mIU/ml
MenopausalHigher than 50 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal30 -- 134.8 mIU/ml

So, what I was being told was that I am 29 years old and have postmenopausal levels.  Who even knew that could happen, it for sure wasn't me!

The first thing we do in today's day and age when finding out about something that we know nothing about is to Google it! My husband is the master of all googling, he can always find things that take me hours to find. He is a big researcher on anything that he is doing, purchasing, etc.  He was able to find a forum called fertile thoughts.  This forum has so many stories on specific diagnosis.  It helped us to understand what all the acronyms are with infertility and a slew of hormone levels.

The doctor also had me come back in to get additional blood drawn for a "Fragile X" test as a pre requisite in order to go to the Fertility Clinic in Tulsa.  This test was taken on 2/14/13.  The results came back as negative - meaning the reason for my POF was not Fragile X.

On 2/15/13 we were officially referred to Tulsa Fertility Center to set up our appointment.

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Back Story

My name is Nicole and my husband is Benji.  We have been together since 4/29/01.  Twelve years!  We were married in 2008 so we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this year.

I have been a planner/organizer my entire life.  So when it came to having children I was the same way.  I would stop taking birth control (which I had been on for 12 years) and we would have a child.  Boy was I wrong.  Nothing in my life has ever prepared me for the roller coaster that my life was about to become.

I started out by going to my OBGYN for my yearly exam in February 2013.  I had stopped taking the pill in June 2012 but had a lot going on in my life for the rest of the year (2 out of the country vacations, changing jobs, quitting smoking, selling our house and moving in with my parents) so I blamed my absent period on stress.  While at the doctor we went through the normal questions.  She suggested that I may be pregnant since I hadn't had a period.  So she would do a urine test while I was there.  After the test was complete she came back in the room with a smile on her face saying 3 tests came back positive and 3 came back negative.  She would have me go get my blood tested just to be sure and one of two things would happen.  A: I would be pregnant B: if I wasn't pregnant she could put me on a pill to jump start things.  This was on a Friday, needless to say I was excited all weekend to get my results back.  I have been around children my whole entire life (my mom babysat kids as I was growing up so our house was always full and I volunteered at the local children's shelter for 5 years) so kids have always had a special place in my heart.

On Monday, while I was at work, I got a call from the nurse.  She told me that the test had come back negative (heartbreaking) and that they doctor had tested an FSH level that she thought of after I left.  That number had come back off the charts and she told me over the phone that they thought I had premature ovarian failure and would never have kids of my own.  This hit me like a ton of bricks.  Not only did I have no idea what that was but I was definitely not prepared for those words at all.  Not to mention that the nurse called me, I would think this would be a conversation that would be face to face.

After many tears we made an additional appointment that Friday (I was out of town on a business trip for the entire week) to speak with the doctor.  She told us that she didn't know much about the diagnosis, just that she was taught in medical school if you have that high of an FSH level this is what you have.  She would refer us to Tulsa Fertility Center and we could get our next steps there.

And so begins the journey...