It's been a while!

Life goes on....and on...and on.   Rob and I have been very busy lately.  I finally have picked up some work and have been working a lot more.  Rob is still at the local high school as their "on-site substitute".   Spring break is coming up for Rob.  I believe he has April 11th off and it goes for 2 weeks!

Our 1 year wedding anniversary is coming up in less than one month!  I can't believe that it has been a year already.  I feel so mixed about how our first year has gone.  Rob and I have been doing great...but it kind of feels like some of the joy and excitement of it being our first year married has been robbed from us because of all the drama going on in my family.

Rob and I have been working on the idea of starting our family now since late 2010.  And amazingly we are approaching the ominous 6 months TTC(trying to conceive) mark.  According to Dr.s you officially have an infertility issue if you have been TTC for 6-12 months without getting pregnant.  Although we already know that I have some amount of infertility issues as a side effect of PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome), it just really sucks when you realize that you couldn't beat the odds and get pregnant without much medical assistance. 

Lately I have been researching alternative fertility treatments for PCOS patients and discovered a natural herb called Vitex (Chaste Tree Berry).  It is supposed to promote hormone balance and ovulation.  Both things are issues I face as side effects of PCOS.  I have anovulatory cycles (VERY long cycles 50+ days long and no ovulation occurs).  And I have elevated hormones and deficient hormones.  I have read a lot about Vitex over the past week and have heard ALOT of success stories from other PCOS patients that are TTC. 

Also during my research about fertility options I discovered that a long term side effect of Clomid (very common drug used for PCOS patients to force ovulation/pregnancy to occur) is increased risk for ovarian, uteruan, and breast cancer.  As many of you know cancer is prominent in my mother's side of the family.  My mom had breast cancer(she took Clomid with all 3 pregnancies), my aunt had lung cancer, my grandma had a type of skin cancer on her lip, and my great grandma had breast cancer.  I'm thinking that since I'm already genetically at a high risk for cancer that I don't really want to do the Clomid thing except as a last effort.

So that just about brings everyone up to speed about me (and Rob too of course)!  I will try to be better about my updates.  It's just been so crazy lately that I haven't sat down and taken the time to do it! 

~Mrs. H.

Update on Me

In my last blog I had explained my diagnoses from my Dr. and had said that the Dr. wanted me to take 2 new medications.  I took the Provera for the 10 days and amazingly it did start my cycle!  So after a week of horrible cramps and all that fun stuff I am wrapping it up and hopefully have a new fresh opportunity to get pregnant.   The other medication, Metformin is supposed to eventually help me regulate my cylce and allow ovulation to occur.  It may not be in full effect till the 2nd or 3rd  month of taking it but I'm almost done with 1 month!   They say 1 out of 3 women with PCOS achieve pregnancy with Metformin.  So everyone, keep your fingers crossed!  We will be trying, trying, trying!  I HOPE THIS WORKS!

~Lacy