Infertility Update February 2016

Hello everyone! This month has been really exciting, and I can't wait to share with you our progress. If you need to catch up, here are links to my last 2 blog posts:

November and December

January

To summarize, I have been charting my cycles using a Natural Family Planning method (The Creighton Model), and have been taking Vitamin B and Mucinex, which will hopefully help to make ovulation more obvious, as both can act as mucus-enhancing agents, and the Creighton model focuses on tracking mucus or lack thereof. By looking at the charts of my cycles, my doctor also suspects low progesterone (hormone), and did blood work last month to test my progesterone level.  

So here's what's been going on this month: We recently met with our doctor to get the results of the blood work I had done in January. Our goal was to have the blood drawn after ovulation. We realized by looking at the hormone levels and by looking at my charts, that I ovulated later than I expected. So this means the timing with the blood work was off, and our doctor wasn't able to officially see if my progesterone level is low, but he was able to confirm about when in my cycle I ovulated. Based on what my charting shows and when my blood work showed me to have ovulated, now I feel really comfortable being able to recognize when I'm ovulating. Although we weren't able to tell for sure that my progesterone level is low because of the timing of the blood work, based on my last 3 cycles, my doctor feels comfortable assuming my progesterone is low, so I will start taking that pill with this cycle.

I'm not a doctor, so I don't know all of the technical terms that go along with all of this, but here's how I understand it: I have a lot of spotting before and after my period. My doctor says this is an indicator that I likely have low progesterone. Because my progesterone is low, the lining of my uterus is beginning to shed (me have a period) sooner than it should, which could prevent implantation even if the sperm and egg are meeting. Also, low progesterone can be a cause of miscarriage, so being aware of this could help to prevent issues in the future. 

So this month I am continuing to take Vitamin B everyday. I'll also take Mucinex a few days before ovulation would typically happen, and continue it until I see signs of ovulation. After I see signs of ovulation, I will stop taking the Mucinex, and start taking progesterone. Thankfully, the progesterone is simply a pill I can swallow rather than an injection like some of the other hormones I previously took. This is a small victory that I am happy to celebrate! :)

With adding the progesterone this month, there are 2 good outcomes we could hope for. The first option would be that I get pregnant, and we'd have exciting news to share with you guys! The second option would be that if I don't get pregnant, we hope I have a normal period without a lot of spotting. If I miss my period and am pregnant, we will do some blood work to see if I should keep taking progesterone throughout the first trimester of pregnancy. If I don't get pregnant this month, we will go back to the doctor and see if he thinks the progesterone helped at all, and go from there. We are really feeling positive about what we are doing right now. We have no way to know if this will work for us, just as we didn't know with IUI, but we feel like everything we are learning about NFP is very useful, and I really feel like I am in a much better place emotionally than I was last spring. I am looking forward to trying something new this month, and I can't wait to share our progress with you all!

Infertility Update January 2016

Hi everyone!! In my last post, I told you all that Lee and I were working with a new Family/OB Doctor who was helping us learn how to use Natural Family Planning (NFP). NFP is a way of tracking various biological markers (such as mucus) to determine when ovulation is occurring. There are several different versions of NFP. Lee and I are using The Creighton Model.

We started tracking my cycle in late October, and had tracked about 2.5 cycles when we did our follow up at the end of December. 

Here's what we found out at our appointment: based on what I've charted, I likely have a very small window of ovulation. He suggested I start taking a slow release Vitamin B daily, which should help with this. He also recommended that I start taking Mucinex n a few days before I would typically ovulate, and continue taking It until after my peak day (ovulation). 

In addition to the two over-the-counter medications I'm taking, my doctor also wanted to do some blood work to test my progesterone. From what I understand, progesterone is a hormone that helps thicken the lining of the uterus. Each month the progesterone level should increase around the time of ovulation (and subsequently the lining of the uterus would thicken as well). Then, after the egg is not fertilized, the lining of the uterus flushes out, and that's when a woman has a period. If the egg does fertilize, then of course the progesterone level stays higher and the lining of the uterus stays thick so that it can support the growth of a baby. Low progesterone can cause issues with implantation and also can be a cause of miscarriage. Based on what my charting has shown, my doctor thinks it's possible I may have low progesterone. He suggested we do some blood work to find out. To make sure my progesterone level is peaking like it should, once I show signs of Ovulation, I have blood work done on days 3, 5, 7, 9, & 11 after my peak day. I had this done last week. My blood work is being sent to a lab in Omaha, and once my doctor gets the results, he will have Lee and I schedule a follow up appointment. If my level is low, he will likely have me take progesterone. So we're curious to see how that turns out. 

Our doctor says once we get the progesterone and mucus levels right, Lee and I should try getting pregnant naturally for several months. Once we get the blood work results back, I will post another update. So far, we are learning a lot tracking my cycles, and the past two months my cycles were fairly regular! This is great, and we are thankful for every bit of progress we make.

Thank you for reading my blog, especially since my posts are less frequent these days, and thank you even more for your thoughts and prayers! 

Infertility Update November and December

Hi everyone! I know my updates have been few and far between these past few months, and that is mostly because we don't have a ton of new things happening in the baby making department these days. I can only type so many posts about my ups and downs with infertility, and I don't want to bore you guys with that over and over. I'm sure by now you get the picture.

We are still tracking my cycle using Natural Family Planning methods. Now that we have tracked 2 cycles (we are tracking my 3rd currently), it is time to meet with our doctor again. This doctor is not an RE (reproductive endocrinologist) AKA he is not an infertility doctor. He is a family/OB doctor, but he is so passionate about natural family planning, and he has encouraged us to give this method a try. We are planning to meet with him towards the end of the month and see what he has to say about what we've tracked so far.

I don't want to go into a ton of detail on what how this method works, because if there's anyone who's reading and may want to give this a try, I want them to go to a professional and learn ALL of the details that go along with it, as every. single. detail. is important to use NFP successfully.  So that being said, I'll just briefly summarize. (Side note: If anyone is interested in trying NFP in lieu of birth control, or for any other reason, contact me! )

There are several types of Natural Family Planning Methods. We are using the Creighton Model, and this is basically where I track my cycle daily and write down what I see. My fertile and non-fertile days are measured by mucus and lack thereof. Yep, you read that one correctly... kinda wierd, but super interesting so far. Depending on the amount, color, consistency of mucus, and where I'm at in my cycle, that information together can be a good indicator as to whether or not I am ovulating, and you all know what needs to happen from there, so I won't go into detail about the rest! :)  So here's what we've found so far by tracking my cycles:

The past 3 months, I have had 30-35ish day cycles. THIS. IS. AWESOME!!!!! These are pretty normal length cycles, so for me to have 3 in a row is awesome! Previously I was having 38-40ish day cycles, which is pretty long, and they were inconsistent in length from month to month. The inconsistency is the main issue, because it's hard to predict ovulation if you really don't know if this month's cycle will be 28 or 45 days long.

 Here's what we've learned from our new doctor that we didn't necessarily know before: Its not actually a bad thing to have a really long cycle. A woman's cycle is split into 4 'phases'. I'm not a doctor and I don't know all the scientific lingo.... and I'm not going to try to, but I'll do my best to explain what I know: There are 4 phases to a woman's cycle, and here's what happens in each phase: 1. Period 2. Dry days 3. Ovulation 4. Dry days. The number of days for parts 1 and 2 of the cycle can vary, and that isn't necessarily a problem. What IS important is that ovulation and the days after are between 9 and 17 days. For most women, this part of the cycle usually stays within this range, and if it doesn't, there's probably an issue of some sort.

So by tracking my cycle/mucus in detail, we can figure out the timing of phases 3 and 4, and from there I can have a really good idea of when I'm ovulating (if I am ovulating), and when I will start my period. We're almost 3 months in so far, and not pregnant yet, but I'm not getting too down just yet, because I'm learning a lot, and I have a feeling that even if not now, this information will be really useful someday!

So for now we are going to keep tracking, and see what our doctor says at the end of the month. He will take a look at our charts and try to figure out if the thinks I am actually ovulating or not, and we'll go from there. Based on what I've seen so far on my charts, I'm wondering if I really am ovulating or not? I'm curious to see what the doctor thinks. If he thinks I'm not, hopefully he will have some ideas as to how we can make my body ovulate without a ton of fertility drugs and procedures. We are still really enjoying me not taking a ton of hormones every month, giving shots, etc. Not to say we won't ever do that again, but for now, we are thankful for life to be getting back to normal.

We have still not completely taken the idea of IVF off the table, but we do want to give NFP a fair chance before moving on. If NFP doesn't work after an undecided amount of time, we will look into IVF again, but for now, we're learning a lot, an aren't giving up! We would just really love to get pregnant naturally and not have to do anymore fertility treatments. This is our current prayer request. We also would really like for everyone to pray for peace and understanding. I have gotten to the point where I don't pray and ask God for a baby as much as I used to. Not because I've given up- trust me, I haven't, but because I am trying so hard to trust that God has a plan for us, and his plan is best. If he thinks we don't need to get pregnant right now, then he must have a better time in mind. I'm trying to have peace with that, although it's a daily struggle. So that's where we currently stand in our infertility journey.

I am hoping to write another update after our doctor's appointment at the end of the month. Once we meet with him, we will have a better idea of what our game plan is for 2016!

Infertility Update September and October 2015

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted an update about our baby-making situation. So here's what we've been up to...

We took our trip to Mexico with my family at the end of September. We really had an awesome vacation! I'm going to do a separate post about Mexico, so once I do that, I'll let you all know. Since getting back from Mexico, I have been swamped with work for my two graduate school classes, and Lee has been busy with work and various projects around the house. The good news is, I only have 6 more weeks of school before I get a 4 week break from school... and after this semester, I will only have 2/5 of my MBA left to earn! Whoop whoop!!

Lee and I had originally planned to give IVF a try once we had taken all of the vacations we had planned for this year. Mexico was the last trip we planned to take, so we were thinking we would start this process sometime in October. During my last blog post, I mentioned that I was having second thoughts about IVF, and just really wasn't sure that it was the next step we should take. I prayed for guidance, and currently, we just don't feel called to start IVF. We aren't saying, "never", we're simply saying, "Not right now."

Fertility treatments are exhausting mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. After doing 6 IUIs back to back earlier this year, we just don't feel ready to try IVF. The thought of starting all of those hormones and doctors appointments is overwhelming... and to say it feels overwhelming is actually an understatement. After taking all of those hormones earlier this year, I still don't feel that I am 100% back to my normal self (I still have hot flashes, etc. which I never had prior to starting fertility treatments). IVF would require even more medication than the IUI's, and besides the medication, there are lots of ups and downs with the whole process. We're just not ready to go through all of that again.

So what now?! Well, quite some time ago, a girlfriend of mine mentioned that she had a few friends who use various natural family planning (NFP) methods, and she was considering stopping her birth control and trying something more natural. When she had mentioned it I really didn't think much of it, because we were trying to get pregnant so I figured any type of birth control was irrelevant to us...But then a few months later a friend of a friend messaged me on Facebook and said that he and his wife had been reading my blog and they felt called to share some NFP information with me. I kind of blew it off because once again, I just really didn't think there's any way it could help me get pregnant.

After Lee and I decided that we just don't feel like IVF is the best choice for us right now, I looked into Natural Family Planning, and happened to find a doctor in the area who really encourages it. So I called him, and he really wasn't taking new patients for his family practice, but he is taking new OB patients. Well, he is not an OBGYN, just an OB, and obviously I'm not in the market for an OB doctor right now, but I explained the situation, and he said he would be happy to meet with me. So I met with him and went into detail about mine and Lee's experience, my cycles, our 6 IUIs, etc. and he said given our circumstances, he thinks we could potentially benefit from trying NFP. Of course he can't guarantee it working for us anymore than our fertility doctor could guarantee our IUIs, but Lee and I figure it's worth a try.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a way to track your cycle and know how to identify fertile times. This method can be used to both achieve and avoid pregnancy without taking birth control pills. Here is the site I initially looked at before calling our new doctor.

Our new doctor referred me to a woman in town who teaches all about NFP. Lee and I are using the Creighton Model, and to summarize it very briefly, its a way of charting and tracking my cycle to learn to identify fertile and not fertile times, based on various biological markers. So I met with this woman and she went over the basics, and now I am charting my cycle, and meeting with her every two weeks to learn more about the process and talk about my charting progress. After charting two full cycles, then I'll go back to the doctor and he'll look at my charts to try to try to determining if I really am ovulating on my own, etc.

This whole process is pretty new to me, as I've only been charting for like 3 weeks, so I'm not going to go into much detail just yet. But check back at the end of November, and I'll fill you in a little more on how its working for us. The main bummer with switching our plan from IVF to NVP is more waiting. The waiting part is really tough... that's never going to change. Lee and I have been trying to start our family for 22 months... 22 times we have tried, and have not gotten pregnant. At this point, we figure the benefits of conceiving on our own far out weigh the disadvantage of waiting a few more months for our miracle, and for that reason, we are willing to give this a try. If it doesn't work for us, we will re-consider IVF. For now, I'm learning a lot, and it's nice not to have the added stress of fertility treatments.


Side note: If you search the Creighton Model, you probably won't find much information about how to actually track your cycle... you'll mostly find research explaining why families are successful with using this model. The woman who is teaching me to track my cycle explained that for people to use this method, doctors really prefer that they get training like I am, so that the tracking is done successfully. Otherwise, people may try it, but not use this method accurately, and then not get the results they want, and that would give NFP a bad name. This method has been proven to be extremely accurate when used correctly. Most of the time when people use this method, if they get opposite results its due to an error in their charting.

Queso Spinach Dip

Queso Spinach Dip... My sister-in-law made this dip on the 4th of July and it was so yummy! I have tweaked it a bit to make it my own, and now I make it all the time. This week I am making it to take to work for food day. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients 

1 block Velveeta (2lb.)

1- 8 oz. block cream cheese
1/2 cup milk (add more or less depending how thick you like your dip)

1- 16 oz. jar salsa, choose the brand and heat level that you like 

1- 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach (If I can't find a 10 oz. box, I have bought the 1 lb. bag before and just used about half. A few more or less oz. of spinach won't make or break your dip.)

Start by cutting your Velveeta into chunks and put them in the Crock Pot. Do the same for your cream cheese. Dump your salsa and milk on top of your chunked cheeses. Take the paper wrapping off of your frozen spinach, but leave it in the cardboard box. Place the box of spinach on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes. Flip the box over and microwave for 2 more minutes. Next you need to drain your spinach. To do so, take the box out of the microwave and squeeze it over a sink to get all of the excess water out. (You may need to wait a minute or 2 to do this if your box is hot like mine normally is.) Once your spinach is drained, add it to your Crock Pot. Let your mixture cook on low for about an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, mix ingredients thoroughly and turn your heat setting to warm. If you leave your dip in the Crock Pot for several hours, it may thicken up. Add milk as needed to get to your preferred consistency. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!