100%

Well, good and kinda not good news. FINO called back last week with my lab results and information about my insurance coverage for the surgery.

Good news first, the insurance will cover 100% of my surgery! Yay!  The surgery is scheduled for December 12th at noon. We will have to be there at 9 am to be admitted, etc.

Now the kinda not good news. My labwork results are in and everything looked good except my LH level. It was too high for that early in my cycle (I was day 4/5). She said my level should only be that high around ovulation. So after the surgery we will have to recheck that test. They just want to make sure that it wasn't a lab error, etc.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving because I know that I did! We spent the whole day with my family and it was wonderful! Then we spent the weekend deer hunting. It was an amazing week! Here are some pictures of the week!

Ryle, my Dad, and Bryan frying the turkey




Sweet Abby on Thanksgiving Day



Ryle and I on Thanksgiving Day

Black Friday Crossfit WOD

Ryle and I on Black Friday

Happy Day

Well it was a great day! We had our appointment with FINO. And we just loved the whole experience! From the moment we walked in the door, everyone was friendly and welcoming! We loved the whole staff. I think that it was a great idea to switch doctors. Dr. Dunaway seems like a perfect fit. We were there a total of two hours. We gave our history, took our picture, talked, gave some blood, had an ultrasound, and set up a time for my surgery. Yikes - I know, surgery!

He thinks that I should have already had a surgery to "explore" my insides. According to him, I should already be pregnant. He thinks that there may be an underlying cause as to why nothing has worked so far. So as of now, we will go back to FINO on December 12th for an outpatient surgery. It's not a big deal. The whole surgery will last about an hour and is done laparoscopically (sp??). They did say they will let me spend the night simply because we are 4 hours away. So all together, I will miss about three days of work. Which at this point, if it will give me some answers, then I'm all for it. He will also "flush out" my tubes during this procedure.

After the surgery, we will discuss our options as far as IVF. We didn't really discuss that today, because he wants to make sure that there isn't another problem before we spend 10-15grand on IVF. Which makes total sense.

I just feel like a weight has been lifted off of me. This is the first time that I have left a fertility clinic with a smile on my face! I even left knowing that I'm going to have surgery and was still smiling! I can't stress enough how much we liked him. He was very down to Earth, friendly, personable, funny, and he seemed to care! He took the time to explain every single thing that we asked about. He went with me to get my blood drawn and was still talking/explaining things. We left knowing exactly what the plan was and felt confident about it.

They will call me later this week with the labwork results and to confirm the surgery. As of now they are "holding" the time/day for us. He just wants to make sure all of the labs look ok before we offically book it.

Well it's been a long day of traveling. 8 hours in the car and I'm exhausted. Hope this all makes sense! Thanks for the kind thoughts and prayers :)

FINO

Ok, well after my "crawl back in bed kinda day", my week started to get better. Ryle and I talked for a while about switching doctors and we both think that it may be a good idea. We now have an appointment with The Fertility Institute of New Orleans, which I will refer to as FINO. Instead of driving to New Orleans, we will drive to their Baton Rouge office. This is a 3 hour drive - only an hour or so longer than the old clinic. Not too bad honestly. We will be seeing Dr. Dunaway - on their website, it says that he specializes in PCOS. So I think this will be a good switch. Our appointment with FINO is on Nov. 14th at 1pm. I still have an appointment with the clinic in Shreveport for Dec. 2nd - just in case we don't like this new doctor!


Also, a dear friend of mine gave me an early Christmas present. It's an endurance bracelet. I love it and hope it helps me endure this TTC journey that Ryle and I are on. The charm on the end is a turtle which is just perfect - for two reasons: 1) the story says that turtles are the symbol of fertility and protection and 2) I gave this family a pet turtle that they named "Stony" (the kids think that this will help me remember "Stony" forever!) I just love it! This was exactly what I needed this week!

The headaches have gotten better as well. I'm still taking the 500mg of Metformin, but I'm also taking the 50mg of Zoloft. I haven't had a "terrible" headache since I started the Zoloft ... maybe that was the key!

Crawl Back In Bed Kinda Day

There are no words to describe my day today other than this: it's the kind of day that makes you want to crawl back in bed! I wanted to call the clinic to make sure that we didn't owe them anything because it seems like every time we go over there they always say that we owe them more money. I just wanted to be prepared this time and not caught off guard. Well good news first - we don't owe them anything! Yay!

Bad news: she tells me that the doctor I have an appointment with RETIRED and I no longer have an appointment for IVF consult! My response: WHAT? Why didn't ya'll call me?! Basically they were not going to call me until they found another appointment time. She said they didn't know when I would be able to get in because they are only down to one doctor now - it could be a long time. I mean seriously were they going to let me drive two hours over there without calling me to tell me that I no longer had an appointment?! I was not a happy camper and let her know it.

I immediately hang up with them and call Ryle. I'm crying and he's meeting with a farmer, but I guess he could tell that something was wrong so he talked to me for a minute. I told him that I had convinced myself to go to Natchez for Thanksgiving. I knew it would be hard, but maybe since we were supposed to see the clinic that week and get a game plan in place that I would be ok. But now that I can't see them, what am I supposed to do? I'm just so pissed off.

The clinic did call me back around 3 and said they can squeeze me in on December 2nd. Which means I will have to take off work now but oh well I guess.

I also went to see my doctor today to ask her about the headaches and to see if there was another clinic I could go to in town. Well no other clinic near by. I would have to go to Dallas, Houston, Jackson, or New Orleans. She said she would suggest New Orleans, but that makes it very difficult with my work schedule. We are going to look into it though. It wouldn't hurt I guess. And nothing I can do about the headaches except to stop taking the Metformin. She said it could just be my body adjusting to all the changes its making. I don't want to stop taking it, because I think it will help. Two weeks ago when they did all of my labs, my insulin level was 25 - it should have been under 17. So that's why I'm going to keep taking it and hope that the headaches will go away.

I am also starting my Zoloft today. She told me to cut it in half and only take 25mg instead of 50mg for a while until my body adjusts to the Metformin. Ryle doesn't want me to take it, but I need it. I'm starting to feel sad and blah all the time again. I so hope this helps because I don't know what else to do.

Now I'm going to go do some research on the fertility clinic in New Orleans ....

Decisions, Decisions ...

Well let me start this post off by saying that it was much better taking the Metformin at night. I woke up with a headache, which continued to get worse as the morning went on. About 10:00 this morning it finally went away. But I didn't get the nauseous feeling today. That is a good sign! I will continue to take it at night, but am really considering calling my doctor back to check on the headaches.

Now to the decisions, decisions part ... Thanksgiving is coming up. And if you've been reading my blog, then you know that I absolutely hate the holidays!! Well, I asked Ryle the other day what he wanted to do. He said he didn't want to talk about it. He said there was no point in fighting over it when we have about a month before the holiday. He also said he didn't want me to get depressed about it. Well, then I get home today and he says "My Dad wants us to go to Natchez for Thanksgiving, so what do you want to do?" What the heck? Last week he didn't want to talk about it, but now that someone else brings it up, he does!

Let me just say for the record that Easter was a nightmare! If you don't remember the blog post, you can read it here. In no way shape or form do I want to go repeat that experience. I do not think that it's a fun or an enjoyable time to sit there and cry the whole day. Not for me or the people around me. Why does he want me to endure that again? Why does my father-in-law? Do they not remember? I don't even know if I can manage to go - I'm not on any antidepressants or anything to help me handle all of the emotions.

I don't know what we are going to do. I really don't like the holidays. I wish we could just skip over them altogether .....

Half Marathon

WOW! It's been an amazing weekend. On Friday afternoon, we set off toward New Orleans for the half marathon. After a long day at school and not feeling so well (thanks to my Metformin), the last thing I wanted to do was ride in a car for 4 1/2 hours! But I made it! We stopped in Hammond to eat at Tommy's Pizza - it was the BEST pizza that I have ever had! Amazing actually! We finally arrived at Bryan's house around 9:30 and passed out.

On Saturday morning, we planned on getting up around 5, but I woke up about 4! It was freezing cold in New Orleans and the wind was blowing so hard. I was not excited to get out and run 13.1 miles. The race started at 7am.

I was able to run the first 3 miles without stopping - while training, I was only able to do the first mile. So this is accomplishment number one. My poor husband was having a hard time running at my pace because his stride is so much longer than mine. Finally about mile 8 he just ran ahead of me. So accomplishment number 2 - pushing myself to run. It was so much easier to run when I had someone to push me, but after he left, I just had to push myself. I'm not going to lie - there were many times when I wanted to quit. Two miles of the race was run through a park - and there was actually a moment where I just wanted to sit down on the bench and watch the ducks swim in the pond. But I didn't - I pushed myself to keep going.

Bryan finished at 2:24, Megan at 2:28, Ryle at 2:38, and I finished at 2:54. Our goal was to finish in 2:45. So it took me an extra nine minutes but I don't even care! I finished 13.1 miles - accomplishment number 3! I was so proud of myself! Of course when I crossed the finish line, I felt like I was going to die! Ryle asked the lady if he could put my medal on my neck - which was really sweet since he left me! Haha! Then I practically collapsed in his arms. I didn't have any sugar at all that day and was very weak. I have noticed that the Metformin affects me more when I have sugar in my system, so I did not use any Gu Packets or have any gum with sugar at all during the race. I also didn't get the Gatorade they passed out during the race - just water. So I was very weak at the end. While I was hugging/laying in Ryle's arms, I vaguely remember the medics coming and asking him if I was OK - He insisted that I was. I leaned back, told him I needed some sugar and he gave me gum. After that I felt a little better. Here are some pictures - please ignore how I look (my hair is a mess and I look like death!) ... I mean I did finish 13.1 miles!!

My crazy brother in his running outfit ... before the race (he was freezing)

Here I come...

My husband giving me my medal ...

Ryle supporting me ...

Yeah, I look like I'm dying: I'm telling him that I haven't had any sugar all morning...

Feeling better after I chewed on some gum... We did it - 13.1 miles

My love ...

 After the race we went to eat at an amazing diner! They have 14 inch pancakes. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true and it was amazing! Bryan and I shared one and we didn't even get half way finished with it! Then it was nap time. After that, we went out to a sports bar to watch some football. I wish I had someone to video us walking at that point. We did not look like we were in our 20s! We were all limping and looked about 80 something! I am so sore - from my lower back down. As I type, I'm icing my legs. I even think that my brother took an ice bath today! It's pretty ridiculous how sore I am. But I guess I asked for it!

14" pancake ... This was Ryle's double stack!

We then we to eat at a place called Jaques-imo's. It was real New Orleans Food! We had alligator cheesecake - I know it sounds nasty, but trust me - AMAZING! And it wasn't real cheesecake - just shaped like a piece of one. Then I had Blackened Red Fish, Red Beans and Rice, and mashed potatoes. One of the best meals I have ever had! This morning on the way out of town, we had beignets - also amazing! We told ourselves that if we finished the half marathon, that we could eat whatever we wanted. Now it's time to get back on our diet! I'm also going to do more Crossfit and less running. I may still try and run at least 2-3 miles a week, but nothing more!

Update on Metformin: Thanks to everyone who has stopped to talk to me about Metformin. I didn't know that so many people I knew were on it! Granted, they are not on it for PCOS, but it still helps to have someone to talk to about it. I started breaking the pill in half - half with breakfast, and half with lunch. This helps a lot, but I have still been getting TERRIBLE headaches during the day. Like borderline migraines ... which I am not a fan of! Like I said earlier in this post, I have noticed that if I eat something with a lot of sugar, that's when I get the nauseous feeling. So my new goal is to try and cut that out all together. But that is so hard for me, I LOVE DESSERT!! I did not take my pill yesterday because of the race - I didn't know how it would affect me since I was not taking it while I trained. I also didn't take it this morning. I will take it with dinner tonight. I have heard from a few people that taking it at night is better, so we shall see. I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for all the kind and encouraging words about the race and Metformin! I truly have the best friends and family a girl could ask for! I also just want to say that when someone tells me that my blog helps them, it makes me feel so much better. If me expressing my feelings and struggles throughout our whole infertility battle helps someone, then I'm glad. Thanks for reading, and thanks for telling me it helps you :)

Oh No ...

Well, day one of new meds and all I can say is "Oh No!" ... I have felt terrible all day long. I did like the doctor said and ate a good breakfast! All day long I just felt weird - like a slight buzz, light headed, etc. Then about 3:30 I start feeling nauseous. We had to go pick our race packet up today and I had a plastic bag in my hands for the whole trip. As soon as we got back home, I went straight to the bathroom - I just knew I was about to throw up. But nothing happened, I just laid on the bathroom floor for about 30 minutes. Finally Ryle came in there and got me.

I feel so much better right now - not great, but better. I called Kim, a pharmacy friend, and she said this is normal! So now I'm saying a really big "OH NO" ... she said my body will eventually get used to the change and this will go away. Man I sure hope that day comes fast. And this is only on one pill a day. In two weeks I'm supposed to move up to two pills a day. I'm really scared about taking two, because one made me feel like poo! I'll keep you updated - hoping tomorrow is a much better day for me! I don't know how long I can keep taking a pill that makes me feel so sick!

The Results Are In!!

Well, today marked 2 weeks since I went in for the PCOS labs. I got tired of waiting, so I called this morning around 10 and left a message for Tina to call me back. And by 3:30, I just figured that they wouldn't call me until tomorrow. But they did! The nurse called to tell me that the results were in and my insulin level was high, but I would have to wait for the doctor tomorrow because she had already left.

But to my surprise - Tina called about 10 minutes later! Yay! I love my doctor, she is the best! We had a nice long chat and she told me that she thinks I would be a good candidate for Metformin. It will basically help my body use the insulin. I told her that I always thought I was borderline diabetic anyway because I can't eat a lot of candy, have sugar in my coffee, or even have a snow cone without my blood sugar levels getting all out of whack. She said that there is a strong possibility that I could actually be borderline diabetic, but that this medicine will help me a lot. It should also help me lose a few pounds - which excites me a whole lot since I am not losing any from running! I am supposed to eat a breakfast full of protein and a few carbs or I will get really sick - clammy, lightheaded, nauseous, etc.

I am a lucky girl to have a sis in law in pharmacy school and a good friend that works at a pharmacy. As soon as I got off the phone with Tina, I sent them both a text asking what they knew about Metformin, etc. They were both very helpful! Love ya Kim and Ruthie!! I also came home and looked it up online. Here's what I found out: "Metformin is a diabetes medicine sometimes used for lowering insulin and blood sugar levels in women with PCOS. This helps regulate menstrual cycles, start ovulation, and lower the risk of miscarriage, in women with PCOS. Long-term use also lowers diabetes and heart disease risk related to high insulin levels.It does not cause the pancreas to make more insulin. It also lowers fat (lipid and triglyceride) levels in the blood."

So I will start the Metformin in the morning .... hope it works :) I will keep try to keep you updated. Our half marathon is Saturday - wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

New Idea ...

For a while now, people have been suggesting that we have a fundraiser or come up with some way to make money to help with IVF costs. Ok, so we came up with an idea. I think that we are going to try and sell jewelry holders. Last weekend, Ryle made me one:

I LOVE IT!!

 So today, Megan and I gave it a try! I think that this will be a great idea to help with the IVF costs, every little bit helps right?! Here are a few that we made today. They are our "demos"!

I'm excited for a few reasons: 1) We already have a couple of orders. 2) This helps take my mind off of everything - I've been having a rough time lately. This morning after cleaning house for 2 hours, I got in the shower and just cried for a good 10 minutes. I don't even know why, that's what gets me. I guess that I had been holding some things in for too long. But I'm not going to get into any of that right now ... don't really want to think about all of the things that have been bothering me.


So - if you know of anyone who would like a Jewelry Holder, just let me know! More pics to come soon!

No News

Still no news from the doctor. I'm almost to the point to where I want to call and bug them everyday until they give me my results. I don't know why - I'm just so ready to finally know if the results show that I do have PCOS or not. She says based on the ultrasounds, yes ... but this should let us know for sure. So come on already!!!!


It finally feels like Fall here! I'm so excited! I LOVE FALL!! We have been talking about having a garage sale lately and for some reason, this weather makes me want to go through things and put them in the garage sale pile! So I think that I'll start after dinner!!


11 days until our half marathon
34 days until our IVF consult