Now moving on to the reason I am writing this blog.
So here is my infertility story. This could be my success story, it could be the story of a long struggle that ended in disappointment, it could even be how I ended up adopting. I don't know much at all, at this point. It's very much new to me, and I have a LONG journey ahead of me, one that I will not give up on any time soon. I want to document it all, every step of the way. Not just for myself, but for anybody else who might be going through this. Lets do this together. We don't have to be alone.
I was very recently, after a 6 year lull, able to get medical insurance. So first things first, I decided it's time to get the girl bits looked at. I actually went because I wanted to address, what I felt like, were symptoms of hypothyroidism. I had been experiencing ALL the symptoms, and I was absolutely sure it was the case. However, upon further testing, that wasn't the case, I learned. But then my gynocologist casually pointed out that my FSH level had been a 15, and that it wasn't a good thing. Whatever that meant.
I went back 2 weeks later, when I was on the 3rd day of my period, for more accurate testing, and the test returned a result of a 28 FSH. Worse, yet he still didn't give me any explanation as to why this was so bad. And what do I know? Apparently not that much. I didn't think it was severe enough to poke around and ask questions, and I guess my gyno didn't think it was important enough to explain it to me in a manner that I could really understand. Stripping away the scientific explanation, and telling me that I'm going to have a difficult time becoming pregnant would have been a nice start.
I went home and did some research, and it was then that I realized how truly bad this is, or could be. I cried for what felt like all day, composed myself, and called a fertility doctor the next day for an appointment.
Liam, my boyfriend, could not get the day off from work. So I went with my mother. This was 3 days ago. We drove over to a clinic on Long Island, in Plainview.
After sitting down with the fertility doctor, she told me that I have about a 1% chance of conceiving a child. She told me that it is highly likely that if the rare chance I can become pregnant, I will likely lose the child to miscarriage, or the child will be born sick/deformed/worse. She told me that she didn't want to give me false hope when that is the reality of my situation. She said that in many situations, IVF will work for people with infertility issues, but mine is not one that it applies to, because my eggs are not good. She believes that if I want to have a child, my best bet would be an egg donor. And that would increase my chances of conceiving to 50%.
And that leads us to today. After laying in bed for 3 days after having received that news from my fertility doc, I decided I can't just accept this. I have to do everything in my power to prove that a high FSH will not spoil my chances to conceive. I will consider it a huge obstacle to overcome.
I've researched the heck out of high FSH and so far I have come up with DHEA treatment, and acupuncture. And that's it. There do not seem to be many advances in this area. But I will explore everything in my power, and my diminishing budget.
Infertility does not run in my family. I do not drink, smoke, do drugs. I am not the healthiest eater on the planet to say the least, but I do try and eat organic most of the time, and I stay away from fast food. I joined a gym, but I honestly do not work out. I plan on making a complete lifestyle change, once I am able to peel myself out of bed and take this infertility on.
I will re-visit my fertility doctor in 3 weeks for further blood tests, and hopefully some more answers, and a little encouragement. (doubtful)
I will keep track of every doctor I see, and all good and bad news that comes my way.
Wish me luck.
