Excuse me...Eve, but I've got a bone to pick with you.

SO, why couldn't Eve just see the slithering serpent for the snake that he was? Seriously, just say NO. We could have had perfect bodies, perfect cycles, perfect hormones, and no pain during childbirth, not to mention the opportunity to live in perfect harmony with God himself.

If you have read any of my prior posts, you know that my husband and I are trying to conceive. It has been a year and no luck. In October of last year I had a miscarriage and since January I have been tracking my cycles and taking notes on my symptoms during the cycle, just in case they would make different to Dr.R. And after reviewing my notes she said that she was 98% sure that I had had a 2nd miscarriage last month. I had figured that, but I did not take a test because, well I didn't want to.

Of course the primary reason for me wanting to attend this appointment is that I want know what is going on. I have never had any difficulty becoming pregnant before, however I have never tried to get pregnant before either. Both of my boys were a surprise and having only a 50% success rate in giving birth to a healthy baby, I am overly concerned that something is wrong with me. By making my symptoms known, perhaps I will be helping someone who is going through a similar situation.

At first, Dr. R, agreeing that something was off and said that I could go right to a reproductive endocrinologist (fertility doctor) or we could look into progesterone therapy. Progesterone is the hormone that thickens the lining of the uterus and holds a pregnancy, among other things. Then she asked about any other symptoms that were concerning me. To which I responded by telling her that I am tired, but have a hard time sleeping (I toss and turn and am up 2 or 3 times a night). Since Jacob's death, I have had acne, which I have NEVER had before. And...the worst of all...over the last few months, I have begun to notice that I have facial hairs...how embarrassing. I believe at that time I was ready to crawl under the exam table, but Dr. R is great and as soon as I mentioned the ...hair...her eyes popped and she said "I think I know what's going on here". Then proceeded to tell me about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS. A hormone imbalance where one hormone is off which throws all of the other hormones off and ultimately your body stops ovulating or only ovulates sporadically. Usually women with this condition don't have periods during the months that they don't ovulate, but there is a small percentage of women who continue to have their period regardless of whether or not they ovulate. We know that I am ovulating at least part of the time because of the miscarriages, but my symptoms do match up to the PCOS symptoms.

I placed a link about PCOS on Women's WebMD a paragraph up, but I want to go ahead and list the main symptoms here:

1. Acne
2. Weight gain or trouble loosing weight
3. Extra hair on face or body
4. Thinning hair on scalp
5. Irregular periods. Often women with PCOS have fewer than nine periods a year. Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding.
6. Fertility problems
7. Depression

I have all but two of the symptoms, thinning hair and depression. I already mentioned the acne, facial hair, and infertility, but I also can't loose weight. Since January, I have worked out for four or five days out of the week consistently and really changed the way we eat and I have only lost five, yes five pounds. It is really ridiculous and extremely frustrating. I have also continued to have monthly periods, some very light and some very heavy; some on time and some early.

Since Dr. R can't definitively diagnose infertility issues, she referred me to the specialist and Rick and I agreed that we should see Dr. M on August 5th and find out exactly what is going on. It just seems really backwards to me that I have had two children and NOW I have to go to a fertility specialist. Logically, I can't find a reason for this to be happening, but MAYBE God wants me to be able to relate to a more diverse group of people in order to spread His message of life. I think that sounds good, and I'm gonna go head and go with that!

Have a Blessed Day!