Hello! I am a 2nd grade teacher in New Mexico (yes, that is in the United States). Teaching has been my profession since 2002. An amazing opportunity happened my first two years of teaching…I was able to teach at a private school is Saudi Arabia. It was exciting, but I’m very pleased I decided to move back to New Mexico. Shortly after starting a teaching job here, I was introduced to the man who is now my husband. He is also a teacher, so we get to have all holidays off together! We have been married for a little over three years and are loving every minute of it. I’m sure we are the couple everyone else hates because we have the perfect relationship. We haven’t even had a fight yet.
In August of 2007, we decided to start trying for a baby. I had been on birth control up until that point. Unfortunately, I was not aware of all of the side effects of the pill I was on. This led to having my gallbladder removed. I also developed post-pill amenorrhea. Scary sounding, isn’t it? Basically, I had very irregular periods. I had a cycle a few months after stopping the pill. Then I went for nine months without a period at all. I’m sure the stress of wondering what was wrong with me didn’t help.
A little over a year after we decided to start trying, I started a period that lasted 30 days. About halfway through that cycle, I finally decided it was time to go to the doctor. I was told I had PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). The doctor never did any official tests to confirm this, but did ask me many questions about myself to “diagnose” me. Because I had slightly irregular periods (before birth control), excess hair on my upper lip (because of too much testosterone in my system), was overweight, and the back of my neck was darker than the rest of my skin, the doctor told me I had PCOS and prescribed Metformin. The Metformin was for insulin resistance (another part of PCOS).
My doctor had me take the Metformin for a month to see if that by itself would work. I used an OPT (Ovulation Prediction Test) and had a positive result. The next month, my doctor had me do the Clomid Challenge Test. I had my blood drawn on day three of my cycle to test my FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone), took Clomid for cycle days 5-9 and had my blood tested again on day ten to retest for FSH. My day three FSH was 7 mIU/mL and my day ten was 8 mIU/mL. Once your level gets over 10mIU/mL, fertility medication is less likely to work. One test down, one good result!
My husband also had a semen analysis, which turned out great! Make that two good results!
I took Clomid (along with the Metformin) for the next three months. I got a positive OPT each time, but no positive pregnancy test. I tried every tip that friends and family were willing to give. See my page on “Tips.” I also had a HSG (hysterosalpingogram) during this time. My tubes looked great! At the end of my fourth cycle, my period did not start. I kept testing, but no positive. By day 50 of my cycle, I decided to see what was going on a visit my doctor. I had my blood drawn again and then had to wait until the next day to find out the results (insurance can be a pain in the neck sometimes). I was sure I was pregnant. During lunch the next day, I called and found out my test was negative. I then added to my internal pharmacy when my doctor put me on Provera to start my cycle again. This was my last round of Clomid…with no success.
My doctor wants to refer us to a specialist. Our insurance does not cover anything diagnosed as “infertility.” We can’t afford to pay out of pocket. It is very frustrating that all of our tests show that everything is working fine. I am on a mission to find a way to become pregnant without breaking the bank. Thanks for joining me on this journey! Baby dust to all of you in similar situations!
