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My Story

Hi there, welcome to my blog. Yes I am a drama queen and yes I have been deemed “infertile” by a few of the medical experts in the great State of Colorado but that hasn’t made me give up my quest to have children quite yet. My husband and I have been on the emotional roller coaster of infertility since March of 2009 when I stopped taking birth control after being on it for ten straight years. I have been keeping a journal since the start of this process and thought I would share it with all of the other incredible women out there who may be going through the same thing or similar thing that I am. At age 28, I have been diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure (POF). With no history of fertility problems on either side of my family and normal periods before going on the pill, I was left to accept that I have this condition and that there is no medical explanation for it. Since receiving this diagnosis from a fertility specialist in May 2009, I decided I simply wasn’t going to accept that I wasn’t going to have children with my own eggs. I jumped into the world of Eastern Medicine, worked with an Endocrinologist and even went on a fertility diet trying to get my ovaries to start functioning normally. The conclusion I have come to is this…..having Celiac Disease (Gluten/Flour intolerance) and continuing to eat flour throughout most of my childhood and part of adulthood caused my body to produce anti-bodies that have now started attacking the organs/glands in my body. After a visit to an endocrinologist in December 2009, it was determined that I have ovarian antibodies which are essentially antibodies produced by my body that only attack the endocrine system. No doctor has actually confirmed my self diagnosis that the Gluten Intolerance caused this but Celiac Disease is an auto immune disorder and any auto immune disorder can cause your body to attack itself. I am currently waiting to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist to see what the next steps for me will be. I have read that doctors can try and stimulate the Pituitary Gland to get your Endocrine System running again or that you can be given steroids to help restore ovary function. I am hoping to receive one of these treatments in the near future but only time will tell. In the past 10 months, I have watched many of my close friends become pregnant while I remain a sad statistic. This blog contains my thoughts as I struggle through the process of figuring out what in the world is going on with my body and how I continue to try to stay upbeat and positive about my fertility and enjoy my life. I hope that my blog can help others would love to hear from other women going through the same thing, inspiring stories or anyone who just needs encouragement. I know and understand how difficult every day can be once you have received the POF or infertile diagnosis and want you all to know that I am here for you. Please note that some of you may feel I am sharing to much information (TMI) and for that I am sorry. If you want to read my blog…you get all the details. You never know what will be helpful to someone else right? God bless everyone and I wish you luck on your fertility adventures:0) Remember mind over matter!

My intent is to raise awareness of the issues. Please do not rely on this or any other article when making decisions that will affect you and your health. These are things I have decided to try after much research.
I am sorry I have to even ask, but this research stuff is starting to get expensive. I am just asking for $1.00 donation for posts you feel have helped you. I will use all donations to help fund my research and doctors appointments and of course report back to you. Baby dust to all of you and dont worry we will all find a way to have children.

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Save the carrot shaving from your juicer and make carrot cake or carrot muffins yummy! You can also save them to put in a salad.




Infertile – a horrible word used to make women who are already feeling bad about themselves want to jump into a pool of chocolate fudge and eat their sorrows away only to realize that not only can they not get pregnant but now they don’t fit in their clothes. A word so easily tossed around by doctors that they don’t even realize they are saying it and a word that you never under any circumstances should google unless you want your brain to explode.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Progesterone Supplements? Or no Progetserone Supplements...that is the question

Hello world, I’m back…after a much needed break! I don’t have much to blog about today. Enjoyed the long weekend, got a facial, bought groceries and hosted a game night at our house for V-day where I learned some new tricks to Guitar Hero (yes I know it’s sad that I am still playing video games at age 28 and am better then my husband who plays the real guitar). I did want to share a few things that I have been doing in order to prepare for the possible fertility treatment costs. I called and asked my insurance agent (my dad) to check with various companies he does business with to see if any of them cover infertility and fertility treatments. I figure any monthly premium has got to be better then paying $15,000 out of pocket, right? Another thing I did which I read about online….Having determined that the insurance provided to me by my company does not cover infertility and fertility treatments; I wrote a letter to the Human Resources department asking if they might change coverage to include some infertility/fertility treatments. Currently, my company provides financial aid to employees who go through the adoption process and also cover all pregnancies that occur naturally without any help but there is no coverage for anyone in-between the two which is 1 out of every 10 women. Over 50% of companies that provide this type of coverage only do so because an employee asked so I figure what the heck. I am also considering taking myself off my natural progesterone supplements until I see the new doctor in March. My grandmother, who is a retired nurse, thinks that my body won’t do what it is supposed to if I keep giving it hormones it doesn’t have to work to produce...kind of what birth control does. I see her point but am scared to go of the supplements because I don’t want to make my FSH go up. I keep going back and forth on whether to stop taking them but I have had cramps the last couple of days which makes me want to stay on them. Man, I wish that my period would just start and this would all go away. This weekend while I was cleaning out my closet, I heard a commercial for Midol and found myself wishing I had periods so heavy and crampy that I needed a whole bottle to make me feel better….sick huh? For some reason, I still think everything is going to be ok. I had completely normal periods, started my period at a normal age, no one in my family has had fertility problems. I really think the reproductive endocrinologist will have some answers for me. I just have a feeling that my body just cant “re-start” after being on the pill for so long and I think my Celiacs also has something to do with it. Hope everyone has a great day!
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Reading Materials/Other Items That Have Helped Me

  • Inconceivable
  • Making Babies by Sami S. David, MD & Jill Blakeway, LAc
  • pre-seed Fertility-friendly Intimate Moisturizer
  • restoring fertility - yoga for optimal fertility dvd - you can feel it working!
  • Taking Charge for Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, MPH
  • The Infertility Cure by Randin Lewis, Ph. D.