Baby @ 9 weeks
I am pleased to announce that after two long years of trying, I get to now share the happy news that…. I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!! Over the life of this blog I have made subtle hints to the fact that we were actively trying for a child. Many of the tests and medications I have been put on through this time have been in relation to solving the fertility issues that go along with PCOS and Hashimotos. .
First off, I do apologize for practically falling off the face of the earth these past few weeks. Now that summer is underway I don’t have as much time to post as I do during the year. Know that I still think of every one of you even when I am not posting.
As I write this I am not on my usual computer so please forgive me if this is not up to my usual standards. I promise to put out a better, more detailed post soon.
However, I wanted to give you guys a quick update on what’s going on and ask that you keep me in your prayers today.
We have reached the point in treating the PCOS that my doctor has to now check my Fallopian Tubes for blockages.
I am going in to the doctor this afternoon for a new procedure that will allow the doctor to inspect my tubes in real time and give us his findings during this appointment.
Apparently they are going to catheterize through the cervix and shoot saline and air into my fallopian tubes. Supposedly the only side effects from this procedure are the occasional menstrual like cramps. So it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.
However, I have to say that I woke up feeling more than a little bit nervous today. Luckily my husband was able to take the day off to come with me to help support me. Knowing he will be at my side the whole time is a big comfort to me.
Please keep me in your prayers today. I don’t know if this is intuition or just pessimism showing its ugly head, but I just have a feeling that our news might not be so great.
I’ll be sure to come back and post later tonight about how things go!
UPDATE: The appointment went great! The doctor was very pleased with the condition of my uteus as well as my Tubes. He and the Ultrasound technition said that the procedure went so well that my results should be used in textbooks! I have now had my meds increased and hope to see positive results soon.
Image Source: The Mayo Clinic
It dawned on me lately that I have been so busy focusing on getting the weight off and just dealing with my medical issues that while I have a basic understanding of the issues in my life I have yet to take a deeper look into a lot of them. It is so easy when dealing with medical issues to get caught up in your own struggle that you forget that there are so many others who are dealing with them too. That being said, I have decided to take the next few weeks and take a deeper look into my different Conditions and Diseases that I have been left to deal with. It is looking at being a 3-4 part series.
In my initial research for this post I started my search looking for lists of celebrities that have been confirmed to have the various medical issues. I found many blogs full of bitter women discussing rumors of celebrities. I quickly became very grateful to God for protecting my heart from that negative view point. Seeing those women belittling and bemoaning the world around them because of their condition makes me grateful that I am filled with the ability to look at everything with a positive perspective.
After looking a little deeper into the subject I stumbled across some good websites with some wonderful information. This post is for the many readers who follow along not just for the weight loss journey but also find themselves Sisters (or Brothers) in arms in the battle with one or more of my medical conditions.
POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME a.k.a. POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME a.k.a. PCOS
So what is PCOS? PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is found most commonly in women with some sort of hormonal imbalance. The unbalance of the hormones causes the development of follicles in your ovaries to cease the development process mid way through. The would be egg then dissolves leaving small little pockets in your ovaries called cysts. This then causes your periods to become irregular or non-existent. The problem in my understanding is that these cysts aren’t just empty pockets. With each cyst comes an extra dose of hormones that further throws your body out of whack.
According to my gynecologist in a recent appointment, women with PCOS have two healthy states for the body to be in, option A: on birth control, option B: pregnant. The in-between of no birth control and not pregnant is bad because it increases the chance for more cysts to develop on the ovaries. The more cysts the harder it is to deal with the syndrome.
In most cases the common first step for a woman suspected to have PCOS is to have her loose 5- 10% of her body weight. This is because studies have found that fat cells are carriers for extra amounts of hormones such as estrogen. The fat cells release these extra bits of hormones causing a vicious cycle of making the problem worse. However all those extra and unbalanced hormones wreak havoc on a woman’s ability to lose that weight. It is almost a catch 22 and is very discouraging for a lot of women.
So what are some of the issues that are commonly found with PCOS?
In poking around for this section of this article the fact that I came across that was most surprising to me was that even though PCOS is not something that is very well known or talked about it actually affects 1 in every 10 women. I think that what keeps women from opening up about it is the infertility, especially for the single ladies out there.
The word infertility brings with it lots of big bad and downright scary connotations with it. I remember sitting at the computer when I was first looking into PCOS and was trying to figure out what it was and why I was being recommended diabetic medication to treat it. The terror that set in my gut at seeing that one little word was significant. It was only with my husband by my side that I was able to face that fear and put it past me. If I had been diagnosed while I was still single I am not sure what I would have done. The day I was sitting in my Gynecologists office and he confirmed that I indeed have PCOS my heart sank into the deepest pit of my stomach convinced that meant that I could never get pregnant. There were a few moments there where I was swimming in guilt and shame convinced that because I had allowed my weight to get out of hand that I had created my own down fall. It was then that my doctor reassured me of two very important things; number 1: my issue with my weight was NOT the cause of the PCOS just an effect, number 2: of the different ways women become infertile this by far is the easiest to undo.
Why it is important to not ignore this or attempt to face it alone?
The journey and battle with PCOS is a hard one. I doubt that even the strongest woman could face this issue alone without breaking down. The path to getting everything balanced is rough and challenging. Everyone is different and every case reacts to treatments differently. Because of this there is always a bit of a guessing game in the process to find the right meds at the right levels to balance out your case. And because our bodies are forever changing that small window of happy balance will change from time to time as well. Having that support around you while you go through these ups and downs makes all the difference.
As far as why it is best not to ignore this goes, there is the obvious that the longer you go without balancing this out the worse the long term effects can get. However there is an even bigger reason to face this and get treated and monitored that is the insulin resistance that very commonly tags along for the ride with PCOS. If left untreated that insulin resistance could develop into Pre diabetes or Type II diabetes.
For a condition in women that is so common there are so few who actually openly talk about it. Don’t let yourself feel ashamed about it. You never know who you might be helping by opening up. And if I can help just one person to feel that they are not going through this alone all the better.
Who are a few well known people who suffer PCOS?
From what I could find of a few rather reliable looking websites here are a few that seem to have confirmed PCOS:
A few websites that I have found informational:
Final Thoughts:
After taking some time to really look into PCOS I find that while being diagnosed with it can seem very scary and daunting, it is not something to be ashamed about nor is it something to hide in the closet. Too many of our Sisters in Arms don’t speak out about it making it this big dark black hole to many as they are diagnosed. For something that occurs so commonly in women, knowledge of this syndrome should be more common place. If you are one of my readers who happens to be a sister in arms with this syndrome know you are not alone! I am here to stand beside you and we can get through this!
If you are just learning about PCOS and are in the process of figuring out whether or not you have it know this, It is not the end of the world. With proper treatment and monitoring from the doctors PCOS is very manageable and you can go on to lead healthy normal lives. And yes, my doctor assures me, it is very possible to get pregnant with this condition. It just means you have to jump a few more hoops to get pregnant then other women. But in the end, it just makes those babies that much more special to us. Are there hard times ahead? Yes, but aren’t there always hard times ahead. The best thing you can do is to is to trust in God and remember that he is always in control and that PCOS is VERY treatable.
For those out there that wish to reach out to me with questions about PCOS and feel uncomfortable about posting in the comments thread, feel free to contact me at PCOS@thegracefulskinny.com .
Well dear readers my week has been quiet interesting and busy. Due to my birthday on Monday I spent the weekend celebrating with Friends, family and loved ones. I refused to deprive myself and even caved and brought a few special treats to munch on throughout the week. I set my expectations low for the scale and relaxed and enjoyed myself knowing that this is a rare occurrence.
My birthday was wonderful! It was filled with my wonderful friends and family and some great food. The best part of it all was the beautiful sewing machine that my husband gave me! I have been wanting to learn to sew for the longest time. He conspired with my friends and family and I now have everything that I need to learn to sew. I am almost done with my first project!
But alas, it wouldn’t be my life without a few trips to different doctor’s offices and yet another referral. I had my physical on Tuesday. It was probably a mistake to go in for a physical the day after my birthday but I wasn’t thinking about that when I scheduled my appointment. So yet again I had all the fun of fasting and giving up 4 vials of blood to the Vampires to test. I was subjected to an EKG and a Breath Test due to my asthma. The EKG was good. The breath test however, came back with results showing I have the lungs of an 84 year old. It is possible that the test was not accurate however I am being referred to a pulmonologist just to be sure. Oh yeah we also get to tack on yet another medication to help with the asthma.
My blood work came back with a mixed bag of results. It would appear that my TSH levels (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) are perfect. Both my general practitioner (GP) and my gynecologist were happy with those numbers. However, apparently my cholesterol levels are still high.
My GP wants me to consider medication for it, but my gut tells me strongly not to. This gut feeling was re enforced when I went to the drug store to pick it up and the pharmacist explained some very likely complications this cholesterol medication would cause with my treatment plan for the PCOS. Needless to say I have declined the option for this medication.
It just goes to show you that when it comes to your medical issues, you can’t just sit back and assume everyone else knows what they are doing 100% of the time. You can’t relax. You have to stay on top of things. Sometimes that might mean you have to get annoying, others it might mean that you have to get stubborn. But always falls back on you to fix the issues of the day.
Needless to say, I have been busy this week. Which is frustrating, because it means I haven’t had nearly as much time with my new sewing (to me) machine as I would have liked. And while I could have easily have let all this negative news get me down I choose not to. I am choosing to focus on the good side of things. But enough with that. You probably are just sitting there anxious to see the damage all that celebrating did right? I know that I was when I stepped on the scale this morning. It took me a moment to actually peak at the screen and see my numbers for the week.
Imagine my absolute shock and surprise when I actually did take a look at the numbers!
The Results for the week are:
In all honesty, I think that is the best birthday present I could ever give myself! And it goes to show that you can indeed have your cake and lose weight to! I can’t describe how great it feels to finally break through the 30 pound wall. And in just 4-5 pounds more I will officially be out of the obese category! How great is that!
So dear readers now is the time I hear from you! How has your week gone? Anything exciting going on with you?
One of the first things that I learned when I started on this weight loss journey was to be weary of anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup (a.k.a. Corn Sugar). There are more and more studies that are finding strong addictive tendencies in this evil substance.
Princeton did a study on the substance and the results that they came up with were enough to raise eye brows. You can find the article that talks about this study here: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/
It is definitely an article worth your read.
In the study, they found that the rats who were given High Fructose Corn Syrup laced water gained significantly more weight than the rats who were given table sugar. Not only that but they also found that the rats who had the High Fructose Corn Syrup ended up not just gaining more weight than the table sugar group but that the animals in the High fructose corn Syrup group ended up gaining 48 percent more weight!
When I stumbled across this information I started to try to do my best to avoid it, only to come to the realization that it is found in almost everything we eat.
It’s not practical to think that you can avoid ever eating it again. And the saying is always true, Everything in Moderation. The problem however, is getting that into moderate amounts of your diet.
So next time you decide to go pick up that soda can or candy bar think twice! Rid yourself of the constant craving for it and you will quickly find that things that are loaded with it are overly sweet.
After only a month I got to the point were most sodas and soft drinks are just revolting to me. Just try to go a while without the processed foods and then taste them again. They just aren’t as tasty as we thought.
But there will be days when you will miss that soda. And for those days, my husband and I have found a great compromise.
This bottle of coke isn’t any normal coke, and you more than likely are not going to find it on your regular soda aisle. No folks, this coke is Mexican coke! What makes it better than the normal stuff you ask? Let’s turn the bottle around and take a look.
The red box believe it or not is the ENTIRE ingredients list. That’s right there are only 6 ingredients in this bottle. And let me tell you, there is a huge difference in flavor alone to justify the extra cost.
All of that being said, you should be aware that there is a bit of the “Corn Sugar” that may find its way in here. I went on to coke’s website and found a Ingredients Glossary. According to their website Caramel Coloring is defined as:
Caramel Color
Caramel color is made by a process involving the heating of corn or cane sugar and other carbohydrates to achieve the desired color.
http://productnutrition.thecoca-colacompany.com/ingredients
Because they don’t clarify if its indeed Corn Sugar or the better option Cane Sugar you should still take caution and limit the amount you drink it. But if you are just looking for a special treat every now and then, I would have to say that is a great way to go.
So as you go about your day, be weary and warned. Keep your eyes out and pay attention you might just be amazed at just how much of the High Fructose Corn Syrup is making its way into your diet.
So this week my stomach bug has finally started to pass! Thank the Lord above! I have had a pretty good week work out wise. I was able to remember to weigh in 3 out of the 5 days this week. Not perfect, but certainly better then what it has been lately. I even got in 2 separate workouts in.
So with all this progress comes some results. However I am a tad frustrated, even though I know I don’t have much reason to be.
So what are my results for the week?
Its remarkable progress I know, but part of me is disappointed I couldn’t get that last 0.4 pounds off to make this week’s totals a rounded total of 30 pounds. I guess it just means I have to wait until next week to finally see that number. I just hope that this new round of Provera I start tomorrow won’t mess me up yet again.
I almost feel as if the 30 pound mark is a bit elusive. It has been dancing just outside my grasp since just before Christmas. I am getting anxious to surpass that point in my journey.
Anyways that is how my week has gone! How have you been my dear readers? Has anybody else ha victories in getting back into the swing of things?
First off I would like to apologize for being a day late for my weekly update. I had full intentions to get up yesterday and do my work out and weigh in and post my blog. Life however had other plans for me. I ended up having to go back to the doctor’s office to redo some blood work because the lab that it gets sent to spilt my original vial. Once I got home my energy levels crashed and I completely forgot to write my blog post.
I still haven’t been all that active this week. That stomach bug from last week is still hanging around and making me feel off. It has been getting somewhat better though so here is hoping that I can at least stave it off long enough to do some major cleaning. My husband and I have a goal to get at least the main rooms back into shape. Here is hoping that we can make that happen.
The results for the week:
The good news is even though this stomach bug has thrown off my healthy eating patterns I still have seemed to lose some weight this week. So all in all I call this week a success! Not to shabby for a girl that can’t hold down all her meals.
So my week has consisted of waves of nausea that come and go hampering much productivity. I haven’t had a chance to weigh in this week due to said nausea but will try to give it a go tomorrow and post it a day late. But for now, I have just been a little green around the gills and that has just really set me off my game.
I do however want to take a second and thank TheBettyLife for the wonderful acknowledgement and award. I will try to get a list of blogs to pass the award on to in the coming days. For now though, I will leave you guys with wishes for a good weekend and the hopes that by next week I will be a little less friendly with Ralf the porcelain king.
My dear readers, what is it that you eat when your stomach misbehaves like this? Anybody have some healthy options that are easy to eat for a picky stomach?
I am not sure what has happened to me over the past two weeks but after checking on a few of my regular blogs it would appear that I am certainly not alone. I have been feeling sluggish and lazy. I have been slacking when it comes to weighing in and getting in my exercise.
However, thanks to you wonderful readers waiting for my weekly update I was able to put my foot down and kicked my butt back into gear!
Over all I would have to say that this week has been quiet the success. I finally got to meet my new mentor on Tuesday morning. God is so good. She is the best!
To my amazement, sitting down with my new mentor has not only helped me work out my life spiritually in finding ways to get in my quiet times every day, but I have noticed a dramatic increase in my ability to focus and get things done throughout my whole day when I do remember to spend even just a minute or two in the morning in quiet time.
So not only have I been getting myself more organized but when I stepped on the scale today I got a pleasant surprise in the form of not only a weight loss but a weight loss great enough that I lost all that I had gained last week and then some. I am so back on track. Look out 14s I’m not giving up on you yet!
So what was my weight like this week?
That’s right folks! It’s not quite a complete recovery from chaos caused by the change up in meds and Christmas festivities, but I am within a pound of getting there. My goal for the coming week is to actually get my but to work out for at least 30 minutes at least twice this week.
I set out this morning to work out for 30 minutes and ended up working out for almost an hour! If I could only do that more often, I would be great! But as for today, I will revel in my small victories and use this as the much needed boost to push forward and continue to get back on track with my weight loss.
As for those who are also struggling to kick themselves into gear, what are you waiting for? Get to it! You can do it! And you will feel a lot better once you kick your butt into actually doing it as well.
Have a happy weekend!
I officially call this week a throw away. From the fact that there has been crazy amounts of snow and Ice EVERYWHERE to the fact that I had to fluctuate a few of my meds to make them last till I could even consider getting out of my apartment, to the Provera and the ensuing period, it shouldn’t come to much surprise that I haven’t had the greatest week weight wise.
This week I discovered the only thing more dangerous for a waist line then hormonal cravings would have to be hormonal cravings while snowed in for a week. We were finally able to get out for a tiny bit yesterday, and let me tell you, I have never been more elated to be going to a drug store!
I do want to apologize for not posting much this week, but with the snow my husband has had to work from home the week. He had to take over the main computer area leaving me with only my broken down old laptop to get internet access. Without access to my normal work environment I haven’t been able to get much done.
I will go ahead and admit, I haven’t made the best decisions food wise but being ADHD and trapped in a two bedroom apartment without much contact to the outside world got me real twitchy real fast. That plus all the other things going on with me has made for almost unavoidable bad cravings.
The upside to all of this is that I have gotten a week of rest right when my body needed it. My husband and I got some extra time together and most of the problematic ice should FINALLY start to fully melt away today and tomorrow. The only thing to make this better would have been to have the Christmas boxes in the apartment with me so that I could have used the stranded time a bit better. But let’s be realistic here. With the way my body treated me this week, I doubt that much of it would have gotten done anyways. Ah well.
I’ll get back on track next week. I promise this time!
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The Graceful Skinny 