Monday, December 21, 2009

What's wrong with you, anyway?

Before we could completely commit ourselves to pursuing embryo adoption, we had to make sure it was actually a viable option for us. So we found an infertility clinic "near" us (it was actually a 4 hour drive away), and made an appointment. We wanted to get a full work-up and see if there was any hidden problem that would make it dangerous for either me or the babies should we try to get pregnant.

That visit convinced me of the value or seeking an expert in the field of infertility to work with you towards your goals. It took the doctor a couple of minutes to diagnose me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and probable endometriosis, after every primary care doctor and gynecologist I had ever seen had failed to see anything wrong with my history of long-ish cycles, acne, and severe period pain. In fact, when they did the ultrasound that day, they found not only cystic ovaries, but also that my uterus was swollen out of proportion ("like a tennis racket instead of a pear shape") from adenomyosis, which meant that not even laproscopic surgery would be able to remove the endo pockets that were buried in the muscle of my poor uterus.

This explained a lot of things, like why my cycles weren't normal, why I was in so much pain when my period came every month, and, of course, why we hadn't been getting pregnant. They also ordered a whole battery of tests for me, including anti-thyroid antibodies, insulin/ glucose tolerance testing, and more in-depth hormonal studies. These tests revealed that I was just barely in the abnormal range for most of the PCOS markers, and wasn't insulin resistant. They did put me on a low-glycemic index diet, but it honestly didn't do a thing for me, probably because my PCOS doesn't appear to be insulin related.

The big news was that nothing I had was something they felt would prevent me from being able to experience a normal, healthy pregnancy! So much so, that the doctor didn't think we should be pursuing EA, because he thought I would get pregnant easily with a couple of "minor interventions." We took his opinion for what it was worth, and left with the determination to turn in our application, because, after all, our visit wasn't to see if he could get us pregnant on our own, and his conclusions had further drawn our hearts to care for babies in a freezer.

PCOS resource page- A simple overview of what PCOS is. After my own research and experience, I don't agree with everything on this page, but it's good for giving a general idea of what PCOS is.

Adenomyosis- I picked this page because the picture at the top looks like what my uterus looked like in the ultrasound. The information is a good and simple overview of the condition. I have not, to date, gone through surgery to see if I also have endometriosis or not.