The C family - Our story

For this blog, I will refer to myself as Mrs. C, my husband as Mr. C and our family as the C family.  I've been wanting to share my infertility story for awhile now and I'm overjoyed that I'm finally able to share my story to the world.

My story starts before I became Mrs. C or even before becoming Mrs. C was even possible in my head! Yes, I'm one of those crazy girls who had a crush on the same guy for 7 years waiting for Mr. C to make his move and ask me out.

I started my periods at age 11 and I remember the day I started my period because it was the most painful experience of my life! I knew periods would have cramps...but I never imagined having pains to the point of vomiting and leaving me practically bed ridden for the entire week of my period - which was always heavy and unpredictable. Whenever I asked my mom or the school nurse (whenever I couldn't take the pain at school), they would always tell me it was normal and I would eventually get used to the pain.

It wasn't until I was a freshman in high school at age 14 that I decided to see my primary doctor about my menstrual cramps and once again was frustrated and angry when she said that it was "normal". She put me on birth control to help regulate my periods and lessen my flow, then sent me on my way. The birth controls did help regulate my period but it didn't help with the flow and my menstrual cramps were still excruciating.

Once a senior in high school in 2005-2006, Mr. C and I started dating and it was the happiest time in my life! I was finally dating my 7 year crush, graduating from high school and preparing for the opportunities ahead of me. However, this also the year I noticed my periods were becoming more irregular, my hair was thinning on the top of my head, my skin was more oily, I was gaining weight without changing my diet and I was growing facial and body hair at a much faster rate. Overall, I just didn't feel good. I also started to develop horrible lower back pain and pelvic pain daily.

In January 2007, Mr. C left for his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. During this time my period was long overdue by three months and I chalked it up to being stressed with Mr. C leaving on his mission and starting college. Soon, it became 9 months without a period and during this time I had gained 40lbs quickly. I finally convinced myself to see someone about this as I was concerned for my health. I saw a new primary doctor and she quickly realized that this wasn't "normal". I had a trans-vaginal and a pelvic ultrasound and several blood work done to see what was up with my body.

The results: I have been diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS for short. My blood work showed my body was insulin resistant and my testosterone levels were three times what they should have been. My ultrasound results show both my ovaries were literally COVERED in cysts - there was too many for the radiologist to count them all.

With a diagnosed, my doctor decided to put me on birth control pills (again) to try and even things out in my body. I agreed and stayed on birth control pills with little improvement. My periods were still irregular even on the pill and the pills made me an emotional monster. I just felt "off" being on them and eventually went of them after 10 months.

In 2009, Mr. C came home from his mission at the end of January, asked me to married him in February and    we married in June of that same year. We had many conversations about the future, including the oh so famous discussion of "how many kids do you want?". We both agreed we would love to have kids in the future and would start our adding to our family a year or two after our marriage.

 A few months after our wedding, I noticed my pelvic pain and back pain were worse, my periods were completely absent and my PCOS symptoms were growing worse every day. I went to my doctor again and she put me on Metformin 500mg (1 per day). She advise me of the side effects (stomach problems, diarrhea, vomiting, etc) but that it should pass once I've been on it for 45 days.

I hate Metformin. My body hates Metformin. I couldn't eat anything on Metformin without puking right after or having to run to the bathroom every 10 minutes (I'm not exaggerating in the slightest, I wish I was!). Mr. C and I couldn't go to the movies because I would constantly have to get up and use the bathroom and miss the entire movie. Eating out was out of the question because I couldn't eat without throwing up straight afterwards. It was awful! My doctor even put me on Metformin ER to see if it would lessen the side effects, but nothing changed. After 6 months of being on Metformin, I decided to give it up and have no desire to be back on Metformin even though several doctors have suggested the drug to me since then.

Also, in 2009, I was also dealing with horrible pelvic and back pain. I was finally referred by my primary doctor to see an OB/GYN and it was suggested by him to have a Laparoscopy procedure to look for Endometriosis, which was suspected in my case. I was scheduled for a Laparoscopy in January 2010. This was the scariest decision I've made thus far, but I'm glad I did it. My OB/GYN told me afterwards that my ovaries were not only covered in cysts, my ovaries were enlarged and also covered in Endometriosis. He also told me my hopes for children in the future would not happen and I would never had children naturally. When he told me that, it hit me hard. I had never heard of endometriosis before and the fact that this could take my dreams of being a mother away from me completely tore me up inside! I remember laying in the recovery room of the hospital crying because I was so scared and depressed of the news I've just received from the Doctor. Thankfully an angel in the form of a nurse walked into my room to check my vitals and noticed my tears. She also had Endometriosis and was able to tell me about it and provide me comfort that even though there is no cure, the symptoms could be managed and even though she had endometriosis, she was blessed with a baby girl. My hope for a family naturally was still brightly burning in front of me. I just had to remind myself that endometriosis wasn't the "end" to the dreams of having my own children.

A month after surgery, I was beginning to feel better. My pelvic pain had vanished and for the first time in a long time, I felt normal! Unfortunately, it was very short lived and one night in February, I woke up screaming and crying because something felt like it exploded in pelvis on my right side. I've never felt anything like that before in my life - it felt like hot fiery acid being poured in my pelvis while at the same time someone was taking a saw and cutting off my ovary. Mr. C rushed me to the ER and after 8hrs of being poked, prodded and evaluated, it was determined it was just my Endometriosis and that they couldn't do nothing for me but provided me pain pills.

I saw my OB/GYN and he quickly put me on Lupron Depot shots to get rid of my Endometriosis. The shots put your body into menopause and come with a wide vary of symptoms, some of which I'm still suffering from two years later. I was on the shots for six long months - I felt like a 24 year old trapped in a 72 year olds body. It was awful! Though my pelvic pain did cease while on the shots, but once off them, my pain quickly came back.

I continued to suffer in pain and saw my OB/GYN again, who said it was impossible for the Lupron shots not to work and that I'm making the pain up in my mind. After leaving his office crying, I decided to see a new OB/GYN, Dr. Ted. I'm so blessed to have found Dr. Ted! Right away, he offered me another Laparoscopy procedure to check my situation down there. In Septemeber 2011, I had my second Laparoscopy. Both Dr. Ted and I were surprised to find that my endometriosis had grown through out my pelvis, despite being on Lupron to lessen it. My ovaries were still covered in cysts and my appendix was dead, which they suspect is due to the endometriosis and several adhesions in my pelvis.

Since my last surgery, I continue to deal with the pain and anguish of PCOS and Endometriosis daily. For right now, due to emotional reasons, we've decided to stop "officially" trying to conceive. However, we aren't preventing it either. For right now, we are trying to focus on just the two of us until we decide to start "officially" trying again.