Infertility

A lot of my friends and family are aware that Matt and I have been trying to have a baby for some time. We had a miscarriage back in 2014 and have struggled since. After having very inconsistent cycles since the miscarriage, I went to a family practice doctor being 2.5 weeks late to figure out what was going on. He tested my thyroid, kidneys, and blood sugar, all were perfectly healthy and running great. He said the issue sounded like I wasn't ovulating every month. 

This conclusion led me on a path I never thought I would have to face. With my parents moving to Oregon I was no longer covered with their insurance out of state which created it's own set of problems, let alone my infertility issue. I finally got my own health insurance, the best price I could afford which the benefits could be better but it covers me a decent amount. After that headache, I found an OBGYN my insurance covers and set up a family planning appointment. (Dr. Asay at Leavitt Women's Health Clinic)

Dr. Asay took a look at my history and pulled out this sheet of infertility treatments. I'm not going to lie, seeing that list and realizing I struggle with infertility was kind of a shock. She told me based on my symptoms and history, it looks like I suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). What that means in a nutshell is that I have an imbalance of hormones in my system which are causing small cysts on my ovaries, making my body not ovulate on time and when it does, the eggs are not top quality eggs. This makes getting pregnant very difficult. Luckily, Dr. Asay told me this form of infertility is the most treatable form. She also said it's really easy to diagnose. Right now I am awaiting the results of my day 21 progesterone which tells the doctor if I ovulated or not and confirms the diagnosis. 

With PCOS, it is not curable, but is treatable. The symptoms include painful periods, missed and infrequent cycles, acne on the back and chin, weight gain, hairs on the chin and stomach/back. I don't have hair on my belly or back but I have been noticing a lot of ingrown hairs on my chin as well as constant acne on my back and chin, I gained a lot of weight when I miscarried and while I'm healthy and in decent shape, I still weigh more than before my miscarriage. I also have very painful periods and I have missed my ovulation waaaay more than had it on time. (Basically my periods come at least a week late if I didn't ovulate.)

The treatment for PCOS is to take metformin or chlorid to induce ovulation which can result in multiples (which I'm totally fine with haha). The other treatment is to be on birth control when you're not wanting to get pregnant. So basically I'll always have to be medicated. Now, Dr. Asay does want to do a sperm analysis on Matt to make sure it's not just me or isn't me at all (though I highly doubt I'm problem free since I haven't had regular, normal cycles since my miscarriage.) 

One of the causes of PCOS is having a miscarriage. HA!!! Oh goodness. Not only do I have to suffer from loosing my baby just from the sadness and emptiness I've dealt with but now I'll always have a reminder of that event because my ovaries are forever messed up. 

It's definitely good that it's treatable and easy to deal with, I'm glad for that. I just know we have a long road ahead of us and I so want to be a mom, more than anything in the world. Having to deal with this is never ever something I would have imagined to happen to me or that people dealt with. They really should include infertility and issues that can come from trying to have children when they teach health education. I think if more people knew about infertility and how many people actually deal with it, maybe it would better prepare the women and men who suffer from it and could prevent unnecessary depression and shock when they find out they have it.

THINX: For ladies only

Ok ladies! I decided I was getting rather sick and tired of stupid pads and tampons. They are the WORST solution for a woman with periods. Then I found this:

http://www.shethinx.com/collections/period-panties

Behold! Panties designed for women with periods! So I got myself a pair (They're like $30 for one so I wanted to try one first then see how it worked before getting more pairs) Now, I read a lot of reviews and was a little skeptical, a pair of panties that can hold 2 tampons worth of blood? Hmmm.... So I decided to give it a go. 

First of all, they offer a variety of sizes, styles, and levels of heaviness the panties can handle. I was a little disappointed when you couldn't mix a certain style with a certain heaviness of flow, for example, I wanted the heaviest flow which is the hip hugger style but I wanted to try it in a different style. I understand certain ones like thongs cannot work for really heavy days because the style just doesn't allow it but all the rest I could totally see being flexible. They have two colors, black and cream. I chose black but maybe I'll try a cream pair, I bet you could more easily monitor your panties flow intake if you can see the color change. 

Now you really need to know your body and it's flow each month when committing to these panties. You need to know how long it takes you to use 2 tampons on your heaviest days. If you aren't too heavy, the heaviest panties, hip huggers, work great for about 8 hours. I am a very heavy girl on my first couple of days, especially the second day, so I can only wear the panties for like 2-4 hours tops. 

These panties do require hands-on maintenance as they are basically a super pad inside your underwear. You have to rinse them out in the sink before washing on cold without fabric softener then hang dry. Because of this work, you kind of want to have a couple of pairs so that while one is washing you can wear another one. 

So what are the pros? 

-Every pair you buy sends a pair of reusable pads to girls in Africa where they cannot afford disposable pads and tampons and they are then able to keep attending school so you're being a huge help to others when helping your lady issues.

-No waste! Instead of your garbage filling up with those *cough cough* lovely used pads and tampons, you just simply wash the panties.

-Because you aren't buying disposable lady products, you are saving a lot of money each month. 

-So much more comfortable than sticking a cotton tube in your lady parts and they don't disintegrate like pads do after worn for a while.

-On light days where there's spotting these are PERFECTTTTT! 

-You have to wear panties anyways so might as well combine both forces, no sticky pads sticking to your legs/hips where it doesn't belong, sliding out of place, etc.

And the cons?

-You have to hand rinse each pair, which you know what's in them, so it's up to you if you find that tolerable. I myself would rather deal with that than trying to sneak tampons around and all that junk.

-Some people work long shifts at work or school so they may not have the time to allow them to wear panties for about 4 hours then clean them and change into new ones, especially at work where you'd have to hide the dirty pair until you can go home. I have the fortune of having a flexible schedule where I get to control when I go home. 

-They aren't the best for sleeping, I still have to wear pads at least for bed. But there's also moments like swimming/temple attendance where you'd have to keep a small supply of pads/tampons on hand for moments like that.

-They are not 100% leak proof, if you have worn them longer than they can handle they'll leak and stain so like I said earlier, you must know your body very well. 

In my mind, they are amazing and I'm going to get a couple more pairs. Are they the perfect solution? No, but oh my goodness they make you feel and look cute on your period and have so much comfort to them, it's amazing. This is just my review on them :)