Friday, September 21, 2007

One Year: September 22nd to September 22nd - Part 1

One year ago on September 22nd I found out I was pregnant. Wow what a journey I have had. I now have a 4 month old son, who is the sweetest baby. He lights up my every moment.

Let me bring you up-to-date...

...I have a history of endometreosis. My doctors had me on birth control pills since I was 15 to help with the cramps each month; the cramps that make me throw up, pass out and have me curled up on the floor in pain. No amount of pain killers would help, even the heavy duty narcotics. For a long time I just thought I had low pain tolerance, but then I broke a rib. I broke a rib and it did not hurt anywhere near the pain I feel each month with cramps. It was a little uncomfortable and did not feel great if I had to cough but there was no pain. At this point I realized that the cramps were not normal and that I actually have a high pain tolerance, and if I have such a high pain tolerance and my cramps were so excrusiating that I ended up on the floor, drugged up with pain meds and throwing up; then I needed to go to the doctor.

I know that many women have trouble finding a doctor to believe that there is a problem and then taking the appropriate steps to correct it. I got lucky and the first doctor that I went to helpd me. For the endo I have had two laps (one in June of '99 and one in February '01) to determine the severity and remove any cysts, adhesions, and scar tissue. Both times it was between stage III and IV. To help control the endo I was put on Lupron after each surgery. The Lupron treatment lasted for 6 months each time. The Lupron puts your body into chemically induced menopause to prevent the endo from growing back after the surgery.

I hated the Lupron almost as much as I hated the endo. I had hot flashes and mood swings and I started to lose my hair. I fell into a bad depression and I began to gain weight. I ended up on meds to control the depression, and then meds for the side effects, and then more meds for the side effect's side effects.

I started weaning myself of the handfulls of drugs that I was taking. By Jan. of 2005 I was down to birth control pills and the anti depressant. I cut the anti depressant dosage in half and then quit completely. I took a week off of work and slept through the withdrawl symptoms.
Finally in Dec. 2005 G and I decided the time was good to begin trying. I went to the doctor for a pre conception check up. The doctor stressed that with my history I should only try on my own for 6 months before coming back to the doctor. I finished the pack of pills that I was currently taking at the very end of Dec.

G and I started trying in Jan. of 2006. I knew from all my problems that I was going to have trouble so I went all gung ho from the get go. I began charting and recording every type of data gathered from by body imaginable. I wanted to time everything as well as I could and I wanted to learn as much about my body and how I cycle as I could. I did not know how many periods I was willing to go through without the cushion of meds to help with the pain.

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