Only 4x days left in 2011- kind of hard to believe. The last few years have totally flown by. Life seems to have become a rotating door of weddings and baby showers. Which I wont complain about, I love weddings and babies. As a matter of fact- my desire to have a baby has been part of the reason I am finally motivated to write this blog. I guess I feel like I have to send this out into the universe so it doesn't stay bottled up inside me and I don't start to annoy the few friends I do talk to about it....
I mean seriously, who knew it would be this hard?

Why is it some people can just look at each other and get knocked up and I have to pay out the ass to even attempt it? Why me? What did I ever do to piss off mother nature....are my genetics no good to pass on?

These are just a few of the thoughts that ran through my head when I found out I had PCOS...which really is not the end of the world, just a lingering and expensive thorn in my side.

The first downfall of PCOS (and the "its kinda hard to conceive" mantra) is what I will call the ripple effect. Not only are you (me) kinda freaked out and a little bummed out to learn that the journey to mother hood might not be very sexy, but now I have freaked out all of my (not yet mother) friends ..."what if I have the same issue...what if my shit doesn't work.....". Which I totally understand. This is something I would not have comprehended until I actually started trying. However, only about 1 in 10 women (or 1 in 20 of childbearing age) are affected by this, so the odds are in their favor of NOT having the same situation. Maybe I covered it for my little group of friends... http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/polycystic-ovary-syndrome.pdf

The second downfall of PCOS is the cycle regulating medication they start you off with, metformin- 3x per day....THREE TIMES PER DAY. Ok- work with me here, you know how hard it is to remember to take a pill once per day....holy shit. 3x times.......And its a diabetic medication in its original use, which gives you really interesting side effects and digestive issues.

(This part is a bit of TMI)
Since PCOSers don't usually ovulate on their own (or seldom) periods are about 45+ days apart. So they give you a dose of pills to trigger your period to start the "cycle", clomid for 5x days to stimulate your eggs, then 5x days of some other stuff that I can never remember the name of that helps to thicken the uterine lining, then a trigger shot right in your belly, then the actual process of IUI (if that's the route your going), and finally the ever-so-sexy vaginal suppositories- in the off chance you actually do get pregnant, to help it stick. Then you wait for 2 weeks to see if it worked.
Patience truly is a virtue.

Remind me again how women usually get pregnant....oh wait, that's right....sex.