a little update + finding good in the trials

I thought it would be a good time for an update since people have been asking me a lot lately how my health has been. So here goes another one of my long and jumbled up posts. :)

 

I would be lying if I said these past few months have been easy.

The truth is, is that some days I feel like I am just trying to make it through the day.

It certainly hasn't all been bad, though.

I feel pretty darn good mentally.

Its just physically and sometimes emotionally I have been on a struggle.

I have been taking different hormones the past few months to help my body since I can't create what I need on my own. The good news is, is that I have lowered my estrogen and testosterone to healthy levels through my clean lifestyle. My thyroid was slacking, but with help from some medications I've actually been doing okay. Okay as in my hair is growing (!!!!!!) and my nails aren't so brittle.

But it is my progesterone levels I cannot get up to where it needs to be.

 A healthy woman produces a progesterone level of 10. Back in March I was only producing a level of 2. I was frustrated yesterday because after months of taking straight progesterone, I had only raised my levels up to 3.9. My sweet doctor lifted my spirits by reminding me that my progesterone has almost doubled in the past few months. So I guess we are on the right path.

We are going to shuffle things around a bit with hopes that my body will absorb and like the progesterone better. He also offered to put me on Chlomid if we were in a big hurry to get pregnant. I told him that in the condition I was in, I would not be able to handle Chlomid at the moment. That I wanted to focus on getting my body balanced and to feel healthy before I started up the ovulation drugs again.

 

Last week was really hard on me. On Wednesday I was planning my weekly menu when this sharp pain hit my uterus area. Hard. It was the most painful feeling I've ever had. I immediately fell over and could not move. I just remember being alone and crying because it hurt so bad. There was a lot of blood. I felt so strongly that I needed to call Jimmy right then. Figuring he would not be able to pick up since it was his work hours, I had little hope of reaching him. But to my surprise, he picked up. I completely forgot that he had a physical that day and was just walking out of the doctor's office the minute I called him. In just a few minutes he was rushing through the door to me. He was so sweet, rubbing my back, grabbing me ice and water, calling my doctor to see if I needed to go to the E.R. (Which we did not since they wouldn't have been able to do anything for me.) All I could do was cry and tell him that I was in pain. Finally, after a whole lotta ibuprofen and a hot bath, I was able to get the pain down to a manageable point. Turns out when your body doesn't have progesterone, you don't shed your uterine lining every month. (Hence my lack of periods.) But the estrogen is what builds up the lining. So as months go by, you just keep building and building but never shed. Then when your body can't go any longer, it just gives out. You lose all that you have built up. It's a very painful process.

 

Okay, I keep forgetting that I'm not supposed to be writing a novel...

 

But anywho! Like I said before, it hasn't all been bad. Through this trial of mine, I am so glad that I have been able to keep a healthy perspective and not dwell on the down sides. I'm grateful that I have been blessed with a great doctor who I know truly cares about me and listens to me. I know that I have a lot of amazing family members to help me out and who have been a major support to me, even if they don't know it. I'm glad that I have been shown the tender mercies of the Lord on a daily basis. Jimmy gave me a priesthood blessing a couple of weeks ago, it was so sincere and comforting. Through it I know things will get better. I'm blessed to have married such a wonderful man who takes great care of me and understands my needs. And thank you to all of you wonderful readers who send me encouraging and loving notes! I really appreciate it.

 

The little daily reminder I made to help keep me in perspective

 

 

Annnnnnd I'm hungry, so this will be my cut-off-no-good-loosely-wrapped-up-end-of-the-post. Time for some stuffed bell peppers! :)