In June 2010, I went for my annual physical at the on-site clinic offered by my then-employer. The physical itself was normal…the doctor performed standard tests, discussed new issues and asked if I’d like to renew maintenance medications. Before you knew it, I was announcing that I didn’t need a renewal for my one and only maintenance medication (BCPs) because JPug and I were going to try and start a family. I’d finish out my existing prescription which would be one more month and then we’d get down to business. The type of BCPs I was on didn’t need a detox period (for lack of better words) so once I was off, we’d be good to go. The doctor’s mind quickly switched from prevention mode to go baby go and she wrote me a prescription for prenatal vitamins which I was to begin taking daily. After that, the appointment was over and she whisked me out of the office with a good luck sort of smile.
The following month, I went in for my annual blood work to ensure all lab levels were within the appropriate reference ranges. It's important to ensure hormone levels are within the recommended ranges before attempting conception for two main reasons: 1) discrepancies can affect the ability to conceive and 2) issues are almost always easier to fix without a baby on board. Once the results were in, all levels looked normal except one...my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone which I'll go into in a future post) was 7.15. The doctor asked me to come in for a follow-up test the next month but didn't express further concern.
One month later, my lab work was re-run and results showed my TSH was slightly elevated at 4.54 but much closer to normal; the doctor asked that I come back in 6 months to have my TSH analyzed again. In February 2011, my TSH was finally within the normal range at 3.55...I felt a sigh of relief and thought we were finally moving in the right direction. During that appointment I also discussed our process to-date with the doctor...cycle dates and basal body temperatures over the last 6 months. My cycle hadn't been spot-on regular but wasn't cause for concern and the temperature tracking didn't provide the obvious spike to signal ovulation that health professionals look for. Rather than drive myself crazy because my body didn't seem to be acting the way it should, the doctor recommended abandoning the basal thermometer and trying over the counter ovulation kits.
By this point, we were 6 months into the process and emotions were a mix of mild frustration and hope for the future. The process didn't stop there but I can't give everything away at once (duh)!
*Please note* I am not a healthcare professional...the information provided in this blog is a description of our personal process and research I've completed since we began our journey in June 2010.
The following month, I went in for my annual blood work to ensure all lab levels were within the appropriate reference ranges. It's important to ensure hormone levels are within the recommended ranges before attempting conception for two main reasons: 1) discrepancies can affect the ability to conceive and 2) issues are almost always easier to fix without a baby on board. Once the results were in, all levels looked normal except one...my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone which I'll go into in a future post) was 7.15. The doctor asked me to come in for a follow-up test the next month but didn't express further concern.
One month later, my lab work was re-run and results showed my TSH was slightly elevated at 4.54 but much closer to normal; the doctor asked that I come back in 6 months to have my TSH analyzed again. In February 2011, my TSH was finally within the normal range at 3.55...I felt a sigh of relief and thought we were finally moving in the right direction. During that appointment I also discussed our process to-date with the doctor...cycle dates and basal body temperatures over the last 6 months. My cycle hadn't been spot-on regular but wasn't cause for concern and the temperature tracking didn't provide the obvious spike to signal ovulation that health professionals look for. Rather than drive myself crazy because my body didn't seem to be acting the way it should, the doctor recommended abandoning the basal thermometer and trying over the counter ovulation kits.
By this point, we were 6 months into the process and emotions were a mix of mild frustration and hope for the future. The process didn't stop there but I can't give everything away at once (duh)!
*Please note* I am not a healthcare professional...the information provided in this blog is a description of our personal process and research I've completed since we began our journey in June 2010.
JPug and LPug - We can hardly wait to read more! Love, Larges
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those interested parties ready to read more. When is part 2?! Would love to catch up more over lunch sometime!
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