PCOS/TTC Update

Okay so I know I have been majorly neglecting the blog. I just graduated so I will now actually have free time to update this thing more often. Basically my entire goal with this blog is to spread awareness about PCOS and PCOS-caused infertility. If just 1 woman with PCOS learns something or finds comfort in my posts then what I am doing is paying off. That is the whole key to the diagnosis of this disease. You just have to be aware that such a thing exists and know the symptoms. 1 in 10 women have PCOS. I have had it since I hit puberty. I have never in my life had regular cycles and still to this day I only have a cycle if it is medically induced via provera or clomid. I had all of the symptoms, but when I went to get birth control when I was a teenager they didnt question any of the symptoms. They just threw the birth control at me like most doctors do. I do not at all understand how they think taking a woman who is completely hormonally imbalaned, and throwing MORE hormones (birth control) her way, helps at all. Birth control makes my symptoms WAY worse... and that is NO fun. So, that being said... just be in tune with your body. Know the signs, know the causes, and ASK your doctor to check you for it! ------------------------------------------------- Okay, now for the PCOS TTC update. We have been TTC for over a year. I currently see an AMAZING infertility specialist and he is awesome. I am on my 2nd round of clomid, this cycle it was upped from 50mg (last cycle) to 100mg (this cycle). OPK's do not work for me, every time I take one the lines look the EXACT same. So, i REALLY have to know my body and signs to know when I ovulate or around when I do so that I can go get my labs done 7 days after. Which brings me to my next topic, I have the 21 day progesterone draws. Basically that means that 6-7 days after I ovulate I go in for a blood test to ensure that I am actually ovulating and that I am ovulating well. If I am not this cycle, then I get my clomid dosage upped from 100mg to 150mg. I am hoping and praying with everything I have that I acutally ovulate this cycle. If I dont, or if these next couple rounds of clomid do not work then we move on to IUI (intrauterine insemination). I am not looking forward to that if we end up needing it. My HSG was pretty painful and i think the IUI is sort of the same thing. I am also on the maximum dose of metformin ER. My dosage is 1700. It has haulted my weight gain so far and I have only been on this dose for about a week. It has nasty side effects but I will do anything to keep the weight gain at bay for once. So anyways, that's pretty much all there is to update on my PCOS TTC journey thus far. I am on CD14 of this cycle, set to ovulate any day now, so keep me in your prayers. Oh, and for a couple people who had asked me, we also use Softcups, and Preseed. Softcups are designed for periods, they're a healthy alternative to tampons and pads. Its basically a cup with a little plastic bag on it, and it fits over your cervix and pelvic bone. I use it to hold the sperm right at the entrance of my cervix. No sperm come out and it doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. As for the Pre-Seed. It is a sperm friendly lube. It has vitamins and minerals in it to help the sperm swim further, live longer and it is a lube so it also assists in ensuring that you have the proper cervical mucus that will allow the sperm to live and get to where they need to be. This is going to be TMI... here's an explanation of how it works. After sex, (or during) your husband can put his little guys into the softcup, when you are finished with sex, put about 5-6 drops of preseed into the softcup and insert it over the cervix and leave it for a few hours. When you take it out, you will be surprised as most of the sperm will be gone. :) Sorry for the TMI but I had a few ladies ask so I thought I would share. :) That's all the update I have for now ladies. Baby dust to you all! <3