Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who read my blog yesterday.  At first I was just intending to share it with other people who had the same struggles: others from the websites and blogs that I read.  However, J Bird encouraged me to make it public to our friends and families.  I got a lot of texts, fb messages and emails telling me that people in our life had no idea that we were dealing with infertility, a miscarriage and endometriosis.  I had always prided myself on being very private and able to handle a lot stress without sharing it with others.

What I have learned is that by keeping my “issues” to myself or only telling my immediate family it made the issue seem soooo big.  Any piece of news I received from the doctor would bounce around in my head with no way of escape. By sharing my journey, it helps to diminish my issues.  I find friends and family members that have gone through the same exact things I am going through.  It creates a bond that would have not otherwise existed. 

In my first few entries I glossed over some key terms that I would like to explain (in my own words).  You may have heard of these words but may not be exactly sure what they meant.

Endometriosis: When the lining of your uterus grows in places outside of the uterus. Doctors do not know the cause of endo. It could be caused at the end of a women’s cycle when she sheds the lining (her period) and instead of the lining coming out of the body the lining goes back into the body into places it shouldn’t be. The symptoms can include; painful, heavy and long periods, painful intercourse, abdominal cramping, intestinal pain, rectal bleeding and fatigue to name a few.

Laparoscopy: A minor outpatient surgery where the doctor makes two incisions- one in the belly button and one near the pelvic area.  The doctor put a lighted microscope thing in the incisions and takes a look at your lady bits to find endometriosis.  (Obviously this is not the technical version!)

Hysteroscopy: While the doctor is looking at your reproductive and digestive systems with the laparascopy, if there is endometriosis he/she will use another tool to burn (ew) it off.

Clomid: Not quite a fertility drug, but a drug used to help a woman ovulate.  In my case, I was ovulating later and later and my luteal phase (time between ovulation and period) was too short.  At our house, we have nicknamed Clomid “crazy pills” cause they make me act a little cray cray.  Mood swings out of this world.  This last cycle I took them at night and found that during the days my moods were a tad more stable and I did not have any night flashes.

I am off to do hot yoga with the hubs.  Have a wonderful night J