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Occasionally, Kiss My Tulle reaches out to Tulle Nation and asks them to share their pregnancy and parenting journey. Today, reader Layla is talking about her path to conception.
From Layla: First of all, thank you Cris for letting me share my pregnancy story and advice on your blog! I’m a huge fan of your blog and dedicated reader. So a little about me…
My name is Layla, I’m 36 years old, and 27 weeks pregnant (as of 2/1/15). This is our first child and it has not been the easiest path for us to get pregnant. My husband and I tried for over 2 years with many doctors appointments and frustrations. Here is our long journey to getting pregnant (somewhat abbreviated):
After trying for over 6 months and being off birth control for months with no results, I decided to see a gynecologist. This doctor told me to just check my body temperature to figure out when I was ovulating (total waste of time!), then I went to another doctor who tested my Prolactin levels to see if I had a cyst on my pituitary gland, my test came back high so I had to go get an MRI. I then had the MRI, saw a specialist to read the results and she said that the miniscule cyst is probably not affecting my pituitary gland. My husband had his sperm count tested and his results, all though not very high or great, was not low enough to cause concern. So then why are we not getting pregnant!?!? My gynecologist recommended I’d see a fertility specialist. At this point I was getting pretty emotional, crying a lot, and feeling overwhelmed.
I went to meet the fertility doctor after now trying for about 2 years and he seemed very knowledgeable. He asked me a lot of questions, looked at my doctor notes, and he decided I may have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). My period cycle was crazy long, we’re talking 36-41 days from start to finish. He suggested I buy ovulation tests and test EVERYDAY plus start taking Letrozole (brand name Femara). He mentioned that some people have tried Clomid but he prefers this one instead since it has better results.Warning girls: this drug did caused major PMS like symptoms and huge emotional roller-coaster mood swings, hot flashes, and night sweats!
I had to have a lot of blood work on this medicine too. One time while I was at the blood lab getting my blood drawn, this time to see that I was NOT pregnant in order to take the medicine again for the 2nd month, I broke down crying. The phlebotomist was so sweet! She too has fertility issues and totally understood my frustrations. We hugged it out <3
Now for the positive side and a lot of personal info… While I started taking the ovulation tests I found out that I was ovulating WAY WAY early and so I told my husband maybe we’re having sex on the wrong days. As I mentioned before my cycle was crazy long, 36-41 days from start to finish, usually you ovulate around the 14+ day, but I was ovulating way earlier than that. The doctor recommended that you have sex every other day when you’re ovulating, but the average time when “normal” women ovulate was not when I was actually ovulating. At this point I was on my 3rd month of taking Letrozole and starting to get really bad migraines so I started to go see an acupuncturist. Well, all the angels aligned, I tested myself seeing that I was ovulating, told my husband let’s do it, I kept my legs up after sex for about 30 minutes (hey, whatever helps right!!??), kept going to acupuncture, and sure enough my period did not come!! Woooo hoooo!
I waited and waited, then finally took some pregnancy tests. They all said pregnant! I went to the blood lab to confirm that I really was pregnant and this time I was crying tears of joy! After telling my husband, we only told very close family and friends. We waited to formally announce that I was pregnant around 4 months just in case anything happened.
And that’s our story!
My 8 Pregnancy-Related Recommendations:
- Apps I bought: Nevasic for nausea. This is sound therapy which actually really helped with my nausea in the first few months and also my migraines.
- Another app I bought that has nice week-by-week development videos is I’m Expecting by MedHelp, Inc.
- Books I recommend: Preparation for Parenting; The Original Feed~Wake~Sleep Reference Guide to Nuturing a Newborn (Along the Infant Way) by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo.
- Another book I highly suggest: Breastfeeding Solutions: Quick Tips for the Most Common Nursing Challenges by Nancy Mohrbacher.
- I’m a big breasted girl and now around size E or F!! So if you’re big too, I recommend that you put deodorant under your boobs to help with sweating – gross! And check out Cris's big boob girls need big boob bras recommendations!
- I recently spent over an hour trying on bras with the help of the extremely nice sales agent at Mother Maternity to find a supportive and comfortable bra. My favorite was the Seamless Clip Down Nursing Bra.
- I love these pants from Kohl’s: Oh Baby by Motherhood Secret Fit Belly Crosshatch Pants.
- And this super comfortable shirt from Target: Maternity Short Sleeve Top-Liz Lange.
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