** Warning — this post contains details of my girlie organs **
(Nope. Not pregnant.) So I’ve never really considered myself “infertile”…Well, until I dialed up my research, big time. It’s clear my body does not want to cooperate when it comes to regular cycles, as I hoped it would. It seems that without these regular cycles, it will be virtually impossible to get pregnant. My doctor’s next option is put me on Clomid, a fertility drug. Before I agreed to take it, I wanted to find out if there were more plant-based or natural options. There are the charting methods (but I’m not ovulating regularly, so that may not work) and acupuncture (which I’m already doing). My doctor wishes there was something more natural, but unless I want to try some unproven medicinal concoctions, it appears this is the best option for us, at this juncture. During my research the most widely used definition of infertility is: Infertility is the failure of a couple to conceive a pregnancy after trying to do so for at least one full year. Well, that’s us, it’s been 3+ years now…Infertile….Ew…I don’t like labels. I always thought of infertile people as the ones who could never ever get pregnant, no matter what options they tried. Turns out, obviously, the definition is wider.
Here’s my favorite research about Clomid: Women taking Clomid should expect some side effects. These include headaches, hot flashes, mood swings, and more. Another side effect is a slightly increased risk of having twins. I feel like I am about to be Dorothy…headaches, hot flashes, and mood swings, oh my! So I told Brad I’m a little nervous about the Clomid route…What kind of crazy woman will I become? He said in a loving way, “Well, honey, maybe it will make you less crazy”. Ha. Thanks, honey. Very funny. Who knows, maybe he’s right. We can hope, right? Oh, and that other “side effect” slightly increased risk of having twins…Nice side effect. Really? That’s a side effect? It’s not like nausea or aches or sleepiness..It’s TWINS people. That’s not a side effect, that’s a life changer. I feel like they should say “side effects include headaches, hot flashes, and mood swings. LIFE CHANGER x 2: You may experience sleepless nights, diaper costs, daycare costs, college costs, etc. times two for the rest of your life.” Don’t get me wrong, one baby, twins, whatever, we will be happy, but I could not believe how nonchalant these descriptions are.
So let me get to the joke part. Part of my parent paranoia is the pain of giving birth. There are many reasons why I am scared terrified of it, too many to list. So Brad always has a way to solve this problem.When I said (even before we were married) I wanted 4 kids but don’t know if I could live through 4 deliveries, he casually said, ”Well, then just have twins twice. Then you only have to give birth twice”. He has reminded me of this “solution” many times over the years. And my sisters joke that I would be the one who would end up with twins or quadruplets, or hell, be the next octomom. So this whole thing kind of makes me laugh. It’s full circle. We joked about it for many, many years, and then we end up on the “infertility trail”. So here we are. Faced with a medicine that literally gives me an increased chance (albeit a very small chance) of twins.
So in the next 3 weeks if I don’t have a cycle, they will give me something to help it along…then we start the Clomid. The doctor is pretty certain I just need this “jump-start” and we’ll hit a home run within 3-6 months. This is for real. Catch me before I pass out.
Posted by dredellie in thoughts. 4 Comments
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