.spotting, wonderful spotting.

yesterday i went in to have the wonderful lab-lady poke a lovely 14 guage needle into my very sensitive little anticub... gotta love blood work. anyway, my progesterone was 18, suggesting that i had a "great" ovulation...and my prolactin is down to 22...within normal range, from what the nurse said. good news, i guess..but i'm still spotting...just like i always do 7 days after i ovulate...i swear that's NOT NORMAL.

let me just discuss why i hate that i always spot...not because its annoying and abnormal...but EVERY time i get that call from the nurse with the progesterone results she says, "yeah, looks like this month could be it!" then i proceed to tell her....but i'm spotting...like i always do, looks the same, feels the same. and she ALWAYS comes back with.. "yeah, spotting can be a sign of implantation at 7 dpo." ha. lady, NOT with me..it's always the precursor to my more dreaded red-cloaked friend. i don't say that...i just laugh it off like she knows what she is talking about. i mean who really gets implantation spotting? like 2% of women? most people just "miss their periods," why not me?

at least this time the nurse said that we may need to discuss this further with the dr. wahoo, finally we're getting somewhere. the dr finally asked me and cam to come in for another consultation to discuss further testing to find answers as to why i always spot, but continue to have high temperatures and high progesterone. one reason (one that i feel has already been ruled out) is uterine polyps, and the other is endometriosis...the dreadful diagnosis. i love my body...it is such a wonderland of mystery.

so next monday..maybe we'll have a better game plan. i'm about done with clomid...it's just not changing anything!

.thoughts.

first off.
the side effects from the parlodel are pretty ridiculous. i started taking it last saturday and i'm just now "getting used" to it. mostly i just get really nauseated at night and have dizzy spells throughout the day. not fun, but tolerable. they say the side effects will subside as my body acclimates to the drug. we'll see.
second.
i went back to my dr to have a follicle scan (ultrasound) and, man, i just love when they shove that long stick up places it just shouldn't go. ha ha. anyway. news to me, i had ZERO follicles on the left...and 4 huge ones on the right. dr instructed us to go home now and have some fun..as if you can even call it that anymore. i hate this timing thing...miss the spontaneity. i guess that's good news. he also said my uterine lining was "great," whatever that means. so everything seems to be in proper working order. we are now officially in the 2 week waiting period. i go back to have my progesterone and prolactin drawn next week. and the saga continues.
thanks for listening.

.yup, on to parlodel.

i finally had a chance to talk to my nurse at the fertility clinic and she talked to the dr about starting parlodel (bromocriptine) to help bring down my prolactin levels. no wonder i haven't been able to get pregnant...prolactin is about 90% effective in preventing pregnancy while a woman is breastfeeding. i've read that this med will hopefully stabilize my levels within 2-4 weeks. in conjunction with the 100 mg of clomid i should be set..? right? at this point, i'm a little hesitant to think this is actually the problem because i'm not willing to overlook other problems that will prolong our journey, but it's a start. i'm hopeful.

.the results are in.

well, as i hoped, my prolactin level has gone up! i'm grateful because now maybe we have a "diagnosis." i'm waiting for the MD to call to see if he thinks this is high enough to treat. stay tuned.

.prolactin.

as my list to the right says, i found out yesterday that i have elevated prolactin levels. yes, this is the hormone that is so abundant in those breastfeeding women out there. but how, in my unpregnant, and even less lactating body can this be high. well, perhaps stress, perhaps a tumor on my pituitary gland. believe it or not, i'm pretty ecstatic about having something "wrong" so that we can fix it. now, not to get my hopes up, this level could have been slightly inaccurate, therefore, i'm going back to get it re-drawn next week. i'm secretly hoping it will still be high so i can get on anti-prolactin meds and on to getting pregnant. if it comes back normal, we'll just proceed with my 100 mg of clomid and an ultrasound at ovulation to assess follicle maturation. blah, blah, blah.

anyway, in limbo, yet again.

.welcome.

well, here we are. i hope that this blog will keep our family and friends informed of our "struggle" (i hate using the word struggle, but is there a better word??) with infertility. i'm sure that most of you know, because i'm hardly a private person. i seek no pity. fortunately, this has strengthened our marriage rather than strain it, and we both know that we will become parents when the time is right. we understand that the way we get our babies may not be how most people get them.. and we're ok with that. mostly, we want people to feel comfortable commenting and asking questions even if you don't have problems with infertility, but this blog is mostly a way to help us document what we've done so far. i'm excited for what the next few months bring as we have moved on to a reproductive endocrinologist to help us on our journey. i laugh a lot because cameron and i took our time to become "ready" to start a family..and now, we can't. really? it's a fabulous lesson in patience and faith. welcome to our infertility rollercoaster.