Hello, hello, hello. Had my CD 20 bloodtest last Thrusday, but I don't have the results yet. I meet with the OB on Tuesday to go over all results and come up with a game plan.

I didn't mention this before, but on my ultrasound, it says "Left ovary not seen." I'm not sure if I should be scared of that or not. My OB left a message about the results of the ultrasound, and she said, "It is pretty much as we had expected." I assume if I was actually MISSING an ovary, she's mention that? Hmm, oh well. :)

Well, it looks like I did ovulate on CD 13. That's good in one way - that means my cycles haven't gotten any worse, and my dieting didn't really affect anything. It's bad though because I had an ultrasound on CD 12 and they said the eggs were too small and immature. So even though I ovulated, they would not be able to be fertilized.

Also, my fertility monitor didn't pick up an LH surge, so it didn't give me any peak days. This means my LH surge was really weak, which appears to be my major problem.

The nurse originally said that she thought I had PCOS because the ratio of FSH to LH was 3:1. However, in women with PCOS, the LH is almost always higher. Plus, my ultrasound did not reveal any abnormal cysts on my ovaries (yay!). You actually don't need cysts on your ovaries to be diagnosed with PCOS, but I really don't have any symptoms of PCOS other than slightly elevated insulin. She still might diagnose me with PCOS however, just to give my problem a name. :)

I've looked all over the internet and this is all I've been able to find about low LH levels:

"An inadequate LH release can cause a decrease in androstenedione from the theca cells. Less substrate results in a decrease in estradiol and, subsequently, lower progesterone levels. Additionally, a suboptimal LH surge at ovulation causes deficient progesterone because of inadequate luteinization of the granulosa cells."

That doesn't really explain why my eggs are immature (as evidenced by my ultrasound), because my FSH levels were fine.

Anyway, like I said before, the treatment will be the same, really. Metformin for elevated insulin, and Clomid to strength ovulation. 75% of women on Clomid ovulate, and if you ovulate you have a 40% chance of getting pregnant each cycle.

So, this 40% number really has me excited. I kind of feel a renewed interest in the whole pregnancy thing (I guess my interest was fading slightly this month because I was basically told I would not be able to get pregnant, plus I thought I wasn't ovulating).

I went out and bought some books yesterday, and I have my eyes set on a pregnancy journal where I can record all the events of my pregnancy. I will not buy it until I'm actually pregnant though. :)

Ugh, what's going on with my chart? It doesn't look like I ovulated yet, and I should have. I've been dieting lately - perhaps that messed up my cycle? Argh, I'm frustrated.

Today I have another bloodtest and an ultrasound, so perhaps we can get a better idea of what's going on because of that.

Wish me luck!

Well, when I did finally meet with the OB, she said my FSH hormone was elevated, incidating I have PCOS. So I was wrong when I previously said that my mentral hormoes where OK! I guess the nurse just didn't tell me over the phone.

I guess I have a really mild case, since I have regular periods and no other symptoms (other than extra weight in the middle).

I will have an ultrasound next week to check out the status of my follices, but I'm worried I'll ovulate before then. It will show whether or not I have cysts on my ovaries though. I will also do another blood test.

Pretty much regardless of what happens though, the treatment will be almost the same. Metformin (Glucophage) to lower my insulin, and Clomid to stregthen my ovulation.

Since I have high FSH though, I need to be careful of multiple ovulation. We'll hopefully be able to monitor that with monthly ultrasounds though. I'd really like to prevent multiples.

My blood tests came back yesterday. All my menstral hormones were OK (which is good) but my insulin was a little high. Some doctors diagnose insulin resistance at a fasting insulin level of 15. Most use a fasting insulin level of 20. Mine was 18. So my doctor is going to talk to me about it, perhaps put me on some medication (I'm assuming metaformin, which is supposed to me a nice, safe drug).

I go in to talk to the doctor this morning about it, so I'll write more after that. But, I did some reasearch, and they said that basically anyone over a certain weight will have like a near-100% chance of having insulin resistance. So, at my weight, my insulin level actually isn't too bad (since some doctors wouldn't even diagnose me with it officially). But, treating the insulin problem will help me get pregnant, and will help me lose weight. Both of which is FINE with me! :)

Today she will also talk to me about getting an ultrasound in the middle of my cycle (before I ovulate) to measure my pre-ovulation follicles. She will try to determine if they are mature enough to be fertilized. If they aren't mature, I assume I will be on Clomid next cycle. I will let you know!

I'm excited about the path I'm on though... lots of little problems popping up, but nothing too suprising, dangerous or unfixable. :) Let's keep it that way.

Not much going on... Stopped my period yesterday, so ovulation and BDing and my first HCG shot are coming up soon.

I didn't get the results of my blood test back yet, should find out more today.

So the OB appointment went really well I think. The bad news is, my OB looked at my charts and immediately said I have a luteal phase defect (LPD). Basically, my progesterone was too low after ovulation to support a pregnancy. The good news is, if this is indeed the only problem, it is a pretty easy problem to fix. :)

I'm so glad that I've been charting, otherwise she would have probably told me to just keep trying and see what happens (since all my x-rays look so good). But, when I showed her my charts, she basically said, "Aha, this is the problem!"

I'm also really glad that I got the fertility monitor. Since the fertility monitor picked up my LH surge last month, that means I probably have good LH/FSH levels. I am having a blood test in a few days to doublecheck that though.

If I have low LH/FSH levels as well, I will probably need Clomid (a fertility drug) to help with follicle production. This would mean that though my body is ovulating (as evidenced by my temperature charts) the follicles and eggs are not mature enough to result in pregnancy. Either the egg that is released is too immature to be penetrated by sperm, or the corpus luteum is not mature enough to produce enough progesterone to maintain a pregnancy. Or both.

Since my fertility monitor picked up some LH/FSH levels and since I do seem to be ovulating (if only weakly), the doctor wants to start treatment by giving me an HCG shot around ovulation, which will help the strength of my ovulation (but not the maturity of my follicles, if that is the main problem). Then, I will have progesterone treatment after ovulation to help support my uterine lining in preparation for implantation.

If my LH/FSH levels are low, or if the above treatment doesn't work, the next step is Clomid, which will increase the strength of my ovulation.

Then, if that doesn't work, we will go on to other treatments. Right now, the OB doesn't even want to bother with a sperm analysis or any other tests because we have a known problem right here.

So, like I said, I'm happy about all this. I think I've said it in my blog before, that I feel like if there is a problem, I just want to know what it is and get on with fixing it! :) Of course, I'd prefer everything to be perfect, but rarely in life it is. ;)

That being said, I started my period today. I can say that the last two months have been stronger cycles for me... I had the eggwhite CM and no early spotting (by the way, early spotting was a result of my low progesterone). So this can only help with the treatment. I'm happy I started my period today though, because that means I can get on with the fertility treatments. :)

So, I'll have my blood test on Monday. Wish me luck! Don't want to have hypothyrodism or some other blood issue, so cross your fingers for that. ;)

Temp still down... this chart is hopeless! :P I think I've totally given up on it (though I will never totally give up on a chart until AF shows up! :)

I have my OB appointment tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on (if anything).

Temp down a little bit, and kind of uglied up my chart. :( It is still a little higher than last month, but it doesn't look as nice. :)

Still no symptoms. Going back to work today (didn't go yesterday because it still hurt too much).

Well, my temp took a nice rise last night, which is a little different than last month. I'm worried about THIS month because so far it has looked exactly like last month, and last month I wasn't pregnant. So, the fact that this month my chart is looking a little better, and different, that's nice.

Still no symptoms. Back still hurts but I'm going to try to go to work this morning, I think.

Still nothing going on. Back is still hurting, but I can finally walk now at least. No signs of pregnancy or anything else exciting. Will post more later.

I hurt my back so it has been hard for me to post. But, no news anyway... still waiting for another week or so to see if this is our month. :)