Our Baby Journey: My Diagnosis

If you have been following along with our baby journey (you can recap here, here, here and here) you may be wondering what the heck is wrong with me.  Why am I infertile?  Or you may not. But I am going to explain just because I do think raising awareness of this topic is really important.

So, I have been diagnosed with a condition called Hypothalamic amenorrhea.  Basically HA is due to a disruption in the regulator hormones produced by the hypothalamus in the brain. These hormones influence the pituitary gland, which in turn sends signals to the ovaries to produce the characteristic cyclic hormones.

There are a number of factors that can produce HA.  The ones relevant to me are intense exercise, low body fat, stress, and restrictive eating (or what I have always called "eating healthy" and I still think it is).  The main issue however is a hypothalamus dysfunction (which I apparently have too).  The hypothalamus regulates all sorts of things in the body.  Such as body temperature, thirst, hunger and even knowing when to stop working out.  So because I have a hypothalamus dysfunction I am often too hot or too cold, I am always thirsty and it may even be why worked out so hard (or potentially more than I needed to).

So will all of that being said that is why so far clomid has not been working for me.  It is also why I will most likely move to injections in the coming months.  Basically the injection process is just giving me the hormones my body isn't producing.  They are taken every day for a month and I will be monitored via an ultrasound 5 times during that month.  Sounds exciting right?  and expensive. It is.

So there you have it!  That's why I at 28 years old have found myself "infertile."  There are a million other reason's why people have fertility issues and my Dr. has said this is one of the most ideal issues he works with.  So I am very hopeful. Since my issue is more of a brain problem that I most likely have always had it's not preventable. BUT HA is.  We live in a culture that is obsessed with "healthy living." Which is great.  Unless your "healthy living" becomes so healthy it's unhealthy. I was raised eating really healthy foods, lots of veggies, whole grains, and organic was a staple. Never restrictive just healthy.  But I also have a small genetic make up.  I have been tiny my whole life.  In my childhood pictures I am a stick figure.  Then as I got older I found that I love to work out especially run. All of this in itself isn't bad. It's great.  But it's a fertility nightmare.

Let's just take a little trip down memory lane.  Here's how it all began.......twiggys in the making.....

Had to put a cute one in the mix....

Yep. Teeny Tiny legs.

And then apparently this happened.  Poor Daane.

Too good not to include....

Then what I like to call my "awkward days" most people had a time like this.  Mine was middle school.  You can not tell me this was cute. I often received comments from perfect strangers like muttering "anorexic" under their breath.  It was awesome let me tell you.

So anyway, I just think when we live in a culture where diets are left and right and it seems everyone has jumped on the healthy train it's important to remember to do what works best for you.  That is different for everyone. For me, that means if I want to get pregnant I need to do the exact opposite of what I would like to.  But in the end I know it will all be worth it and if it's not I still know God has a plan and that is ok with me too.

Happy Friday Friends!!!

xoxo,