The Beginning

As you may know I have endometriosis, officially diagnose January 2010. Unfortunately it took over 11 years for me find a doctor that would take me seriously and even look for endo. For those of you that don’t know what endo is, I’ll give you the simplified explanation. Endometrium is the uterine lining that is normally shed during a woman’s monthly menstruation. When a woman has endometriosis the endometrium grows/develops outside of the uterus causing multiple health issues and pain. It has a way of making the desires of life more difficult to obtain. I have experienced a majority of the symptoms and problems created by endo. Without a doubt it has made my life more painful and stressful than I ever planned, but then we all have something like that.

For a few years before my diagnosis my husband and I had a good hunch that I was suffering from this relatively common disease. I took it upon myself to use birth control to regulate my symptoms as much as possible, by taking months of low-estrogen pills without the placebos in between. This could not be a solution since I was starting to experience side-effects from long term use and my “baby button” was going off. We knew that we had to have the endometriosis official diagnose before I could even think of going off the pill. After tons of blood test with more than my fair share of lab errors, surgery was schedule in late January. I had a laparoscopic (very small incisions) to confirm the presence of endo and obliterate what they could see. The surgery went well and the recovery was fairly smooth. At the post-op appointment, we discussed the idea of having children with my OB/GYN and she said it was actually a great time to try. We knew everything was clean for the time being and pregnancy would delay the growth of endometriosis. That was eight months ago.

Endometriosis has continued to let it presence be known. Even after having the endo removed, I continued to have irregular cycles. This has made conception difficult, leading us to now. My amazing OB/GYN understood the concern and we did the usual infertility testing, some going better than others. Infertility is yet another symptom of endo. Overall there does not seem to be any indication of a serve problem. I always thought I might have trouble getting pregnant but now to be in a position where it is reality has been hard. Right now we are waiting to start Clomid, usually the first try at infertility treatment. I’m hopeful that it will work but at the same time I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment. I know about 40% of couples have success with Clomid and hoping we can be in that. I also know couples try from years to conceive. I just never wanted to have to use alternative methods to have a child. It takes a toll on a woman emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially. I am blessed to have a husband that I know will stand through all of this with me and will do anything for us to have a child, someone that will try to keep me sane and support me even when I’m acting less than myself. But I know that it takes a toll on him as well. I really believe this is part of my journey something that I have to make the most out of, even though it is difficult for me and those around me.