Attemping to start a new chapter in our lives, but the pages are sticking together!!

Okay, so I figure it's time to update on some stuff that's going on. First, a little bit of back story. A year ago, I was having some really bad abdominal and pelvic cramping. For all you ladies out there...imaging the cramping that goes on during your period, only worse, and ALL THE TIME! I was so miserable! I would go to work, throw up all morning, feel crappy the rest of the day, come home, sleep, wake up, and do it all again. Not one of my doctors could figure it out. This included an internal medicine provider, a gynecologist, and several urgent care providers. This went on for over a year, with the last, oh, about 4-5 months extra ridiculous, and I was going in weekly to see one doctor or another. Every time I went in, they asked if I was absolutely sure I wasn't pregnant. I swore up and down that I wasn't, but of course, they tested me every time...and I was right.

In January of 2009, I was finally sent in for a pelvic ultrasound. I am, of course, a total dork, and wanted the monitor to be placed so I could see it. Well, the first part of the ultrasound was okay, but the second part got interesting. As soon as I saw the top of my uterus, I recognized the very obvious septum glaring back at me from the monitor (A septum is wall that basically splits my uterus into two parts. It's not complete, but it goes down far enough to cause problems). My jaw just dropped. I could tell the tech felt bad, but couldn't say anything, because techs can't read ultrasounds...legally. When my OB/GYN found out that I had a septum, he was totally unwilling to believe that it would cause my pain. A call that was later thrown down the toilet during a second opinion with a specialist 4 months later (Since I didn't start having the pelvic cramps until I started birth control, the added hormones caused the uterus to spasm). My doctor basically told me that the pain was all in my head, and if I just didn't think about it, it would go away....PSH! Yeah, right!

So nothing was being done at that point in time to find out what was "really" going on, with the exception of medication. When I say medication, I mean a LOT of medication! I took a handful of pills in the morning so I could make it through until lunch, another handful at lunch, and one before I went to bed. I was eating one meal a day because I couldn't keep anything down, and I was getting really depressed. Finally, at an appointment with my Rheumatologist (of all doctors), he figured out I was having an allergic reaction to two different medications; my birth control, and one of my RA meds...the only RA med, besides steroids, that is safe to use during pregnancy...great. I had already been off birth control for a month, and the pelvic cramps had gone away, but the abdominal cramps were still there. Once off the Plaquenil, my abdominal cramps slowly started going away as the medication got out of my body. Because I had been on both medications previously...no one suspected that I would have a delayed allergy to the drugs. However, I had a major RA attack in July after the RA med was completely out of my system....I know, my health is pathetic.

After we went off the birth control in March, and talked to the specialist in Wenatchee in April, we decided to go ahead and start trying to get pregnant, since we didn't know if the septum was bad enough to cause miscarriages. The only trouble was, I wasn't ovulating. I had a period after getting off BC in March, but that was the last one. Now, I've never had regular periods, but I would get them every 3-6 months, depending on how actively I was working out. Come August I was starting to get concerned that I hadn't had a period, so I went in and talked to my OB/GYN in Moses. He asked if I was sure I even knew how to get pregnant...and I worked for the guy! I am as serious as a heart attack! I convinced him to test my LH and FSH levels (pregnancy hormones), and to put me on a med called Provera. Provera is a 7 or 10 day course that causes you to have a kind of "false period", because there is bleeding, but no ovulation. Nothing happened...I didn't bleed. When I called back, he said that everything was normal, but if I didn't bleed and wanted a period, I should go back on birth control. He thought that I was ovulating, and was lying about the periods...or lack of. Needless to say, I am no longer seeing this physician!!!

So now, 5 months later, we are to the present. I went back to the specialist in Wenatchee for my yearly, and told him that I still wasn't pregnant. After doing some testing, he determined that I wasn't ovulating...big shocker, right? So he put me on another dose of Provera, and this time I did bleed. So I had another appointment with him yesterday to make sure that my ovaries aren't enlarged from the hormones so he could start me on Clomid. Everything checked out, so I start the Clomid on Friday, day 5 of my cycle. I take the Clomid for 5 days, and all the while taking my basal temp to check for ovulation...then we hope for the best.

The sad thing is...all this drama is happening BEFORE I am pregnant. I haven't even gotten into all the problems I could face once I DO get pregnant from the septum itself. Granted, the lack of ovulation is quite possibly due to the septum and other uterine/fallopian tube/ovarian deformities I might have, but the scary part is yet to come. Ben and I are already preparing ourselves for a C-section and pre-term delivery, but praying for a healthy baby and safe pregnancy.

Well, this is probably not what you were expecting to read when you hopped on here, but this is our life at the moment. I will try to keep updated on here as we go through the new experiences involved with actively trying to get pregnant...don't worry, I will stay G rated, with a bit of PG for blood and very, very slight sexual innuendos. For example, I may say that "my basal temperature is up, so it's baby making time"...you know what I mean, but that's all I will say! Hahaha. Wish us luck!!

Ben and Jamie