Test Results

I’m really please with my test results today.  In all but one area, excellent improvements all around.  And the one area where there was no change, has given us a focus on what we need to work on.  I feel really encouraged by this!  I’m glad that so much has improved.  And I’m glad to know where the problem is and that there are solutions.

My homocysteine levels have improved dramatically!  They are now the best results she has ever seen.  If your homocysteine levels are too high there is a risk of miscarriage and down syndrome, so it was very important to get these levels down!  Queen Naturo would have been happy if these levels had dropped to around 7.  But mine are at a specy 5.5 (range 5.0 – 15.0)!

My testosterone levels have also improved, going from 156 pmol/L down to 121 (range 24-137).  She is happy with this!

My progesterone levels were okay, she said and did increase in the second test 2 days later.  A good sign!  But they need to be better and will be, once my oestradiol (oestrogen) levels are fixed.  This is where the problems lays.  Progesterone levels will improve once my oestradiol improves, so Queen Naturo is now no longer worried about the P4.

My E2 levels were the same as they were 9 months ago – at 2 pmol/L.  (Range – 6-14).  They are way too low which indicate that, at least for last month, I didn’t ovulate.  Oestrogen is what drives the release of the egg.  Without it, no ovulation.

I am actually really happy with this.  I was worried that the results would be fine and it would all be a big mystery, just as it was at the fertility clinic.  But instead, we have some focus.  We have an area that isn’t working and we have treatments to get it working!

I started taking progesterone tablets just a couple of weeks ago.  These will help me hold a conception.
And now I will begin taking tablets to help increase the E2 levels and encourage ovulation.

The two together should do the trick!  Fingers crossed!



On another medical note, my arthritis has flared up hugely this week.  Worse ever.  Both King Acupunc and Queen Naturo believe the weather is a large factor.  It has turned cold and wet here this week.  She has recommended some new tabs for me to take.  However, I haven’t been able to find them in store.  They are a new release to the over the counter market. One chemist, though, was able to give me the name and number of the agent that supplies them.  So, a phone call to her will in order tomorrow.  In the meantime, I have some cream – Traumeel – to rub into the joints.

I’m feeling so much more positive and hopeful now than I was yesterday!

Homocysteine – 5.5 umol/L (range 5.0 – 15.0)

Oestradiol (E2) - 2 pmol/L.  (Range – 6-14)
Progesterone (P4) – 306 pmol/L increasing to 407 2 days later (Range 140-520)
Testosterone – 121 pmol/L (range 24-137)

A surprise in the microscope

Yesterday morning I leaned over to do the daily saliva test.  10 minutes later, I am handing the mini microscope over to D in total surprise.  The reading was positive!  I was ovulating!  It had been five days since that first sign of ovulation with nothing since then.  There was joy and confusion from both of us!

This morning – once again, nothing on the test.  It is just so strange.

What normally happens with Maybe Baby is that you have two or three days of pre-ovulation readings, 1-2 days full ovulation readings and 2-3 days post-ovulation readings.  So this is all very strange.

Nevertheless, the two week wait now will test my patience.  While it is all a bit strange, yesterdays random reading puts the thought in our heads that it might just be possible this cycle for us to have conceived!  Maybe…  Maybe Baby!  :):)

While there is that joy of hopefulness, I am mostly  feeling disillusioned with it all at the moment.  I do acknowledge that other factors in my life are contributing to this feeling.  One of them is not feeling well at the moment, and another is a colleague announcing her pregnancy at our meeting last night.  Wonderful news for her!  :)  I just wish I was there as well.

The arthritis is giving me grief and I can feel it in my knuckles and ankles as well.  It’s as though, my body is saying “Now that I am diagnosed, feel it in all its glory!”

So, I need to work at riding through these feelings and overcoming the factors that are contributing to them.  I’ve got some work to do this morning, that will feel good to have completed and I have some difficult things to achieve at school that will hopefully, in time, begin to lift my spirits as well.

I put out to the Universe - positivity, hopefulness, patience, good health, perseverance and our dreams of a different life.

… ah, the Universe is surprising.  After writing that last sentence I did a google image search for happiness.  It gave me this photo from… wait for it… an arthritis website!  Perhaps it is time to researching this as well – with joy that I finally have a diagnosis.

The Fertility Clinic

Wow, time is flying past me so quickly at the moment. The end of the school year is always a hectic time, but the Summer Holidays are almost here. Four weeks to go and then a seemingly endless 7 weeks break!

It was about three weeks ago when we went to our first fertility clinic appointment. I came away happy and disappointed all at the same time.

We waited an hour and a half past our appointment time before we finally got in to see her. 10 minutes later we were out of her room and passed on to someone else. We were told the appointment would be an hour, and I was expecting so much more. There were a few questions, a background history and then signing off on lots of tests. Blood tests, sperm tests, and an ultra sound.

After we had been passed on, another lady did our height and weight, organised the tests, told us where to go and then we were done. What the...?

There were two things the GYN said that upset me. She had a complete dismissal of all the naturopathic tests I had done and anything related to natural medicine. And she said that my weight was a problem in retaining a pregnancy. I understand now though that she was simply covering all bases. Anything that could a problem is looked at and tried to overcome. But in the short term time after the appointment, I was really upset. My doctor, naturopath and accupunturist all assured me this wasn't a problem, yet here is the GYN blunty saying it is.

However, the she covered all that I had questions about and all that I wanted to have done. She had a suspicion of PCOS before I even mentioned it and I was grateful when she signed off on the ultra sound tests.

I have had 3 progesterone tests at two day intervals in the second half of my cycle. And on day 3, I go in for my ultra sound. Then I see her again with all the results. Unfortunately, we were in Sydney for my last Day 3, so we have to wait till my next cycle to do this.

The lastest news is that this cycle we were excited to have some sign of ovulation from the Maybe Baby and my breasts became quite sore - a sign of ovulation. However, the Maybe Baby only had one day of positivity, not the 5 or 6 days it should have. After having some sign and then nothing the day after, we were so disappointed.

I saw the doctor this morning and she said that sore breasts are a sign of an increase in progesterone. And it is likely that my progesterone increased but not quite enough to produce an egg.

So, we are not there yet this cycle, but we have had our first sign of ovulation in 4 months, so it is a step closer!!

On another medical note, the reason for my doctors appointment today was to get the results of the x-rays on my knee. I finally have a diagnosis for the knee pain that I have had for over 12 years. Arthritis! Can you believe that?! I developed arthritis in my knees in my 20's. Ah the joys of netball. I played the game from the time I could hold a ball and now I have the knees to proof it!

I am grateful to have the diagnosis and now have some medication to help. I wonder how this will be affected during my pregnancy??!