Thursday, July 26, 2012

Finally, an update!

It has been over two months now since my surgery. I am doing much better with the grieving and think I have made peace. I have accepted that I lost part of my female organs, and it's okay, because I didn't lose all of them. I have accepted what happened with the baby, and am moving on.

Things have been really crazy in my house here this past month, and I can't seem to find the time to blog anymore. We are trying to get our house cleaned up in preparation for some much needed fixing. I have been going through boxes and throwing away and donating a ton of stuff. Even though I work on this for a few hours everyday, I don't feel like much progress is getting done. We are also doing summer school which eats up quite a bit time, and my husband has so much going on we barely get any family time at all. Blogging has just fell by the wayside.

I found out what caused my ectopic pregnancy at my post-op appointment. I have endometriosis. Basically that is when your uterine lining spreads and grows outside your uterus. I had no clue I had it, but looking back I did have most of the symptoms. There is no cure and this is just the kind of thing I have to learn to live with and try to suppress as much as possible. The only way to correct the endo is basically to have surgery and have the tissue removed from where it isn't supposed to be. I have read some women who have it so severe that they have to take hormones that basically put them in menopause and then still have to have removal surgery every year anyway. I have read that a low-carb diet is good for helping to manage it, which is good because that is what I do anyway. I have to be very careful about not letting any soy products in my diet or anything else that contains estrogen, as that makes the endo grow at a faster rate. Worst thing about this is that it is genetic, so most likely my girls will end up with it.

I said in my previous post, way back in June, that I've been thinking about having another baby. I am not so frantic about it now, because I am pretty much done with the grieving process. I do still want to have another baby however. My husband and I decided to go ahead and start trying, even though my weight it not where I want it to be. Pregnancy stops the endo from growing, and breast feeding can help to suppress it some. I am scared of the endo making me infertile, so I do feel a push to have a baby while I can still even get pregnant. It would be nice to have the endo put on hold while pregnant, just so it isn't a constant worry.

The issue with my weight being higher than planned is upsetting, but I think as long as I can control my weight while pregnant, I should be okay. I will have to talk to my OB/GYN about it more to see exactly what she wants me to do as far as weight. I have heard overweight women who have been told to maintain their pre-pregnancy weight, and others who are supposed to gain as close to 15 pounds as is possible.

I will continue doing low-carb the entire pregnancy to more accurately control my weight gain. I know some people are very much against low-carbing or "dieting" while pregnant, but low carb is not a diet, it is a lifestyle choice. When I refer to my diet, I am not talking about a crash diet that is short term, I am talking about the foods that I consume and my way of eating for life. If you say "low-carb" people freak out and treat you like you are beyond stupid for not following the food pyramid. Yet if you don't actually say the words low-carb, and tell someone that you are not eating sugar or highly refined grains, they are impressed with your healthy diet (I have seen this with regular people, AND medical professionals, as have many other low-carbers). People are so clueless about what is actually healthy to consume or what a low-carb diet even is.

My diet will be mostly meat and non-starchy vegetables with some full-fat dairy and occasional (lower sugar, so mostly berries) fruit. I don't plan on exercising like crazy, but I may start walking more or adding in some yoga modified for pregnant women. In previous pregnancies I have had so much trouble with my joints relaxing, that even walking was too painful to do more than was necessary. I hope this next time I don't experience the severe joint paint (I can always hope!).

As far as preparing to get pregnant, I have been doing quite a bit. I added a folic acid supplement to my regular multivitamin immediately after getting home from the hospital. When my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby, I stopped my vitamins and switched to a prenatal with additional calcium pill. I have been taking the prenatals for a little over a full cycle now, so when I do get pregnant my vitamins will already be in my system. I have been being very good with my diet. I haven't been eating any sugar at all and zero grains. I upped my water intake to about 12-15 glasses each day (it is noon as I am typing this, and I've already had 6 glasses of water). I am also only drinking no more than 2-3 cans of diet pop each week, and no coffee.

I am excited about trying for our third baby. I am scared about the delivery of course, as it will be my 4th major surgery on my abdomen. I am trying to focus on all the positives though, and just trust in God for whatever may happen on the operating table. I am also hoping that this doesn't take several months of trying. I have the endo to worry about, so I am hoping to get pregnant as soon as possible.

I am not sure what is going on with this cycle. I track the changes in my body to pinpoint ovulation as well as use ovulation prediction kits. My cycle is always spot on, 29 days total with ovulation happening on cycle day 16. Well last cycle was only 25 days, and this cycle has been wacky. I dismissed it at the time, but now I believe I actually ovulated on cycle day 7 or 8 instead of day 16. As far as I know, this has never happened to me before. I didn't start the ovulation tests until day 10, but it is day 18 right now with no signs of impending ovulation. I had signs of ovulation on my 7th and 8th days, but dismissed them because that is a full week earlier than I usually ovulate. Looking back now though, I am pretty certain that I did ovulate then. I will be doing my pregnancy test this Sunday morning if I think I am having symptoms, otherwise I will wait until my next cycle is supposed to start.

My husband and I have our baby names decided. We have a main name and a backup name for each gender, though we are really hoping for a boy this time around. I think God is probably tired of all the begging for a boy by now, lol

I will post again on Sunday if I get a positive test, if not then I will post once the new cycle starts.

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