Tuesday: Long Overdue Baby Update

Usually Dan posts on Tuesday nights, but tonight he is at a class at Clackamas Community College for work. I am supposed to be in class but again I have stayed home. I am trying to placate Hobbes.

Let me fill you in on a little bit of what we've been dealing with lately...

Remember when Dan wrote this adorably honest and sweet post about us trying to start a family? Well, we've never really followed up with that because we didn't have that exciting we-did-it!-there's-a-little-human-on-the-way! post.

So what happened? I gave it a-go with the medication for four months, only to give up. I was experiencing lots of nausea as a side effect and toward the end, I had a hard time faithfully taking that gag-inducing horse pill three times a day. My doctor offered an extended-release tablet that I only had to take twice a day, but with no change, I finally threw my hands up in the air and asked for the GODDAMN BIRTH CONTROL PILL, ALREADY!

We realized it just wasn't the best time for aggressive-baby-making, given my daily struggle with health problems combined with school, work, etc. At this time, we also received the exciting news that we would soon become an Aunt and Uncle, and we've also been able to get our baby fix with Pax, the cutest little peanut on the planet.

Just when I thought everything had settled down and I would be popping the pill until further notice, I continued to have bleeding as I always have. Last Tuesday, I went in to talk to my doctor and check on my uterus and all those special lady parts in light of my diagnosis with PCOS, only to find that the lining of my uterus was much like "an overgrown lawn" that needed some weeding, pruning, and mowing, if you will. Concerned at the sight of my uterine jungle that had grown 5 times the normal size, my doctor performed an emergency procedure to procure tissue from the untamed garden, leaving me doped up on painkillers and bewildered as I told Dan that the doctor feared I might have endometrial hyperplasia or cancer.

We waited--HOW do you even articulate this sort of waiting?--for four days for his CHEERFUL phone call that let us know the cells of the tissue were benign. In the meantime, I had to put schooling on hold as I rested and medicated, as well as leaving EVERYTHING up in the air until I knew whether or not I would need surgery to remove the overgrown lining.

At this point, the plan is for me to weather this "period from hell" (direct quote from Dr. Girolomi) with some Vicodin, heating pads, and copious amounts of super tampons and chocolate milkshakes. I will continue to take THE PILL in order to get enough progesterone, and in six weeks I will get tested again, just to make sure everything is back to normal, and that sufficient pruning has occurred.

I really have to laugh as I write this because if I don't find the humor in it all, I just can't keep going. I am not one to talk openly or aggressively about my health problems, but I have to say that it is a daily reality that really beats me down. At this point, I am at least learning how to talk about having Fibromylagia, using FMS Nest to help me articulate the convoluted existence I have with that illness, but what do I do with the rest? Do I have to start a blog for every diagnosis I get? It's all just so overwhelming.

I hope y'all don't mind if I occasionally use this format to vent or analyze my medical existence. Thank God I found a partner that is sensitive and caring, not to mention the best goddamn cheerleader on the planet. If he didn't make me giggle everyday of my life, I don't know what I'd do.

So, hopefully, I'll get to write another post someday that says BABY!

And the best part is...

Starting a family with...