NFP Success Story #2: Living with PCOS
Over the next 5 years, Laurie went to 4 different gynecologists about her missing periods and her inability to get pregnant. They gave her tests, did tons of bloodwork, gave her progesterone to make her periods show and even gave her Clomid, but “they never really explained what all these things did or why I wasn’t getting pregnant. They never did talk about PCOS or what was wrong with my body.”
Finally, in May of 1999, Laurie saw a fertility specialist, the first doctor to correctly diagnose her with PCOS. That very day, Laurie went on line and researched PCOS and fertility. She ran out and bought a copy of Toni Weschler’s Taking Charge of Your Fertility. “I read it all the way through and REALLY just THEN, at 27 years of age, did I understand how my cycles were supposed to work.”
Laurie then went on 6 cycles of Clomid and charted her temperatures and cervical fluid during these cycles. “My charts always looked the same,” explains Laurie. “My temps ranged from 97.3-97.5, up and down and up again. Never had that ovulation jump. Pretty much of a flat line. My cervical fluid did seem to change but I NEVER saw egg-white cervical fluid. It would range from dry to creamy at best.”
In the fall of 1999, Laurie went on the Atkins diet, a low-carbohydrate diet that is recommended for women with PCOS, and lost 30 pounds in 3 weeks. . . and kept the weight off. Her doctor also started her on Clomid full-strength (250 mgs) with an added shot of hcg. At this point, Laurie was so discouraged that she stopped temping and charting, convinced that she would never become pregnant on clomid.
Then, around Christmastime, a nurse called Laurie on her cell phone with her progesterone test results. “I actually ovulated for the first time in over 4 years!!!! I was in Waldenbooks, shopping with my mother and started crying. I’m sure the nurse thought I was absolutely nuts, and I know the people in Waldenbooks knew I was , but I didn’t care. At that point, I was on cloud 10,000! I finally felt like I was in the game, now that I was ovulating!!”
Laurie and her doctor scheduled an IUI (intrauterine insemination) for January, but she never needed to undergo the procedure. On December 28th, Laurie stepped out of the shower and noticed bright blue veins on her
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