Welcome to the 2014 Voices of PCOS blog series at The Infertility Voice, in honor of PCOS Awareness Month!
PCOS and Infertility in Your Twenties: An Unspoken Reality
By Leslie Ciak
Editor’s Note: Please be aware this post discusses pregnancy and parenting.
My husband and I got married in April of 2013. We are still young in terms of fertility but our late twenties seemed like an optimal time to start trying. After spending four years volunteering in a Labor and Delivery ward, I knew of the many complications women could have when trying to conceive and with the delivery. For that reason, we decided not to wait. We “pulled the goalie” and I went off birth control in July 2013, just two short months after our wedding.
I had heard your cycles could be strange following birth control but I was thrilled to get my own period in August about forty days after I stopped. Of course I was disappointed that first month of trying wasn’t successful but I was glad to be ovulating again. September was an even shorter cycle at thirty four days. Perfect! My cycles were getting back on track.
While we hadn’t conceived immediately, my body seemed to be adjusting and for that I was thankful. I had started temperature charting with an iPhone app called Fertility Friend around this time as well. If there was anything I could do to increase my chances, even if it meant waking up at 6am on weekends, I was there and willing to try it. I was already committed to this journey of building a family.
Just when I thought my body was getting back on a normal track that all changed. September went by with no clear temperature increase or any indication of ovulation. I still took a pregnancy test because it had been weeks and weeks with no period and I wanted to make sure. (I actually took a bunch of pregnancy tests that cycle!) Finally, at day 60 I ovulated. Something was odd but I just thought it was a strange cycle.
Next month turned out to be a very similar story. My husband and I tried and tried because we just didn’t want to miss that 24 hour window for conception. It honestly got exhausting having no idea when I would ovulate since my cycles were so irregular. I started trying ovulation tests but I never got a positive happy face and that got discouraging.
Everyone I talked to about it kept blaming it on the birth control. I sensed something was wrong but didn’t know what. Long story short, the best advice I can give is to not believe people when they blame your problem on birth control. If something doesn’t seem right, seek help sooner rather than later. I wish I had.
This went on for about six months before I decided to make an appointment with my OBGYN and got some testing done. I still clearly remember the day the doctor called with my test results. Whenever the doctor calls, it’s never a good thing. He told me I had PCOS. I didn’t understand where this came from, and I certainly did not fit the descriptions I had read about it other than the part about irregular periods.
My doctor started me on Clomid. I suddenly had renewed hope that this was the magic solution and that I would get pregnant that month. It made me ovulate… but no pregnancy. But it was a start! I gradually learned that I was getting false positive ovulation tests as well. (Be aware of that if you have PCOS.)
This journey is such a learning process. I wasn’t really being monitored which worried me because of the risk of multiples with ovulation inducing drugs. After four rounds of Clomid that did not result in a pregnancy, I made the switch to a reproductive endocrinologist. It was a wonderful consultation experience and I felt like I was in good hands.
We added a thyroid medication and Metformin. I was hopeful again. My new doctor’s optimism was contagious. She also switched me from Clomid to Letrazole. I didn’t respond to the 2.5 mg dose so they added on 5mg part way through that cycle. Thankfully I responded! My doctor decided due to the slow response that we should go ahead and try an IUI. That two-week wait sure felt like an eternity but at the end of it, we found out that I was pregnant.
Here we are thirteen months later on a journey I never expected but it seems to be turning around. I still have the fear of miscarrying and having to start over on this journey but I’m trying to stay positive. I know that my situation could have been much worse, and we are so thankful we were able to seek help from a specialist. During this experience we’ve learned a lot, and our marriage has grown stronger and that will better prepare us for parenting.
Back in May I started a blog, and I was amazed by how many other people were having pregnancy difficulties as well. I think it’s very important that PCOS and infertility are talked about more openly and that women are educated on these topics. I know those feelings of hope, disappointment, and frustration when another month goes by but keep going no matter what!
I just know that the moment I do hold our baby that all this hard work and pain from infertility treatments will all be washed away and feelings of joy and happiness will over take me. Infertility and PCOS is such a learning experience in so many ways, and I encourage you to stay educated, eat healthy, and keep going no matter how challenging it gets.
Just remind yourself everyday that you are growing stronger by the minute.
Leslie and Jeremy are 28 years old and are a young married couple living in Atlanta, GA. They met on Match.com in 2010 and have two sweet little dogs that can’t wait to have a baby brother or sister! They blog at MATCHrimony and you can connect with Leslie on Facebook.
My husband and I started trying when we were 24. Fast forward to 2014 and we’re no closer now to starting our family than we were then. At 30, I feel a new panic and sense of urgency, and people STILL have the gall to say, “You’re still young, though, you still have time.” If I didn’t know the battle we face, if we hadn’t already done 8 IUIs, been told by two fertility specialists that IVF was where we were headed, and if our one and only pregnancy hadn’t ended in miscarriage, maybe I’d agree. Infertility is not for the faint of heart. The best advice I can give is to lean on one another through the hard times and never, ever lose faith that someday, some way, you will have a family. Even six years later, as hard as it can be sometimes, I haven’t lost hope. You are not alone!
All too familiar. Four years of trying, PCOS, all the symptoms that fit after I was finally diagnosed. I wish I had known beforehand how hard it would be.
As an infertile in her 20’s, it is so frustrating when people feel that we are “rushing” since we’re “so young!” But the reality is that time is working against us, and we’ve made the careful decision to pursue IVF now instead of later. For some reason people associate youth with health and there isn’t always a strong correlation.
Oh my goodness, I absolutely hate the “you’re so young” comment!! I have always wanted to get married and have children young. When I found out about a year ago that I have PCOS and it was going to be difficult to have kids, my husband and I decided right then and there to start trying. My doctor is really starting me off slow though. She had us try naturally for a few months with no results and now I’m on metformin (which I hate lol). I just wish I could do more because obviously none of this is working. I haven’t ovulated in forever. It is all just so frustrating but I refuse to give up hope.