…from a reader
I never really thought that getting pregnant would be a problem. I joked with my mom that we came from a family of women that got pregnant by men looking at us. Not knowing any better, I wasn’t even concerned when my period stopped.
My husband was very forth coming about the fact he wanted children. I wanted children as well but I wasn’t in any type of hurry to become a mother. It wasn’t until after we got married that we got serious about our plans for the future. For better or worse, my husband didn’t quite understand that the fact I wasn’t having a period indicated that there was something wrong.
My husband tried to laugh the situation off saying that he thought it was funny that I wouldn’t have married someone that didn’t want to have kids and now I might not be able to. My husband’s words hurt me but I knew that in this day and age there were a lot of options for women that had difficulty conceiving.
I researched my options to better arm myself with more information for my doctor’s visit. It took a few weeks for me to be seen but eventually I made it in to my doctor’s office to discuss my issues. My doctor discussed my health concerns with me and determined that she felt I had weight induced polycystic ovarian syndrome. She assured me that if I just lost some weight that my body rhythms would return to normal and I’d be able to conceive. However, she advised me that if she was wrong she would be interested in trying some medication to see if she could force my body into ovulation.
Losing weight may seem like an easy task for most, but I have always struggled with my weight my entire life. I’ve been run through vigorous testing with no indication about why I didn’t lose weight. Compared to my friends, I ate well and worked out; but my weight remained the same without budging.
I knew that if I wanted to have a child than I would have to get serious about my weight. I began strictly restricting my caloric intake and signed up for a gym membership. My husband, ever supportive, joined me so that I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I soon found that working out for 2-3 hours a day, combined with walking on my breaks and keeping myself on 1,200 calories a day, I began to lose weight. Slowly I shed the pounds. I even joined competitive weight loss activities at my place of employment.
Eventually, my body rhythms returned and I was ovulating on a regular schedule. My concerns were not completely alleviated and I worried that there may be further underlying issues. However, my husband and I decided to give it a try and started trying to conceive.
Despite the fact I knew that it took the average, “healthy” couple a year to conceive I worried each month I didn’t get pregnant. I didn’t have to worry long though, after only 3 months of trying I found out that I was pregnant. And though my family has a history of miscarriages as well, my pregnancy went off without a hitch and I was blessed with an amazing little girl. I’m just hoping that it’s a little easier the second time around.