Manly Man

thank you so much for all the encouraging texts, facebook notes, calls, and prayers. i felt every one of them today! i am so thankful that we chose the office that we did when we first moved here. outside of the appointment screw up last week, everyone has been so awesome and today was no different!

this morning i got up early to take peter to work so that we would only have to drive one car back after the appointment, knowing it would be rush hour when we would be leaving. when i got back, i was too mentally and emotionally all over the place to do a whole lot of anything. i had some awesome time in prayer and in the Word, just taking comfort in verses about God being our Rescuer and Helper and most of all our Healer. i also spent time in prayer for people in our church and sent a few emails out after. just before i got ready to leave, i made one of peter's favorite cakes to take with us tonight to some friends house. this afternoon, i wasnt sure whether i should cancel those plans or not, but having JUST got back, i am glad we went! it was so good to spend time with people that love us and care and we always have some serious laughs with the gray's. thanks, guys!!

so, here's how it all went down. we got there a few minutes early and they took us back pretty quickly for an ultrasound. i had been under the impression that this was going to be one of those dye test ultrasounds, but it ended up being just a vaginal ultrasound to check my uterus and ovaries. they did find one small fibroid cyst that they will keep an eye on, but it doesnt seem to be much yet. after the ultrasound, we met with trudy, our practice's hormones specialist. she was awesome! she has been a part of the practice for over 40 years and has been doing the hormone side of things for over 20 years...she knows her stuff. she was so sweet to both of us as soon as we met her. she is a tiny lady and thought the height difference between her and peter was funny. one of the things that was so great is that trudy was ready for us. she didnt need to ask us a ton of questions to jog her memory, she had our file all put together, etc. we felt like by taking the time to prep meant that she was serious and caring enough to get this done for us. we jumped right in and were told that i am all out of whack hormonally. get this...my man hormones are way to high...i am part manly man!! :) no no no. ok, so there is a hormone called DHEA (aka progesterone) that is controlled by the adrenal gland. at a normal level it should be 150 or less, mine came back at 258 (WOW!!!). this causes all kinds of symptoms/side effects when it is too high, all of which i had. my testosterone should be between 10-30 and i am right at 30. my female hormone, called prolactin, should be less than 6 and mine was at 4.2 (a normal level, woohoo!)

some of the side effects of having a high level of progesterone include: acne/skin problems, irritability, anxiousness, anger, aggressiveness, increased or unwanted hair growth, depression, cyst(s) on ovaries, increased weight, inability to lose weight, craving salt, menses problems, muscle mass, sleep disturbances. when we were going over the list, i had to check next to all of these, at varying degrees, but they were all checked off. crazy! so, the plan is for me to start taking a few medications to help even out my hormones and to help me not have huge surges in one hormone or another, which is also a part of my issue. i will take the meds for a few weeks, have my levels checked again and meet with ms. trudy on april 18th for a follow up and a plan of action. part of my goal right now is to also continue loosing weight. the high hormone levels and my weight are making my cycles shorter which makes my eggs not "stick" according to trudy and dr. holt (the head of the practice, he came in to meet us too, so sweet!) dr. holt is one of those say it like it is doctors. he told me that i needed to loose some weight and get into a church to build community. when i told him i had already done both, he told me to keep at it. lol, thanks! so, tomorrow i will start 3 meds/hormones to help: parlodel, prednisone (yes, the steroid, it will do the opposite for me of what you probably think), and metformin. i did call my bestie, pooter, for some nursing advice and she was happy that they took the time to research all of my levels and start me on a low dose of all three meds. not that i needed it, but i was happy to have to her stamp of approval!

today went much better than i thought. it was so nice to have peter there! it was nice to get a few answers. it was nice to be in an office where they seem to care about us, even in this HUGE city!! it was awesome to know and feel so many prayers for us today! thanks!!!

praying these work quickly so that a baby loeser will be here soon!

blessings, ALo