Meet Hal & Lyndsi

Hi!

My name is Lyndsi and I will be writing most of this blog. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. I hope at the least this helps someone going through infertility struggles. I will likely have positive & negative involved trying to be as real as I can be with this experience to maybe just help one other person. I am 30 years old living my dream life married to my bff, working as a fitness coach and independent distributor for Beachbody. I love fitness and health. It's my passion. I lost over 70lbs, 15% bodyfat, and 10 jean sizes the year before I got married! There is nothing like working super hard to lose weight and get in shape! I swear it was the hardest journey in my life! Little did I know what was truly headed my way.

Hal, 31 years old works as a project manager for construction firm and was on board with me getting involved in the fitness world after we got married because it keeps me making an income but working from home which was perfect because we had it set in our minds that I would stay home with our future children.

I have looked forward to that part of life, being a mom, having a little family. The holidays and the excited look on the my kids faces. Spending time at the zoo, playing with play dough, even dealing with spit up! I've been pretty stoked about it all.

Hal and I decided to start our family growing in February 2011. It was a good time to start. I was in a wedding and did not want to ruin that day by having a large belly or being due at the time so we postponed until it was almost time for that day. I focused on my business and my fitness of course.

The time came and went, it was 4th of July weekend and I was VERY late so we were thrilled to check out a pregnancy test, only to find the test came up negative. Super confused and disappointed I knew something was not right. I wasn't up to share anything yet at the time with family or friends. It is nice to have something with your spouse before you have it with your family and friends. I wanted to surprise the families, as did he.

So I started off on my quest to figure out what exactly the deal was. I went to my regular OB/GYN doc, and got told that I am too stressed out and that is why my cycles are long. I was told my thyroid was fine and to come back in March 2012 if no baby is growing by then.

I found that to be unacceptable since we were 6 months into TTC. One of the my co-workers was talking to me about a fitness course we were getting certified for and I was suppose to get on a plane to Nashville to go to this training. I cancelled the trip and explained to her what was going on, she offered her best advice which is going out and getting a BBT and start temping every morning. I also learned about the book 'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' so I got it and began to read. It helped open up my eyes to HOW much science goes into having a baby- how big of a miracle this really is, and how you have to find the right timing. Made me question how is it possible for SO many teens to land on this small percentage of time and get pregnant?! CRAZY!

I finished the book rather quick so I could understand how natural birth control works, and how to temp and naturally make a baby. I was convinced I had this all figured out, so the charting of my temps began in August 2011.

I also had asked one of my friends a bit about it, as she is a doctor and thought she might have some input for me as well as, just having a friend to talk to was helpful. She referred me to an Infertility Specialist in the Lombard area, whom if you are reading and need help please contact him. He is AMAZING! Dr. Andrew Roth- Lombard, IL

I'm 30, so naturally I was being told DAILY announcements of people getting pregnant, having babies, growing their family like it's nothing. It was hard to handle because all I did was beat myself up for not having started this a long time ago. I did have a small dream that I wanted a baby on the way or here by 30, and I was FAST approaching 30 years old.

I kept plugging away at the temps and focusing on the key pieces you have to find in order to know when you are fertile. Day 40 approached and I was looking at my temps on the chart and realized here we were again, a super LONG cycle, and no ovulation showing... it was up and down temps all over the place. What I should have seen was low temps until ovulation, then a big spike for the next 2 weeks of temps.

My appt with Dr Roth was scheduled for September 13th- I walked in nervously reading 'Infertility Specialist' on his door 'High Risk Pregnancy' and my heart was pounding. I was thinking, 'I'm just here for a 2nd opinion. I really dont have infertility problems'

The day before I saw Dr Roth, my dermatologist suggested I get my hormones checked out, get bloodwork done because my face would not stop breaking out and we had tried EVERYTHING under the sun to clear it up. I was getting SHOTS in my FACE at this point to help clear up my face.

Dr. Roth agreed to draw blood for my hormone checks the first day I met him.

It was real cool because with Dr. Roth you can go into his office, sit in front of his desk and talk to him about your life, your health, and ask all the questions in the world. THEN you have examinations, blood drawn, monitoring etc

I left thinking okay regardless of him having the words 'Infertility Specialist' on his door, I think I'd like to stick with this doctor.

I continued with temp charting and began to read up on a disease called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I matched quite a few symptoms... Acne, Facial Hair, overweight, depression, all of those matched me. After all I did work SUPER hard to lose over 70lbs just a couple years prior to this. BUT I had no cysts. I recall going in for regular check ups, and ultrasounds when I'd fell any pain and never ever found anything. My cycles were like clockwork, always on time if not a day or 2 behind. So I wasn't convinced I had PCOS.

Sure enough Dr. Roth called and confirmed it, 'You have PCOS- I'd like you to come in for the insulin test'

The majority of PCOS ladies are IR- insulin resistant. They are given a specific drug MetFormin which helps with diabetes, and weight loss believe it or not. Many PCOS women need this drug to lose weight. Now I fully believe in a good healthy nutritional balanced diet and good exercise to lose weight & maintain. More on PCOS in a minute or the next post.

September 19th I got a call to find out if I was IR or not. Well much to my surprise not only was I NOT insulin resistant but I was actually pregnant. My HCG level was at 11 and Progesterone at 4.6, which the doctor was convinced I'd have a miscarriage.

This started the rollercoaster of will the baby stay or not. At this point both our parents were aware that something was going on and I was seeing a fertility specialist. They also knew there was a baby with a potential m/c about to take place.

I'd be in the doctors office EVERY other day for bloodwork to see if my levels would rise. For the next couple weeks they continue to rise, and he was almost convinced this baby was going to stay put.

I was scheduled to be in Orange County for Beachbody's Leadership Conference Weekend in October. Hal was in Kansas City on business for the week, and his mom was in town visiting us. It was the craziest timing ever, but October 13th, I was all packed and ready to head out to Orange County the next day, and Dr Roth CALLED ME! It's NEVER good when the doctor calls YOU with updates. Sure enough the levels had dropped and the baby was about to miscarry.

My battle with God began, 'WHY ME?!' 'WHY this timing?' 'WHY WHY WHY' My anger level rose. I was falling into a depression that is hard to describe. I could barely listen to the next steps from the doctor.

He was convinced that all I needed was some medicine and I'd be on my way to mommyhood.

Boy, did we all have any clue how much of a bumpy road was ahead.