on 5.7.07 we went to the adoption info meeting.
Some things that are required at this moment stand in our way.
#1) classes for foster/state adopt of a 0-2yr old ---- DH's work schedule is no guarantee he can make it. (and that is should he even get a job right after training, talks of lay offs already...trusting HIM to provide)
#2) $10,000 for private infant adoption - well we don't have $10,000 - and yes I know there is a tax credit but my mom said you don't get the full $10,000 unless you paid enough in to get a refund...
So I posted about all this on my weblog and man the rude comments- one lady told me I was like Sarah in the Bible giving her concubine to Abraham and messing up God's plan...uh excuse me- do you know me? We have been both together trying to give DS a sibling and add to our family for 5 years this June...
Tuesday night DH came home from playing his last spring softball double header and said he probably wasn't going to play anymore...when I asked if everything was ok, he replied that if he could set aside 2-3 hours a night a week for softball he should use that time for the foster care classes. (smile)
Yesterday, I went to see a chiropractor who specializes in traditional chinese medicine and I took him the book called the Infertlity Cure - - I have read this book once a year for the past 3 years...interesting. Anyway he said it was a good book and he was glad I showed it to him. He gave me a supplement called polyfem (licorice, white peony, cimicifuga racemosa, and thuja occidentalis leaf)..he says it's from australia and it helps to lower the testosterone levels back to normal range in women with pcos.
When I first sat down and described me, he said it sounded like a hypothalamous(?) problem....then he went on to say it could be the whole endocrine system and mentioned iodine defiency (green tea sucks the iodine right out of ya...sad because I like green tea and had been drinking at least a cup every other day)...I told him I read that iodine defiency and had already started liguid iodine and he said to keep up with that.
then I mentioned my ultrasound that showed cyst on the ovaries and he asked me some more questions and I told him my waking temps have been between 95.something to only 2 times over 97 degrees...he asked me what I think that means and I replied that I have a thyroid problem and he said exactly...he said I need to go to my PCP and show them my chart and they should immediately take a full thyroid panel...he said up til recently the TSH level as long as it was under level 4.0 docs assumed all was ok...recently they lowered that number to 2.0 but he says it should be between 0.5 and 1.5 for it to be correctly functioning. I gave him a dropped jaw look and he was like right can you believe the amount of people walking around thinking their thryoid is ok when it is not...
I told him what I was trying to eat and that I cut out milk from my diet...he said all good and asked me if I knew why no sugar and low carb was important for pcos...I said blood sugar levels and insulin levels and he said I was right again.
He said he enjoyed talking with me because we could easily do so back and forth and understand what the other was saying and that he was impressed I had done so much research.
He did tell me to stop taking the NPC....since my LH level is high I do not need it...and because On my graph the really low temp days are the one I was using the NPC...so I guess since my LH is high it is having a reverse effect on me...same thing when I took clomid, it lowered my progesterone level each month.
He wondered why my doc would give me a script for metformin after saying I didn't have insulin resistance- I told him most ob/gyn's just throw pills at problems and he said it's because pcos covers a wide range of symptoms and they just put them all in one group...I personally was scared to take metformin, I think you should be having your liver monitored while on it...and mine just gave me the script and acted like I didn't need to come back until yearly exam time.
He would like to run a biomeridean scan, do a saliva hormone test, and have me do a standard process 3 week body cleanse. but DH doesn't get paid until tomorrow so that stuff will have to wait til after bills are paid and my 1998 FREE blazer needs a right front axle...about $225 ...so yeah safety of us on the road kinda does need priority...so for now I am going to take the polyfem and take my temps and try to cut out sugar and go low carb...
Oh and he explained that for me I may have had this problem coming all along but as a teen my thyroid was able to cope with it but for many women the birth of a child- especially a boy- can make it worse because there are such elevated hormones during pregnancy that a thyroid that was borderline problematic just shuts down and he said in some country- can't remember the name- all women have to wait 3 years in between pregnancies to give the body time to rest and replenish itself, that babies take so much nutrients to grow and male babies take even more...So I told him my son will be 6 this summer and he said my body has had time to rest and recover and we need to kick it into gear.
He said his wife had their son and then had fertility issues and her sister had fertility issues and their daughter is not ttc at this time but as a preventative he gives her the polyfem.
oh and I mentioned for a while I had a pain in my right side by the ribs bottom and he said it had to be an ovary...I said nope my uterus is tipped backwards and my ovaries are down in my butt somewhere...that's where they found them for the ultrasound cysts. I told him I thought either liver or kidney...so he used a reader to see where the pain was coming from and he said definately liver...for a week now I have been taking a liver cleanse supplement and the pain has not bothered me...so it must have been congested.
Last night DH and I were looking at houses online and if we got a 4 bedroom house my dad could live with us but I said what about the home study, they will want background on him so at this time maybe he shouldn't. DH replied I thought we were doing this chinese medicine route and that we should give that a chance first before proceeding with the adoption, at least until he finds out what is going on with his job.I think DH is open the idea of adoption when it comes to DS and I feeling complete but he would rather have his own children...I mean that may sound bad but everyone is different. and I have been open to the idea of adoption since I was 16 and wanted to have 5 kids...but he is not me and it may take time for him to jump on that wagon or he may not at all.
hope you gleaned something from this.
4 comments:
Sounds like things are going well...that PolyFem, with the licorice and peony, is the exact thing they suggested in that article from the Weston A. Price Foundation.
I did a little research on it and found this:
Paeonia lactiflora (white peony) has been used for gynecological conditions by both Chinese and Western herbalists, and is used by Western herbalists for PCOS, hyperprolactinemia, endometriosis, ovarian failure and androgen excess. Paeonia has been shown to positively influence low progesterone, reduce elevated androgens (testosterone) and acts to modulate estrogen and prolactin.7 In vitro, the active constituent paeoniflorin has been shown to affect the ovarian follicle by its action on the aromatase enzyme.8 Aromatase is important for follicle maturation, ovulation and corpus luteum function, steroid hormone synthesis and the regulation of the conversion of androgens to estrogens. The biofeedback in the pituitary and hypothalamus rely on aromatase to regulate prolactin and GnRH. The daily dose for Paeonia is 4.5 to 9 mL of a 1:2 dried plant extract.9
The traditional Chinese/Kanpo formula known as Shakuyaku-Kanzo-To or TJ-68, which is a decoction of Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) and Paeonia lactiflora (white peony), has been the subject of a number of clinical trials, all of which demonstrate activity in the hormonal regulation of androgens. In one trial involving eight women with hyperandrogenism and oligomenorrhea, the formula was given for 2 to 8 weeks. This combination regulated the LH to FSH ratio. Over this period of time, serum testosterone levels decreased to less than 50 ng/dL and this resulted in seven of the eight women ovulating regularly.
Another trial involved 20 women diagnosed with PCOS. The formula was successful in lowering testosterone in 90% of the women, of which 25% went on to conceive.11 It is suggested that it acts directly on the ovary, increasing the activity of aromatase, which promotes the synthesis of estradiol from testosterone, thus lowering serum testosterone levels. It also seems to regulate the LH to FSH ratio.12
What a blessing in disguise! I am glad to hear that you finally found someone (of the medical profession) that seems to know what they are doing.
When I had the cyst on my ovary (it was slightly bigger than a golf ball) it messed my cycles up.
The treatments that the chiropractor gave you seem to make a lot of sense.
This is very encouraging news!
Have a great weekend!
Blessings!
Heather
Hi Dawn,
I was searching the net for Homekeeping Manuals and I ran into your blog.
Like you, I also struggled with infertily. I was diagnosed with PCOS, I also have an tilted uterus. I did the Clomid treatment and artificial insemination but no pregnancy. After a few of the AF treatments I decided no more. We opted for international adoption. Like you, I just wanted to be a mother and being pregnant was not that important.
On April 5, 2006 my dream to become a mom came true, when my daughter was placed in my arms.
I just wanted to say that I totally understand how you feel. I can tell that you are so, so, sad right now. I've been there.
I hope that you find the strength to help you through this very difficult time.
hugs,
gina
I can't believe someone made a rude comment to you about adoption. WHERE do these people come from? Parenting is a performative thing--a woman in a coma can conceive and give birth (literally), but it takes a true mother to _raise_ a child. That's what makes a parent.
I hope that your complementary-medicine therapy helps you. But if not, I hope you do adopt. There are so many beautiful children in the world who need true _parents_. If that's what you and your husband are, then I hope a lucky child finds its way into your home and hearts.
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