This post has been in draft mode for about 8 months or so ?
And there are editings done , deleted etc for the past 8 months.

I think my mind is positive enough now to share. The first draft was filled with couple of anger, negativity and emotions. And i am not really ready to share. TTC is a long and tough journey and people already face enough negativity and disappointment enough and i should not… you know…..aggravates people’s emotions further.

Through this TTC journey , i have made alot of new friends and there are people whom i don’t know (insta and dayre) actually msged me or dropped me an email to share with me their journey and tips. And i think i should share and give back.

TTC is a sensitive topic and not many people shared it openly online and it is hard to find information on stuff like IUI or IVF. Well , i have not gone through IVF yet..but it is one of the next step we are going to.

MY TTC JOURNEY

What is TTC ? It stands for Trying to Conceive. 

When you start joining groups , dayre etc , you will slowly learn and pick up those abbreviations like BFP , BFN , BD , TTC , IUI , SOIUI , TTC etc

We started in Jan 2017. I was 31yo and hubs was 33yo then. Which was about 4 months after our wedding in Korea and Singapore in 2016. Before that , my hubs always thought that getting pregnant is EASY. Ya..like you know remove the protection and boom you pregnant liao. Maybe friends around him got pregnant easily so he thinks it is that easy. But i myself know that it will not be an easy journey until you started trying. You won’t know you will face difficulty or not until you try.

So for 8 months we tried and there are NO BFP.
What is BFP ? It stands for Big Fat Positive. Ehh im not the one who came out with this thing..i also learnt it from the internet one hor.

So we decided to go for fertility check. I have my pap smear, HPV testing , cervical scans done yearly and there is no issue but i want to do a fertility check just incase.

So we had our checks done. I had my hormone levels checked everything is ok. And then i have my scans done by my fertility doctor. And that’s when he told me i have MILD PCOS. My hubs had his Semen Analysis Test done and everything was ok and fine. Total spent including doctor consultations , scans and all the tests required ~ $1000.

Infact i suspected i might have PCOS because i suddenly gained alot of weight in 2017. I hit my peak at 58kg from 50kg. All within 2 to 3 months. And i dropped alot of hair. It is scary to comb my hair everytime because the moment i brush my hair or run my hair through my fingers , i have alot of strands coming off. And also that time i felt very tired easily. I am a financial adviser aka insurance agent. So i run to and fro for appointments. I don’t drive ( no license lah!) so i took public transport and i fell asleep very easily while commuting. I thought maybe i worked too late or too hard liao so tired..but no leh..even on my off days i also felt VERY tired easily.

What is PCOS ? 

It stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

It is a common diagnosis esp for women who have irregular period or heavy bleeding periods. It can be diagnosed through pelvic scanning or blood tests . Some did blood tests to check on their AMH levels (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) which looks into their ovarian reserves. Extremely high AMH levels could be a sign of PCOS.

Explanation grabbed from an article :

“It is a condition where the ovaries are enlarged with multiple small cysts in them and/or there is an excess of male hormones in the body. Most of the time, the affected women will have problems with ovulation,”

……

So…my PCOS is mild one because i still can have about 8 or 9 periods in a year instead of the normal 28 days cycle where you should have 12 in a year. Serious Pcos patients may have period once every 3 months or more. So my period days are between 30 to 46 days. YES, the worst and longest it can get is 46days. So maybe 2 to 3 times a year i have a 46 days cycle.

To treat and control my pcos since im trying for a baby , i am now taking 2 tabs of Metformin a day. It has been almost 1.5yrs since i started taking Metformin. It helps to regulate my period.

This is the same medication for some diabetic patients too since women with PCOS have higher level of insulin and insulin resistance. I was also given supplement called Revosit to improve my egg quality.

And i also changed my diet. I ate less sweet stuff and exercise to keep my weight healthy. Any increase in weight can bring back the PCOS.

My PCOS was diagnosd by my doc through ultrasound. Infact besides PCOS , we have no issue at all medically. PCOS women can get pregnant but may just take longer time or harder because it is hard to catch the exact ovulation date with irregular periods.

So what i do is that i track my ovulation using the ovulation test kits. I bought the strips ones and paste them on an A4 paper with the date and time taken. Once the lines got darker , i know that i maybe ovulating soon.

A positive OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) should show 2 bold lines. I took this one to bring to the doctor because apparently i thought i ovulated before my IUI procedure!

Yes…so that was our TTC journey since Jan 2017 till our fertility check in Aug 2017.

I also had my HSG test done in Jan 2018 to checked if my fallopian tubes are blocked.

What is HSG ? 

“Hysterosalpingography, or HSG, is an X-ray test to outline the internal shape of the uterus and show whether the fallopian tubes are blocked. In HSG, a thin tube is threaded through the vagina and cervix. A substance known as contrast material is injected into the uterus.”

My report below stated clear and patent tubes which means my fallopian tubes are not blocked.

So everything was okay lor. The HSG test was painful for me. Wah…when the dye went in i felt the CRAMPS. The cramps was so bad i felt the ache even after it ended. Some people told me no pain , some told me painful and some says so so. But for mine was painful esp when the radiologist told me to tilt my buttock to the left and then to the right abit so the dye can spill to the left and right i guess..i can feel the ache. Then she told me everything seems normal and fine. The test cost about $270 and it lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. No GA or LA done. You just go in awake , change into the gown , lie down on the cold metal table and they start.

So from Jan to July, i had my daily dose of Metformin and Revosit.

1 pack of Metformin – $10 ~

1 box of Revosit – $50~

So monthly i will go back to top up and buy my monthly dosage from the clinic. Sigh..bo bian what to do if i want to have a baby.

Then..a miracle happened in JULY…but it did not end well….

 

** To be continued to part 2**