new doctor...new possibilities?

I still haven't gotten my period, so I made an appointment with the doctor. Yup, today I had my first appointment with my new gynecologist, Dr. Tutt. He was my sister's OB/GYN through both of her pregnancies. It was a good visit- and I am feeling like it was definitely a step in the right direction.

I explained to him how erratic my cycles have been and he told me something that I didn't know, but that makes total sense. I always assumed that when my period came that meant that at some point I had ovulated- which I found out today isn't true. Sometimes when there are months between periods, the uterus just decides to bleed because it's too full. Chances are, I am probably not ovulating like hardly ever.

So, I got my blood drawn. They are testing for two things. First- my thyroid. If that comes back irregular, I will go on thyroid medication, and we will see how things go from there. Sometimes, that can help. If nothing is wrong with my thyroid, they are also testing my hormone levels and I will probably go on Clomid.

For those of you unfamiliar- here's basically how it works:

Clomid is the most well-known fertility drug, probably because it is the most commonly used. And with good reason. About a quarter of female factor infertility involves a problem with ovulation, and clomiphene citrate, as a fertility drug, is easy to use, with not too many side effects, is pretty inexpensive compared to other fertility drugs, and is effective in stimulating ovulation 80% of the time.

Clomid is similar to estrogen in its make-up. The receptor cells in your brain think that Clomid is estrogen which allows the Clomid to attach to the receptor cells. When Clomid attaches to the receptor cells, it keeps your own estrogen from attaching to the cells. This causes your body to think that you are not making enough estrogen. When estrogen levels are low, your body responds by making other hormones that help nurture and mature the follicles that are growing in your ovaries. Why? Because the follicles are what produce estrogen and your body wants your estrogen levels to increase. Your body thinks your follicles are not producing enough estrogen so it starts producing more of the hormones that help the follicles mature so that they will start producing more estrogen.

If that didn't make sense to you- the shorter version is: it's a pill that should help me ovulate on a regular basis. If it doesn't work at first, they will double the dosage, and if that doesn't work- then I've got bigger issues to worry about and will have to see a fertility specialist.

So we are just waiting for my blood test to come back, so we can know what pills I am going to be on. I'm feeling much more optimistic in regards to a baby in our future.

In the mean time, Dr. Tutt also suggested that I continue to work on losing weight- he said that could help a lot too!