June ICLW and Punday 6/24

Hi everyone joining me from ICLW! Sorry I've neglected to welcome you so far, I've been quite ill lately. If I follow your blog there's a good chance I've been reading your posts when I can even if I haven't been commenting. For those that are new here, here's a brief introduction.

I have PCOS and Endo and my husband has MFI we believe caused primarily by low testosterone. We started officially trying to conceive in October 2011 after being NTNP for a while. We finally got our BFP almost exactly a year later, but miscarried shortly after. My due date is coming up on July 1st and I'm not taking that all too well. In March of this year my endo got too bad to continue trying so we've been on a break while I get that under control. My pain has been steadily decreasing and we are hoping to get back in the saddle soon. We have decided to pursue donated embryos instead of trying again biologically and I'm waiting to hear back from the clinic we hope to go through.

I'm currently giving away two copies of Writers of the Future Volume 29, which is a collection of scifi and fantasy short stories written by new and amateur authors. You can enter here.

Every Monday is Punday where I try to brighten up the beginning of your work week a little. It's beginning to be a little harder to remember which ones I've posted before, so forgive me if I post one twice by accident. So without further ado, here are the puns!

Happy May ICLW!

Welcome ICLW'ers! No idea what ICLW is? Learn all about it here! I normally would start my post out with a welcoming picture or gif but I'm a bit rushed today so you'll have to forgive me.

For those who are visiting for the first time, my name is Tasha but I pretty much exclusively go by the name FrozenOJ or Frozenorangejuice online (unless I'm gaming, where I use the character name Jaliyah). Why? Because I needed a screen name for something and it's the first thing that popped into my mind. It's been working for me for probably 15 years so no point in changing it now. I am a stay at home wife as my endometriosis is too bad for me to work. Josh, my DH, is a graphic designer who is currently going to and working at the local branch of FSU. He also did some work for a movie and he's supposed to be included in the credits when it comes out which is really cool! We don't have any live children, but we do have an adorable Yorkie.

Everybody say, "Awww!"

I have PCOS and Endo, and after my laparoscopy in 2011 was cautioned to try now if we wanted kids before it was too late. So we started trying in October, and by February I was on Clomid. I did not respond well. Finally in October 2012 after ovulating just three times we got our BFP only to miscarry three days later. I was on either Clomid or Femara until March of 2013 when we stopped trying to focus on my endo. Things had been getting worse and finally it got to the point I was in pain all the time and on too much pain medication for TTC to be safe.

Shortly before this we found out we were dealing with MFI as well due to low testosterone. We made the decision to go on testosterone therapy even though it would make Josh at least temporarily sterile as having bio kids doesn't seem to be in the cards for us anyway.

Now we are looking forward to trying out embryo donation/adoption. We are waiting until I can come off the pain medication, but are hopeful we can start that process in the next few months. I called the clinic today to find out some information and see what we needed to do when we are ready to get things started, but unfortunately the person who deals with that was off. So I'm waiting to hear back. People I've talked to who have used this clinic said you can start cycling within a month or two of contacting them, but I've also heard there's been a run on embryos lately so the wait time might be longer.

I have recently started selling 550 paracord awareness bracelets to fundraise for the embryo donation. I'm normally not a very crafty person but I've enjoyed making these. I'd love to eventually be able to turn it into a source of income and not just a fundraiser. Right now I'm selling them in colors representing infertility, miscarriage, infant loss, PCOS, and endo. The pink could also be potentially used for breast cancer and the yellow for the armed forces. I'm thinking of branching out into things other than bracelets, like ribbon shaped keychains or dog collars or something. If you like one you can go through Etsy (linked above) or just email me what you want since they do charge a transaction fee.

My endo is doing some better, but there hasn't been as much improvement as I'd like. I started out taking a tramadol about every four hours and now I'm down to about two a day. When I put it that way it seems like things are going quite well, but it doesn't feel like things have improved that much. I'm tired of being in pain. I have a little over a month before I'm estimated to be relatively pain free and that cannot come soon enough.

Happy April ICLW!

No idea what ICLW is? Well it's this little thing created by Melissa of Stirrup Queens where people in the ALI (adoption, loss, infertility) community leave a bunch of comments for each other. It's pretty awesome. If you belong in any of those categories (including pregnancy or parenting after ALI) I hope you'll consider participating next month! The link to the current month's blogroll and sign up page is always on my side bar.

For those finding me through ICLW, hello! Thank you for stopping by! First off I'd like to point you toward my OPK and HPT giveaway, as I know everyone likes free stuff! =)

My name is Tasha but I've been going by FrozenOJ online practically forever. I live in Florida with my husband Josh and our yorkie Scotty. I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2006 and told then I would most likely need medical help to conceive. We were NTNP most of our marriage and almost started actively TTC a few times but what we now know was endometriosis always got in the way. I would often bleed and be in terrible pain for months at a time, have to quit my job, withdraw (or sometimes fail) my classes, we even had to withdraw an offer on a house once. Eventually I just stopped bothering to find a new job or continue my education and became a stay at home wife.

In 2011 I had an episode like that and our usual methods (birth control) weren't working. After seven months of nonstop pelvic pain I had a lap done and my endo was found. My OB/GYN Dr. E said normally she would have asked my DH to consent to a hysterectomy but she knew we desperately wanted children. So as soon as I healed, we officially started TTC! As far as we know I have never ovulated on my own so we hopped on the clomid train rather quickly in February 2012. I did not respond very well, only ovulating 4 times between then and December of the same year. We did conceive the third time but lost it quite quickly. We switched to Femara and didn't respond too that so well either. We also discovered Josh had some MFI issues and extremely low testosterone.

Unfortunately my endo is back with a vengeance and the medication I'm on for that makes conception impossible. Josh's testosterone therapy also makes him sterile. So the quest for a biological child is at it's end and no shiny loot for us. I think the new endo treatment is slowly starting to work, and I'm looking at taking two easy classes in the fall so I can perhaps assist my graphic designer DH whenever I'm feeling up to it. Once we know this is indeed working and I won't need another surgery (or possible hysterectomy) we are going to start saving up for the next great adventure, embryo donation! I hope you'll continue to follow along.

Welcome March ICWL'ers!

Here's some background info on me and my lovely husby. My name is Tasha but I've been going by FrozenOJ (or spelled out Frozenorangejuice) on the web since middle school. In fact I'm still using the same email address as the one I excited grabbed when I was let into the Gmail beta all those years ago. =D

I'm 25 years old and live in Florida with my DH (27) and our yorkie (2). I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2006 and told at that time I would almost certainly need medical assistance to conceive. I've had it since puberty and we're pretty certain I never ovulated before my diagnosis or after until very recently. After being in a terrible amount of abdominal pain for 7 months, I eventually had a lap done in 2011 and was diagnosed with Endometriosis. Endo greatly effects my live to the point it is disabling. At that point my doctor said if we had any children she would have pushed for a hysterectomy, but because we don't she wanted to give us that chance. We started TTC as soon as I was cleared after my surgery.

Starting Feb 2012 I was on Clomid for a total of seven cycles. I ovulated four of them, but it was always late. The third time I ovulated we were lucky enough to conceive but I unfortunately miscarried shortly after getting our one and only BFP. In January I was switched to Femara and ovulated the first cycle on CD24, the second cycle was anovulatory and I'm currently awaiting AF after taking provera. We've also recently found out we are dealing with some MFI issues after finally getting DH tested. He has extremely low testosterone, and that accompanied by my ever increasing pain has lead to a decision to stop TTC.  We do plan to adopt in the future but for now I'm trying to come to terms with the fact we will be childless or the foreseeable future.

Happy ICLW!

For those unfamiliar with ICLW, it stands for International Comment Leaving Week and happens every month from the 21-28th. It's for the ALI (adoption, loss, infertility) crowd and a great way to connect with others going through similar situations. If you fall in there somewhere I'd definitely encourage you to sign up next month!

For those stopping by, welcome! Here's a brief synopses of our situation. Diagnosed with PCOS in 2006 and told would most likely need medical assistance to conceive. Married in 2009 and was NTNP on and off depending on my health (sometimes I would go on HBC for a few months to regulate my hormones). Diagnosed with Endo in September of 2011 and told I had 1-2 years before I would most likely need a hysterectomy, unless I had a baby. Started TTC in October 2011 as soon as I was given the okay. Was given two cycles to prove I did not ovulate on my own using OPKs and temping, then started Clomid in February of 2012. I ovulated that cycle but did not ovulate again until cycle 7, in September of 2012 on 150mg. Unhappy with my O date (CD20) my doctor continued to raise my dose. The next cycle on 200mg I ovulated again and got a BFP! Whoohoo! Unfortunately I miscarried three days later on October 21st. You can read about that here. Took a cycle off and now we are back at it, on 250mg. Yikes. I should be about to ovulate any day now! I've been warned that if I don't succeed soon I will have to go to an RE and start more expensive treatments which we unfortunately can't afford. So I could use all your baby dust and fingers crossed that we get a Christmas miracle!