Picture it.  November 2015.  I was a 37-year old embarking on my first appointment with a fertility specialist, a Reproductive Endocrinologist.  Wow.  I sound just like Sophia Petrillo.  A longtime obsession with the Golden Girls even comes through in my writing! 

I sat in the waiting room nervous, anxious and hopeful for the road that was ahead.  I was brought into the doctor’s office and within 2 minutes the tears came pouring out.  I spoke of my lifelong desire to be a mother, the bad luck my husband had during the recession and consecutive years after that led us to put off trying, you name it, I cried it out.  The doctor told me to let go of my stress as it was now her job to get me pregnant.  I took a deep breath and felt relaxed.  I told her my cycle was anything but regular since I stopped taking the pill, ranging from 26 to 45 days. She then spent the next ten minutes talking about stats, IUIs, IVF and said she hoped I would be able to get in an IUI treatment   (intrauterine insemination) before the end of the year.  She then rushed me into the exam room for the next phase of the appointment.

First was my blood pressure.  Just like my father I have terrible white coat syndrome.  My pressure goes up the minute I step into a doctor’s office until they tell me I am fine and nothing is wrong.  I warned the nurse of this and she seemed to think I was just being silly.  Cuff on, pump pumping…and there it was.  High blood pressure.  I don’t remember the exact number but it was probably 150 something over 85ish.  Not good, I know.  She immediately didn’t like that.  Then came the dreaded scale.  I knew I had gained a lot of weight when my husband was out of work.  The stress consumed my body and even lettuce and water would cause the pounds to come on.  Boy did I not like the number I saw!

When the doctor came in she did an ultrasound and said that my insides looked good but until I got my weight to a certain BMI they would not move forward with fertility treatment.  I gulped back the tears but figured, I will do whatever needed.  They took my blood work and suggested I come back to meet with a nutritionist the following week.

I left deflated but ready to battle the bulge if that is what stood in my way.  A day or two later the nurse called to tell me my blood work came back and I was Insulin Resistant.  I had never heard that before but it turns out it is common and in women it causes weight gain, irregular menstrual cycles and can lessen the quality of eggs.  I thought “aha!” There IS something wrong with me that can be fixed!  

I was placed on Metformin and met with the nutritionist the following week.  I learned to count carbs, increase protein and make very easy changes that would help me reach my goals.  Within the first 6 weeks, my body responded astonishingly well to the medication, bringing my insulin levels back to normal, record time the nurse even said.  I had met with the nutritionist a couple of times and lost close to 20 pounds and was feeling good.  

The goal seemed reachable and I was stretching to grab it!