FS what?

FSH is actually the REAL reason I started this blog. I know what you must be thinking. It's not for my quick wit and interesting stories? Nope. Sorry...but they'll keep on coming, so don't fret.

So back to the topic that is probably boring for you but will determine if I will have a future lineage. FSH stands for Follicle Stimulating Hormone.

To spell it out in dummy terms (because that's how it needs to be explained to me): FSH is made in the pituitary gland of the brain, which makes hormones. If the ovaries have many eggs, the FSH in a woman’s blood is low because the body doesn’t need to work hard to get a normal ovulation. If the egg number is low, the body needs to work harder to get ovulation, so it increases the amount of FSH in an effort to push the ovaries.

Back in December of last year, I had a few large cysts removed from each ovary. My doctor, Dr. Confino, is a well-renowned Reproductive Endocrinologist at Northwestern. He decided to check my FSH level during my 6 month pre-op checkup in July.

Turns out, my FSH was at an elevated level of 14. That's not so good...check out this chart.

For a 32 yr old woman, my FSH should be under 7 and no higher than 10. After doing a little research, I found out that some invitrofertilization clinics won't even assist women if their level is over 12 because the chances of pregnancy is so slim.

Back to my point about why I started this blog. Brian and I are getting married in April of next year, when I'll be 33. We were planning on enjoying our first 2 years of marriage childfree, but my doctors (I got a second opinion so it's now plural) are pushing us to try for a child as soon as we get married, if not sooner. I'll tell ya what, I'm glad we've been living a life of sin in unmarital bliss for the past two years because at least we HAVE been able to really enjoy our time together.

So here I am...wanting to document the process of our journey. Hell, as I've said to many people, I am documenting this to simply shove in the faces of our future children when they talk back to me so that I can remind them that their Mommy was NOT ready to bring them into the world but did so ANYWAY. So there. (I doubt that'll shut them up if they have my blood running through them...but hey, I can try.)

So here is the good news!!!

I had my FSH retested on Sunday and it's down from a 14 to a 10. 10 is still pretty high, but it's a lot lower than 14!! Only time will tell about future FSH tests...so I've made a little chart on the side of the blog to document it.

Stay tuned!

If you'd like to read more about FSH, check out this NYU doc's blog. Scroll down a bit to get to the FSH part.