To all the 3 Fat Chicks Ideal Protein Ladies,

I am struggling with secondary infertility. I have one daughter- she will be 3 in March. We have been trying to conceive Baby #2 since Sept 2012. I am starting my second round of Clomid this cycle.

As far as I have been told- I have probable PCOS and not ovulating. My husband has checked out fine. I am guessing my problems stem from being obese. (215lbs right now).

I have been looking for a forum on infertility like the Ideal Protein forum here. I just can't find anything near as good! So I was thinking that maybe we can start a thread in here- I am surely not the only one going through this. So please- if you are in the same boat as me- let's support each other!

I have just started somewhat of a reboot of IP yesterday- going to work at losing some more weight. I did IP for 5 weeks this fall and lost 24lbs. I apparently gained 10 of that back over the holidays according to my scale! Not impressed. But I am still down from 230lbs in August and that is still an achievement! Trying to stay positive- but feeling like a failure in so many ways these days...

Not currently trying to get pregnant, but here for support. I had issues with infertility for a few years. Was not ovulating or having cycles. Long story...lots of different things were tried in the process. I did have daughter #1 with clomid (among other things, including a shot of progesterone every day of my first trimester) and also daughter #2 with clomid (and progesterone pills.) I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was overweight but not obese..I honestly can't remember what I weighed, but it was less than now.

Although my oldest is now almost 20, I'm here for you for support. She is now experiencing similar issues as I did at her age. Her cycles have stopped and she is having bad headaches and some other symptoms. She might have PCOS, but she's see by different Drs that don't agree. She's seeing a naturopath that is trying some new tests. She is a bit overweight and wants to try IP when this year of college is over. Maybe losing weight will help with her cycles.

Just a bonus point...after having 2 girls with fertility pills, I ended up getting pregnant on my own 2 more times. One was on bc pills! So my body did figure it out eventually. Still have hormone issues to this day. Hoping with ME losing weight, that will correct itself.

Praying for you in your journey!

I did two cycles of comid last year and didn't get pregnant. My insurance ran out and I was going to have to come out of pocket so we stopped. Got pregnant in July but lost the baby at 6 weeks. That was the life changing depiction for me to start IP. Hoping that we will get pregnant once I reach goal weight but not focusing on trying. I'm still struggling with the miscarriage and so scared to try again. I don't think I could handle another loss.

Have them check your progesterone levels. I would get pregnant on clomid, too, but then miscarry. Once they figured out that my progesterone levels stayed too low even when pregnant, they began giving me the prog each day of my first trimester (baby needs prog to survive until placenta is developed).

I'm very sorry for your loss. I've been there and understand the hurt. I still remember to this day the due dates of the ones I lost, even more than 20 years later. You're doing a great thing by getting your body healthy. Hugs to you!

I started the investigation process in September. So far, all of my test results look good. But- I put everything on pause until next month, because they found I had no more German measles immunity, so I had to be revaccinated in October. The recommendation is to wait 30-90 days after the shot before trying again. The other obstacle is that my insurance covers nothing. I really need to schedule the HSG, but I am deciding whether or not I should wait for our insurance to possibly change in September. I'll be 41 in February, so I don't want to wait too much longer. I had a couple friends with similar histories to mine who became pregnant after the HSG procedure - regular cycles, good labs, no pregnancies. I know it's just another test, but for some people, the procedure removes blockages. I am going to call the office and see if, based on my labs so far, there is another code that they can use other than infertility. I know this process takes money, but it is so frustrating that if I had my previous insurance (expired 8/31), all of these tests would have been fully covered.
Thanks for adding this thread.
Side note- I work with children from birth to three. Several of the moms had infertility problems with low-normal thyroid that doctors didn't treat. Once they were treated (and monitored), they became pregnant. While on IP last time, the doctor evaluated my results and found my thyroid to be low normal. This could also be related to all of the soy in the product. He recommended iodine supplementation, which I only did while I was being monitored. The fertility doctor said my levels were good. They forgot to give me a copy of my labs, so I need to get them for myself and evaluate the differences. I don't warn to mess up my thyroid function, so I stopped the iodine after IP the last time. It has a very significant effect, and I would only recommend pursuing it at the advice of your doctor.

I'm so sorry you lost your baby. I can totally relate to being scared to try again. My son was born sleeping in late November and I'm still in the thick of my grief. I'm doing IP to lose the baby weight and try again, but also give me something else to focus on and feel connected to my body again. I'm hoping that if I get back to a normal BMI, it can only help my chances of delivering a healthy baby. Wishing you the best! Again, I'm very sorry.

Thank you all for your kind words. It sounds totally selfish but right now I'm tucking away the grief and sadness to focus on me. When I'm in a better place with myself I know I'll get pregnant again.

Not selfish at all! You can't change what happened, but you can make yourself healthier. I think after what we've been through, we are all entitled to grieve or not grieve, however we choose.

Totally agree with RN4Babies...not selfish AT ALL to focus on you and getting healthy. You need to take care of yourself, grieve in the way that's best for you (there is no manual for this) and focus on what will make you healthy and happy.

Hello,

I am so sorry for your loss, I totally understand what you feel since I did a failed IVF and since the moment I saw the embryo it was a total connection and I am never over the fact that the baby did not survive, I mean it was there in my womb only to have a negative pregnancy test two weeks later, still now, a year later, writing these words, I still have tears in my eyes.

I gained a huge amount of weight while doing the treatment for IVF, I couldn't lose all of it yet, I tried, but failed, but I'm trying again, so I'm here for support.

On the positive side, I know that IP makes us more fertile.

I have a doctor's appointment on the 20th of this month, I'm sure that I have to go through all of the tests I've already did cause it's been more than a year already, so not sure when I will have another IVF, but hopefully by then I would have lost some more weight.

Stay strong and good luck.