Fertility with illness

Hi everybody! Thank you for clicking in and reading. This might be a little long, so bear with me. I’m gonna do a timeline sort of thing here but there’s a lot to it. For those who haven’t met me, hi, I’m Shay. I’m 18 years old, I’m a girl mommy, and I’m 20 weeks along!

•When I was 14, I was diagnosed with POTS. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (or POTS), is basically when you have reduced blood volume when moving positions. So very frequently when I sit up, stand up, don’t drink enough liquid or eat enough, and when I’m on my cycle, I black out. This led to many concussions and other health issues.

•From the first time I started my cycle, around 12, something was severely wrong. Aside from POTS, I would black out consistently in the first few days from the pain of my cramping. I would 🩸 so much that nothing I tried helped. Super flow and all that. It took gynecologists a long time, but at 18, they diagnosed me with endometriosis. This is a leading cause of infertility.

•I had only been actively trying for a baby since 2023, and infertility hadn’t really crossed my mind. I was at a doctors appointment for my endometriosis on March 12th, 2024. My doctor was running tests and an ultrasound. She said I wouldn’t be able to have kids, definitely not until I had the surgery for my endometriosis at least. She said that I may be able to after, but it’s not a guarantee. My fertility levels, or at least my FSH in blood work, showed I was well below where I should be, and in the negatives.

•On March 16th, 2024, I took a pregnancy test because I was feeling really off and had a gut feeling. Sure enough, it was positive! I took maybe 5 more, I just couldn’t believe it at all. 4 days prior, my doctor said there was no way I could conceive, and we even did an ultrasound.

•June 2nd, 2024, I found out I was having a girl. My husband and I are ecstatic. We have our anatomy scan today, and I’m hoping everything goes smoothly and sweet baby girl is healthy and growing well.

Thank you for reading all the way to this point if you did! I’m a professional yapper 😂. But it means the world to me, and there’s hope for everybody I believe. Everything will work out for you 🩷.

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