Hope In The Waiting

After being told to schedule yet another appointment in about a month; despite the fact that nearly eleven months had passed with nothing happening. I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I was determined to find the root cause, if there even was one.

I began diving into research: medical literature on fertility struggles, hormonal imbalances, and statistics on how many couples conceive within a year. The list felt endless. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.

After compiling an extensive amount of information, I carefully sorted through it, highlighting peer-reviewed articles and books that resonated with me, with my body. One thing that stood out immediately was my menstrual cycle. It had always been irregular. Some months it would last three to four days; other times, seven days or more. Previous doctors had told me this was normal, that cycles can change with age.

There were also times when my period would disappear for months altogether. Before doing my own research (and not knowing any better), I believed that was fine. Normal. Stress-related. And while stress can absolutely impact the body, it shouldn’t cause dramatic changes that prevent your body from regulating itself and maintaining overall health.

Through my research, I learned just how crucial hormones are to overall health and mental well-being. Hormones influence the immune system, sleep cycles, body weight (hello, thyroid), and even serotonin levels, which affect mood. And that’s only scratching the surface. When there is a hormonal imbalance, the effects rarely stop at one system; it can impact multiple areas of the body at once.

After several months of research, I condensed everything I had learned and created a short list of what my body might be trying to tell me.

That list included: infertility, unexplained infertility, hormonal imbalances (specifically estrogen and progesterone), and PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).

By no means am I encouraging self-diagnosis or suggesting that research should replace medical care. What I am saying is this: it is okay to research. It is okay to listen to your body. And it is more than okay to advocate for yourself.