[on the plank]

I went through a 6-7 month no period scare too. I was active and enjoying life and not overweight then either. I cannot remember the name of the drugs I was given that induced a period, but it was a nasty experience (gave me really bad acne and body zits!!) my period was never (and still is not after 2 kids) normal after that as I still go without a period occasionally.



I have a calendar on which I tracked my period start and end dates for 11 years. I noticed that my periods went through several different stages along the way - some closer together, some farther apart. Some Periods were only a few days long, some were over 10 days long. Some months there was nothing, some there were two almost back to back. It really is bazaar because it doesn’t make much sense. There is one pattern though that I only noticed after my husband pointed it out - I only averaged 10 periods per year - not 12. Periods are not naturally once a month anyway, but a few women do have clock like periods every month. Even now after the children my periods start around 4-5 days later each time so it works out to be around 2 periods less per year. I am not on the pill or any other contraceptive so it seems that this is how my body naturally works for me.



I am not trying to label weight as a 'problem' - that’s too negative. What I am trying to say though is that losing weight can help in more ways than one (its that whole self esteem, physical mobility factor and range of body cavity mobility thing too) I was not overweight when I was diagnosed. I was 18. I did not carry any significant weight till over 10 years after the diagnosis, and my infertility condition did not change with the weight added on. BUT, losing the weight did help. To be honest, one cannot deny how weight may be an issue for some women- after all, it is a fact that extra fatty material can stick to organs and hinder their operation or impede their range of movement within the body cavity. Getting back to the range of normal weight for my body seemed to have 'reprogrammed' what ever it was that had been affected. A rather non-medical way of saying I fixed myself. My cousin was quite overweight all her life. After she lost al her extra weight it took a few months, but she did get pregnant (due any day now). In fact, as pregnant as she is right now from the back she still looks much smaller than she did when she was overweight!



I am not totally convinced it was the weight loss that was the only reason for our conception. Some people claim that different positions and different sex *styles* help. Some say that simply forgetting about it helps. Maybe it was just our time... Maybe it was the switch to an organic vegetarian eating style. Maybe it was just one of these things, maybe it was a combination of them all. I don't know, but I do know that losing the weight was the last thing I did after doing all those other things.



I can say for sure that it was not a side affect from taking the pill - I have not taken it in over 19 years now and don't intend to ever take it.



x