Big News All Around

At 6:14pm on March 11, 2013, our nephew, Nicolas Lawrence, was born. Robbie G is now a big brother! Dave and I couldn't be more excited for another addition to our family!

I had my appointment today with Dr. L. It was a follow-up to me completing my medication transition to the Lamotrigine and then to the Lamotrigine ER.

She gave us the "go ahead" to trying to start a family. We went over my trough level, which I found out was at 4.3 (up from the original 3.8). It is at a low therapeutic level, which is where we want it to be if we were to get pregnant. She explained that once we are pregnant, we may have to adjust the dosage a little higher because the baby would be bigger and it gets more difficult to manage seizures at that stage. I'm okay with this plan because the cognitive brain function is mostly formed in the first trimester and I'm taking just under 4mg of folic acid to counteract any complications of my medicine.

She mentioned that this would be a difficult path for us. I read some articles from the National Institute of Health that explain that the average woman that takes one type of antiepileptic drug has a 31.8% chance of suffering from infertility. That percentage doesn't factor in my PCOS (which thanks to being off Tegretol, some of the symptoms have lessened) and endometriosis. A healthy woman has only a 20% chance every month of becoming pregnant, assuming she ovulates on her own.

All of those statistics frighten me. I am optimistic though. I have always wanted to be a mom and I know it'll happen one way or another. I realize I can't focus on the statistics because you never know what God has planned for you.