Health

Perinatal Mental Health

~ wannabemama1982 ~ 2 Comments

HappySad FaceSo, I’ve hinted/skimmed over this before but I have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Specifically Bipolar II which is characterised by mainly experiencing periods of depression, and a “milder” form of elevated mood called hypomania – not the full on mania people usually associated with Bipolar.

I’ve been stable for quite a few years now, but Bipolar is a “serious mental illness” (and comes under the psychosis category although I don’t consider myself “psychotic”!!), so it’s something that needs to be considered and managed through out the pre-conception period, pregnancy, and post-partum…
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…The anticlimax

~ Henissi ~ 4 Comments

So sorry for leaving you hanging! I finally had the gynae appointment last week and it was a little bit of a roller coaster of a day, I needed some time to wind down and process afterwards, and then things got busy with work…but I’m back with my update although to be honest it’s a bit of an anticlimax.

I went to Guy’s Hospital in London for the appointment and I was pleased that I had an early appointment before the clinic had a change to start running late. The appointment letter had said to allow up to 3 hours as they’d try and do any investigations on the day if they could, so I dragged my mum along to keep me company, but I didn’t end up being there anywhere near that long Continue reading →

I’ve baffled the doctor!!

~ Henissi ~ Leave a comment

Latest non-development in the Case of the Disappearing Periods.

Yesterday I anxiously waited for my 7:50pm appointment with the GP to get the results of my blood tests. My usual doctor (Dr A) is off taking some personal time, so for the last couple of appointment when I’ve gone for blood results I’ve seen Dr B (who is very nice).

The blood tests were for a whole host of things since, so far, PCOS, suspected Premature Ovarian Failure (POF/early menopause), and any obvious ovary/womb irregularities have been rule out by the investigations so far. So last week they took 3 tubes of blood to run 5 tests, and today I went for my results… everything came back normal.

Now, while this may initially sound like cause to jump up and down screaming “Yay! I’m normal!! :-)” I’m not. Continue reading →

Everything is brown…

~ Henissi ~ 5 Comments

So Monday morning I started the second part of my health-kick healthy lifestyle change – eating more healthily.

In the past I have tried Weight Watchers at least 5 times, and in 2014 I managed to drop 26lbs (nearly 2 stone) on Atkins. I found that the no carbs thing worked better for me than trying to limit calories; I’m just not good at moderation and it was great to be on a diet where I could eat “as much as I want” and still have yummy fatty foods (Burgers? Yep. Foods cooked with oils/butter? Yep. Salad dressings? Yep). Why is everything nice either full of sugar or fat?. Once I taste something yummy I don’t want to limit myself to a tiny portion; it’s much easier for me to just set certain things as off limits and let them nowhere near my taste buds.
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Getting healthy for Operation Baby – supplements

~ Henissi ~ 4 Comments

When I saw my GP to green light Operation Baby we discussed my being in optimum health as the most important thing to focus on before TTC. In my mind there are 3 parts to that:

  1. Lose weight via. a healthy balanced diet (current BMI 31 – need to get to 25)
  2. Make sure I’m getting all the vitamins & minerals I need up to optimal baby-making levels
  3. Relax! Try to keep stress levels down

Vitamin containers.jpgPoint 1 is going to be discussed on this blog at length since losing weight is going to be the hardest and take the longest, so I thought I’d start off with a post about the first active (and quickest!) step I’ve taken… choosing my vitamin supplements…
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Watching and waiting – late ovulation?

~ Henissi ~ 1 Comment
Is she coming?
Is she coming?

I have spent my weekend on tenderhooks waiting and wondering whether Aunt Flo is going to grace me with her presence this cycle (well technically to start a new cycle).

She was officially due on Sunday, but since my cycles range from 24-26 days I was looking out for her any day from Friday. I know when you’re waiting for something and watching for it like a hawk it takes ages (“a watched kettle never  boils”), but following my appointment with the doc a week ago I have forms here for 6 blood tests to be done on CD2. I’m not a massive fan of walk-in clinics so I tried to be pro-active by booking appoints for Saturday and this morning (if Sunday had been CD2 I’d just have to have tested CD3). So of course…nothing!
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