Ok, as a rule I never and I mean never upload pictures of myself to the internet that are not good pictures like the top one posted here. I figure the image I project may as well be a good one since I have control over it. However, for the sake of science and possibly another woman's sanity I will do it just this once.
The story begins years ago (ok technically only 3 1/2 years ago) after Tony and I first got married. We didn't get pregnant for almost a year the first time we tried, and right before I found out I was pregnant the first time I went to my doctor to have my thyroid checked because I was absolutely certain that something was wrong with it.
So anyway, the doctor's office tells me that my thyroid is fine, like 4.6 or something. Now if you don't know anything about thyroid levels (TSH) the normal range is from about 0.5 to 5.0 but endocrinologists consider anything over about 3 to be hypothyroid or "subclinical hypothyroidism". So anyway, what I didn't know at the time is that if the thyroid is high, it can cause infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth in addition to many other symptoms, including fatigue & weight gain.
Ok, so back to my current story. A small number of women have problems with their thyroid after giving birth, and apparently I am one of them. I am posting a picture from Sept. 08 and a picture from Dec. 08 (the top pic is from December, the bottom pic is from Sept.) to show exactly what happened. I started feeling crappy about October and knew that the thyroid could be an issue. I still had a sneaking suspicion that I have always had transient thyroid problems but finally (thank goodness) have a doctor who listens!
From mid-September until October I gained 8 lbs. You better believe I was thinking holy @#$! I haven't been doing anything different why am I gaining so much weight so fast? (And I wasn't preggo or anything at the time). So I went to my doc and sure enough the levels were above 4 again.
The fascinating thing about it all was that I called my OB's office to see what my thyroid levels were when I was preggo with Holden and it was at 1.8. So as it turns out I was probably right the very first time I went to the doctor years ago and he told me it was normal. No wonder I had trouble getting pregnant at that time (and ended up having a miscarriage a couple months later).
Now I am on medication and Baby and I are both fine. So ladies, if you feel it in your gut, don't ignore it. And have your thyroid checked if you are postpartum or just feeling crappy or gaining weight for no reason.
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