For most of you, I’m Nicole the RD Taylor’s childhood friend and contributing registered dietitian. I savor creating recipes and talking about myths and debunking them while teaching some research based facts and hoping to change lives for the healthier. For most of you, I’ve been missing in action on this website for some time due to a family emergency. My daddy (yes, I still call him daddy) was in the hospital since May 11th and has been through the ringer. He had a massive heart attack rendering him lifeless and without much hope. Luckily for us… Prayer, synchronicity, and my daddy’s absolute determination to survive meant that he came home on Monday. After being in a medically induced coma, on life support, intubated on a ventilator and put through a series of life saving surgeries he is HOME.
NY Presbyterian at Columbia University saved my daddy’s life. They remained positive, never gave up on him, and it is because of them that I still can hug him, see his smiling face, and hear him call me, “peanut.” My mom proved time and time again how incredibly strong she was through this entire ordeal (and still is going strong) by making the appropriate decisions when they needed to be made and for being aggressive with treatment, supportive for myself, Michele and Jeff, and for always telling us whole heartedly that things were going to be “okay.” During his vacation… That’s what we are affectionately calling it… we all endured an incredible ride on the emotional rollercoaster. From sitting in the waiting rooms for 14 hours straight, to sleeping in cars, to not sleeping at all; it was a trip. It got me thinking about what I endured health wise personally. I plan on doing a blog post about stress eating and stress anorexia because I experienced both of those things while at the hospital.
With that said, I think it’s important to self-disclose. We are all human, we are not perfect, and sometimes life hands you lemons. I feel it is time for me to finally open up about something that I have been enduring for quite some time. Because of everything that has happened and is happening with my dad, it has helped me learn that we were never alone in no matter what we are going through. In the hospital, there were many families going through what we were going through and the support system we created in the ICU family waiting room helped our healing process. To know you have a safety net means you are not afraid to leap. Sometimes, a leap of faith is exactly what you need.
Okay, enough build-up… What I am trying to say is that I am experiencing infertility.
“You’re still young.”
“Don’t put so much stress on yourself.”
“Just go out, have fun and drink champagne!”
“Oh, it took me four months to get pregnant, I know how you feel.”
Those are all some of the things I have heard in response to my “we’re working on it,” when people ask why we haven’t had kids yet. The truth is… I can’t do it on my own and we are finally undergoing fertility treatments with a wonderful specialist who is nothing but positive. From IUI to IVF and Clomid to Trigger Shots, it takes a toll on you mentally, physically and emotionally. Both of our families have been wonderful and have offered everything from a shoulder to cry on to eggs if we need a donor. I feel it in my bones that we are meant to be parents and we will be one day, but after two years it gets harder and harder to see the light. If you’re a woman, it’s hard not to feel less than perfect when it comes to pregnancy. It’s our God given right as a woman to conceive, carry, and deliver children. It’s the one thing that we can do that men cannot (okay, one of the things… haha!) and I just always imagined that it would happen when we were ready.
What is infertility? Infertility is usually defined as the inability to become pregnant after one year of trying to get pregnant without any form of birth control. There are several causes of infertility. These include female and male factors. Male factors are usually the easiest to rule out and include low sperm count and abnormal sperm production. They are diagnosed by having a semen sample analyzed in the laboratory for sperm count and motility. Female factors are more complex and more difficult to sort out.
Unfortunately for us, we have female factor infertility. I was recently diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome which ultimately means I do not ovulate. I have already undergone some tests and treatments and we remain hopeful that this can all be sorted out… but in the meantime it has taken a toll on my body. Usually, I am very fit and active. I eat all the right foods (98% of the time, haha) and I go to the gym 5 times a week. Fertility medications and treatments can mean stopping physical activity and the onset of physical symptoms rendering you to feel unhealthy and for lack of better words… large.
However, I have found that there are quite a few things that you can do to help those symptoms subside and keep your body in check. Most of the side effects I have experienced with my PCOS has been linked to the insulin resistance that it caused. My nutrition goal has been to do my best to keep my blood sugar and insulin levels moderate and stable throughout the day.
To keep blood sugar in check, try following these simple tips:
- Choose high-quality carbs vs low-quality carbs. High-quality carbohydrates are your natural carbohydrates. They include vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains. High-quality carbohydrates are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Lower quality carbohydrates can trigger unhealthy spikes in blood sugar, so you should try to avoid them if you can. Low-quality carbohydrates include soda, sweetened drinks, fruit juice, candy, cookies, baked goods, sugary cereals, white bread, white pasta, and white crackers.
- Eat even healthy carbohydrates in moderation. Enjoy 1-2 servings per meal. A serving is equivalent to ½ cup whole wheat pasta, brown rice, or beans/lentils, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 serving of healthy cereal, ½ cup cooked oatmeal, ½ cup starchy vegetables like peas, corn, or potatoes, ½ medium baked potato, or 1 piece/1 cup of fruit.
- My favorite tip, and we’ve spoken about this before, you should always try to pair carbs with lean protein. Pairing a high-carbohydrate food like fruit, starchy vegetables, or whole grains with a lean protein helps stop the rapid rise in blood sugar that occurs after a meal. Good protein choices include skinless chicken and turkey, fish and seafood, lean beef, pork tenderloin, eggs, reduced-fat or nonfat dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), nuts and nut butters, and whole soy foods.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the changes in my diet that I have had to make after my diagnosis of PCOS and infertility. I hope if you are struggling with either of those things in your life that you find comfort in knowing you’re not alone. There are hundreds on online communities that you can join and speak to other women feeling the same way that you are. I plan on continuing to invite the TaylorWalkerFit family into my journey and you never know, in the future I could be blogging about foods to eat during pregnancy.
Being infertile does not mean you’re broken, it just means you have to take a different path to where you will ultimately end up.
Faith, love, and pixie dust,
Nicole J