When we were referred to the hospital for further investigations, the nurse instantly told me that I was overweight and that I wasn't helping matters.
I proceeded to look in to my diet and managed to lose a stone straight away. Then I got stuck. I joined the gym and found a love of group exercise. I made some great friends and still enjoyed treats after working out. Gradually more weight came off and I started to look and feel amazing. I even took up running - and even managed to complete 5k, 5mile and 10k events!
But as my weight plateaued, I struggled and felt like my target would never be hit. In March 2015, we wrote to the Fertility Department at Shrewsbury who had us on a watchful waig list to explain my predicament ... I was changing shape, but couldn't seem to get the scales to show the loss! I spoke with Pat from the hospital who advised me to do anything and everything that I could!
I spoke with Amanda from my gym and she advised me to cut my carbs and also cut back on exercise and see how I got on. The weight began to fall off - and I felt amazing.
On May 13th, I finally hit my 5stone loss! I was ecstatic! I posted on Facebook and the support that I got was amazing. I then called up the fertility clinic as Richard was booked in for a check up the following week. I asked if I could just pop along and get weighed as I knew that the scales would differ at the hospital. The nurse I spoke to was lovely and said that she would make a note that I wanted to be weighed when we visited.
Fast forward to Thursday 21st. I felt fine as I knew I'd done my best and was at the lightest I've been since my journey began. I went to work in the morning and ate nothing and only drank one cuppa to ensure that I wasn't holding a lot of fluid.
We arrived at the hospital and I felt at ease as I had no expectations for the day. Richard had his appointment and a nurse called Yvonne called me to go and het weighed. I got on the scales and stopd tall as she measured my height and weighed me. She then said I shod look at my BMI. It changed from 30.5 to 30.6. I knew I needed to be around 30 so I was waiting for her to tell me how many more pounds I needed to shift. She left ius in a room while I put my shoes back on and she came back in and said that she had told the Doctor about my progress and she announced he was happy for me to proceed with treatment! I wastaken aback and actually cried! I couldn't speak.
I'd finally reached my goal. We can proceed with IVF. I honestly was not expecting to be given this news! Yvonne came back and booked us in for a group session on 5th June to find out all about what is involved. She also booked us in for a session just the two of us to discuss what happens next. This session is on 16th June and then we go on holiday to Cornwall on 21st June. Knowing that our IVF is imminent is such a strange but comforting feeling. I also need to take a step back and not assume that this is it ... I know the odds, statistics etc are not good - but at least we have a chance!
We left the hospital in a state of shock. We'd already arranged to go to a pub on the way to Birmingham. We arrived at The Woodbridge pub at Coalport and the first thing I ordered was a glass of wine. We then ordered a cheeseburger with chips each! It was 3pm and we were starving! I felt like I earned my burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. We stopped off at Ironbrige for a stroll around then we headed to Birmingham. I made Richard keep quiet about the outcome of our visit. I wanted his Mum to find out face to face as she always gets to hear things over the phone. We popped to Tesco and bought a bottle of Prossecco and had to buy a bag of ice as it wasn't chilled (much to Richard's annoyance as he totally disagrees with buying ice).
Anyway, we celebrated with cheese and crackers and a glass of fizz.
I told my Dad on the phone and Gareth and Charlie - who cried when I told her which was lovely.
I've decided to tell several friends that I've been accepted for treatment, but I don't really want to tell anyone when the treatment actually begins as I don't want any pressure.
For the time being, it's time to keep the pounds at bay and hopefully shed a few more.
