Michael and Brandon Keilen: Part 4

[TeaELSee]

1 hour ago, Melissa1977 said:

Michael, who mothered these kids, seems to miss more her sister's babies than her own little siblings. L

I agree with your overall statement, however Jeb and Jud are included in some of the pictures Michael just posted.  She seems to dote on her younger siblings the most. (Compared to her siblings). 

Edited November 26, 2018 by TeaELSee

[VelociRapture]

1 hour ago, TeaELSee said:

I agree with your overall statement, however Jeb and Jud are included in some of the pictures Michael just posted.  She seems to dote on her younger siblings the most. (Compared to her siblings). 

Michael doesn’t post much, but I agree that she is still pretty good at highlighting her younger siblings on social media. She usually posts about them when her siblings go visit them in Illinois. I think she mainly focuses on the nieces and nephews in her posts about visiting Tennessee because that’s probably when she gets to see them the most. Her married siblings don’t seem to really ship their kids off to the Keilens the way Kelly and Gil do. 

[Melissa1977]

2 hours ago, TeaELSee said:

I agree with your overall statement, however Jeb and Jud are included in some of the pictures Michael just posted.  She seems to dote on her younger siblings the most. (Compared to her siblings). 

You are right, Michael is the most bonded sibling and my example wasn't the best one. But for families like Duggars or Bates, who claim siblings are the best friends, it's shocking how elder siblings mostly ignore their young ones (well, not exactly shocking... I understand them, but it's another shade of their hypocrisy).

[Mela99]

I don't think Michael and Brandon have left it up to God as it is. Didn't Michael have her fallopian tubes cleared out because there was a blocking? If God wanted to unblock your fallopian tubes, wouldn't he have done it, or make the egg(s) jump from one side to the other? If you are not leaving it up to God anyway, you might as well do IVF. 
Also, in my opinion, you can still do IVF whilst leaving it up to God. Maybe God spoke to you through the Holy Spirit and prompted you to do IVF. Or alternatively, to limit your family size, with NFP or birth control. 

She didn't have them cleared out - the procedure that tests for blockage in the fallopian tubes, an HSG, can potentially help if there is blockage, but its not treatment, just a diagnostic procedure.

IIRC, She was diagnosed with PCOS and hyperovulation, no tube issues.

[Coconut Flan]

She did finally find out what the problem was and released the info?  The last thing I read or heard from her was they still had no answer.  

[just_ordinary]

7 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

She did finally find out what the problem was and released the info?  The last thing I read or heard from her was they still had no answer.  

I wouldn’t call that an answer. I cannot remember anything about PCOS but I definitely recall the hyperovulation. If anything this should make it easier to conceive. She really could have had a ton of children as the chances of twins would be higher. While I am sorry for them personally I am relieved that there is no new mega family with too many soldiers for Christ that are raised within IBLP.

Maybe they have gotten some answers by now and decided not to talk about it publicly. God knows I wouldn’t have the strength to deal with all the well meant comments and the pity. Sharing the diagnosis invites comments full of treatment recommendations, often more „wish/magic“. Think: “I ate an unpeeled banana every monday and three months later I was pregnant.” Wouldn’t want to deal with that either.

 

(I don’t know much about PCOS but isn’t one of the problems that the eggs don’t mature properly and therefore ovulation is often irregular? Wouldn’t PCOS and hyperovulation not be mutually exclusive?)

[nelliebelle1197]

17 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

You are right, Michael is the most bonded sibling and my example wasn't the best one. But for families like Duggars or Bates, who claim siblings are the best friends, it's shocking how elder siblings mostly ignore their young ones (well, not exactly shocking... I understand them, but it's another shade of their hypocrisy).

That is because Michael is their mom and Kelly is their grandma.

[VelociRapture]

18 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

You are right, Michael is the most bonded sibling and my example wasn't the best one. But for families like Duggars or Bates, who claim siblings are the best friends, it's shocking how elder siblings mostly ignore their young ones (well, not exactly shocking... I understand them, but it's another shade of their hypocrisy).

I also wouldn’t include Jill Dillard in the group of elder siblings to be honest. Out of all the elder Duggar siblings, she’s the one who has remained the closest publicly with her buddy group. She hasn’t posted much about them over the last year or two, but she also had a responsibility to her own kids she should be focusing on - just like the other second gen married couples with kids.

And to be honest I really don’t find it all that hypocritical of the elder siblings to “ignore” their little siblings online. They’re married and have their own children to focus on now. It should never have been their responsibility to become bonus parents to the younger siblings and I’m glad that the second gen parents from both families appear to be focusing more on the kids who are their responsibilities. And it’s important to note that while they might “ignore” them on social media that doesn’t necessarily mean they ignore them in person or real life either. 

I am 100% on board with criticizing the parents (Gil/Kelly and JimBob/Michelle) though. They manipulated their kids into doing their job for them and that’s just so wrong.  

[Shouldabeenacowboy]

9 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

(I don’t know much about PCOS but isn’t one of the problems that the eggs don’t mature properly and therefore ovulation is often irregular? Wouldn’t PCOS and hyperovulation not be mutually exclusive?)

I have PCOS and a variety of other hormonal/endocrine issues. I remember talking to my OBGYN when doing hormone therapies, and he said something along the lines that my ovaries produced a higher than average, fully developed egg amount, but these eggs just got stuck in the ovary and not get released (and that was my issue). I don't know much about hyperovulation, but it is possible to have tons of eggs that however remain stuck in the ovaries. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Shouldabeenacowboy

[kmachete14]

I would be very surprised it if was PCOS that was causing the problems, unless she and Brandon opted not to use Metformin or Clomid (not God's will?). Otherwise she would be on it, and it makes you super fertile. 

[meee]

13 hours ago, kmachete14 said:

I would be very surprised it if was PCOS that was causing the problems, unless she and Brandon opted not to use Metformin or Clomid (not God's will?). Otherwise she would be on it, and it makes you super fertile. 

Not necessarily. Clomid can have the side effect of thickening your cervical fluid, making it harder for sperm to get through, which is why Clomid is often used in combination with IUI rather than just alone. It can also thin the lining of the uterus, making implantation more difficult. It certainly helps a lot of people, it's just not necessarily a magical drug to suddenly give someone lots of babies.

[kmachete14]

6 hours ago, meee said:

Not necessarily. Clomid can have the side effect of thickening your cervical fluid, making it harder for sperm to get through, which is why Clomid is often used in combination with IUI rather than just alone. It can also thin the lining of the uterus, making implantation more difficult. It certainly helps a lot of people, it's just not necessarily a magical drug to suddenly give someone lots of babies.

I think it actually thins/dries up the cervical fluid. More fluid means more sperm motility. But yes, I agree. But I still think its not PCOS, or only PCOS, that is causing their infertility as I have PCOS as my doctor seemed very cheerful and positive and has had many PCOS patients conceive babies! Unless she is just trying to keep my morale up lol 

[QuiverDance]

On 11/26/2018 at 7:40 PM, Mela99 said:

She didn't have them cleared out - the procedure that tests for blockage in the fallopian tubes, an HSG, can potentially help if there is blockage, but its not treatment, just a diagnostic procedure.

IIRC, She was diagnosed with PCOS and hyperovulation, no tube issues.

This is what I had.  I conceived about 5 months after HSG and ceasing fertility drugs.  It turned out that I actually had a progesterone deficiency!  I found out I was pregnant super early and took it to sustain the pregnancy.  I found out super early because I had ordered a million pregnancy tests and started peeing on sticks every day of my life.  No telling how many miscarriages I may have had before I started doing that because I was waiting too long to test!  (I was very irregular due to my PCOS, so cycles were hard to track) I have never understood why my RE or my OB didn't test me for that deficiency!  (Maybe they couldn't... because I had never been pregnant, so who would know... I just know that as soon as I had the positive tests, they checked my levels and supplemented my progesterone.).   ETA:  I guess the technical term was luteal phase defect, and doctor google says it's difficult to diagnose.

 

With my second pregnancy, which was not at all expected (first baby was 10 months old), I found out super early because I noticed pregnancy melasma on my face and immediately bought a pregnancy test, which was positive.  It was so crazy.  I saw that darker pigmentation and immediately knew I was pregnant again. I took progesterone that time as well.  

 

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by QuiverDance

[Iamtheway]

6 hours ago, kmachete14 said:

I think it actually thins/dries up the cervical fluid. More fluid means more sperm motility. But yes, I agree. But I still think its not PCOS, or only PCOS, that is causing their infertility as I have PCOS as my doctor seemed very cheerful and positive and has had many PCOS patients conceive babies! Unless she is just trying to keep my morale up lol 

I have PCOS and it took a while but we did get our baby. Keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that you will too!

[VelociRapture]

3 hours ago, Iamtheway said:

I have PCOS and it took a while but we did get our baby. Keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that you will too!

My sister has it as well @kmachete14. Her first son is 33 months old and her second is almost five months old. As far as I know she did not need any interventions or help sustaining her pregnancies (if she did she chose not to share that with me, which is fine because that’s a pretty personal journey and not everyone wants to share the details.) I would assume that whether a woman with PCOS is able to become pregnant or sustain a pregnancy would really depend on her individual case though. I’ve always said that trying to conceive is pretty much a crapshoot for anyone because you usually don’t know ahead of time if you’ll have trouble or not and I’d assume that would be twice as true for someone with a fertility linked disorder.

All that said, I’ll definitely keep my fingers crossed for you.  

[Kaylo]

PCOS here too. My first was a clomid baby, my second was conceived without clomid after I lost about 30 lbs.

[kmachete14]

14 hours ago, Kaylo said:

PCOS here too. My first was a clomid baby, my second was conceived without clomid after I lost about 30 lbs.

Yeah that's what I'm worried about. If I lost 30lbs I'd be skin and bones and most likely not get a period anyways. Does anyone have experience being a "skinny cyster" (ugh the name is so cringe)? 

 

[theotherelise]

I'm a "normal body weight" PCOS person.

PCOS just means that you have two of the three: polycystic ovaries, elevated male hormones, or irregular cycles. How that manifests is really different. Maci Bookout (Teen Mom) has PCOS, but she's clearly very fertile and got pregnant the first time at 16/7. Some women with PCOS aren't ovulating at all and just need some clomid/letrezole and that fixes things for them. Some women can lose some weight and that does the trick. They don't really know what is the cause and what is the effect with PCOS. 

Personally, I have the string of pearls on my ovaries (all the cysts), higher than normal testosterone (but not quite "high"), and my cycles get longer and longer the further I get from birth control or other hormone treatment. I also have hormonal acne, male pattern hair growth, and difficulty managing my weight. I've not been tested for insulin resistance, but it occurs in a high number of PCOS people and I expect I have it. That said, I temped and took ovulation predictors for my first 12 months trying to conceive on my own and appeared to ovulate each month, albeit really late in the cycle (22-25 days in). 

My OBGYN said it was all fine and I could still get pregnant because it seemed like I was ovulating. But then I went to the RE and he said it might be that my eggs are over-mature when they finally get released or my body just has a really hard time growing follicles and they never get mature before they get released. I did 4 months of clomid and 2 months of letrezole with four trigger shots & IUIs and my body did something different each time. (I also most likely have endometriosis, but doctors know even less about it!)

If Michael is having hyperovulation, that may not be good because maybe her body divides its hormones between 2-3 follicles with neither becoming dominant or mature. IDK. It's not only about ovulating is my point. If your eggs are bad or not mature, you'll never get pregnant with them.

@kmachete14 you may have no trouble at all conceiving or you may have a ton of trouble. PCOS is different for each person. But your doctor has absolutely no more insight into it than you do. PCOS is the leading cause of infertility. If you decide to try someday, please be sure to advocate for yourself and not let your doctor tell you it's totally not a big deal. OBGYNs are really not trained to help people get pregnant, especially not anyone who isn't perfectly fertile.

[KelseyAnn]

18 hours ago, kmachete14 said:

Yeah that's what I'm worried about. If I lost 30lbs I'd be skin and bones and most likely not get a period anyways. Does anyone have experience being a "skinny cyster" (ugh the name is so cringe)? 

 

Yo - right here. I'm 5'1 and 130 pounds and I only started getting my period regularly after getting on the pill. Before that it would be once or twice a year at most. 

[HereticHick]

So--how do you think Michaela got all the stuff she's giving away? Random gifts from people who see her as an "ifluencer"? Is she regifting stuff from random leghumpers? [although she might enrage them if they notice she's regifting]

Is all this work and postage to send out this packages to the winners really worth the trouble of building her brand?

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

2 hours ago, HereticHick said:

So--how do you think Michaela got all the stuff she's giving away?

She's doing 12 giveaways over December - so far there's a lot of home-sewn stuff in there (and Erin's CDs that probably she got for free, and I think those bath bombs are probably homemade). I am wondering where the personal care products are coming from. Does she really get a lot of PR packs? Or just buys them somewhere cheap, maybe?

 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

TJ Maxx? I've also occasionally seen piles of nice, new hand creams or whatever at thrift stores, but they're rarely brand name. I would have guessed she was buying them directly for the purpose of the giveaway but I suppose I don't know much about being a quasi-famous Instagram influencer.

[ophelia]

I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS by my obgyn and I have to say that it was pretty rough for me. I yet have to find out which type of PCOS I am and have been sent to an endocrinologist for further testing. 

Have you made any changes when it comes to your diet after being diagnosed? I'm reading so much about it and feel quite overwhelmed. 

(Do we have a special thread for PCOS? I don't want to cause another thread drift.)

[theotherelise]

7 hours ago, ophelia said:

I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS by my obgyn and I have to say that it was pretty rough for me. I yet have to find out which type of PCOS I am and have been sent to an endocrinologist for further testing. 

Have you made any changes when it comes to your diet after being diagnosed? I'm reading so much about it and feel quite overwhelmed. 

(Do we have a special thread for PCOS? I don't want to cause another thread drift.)

Before I was diagnosed, but when I was already fairly certain I had it, I really buckled down on a lower carb/low-GI diet to lose 15 pounds and get to normal body weight. During infertility treatments it was really hard to maintain that focus on top of the side effects and I gained back about 5 pounds. I'm on a treatment break for the next 5 months as we save for IVF, so I'm trying to get back to that eating style now. Calorie counting will most likely not work for you if you have PCOS. 

Here is what I do based off my research and especially from the book "It Starts with the Egg":

• Myo-Inositol powder supplement 2x a day
• CoQ10 (recommended for anyone with infertility)
• Low-GI diet - don't eat carbs alone, lower overall net carbs, higher fiber (so you get your carbs mostly from veg), low dairy (sometimes helps with PCOS, so I'm trying it)
• Fitness regimen focused mostly on strength training. I do about 1/2 cardio and 1/2 resistance training. This kind of fitness approach has been shown to help your hormonal balance.

I've of course done some of the less scientific things like peppermint tea or whatever. My RE has never recommended Metformin or any thing special for me because of my PCOS, but it is really helpful for some, especially if your PCOS has caused you to be overweight. 

Sorry you're facing this new diagnosis and I hope you can figure out some strategies that work for you!

[VelociRapture]

12 hours ago, ophelia said:

I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS by my obgyn and I have to say that it was pretty rough for me. I yet have to find out which type of PCOS I am and have been sent to an endocrinologist for further testing. 

Have you made any changes when it comes to your diet after being diagnosed? I'm reading so much about it and feel quite overwhelmed. 

(Do we have a special thread for PCOS? I don't want to cause another thread drift.)

My SIL is currently dairy free on orders of her OBGYN. I’m pretty sure it’s for testing related to her PCOS and she may not have to keep doing it once the test is done, but I’m not sure. I’m also not sure what my sister may have needed to do for her PCOS. I know she’s had to cut back on dairy at some points, but I think that was mostly when she was breastfeeding her eldest (he has since outgrown his milk protein allergy.)

I’ve wondered a bit about whether I have a form of PCOS to be honest. I don’t have some of the “classic” signs (like being overweight or having excessive facial hair), but my cycles are long (around 42 days most of the time) and I have a sibling who has it (I think I read it could be genetic?) I also have Hypothyroidism and I think I read somewhere that there could be a connection for some people between the two. And I do know that I had at least one cyst on one of my ovaries - they spotted it during an early ultrasound when I was pregnant with my daughter. 

We’re currently trying for our second child and I figure it’s a concern to mention at my next annual appointment if I haven’t conceived by that point.