Cycle 11 CD25 (1dpo?) - How would you like your eggs?

Fertilized!

At this point I'm just guessing, but I'm pretty sure I am 1dpo. I got a +OPK at about 3am CD22 (so the night of CD21) and continued to get them for 36 hours. It might have been 48 hours but I didn't test again until 60 hours, at which point it was slightly under. I normally only get surges lasting 14 or 18 hours (sometimes less than 12) so this was really long for me.

I don't have enough pre-o temps to confirm ovulation, but my temp did rise quite a bit this morning in relation to my last three temps. Since I took it 2 hours early it probably would have been even higher. So we will see what the next few days bring. It would be pretty sucky if I had a surge, and my temp rose, and I still didn't ovulate but I'm sure it's possible.

Unfortunately since we are both still sick my poor egg was stood up. I was so worried about this cycle a month ago and now I'm out just because we were too sick to do it. Oh well, at least I (probably) ovulated! Later then we would like obviously but it's a good start for 2.5mg Femara. I might have ovulated at my normal time if it wasn't for being so sick. Poor DH had to go to the doctor again and get more antibiotics and some prescription cough medicine. Hopefully we will both be over this soon!

On thing I failed to mention last time is how wonderful Femara is vs Clomid. I haven't had any side effects basically. Of course I didn't have many side effects on 50mg Clomid, either. Still it's nice to not be constantly nauseous or have hot flashes or be excessively moody. Since I found this coupon site and cost is no longer a factor I would definitely suggest Femara over Clomid.

Other than having bad timing this cycle, we have also reached another TTC milestone. As of a few days ago we have been TTC 15 months. I know 15 months doesn't sound like a milestone so let me explain. If you are a fertile myrtle and have good timing you have a 20% chance of conceiving each cycle. Odds are you will be pregnant within six months. 6 + 9 = 15. Basically we should have at least a newborn by now if it weren't for my issues, since other than this cycle our timing has been good. Instead with the recent change in protocol I feel like we're just starting over.

Cycle 8 CD22 (2DPO) - Deja Vu

So I did end up jixing myself and having some awful side effects after my last post. The nausea and hot flashes were terrible! The combination of the two kept me up several nights. Thankfully the mood swings weren't so bad. When I did have them they were more mild than last cycle. I did end up crying a few times because of the lack of positive OPKs and got a bit angrier than usual at DH but nothing worse than what I hear PMS is like for some. I was on estrogen CD9-13 which I think is what helped decrease them at first. I was taking it to try and help improve my lining but that's a pretty nice result as well!

I did finally get a +OPK on CD18. It was pretty late at night so it might as well have been CD19. I didn't take this into account at first so became quite frustrated when I was still having fertile signs the morning of CD20 and my temp was also still down. I expected to ovulate the day after the +OPK. Now when I think back, I kinda did O the day after when you consider how late on CD18 I got the +OPK. If I lived just an hour and a half east of here it would have been CD19 already. I did O later in the day of CD20 and my temp was up on CD21.

This really annoys me that even being on the higher dose of Clomid I still did not O before CD20. That's the same day I O'd last cycle! The whole reason I went up to 200mg was so I would O earlier. =[ So I basically went through a week of more intense nausea and hot flashes for nothing. It makes me wonder, why? Why wasn't it earlier? Would I have ovulated even later or not at all if I had stayed on 150? I ovulated once on 50mg but then the next month that dose was no longer sufficient.

I still haven't called the doctor to let them know I've O'd. I wanted to make sure that the higher temp wasn't a fluke. I will try to call tomorrow. I am wondering if they will want me to go up to 250mg. That's the highest I can go up if I remember correctly. The whole point of going to 200 was to make it earlier, so since that didn't work it makes sense to try 250 right? Just because this didn't work doesn't mean going up again won't.  I'm scared to do that though because if the side effects were this bad on 200, what will they be like on 250? If I don't try 250 am I going to stay on 200 or go back down to 150 since they had similar results? Hopefully I will get a BFP in a week and a half so I don't have to worry about it.

My chart overlay looks really interesting so far. You can definitely see the same pattern pre-O, and my post O temps are exactly the same! I imagine this is just a coincidence and will change in the next few days but I still think it's really neat. This is the first time I've been able to compare two ovulatory charts of mine.

Cycle 8 CD14 - Movin' On Up

I was recently made co-host of the TTC with PCOS board on JustMommies! /dance Our other co-host has been MIA lately as she's due in December so I decided to step up and try to get the board moving again. It's really nice for me to have a place to discuss PCOS and it's effects on my life so I want to provide that for others. Also, hosts of TTC boards have been known to get their BFP shortly after becoming host and I could use a little of that luck. Of course I'm sure that's all a coincidence but I'll take what I can get!

As far as my cycle goes, I'm still waiting on a +OPK. I was hoping to O at a normal time (CD13-15), but it looks like my O will still be on the late side. So far all my OPKs have been about the same. Last cycle they went from being this dark to positive pretty quickly so I guess I'm going to start testing multiple times a day. Here is the latest one.

The Clomid actually hasn't been too bad this month. Had a few hot flashes at night, but only one day of mood swings so far. I think it's been better this cycle than last believe it or not. I was expecting the side effects to be worse on the higher dose. And of course as I write this I start sweating haha! Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself and my moods continue to be stable (or as stable as any woman's can be expected to be =P).

Cycle 8 CD7 - Insomnia

So yeah as you can see by the title I got AF. I actually got it the day after I posted my last post. While I'm super happy I at least ovulated, I've taken this BFN extra hard. Two friends from high school have given birth in the last few weeks, and I have two more baby showers this upcoming Sunday. It sucks because they got pregnant after we started trying and now they have their babies or are pretty close. I feel like I should be there with them, celebrating my child's birth or going to my baby shower or at least have a BFP. Instead of morning sickness I'm just nauseous from the Clomid. Sigh.

Even though I did ovulate last cycle I've gone up again to 200mg. So far I can't tell much of a difference between 150 and 200 side effect wise. I am really thankful for that. The nausea is still killer and has been keeping me up all night. My DH and I are kind of on different sleep schedules now which kind of sucks. I didn't start having hot flashes till midcycle last time and I'm hoping that will happen again. Gives this Florida heat a little more time to cool off so they are more bearable.

I've noticed the last few days I've been hungrier than usual. I think it might be because I started being serious about taking the Metformin again. I normally have a decreased appetite compared to most people so this is a good thing. It's nice to know I need to eat by hunger signs rather than just guessing based on when I ate last.

I've also started taking Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) to help increase fertile CM. On the 150mg I was a little dryer than I liked so I imagine that would be true or worse for the 200mg. I started taking 1300mg of EPO (that's how big the pills are) after dinner when I take everything else. I noticed right away that it's definitely helping. If you're ever TTC and feel like you could use some help I would highly recommend it.

Today I took my first OPK of the cycle, and it's definitely darker than I imagined it would be. Below is today's on top of last cycle's CD7 OPK for comparison. I am hoping this means I will O earlier this time! Last cycle my OPKs started getting dark and then went back to blank then got dark again so that could just be happening this cycle too. I guess we will know in a couple days. Link to my full OPK series.

Cycle 7 CD33 (13DPO) - Limbo

I'm getting this post out late as I'm still waiting for a conclusive answer either way. When I ovulated the first time I had a 12 day LP, and based on the cramps I was getting yesterday I expected AF to show up late last night or early this morning. I was surprised to wake up and find out she had postponed her visit. Took an HPT this morning and also tonight and they were both BFN. Did a little research and apparently Clomid can extend your LP by several days. One person mentioned she had a 12 day LP before and then with Clomid had a 17 day LP! So now that's what I'm expecting. If I get AF before then I will be very happy though so I can start my new cycle.

Like I briefly mentioned above my cramps have started already. Yesterday they were painful but I was mostly able to deal with it. Today they feel like AF is already here. I've had to take two of my pain pills and it still kind of hurts. So this is why I'm thinking I'm dealing with an extended LP instead of getting a late BFP. I'll continue testing just in case though. Probably only every other day from now on so I don't use up all my tests.

Symptoms So Far

Fatigue, bloating, decreased appetite, nausea, backache, tender breasts, skin break out

Cycle 7 CD19 - The Surge

Look at that OPK. Isn't it beautiful? I kind of want to print it out and hang it on the wall. I'd frame the actual OPK but I already threw it away and they fade with time anyway. Even though I know it's positive I threw it up on countdowntopregnancy.com's gallery to see what everyone else would say. As of this writing it has 27 votes for positive and only one for negative. I am going to assume that person who voted negative just doesn't know what they are talking about. =]

Yesterday DH, my mother, and I went to visit my older sister who lives about an hour and a half away. We were there pretty much all day. She colored my hair and then we went to dinner. I didn't take any OPKs while I was there as I'm not ready to tell her we are TTC. I'm a terrible liar so I couldn't just make up another reason for taking an OPK and my pee cup into her bathroom lol. I never had an opportunity to sneak it in. By the time we left I had a terrible migraine so I didn't take one before bed either. It's possible I started surging yesterday but if so at least I didn't miss it altogether.

I talked to the nurse today and she said since I'm on such a high dose of Clomid I shouldn't have a progesterone deficiency. Honestly I'm still a little worried though since I'm not having any CD21 blood work done. I almost want to pick up some OTC cream and use it just in case. I don't know what I will do with myself if I end up having a miscarriage because of something avoidable. I'll talk with DH tonight when he gets home and see what he thinks. I don't think too much progesterone is a bad thing, but I don't want to do it without my doctor's permission and have it screw up my blood work if I do get a BFP. What if it comes back saying my progesterone is fine but that's only because of the cream?

She also said if I get a BFN Dr. E. wants me to go up to 200mg next cycle even though I did O this cycle. She wants to see me O'ing much closer to CD14, as early as CD12 if possible. I'm not sure I'll ever O that early since the highest you can go is 250mg but we'll see.

The one time I O'd before my LP was 12 or 13 days (wasn't temping so don't know exact O date) so I should know the results of this cycle by our anniversary which is the 19th. I'll probably test of the 16th if I can hold out till then. I don't have much experience being in the 2WW so I'm not sure how I'll react or how early I'll break down and test.

Cycle 7 CD12 - Clomid Nightmares

This cycle I am on 150mg of Clomid and I can really tell a difference. First I had terrible nausea for a few days that was unresponsive to Phenergan. Then I've been having horrible mood swings of death. This morning I had cramps so bad I dreamed I was going into labor. I am hoping that all this translates to some strong follicles and an egg or two being released. I will hopefully know by next week.

My OPKS are getting darker but aren't terribly close to positive yet. When I ovulated the first time it wasn't until like CD16 so it will be a few more days before I start mentally considering myself out this cycle. My latest one is below but you can go here to see my full series.

Cycle 7 CD 4 - A New Hope

I had hoped to update this on Sundays, but it seems like I'm already off schedule! Mondays might work out better anyway.

This week I started cycle 7! I am really hopeful when it comes to this cycle. I am taking the correct dose of DHA now (wasn't taking enough before) so hopefully that will help me feel better even if I doesn't help me conceive. My Clomid does has been upped to 150mg from 100mg, which means a greater chance of actually ovulating. I promised myself I would be really faithful about taking my Met as well.

This cycle would just be the best cycle to conceive I think. Firstly, our third anniversary is coming up and nothing would be a better present than a BFP. Secondly, we are going on a cruise in January. If I conceived this month I would be about mid-way through the second trimester when we went on the cruise, which means the morning sickness and whatnot would possibly be over but I wouldn't be whale size yet. If it's next cycle or later I'd either be at the tail-end of the first trimester or still in the middle of it. I would be due at the end of May, so I'd only have to deal with being pregnant while it's hot for a little while. If it's not this cycle then I'll have to suffer through a summer pregnancy. Bleh.

I normally start using OPKs when AF leaves, but this looks like a short visit compared to normal. I'm already only spotting and I don't even start taking the Clomid till tomorrow! I seriously doubt I'll O before  the Clomid is even in my system since I haven't ever O'd on my own that I know of so I might put it off a few days. Looks like my next update should be around CD12 so maybe I'll have a good looking OPK series to show off by then!