When dealing with infertility (or even just being actively TTC) it seems you are constantly waiting for something.
Waiting for Aunt Flow
Waiting to start your fertility medication
Waiting for your thermometer to beep before moving a muscle
Waiting for a positive OPK
Waiting to pee so your urine isn't too diluted
Waiting 5 minutes before looking at the test so you know it will be accurate
Waiting for crosshairs to confirm ovulation
Waiting for some new promising symptom to show up
Waiting till at least 10dpo to test
Waiting to pee (again)
Waiting 5 minutes (again)
Waiting for AF
Waiting for doctor appointments
Waiting for lab results
Waiting for OPKs/HPTs to arrive in the mail
Waiting for my turn.
It's easy to get frustrated when it feels like all you are doing is waiting. Months are passing you by as you wait for one thing or another. Can't we just move forward already?
Instead of getting frustrated I have decided to look at this as Patience Bootcamp. Patience is a virtue, after all. In this fast paced, instantly connected world of ours I could definitely use some more patience. I'm used to instant news updates, instant messaging, Netflix Instant Queue, Instagram, instant mashed potatoes, instant pudding, instant oatmeal, instant grits, etc (can you tell I'm hungry?). Waiting for something that means so much to us isn't going to do me any harm. After all, I'm going to need patience as a mother. I may not be a parent yet, but I worked in day care and I watched my little sister often when she was a baby. One thing I learned is the more frustrated you get the fussier they are. I choose to use this time in my life for personal growth. Maybe through all this waiting I will be better prepared to deal with a crying, colicy baby until DH gets home and I can finally take a shower. Or to deal with a toddler who insists on answering every question with "no". I doubt anyone has started their therapy session of with, "Well you see Doc, my mother was just too patient with me as a child."
Showing posts with label Cycle 11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cycle 11. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Cycle 11 CD18 - We're home!
We got home from our vacation late last night. We were supposed to be home Sunday afternoon but unfortunately we all got crazy sick the last day of the cruise. We were stuck in Mississippi for a few days and DH and my mom had to go to the hospital. ER doctor said upper respiratory infection but the antibiotics aren't really helping so who knows.
I didn't have much luck with TTC on the cruise. I took 20 OPKs with me, which should have been enough for 2 x 10 days. We were actually gone 12 days and I came back with like 7 of them, so yeah I didn't use them like I should have. Some days I used two some days I didn't use any. Didn't temp basically at all. I got an almost positive OPK CD12 I think, give or take a day. CD14 my CM turned creamy, I felt bloated, and my boobs hurt, so I thought there might be a tiny chance I ovulated "on time". Now I think it's just because I was getting sick. Even if I was temping I couldn't use that to confirm or deny because I've had a fever. So I guess we will see how I feel when I get over this illness. I've had EWCM on and off since then but that could be because I haven't O'd or because of the decongestants and stuff.
I think that if I haven't ovulated yet the chances of doing so this cycle are pretty slim. Illness can cause anovulatory cycles even for women with perfectly healthy reproductive systems. Even if I do manage to O in the next few days we would miss it anyway. I'm going to start my OPKs up again today just in case, and will resume temping when I'm fairly sure my fever has broken (and I've managed to unpack and find my thermometer). If after I get better I think there is a chance I actually did O then I'll test around Feb 4th and then probably call for provera. But we'll see how things go.
We did have a fantastic time on our trip until the last day. I will try and post a recap when I'm feeling up to it. I know ICLW is this week so here's a Hello! to anyone stopping by for that. I know I signed up but it doesn't look like I'll be participating. Maybe next month I will do the commenting but won't add my blog to the list to make up for it.
Also I see I've somehow made it over 50 followers! That is just craziness to me. I will try to check out the new people and say a proper hello when I'm feeling a bit better.
I didn't have much luck with TTC on the cruise. I took 20 OPKs with me, which should have been enough for 2 x 10 days. We were actually gone 12 days and I came back with like 7 of them, so yeah I didn't use them like I should have. Some days I used two some days I didn't use any. Didn't temp basically at all. I got an almost positive OPK CD12 I think, give or take a day. CD14 my CM turned creamy, I felt bloated, and my boobs hurt, so I thought there might be a tiny chance I ovulated "on time". Now I think it's just because I was getting sick. Even if I was temping I couldn't use that to confirm or deny because I've had a fever. So I guess we will see how I feel when I get over this illness. I've had EWCM on and off since then but that could be because I haven't O'd or because of the decongestants and stuff.
I think that if I haven't ovulated yet the chances of doing so this cycle are pretty slim. Illness can cause anovulatory cycles even for women with perfectly healthy reproductive systems. Even if I do manage to O in the next few days we would miss it anyway. I'm going to start my OPKs up again today just in case, and will resume temping when I'm fairly sure my fever has broken (and I've managed to unpack and find my thermometer). If after I get better I think there is a chance I actually did O then I'll test around Feb 4th and then probably call for provera. But we'll see how things go.
We did have a fantastic time on our trip until the last day. I will try and post a recap when I'm feeling up to it. I know ICLW is this week so here's a Hello! to anyone stopping by for that. I know I signed up but it doesn't look like I'll be participating. Maybe next month I will do the commenting but won't add my blog to the list to make up for it.
Also I see I've somehow made it over 50 followers! That is just craziness to me. I will try to check out the new people and say a proper hello when I'm feeling a bit better.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Cycle 11 CD4 - Sharing the Good News
First I want to remind everyone to comment on my International Blog Delurking Week post. I know more than three people are reading this!
No, I'm not talking about Jesus. You guys can look up info on him on your own if you wish. =P Some very good things have happened since my last cycle update that I'm very excited to share with everyone! First, last week's post was featured on Stirrup Queen's Friday Blog Round Up. If you're unfamiliar with her, she curates Stirrup Queen’s Completely Anal List of Blogs That Proves That She Really Missed Her Calling as a Personal Organizer as well as hosting IComLeavWe for the ALI community. So she's kind of a big deal. I feel like I've moved up a step in my blogging career.
Secondly, AF was two/three days late. I say two/three because in the past I've had an LP of both 12 and 13 days. Last cycle it jumped up to 15! I was freaking out for a while but she finally showed up. I guess the extra Clomid made my progesterone go up so it was increased. I felt all TWW like my progesterone was higher as my symptoms were more intense, so this seems plausible to me. The good news is I almost definitely will not O on the cruise now so we can just relax. CD17 isn't even till two days after we get back and I highly doubt I will O that early again. So that is something we no longer have to worry about.
The big, BIG, news though is we are switching to Femara!! Yup, no more Clomid for me. I'm all about less side effects, especially this cycle. Femara isn't supposed to dry your CM out like Clomid does so that eliminates one of my supplements. We are starting back at the beginning with 2.5mg (~50mg Clomid) so I doubt I will even O this cycle. Some people respond better to Femara than Clomid so it's possible but I expect an anov cycle. That's okay though because I no longer have to worry about stopping treatment in a few cycles. I feel like I can afford to have an anov cycle, even though they suck big hairy monkey balls. If my cycle is probably going to be anov anyway, there's no point in stressing about it on the cruise. If I can't temp and use OPKs and take my supplements religiously on the cruise it shouldn't really matter. I still want to try and temp or use OPKs though so I will know for sure if I didn't ovulate, and can start provera as soon as possible. Of course I really hope I do O even if I don't feel the pressure to catch it.
If you're not aware, Femara is way more expensive than Clomid which is why we didn't switch earlier. We didn't think we could afford it. However one of my friends told me about a coupon that makes it like 80% off! I was able to get 5 tablets for about $5. If I ended up taking 7.5mg eventually that would only cost about $10. So it's really comparable to Clomid this way. If you're interested in switching yourself, the coupon is from goodrx.com.
No, I'm not talking about Jesus. You guys can look up info on him on your own if you wish. =P Some very good things have happened since my last cycle update that I'm very excited to share with everyone! First, last week's post was featured on Stirrup Queen's Friday Blog Round Up. If you're unfamiliar with her, she curates Stirrup Queen’s Completely Anal List of Blogs That Proves That She Really Missed Her Calling as a Personal Organizer as well as hosting IComLeavWe for the ALI community. So she's kind of a big deal. I feel like I've moved up a step in my blogging career.
Secondly, AF was two/three days late. I say two/three because in the past I've had an LP of both 12 and 13 days. Last cycle it jumped up to 15! I was freaking out for a while but she finally showed up. I guess the extra Clomid made my progesterone go up so it was increased. I felt all TWW like my progesterone was higher as my symptoms were more intense, so this seems plausible to me. The good news is I almost definitely will not O on the cruise now so we can just relax. CD17 isn't even till two days after we get back and I highly doubt I will O that early again. So that is something we no longer have to worry about.
The big, BIG, news though is we are switching to Femara!! Yup, no more Clomid for me. I'm all about less side effects, especially this cycle. Femara isn't supposed to dry your CM out like Clomid does so that eliminates one of my supplements. We are starting back at the beginning with 2.5mg (~50mg Clomid) so I doubt I will even O this cycle. Some people respond better to Femara than Clomid so it's possible but I expect an anov cycle. That's okay though because I no longer have to worry about stopping treatment in a few cycles. I feel like I can afford to have an anov cycle, even though they suck big hairy monkey balls. If my cycle is probably going to be anov anyway, there's no point in stressing about it on the cruise. If I can't temp and use OPKs and take my supplements religiously on the cruise it shouldn't really matter. I still want to try and temp or use OPKs though so I will know for sure if I didn't ovulate, and can start provera as soon as possible. Of course I really hope I do O even if I don't feel the pressure to catch it.
If you're not aware, Femara is way more expensive than Clomid which is why we didn't switch earlier. We didn't think we could afford it. However one of my friends told me about a coupon that makes it like 80% off! I was able to get 5 tablets for about $5. If I ended up taking 7.5mg eventually that would only cost about $10. So it's really comparable to Clomid this way. If you're interested in switching yourself, the coupon is from goodrx.com.
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