24 August 2011

Taking a break

My temperature has been up and down through af and I am now have a sore throat which is going to make it hard to judge ovulation. To be honest I'm just tired of trying month after month. I used up the last of my opks and pregnancy tests last month and I've decided not to buy any more til October. I'll  continue to temp and chart as normal, but I don't want to have to think about pregnant or not pregnant this month.

We seem to get just as good timing when we don't try hard as when we do anyway. Maybe we'll get some luck...

20 August 2011

Is this normal?

A bit shocked by the all the symptoms I'm still getting:
  • Full feeling, swollen boobs
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness
I've had no cramps at all since AF started, and usually it's the other way round, with cramps building until AF eases a little. My periods are, other than the cramps and a little heavy bleeding, pretty much symptom free.

My temp dropped right down yesterday and is back up again today so I did a mad thing this morning and tested during my period. It was, of course, a BFN, but at least I know for sure. Realistically, the way I'm bleeding now a positive test would be irrelevant.

Could these just be the effects of a normal cycle? In which case, how does anyone ever identify pregnancy symptoms, and how do they cope with it every month??

17 August 2011

Driving myself mad

I'm going insane here. I've had a very stressful day with work and have to prepare for a meeting tomorrow where I know I'm going to be feel threatened and isolated.

I've had stomach cramps since late last night and the spotting has stopped and started. I think it definitely counts as a 10 day luteal phase now, which is borderline normal, and I've been feeling nauseous. All classic pregnancy symptoms which make me hope even against the more logical conclusion and which made me so insane that I tried testing again this evening. Obviously a BFN...

Thing is, they are not my classic pregnancy symptoms - I only felt sick towards the end of the 1st trimester last time and I didn't have cramps. Only the spotting suggests possible pregnancy, and it feels far more like the start of AF than anything else.

They could just as easily be stress symptoms. I guess I'll know for sure tomorrow morning and then I can get on with next cycle, hopeful from a less stressful place.

10dpo: Spotting

I tested yesterday and today on internet cheapies and both were BFN.

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After the cramps I had all evening, I started spotting about midnight last night so I suspect I'm out for this month.

It hasn't turned to full on bleeding yet, and my temperature is still up, but I'm not holding out much hope. I'll keep testing until AF comes, just in case.

On the bright side, I got past 8 days again, and if I can hold out til tomorrow, I will have made it to a 10+ day luteal phase for the second time ever!


15 August 2011

Dreams

Mr had a dream last night that I was pregnant - he asked me to do a test, but luckily I'd already been to the loo, and it's much too early to expect any kind of result in the middle of the day, so I wasn't too tempted.

I am feeling a little hot, and a little "full breasted" (not fizzy boobed, you understand, although that's already been disproved as a symptom for me), but I think that's the weather rather than anything more exciting.

14 August 2011

Rocking the Stats...

In the absence of any real reason for logging into Fertility Friend 5 times a day, I have been spending a lot of time looking at other peoples' charts.

It's not exactly a scientific cross section, but I was surprised to see how good the odds actually are:
  • Across all the charts in the FF database, 36% of charts result in pregnancy (or miscarriage).
  • With our intercourse pattern, the odds go up and 42% of charts end in pregnancy or miscarriage.
That struck me as  a pretty good chance, so I started to look at "charts like mine", and this is what I found out:
  • 39% of charts that FF thinks look like mine result in pregnancy or miscarriage.
  • Matching our intercourse pattern, the odds go up to 44%
Theoretically my chances are pretty good - makes me wonder why I'm struggling so much to conceive. Then I added those critical keywords "With Short Luteal Phase <10" and the stats fell off a cliff, or rather all 33% of the positive tests were miscarriages.

Depressing stuff. It does make the acupuncture and Floradix seem even more important though - statistically, just a few days more in that luteal phase and our odds up a positive pregnancy test go up 11%. The odds of that pregnancy being sticky go up massively.

If this goes well, this will be our third cycle with a longer than usual luteal phase, although only one has been more than 10 days. Fingers crossed!

Feeling Emotional

I'm 7dpo now, so halfway through the 2ww. In reality I'm more than halfway, as I'll probably end up testing day 12 or 13 if I get that far. I'm already wishing the days away.

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My temps are still looking good, but not noticeably different from a normal month either, so it's certainly not screaming pregnant. It's tempting to look at that dip at 3dpo and fantasise about early implantation dips, but I don't think so. I am hoping I get at least a 10 day luteal phase though, regardless of the outcome.

I haven't had any major symptoms yet either, which of course hasn't stopped me logging into Fertility Friend obsessively every couple of hours in case I've missed something. If I don't come up with a symptom soon I'm going to have to start testing just to have something to chart!

In the meantime, I've been staring at the chart gallery trying to find hope in the stats and watching my points creep up on the Early Pregnancy Signs Estimator (currently at 23...).

11 August 2011

Crosshairs!!

At last... I was right to think I had ovulated.

(c) Pregnantish. All rights reserved.

The temps are very odd, but I'm relieved to see those solid lines as I was beginning to think this cycle was anovulatory which would have been gutting.

Our timing wasn't bad - twice the morning of ovulation, makes me feel much better that we missed a couple of days either side.

I'm trying to wait until day 31 to test, so there's no uncertainty. Realistically, I'll probably start testing on day 29 (19th August) - not long now at least!

10 August 2011

Day 20: What the....?

I give up.

I have absolutely no idea what's going on.



My temp yesterday was 36.4, an indifferent kind of number that falls between pre and post ovulation temps. This morning, I was 36.2, a number I think of as my own personal baseline - normal, decidedly pre-ovulation.

I wouldn't normally be so much confused as disappointed. Before the magic needles, I consistently ovulated on day 22, but all the other signs point to ovulation a couple of days ago, but without that thermal shift, still no cigar.

I used my last opk yesterday and I'm down to virtually no line after a very clear positive and I'm at a bit of a loss now. We're still baby dancing, but from what felt like really good timing,we're now in more of an average cycle.

8 August 2011

Ovulation...ish

I think I ovulated yesterday. My temp has gone up a bit today, but not enough to feel certain, and of course I won't get any ff crosshairs for a couple of days yet.

I was feeling all confident but I've suddenly got lots of eggwhite cm, which makes me think we should be babydancing right now this minute... I'm at physio and Mr's picking up no.1 so that's neither practical or logical... but that's ttc for you...

7 August 2011

Ovulation!

No temperature rise yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm ovulating RIGHT NOW! I usually get a dip on the day of ovulation, so with the positive OPK 2 days ago, we're looking good.

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The only downside is that I couldn't have acupuncture yesterday. The roads were closed and a 4 hour round trip to get there just wasn't practical. I've rescheduled for next week. Hopefully it will still do some good in the luteal phase.

It sounds really stupid, but I'm really excited about that temperature rise happening this month. Our timing's pretty good, except for a blip yesterday, ovulation is early, and I've taken Floradix all month so the B6 should be helping too.

It's one of those months when you know you've done everything you can do. I'm feeling positive about a longer luteal phase this time so I don't plan to test until at least 13dpo and that takes some of the pressure off.

5 August 2011

Woohoo! Any day now!

Just did an opk and the second line was the same colour as the first. I'm still a novice with these tests so I'm not 100% sure whether it will get darker again or fade out, but either way, I should ovulate soon.
I love it when I actually manage to second guess my body!
It's now day 15 so I'm definitely in line for early ovulation, which bodes well for a longer luteal phase. Best I stock up on floradix as I'm nearly out.

OPKs

I've broken out the OPKs. My temps have flattened out slightly and have been in my normal range for 3 days now.

I have a feeling that I will ovulate Sunday, if not before. There is no logic to this theory, except that I have acupuncture on Saturday. Fertility Friend's OPK Optimiser reckoned I should wait til Sunday to start using them... but I just have a hunch.

I got a pale line yesterday and will test again in a couple of hours.

Work is stressful, and I am tired. Mr is exhausted and struggling. We really need some good news this month to take our minds off everything else that's going on.

3 August 2011

13 dpo: Anyone's guess

My temps are still all over the place. I think pinpointing ovulation by temperatures alone is going to be difficult this month so I've broken out the OPKs already. The earliest I've ovulated is day 15 - no sign yet but with luck I'll catch it. In the meantime we are babydancing with a vengeance!

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