6 Weeks 1 Day - In Limbo

So all I can say at this point is that I'm in pg limbo . . . don't really know what to expect or what's going to happen or even if it's still going to continue or not.  *sigh*

Anyhoo, went to the GP yesterday to see if they can test to see if there's a problem, but he said there's nothing to test for at this point and nothing can be done or checked for because it's too early.  Hmmmm.  So all he ordered was a blood test to see my hcg levels (pregnancy hormone).  How uneventful.

He just confirmed what I already knew, and that is that spotting is very common and normal during pregnancy, as long as it's not a heavy flow.  He didn't seem to be concerned at all about the fact that I'd been spotting for 11 days already (today would be day 12).  He also seems to be of the opinion that a foetus doesn't just abort "just like that", but I've read otherwise on many different articles.  

I thought he could test my progesterone levels, but apparently he said there's no use in doing that either because we have nothing to compare those levels to, ie to what is normal for ME it seems.  I thought there'd be some kind of standard test to see if it's high enough to support a pregnancy, but it seems there's no such thing.   That's weird, because there must be something you can do to test for low progesterone.

So now we wait.  He says just to relax and quit stressing about it and just enjoy being pregnant . . . ISH.  And there's to be no bd'ing for a while still, until things have settled down. 

I just hope we find out either way for sure REALLY SOON, so that we can just get on with things!  It sucks not knowing what's going to happen.

I'm still doing my bbt charting and I've noticed that slowly over the last week or so my temps are becoming lower, and today there was a big dip (well, I call it a big dip anyway) . . . I don't know if that means AF is on the way or WHAT, but here's what the chart looks like now, since day of O (CD 21):

I'll see what my temp says tomorrow . . . hopefully it jumps back up again. :S

5 weeks 2 days

Well, 6 days ago I started sort of spotting and it's looking very similar to the last time when it finally ended in AF/ miscarriage, soooooo, I'm not feeling too optimistic about this one now. :(  I've also been having more AF type cramping, which feels like AF is just about ready to begin with full on cramping, but the cramps haven't gotten worse . . . yet, so I'm still HOPING that this little one sticks.

On a positive note, if it can be regarded as one, last time I began spotting since 4dpo already!  This time it only began at 18dpo, so I'm hoping that it means something and will be different from last time.  Also, my temps are still high and haven't dropped yet at all . . . however last time my temp didn't drop until 2 days after AF / miscarriage started, so I'm not sure how much value to place on temps at this point, in the sense of whether it'll drop a day or so before AF is about to come (like it always does with normal AF).

Oh, and another difference from last time is that from 19dpo I started having partial and full ferning on my ovulation microscope (indicating estrogen surge) which lasted until 24 dpo, the day before AF began.  At the mo I'm on at 23dpo and have had basically NO ferning at ALL, except for one day or so where there was the tiniest bit of ferning on one edge.  So I'm hoping this is a positive difference as well!  I'm grabbing at straws here, hehe.

Every time my cramps subside I feel a little more positive, like maybe this spotting will go away and things will go well from there on, but when they return again then I'm discouraged allll over again, ISH.

So yesterday I decided to get some bed rest and stayed in bed for most of the day, and I think today I'm gonna take it easy too - I think I can take my pc to bed and I'm gonna work from there, sounds like a good plan. :)

STICKY DUST TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

4 Weeks 4 Days

Today I had some slight AF-type cramping and some spotting.  :S  Well, slightly light brown-tinged CF.  I got a little worried about the spotting (not so much about the cramping because that's normal during early pg) until I read comments from others on CountdownMyPregnancy.com (which is where I'm recording my pregnancy!) that spotting, even accompanied by cramps, is quite common and normal . . . as long as the spotting isn't red and the cramps aren't sharp and painful . . . whew!

So I'm hoping the spotting goes away so that I don't have to keep wondering if it's gonna get worse or not.  And this crampiness is annoying - it sort of makes me feel almost irritable (because it feels like AF is beginning and the accompanying cramps annoy me, haha).

17 dpo - Day After Getting + HPT

I'm still continuing to temp just to see where it goes, and today my temp dipped a little again, so I hope it's nothing to be concerned about.

The last bit of my chart

It's still early days, so I'm hoping for the best and that the little bean sticks! :D

All sticky dust donations accepted!!!  :o)

I bought 2 hpt's yesterday, but as it turned out I only needed one.  So I'll give it a few days and then take the other one just to see what happens.

It's Happened!!!!!!!!!

'Nuff said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taken at 16 dpo.  DeeDee had to get in on the pic, hehe.

16 dpo (cycle 13 of ttc)

My excitement has been in overdrive since yesterday. . . . I'm almost sure this is it!!!!

Today my temp is STILL high, no dips yet as in before AF.  I'm on CD 37 today, so far since I've been ttc, my longest cycle has been CD 36.  So this is really good news . . . no spotting yet, no temp dipping yet indicating that AF is on the way right now, PLUS I've been having AF-like cramps since 3 days ago, on and off, many times a day, and I've never had cramps on this scale before, before AF arrives.

I wasn't planning on going out until Friday to buy a test (if AF hadn't shown up by then), but Noob Dad is going out today for an appointment, I think I'm gonna tag along and ask that we stop by the pharmacy on the way quick so that I can get an hpt!  I'm testing today!!!!

I have this nervous feeling inside in my chest, almost like I'm about to go write an important exam, or do something really nerve-wracking like doing speech in class when I was still in school (my absolute worst school experience, lol).

Baby dust to meeeeeeee!!!!! :D

15 dpo (cycle 13 of ttc)

Still no spotting!!!  :D  I really shouldn't be getting this excited since I could have my O day a little wrong (I wish I could have some expert second opinions!) . . . but if I'm really 15 dpo and still no spotting at all, hopefully it means good news!  :D

Yesterday I was a little disappointed 'cause my temp dropped, which is a sure sign that AF is coming the next day or so . . . but this morning my temp raised again! Yay!!  :D

See the last raised temp for today??  :D  I really really really hope this is it . . . but I'm a bit worried that I'm setting myself up for a HUGE ass disappointment by getting excited too soon.

So I'm T-R-Y-I-N-G to wait patiently to see if AF arrives in the next few days - if it's not here by Friday then I'm testing!  OMG, what a fun present this will be for my b'day in 2 weeks' time!!! :D

Baby dust and stick vibes to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!  :D

P.S. all friendly baby dust and sticky vibe donations welcome!!  ;)

14 dpo (cycle 13 of ttc)

So today is 14 dpo and no AF yet, absolutely no spotting (which for the last I don't know how long, I've always been getting a few days of spotting before AF comes), but have had sore boobs for the last 4 days, and having slight crampiness a few times a day today and yesterday, which are all normal PMS things for me, meaning AF is probably on the way any day (or hour) now.

On the up side, I'm on 14 dpo today!!  :D  Which means my LP has increased to normal length! :)  Normal average healthy LP is about 14 days.  Yippeeeee! :D

HOWEVER, I hope I got my O day correct....here's my chart up until today:

Click on it to enlarge it if you can't see

I had a +opk and O pains on CD 21 which is where I put the red dotted line.  So counting from there, it puts me at 14 dpo today.  Let's hope it was correct.  But surely a +opk and O pains on the same day means that the egg is being released??  We bd's on CD21 and 22, so hopefully we covered our bases there.

Even though the PMS things I'm having now are also common pregnancy signs, I can't help but feel that I'm out this month again, 'cause it just feels TOO much the same as every other month's PMS with no other definitive pregnancy symptoms either.  But until AF comes I'm still hopeful. :D

Also, I got really excited yesterday when my temp had a big spike (CD34), and I was hoping that would be the beginning of a tri-phasic chart, but alas, today's temp has disappointed me again.  A big drop like that is also a good (or bad) sign that AF is on the way.

12 dpo (cycle 13 of ttc)

Today is 12 dpo and it feels like every other month so far.  Nothing.  *sniff*

And last night my boobs started feeling a little tender again . . . the usual for a couple of days before AF comes.  Since this is my 3rd cycle of taking vit B6 (and I upped my dose of B6 for this cycle from about 35mg to 85mg), I'm curious to see how long my LP will be this time.  No spotting yet either, so, so far so good. :D

I hope I got my O date right though:

The second last row shows my OPK results - I had a clear positive on CD21, along with O twinges, so I think that's the day O happened (the red line).  The program marked my possible O date 3 days later though (blue line), but I think the only reason it did that was because it was going only by my sharp temp rise the next day (since one's temp increases  noticeably after O).  I'm working from the red line, which puts me at 12 dpo, and the blue line puts me at only 9 dpo, but I don't think the blue line is accurate, based on my OPK results.

Anyhoo, if I were to be pregnant now, apparently it's normal to have no symptoms until a while after AF's due date has come and gone, so I'm still in the game.  :)  Luckily I'm not a POAS addict (pee on a stick addict - referring to someone who takes like a ton of hpt's every cycle just for sake of testing to see if they're actually pregnant or not), so I can easily wait to see if AF is late before I go out buying hpt's.  ;)

Implantation of Fertilized Egg

From about a week after ovulation and onwards is when the 2WW makes me really antsy!

Usually pregnancy symptoms don't start before 6 dpo, but there are exceptions.  Before my early miscarriage I began showing symptoms that something was happening from 4 dpo (ie I had spotting) which has never happened before or since that cycle.  And there are women who claim to have other pregnancy symptoms so early as well.

But as I've read many times over, this is usually how it works:

After the egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube, the fertilized egg moved down the tube to the uterus and implants itself into the uterine lining / endometrium . . . once this happens the pregnancy hormone (hCG) is produced and so it is only after implantation that pregnancy symptoms begin to appear.

They say that on average implantation occurs between about 6-12 days after ovulation, but it can happen a little sooner, but usually not later, because between 12-16 days after ovulation your body has already prepared itself for menstruation to occur any day now, and it's highly unlikely for an unfertilized egg to not be discarded at this time.

There may be some symptoms of implantation, but not everybody gets them:

• implantation cramps - some women feel slight uterine cramping at the time of implantation, similar to period cramps
• implantation spotting or bleeding - a tiny amount of spotting or blood may occur for a day or 2 around time of implantation
• some women have a noticeable temp dip on the day of implantation - this will only be noticeable if you're charting your temps
• sometimes after implantation, there's another temp shift and your temps will rise even higher than your usual post-ovulation temps (this is known as a tri-phasic chart) and this is caused by increased progesterone production - not all women have this second temp shift though, although if implantation has occurred your temps will remain elevated (ie remain at your post-ovulation temps) and not dip like it will the day before or of menstruation.

Anyhoo, today is 6 dpo for me, so I'm in my antsy stage.  I can't wait to check my temps every morning in the hopes of seeing it remain elevated or jump to a higher level.  If you've been ttc for a long time, you'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout!  :)  But the best thing to do is find something to take your mind off of thinking about it the whole day - thank goodness I have hobbies that I love to do (reading, crafts, building puzzles, blogging, munching . . . haha).

Another 2WW

So according to my chart and opk's, I'm either 1 or 2 dpo today...see how my temps have begun to rise after O?

The red dotted line is where I think I O'd and the blue dotted line is where the program think I O'd

I had what I think were O twinges on my right ovary's side on the day I got a +opk, so I think that's the day I O'd.

We worked hard this month, so we're REALLY hoping to see some positive results - I want me some (pregnancy related) fatigue & nauseousness already!  Hehe....

But the best thing is just to forget about it for now and not think about it again until at least a week from now, else you drive yourself nuts!  Especially if you're a symptom tracker....like moi....

So fingers crossed and baby dust and sticky vibes to MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!  :)

Fading OPK

CD 22 today, and after getting a + opk yesterday, today the line is still there but it's fading...which is normal...the luteinizing hormone surge is now over, but there are still remnants of it in my system, which is why it's being detected by the opk.

But now I'm confused when I compare the opk results with my chart - there was no O dip around the time when the opk said that I should have O'd - I was always under the impression that I had an O dip on day of O...or around there anyway...either way I usually always had a clear temp dip around time of O - which there wasn't one this time:

The program set my day of possible ovulation on CD 22 with the blue line, which it automatically put there because of the +opk I filled in for yesterday.  The only dip near to day of O is CD20 (day before +opk), but it's not any lower than previous dips that cycle, and usually it's pretty noticably lower, even if only by a little bit.  However, my temps have been lower this cycle compared to previous charts - I think it may have something to do with the weather becoming cooler.  SO, the thing to do now is to do opk's next cycle as well and compare the 2 cycle charts and opk readings...maybe I've been O'ing 2 days after the dip all along...

There was still no ferning today either...that's just weird.  I think I'll take another opk tomorrow, just to see what it says and whether it's fading even further.

I think I see a positive!!

A positive opk that is, not hpt, hehe!  But it's nonetheless exciting to see a positive, I'm almost as excited as I would be had I been looking at a postive hpt. :D  It's good to see some extra confirmation that I am indeed probably ovulating...this +opk combined with my charts would mean twice confirmed ovulation...so let's hope they're both as accurate as they claim to be! :D

CD 21, and this result came up probably in less than 2 minutes, but the photo was taken between 3 & 4 minutes I think....all well within the time limit!:  (and I'm sure it must be a positive!)

The lines were actually much darker than the photo shows - it's the flash's fault.

The line on the left is the control line, and the one on the right is the test line - which is the line you need to be looking at!  It looks pretty much the same shade (or even darker!) than the control line....which means that O is happening, probably within the next 12 hours or so (they say anything between 12 & 36 hours, so I'm going with 12 to be safe).

Wee hee!  At least this is one more thing working in my favour. :D  This is my first month of using opk's and so it's exciting to see my first positive of SOMETHING. :D

On a side note, my ovulation microscope shows no sign of any ferning at all, so that's odd - I would have thought it'd show something so soon before ovulation.  Oh well.

Waiting for O

TTC is a waiting game...waiting for O (ovulation) and then the driving-you-crazy 2WW (2 week wait between ovulation and period).

At the mo I'm waiting for O - today is CD (cycle day) 18 and from past charts I usually pretty much consistently O'd on CD 19/20.  Except for the last cycle it happened on CD 23 - I think the vitex agnus castus or increased B6 I've been taking has something to do with that.

Anyway, I've always only used BBT charting to monitor my fertility, but this cycle I decided to give opks (ovulation predictor kits) a try...just to see if they confirm when my charts tell me that I O'd.  So now I'm nervous 'cause I'm worried that the opks won't show any signs of O.

I've always relied on my bi-phasic charts as 100% confirmation that I am O'ing, because they say your temps are really very accurate in this regard, so I'm curious to see what the opk's will be telling me.

If you're not familiar with opk's, read HERE (point no. 3).

I've taken opks on CD 14, 16, 17 & 18 and they're all negative. Although today (CD 18) there was a really faint test line, so I'm wondering if that means that the LH surge is starting up and gearing for O?  Aparently some people get this kind of slow progression to a full positive O reading, and some don't. Anyhoo, time will tell, ish.

And the journey begins...

Well, actually it began about 13 months ago, when we decided we want a baby!

Who’d ever have thunk it.  I never wanted kids and husband just went along with the flow, but when I think back on things, for the last while me (aka Noob Mum) and my husband (aka Noob Dad) have more and more begun saying things like “if we had kids we’d do this or we’d do that, or we’d NEVER do THAT, what’s wrong with those people?!”.   Haha.  Oh, and we’d talk hypothetically about the day where our kids can do whatever boring house chores we didn’t feel like doing in exchange for some or other bribe...ahem, I mean pocket money. ;)

We have many opinions on how one should raise one’s kids (like it or not :P ), and I think with the little bit of life experience we’ve gathered along the way, we’re better equipped to be parents at this point in our lives than we were in our 20′s.  Which is why I’ve already given ourselves the titles of Noob Mum & Dad – I kinda already feel like a parent, just waiting for the kid to arrive now, hehe.

Anyway, so the decision was made in Feb 2011.  Almost right from the get go (about 2 months into baby-making mode) I decided to monitor my fertility via bbt charting and using an ovulation microscope.  I knew my age may not be in my favour, so I didn’t waste any time.

In July 2011, about 4 days past ovulation, I suspected something was a-brewing, so a few days later I took an hpt and got a positive. Yay!  Shortly afterwards I went for a blood test to confirm, but on the very day I went for the test I had a miscarriage, at 5 weeks.   And, since then there’s been nothing baking in the oven again.

A couple months ago I decided to look more closely at my bbt charts, and that’s when I noticed the luteal phase (LP) of my cycles were a tad too short (known as a luteal phase defect) – so I began looking for natural remedies to fix this problem, and I believe I’ve found them.

My homoeopath also mentioned, based on certain things that I told her, that it could be possible that I have endometriosis, which, as I have read, may or may not hinder conception – no tests have been done to confirm whether  I have endo.

I’ve also recently begun taking supplements to increase the quality of cervical mucus, making it more sperm-friendly and nourishing them for a few days until they reach their destination (ie the egg).  I have no idea whether there’s a problem with mine, but I thought there’s no harm in taking it anyway – things can only be go better with supplements…

I take a number of vitamin supplements to assist in general health and well-being, which can also only aid fertility…and I’ve gotten Noob Dad to take Vit C and zinc since those are good for the spermies.
Anyway, that’s about the whole story and this is where we’re at now.  I’ll be posting some more informative bits on natural fertility aids, which is also where I’ll be discussing the remedies I’m using for the issues mentioned above.

I’ve decided to give it a few more months and if there’s still no cake in the oven, we’ll have to think about going to see a fertility specialist to see what the problem is.  Boo.

Baby dust to us! :)

Oh, and as you may have guessed, the names we've chosen are Danielle or Aidan.  I don't know if we're going to have more than one baby, but I sort of wish we were having one of each, that way we get to use both names! Hehe.