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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

the dreaded red

Yes, our first cycle of trying to conceive has come to a close while the next exciting cycle is just beginning.

It’s bittersweet and yet – IT’S ONLY BEEN ONE CYCLE! I should be okay for now ;)

I’m reminding myself of the many things still left on the baby bucket list. Mainly the little fact that the more time we have until baby, the more financially secure *hopefully* we shall be. While most everything seems in it’s place and we become more emotionally mature and prepared, it could never hurt to have a little more dough for diapers… and further down the road – college!

It also doesn’t hurt to have more time for just he♥and♥me.

We’re making sure we soak up this time together as much as possible, see and do as much as possible, and make as many precious memories together as two before our entire world as we know it is rocked by a blessed miracle.

and *OOPS!* – did I forget to mention that I told him about this blog! {Do you believe me now that I’m a terrible secret keeper? It actually has me seriously doubting my abilities to keep future joyous news a secret for a WHOLE TRIMESTER.} I actually told him a couple of weeks ago. He just laughed with surprise and didn’t seem to really believe that I started yet another blog until I showed him the website!

I did tell him it was “safe” for him to read everything on it at the moment, but to not visit in the future without running it by me first… just in case the one post I don’t want him to see ahead of time is up – the what’s a fun way to tell him we’re having a baby post where I’d love to get some fun ideas from everyone. I don’t think he’s even read the first word on this website. He’s just ecstatic I have another outlet besides him for my baby chatter! =) I’ve not told a SOUL outside of him and this blog =)

With this cycle ending, just what shall I do with this:

temp chart

Yeah – really, this is my morning temperature chart for the past month.

Granted, some days I charted later than the normal 7 a.m. A couple of days towards the end I may have even had a fever. And the rest of it… I have no explanation for which. I actually even wondered if I might have an overactive thyroid with all the high temps – ? {Derived from information in the TCOYF book.}

I’m chalking it up to it being my first month of being off the pill {can you ever really know what to expect that first month?} and STRESS! {Not stress due to baby-makin’ in the least… just lots of other outside factors this past month, much worse than usual…}

I’m trying not to let myself think too long on this chart. It really looks like I may have never even ovulated at all, which the severe lack of CM I seem to have experienced backs up. Though I will not let myself start to believe I will never ovulate. Like I said – first month off birth control will get the blame for now.

{I’d love and welcome any insight you veteran charters may have on the topic!!}

In good news – this cycle was only 29 days! Not the dreaded super long cycle I was expecting making the wait for the next ovulation window even longer. The drab news… this may mean my next “O” window falls on the exact dates I may be out of town for work this month – making it pretty darn difficult to conceive then! {Again, I really can’t predict when I will ovulate based on anything at this time besides the often wrong 14 day notion. So, I’m not going to get too down about our possible bad timing to be apart this next month – we’ll take advantage of the time we do have and PRAY!}

As for this past poll – I took your advice! First, for the results:

 Would you recommend any of the following (from personal experience) while trying to conceive?

93 voted and said:

  • 37 votes – 39%   Ovulation pee sticks (Love my very technical terms, don’t ya?!)
  • 2 votes – 2%       Ovulation saliva scope
  • 33 votes – 35%   Temperature charting
  • 29 votes – 31%    Analyzing cervical fluid
  • 4 votes – 4%        Checking cervical position
  • 48 votes – 51%    Having sex more often
  • 17 votes – 18%    *Only* the “good old fashioned way”

 

Based on YOUR input, I made a *hopefully* helpful purchase to use in our future adventures:

 

O tests

 

Here we go again!

17 comments:

  1. Sorry you received the "dreaded red", but like you said it IS only month one. Good Luck, and keep on workin' it girl! Crossing my fingers for this month!

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  2. I laughed at your future post of how to tell him. I peed on a stick at 6am and went immediately into full on freak out. My husband is not a morning person, he came back in with the dogs, I was busy texting my BFF to confirm that false negatives exist but not false positives. Then I told him it appears I'm pregnant followed with general freak out and cussing. I kept my mouth shut for all of two hours. Most everyone close to me knew within the week. ;)

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  3. Way to stay positive! Don't worry too much about when you'll ovulate this cycle and who knows, maybe you'll be in town after all. I think it looks like you did ovulate around day 13. It's not (at least wasn't for me) SUPER obvious when you do. Also, what are the circles for on the bottom row...is that when you had symptoms of stuff? Sorry, just curious.

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  4. Sorry AF arrived, but good news is the BC didn't mess with your cycles! When I got off BC my cycle was ALL OVER THE PLACE (sign #1 of having PCOS for me). When we first started I trying charting my temp but it never made any sense. I could take it every morning at 6am and be up and down and all over the place so I stopped and relied strictly on the OPKs - the exact ones in your pic - they're fab! And they're cheap so I used them everyday and in my last cycle of trying without dr help, I tested 2x a day - once around lunchtime and once around 8pmish. Yea insane! Good luck on the next cycle and hopefully you won't O while you're out of town!!

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  5. My sister is trying right now too, she brought the ovulation sticks. Good luck :)

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  6. Check out fertilityfriend.com. Its a great site to keep track of your temps on, and that way you don't have lots of papers floating around. Plus, then its very easy to compare months to see trends, etc.

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  7. Sorry about the dreaded red - I was SO sad when that happened month 1 off BC. I SWEAR by the Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor (o sticks are a step in the right direction!) I charted for 5 months and nothing - it worried me more than it helped. I definitely don't think it's for everyone because you wonder "did I o?" and "when?" I never had any of the other signs like cervical mucus either. Sorry if that's TMI but the method just didn't work for me I am sure it's like breastfeeding doesn't work for some women and letting babies cry it out doesn't work for others).

    So don't let the chart overwhelm/concern you. Also, I took B6 (the husband actually figured this out by reading on the internet) and got pregnant that month. No idea if it helped, but supposedly it assists with short luteal phases and fertility. I got pregnant the month I used it.

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  8. Best of luck to y'all! Everything happens for a reason!

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  9. Awww I'm sorry this month wasn't the month! I too got off BC and you're not going through this alone as we are in the process of creating our little family as well! Just stay positive! It will happen :) I'm enjoying your blog alot!

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  10. Thanks for posting all the different ways to test out if it's the right time to try or not, I had no idea there were so many options!

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  11. It's been a while since I looked at temp charts, but you're right, it doesn't look like you ovulated this time. Maybe your second month off the pill will be better! Good luck :)

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  12. I went of BC in Dec. 09 (but not to have a baby) and have been using charting as my birth control ever since. My charts were pretty whacky the first 1-3 months -- but now they are better.

    From the looks of this chart I'd say that you did not ovulate this month. :( But hang it there, lots of people don't ovulate their first month of BC.

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  13. ah, the dreaded red. better luck in month two! sending you lots of baby dust.. i commend you for charting! i know it would only drive me out of my mind. hubs and i used an iphone app.. very loosely, might i add. we were trying, but not (you know the deal) so that we didnt so much set ourselves (myself) up for disappointment.. and we were pregnant within two months of going off the pill. dont let it stress you out, though! less stress = better for baby makin! good luck, lovie! :)

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  14. You've got such a positive attitude! Better luck next month...We just used an ovulation chart I downloaded from the internet! I'm so not high tech or into too much work! Oh and I so agree, whatever you do, don't stress!

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  15. Throw away the charts, pee sticks, and anything else that is monitoring your monthly highs and lows. Just go have good ol'fashioned sex whenever you feel like it and see where that gets you. What's the rush? Stress caused from worrying about what day of the month it is will just ruin your sex life and is the surest way of not getting pregnant.

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  16. I wanted to thank you for your blog. You have inspired me to do the same and share anonymously in my TTC journey. I am excited to follow you through this journey! Best of luck!

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