She Says... What now?

Thank you all SO MUCH for your encouragement, support and advice over the past few days. Who knew this babymaking thing could be so complicated?!

Here’s a recap on where we stand:

• First round of Clomid (50mg) started on September 9th (if I had a cycle, that would have been on cycle day 3… since I don’t have a cycle, it was the day I got the drugs in the mail!)
• Started using an ovulation predictor kit (OPK) on September 16th (pseudo cycle day 10)
• I got clear negatives the first few days, and then got somewhat confusing almost-positives on September 19th & 20th
• Then I got the real deal — definitely positive on September 21st (pseudo cycle day 14)
• My willing husband and I “bumped it”, as he jokingly says, every night from September 18th to the 23rd (ok, I guess you all know that the last one was in the afternoon by necessity)
• Then Benjamin left for NYC for work and won’t be back until Saturday night

If the OPK reading was correct, we totally nailed it in terms of timing. In addition to the OPK, I definitely had some physical symptoms that indicate that ovulation occurred on the 21st, including the elusive mittelschmerz (which sounds to me like some sort of Yiddish insult… but is really the term for “middle pain” or cramping from ovulation). Not so comfy. Literally haven’t felt that in, umm, a least a decade… possibly ever! One can never be sure what was going on inside my body pre-birth control. There were a few other symptoms as well, but, in an effort to maintain some sort of personal boundaries, I won’t discuss the details of my cervical mucus on the blog. Ooops, I guess I just did.

So, one would imagine that I’m feeling pretty good right now. Except that I’m not. I’m nervous. And impatient. See, my trusty guide through this process, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, tells me that my temperature should shoot up 12-36 hours after ovulation. The author says a couple trying to conceive should have sex up to and including the morning of the temp shift. If I ovulated on the 21st, then my temp should have shifted this morning. And it didnt. Well, it did a TINY bit (for instance, my normal temps are usually between 97.6 and 98.0 and this morning was 98.2). I was expecting a more dramatic shift. I’ve literally been taking my temperature all day long (and before you respond to this post saying “your temp will shift throughout the day”, “you’re supposed to take it the same time very morning”, blah blah… I know. It’s not rational. But I can’t stop.). So now I’m beginning to doubt my mittelschmerz and the OPK and all the signs that pointed to ovulation a few days ago.

And the real bummer of it all is that I won’t be able to confirm or deny any of these things until October 6th. I have an appointment at Dr. P’s office for a pregnancy test. DID YOU HEAR ME?! MY VERY FIRST PREGNANCY TEST THAT COULD BE POSITIVE! Could someone please fast forward to then? Please?

Anyone out there in the blogosphere have experience with temp charting after ovulation? How much does it really go up? Is it possible that it won’t go up, but I still ovulated? How’s a girl to know?

She Says... Clomid: The Recap

I just popped my last of 5 Clomid pills. I am happy to report that I haven’t had any of the horrendous side effects some other people did. I have taken the pill every night before bed, which I heard was the best way to avoid some of the potential dizziness and nausea. After I take it, I do feel a little woozy/sleepy, but since I’m already going to bed, it’s not a problem. Now we start the clock! I’ll start using an ovulation predictor kit on Wednesday, and I’m also still charting my temperatures every morning. Apparently between the two, we should know if I ovulate. The ovulation predictor kit will tell me when I’m ABOUT to ovulate (a.k.a. when it’s time to bump and grind), and the temperature shift should indicate that I just did (or that it is happening right then). Cross your fingers for me that the Clomid worked and ovulation occurs later this week!

I am generally a relentlessly realistic person. While I enjoy dreaming about the future, I’m very rational about what is and is not possible; sometimes to my more idealistic husband’s dismay   This time, however, I’m all unicorns and rainbows rose-colored glasses. I am REALLY positive about the Clomid working. And me ovulating. And the sperm finding the egg and all the magical stuff that needs to happen after that to make me pregnant. I know things haven’t gone according to plan up until now, but for some reason I just feel like everything is going to fall into place beautifully from now on. While my brain knows that it can often take several cycles to figure out the correct amount of Clomid needed to stimulate ovulation, and that even if I DO ovulate, AND we have sex at the right time, we STILL only have a 20% chance of conceiving; my heart is bursting with excitement and anticipation that it just.might.happen.this.week. I’ve already calculated out the potential due date if it works, and estimated how cute my belly will be for things like Christmas and friends’ weddings, etc. It’s hard not to.

Benjamin has been doing his best to be the rational one while my normally realistic brain is on a little vacay. But honestly? Between you and I? I am really, really, really optimistic.

She Says... It's like Christmas!

Look what Santa the Fed-Ex man brought… CLOMID!

And, although I hope we won’t need it, injectible Ovidrel (more on this later). Check out the packaging for this bad boy. It has to be refrigerated upon receipt, and is only good for 30 days, so it comes in its own little cooler (styrofoam, yuck) with its own little ice packs.

And now it has found a new home nestled in our ‘fridge, right next to the hummus

Here’s the dealio. Since I am not ovulating I do not have set “cycle days”. I can essentially start a cycle whenever I want. And I wanna start NOW. So tonight I’m going to pop the first of five Clomid pills. That makes today Cycle Day 3. The timeline for the next two weeks looks like this:

• Today (Cycle Day 3), start 5 days of Clomid pills. I’ll take one pill each night before bed to minimize yucky side effects like dizziness, nausea and drowsiness (and also hopefully avoid some of the other not-so-nice side effects mentioned here).
• Next Wednesday (Cycle Day 10), I will start using an Ovulation Predictor Kit to figure out if the Clomid did its job.
• If I haven’t ovulated by the following Monday (Cycle Day 15), I am supposed to call Dr. P’s office and schedule bloodwork and an ultrasound (just like I did here) for Tuesday, Cycle Day 16.
• If the ultrasound shows that I have a healthy looking follicle at the ready, but it just hasn’t been triggered yet, Benjamin and I will be instructed to use the injectible Ovidrel at home. I say “Benjamin and I” because I do not think I will be able to stick myself with a needle. Benjamin’s going to have to do it. But we’re hoping we won’t have to do that.
• In theory, the injectible stuff will force me to ovulate, so we’ll try try try to make a baby then.

So, one way or another, I’m feeling very optimistic about getting preggo by the end of the month! I daresay my hopes are too high, but that’s an issue for another post. For now, it’s pill popping time! Wahoo! Here we go…

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