CD 9

I have ferning...I HAVE FERNING!!!  This is insane.  I am on day 9.  That would mean my body is gearing up to ovulate sometime between CD 13 and 16.  That would make me....gasp.....normal?  No way.  That's not possible.  I am a lot of things....crazy, impulsive, bitchy, focused, but I am NOT normal.  If I'm normal, that's gonna get rid of a LOT of excuses that I use every day......huh......I'm gonna have to rethink this...  I wonder if there's a Google site for normal people.  How do you act when your normal?  Do you still have to cook dinner if your normal?  Do normal people have to work?  Do I get a tax discount if I'm normal?  MAYBE I GET A TAX REFUND IF I'M NORMAL!  This opens up a whole new world!

EDIT: Just read this post to my husband...he assures me I'm not as normal as I think I am.

CD 6

Holy bananas! I've had 230 views...that's a lot of people caring about what I have to say.  Either that, or Amy - you are stalking me!  Ha!

So today I wonder if being cold affects fertility...I am freezing, the temp outside is 9 degrees (yah, that was the HIGH), and despite my furnace working, it is freezing in my house.  I've taken a hot shower, I've put on layers, I've eaten hot food (okay, okay, drank a cold beer), but I am not warming up.  Which is when the thought popped up - would being overly cold trigger your body as stress, and create an environment which delays ovulation?  Why does everything have to now be about ovulation and tests...I swear!  I had dark chocolate today?  Will the omega 3 make me ovulate sooner?  I forgot my baby aspirin today - will I ovulate later now?  I had sprite at Burger King - will the sugar cause a blood sugar spike and delay ovulation?  Sprite doesn't have caffeine - will having sprite versus coke help the Chiro work better and bring ovulation on earlier?  Will being certifiably crazy mean that my body no longer recognizes my thoughts as stress - just normal - and cause me to ovulate sooner?

REALLY?  Why is my head so stupid?  Will having a stupid head make me ovulate sooner or later?

BTW, I had to stop the vitamin D.  It was making me sooooooooo exhausted that I just couldn't be a good teacher, drive, or figure out simple things like where I kept the milk at in my house.  I know PCOS women are deficient in D...I'll just have to be deficient a little longer, cuz the supplement isn't working.   I also added baby aspirin to the mix...having only 2 day periods, of which a pantyliner works or a light tampon, I assume (which is not always a good thing, I know) that my uterine lining is too thin.  The aspirin is supposed to beef up lining while stimulating ovaries at the same time to ovulate.  Hmmm...so that means now I'm taking - drum roll please.....

350mg Vitex/day
1 prenatal w/ DHA/day
1000mg omega 3/day
81mg aspirin/day
600mg d-chiro-inositol/day
and a partridge in a pear tree.

Pear tree - if i take that - will that make me ovulate???  What about partridge????  My husband hunts...

CD 4

To take my mind off TTC, I am enjoying the bacholor with the husband. He claims he's here by protest, but he only gets up during commercials so he doesn't miss anything. He also yells out random comments in falseto... Think "oh spank me baby" and "this date is the best ev-er." Sometimes I think he might enjoy it more than I do. He even has me yelling out obscenities at the tv now, too. As long as the bachelor an idol are on, ttc is a bit easier...

CD 3

So a friend from college found me on facebook.   We talked to them last 5 years ago right after they got married.  She informed me they now have three kids, did we have any yet.  Nice.  Thank you.  So happy your fertile like a damn rabbit.  No, I don't have any kids. I have a dog - does that count?

On that note, I'm gonna go eat the eggs and corned beef hash that my hubby has made me for breakfast.  I'm gonna go to church.  I'm gonna come home and take down my Christmas tree.  I'm gonna wait some more.

CD 1: And Another Thing...

So now that the initial sadness about not being pregnant has passed (especially when I was oh so hopeful with that line I got on Tuesday...), I find myself extatic that I finally got my period.  I feel like calling everyone I know and screaming into the phone "I HAVE GREAT NEWS TO SHARE WITH YOU - I'M BLEEDING!"

Do you think they would have me committed?  I mean, I know they would assume I was crazy.  My husband did...He called last night on his way home from work...I answered "i'm bleeding." It was silent on the other end of the phone...then I hear "are you at a hospital?  From the head?  WHERE ARE YOU BLEEDING FROM?"  I'm thinking if I just called random people in my phone book and told them my news, I wonder what their responses would be.

So I have found Mr. Tampon...he is my friend today....

CD 1

Well, there are several good things about getting my period this morning:

• I can have a beer at my ladies night tonight!
• I have reset my time-clock for going to the reproductive endocrinologist.
• I can start making fresh eggs.
• I won't have to wonder what's cooking in there because it was an old egg.
• My d-chiro-inositol experiment can officially begin - will it change anything?
• My boobs will stop hurting when I walk
• and the number 1? I FINALLY OVULATED AND MY SUPER LONG CYCLE IS OVER!!!!!!

 Off to a day of working on homework for my Master's classes...taking the dog to get nails cut, and making pigs in a blanket for my evening "enrichment."


Lessons learned this cycle:

• When it says "don't read a negative test after 10 minutes," they mean it.  Imaginary lines start to become visible and you run around for 3 days thinking your pregnant.
• When you have the flu and don't feel like doing "it," do it anyway.  With the way your luck works, your ovulating.
• ALWAYS have cheap internet pregnancy tests on hand...dollar tree tests are still too expensive to take 3 a day!!!

TTC Cycle 3 in it's completion...

CD71: 11dpo

My temp dipped this morning...greatly...like it always does before my period. I told DH we'd get to sleep for at least one more month...he asked me if I was really pregnant...why are men so clueless?

I'm going to order more DCI and up myself to the 1200mg this saturday. I'll probably get the shakes...

Here's to another cycle.

CD 70: 10dpo

SOOOO...I got all excited yesterday because I had a line on a test...you know, a SECOND line...alas, I think it was one of those mystical evaporation lines...I took two this morning, and there was nothing there...

I tested 5 days early - who can wait until the day of their missed period anyway? What's the worst that can happen - you find out EARLIER? Some people say it would hurt if you found out you were pregnant and then you lost it just a couple days later...ummm...yes. That would hurt. But I suppose I'd rather know that I lost one of my children than never knew it even existed. I feel like when I died and got where I was going, you meet everyone again, and this angel would come up to you and you'd be like, what? who are you? That just doesn't seem right...So, test early - I believe in this.

Technically, 10 dpo is the earliest you can test, and only 10% of women get a positive on this day. I guess time will tell...

CD 69: 9dpo

My temp fell this morning. When I overlay my last two cycles with this cycle, my temps have fallen on 9dpo each time...bummer. That makes me think I'm out this cycle.

I am considering this cycle #1 of effective baby-trying. This is the first cycle where we had WONDERFUL timing, and I just can't expect babies in one cycle. It takes time. Perhaps if I have two more cycles that work out as great as this one did, I might consider going to the endocrinologist for some meds. Maybe they can see if my tubes are blocked. Maybe they can see if Husband has working man-juice. Maybe I'll still get a turkey this cycle. Hmmm...let's hope. Hope doesn't fail.

CD 68: 8dpo

OMG i have cramps...I HAVE CRAMPS...this is good news...this is great news...implant, little one, implant...implant all day long if you have to...I AM OBSESSING AGAIN...WALK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER...PUT IT DOWN AND JUST STEP AWAY...where's the chocolate...OMG I NEED chocolate...

CD67: 7dpo

The tallying of signs has begun...it doesn't matter how many times I tell myself I'm not going to do that. I ignore the pinches, I ignore the pulls, and then I see a message post about how implantation cramps are often confused with constipation cramps, my mind instantly goes to Friday morning with me doubled over at the kitchen table clutching my stomach, and I'm instantly hooked. My boobs are sore, I'm fatigued, and I'm irritable. And not a "oh, I'm PMS-ing and could use chocolate because I'm stressing" irritable, but a "move the HELL out of my way or I WILL run you over" while gunning the ignition irritable. A "keep your mouth shut or I WILL sew it shut for you" while getting out the needle and threading it myself irritable.

Just thought I'd keep you updated...

BTW, I started the 600mg of DCI yesterday, felt absolutely fine today.

CD 66: 6dpo

Holy Shit.....So I ovulated on my 30th birthday with a O-1, O, O+1 pattern....I'm still in a disbelief...

So now starts the frantic comparing of other pregnancy charts that have the same pattern as me...The overlaying of charts, the comparing of my temps, the obsessive listing of every pinch, pull, and cramp that might exist and listing it as a hopeful pregnancy sign.

Test day is January 24. It's a Sunday. It also happens to be next Sunday. I have no work on Monday or on Friday. Joe is working. I'm gonna need someone to take my mind off of my test day. My co-worker finds out what she's having on Friday. Maybe I'll call her to find out what it is and hit the mall on Saturday or something to find a cheap something in pink or blue for her. Hmmm...That might keep me busy.

I upped myself to 600mg of DCI in case this cycle happens to flop (which I have a 60% chance of this happening). So far I'm not feeling shaky or hypoglycemic, so maybe the 1200 mg will work for me!

On a completely unrelated note, I am now addicted to Uno on my iPod...

CD 62: 2dpo

I got a great book today...The PCOS Workbook. I've only read p. 17-24, but what great information! I highly recommend this read.

Today at lunch, one of my co-workers (Janice) asked me how I was doing when she had me alone on the side. I almost started crying in the bathroom stall. I guess I feel everyone was super stoked and supportive for me until Phillis got pregnant (on the same cycle I SWORE I was and we would have had due dates within 5 days of each other), and then everyone just sort of forgot I was having difficulties and now it's all about her baby. I haven't had a period since before hunting season started, and no one know because no one cared enough to even ask how I was. I called Janice at home to thank her for saying something. Her and I were always friends outside of work more than at work ever since we'd gotten hired, so it was nice to know she was still thinking of me, and not just thinking of me on a whim but thinking enough to plan when she could ask me when I wasn't in front of other people.

On that note, I did have pains on my left side today. Briefly at about 4:00. Which would put my bedtime at O+6. Isn't that prime girl-conceiving time? Hmmm....

CD 61: 1dpo

Come on ovulation......I got a negative OPK today...Fertility Friend says I should ovulate somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow, which means I should see my temp rise by Thursday? I feel like I'm at Vegas playing blackjack, ready to hit when I should be staying...how will the luck pan out???

CD 59 - I AM IN DISBELIEF!

So I started DCI exactly 4 days ago. I thought I had totally screwed myself out of an ovulation this never ending cycle - CD 57, had a cold, had the flu, on antibiotics, stressed out from holidays, yada yada yada. I started DCI 4 days ago, and I've got full ferning AND the DARKEST OPK I'VE EVER HAD EVER!!!!

So, the logical part of me says, hey, DCI cannot work that fast. But then I find this study that says 600 mg reduces blood sugar by 22% within 120 minutes of ingestion (which can be found here), and I have to wonder, since I was on Vitex, perhaps the little extra shove was all my hormones (who may have been gearing up to try ovulating again anyway) needed to make the ovulation actually happen this time....hmmm...back to google I go! BTW, here are some sites that I found helpful when I was researching DCI:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10824707

http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/blog/149/pinitol-d-chiro-inositol-inositol/

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/340/17/1314

http://www.soulcysters.net/dci-d-chiro-inositol-wow-280933/

http://www.chiralbalance.com/faq/category/Is_DCI_safe_and_natural.htm

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-299-D-chiro-inositol%2c+synonym+-chiroinositol+INOSITOL.aspx?activeIngredientId=299&activeIngredientName=D-chiro-inositol%2c+synonym+(%2b)-chiroinositol+(INOSITOL)&source=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I82OtKb4jtA

http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Health/Ovulatory-and-metabolic-effects-of-D-chiro-inositol-in-the-polycystic-ovary-syndrome.html

http://pcoscommunity.com/showthread.php?t=14293

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15251831?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

CD 58

Ughgh...when will this flu be over???

On the positive note, guess who got ferning today? Yup, that's right...I got ferning today!!!!! So excited, I had to call my mother. Her response? "What the hell is ferning?" Oh well. So, getting over the flu, need to do the deed, getting over the flu, need to do the deed. Somehow I'm gonna have to make this work!

So now I have to wonder....did the DCI have anything to do with this? I've only taken it for 3 days, so I think no. But I read a study that DCI begins to work in your body only 120 minutes after you ingest the pill. I guess time will tell!

CD 57

So today is day 2 on d-chiro-inositol (DCI). I'm not sure what I expected. Actually, I expected to feel awful. I thought, like Metformin, I'd be sick to my stomach, or stuck in the bathroom, or, I don't know, shaky or something. But I feel, well, nothing. I feel like I'm getting over the flu, which is appropriate, because I'm getting over the flu. Other than that, I'm cautiously optimistic.

I emailed the VP of a company that manufactures DCI, and he said I should take it first thing in the morning with my breakfast. He also recommended I start with the highest dose (1200 mg) and work my way backwards. I think that seems a bit like shocking your body, so I'm sticking to my instincts - starting for a week at 300 mg, then next week hitting 600 mg, which is my recommended dosage. The VP also suggested I look into Vitamin D research. Supposedly PCOS is linked with a Vitamin D deficiency, and suggested I go on a D3 supplement.

At this point, is seems as if every time I do more research, there are more twists and turns that point to this and that as the root cause of PCOS. I figure if I try it all, maybe I'll hit pay dirt with one of them?

CD 53

So, I'm super stoked. First, I joined a group on Fertility Friend that is trying to lower body fat by using the wii fit. This might be JUST what I've been looking for! You have to upload weekly photos and post your progress. Woo hoo!

Second, I have found the ultimate facebook profile picture for me. For anyone who doesn't know, my well-respected nickname is Marge, to the point where some people don't even know my real name! This comes from Marjory Stewart Baxter off of Salad Fingers. Why? Because I taste like sunshine dust, silly!

CD52

It's not here yet. I don't really think 2-day shipping covers New Year's Day, though. What about New Year's Eve if it was ordered by noon? Maybe....Maybe. So I should see it at my house by Monday or Tuesday. Which reminds me, I should check my mail....I have trouble remembering that one...checking mail...who does that regularly? My mailbox is locked, so it's not like I have to worry about mail theft or anything....hm......

When I think about starting the DCI, I get butterflies in my stomach. Is this normal? BTW, my efforts to lose 10% of body fat to lower my % body fat (currently 25.4% - yikes! healthy is around 19-20%), thereby lowering insulin levels, is on it's way. I need to get to AT LEAST 130, and today I weighed in at 137.8! Yeah! That means I lost 1.2 pounds this week - Woo hoo! Now, to build up muscle...ha ha...THAT'S the tricky part. BUT if I start my DCI, I'm supposed to see a surge in energy since blood sugar will be working normal (I guess I've pretty much been living in a state of lethargic sugar rushes my whole life but didn't know it since I don't know what it feels like to have normal sugar?), so maybe I'll work out then???? ;)