Conflicting Data

Take a look at my current chart...


CD20 and still seeing dotted crosshairs, predicting O on CD10 due to temps. Meanwhile my CBEFM states otherwise. I have a feeling I may be getting a "peak" reading tomorrow, based on all other signs, and how far into the cycle I am.

My "normal" cycles were 35 days, which means that CD21 leaves 14 days until AF shows or until we see a BFP. I am trying to stay positive yet realistic. It would actually be great to get a sticky BFP around Valentine's, since last year I spent it in the ER miscarrying our first.

Any thoughts on this cycle's chart?



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CD26

Hey ladies, nothing new to report with me. I'm currently in my 2 week wait. Day 6 to be exact. We only did the BD the day before ovulation occurred. Don't ask me why......We actually haven't even done the baby dance too much this month anyways. Just one of those months I suppose. Expectations are still 50/50 for the cycle. As always....
Here's my chart.

I finally got my CBE Fertility Monitor in the mail. I'm excited to start using it. But the directions seem really complicated.....sigh.

In the meantime, my mind is staying occupied with our laundry room renovation. New paint, new cabinets, and new ceramic tile. Woot Woot! I just hope we get done ASAP.....everything that was in that room is now in my kitchen (including deep freezer and washer & dryer.)

I went to my family doctor last week for my yearly physical. I had her test my free testosterone and a few other things. I hear that can be related to acne. Which by the way has been absolutely terrible the past 3-4 months. I have no idea why.....it just keeps getting worse and worse. I have even resorted to using Oxy 10, which is 10% Benzoyl Peroxide. It doesn't even phase it. Just dries my skin out super super bad. I never even had this problem in H.S., so WTH?!! I should hear back from her within a couple of days.

Anywho, hope everyone is doing as well as expected. I know personally, I'm so tired of being without baby. Let me re-phrase that, I'm sad. To the core, completely, totally, absolutely, ridiculously sad. Will things ever change :(

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20 Week Ultrasound Picture

Dotted crosshairs?

Today is CD15, and I have already seen dotted crosshairs twice this cycle, due to my temps.



Actually, since I enter my temp first and then enter CMEFM result after, it goes from being solid crosshairs to dotted crosshairs. In case you don't know, dotted crosshairs mean that FF has conflicting data for the cycle, and is not sure about whether you are Oing or not. Personally, I do not think that O had happened yet - even though BD was timed perfectly, and that would've been awesome. :) it's also kind of weird, considering my visit to Our Lady of Milk on Tuesday, and my experience there.

Thankfully, I am using both a BBT and a CBEFM to track my Fertility, because I have a feeling that in my last cycle, we missed O because of a false crosshair. Thanks to my PCOS, the OPK wasn't able to accurately detect my O because of a constantly high LH level. CBEFM measures both LH and Estrogen, so it might be better. As you can see, I haven't had any "high" days yet... Which seems about right, since I usually O pretty late due to my long cycles.

Since we've been dealing with some pretty major home renovations and such, we decided to wait at least one more cycle (this cycle) before calling upon the IF Clinic. I figured that with everything getting pushed around and all the stuff we still have to do, it would be hard to juggle all the appointments and such. If this cycle is not successful, though, we will go see them towards the middle/end of February.

Either way... I feel like 2012 will be the year! I can just feel it :)




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21 Weeks

Not too much is new this week. I didn't have any bad pregnancy symptoms and feel great. I can feel the baby moving a lot at night usually. I gained another pound this week which puts me at 11 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. I worked really hard to eat more this week since not eating enough for a couple of days the last week left me sick for the rest of that week.


Mr. Lucky Bud bought me a Doppler Fetal Monitor online today, so I should have it in a few days. It will be comforting to be able to hear our baby when ever we want to instead of waiting for my appointments with my midwife.


 Our donors canceled our meeting last weekend due to snow, and we have rescheduled for Feb. 11th.

21 Weeks

11 weeks...

Ok so not much to report. I've listened to Skittle's heart beat a few more times since my last past. Happily it's been staying 168-172. It just makes my heart sing everytime I hear it and makes me all the more anxious to meet this little person.

The constipation has improved greatly. I've begun taking my magnesium, stool softeners and prenatal vitamin in the morning with breakfast so taking them on a daily basis has helped. I'm not eating the prunes like I should because I think they get nastier every time I have to eat them. Yuck!

I stepped on the scale this morning and I up a total of 5 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. A shame compared to Lucky's 20lbs at 20 weeks. =o/ Oh well. I'm not going crazy with my eating but am eating more frequently. Still mostly carbs, which I'm sure is where the weight gain has come from but I don't do well with heavy foods so I stick to things like Cheeze-Its, Goldfish, crackers, etc.

A lot of my girls say that I'm showing already and although my scrub pants are getting uncomfortable I can't really tell an obvious difference. My belly looks bigger and "rounder" so to speak but just not like the other bumps I've seen. I plan on getting a couple pairs of bigger scrubs in the very near future though and maybe some tops. My jeans are fine (I've been using a hairbow to keep them fastened; the belly band doesn't work well for me).

The nausea has calmed down quite a bit even since my last post. The headaches still get me down sometimes though. And my energy level has lagged dramatically. I mean cleaning the house? Puh-leaze! Thank goodness for a kind and supportive husband who has been a HUGE helped with laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. Thanks Mr. CB! =o) I've also discovered that my new bedtime according to my body is around 8:30-9pm. Too bad I can't listen to it. Mr. CB works 3rd shift and I wake him up and get him ready for work. Plus that's an extra 15-20 minutes a day that I can spend with him (we only get to see each other for about an hour everyday due to work schedules).

Okie dokie, looking at the computer is bothering my head so I'm going to sign off for now.

A Religious Experience

I want to start this post by saying that this post reflects my personal beliefs, and I am in no way attempting to force my religious beliefs on anyone. I totally and completely respect other religions and the choice to practice what we believe. :)

With that said, today, I had an experience. Mr. DBud and I were in St. Augustine, Florida celebrating our Wedding Anniversary. It's an awesomely quaint city, jam-packed with History and charm, so we figured it would be nice to visit, and spend a couple of days taking in the sites, and doing a little relaxing. We had been to the city before, but it had been a while, so we decided to head that way and see a few different things we hadn't seen before (such as the San Sebastian Winery where they offer a FREE wine tasting - very nice). All in all, the trip was great :)

In a previous post (don't remember exactly which - it's been a while), I mentioned a location in St. Augustine known as the Sacred Shine of Nuestra Señora de la Leche (Our Lady of Milk) dedicated to Mothers, women wishing to become mothers, and women seeking a smooth labor. I had been to this site before, and always thought it was peaceful and beautiful - but, obviously, I wasn't interested in any of the things it stood for (not at that point in my life). Well, being that we haven't had a lot of "luck" in that department, I was pretty adamant about visiting the shrine, and praying to the Virgin. I have always been a spiritual/religious person, growing up in the Catholic faith, and I believe in everything it stands for, so I figured it was important for us to visit the Chapel.



Photo credit: Me :) Taken with the iPhone Hipstamatic App

Mr. DBud and I quietly walked in, and had a seat on one of the benches in the tiny chapel, but not before picking up a free rosary (sometimes, they are donated and are left out for visitors). I whipped out my iPhone and pulled up the following Prayer, which I meditated with...



Photo credit, and more info: http://www.missionandshrine.org/la_leche.htm

Then, we just sat quietly, and I just prayed... I prayed that God would grant me the blessing of being a Mother, and that I could know what it's like to have a child of my own. I vowed to bring the child to the location, and raise the child to walk in his footsteps, as I did. As I prayed, the bells on the grounds started to play... And I felt all this emotion grow inside me. I couldn't help it... I started to cry. Mr. DBud had his arm around me, and he kissed my forehead. When he noticed I was weeping, he hugged me tighter, and just sat with me. After a few minutes, I whispered, "Let's go" and we exited the Chapel. When we got out, I carefully wiped my tears as I wept some more. I had all this emotion stirring inside me, and I honestly could not control it. We walked a little in silence, until I calmed down a bit, and we started talking about all the little squirrels that roamed the grounds. We didn't have to utter a word about what happened... He knew how I felt. After walking a bit, we visited the gift shop where I purchased a Prayer card with a prayer for those wishing to become mothers, as well as a rosary bracelet which I put on in the car.

Now, I guess we'll see. I have continued temping and using my CBEFM, even while on vacation, and haven't had anything major show up... But so far, so good, I guess. Just lots of ups and downs. I just hope I can see an O this month... For now, this is what my current chart looks like:



One thing is for sure... I am very lucky to have Mr. DBud... He's my Wonderwall.

Continuing to stay positive :)




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Up and down...

Well, I'm currently on CD11 (10 as far as my CBEFM is concerned), and my temps are rising and dropping like crazy! I know it's too early in the cycle and that later on when we look at the big picture things will make more sense... But it's just weird, you know?

Anyway, here's a screen shot of my chart as it currently stands:

In the past, O has happened around CD 18, so we have a few days to go. I am curious to see what the CBEFM says... This is my first time using it, but hopefully it'll be able to help me :) Maybe this will be the month. Ironically, last year around this exact week was when I got KU, so it would be weird if it happened again in the same exact month (last time, it happened our Anniversary weekend, which is now, so it may happen a week later this time). We'll see what happens!!! Staying positive :)




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CD18......Really?!

Well my oh my, guess whose little egg should be dropping in the next 24-48 hours? Mine! Mine! Good grief! This cycle has just been ridiculous! All kinds of thoughts/fears have been running through my head.

I usually ovulate between CD12-CD14. Here I am CD18 and I FINALLY get a positive OPK. I have been testing 3X a day since CD9. Good thing I buy my OPK's off Ebay super cheap. Like I've said the past few posts, I'm thinking the leaking sewer gases I was exposed to could of been the reason for out-of-the-ordinary cycle. That or work stress has finally caught up with me.
I've read online that ovulating too late in your cycle can cause a reduced chance of conceiving because your eggs might not be in sync with the lining of your uterus or the eggs could be old, or yada yada yada. Either way, I won't have too high of expectations by the time the end of this cycle rolls around. It's just not been a good month.

Anyways, I'm SOOOOO excited to share that Mr.Buckeye Bud bought be a ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor. For those who dont know what it does..............
It measures your estrogen (which rises prior to ovulation) and it measures your LH. Because I'm such a tight wod with money, I did a lot of research to find it at the cheapest place. Which was Wal-Mart's website. $180 got us the monitor and a pack of 30 strips.

Does anyone have one? And if so, how do you like it thus far? Has anyone conceived using this technology?