And the story goes.............(part 2)

And the story goes.........

Cd14 quick update

Seems like I have been away from here for a while, but it's been totally deliberate. I've decided not to invest too much emotion into this cycle, I just don't want to get too hurt if it does not result in pregnancy.

To be honest I did not even know what cycle day I was on until I decided to write this post. I have been temping on and off, but nothing consistent.

On cd11 I went for my follicular scan, it was not so great. I had one follicle on the right side that was 7mm, and that was it, all the rest were not worth checking the size.

I was a bit sad, but I can't really be bothered to worry about it. I'm going back on Wednesday cd20 to check for growth and possible ovulation, if my follicle is mature but I have not ovulated, they will trigger me. I will start taking temping seriously from today and start the OPK's on Saturday.

In the meantime, hubby and I have decided to take a spontaneous short break over the diamond jubilee weekend to Dubai, I'm actually typing this post from the boarding lounge, will be back on Tuesday. We just thought we needed a short break to festered and not get too caught up in this whole ttc thing. This period in my life is the last time I will have the opportunity for such spontaneity and carefreeness(I know that's not a real word), so we may as enjoy it while we can. Once a baby comes along, everything takes forward planning.

I am going to enjoy the hell of this Dubai trip, scorching heat and all.

I will post some pics when I get back.

I've also been thinking about what interesting things one can do during the 2ww to keep your mind off of things, maybe blogging about different things, not necessarily about the awful wait. Please send across your ideas ladies, we can all do it together.

Anyway that's it folks, I have not even looked at this blog for a while, so I need to catch up with what is going on with you guys.I hope you are all well and good


Hugs, kisses and baby dust to all xxx

9DPO Update

As much as I am happy to be experiencing the "2ww" it's such a difficult time, filled with noticing every single thing your body does and paying too much attention to things that could be simply a coincidence. My days and nights have been filled with google-ing all kinds of things 2ww-related. I've never experienced this before because I never know when I have ovulated to be able to calculate my 2ww. I take my hat off to the many women who go through this countdown every single month, it's truly a struggle.

The good news is that my bbt temps have consistently remained elevated (about 97.9 average). I was wondering if I should stop charting my temps as I don't want to get too caught up in the temps, it would be so difficult for me to watch my temps slowly decreasing, I think I would rather just wait for my AF to arrive or to get a BFP. I think tomorrow will be the last time I take my temp for this cycle. Actually, I would really appreciate you advice and suggestion on this ladies. Please let me know your thoughts.

So these have been my symptoms so far;

• 1dpo - normal
• 2dpo - slightly sore boobs
• 3dpo - slightly sore boobs, sticky cm
• 4dpo- sore boobs, sticky cm, slight nausea, twinges around my ovaries
• 5dpo - sore boobs, sticky cm
• 6dpo - sore boobs, slight nausea, twinges and niggles
• 7dpo - sore boobs, creamy cm
• 8dpo - sore boobs, creamy cm, twinges and niggles
• 9dpo- sore boobs, sore throat, sticky cm

I was wondering if I would have some spotting to indicate implantation, as some women notice, but I didn't see this, but fingers crossed I still implanted. I should have a good chance since I released 2 eggs, right?

Today the fertility nurse called to let me know the results of the progesterone blood test I took on 7dpo - result was 129nmol/l. This is ridiculously high, I have a large amount of progesterone in my body right now, quite considerably above the average range. Average range is 6.4-79.5nmol/L (equal to 2-25ng/mL) a week after ovulation. This sounded like great news to me but the nurse was quick to remind me that it does not mean I am pregnant and it has no relation to my chances of getting pregnant. Why couldn't she just let me have my joy for a moment?

I am due to test on Tuesday/Wednesday and I'm really hopeful and positive, I have been joking with my husband about twins over the last few days, I think he is seriously scared.

As I have spent numerous hours on google search, I was intrigued to know what happens in a woman's body between the time of fertilization and implantation. Apparently the zygote is in "free-flow" until it lands on the lining and implants, a few days later it will release the hcg hormone which can be detected by a pregnancy blood test, then a couple of days later, the hcg will be present in your urine. It's quite interesting to know all this things about a woman's body and makes me appreciate the miracle of human life, truly a testament to the awesomeness of God. This whole ttc experience has taught me so many things about my body.

If you would like to read a more detailed  account of implantation, I found the link below quite helpful.

http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/lutealphase.html

So I have 5 more days to test, I never want to be in this 2ww again. I don't even want to try to get pregnant. Anyway, I cant really complain, this clomid therapy has worked well for me so for, so fingers crossed for the ultimate finish hey!

That's it for now, God Bless xxx

Clomid mid-cycle scan results

So I had my ultrasound this morning to check the size of my follicles. This is what happened.

DING DING.......Clomd round 1 begins

Hey beautiful supporters, I call you supporters because you guys are so supportive and help me get through the waiting upon waiting upon waiting. I really appreciate you all.

As the title suggests, I have started clomid, finally - after waiting for over a year and enduring test upon test and going to numerous appointments.

AF came yesterday, 9 days after my last provera pill, I thought it would come quicker than this but at least it's here now. So I called the RMU this morning and when the nurse called me back she told me start clomid today- I was rather surprised. First of all, I thought she would want me to come in for a scan before getting approval to start, and secondly I thought I would start on cd3,4 or 5. So I took my first dose around 8pm this evening after my dinner. I'm really happy I have finally started, I will be going in next thursday morning for a scan to check the size of my follicles.

One thing I have noticed, is that my AF is lighter than usual, this must be an effect of the provera. I usually have to change my tampon every 2 hours on cd1 & 2 and sometimes even double up with a pad. This one has been a lot lighter.

Also I have noticed that I gained weight whilst taking provera, I have not weighed myself but I can see and feel it, a few people have commented too. I will need to work on this because I have never been a size 10 in my life and I'm now borderline size 10, no bikini wearing for me when I go on my hols. My skin has also gotten worse, spots on my forehead and around the jaw line, I'm hoping this will clear soon though.

Oh yeah, I started temping this morning too so I will monitor my temps too.
Wish me luck for my first round of clomid.

Hugs

Poppin Provera Pills & Side effects

It's all in the vid. Happy Easter guys

I cant wait for AF to come

CD 48 update ( and fertility nurse appointment )

As the title suggests, I'm on cd48- another long ass cycle, but I have not been obsessing over this cycle, I have just let it run it's course without stressing about it too much. At the beginning of my cycle I was quite focused on making sure I complete a full cycle of temping and monitoring my CM. I also started using OPK's around cd15. You will be disappointed to know that amidst all the positive encouragement from you ladies,I still managed to stop temping and stop doing the OPK's. I know, I gave up and I shouldn't have. I'm just one of these people who easily get de- motivated when I don't see results soon enough. Actually I think it's more the fact that I'm not disciplined enough - or so my husband tells me. The last temp I charted was on cd30 and the last opk I did was on cd34, then I just threw in the towel as I knew it was going to be another drawn out cycle.

Anyway, I did start noticing my cm get a little stretchier and more eggwhite around cd34 and this continued for a few days, so I was thinking that maybe I'm ovulating. To be honest I should have really made sure I was temping and doing OPK's to confirm this but I was too lazy. It's also really hard to do OPK's when you get home late from work, there is no way i could do it at work either.

Unfortunately, we did not BD at all around the time that my cm appeared to be fertile, and this was due to me feeling unwell, drained, tired and hubby and I were not on the best terms anyway. By this time I was just looking forward to my appointment with the fertility nurse that had been set up at my last FS appointment back in January.

So I went to the hospital to see the nurse last week Thursday 16th feb, which was cd39 for me and to be honest i was excited to hear what she would say, hoping and praying she would just give me clomid and glad that I would jot have to undergo any invasive scans or anything.

By the time my appointment came along, in my heart of hearts I knew that I probably ovulated in the past few days and that we had missed our opportunity for this cycle, I had a very very slight tender feeling in my breasts which I only normally get when my AF is getting ready to show up.

So the nurse basically told me that my HSG report was normal and the next step was for me to go on 50mg of clomid for 3 months. She was very positive about it and said that she felt this would work for me, if not we could increase the dose. I was really happy as you can imagine.
She gave me the prescription then and there for 3months worth of clomid and also the trigger shot.

She said I could start immediately and I did not have to wait for my period but first they would need to do a scant check my uterus lining was thin, apparently you can only start when the lining is thin, if the lining is thick they can give you provera to make it shed and then you can begin. So she asked me to come in the following morning to get the scan done to check my lining. In my head I was thinking that my lining probably would be slightly thick as ovulation had happened and my period would probably come in about 2 weeks so it might make sense to wait for it. Anyway I did not say anything as there was a small chance that I could be wrong. The nurse said that once I start taking it I would need to come back a few days after my last dose to check if any eggs were maturing and to possibly get a trigger shot to make me ovulate. If there were no mature eggs I would need to come back a few days later to do another scan to check. She said I would also need to use the clearblue smiley face OPK's around that time and once get a positive to BD that morning, night and following morning. She said it must be the smiley face ones. In my mind I w thinking how I would manage to get all this time off work to come for scans without anybody knowing the Eason why.

Then suddenly I remembered that me and hubby are travelling for 10 days on the 9th march, how would we make all the appointments, so I told her and she advised that we should start the clomid when we get back. I will have to go in for a scan to check my lining and then start according to the result of the scan. I know that my period is going to come before then as my boobs are so sore and have doubled in size - hubby loves it!!!! I was right, I did ovulate when I say my CM get stretchier.

So the plan now is to call the nurse on CD1(which should be very soon) and here what she suggests, she did say that i might be able to start it while I'm away and then I could have a scan done to check for mature eggs as soon as I get back from our trip. So as it stands I don't really know when we are going to start the clomid, we will just have to play it day by day.

I must say that I feel quite positive about the clomid, even though she did say that it may take a while to have an effect, due to pcos. I have been reading loads of success stories online and they are really uplifting. Here's the link if you want to read a few.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/199983-clomid-success-stories-please/AllOnOnePage

Phewww, this is a long post, I'm really sorry I should have been updating more regularly. If any of you have any clomid stories, good or bad, please share them. I would love to hear them.

Everyday I keep looking at my clomid wondering when I am going to start, but it should be quite soon.
I hope I have not missed out anything important.

Take care ladies xx

Baby dust to all

AWOL.......

Ok, so I admit I have been a bit absent lately. But I have a good excuse, I promise.
I have been so busy at work, as I just got promoted, yaaaaaay. I have so much responsibility now that I am getting home so late at night feeling shattered. Also the last 2 weekends have been absolutely packed.

I have quite a lot to update, but I'm at work right now, so will have to wait till I get home. I'm wondering whether I should post a video or a regular post....maybe you guys can let me know what you prefer.

I just thought I would post this just to let you know I have not completely abandoned my blog, some ladies on BnB have also started blogs recently, so I have a lot of catch up reading to do also. I'm also going to catch up on reading all your blogs too. So look out for my next post tonight.

God Bless

1st Fertility Treatment Appointment

Hi guys, how are you? Hope you're all well.
I love it how I'm speaking as if I have so many followers, I don't have any yet, I'm literally writing to myself - wishful thinking I guess. Anyway, back to the point of the post.

So 23rd November was the big day that I had been waiting for forever (6weeks actually, but it might as well have been forever). I was really excited but nervous at the same point. Even though my case had been taken up a notch, at least I was in the hands of the people who could help me to make this pregnancy happen. Upon arriving I saw many women who were pregnant already which filled me with a lot of hope. I signed in and was given a few forms to fill in, my OH too. After about 10 mins or so a nurse called us into her office to check my blood pressure, height and weight (59kg, I have gained 4kgs in this marriage-not good). She checked over our forms and said they were fine. The forms were basically to find out if you had been pregnant before, how regular your AF is, history of STD's, alcohol and drug intake, all that kind of stuff.

Then the consultant calls us into her office, the first thing i noticed was that she had a wall of photographs of babies(I'm assuming that she helped to conceive)-this was quite reassuring. She looked over her notes and said "so you have pcos", and I was like excuse me, she then said " well look, your an educated woman, it doesn't take much to see that your periods are highly irregular and your blood tests show that some of the hormone levels were higher than normal." I almost burst into tears because although I had often thought that I may have pcos I had never been labelled as someone with pcos. My doctor had told me that all seemed fine (she was really vague) previously and that I would probably just need help to ovulate. She asked me a bit more about my cycles and stuff and reassured me that I was still young and healthy and getting pregnant should not be too difficult. She said the next step would be have a few diagnostic tests done, so they would have a clear picture of what was going on inside my body.

1. Transvaginal Ultrasound- to be done between day 2-5 of my next AF. This is basically an ultrasound using a probe through the vagina so as to have a much clearer picture of my uterus, ovaries, and Fallopian tubes. I think they want to see how many cysts/follicles I have on my ovaries. I believe you should be able to see the dead follicle in which the egg was released from, if indeed I did ovulate. The disgusting thing is, that I will still be on my prior while this is done, that totally freaks me out.

2. Hysterosalpinogram (HSG)- to be done between day 7-10 of my cycle. This is an xray of the uterus and Fallopian tubes to check the tubes are clear and there are no blockages. They insert dye through a catheter into the uterus and use an xray machine to see if it has dispersed clearly through to the end of the Fallopian tubes. I have been reading up about this, I think it may be painful.


So I need to book both of these tests once my AF appears, which I have no clue, I think I'm on cycle day 40 already, with no signs of AF showing her face.
The consultant booked a return appointment for the 18th January 2012 to review the results and decide the next step. At this rate, there may not be any results to review. Fingers crossed for AF then, I never thought I would be saying that.


So there we have my journey so far, I'm just waiting for my AF to come so I can have the 2 tests done and get them out of the way. I'm really hoping 2012 will bring me the gift of motherhood.

What has your journey been like so far? Have you been diagnosed with PCOS? Have you had a transvaginal and or HSG? I'd love to hear your experiences.

And so the story begins.........Part 1

Right, I will try to make this as short as possible - so as not to bore the hell out of you on my first post. My DH and I got married almost 2 years ago now and although I always romanticised about conceiving on my honeymoon night, we both knew that would not be ideal (after spending all our money on the wedding). So we just decided we would enjoy our marriage and begin by "not trying, not preventing" if you know what I mean. However I had noticed that for more than a year before the wedding my periods were extremely irregular (once in 3months was pretty usual), so I went to see my doctor and told her the situation. She said it was nothing to worry about. We continued with our strategy.

9 months down the line I decided to go back and this time tell my doctor that I wanted to have a baby, and so my periods need to be checked out - she said that usually I would need to wait for a year of ttc but because of my irregular periodS she would proceed with investigations. She told me it could be polycystic ovarian syndrome (pcos) but tests would need to be done in order to confirm it. She referred me to Royal Free Hospital to get some blood tests and an ultrasound.

Stay tuned for part 2......