CD8 of Cycle 9 - to pee or not to pee

After a lovely few days in Brighton we returned home yesterday afternoon, so I decided to start temping again this morning: 36.24 – nothing exciting. Based on the last few cycles I am expecting to ovulate either Wednesday or Thursday next week (CD13/CD14). I am going to give OPKs a go again so will POAS on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I bought some Conceive Plus last month from an Amazon seller and some cheapy OPKs were included along with some HPTs, so I might as well use them! They are small thin strips that you dip into urine that has been collected in the afternoon – the only annoying thing is that you have to let the wee get to room temperature and I just can’t be bothered to wait. I’ll do it this month though, pinky promise!

Cathy Wilcox

I didn’t go for the blood tests on Monday after all. We’d taken the week of work and decided that we didn’t want to spend the first morning of our holiday waiting in the hospital. So I will go on the next CD3 instead – fingers crossed I won’t need to!

I’ve also just picked up today’s post and have got an appointment at the hospital for the scan – it’s a Pelvic Ultrasound scan to assess the ovaries, womb and “surrounding structures” whatever that means! There are two methods – transabdominal and transvaginal. The letter has asked me to go with a full bladder THANK GOD as I really hate my girly bits being looked at! Hopefully I won’t pee myself, I have to drink a pint and half an hour and half before the appointment, eek! 

Anyway the appointment is on 22^nd August (CD18) so I will of course update on how that goes.

CD1 of Cycle 9 - and a bit about temping!

As suspected, the evil witch arrived this afternoon – I knew she would as my temperature was on 36.12 today which is right down to the coverline. Boo to the evil witch! So there won’t be much to report on over the next days.

I use a website called www.fertilityfriend.com to chart my temperatures as well as changes in cervical mucus CM (if I notice any). This will be my third month of temping but already it has really helped me to get an idea of when I ovulate as well as, like today, knowing that the witch is coming.

This month I won’t be temping properly until about CD8 as I am going away for a few days next week and as the witch is in town I see no benefit anyway. So I’ll be leaving the thermometer at home. CD8 should be early enough for me to see a pattern anyway as I seem to ovulate around CD13/14.

You can detect ovulation has occurred when you get 3 temperatures in a row that have all been higher than the previous 6. Once you have seen that thermal shift you can be pretty sure that ovulation occurred the day before the first higher temperature. Your temperature should then stay high throughout the Luteal Phase – this is the time from ovulation to your next period. The increased temperature is caused by the progesterone that is released after ovulation.

Science lesson over for the day! 

 xkcd.com

Oh, forgot to mention, I am going for blood tests on Monday to check my levels of FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) &ESR (Erythrocyte sedimentation rate), as well as a full blood count and blood sugar level check. Just to make sure that (fingers crossed) everything is working as it should be. I’m supposed to have the tests on CD3 but since that’s a Sunday I’m doing it on CD4 instead. I’m also going to be having an ultrasound scan at some point but need to wait for the hospital to contact me for that.

Happy Friday everyone! :)

The story so far....

Hello. I’m Sian, I’m 29 and I’ve been trying to conceive (TTC) since January 2011. It’s now August and no bean to be seen! I know it’s only been seven and a bit months and everyone says that most couples fall pregnant within a year, but to be honest I have found the process so far to be so stressful and all-consuming that I thought I might as well start this blog and chart my TTC journey for anyone else out there who may be in the same boat, who may be interested or who, like me, is just a bit nosey to see how other ladies are getting on.

It’s funny to think that I have actually spent over 10 years trying to not fall pregnant – how naive was I to think it was that easy! Then again, I still sit there inwardly fuming at the girls on Underage and Pregnant, for example, who say they had sex once and fell pregnant... So unfair! 

shabbyblogs.com

So let’s see, I have been through 7 months, but 8 cycles, of TTC so far – I had two visits from the witch in one month believe it or not! I’ve learnt a lot along the way so far which I’ll share with you as I go along. Not going to bore you to death right now as I could probably write a book!  

Today is CD26 (cycle day 26) of cycle 8, however I have had a bit of spotting today and cramps over the last few days so expect to see the witch in full flow tomorrow. So I’ll officially be sharing my TTC journey with you from CD1 of cycle 9. See you tomorrow!