I’m only four weeks pregnant, so I’m not sure what is a symptom or just my mind playing games on me. Today I woke up with a sore throat. I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I’m just so excited. I’m exhausted in the morning and keyed up at night. I dragged myself to work. Thankfully it was a slow day. I’m so tired and achy feeling, but I couldn’t take a nap after work. I’m taking off tomorrow. My in-laws are coming for breakfast this weekend, and I can’t seem to get motivated to clean the house. I do one thing, and then I have to sit and be lazy for awhile. I figure with that rate it’ll take me a whole day to get everything done for the weekend.
In summary, at a little over 4 weeks, my pregnancy symptoms are:
- Mild cramping in the evening or if I move suddenly
- My BB are slightly tender and big
- Sore throat, achy, and tired
- I’m not nauseated, but if I feel funny if I wait too long between meals
- Creamy CM
- The most important symptom- No AF
Yesterday I was reading about chemical pregnancies, which was a terrible thing to do to myself. I got a little worried and stressed about it. It was later in the evening, so I didn’t want to use a pregnancy test without FMU. Last thing I wanted was to see was a BFN! So, I used an OPK- Still pregnant. It was such a relief to see the two dark lines. It’s pretty neat how the OPK picks up HCG as well as LH. I felt better! FX that the baby sticks around for the whole 9 months.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I POAS this morning and saw my first BFP. I’m still shaking a little bit. I didn’t take my BBT or really use OPK this month. I just watched my CM. DH was also more relaxed than usual. We took a nice vacation with our dogs. I didn’t feel pregnant at all. My BB had stopped hurting. Last weekend I cried because I didn’t think I was pregnant, and I was so upset that DH didn’t want to do a SA. This weekend I kept feeling a pull in my lower abdomen when I stood up quickly. Which was odd. This morning I woke up and my BB hurt again. I’m about 12 dpo, so I POAS to encourage AF to start. A BFN is usually a good way to get the next cycle started. Instead I found two bright pink lines. I didn’t really expect that! I’m pregnant! I keep checking the stick, and there are still two lines!
DH is out of town, so I haven’t been able to tell him. SHHHH! I want to think of a great way to tell him, but I’m sure I’m just going to blurt it out when he calls to check in.
My acupuncturist gave me a handout about the Chinese New Year later this month. This is the year of the Ox. The handout talked about different things to do to make the most out of the year, and they all boiled down to getting back to the basics. That’s exactly what I plan to do. I’m going “Back to Basics.” I’m going to try to make TTC as basic as possible. I have to admit that not charting my BBT has made it difficult to know for sure if I’ve ovulated yet. I wasn’t sure if that would matter to me since we are BDing every other day, but BD on a schedule is hard when you aren’t sure when you can stop! I broke down and used my last OPK yesterday- it was negative. So I’ve either ovulated, or I’m going to soon. Grrr… I’m fighting the urge to buy more. I’m glad that I will use the fertility monitor next month. I should change it to going “Back to Basics within Reason.” Just can’t give up total control to fate!
I find it interesting to read about the traits of people born in the year of the Ox. Dependable, leaders, smart, trustworthy, caring, organized, etc. They sound like typical first-born children to me, so I’m hoping that’s a sign that this will be my baby year.
I’m not sure why, but I noticed fertile CM earlier this cycle. Since I’m spending so much money on acupuncture, I’m going to attribute the change to the needles. It could be the phase of the moon, or that I’m slowly getting regulated after 5 years with an IUD. I may never know why for sure, but I think I’m going to ovulate earlier this month. I’m not taking my BBT or using the OPK. I was just using CM observations this month. I usually don’t notice fertile CM until CD12 or so, but this cycle I noticed it on CD9. The exciting part is that we had planned a vacation for some BD last week. I had thought I would ovulate then when we planned the trip, but as my cycles went on my ovulation date and LP changed, which threw off when I thought I would ovulate in January. Grrr… I didn’t anticipate ovulating until the week after our trip. But, I started to get fertile CM right before and throughout our trip. Hurray! Needless to say, I was excited. This wasn’t the high point of the trip for DH, but it certainly was for me. I’m hoping that this is our month- as I hope it is every month. I feel relaxed, and not charting so much has made me feel less stressed. We’ve been able to BD every morning since I notice fertile CM. I got my fertility spell completed, so I hope that will help the cause! I got my fertility monitor all set up and ready to go, so I have something to look forward to next cycle if it doesn’t work out for us. Now I just have to wait… FX and Baby Dust that this is our month!!!!
I decided that I am not going to do anything this month. No BBT. No OPK. I am going to chart my CM. It’s hard not to notice that when you use the bathroom. I’m just going to relax and enjoy January. DH’s schedule is great this month. We’ll be able to BD every other night for the next week or two, so I don’t need to know exactly when I ovulate this month. Hopefully, we’ll have our BFP, but if not, I got a Fertility Monitor. It’s an interesting little device. We’ll see how it works. I got it used off ebay for $60. It’s typically over $100, so I’m glad that I got a deal. I’m bidding on the test sticks you need to use with it. You have to start using it by CD 5, but I didn’t get it until after that because of Christmas. I’ll start using it next cycle, which will be something to look forward to if I get another BFN!
I’m hoping I will like the fertility monitor better than the OPK. I think it won’t make me feel as crazy! With the OPK, it was stressful to constantly get negatives. It was also hard to hold my urine and try to pee at the same time every day. You use FMU with the monitor. I’ve read that the monitor gives low, high, and peak results. My CM is pretty accurate, so it’ll be a good cross reference.
I had a leftover generic OPK from last cycle. I wanted to use it first, and then bust out the fancy brand name OPK. I started testing on Friday, and I decided to use FMU because a few ladies on FF posted that their RE recommended it for OPK. I usually test at 4 pm after peeing and limiting liquids after 2 pm. I was assuming it would be negative because I always thought you weren’t suppose to use FMU. Wouldn’t you know that I got a positive result. I thought it would be positive at 4 pm because I felt some cramping. I was excited because I felt it on the left side, and I haven’t felt anything on that side since my IUD was removed. It was negative at 4 pm that day, and I haven’t had a positive since. Hmm… I had fertile CM on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday. I only started testing on Friday, but my temp hasn’t dropped- just gone up. It’s not as high as it usually is after I ovulate. So maybe I ovulated, or maybe I’m about to ovulate… I feel some cramping now. I wish things were more clear-cut.
It wouldn’t normally matter, but we were only able to BD on Saturday because of DH’s schedule. If the positive OPK on Friday was accurate, then we at least had one BD attempt during ovulation. If not, then we missed our opportunity this month. Grrr…. DH is super busy this week and wanted to not actively TTC this month. As if that is possible now! It’s like we opened Pandora’s box. There is no going back! I understand his side, but I was totally crushed. This is Cycle 4, and I feel we are going to be at Cycle 6 before I know it. Ugh! But, I tried my best to limit baby talk. I only slipped up around Thanksgiving because of my Dr. appointment. Oops… I don’t think I’ve mentioned it to him in almost two weeks, but I’m pretty sure he was aware of why I was seducing him on Saturday.
I’ve also decided to not have further testing done until my yearly gyno visit in February. I’m going to not temp or do OPK in January. I can tell when I’m fertile by my CM. I’m hoping that will make me feel more relaxed. I’m going to go to a different practice and see how they approach my concerns. I don’t feel comfortable with how my current practice handled my concerns.
But, I’m still wondering if that positive OPK on Friday was accurate…
I can’t believe it’s CD 20 already. Where did the past 20 days go? TTC has this weird time warp effect. Some days I feel like life is going by so slow, and then there are times when I can’t believe how fast time goes by. I can’t believe it’s November already. Before I know it, it’ll be time for the holidays.
I ovulated on CD 19 for the past two cycles, so I was convinced that would be the case this month. I was so bummed when my OPK was negative. But, today it was positive. So, on Monday I’ll call the doctor to have my hormones checked at 7 dpo.
I like the idea of the OPK. How great to be able to predict something while TTC. It seems like so much is up in the air and left to fate. But, they actually cause a lot of stress for me. I think it’s the psychological effect of POAS and getting a negative result. It’s like getting a BFN each time. I’m not sure if I will keep using them since they cause so much stress for me. I already have a general idea when I ovulate because of CM and past cycles. We BD every other day during that time. So, in the event that I get a BFN this month, I think my plan of attack is to use CM and BBT to figure out my fertile time.
I’ve been giving myself a break from taking my BBT for the last 11 days. It’s been nice to not have to think about anything the moment my alarm goes off. Tomorrow is CD12, so I’ll start my chart to see when I ovulate. My CM is starting to change, so I think my body will be getting ready to ovulate sometime this week. I’ll start using the OPK as well. The nurse at my dr.’s office wants me to call when I get a positive, so that I can schedule a time to come in at 7 dpo to check my hormones. It’ll be nice to get some information. I’m not looking to take any medication just yet, but I’d like to make sure everything is working right. I just wish my AF would stop coming early!!! I went back to acupuncture to get my system in order. She gave me some funny herbs to take. I’m not sure if I will… TTC hits a funny nerve. I normally hate taking medication and will do anything to avoid it. But, I find myself actually considering taking this herb on the off chance that it is the magic pill to help me conceive a healthy baby. Crazy!
I had a great conversation with the fertility nurse at the practice I go to. I was completely prepared for her to blow me off since I’ve only been TTC for two months. I feel so much better now that I have a plan. She wants me to use the OPK and call when I get a positive. Then we’ll test my progesterone at 7 dpo. She confirmed my suspicion that this was why my period was coming early and getting lighter. She also wants me to fax over my charts. To be honest, I am really excited to share my charts. I’m very proud of them! FF makes them look so great! I’m hoping that all this will help solve my early AF visits. So, DH and I aren’t going to try too hard to get a BFP this month. I feel a little more relaxed now. I also saw that I will probably be ovulating when I took vacation time in December/January for the holidays! Maybe that’s a sign that the new year will bring a BFP for me!!!!
I have to admit that I spend way to much time on Fertility Friend during this TWW. In one of my most recent FF binges, I came across a post about OPK. It seems as though OPKs can be used to test for pregnancy… sort of. It’s not really the most reliable way to test, but it can work.
I’m not sure I totally understand the science of how this works, but I’m going to try to explain it. Here goes… The last hormone to surge before ovulation is the LH. The pregnancy hormone is hCG. Apparently these two hormones are similar. The OPKs can pick up both LH and hCG. Pregnancy tests pick up only hCG. The OPK are not as sensitive as the pregnancy test, so it really isn’t reliable to use the OPK to test for pregnancy- except for fun… or in the name of science!
Which is what I did. For research purposes only, and not because I’m antsy about the outcome of this TWW, I went out and invested in a box of OPK. I explained to my DH, who thought this wasn’t one of my best TTC ideas, that this was necessary research for my blog. I eagerly awaited the outcome of my study. It was negative. No LH or hCG in my system. I’m not ovulating and I’m not pregnant. I’m exactly in the middle of a TWW. Perfect.
This will help me wait a bit longer to POAS. I’m not sure if I want to just wait for my AF or to test early and risk a BFN. At least I know there isn’t any hCG in my system yet, which makes sense since I’m only 6 dpo.
Now, OPK are best for predicting ovulation, and pregnancy tests are best for testing for pregnancy. But, for fun, if I am lucky enough to get a BFP some day, I’ll just check the OPK to see if it works. My research will continue. I’ll keep you posted.
