A little more techno!

So yesterday I discussed how to chart your temperature and use ovulation predictor kits to track your ovulation. Now, there is an easier way!
For all of you that don't want to wake up, take your temperature, and track it every day.
There is an easier way! The Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor (CBEFM). Its a machine that is about the size of your palm that takes sticks that track your cycle. Its very easy to use, you set it when you start your period and then it will tell you when it needs a stick. When the stick is inserted it simply tests the amount of hormone in your urine and spits out a reading. It tells you when your fertility is low, high, and peak. That way you can plan intercourse when your fertility is at its peak.

The monitor can be purchased online, or at a pharmacy. I have at the best luck at Walgreens. I purchased my monitor online from an online pharmacy, I got it at a discount and it came with a 3 month supply of sticks.

The CBEFM is an investment, the monitor itself runs about $150-$200 depending on where you purchase it. And for a 3 month supply of sticks its about $50, again depending on where you purchase them. I have searched all over and the only pharmacy that I could find the sticks at consistently was Walgreens.

I highly suggest the monitor for someone who doesn't want to go through the hassle of the temping and the charting. And the CBEFM is very effective, I have never had it be wrong with its timing.

Poem

This is a wonderful poem that one of my great nesties posted:


I sit here and wonder
Is it ever to be?
Will I get to displayThe mother in me?
Wonder in time
How the story will end,
Will they just be for others-
The showers I attend.
When’s it my turn
I ask God each day,
The only answer I getIs, “Not today”
I ask only to know
What my future might be,
To plan and prepare God, please tell me.
I just need to know
How long to be strong,
For sometimes I questionmy strength to go on.
I sit here and wonder
Is it ever to be?
Will I get to display
The mother in me?

Understanding your body- your first step!

For some people the act of conceiving will never be an issues, but for one in every six couples conceiving will be difficult and the first step to success is understanding your body and what to look for.

The easiest and most cost effective way to start to understand your body and when ovulation occurs is to chart your Basal Body Temperature (BBT). A Basal Body Thermometer can be purchased at any Walmart, Kmart, or Target for less then $15. Just make sure that you purchase a Basal Body Thermometer, they are different then the ones you would use to take your temperature when you are sick. The easiest way to track your BBT is to take your temperature at the same time everyday, and you want to take your temperature before you get out of bed, so keep your thermometer near your bed, in a nigh stand is always a good place. Just write down the temperature every morning starting on day one of your menstrual cycle.

Keeping track of your BBT is a way to document whether or not you have ovulated. A specific hormonal change during your cycle triggers a rise in basal body temperature. By taking your temperature every day you can chart the rise of your temperature and note the day you ovulate. The BBT chart will not predict when you are going to ovulate, but can serve as a record of your patterns. This will be very helpful when you see your doctor, most doctors will want to see 3-6 months of BBT charts. This aids in seeing if you are ovulating on your own.

You can also purchase ovulation predictor kits (OPK), those can be purchased at any drug store, Walmart, or Target in the family planning section, and usually cost about $20 for a one month supply. OPK's are helpful in helping you determine when you are going to ovulate, so you can time intercourse appropriately. They are very helpful when used in conjunction with a BBT because you can track up to your ovulation day and then confirm that you ovulated with the help of your chart.

For more information on charting pick up a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, its a great book and very informative. Even after you have read it its a great reference book to keep on hand.

WOO HOO!!!

Today I found out that my cysts are gone, we can move onto IUI this month!!
Bring it on! We are SO ready!

One in Six

Did you know that?
That one out of every six couples is struggling with infertility.

That's a lot of people! Everyone thinks that having kids is so easy, and whenever you want it to happen it will happen.
I'm here to tell you that you have to be proactive in what you want in life. We didn't choose this road, but we are and will continue to be stronger people because of it. I sometimes don't know where I get the strength, but it comes. I get out of bed every morning and think this is the month. I continue to go to the doctor and research everything I can on my own and push through this, because its temporary.

I do however have my moments, I cry and think WHY!!! But I also know that I am on this path for a reason. Not only have I grown as a person, it has brought John and I closer together and we will be better parents and better people because of this journey.

I can see my life so clearly. I see the holidays and birthday parties, and the family times. I see myself being pregnant, hearing the heartbeat for the first time, and giving birth. Just thinking about all those moments brings tears to my eyes and take my breath away.

I know I am not the only one feeling what I feel and going though what I am going through, although it certainly feels like it.
Its others that can understand and stand in my shoes that help me the most and give me the most comfort, my only hope is that I make others feel the same.

Fall here we come!

Let me start by saying that I am sorry that I have been MIA for spring and summer. It was a busy time in John and my lives. We purchased another home, and moved in in May. We are thrilled to have more room! We now have lots of room to entertain, and an entire room dedicated to our promotional business!! YEAH! I don't have to work in the garage anymore! And we have a room just reserved just for Baby S. Its a beautiful room, lots of windows and light, and already painted waiting the arrival of our little bundle of joy.
But here's the hard part, we are yet to be pregnant!

We are still working on having a baby, however we have decided to entrust our dreams of parenthood to our wonderful fertility specialist, Dr. L. We were all set to start our first cycle of IUI (artificial insemination) using injectible medication. But I was told that I had a cyst on my ovary and had to sit out a month. So I find out if we are good to go here in two days.

Its been a rough month! I love fall, and I am defiantly happy that the weather is cooling off, but in other ways its bitter sweet. If I had not had a miscarriage last year we would be celebrating a our child's first birthday, I was due on October 1st. 2007. I don't know if I will ever forgot that, and I often wonder if I will ever not think about what could have been.

The other reason that its been rough is that we have many friends and family who's children have birthday's in September. So I have been bombarded with kids, babies and pregnant women all month long. I did better then I expected, looking and holding babies, reminds me of what we are fighting for, and it gives me the strength to keep going through all this, because I know there will be joy in the end.

Moving on

Well, we just returned from an great trip to Cabo! Beauitful weather, and spa treatments, who could ask for more! We are still working on trying to have a baby, our 2nd cycle of Clomid failed, but we are moving forward with more treatment. We have to take the month of March off, so we will try on our own (no drugs!) and then decide what to do next when we see our doctor in April.



I am very optimistic, I know that John and I are meant to be parents, and its just a matter of waiting until its our time. I recently came across a quote that a girl I know told me,



"Your God is big, and He has a big plan for you.. and one day you'll see... that plan will call you mommy"



I love it! This sums up my life perfectly. There are reasons that John and I are not parents yet, and our time will come.

Onto Cycle #2

Well, the first Clomid cycle didnt work so we have moved onto Clomid cycle #2. So yet more doctors appointments. If anyone had told me it was this hard to have a baby I would have laughed at them! All the money I spent on birth control pills, WASTED!

What infertility has done to me I do not think I could ever explain, unless you have gone through it, its a feeling that you wish on no one! I truly believe I have become a stronger person because of this struggle, however I keep thinking my heart cannot handle another disappointment. Every cycle gone by and every month of not having a baby it breaks my heart. I watch other people with the kids and I know that will be us one day, I just do not know when. Every month I get the Pottery Barn kids catalog, and every month I admire all the cute crib bedding, I swear I have the nursery designed in my head, but every month it gets a little harder to look through that catalog.

I cannot even bring myself to look at baby stuff anymore, trips to Target have gotten more difficult. I cannot make the dreaded trip to Babies R Us, thank god for online ordering.

I know when I finally get to hold my precious baby in my arms this will have all been worth it. But right at this momemt my heart is broken. I try so hard to look forward to each cycle with optimisism and excitment, but it gets harder and harder.