pomelo / 5041 posts
@Spaniellove: I didn't know that. Good to know. Kind of like no reason to take an OPK once you get a positive.
apricot / 284 posts
ok I think I will stick with my 1d.p for now then, but I can see both why 2d.p would be helpful and yet how it might also drive a person to distraction! thanks!
pomelo / 5041 posts
@jojogirl: You're so funny! I'm sure those sperm were still up there on O-day since they say they can live up to 3 days. Hopefully one ate an egg for breakfast and now you're on your way to a sticky baby.
nectarine / 2152 posts
@Jojogirl I say the monitor trumps temps and from looking at your chart, I'd guess O date at either Sunday or Monday, so you're good! FF is just really effing stupid sometimes.
apricot / 368 posts
Cross posting from WB... Beeeeees! What do you think??
PS. Sorry I've been MIA, I just started school again and have been suuuuwamped!
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/totesmahgoats
pomelo / 5041 posts
@Dharmainitiative: I was always horrible at reading OPK's but day 16, the last one looks good.
apricot / 368 posts
@ambular1025: YESSSS!!! I am horrible at reading them too... It's so unclear!!! Lol. Thanks =)
pomelo / 5073 posts
@alison206: hugs. If you ever want to talk, let me know.
All you monitor ladies, I'm breaking out mine this cycle. The last time we used it, we pregnant the 2nd month. Fingers cossed that it works again, this time with a take home baby.
Just wanted y'all to know that you have another using the monitor.
grapefruit / 4079 posts
Well ladies I officially started my period. Thanks again for all the support. Emotionally I think I need a month. Logically, I am enrolled in a Master's program and I am done in August. The responsbible thing to do would be to wait until my due date would be after August so that is what we are going to do. We aren't going to prevent, we just won't chart.
Best of luck girls!! If anyone gets lucky with a monitor I'd love to buy someones when they are done
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@ambular1025: Bahahahahaah!!!! I eat eggs for breakfast so stands to reason the sperm did too!
@Trailmix: Awesome, I agree. Thanks!!
@Jennimac: Woohoooo!! Welcome back to monitor club
@alison206: Hugs, girly. I'm so sorry.
honeydew / 7916 posts
@alison206: Oh Alison, so sorry hon. My heart is going out to you.
I'm starting to wonder how well the monitor works for me. I got another darker line on the OPK this morning (though not darker than yesterday) and had one last night but a low from the monitor. There's a note in the manual that it won't work if you take any meds that change your hormone levels, which is what happens with my seizure meds.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@spaniellove: Hmmmm, didn't realize you were on meds that might affect it. I'm glad you're temping so we can see what's going on. Maybe take another OPK this afternoon and see if it's dark again?
honeydew / 7916 posts
@JoJoGirl: I figure I'll just wait till tomorrow because if I know I'm trying to test again this afternoon I won't drink any water!
pomelo / 5041 posts
@Alison206: Sorry about AF! I will certainly keep you in mind if I decide to sell my monitor...if I ever get a BFP. But you'll probably get one before I do lol. Enjoy your masters program. I wish I could afford to be in one right now.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
@alison206: I'm so sorry I know it's so frustrating, and I think a break would be good for you, but we'll definitely miss you around here!!! I hope you can come back really soon.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
Um guys? Can the worlds WORST night of sleep spike your temp? Likely didn't get 3 consecutive hours so I'm thinking yes. I might discard this one, it's nuts.
Also stupid q: last week I was taking opks in the evenings (9-10pm), 12ish hours after the monitor. The sat night OPK was at 11pm and had 2 super clear lines. I was sure it was positive but the damn wand wouldn't reset so I never got a result. A P on the monitor came at 7am Sunday followed by a + OPK Sunday at 11am. If I put + in for Saturday, FF changes O date from Tuesday to Sunday! Grr. What do you guys think?
honeydew / 7916 posts
@JoJoGirl: Maybe you should just put the + in for Saturday and make a note of the situation in case you decide you need to change the O date later. I think Sunday looks like a possibility, Do you remember what was going on with your CM?
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@spaniellove: no I don't ever have much but I was paying much less attention than normal because of the monitor. I agree Sunday is most likely. I guess to be conservative I'll leave it (better to test late than early, right?).
ETA OMG you got a H on your monitor!!!!!!
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
@JoJoGirl: I think that bad sleep can affect it. You did have a huge spike today! I don't think that you O'd on Tuesday, given that you had a positive and a P on Sat and Sunday. Seems to late for me. I would just leave it the way it is, that way maybe you can hold out a couple days later before you test. Cause you are right, better to better to test late then early!
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@Smurfette: Yeah I agree, I am just assuming I Od Monday... I don't know why I bother fussing with it; it's just a chart. If my temp goes back to 'normal' range tomorrow I'll probably discard today's. So let's see 12dpo by Monday would be...Sat 9/15. Let's see if I can hold off..
honeydew / 7916 posts
@JoJoGirl: Yeah!!! I wish they would change the processing icon to something that says "thinking..." It was such a surprise because I was starting to think the OPK and monitor would never match up!
pomelo / 5041 posts
@jojogirl and @spaniellove: So I had the craziest thing happen with the monitor today. Last cycle (my first cycle using it) I got Lows on CD 6-9, and then my first high on CD 10. Today is this cycle's CD6 and so it was the first day to ask for a test again, and I got a High! So apparently I'm ovulating really early this cycle, or my other thought is that maybe I just have a lot more hormone this month than last so it thinks it's high? The stick looks like a light OPK so I'm thinking the former is true. This definitely makes me so glad I have the monitor...or else I wouldn't be testing for like 4 more days with an OPK at a minimum.
pomelo / 5041 posts
@jojogirl: I'd see what happens with tomorrow's temp before discarding it. Sleep can totally affect it, but if it stays up, maybe this is just a sticky egg!
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@ambular1025: Whoa!!!! I'm so jealous of you early O-ers!!!!! Awesome! And yeah I'll definitely see what happens tomorrow.. it'll be an open circle cause I'm waking up later but probably not an hour later than usual. I kept looking at it over and over because I was sure I was just misreading the thermometer through my sleep-deprived haze
honeydew / 7916 posts
@ambular1025: Sounds like you might be Oing earlier this month! Woohoo, get busy!
pomelo / 5041 posts
@spaniellove: Luckily we did yesterday, so at least our bases are covered. It'll be a busy weekend ;).
pomelo / 5041 posts
@Spaniellove: I noticed you got a high on your monitor super early this month too. Crazy! How come you didn't mention you were in the same boat? You better be BD'ing like crazy too chica.
apricot / 368 posts
I'm posting on here because you charters are the only ladies I've talked to on here really =) Cross posting from WB. Here's how it went with the Gyno this last week. Just wanted to share and see if anyone else had similar stories.
Precursor: I'm not sure that I 100% understand what is going on with my body. This is how I recall it, but I was very stressed out, nervous and overwhelmed (my blood pressure was 140/90!!!) so forgive me if it doesn't make sense. PLEASE, ask questions if it doesn't. He encouraged me to bring in a list of questions next time I see him =)
So I met with the gynecologist last week. As it turns out, he’s not just a gynecologist. He started as an OB, practiced that for 20 years. He went back to school to study reproductive medicine and actually brought IVF to northern California. He has stopped practicing IVF as he has retired several times, but he loves what he does and is good at what he does, so he continues to return and retire repeatedly. He now sees patients once every two weeks strictly for PCOS and menopause - hormone management. As some of you know, I was told about this doctor through people at my work (he works at my clinic). I work with several providers who refer patients to him all the time, and fully trust him and believe in him. Every one of his patients has just raved, and raved, and raved about him. People call him the "God of Gynecology." Prior to meeting with him, I got some lab work done.
He walks in to the room and says, "Well, you don't have PCOS." YES!!! FWIW, I do not have endo either.
He goes on to thoroughly review my lab work with me. He told me about four different things that cause infertility in people with PCOS. Unfortunately, I only remember two of them. He said that people can have really high LH, which causes the ovaries to never receive the signal to ovulate. He also said that people can have high testosterone, which causes a whole slew of issues, one of which is also anovulation. I do not have either of these. He goes on to tell me that my LH was actually very low, that my estrogen was also very low, and that my LH to FSH ratio was off. Based on this information, he said, "I don't think you're ovulating every cycle. If you are, it's not at the right time in your cycle." He then looks at my BBT charts and he feels that January, February and July were anovulatory (my temps are higher in my LP kinda, with some dropping below the coverline, but almost all of them are JUST above the coverline). Well, he didn't JUST say that, he looked at them and said, "See, this one here, that's a classic anovulatory chart." (Emphasis on classic. That stung a little). He says that he's all for BBT, but that it's very old school and he prefers to go by lab work over anything. He asked me if I was using OPK's, which as you ladies know I am. I have gotten 2 cycles with positives, one cycle I never got a positive. He feels that despite the positives that my body isn't fully releasing an egg. The hormones are there, but there isn't enough of them to get the job done. The plan for this is to confirm anovulation by doing CD14 bloodwork, including an estradiol and an LH. He says that my ovaries are just asleep, and need a "kick in the butt." He plans to kick my ovaries in the butt by doing a few rounds of monitored Clomid, starting with 50 mg, in combination with an HCG shot. Is that a trigger shot?
He thinks I have a second problem - a luteal phase defect. This is based on my lab work, my chemical pregnancy and my period history. I start spotting with a temperature drop at 7DPO. An LP defect doesn't necessarily mean that it's too short (which is what I always thought), just that there is something wrong with it. He thinks that I do not produce enough Progesterone to make a secretory endometrium* thus I do not have an environment for an embryo to implant to, grow in and be sufficiently supported in. To prove his theory, he is going to do two things: post O blood work for progesterone, and an endometrial biopsy (yikes!!!!) which is scheduled for next Tuesday (double yikes!). He thinks the endometrial biopsy will show that it is not the "right" endometrium for that point in my cycle. Does anyone have any experience with an EMB? I am terrified of it. If you know my history, you know that I had cervical stenosis at 11 years old. I had a dilating procedure that was literally the WORST pain I've ever been in. He plans to treat this with putting me on oral progesterone.
*Apparently, there are 2 types of endometriums. Secretory and proliferative endometrium. The secretory one is prepared by Progesterone during the LP; it is full of nutrients and designed to support the growing embryo. The proliferative is prepared by estrogen - both things I am lacking. Is that right? Has anyone else heard of this?
In summary, we are doing these things: Verifying anovulation by checking E2 and LH on midcycle with ultrasounds, check a sperm analysis, and also confirm anovulation/LP defect with CD22 progesterone levels and endometrial biopsy. Start with Clomid 50 mg, with ultrasounds, and an HCG shot. Then, start on oral progesterone. If no go in 2-4 rounds of Clomid, he said he's gonna "blow my tubes out." Is that an HSG?
So, all in all, I feel really good about my plan. Like I said, he's technically retired. He was not doing any IF patients (is that what I am?). I dunno what his nurse said to convince him, but he is taking me on. He is coming in specifically for me to do this biopsy next week. I feel so honored to have met him and that he is doing this. I feel like I am in such good hands.
Does anything I said make sense? Am I completely misunderstanding things? What questions should I ask him?
honeydew / 7916 posts
Whew! Sounds like you got a lot from that appointment! And it sounds like he is doing the right things - Clomid to kick start your ovulation, progesterone to improve your LP, and then HSG if it doesn't work to see if there is a blockage. If you'd like him to be clearer about his terminology, that might be something to ask him about. It's gotta be a great feeling to know that you're going to be moving forward and getting answers!
apricot / 368 posts
Ahh, finally changed my nickname. =)
@spaniellove: Thank you so much for your response! I'm glad to hear people agree with the plan. I'm so scared for someone to be like, "What?! Why the heck is he doing that?" so it feels better to be validated =) Where are you in your cycle? What kind of spaniel do you love? My mom has a Cavalier King Charles
honeydew / 7916 posts
@ChuckNorris: No, it sounds like your doc really knows what he's doing! You're very lucky to be working with him. I love all spaniels but especially Cockers and Cavaliers (those ears)! Your mom's dog must be such a sweetheart; they are complete velcro dogs! I'm waiting to O, hoping I see a positive OPK any day now.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@ChuckNorris: Wow!!! I can't give you any feedback on the advice since I don't really get all of it But I'm glad he's being so proactive about figure out what's going on, and 'texbook anovulatory cycles', as hard as that is to hear, at least explains somewhat why you haven't gotten your BFP yet. I'm really crossing my fingers he figures this out!
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
@ChuckNorris: Oh my gosh girl! I'd be falling all over myself with happiness if I had an appointment like that! I know that sounds weird, because it's not good when something is wrong, but I've got a pretty big fear of gettin diagnosed with "unexplained fertility". From what I've read, all those problems that your doc listed are fixable!!!! I'm so excited for you.
Did he explain why July looked annovaltory? Jan and Feb, I can see, but your temps went pretty high in July?
honeydew / 7916 posts
Gah, I think this cycle might be like last cycle where I started getting signs of O really early but didn't O until CD14. At least this time I'm not driving myself crazy about BD since I know our chances aren't that great. A woman on a MFI forum with similar SA numbers said she was told IUI wasn't even an option because there weren't enough motile sperm and they could only do IVF with ICSI. I'm sure every dr uses a different threshold, but if that's the general direction we're headed in I'm not going to stress out about trying to catch the egg right now.
grapefruit / 4703 posts
@ChuckNorris: Wow talk about thorough! Sounds like you'll be preggo in no time with this guy And I can totally relate to the being nervous at the Dr thing - my BP was almost the same as yours last time I went, and she paused and said "are you nervous?" uh... yeah! I agree with @Grace about your charts... July looks ovulatory to me too, but what do I know!
PS - I love seeing Chuck Norris discuss "his" cycle
cherry / 245 posts
@ChuckNorris: That sounds great! He seems very knowledgeable and very proactive. I am so excited for you! One of my Dr.'s visits right after our honeymoon my BP was really high, but I had a lot going on. But at the next visit it was back down into its normal range. She didn't even seem to worry about it, so I didn't. I know it’s a lot of info to take in, but he seems like he has a great plan for you.
@spaniellove: Mine do that I guess every other month. I seem to get all geared up around day 14-15 and then don’t O until day 22. The other months is on day 18 with no fake outs. It’s so frustrating. I wouldn't give up complete hope that BDing won’t get the job done. I wouldn't stress out about what may happen until you are there. My mom got pregnant with my little brother and my dad’s SA was really low. (My mom likes to over share!)
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
@April_Showers: Mine does too! Although I get a kick out of it. She told me when they were trying to get pregnant with me they got frustrated at the lack of success (no OPKs or anything), so they decided to BD EVERY DAY FOR THE WHOLE MONTH. My mom says, "it's a good thing we got pregnant with you otherwise we would have gotten divorced!". Ha ha.
honeydew / 7916 posts
@April_Showers: My cycles do that too; they alternate between O on CD11 and 14 so I assumed this was a CD11 month!
@JoJoGirl: I wish I could ask my mom what happened when they had me (she's no longer living, and my parents got divorced when I was young). But I do know they decided to have me as one last shot at their marriage before they got divorced, so I imagine it couldn't have taken them too long!
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