And so it continues...

This morning I had another high temp - actually the highest it's gotten this entire cycle. It's promising. However pretty my chart may be right now (and it suuuuure is pretty.....) I can't help but shake the feeling that AF is on her way. I have a dull lower backache which is totally common for me right before AF. Unless that is also a sign of early pregnancy, I think AF will be here in the next day or two. :( Once again, I fight the battle between heart and mind. In my heart, I want it so badly, so I'm analyzing everything. It's too early to test, so it should be too early to feel any symptoms. Thus, my one symptom - backache - must be AF coming, right? le sigh. My only saving grace right now is that I can only be in this waiting game for another couple of days and then I'll know either way. The spotting appears to have stopped. I didn't see any this morning but it could show up again later.

The Saga That is My Chart

8 DPO is today. My temp went back up to where it was 2 days ago (approx.) If I let my heart win, that was an implantation dip yesterday when it dropped. Also, to tug at the heart strings further, I am having some *very* light brown spotting today. Spotting is sometimes coupled with implantation dips (or implantation even without a dip in your temperature). It happens when the fertilized egg implants itself in your uterine lining and that can cause some light shedding of the lining. Implantation generally happens between 7-10 DPO. For me, the dip was 7 DPO and the spotting has started 8 DPO. The timing is right, and my heart is hopeful.

However, my brain is telling me to be very cautious and not get my hopes up. This spotting could very well be AF on her merry way to greet me yet another month. My LP (post ovulation phase) is normally 10 days long before AF shows, but I'm basing that off of only charting my CM. CM doesn't tell you exactly when you ovulate, so I could be off a day or two. So, spotting at 8 DPO is pretty early for me for it to be AF coming.

::le sigh::

If my temp stays up, and the spotting doesn't increase into obvious period bleeding... I shall test in a couple of days. A lot of women have gotten positive results at 10 DPO. However, it's suggested to wait until 12 DPO. I will test at 10 DPO and then wait again at 12 DPO if it's negative. However, my chart needs to be looking good for me to waste the money on tests.

Crosshairs!

After a *very* long cycle for me this time around, I finally got crosshairs on my chart. I'm on Cycle Day 39. Normally, my cycles are over with in 31 days. I still have at least a week left before my period will arrive, which means this cycle could be anywhere from 46-50 days long. That's not a terribly long cycle, but for me, it is.

I am just so happy it shows that I ovulated. If you look at my chart link on the right, you'll see that 2 red lines have appeared and they cross on CD 34. It says I ovulated on CD 34 because I have now shown 3 or more high temps in a row. I *sort of* feel I ovulated on CD 36 - two days later - because there was a dip just before (which is common before ovulating) and all my temps have stayed raised since then. I *hope* the crosshairs they've given me ARE correct, though, because we had sex with pretty good timing, if that's the case! We had sex on the day of ovulation, and the day after ovulation.

I was so "over" this cycle and just flat-out annoyed that I hadn't ovulated and it was being so long and different, that we sort of "gave up" trying this cycle. We were just hoping my period would come and we could start over next time. So, it's sort of a miracle we actually had sex on the day of ovulation. I hope and pray that's enough for us to become pregnant! However, I have a feeling we should have had sex the day before, and the day before that. It'll only takes one time to get pregnant - I just hope it was timed right!

So, now is the waiting game. It's possible they move my crosshairs if my temps tomorrow and the next day cause it to think my ovulation didn't happen on CD 34. I hope they don't move though. My LP (Leutal Phase) - post ovulation - is normally 10 days. However, this cycle has proved to me that there's no way to tell :) So, technically, I can take a pregnancy test in 6 or 7 days. We'll see. If I start feeling lots of period symptoms, I'll just wait it out.

Well - fingers crossed. I am so happy crosshairs finally showed up. It is a big relief. If nothing else, we will be so much more prepared next cycle - charting a full cycle - and being really good about timing it right!

Not this cycle...

Well, it definitely appears AF (Aunt Flo) is coming. This morning, I had a temp drop (see chart to the right) which is usually indicitive of AF coming. I am also having some lower backache which is pretty common before AF, for me. And I've been running to the bathroom a lot because I just feel like it's here.... although, nothing has showed up yet.

It's CD 28 for me today, and my cycles are normally around 30 days, so right on time! My only comforting feeling is that I am excited to do a full cycle of charting next time. I only started my chart mid-way through my cycle this time around. I've gotten some good practice waking up and temping every morning, and now I'm ready to do a full cycle that will hopefully tell me a lot about my body. Hopefully it'll show that I'm ovulating, and hopefully we can time it really well - and maybe we'll have success!!

I took a pregnancy test this morning and it said, "not pregnant." So, I just wish AF would hurry up and get here so I can get on with the new cycle. A new cycle is like a new opportunity, and a new possibility for becoming pregnant. I'm sure it gets really frustrating after a while, but for now, I'm excited to try again!

I'll keep you posted if AF doesn't show. But for now, I think it will.

Exhaustion

I have been completely and utterly exhausted today. I have no idea why. I have no reason to be. I got a good night's sleep last night and the weather was actually pretty today. I just couldn't seem to shake it. I went down for a nap around 1:00 and slept until 4:00 and was still tired. It could possibly be because it's summer and I don't really have much of a purpose at the moment. I know it's sometimes hard to be motivated when you don't have a normal routine. I can only hope it's because I'm pregnant, but it seems like that's a slim chance. Of course I'm writing about it here because it could potentially be an early symptom of pregnancy. My last pregnancy, which ended in M/C, my first symptom was complete exhaustion. I was beyond tired. It was during my last week of college for the semester and I just chalked it up to finishing up and being wiped out from that. But I got my BFP (big fat positive) that Friday - the last day of the semester! I guess it explained my sleepiness all week. So here I am, two years later, just hoping and praying the fatigue I'm feeling today could be a sign of pregnancy. Only time will tell.

My Chart

Check out the "My Chart" link over to the right. If you click it, you will see my Fertility Friend (FF) chart at any given day during my cycle. The cycle begins with the first day of my period (AF - Aunt Flo) and ends with the first day of my next AF.

This particular chart was only started mid-way through my cycle. Unforunately, that's when I bought my thermometer, so I don't have any temps recorded for days prior than what you see. This means I will have an incomplete chart this month and it probably won't tell me when I've ovulated.

I've decided to attach another chart (this one is NOT mine) but it's a typical chart for a healthy woman that ovulates. My cycles are around 30 days long... sometimes a day or two more, sometimes less. It's pretty regular on a monthly basis.

The pattern you see above is for a woman who ovulates. It's pretty clear on this particular chart because there is an obvious thermal shift. The temperatures are lower on the first part of the cycle and shoot up for the second part of the cycle. The point at which the temps shift up is the point of ovulation (O). You ovulate the day before this thermal shift. If you're lucky, your temps will dip on that ovulation day as seen above. The temp goes down slightly, then shoots up. The reason it shoots up is because of the progesterone hormone that creates heat within your body. Progesterone is only present once you've O'd.

The temps stay mosty raised, with slight fluctuations. At the end of her cycle, the temp shoots back down. This is when her AF arrived. If you become pregnant, your temp should not shoot back down. It should remain elevated and sometimes even climb a little higher. These charts can give you a tremendous amount of information about your body. They can help you conceive, avoid conception, know whether or not your body ovulates at all, and can even tell you if you've become pregnant. They are very helpful!

In looking at this chart, it makes me hopeful that I ovulated on Cycle Day (CD) 14 on my chart. This is actually the day before the first temperature I recorded. The reason I feel this way is because my temperature shot up and has remained somewhat elevated. Looking at my chart, you see some color categories at the bottom. The ones you see are: CM - Cervical Mucous [this is where I record my period flow, or cervical mucous when it becomes present--some of which is considered very fertile]; BD - Baby Dance (aka SEX) you will see AM or PM there, depending on the time of day; the other categories aren't too important to me yet. I have recorded what I thought was ovulation pain on CD 16 and 19.

During my E- mucous (eggwhite - extremely fertile!) I believe I ovulated. This is just my opinion and I really have no idea with no previous temps. I am hoping it's true, because if so, we timed sex pretty well. I typically have 10 day post-ovulation phases (Leutal Phase) so if that were true, I will know in just a few days. Since I don't know if I ovulated when I think I might have, I'll wait an extra few days before testing.

Well that's my chart information for you. Hope it wasn't too overwhelming. :) I know many of you reading this are fully educated on charting, but some of you aren't. Stay tuned and watch for the different temps posted on my chart!

Welcome

I decided to make a TTC (Trying To Conceive) blog. I had been using Livejournal, but am finding it hard to remember to write over there. Since I use Blogger for my personal blog, this will be easier to manage. This will be my space to discuss my feelings, concerns, and to be open and honest about TTC. Flaming will not be tolerated here. With that said, I hope you will enjoy reading about our journey.

Just as a background, 2 years ago in May, DH and I had a miscarriage. We had TTC a few months prior, and then tried like crazy a few months afterwards, with no success. We decided to take a break from TTC and we're happy we did. In those 2 years, we've made a lot of accomplishments. A few of those being that I graduated from college, became a teacher (am currently entering Year 3), DH has advanced in his career quite a bit as well, we bought our first house, and have 2 wonderful Boxer babies. We also foster Boxers and enjoy volunteering. We definitely feel ready now that we've given ourselves that time to heal and time to accomplish some things.

This is our second cycle back TTC. It's also my first cycle charting my temps on Fertility Friend. I will set up a ticker on my blog here (when I figure out how to) so you can check my chart and see how my temps are doing, if you wish. It's mostly for me anyways. Unfortunately, I didn't start temping until the middle of my cycle this time, so it won't show a complete chart, nor will it probably reflect when/if I've ovulated. At any rate, I'm getting accustomed to taking my morning temp everyday and learning how to navigate Fertility Friend (FF). We have our fingers crossed that this month is our month!! High hopes, but I'm just trying to stay positive in the journey.

That's all for now. I'll update as updates surface. Thanks for looking & friendly advice, encouragement, and thoughts are always welcome!