Baby Events

So as I mentioned in my previous post, the last few months have been "uncomfortable" for me.

What's more uncomfortable is the attention I need to give to my friends who are expecting. Goodness, what happened? I used to be such a sweet happy friend! Always in the festive mood and ready to go above and beyond for good friends. These days, I'm just gritting my teeth as I have to sit through baby showers and try to keep up to par with the rest of the girls as I try to lavish mommy-to-be friends with sweetness and encouragement.

I have to say, what keeps me going to these baby events is the shopping. I love looking at baby stuff! Sadly, it's the only thing that actually makes me feel happy and excited. If I could, I would be buying stuff to fill an empty nursery already. So I make mental notes here and there. I go online and try to look for the same merchandise at a discount. I imagine how I would set up the nursery and as sad as this sounds, it makes me feel hopeful.

I found this cute Elegant Baby Piggy Bank (retails for $31) at an online sale for $14! It comes in different colors and sizes and was featured in O Magazine. Adorable!

[FAM] Chart Cycle Day 75

My cycle reached 75 days before I finally started my next cycle. By Day 65, I was going absolutely crazy. I was an emotional mess, my body just wasn't responding well. I constantly ate and my face broke out like a teenager. Sigh....It's been frustrating to say the least.

Anyway, I couldn't take it anymore and went to go see my gyno who prescribed me progestrone pills to help jump start my period. After taking it for 6 days, I did notice some spotting which then went on for a few days and that was it. That was my period after 75 days of hell.

I don't understand how six months prior to me TTC, my cycles were normal, usually 36 days! Now that I'm finally ready to start a family, my body has gone crazy! I tell my husband that perhaps it's a sign from God, that maybe we should wait.

[FAM] Chart Cycle Day 22

The anticipation is starting to get to me.

Is this finally the day I'll ovulate? Have I ovulated, will I?

Usually prior to ovulation, there's a dip in temperature before it skyrockets up. It's the rise in temperature that indicates you have finally ovulated, but looking at my chart, it's hard to interpret what happened.

I feel a little antsy because I haven't seen consistent fertile fluids in the last few days. Extremely fertile conditions is when you see cervical fluid that look and feel similiar to eggwhites.



Everyday I've been taking my BBT and charting online (FertilityFriend.com), but it's becoming a little frustrating trying to read my chart. Maybe I'm just impatient. I mean, I think I really believed I would get pregnant at the first try.

Day 3 FSH Level
Before this last cycle I had in January, my last period date was November 4th. About three days into my cycle, I went to the lab to get my hormones tested and my FSH result was 8.

Interpretation for DPC Immulite assay - 2007:
Less than 10 - Reassuring level. Expect a good response to ovarian stimulation.

10 - 12 - Fair. Response is between completely normal and somewhat reduced (response varies widely). Overall, a somewhat reduced live birth rate.

12- 15 - Reduced ovarian reserve. Usually show a reduced response to stimulation and some reduction in egg and embryo quality with IVF. Reduced live birth rates on the average.

Source: Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago

Prenatal Vitamins Prescribed

My ob-gyn prescribed Prenate Elite ($69 retail for 30 day supply, with insurance it brought the cost down to $35) to kick start my nutritional health. I didn't quite understand why I had to take these as opposed to just over-the-counter type prenatal vitamins.

What's strange about these vitamins is each tablet is prepackaged in tin foil trays, like certain gums or allergy meds. I was expecting it to be bottled, like most multi-vitamins. Well, what was alarming for me was that there was no info on what each unit contains. Of course, I had to go online and find out what goodies these little oval pills were jam packed with.

Prenate Elite - Each tablet contains:
Elemental Iron (carbonyl iron) 90 mg
Biotin 30 mcg
Pantothenic acid (calcium pantothenate, USP) 6 mg
Calcium (calcium carbonate, USP) 200 mg
Copper (cupric oxide) 2 mg
Zinc (zinc oxide, USP) 15 mg
Folate (L-methylfolate as Metafolin 600 mcg and folic acid, USP 400 mcg) 1 mg --> Very Good
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) 400 IU
Vitamin E (dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 10 IU
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, USP) 120 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate) 3 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin, USP) 3.4 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCl) 20 mg
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) 12 mcg
Niacinamide, USP 20 mg
Magnesium (magnesium oxide, USP) 30 mg
Docusate Sodium, USP 50 mg

Other Ingredients: calcium phosphate dibasic, carnauba wax, crospovidone, dextrin, dl-alpha tocopherol,gelatin, hypromellose, lactose, magnesium stearate, mono and diglycerides, polacrilin, pregelatinized starch,propylene glycol, silicon dioxide, sodium benzoate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, starch, stearic acid, sucrose, titanium dioxide, and other ingredients.

Source: Drugs.com

[TTC] BBT Ovulation

How much does my temperature have to rise to indicate ovulation?

In most cases, you are able to see a biphasic pattern on your chart after ovulation has taken place. That is, you will have lower pre-ovulation temperatures and higher post-ovulation temperatures. Your temperature may rise slowly in increments, or quickly, or it may even rise and fall slightly over several days. The rise in temperature is usually about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.2 degrees Celsius, but the rise may be as slight as 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.1 degrees Celsius or even less in some cases. Great variability is possible.

More important than the value of the rise, is the overall pattern of the chart. Fertility Friend helps you determine ovulation based on the pattern of the chart and all fertility signs. Because there are no standard rules that can apply to everyone, Fertility Friend has been tuned and trained to recognize a wide range of ovulation patterns on your chart, based on all your signs.

*Here are some example charts found on their gallery. Most of these are from women similiar to myself - Late Ovulaters, or long cycles with Pre-O Dips.







Source: FertilityFriend.com

[TTC] Go Go Go Sperm!

How long can sperm survive in fertile cervical fluid?


The longest that sperm can survive in fertile (eggwhite) cervical fluid is five days. All pregnancies can be attributed to intercourse that takes place within the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation.


Sperm, however, do not typically survive for five days, even in fertile cervical fluid. A life span of 2-3 days is much more typical for sperm, even in fertile cervical fluid- less if there is no fertile cervical fluid.


To maximize your chances of conception, keep having intercourse until ovulation is confirmed by a clear and sustained thermal shift as intercourse closer to ovulation is much more likely to get you pregnant.

[TTC] Recording Intercourse

How do I record intercourse that takes place in the night?

There are a few options for recording intercourse data. You can use any one of them, as long as you are consistent.

You can go by a 24 hour clock and record any intercourse that occurs before midnight for the previous day and any later intercourse for the following day.

You can record any intercourse that occurs once you are in bed for the night for the following day. This method is the most natural since you don't have to go back to the previous day's data when entering information in the morning. It is often more accurate as well since the intercourse data entry is more relevant to the following morning's temperature than the previous one.

You can use the AM/PM options on the data entry page to indicate when intercourse took place.

Source: FertilityFriend.com