OPK Adventures

Lately, I've peed on a lot of sticks.

(In all honesty, that's a lie. I don't actually pee on the stick. I pee in a cup... one very special cup used only for this purpose. Then I dip said stick into said cup... well, it's actually a mug. But whatev. I digress.)

So yeah. A lot. At least one OPK a day since basically CD 5 (which was March 18th, 2010). Most days, two tests even... because I worry about missing the LH surge.

But each day that passed, I kept getting negative results. Very negative results. The test line barely registered, in fact (see photo below for CD 13).

Then on CD 14, the test registered darker than it had so far this cycle. I got excited. It was still a negative, but it was starting to get darker. Maybe I was one of the women that had the lead in to a positive OPK.

So, Sunday morning while getting ready for work, I decided to test for my surge. I peed, dipped and continued to flat iron my hair as the test "developed." Without much thought (almost forgetting about it, in fact), I glanced down a couple minutes later to see a positive OPK! I grabbed it, ran into the bedroom (where Husband was still sleeping) and shouted for victory!

See?

(Sorry about the yellow on the positive OPK test tip... but, you know, it is what it is.)

SO.

Yeah. We took care of bizness. Now I just wait. I'm going to try and force myself to not take a HPT until at least April 10th... which will be approximately 12 DPO (since I figure I ovulated yesterday). I'd even like to wait until about April 13th, if I can, in case I didn't actually ovulate until today or even tomorrow... or later. But, if any of you have been or are TTC, you know just how impossible it is to wait to test. So, we'll see.

Anyways... here's spreading baby dust... .·:*¨¨*:·.

So far, I was right.

Well, as predicted in my previous post, Aunt Flo came to visit this morning. I noticed a very, very light bit yesterday... and assumed I'd wake up to it this morning. (It was actually around 4am when I got up to use the restroom, but whatev...)

So.

In about 4 - 5 days, I'll start taking the OPK's again... and see how long it takes me to ovulate.

Off to be lazy and feel like blargh...

Hhm.

I just had this thought... idea... epiphany... whatever you wanna call it.

Okay. So. All this time I've assumed I ovulate around day 11 - day 21 of my cycle... and just had a longer luteal phase.

But.

When I took my first and second LH test, they both came back looking particularly positive. Not the first one so much... but definitely the second one. See?

That was, as you can see, day #34.

So, let's assume my follicular phase is actually 34 days long... and, my luteal phase is the normal 12 - 16 day average.

If that's true... I'm actually NOT late. That would mean that my cycle is a 46 - 50 day long cycle. Which would mean I'm not actually due to start until around March 12 - March 16.

Which, if you're still following me... I'm not due to ovulate again until... *does math*... April 14 - April 18.

And, if I get pregnant during that time, the baby would be due the first week of January.

Seems like such a long way off...

Okay. Enough rambling and calculating. I'm going to bed. Here's to hoping my theory is wrong and that I wake up to my monthly (or month-and-a-halfly) visitor!

Where's Flo?

It's a weird thing, my body's sense of humor...

We wanted to wait until March to officially start TTC. That way I was 3 months "clean" off my old medicines... plus, we want a girl again... and, as silly as it sounds, I really trust the Chinese birth chart. (I've tested it against everyone I know, and it's never been wrong... it's crazy.) And, according to the Chinese birth chart, February with my age would have been a boy... but March and April will produce a girl.

(Disclaimer: We are not against having a boy. Once we're pregnant and would find out it is a boy, we will love him just as much as a girl. We only want another girl because we KNOW girls. We already have one... we already have what we need for one. So, if in several months down the road we find out we're toting a boy, don't go thinking our hopes and dreams have been crushed... because they wouldn't be. Not even a little.)

Anyways.

Back to the weird sense of humor my body has...

So yeah. I've had a regular cycle for months. A bit longer than the typical 28 days, of course... but regular. But as soon as March kicked in... my cycle kicked out. I even tried drinking some parsley and ginger tea to get it going... but, nope... nada.

So... I wait again. *le sigh*

LH Testing has begun!

Yup, I'm still alive. :) Work keeps me busy, busy, busy.

So I bought some LH (ovulation) tests... and some HPT's. I started LH testing the other day... so that I can get a good grip on how it all works. I'm still waiting on the beginning of my next cycle... so, once that begins, I'll hold off on the LH tests until after it stops... but here are my first three tests (and one HPT - see reason below) I've taken thus far.

Okay. So that's my tests. Being totally new to LH tests, as I didn't use them with SJ, I kinda freaked out when I saw two lines on the first one. I thought that you only got 2 when you were ovulating. So, being on day #33... and pretty much knowing I wasn't ovulating, yeeeeeah... freaked out. I immediately hopped on the computer and looked up LH tests... and got on a few message boards to ask about them. A few girls told me how they worked... but (here's the story of the HPT) suggested I take a HPT because OPK's can be used as pregnancy tests. But, as you can see, I am not pregnant... and I am not ovulating as the test line is not as dark or darker than the control line.

So yeah. That's my update for now. :)