CD 2... finally.

I never thought I'd be so glad to see Aunt Flo arrive as I was yesterday.

I had really given up any hope that "things" would ever return to normal. (Yeah, that's being overly dramatic. I mean, I KNEW they'd EVENTUALLY go back to normal... whatever that is.) But yesterday proved me wrong. She came. And she was/is large and in-charge.

And kicking my butt.

I hurt in places I didn't even know I had.

But, that's okay. This is necessary to cleanse my body and get it prepared for full-on baby making this month.

This month I'm using my monitor. I haven't decided if I'm doing the OPK's this month or not. I'm leaning towards no... and just the monitor and perhaps temping. We'll see. But no Clomid. No bloodwork out the ying-yang. No 10-12-14-16-18 day schedule. Just going with the flow.

Let's rock.

The stars have aligned!

Can you even believe what you're seeing? I almost couldn't.

Not only did I get my first peak reading since using my monitor, but I also got it the same day I got a seemingly positive OPK. I thought I'd gotten a positive yesterday while at work. I took an OPK first thing yesterday morning and noticed it was darker than it had been. So I decided to take one to work and take it mid-day to see if it was getting darker... which it was. So I took another one when I got home from work around 9:30pm. And it too was darker than the previous ones. So, I think, since this one in the photo isn't 110% positive, that I probably had the peak of the LH surge overnight. BUT. My monitor still caught my peak reading this morning! It's so good to see that little egg on that screen. I was beginning to think it wasn't possible. And, even more surprising... this was only CD 23 (*according to the monitor it's only CD 22, tho). Ovulation came a week earlier than I was expecting.

Which is fine since we'd BD'd day before yesterday when I started getting my high monitor readings (just in case) even though I didn't expect to see a positive OPK until almost CD 30 like last cycle.

This just goes to show how sporadic my cycle/body is, tho. I've ovulated as early as CD 16... and as late as CD 30... with some in between. I'm sure some people think I'm going to extremes with the testing and monitoring and such (I know the husband does at times)... but, with a cycle that makes as little sense as mine, how could I not do all I can to try and pinpoint ovulation? It's not as simple as tracking it once and going, "Ok, I ovulated on CD 15 my first cycle... so I'll just try and aim for that day from here on out." If I'd taken that route, I would have missed ovulation the following 2 cycles by 2 weeks. With O-Day changing every cycle, I have to stay on top of monitoring... or I'll never know what day is what and when to expect my next cycle, etc...

So I'm going to assume I will ovulate tomorrow or even maybe later today.

I have a doctor's appointment not this coming week but next week for infertility counseling with my OB-GYN. I'm really, really, really hoping I have to cancel that appointment because I'll have already found out that I'm pregnant and no longer need infertility counseling... but it might be too early as I'll only be 10 DPO (give or take a day). So, if I am pregnant with this cycle... and haven't gotten a BFP by then, maybe I can get him to give me a blood test on that day while I'm there.

Anyways. I have a yard that needs mowed. Thanks to all the rain (and a bad backache this past week), it's a bit outta shape.

Stay tuned!

*A bit of an explanation as to why the CD's are off from the monitor to FF. The monitor gives you a 6 hour window within which you test. Mine's at 7am. So I can test as early as 4am and as late as 10am. So on my actual CD 1 this past cycle, Aunt Flo showed up later in the day after my 6 hour window was over. So I had to wait until CD 2 to restart the monitor... which puts the monitor a day shorter than my actual CD of 23. :)

I'm high.

Well, it seemed like forever that I was getting nothing but low, low, low. Now... all I'm getting is high, high, high.

I got my first "high" reading on CD #17... which was 6/8/10. Well, today is CD #23... and still no "peak" reading. I have 2 more days that the monitor will request a test stick. I'm really hoping to get it within the next two days. I've already gone through a 2 month's supply of test sticks for just this month.

(CBEFM is suppose to only use 10 test sticks a month... making one box a 3 month supply. However, if the monitor doesn't detect a peak reading in the first 10 test sticks, it'll test 10 more. As far as I know, it does NOT exceed 20 sticks per month. But, still... one box is $40, give or take. I'm really hoping to get pregnant this month so I won't have to buy another box of test sticks. Well, that's not the only reason, of course. But that'd just be the icing on the cake if I got pregnant AND saved $40.)

So anways. That's my update. More when I get more to report.

Calling in the big dogs.

Look what came in the mail today! :)

I wish I had started today so that I could start playing with it tomorrow morning. I mean, don't get me wrong... I'd rather not start because it'd mean I was (most likely) pregnant. But, I pretty much know I'm not... since I don't think I ovulated until today or maybe even tomorrow. Which, brings me to my next point.

Look at these two most recent OPK's:

(No, I have not perfected my ability to travel into the future (yet). This one above, which is marked May 29th, 2010, should actually read May 9, 2010. I'm just too lazy to go back and edit it to the correct date. )

Okay. So. I know they are both technically negative. But. Hear me out. These are the closest ones I've gotten to a positive this cycle. I think, if I had gotten up in the middle of the night to take one, I'd have gotten a positive OPK last night in the wee-morning hours. I think these two were the "in" and "out" of a positive one.

So. I'm going to say I ovulated today.

(In all honesty, I have no clue what is going on with my body this cycle. It's all guesses.)

But it doesn't much matter. Husband is sick... and has been all weekend. So we won't be sexin' it up tonight.

But that's okay. I feel really positive having my new tools. I feel like I'll have a real handle of my cycle next time around... which, if my guess is right, should be showing up around May 24th-ish.

So that's what's wrong!

I ordered a fertility monitor this morning. I've taken two HPT's the last couple of days... both negative. And I just have this feeling that Aunt Flo is right around the corner. So I went ahead and bought my monitor. I hope that it'll arrive before she does... that way I can start using it for my next cycle. If it turns out I don't need it, I can always return it unopened.

But. In attempts on finding a good article about the monitor I bought (Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor!), I came across this one... clearly written by a non-English speaking person(s). Here's the best part in the entire article:

Not only this, a nutritious diet is needed for generating energy so that body processes keep moving in optimum levels. Use of artificial sprays by the women increases the probability of infertility in many women. For those women, who love the party and hip hop, it is the time to put a formal end to them.

... and here, all this time, I thought it was something else!