Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeee!!!!!

I turn 29 today! Dh gave me my present yesterday because he just couldn't wait. It's a little pink laptop!! I was so shocked because honestly, we dont even usually get gifts for one another...we usually just go out to eat or do something special together. I love my little pink laptop!

It was actually funny how he decided to give it to me early. I came home from work yesterday and he had moved our computer table into the gym room (where the cat's food and litter box also is). I didn't really think much of it because DH likes to move the furniture around periodically. I sat in there for a while to fiddle on FF and other sites but I started to smell the litterbox. I walked into the livingroom and told DH "when I get pregnant I'm going to have to have a laptop because I shouldn't be smelling that kitty litter".

10 minutes later he gave me my present (which was gift wrapped with Christmas paper, by the way lol)! Here it is!!

Hubby is charting??

DH has become so involved with our TTC journey...I find it so endearing. Not only is he involved with the obvious part, but he is now involved with my BBT and charting. He has my FF password and periodically checks it out at work and calls to tell me "your chart looks good today, babe". Or, in the morning, as soon as I take my temp he rolls over and groggily asks "so?".

On the morning that I finally got cross hairs which determined I had actually ovulated, I told him my BBT for that morning and quickly fell back asleep (it was a weekend). He quietly left the bedroom. When he came back in, he woke me up with a huge smile on his face...he plopped the laptop on the bed by me and happily announced that FF said I ovulated!

So cute... :)

"Real" Infertility?

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after at least 1 year of having unprotected intercourse. I have only been TTC for 6 months. Does that mean that technically infertility does not apply to me? Even though I have not been ovulating and my ob/gyn used the term "unexplained IF"?? If a RE were to use that term instead of an OB/GYN in my case, then would it make it more valid?

Am I having "trouble" TTC? Or does that title only apply to those who fit the definition of infertility?

If not, then where do I fit in? If I'd been ovulating and having AF on my own then I wouldn't even consider myself as having trouble TTC. I'd just figure...ok our timing is off or the stress is affecting me. But since I was not ovulating does that make me an exception to the 1 year rule?

Just today I came across a post on a chat board I like to visit where a woman was talking about things she finds annoying about what fertile people say to infertile people...and she said that unless the person providing the advice "has been through IF (real IF, not 6 months of TTC)..." then basically they shouldn't be providing advice.

So...I guess I can see where she's coming from. All I want to know then, is where do I post my questions and comments??

6DPO - according to FF

That's right, fertilityfriend.com says I probably ovulated on CD 16 which was Saturday April 18th! I say "probably" because the cross hairs are dashed, not solid, which means it is estimating ovulation based on only temperatures and not other signs such as CM. The only reason I didn't track CM was because I heard of the negative effects of Clomid on your CM which might make it hard to rely on that as a sign of ovulation.

I actually have a test date and estimated due date and everything! Now all I have to do is keep temping and hope it doesn't drop.

Oh! I should mention that I have had sore nipples for a few days now. I'm not sure if that qualifies as "tender breasts" but I have been marking it on FF just in case. Maybe it's just a sign that I really did ovulate. I think DH sees it as a sign that maybe I'm pregnant! Anyway, if I really did ovulate on CD 16 and if we did conceive, I should be implanting any day now. Why do we do this to ourselves? You can tell my hopes are way up, right??

FF says I should test on May 7 (the day before DH's birthday I might add) which would be 19DPO. Can I wait that long?? Knowing me, I'll probably start testing on May 2nd which is 14 DPO...unless I get AF before then. But the good thing is that it's seems that 50mg of Clomid worked to at least make me ovulate which is the point!

Did I ovulate!!???

It's too soon for FF to tell for sure but it looks to me like I may have ovulated on CD 15 (Friday April 17th)!! Oh I pray that I really did. Check out my chart by clicking on the yellow blinkie in the panel to the right - in the "Welcome" section. I couldn't temp on Monday morning because I was traveling back to NJ from Florida and actually didn't get to sleep until 6am on Monday morning...but my temp this morning jumped above and beyond any previous temp this cycle. Please, dear Lord, let it stay up!

Anyway, Florida was great. It was nice spending time with my mom and the weather was beautiful. I hope the fact that I had a wonderful time and had an opportunity to relax and enjoy myself contributes to our TTC efforts. Come to think of it, on CD 15 DH and I were at a water park and I had so much fun!! I think it was the most fun I had on our vacation.

Send prayers, please!!!

Blogging from Florida!!

Hi out there! DH and I are in Florida visiting my mom. We drove down from Jersey and it wasn't too bad. We survived it, thank God!

So guess what really dumb thing I did...I forgot my 5th and final pill of Clomid at home and didn't realize it until we were well on our way to Florida. I don't know how I managed to do that! It all worked out though. I called my doc's office (which was closed) during the drive and had the on-call doc call in a prescription to a CVS in Florida by my mom's house for 1 little Clomid pill. Almost $11 for that one pill!!! I'm an idiot...oh well, it happens!

Anyway, the weather in West Palm Beach has been amazing!! We had fun hanging out with my mom and her fiancee on Saturday when we arrived and all day on Sunday. They've been spoiling us like crazy with food. Mom's fiancee is an awesome cook and has treated us to a different type of meal everyday so far...skirt steak, shrimp, salmon, ribs...I think tonight is chicken. They've been really great.

DH and I went to the beach yesterday (my mom and her fiancee have to work all week so DH and I have a chance to hang out and do fun things together). I got a tan - actually I kind of look like a lobster right now...lol. We also went to a Karaoke bar last night. No, we didn't sing although I got tipsy enough to suggest it to DH. Luckily he wasn't tipsy enough, lmao!

Today I've been nursing a mini hangover. I'm not sure what we will end up doing today. I know tomorrow we're visiting some of DH's family who also live in Florida so that should be fun too. I really want to go to the water park but DH isn't too crazy about the idea. We'll see. DH is content to just sit on the patio with a nice cold one listening to music.

On another note, BDing has been interesting for me here under mom's roof. We have no choice though. Luckily we have the house to ourselves during the day while they're at work.

Anywho...Hope everyone's having a great week!! ttys!

Clomid w/out being monitored?

I'm on my first cycle of Clomid but I'm not being monitored. Everyone online keeps saying that I shouldn't be on Clomid without being monitored by a RE (reproductive endocrinologist) because Clomid can have some negative effects on my reproductive system - like developing cysts and thinning out my uterine lining.

I definitely see the concern.

My OB/GYN - well actually I've been seen by the nurse practitioner at my OB/GYN office - prescribed the Clomid (and even my DH's s/a) without any intention to monitor my progress. When she initially mentioned it I didn't give a second thought to monitoring. It wasn't until visiting TTTC chat boards that I realized there was even a reason to be monitored.

However, I have come across many women who are having the same experience I am. My nurse practitioner said that I can stay on it for a couple cycles (actually she said 4-6 months) while charting to see if it works. At that point she'll refer me to a RE. I guess that's just how they operate.

I pray that it will all go well and I will never have to be referred to the RE. ((PRAYERS))

Last night was my 2nd night on Clomid. I didn't experience any symptoms this time...just went right to sleep! I hope that doesn't change.

Was it all in my head??

So here is my update on my first night of taking Clomid:

There were tears...

I took it at around 10ish after taking some Robitussin (I'm actually sick with a cold- darn weather) hoping to just fall asleep and avoid symptoms. However...DH and I got into a little spat over something and I got upset. Upset=mad and annoyed which is totally normal for me (I can be feisty) but I purposely walked away and went to bed hoping to avoid getting crazy. When I get mad at him it usually dissolves as soon as he approaches me with a hug or kind words. Last night was different.

I was holding back tears and telling him to leave me alone so that I could just fall asleep and not cry but, of course, he was persistent. I cried...and not just one or two lonely tears but a good sob.

Now, I should explain that normally what we argued about would never have made me cry. Really we just disagreed about something minor. It didn't even have anything to do with us directly. But I had warned him ahead of time that I didn't know how the Clomid would affect me and he agreed to be careful about that. Eventually, I stopped crying after making him feel crappy about making me cry (sorry honey!).

This is just silliness!! Was is really the Clomid or some kind of wierd self-imposed reverse psychology?? Did I think about the possible sife effects so much that I actually caused one??

The experiment continues with Clomid #2 tonight...dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn!!!

By the way, I feel normal today. Except I am really sleepy but that's because DH kept me up with his cough (we're both sick)...I hope this goes away before our vacation next week.

Stay tuned...

Tonight's the night...

Today is CD 5 and I'm scheduled to start my very first cycle of Clomid tonight.

I've been faithfully taking my prenatal vitamins (doc prescribed CitraNatal) and the baby aspirin. I'm really excited to see what it will be like. I'm also scared of having bad side effects. I'm taking them right before bed so hopefully I will sleep through symptoms.

AF came a day after I thought it would come (got it Friday instead of Thursday) so now I know I will have to take the last Clomid pill during my drive to visit my mom in Florida - I live in NJ. I really hope it doesn't affect my vacation next week...but if it does, I just hope it's well worth it.

I pray that I, at least, ovulate this cycle!! Wish me luck!! I'll let you know tomorrow how my first night on Clomid went.