The Official TTC Thread!

[peonygirl]

Ugh, Amber, I''m SO sorry!! Double ugh!

November, it''s possible to get your period induced via a med called Provera if you''re at the stage where you just want this to be done. I did see someone on FF with a 179 cycle (!) once. Not to scare you. It certainly scared me!

I have final #3 in an hour, but I''ll post more to everyone when I get back tonight.

 

[peonygirl]

Geez guys, I RUSH home from my organic chemistry exam to check the boards, and the last post is from me.

I am so happy to only have one more exam tomorrow!!!! I think today actually went okay (the mean on these tests is usually a 50!) even though I was short on time near the end. One synthesis really confused me (all of a sudden a methyl substituent just disappeared), but with 5 mins to go I looked at it again and it was obviously a ring expansion!! W00t!

I've been trying to get enough sleep during finals period since I may have just Oed and I don't want to disrupt any possible implantation. Like I said earlier, I'm not getting my hopes up though. My dr. ordered a progestrone test for me at 7DPO, which will hopefully tell me if I definitively ovulated. I'm just not clear on how viable my egg is at this point since I probably Oed on day 43-44.

InLuv, I don't get how people can get pregnant accidentally. I mean, I understand it, but I'm not sure there are very many true accidents. Either a person is just plain uneducated and doesn't understand BC (which is probably rare unless you're like 14) or you don't mind having an accident. I used two forms of birth control until I got married because rationally I did not want an accident. However, even as a teen I always hoped for a BFP every time I took a test because I was late. How nuts is that! I just really wanted to be a mom. How funny that you know the exact story about the drunkeness.

Amber, do you have any fun things planned now that you got your BFN aka THE PERIOD? I alway try to plan something at least a little fun to look forward to even if I get a BFN. Last cycle I decided on a professional pedicure, but then I wanted to save money and just did my own pedicure.

I need to think of something this time. Last month I felt SO crappy I just did not want to do antyhing, but I had plans with a friend for that day. Luckily my friend was understanding and let me be grumpy for the first hour of our get-together (we cook a fancy dinner together every 6 weeks or so).

ChinaCat, you're almost right! I've been charting for 6 months and trying for 3 cycles. I've really been trying for 4 months though because of my long cycles. I know that it's too soon to be hitting the panic button, but as I mentioned earlier I have this pesky timeline going on that just seemed SO ideal at the beginning. Everyone around me was getting pregnant on the first cycle (even DH and I were conceived on the first try), so I figured that it would take us 1-2 months since we're 25 and 29. Guess again.

Basically I'm a career changer and hoping to start medical school in the fall of 2010. I am taking my last few classes now (I graduated from college in 2004 but was a psych major) and then I'll be done in May, which I'd hoped would give me over a year to be a SAHM (it takes a full year after classes/MCATs to apply). I timed my first cycle so that I'd give birth a few weeks after classes ended. Now if I get pregnant during the next 3 months it will be at the peak of the interview cycle, so I'm not sure how that's going to work. We do NOT want to stop though, and I figure it would be doable to make some concessions if I am pregnant during that time. Also, unhappily, I recently found out that the professor I work for is switching universities (to a different state!) in March/April, so I'll be out of a job then too. I had originally been hired to work a year (which would have been until April) with an option to continue. Now I don't have that option anymore. I need to figure out what to do when school/work end for me, but it's hard to figure that out not knowing whether I'll be pregnant.

Whew, sorry for repeating my life story and sorry to everyone who's heard it before!! I think this TTC journey would be easier for me if I had less time pressure. I will NOT impose this on myself next time (even though it's truly self-imposed this go round, I think it's at least a rational timeline to strive for due to the circumstances).

 

[peonygirl]

Third post in a row. . .

I woke up at 5am (usually temp at 8am) this morning when DH got up for work and couldn''t get back to sleep, so I just temped then. I''m a little surprised that I haven''t gotten crosshairs yet. Oh well. I guess we''ll BD again tonight just in case.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Hey everyone,

Amber, sorry about that stupid period showing up. What a brat.

****

Peony, hope those crosshairs show up soon, and then stay there!
****

Sadly, mine went away. I thought maybe today''s temp would bring it back, but no. Pretty sad about it, but again, for whatever reason, if the time''s not now, it will be the right time soon. I''m a firm believer that God brings what His children desire, in His time and in His ways. If that means we need to see a Dr., then okay. I''ll come to terms with that when and if the issue arises. This weekend I was in the nursery on Sunday at church, and I fell in love all over again. I love the 2-3 year old group the best. They''re so awesome. One little girl kept saying, "I learned please and welcome." And to *everything* anyone did or said to her, she would say, "please" or "welcome" to. It was so cute!! Then Sunday night we went to see Paul''s mom (who went back into the hospital yesterday for round three, so all you prayers, lift her up!!) and they had a cousin over with her CHUBBY two month old baby, who I went crazy over. She was the most perfect baby, smiled and cooed and only fussed if she couldn''t see where she wanted to be looking. Loved it!! Her bib said, "Santa, spoil me rotten." Haha.

Plus, I hit my head *really* hard yesterday and now I have a goose egg on my noggin. Can I just tell you how cute I''ll be looking at work today?

It hurt like nuts at first, then dulled to a soft throbbing, and I slept fine and it''s somewhat smaller today. Hopefully, it''s less noticeable than I think it is. It''s right at my hairline, so hopefully my gobs of hair will cover it up some.

Our new plan to tell Paul''s parents (because this will be their first grandchild and Paul''s mom has been so sick and we want to make it super special) is to do the picture frame with the ultrasound picture and wrap it in Christmas paper (whenever the time comes) and tell them it''s an early Christmas present. That would be totally cute if we could have a baby before Christmas next year, because by that time, it would be due like in October, November, or December (next couple chances we''ll most likely have). So, that made me happy to know that we have that to look forward to.

****

Oh yeah, Peony, GOOD LUCK on those finals. Fun times, I''m sure.

 

[Pandora II]

That chart looks better to me Peony.

Still a bit tricky to pinpoint O - I would have thought either CD39/40 or else the day you got the + OPK. Either way there''s a definite temp. rise so fingers crossed you caught it!

I totally understand your wanting to see someone about things early - I would have been exactly the same: if there is something small wrong then best to fix it fast, if it''s something bigger wrong then better to face it and work on it than crucify yourself trying month after month.

Oh, and tell me about planning your life round things - thing is that it doesn''t always matter what you try and plan. I plan our TTC down to the last detail. I have a second salary that is my remuneration as an elected representative for my part of London and is not subject to maternity pay as you don''t get any maternity leave. I''m not planning on standing for election again andso my salary will end in May 2010.

Maternity leave in the UK is a year - with my company it''s 13 weeks full pay, 13 weeks half pay, 13 weeks on Statutory Maternity Allowance (about $200 a week) and then nothing for the final 13 weeks. In addition you get all your usual benefits, holiday allowance, pension etc. So, if I could give birth in May 2009 it would work out perfectly and I would have a decent income for the whole 12 months of maternity leave. That was THE PLAN.

Ta Dah... KTFU and due in May. How perfect was that? Well, all fine and dandy until my employer decided to try and sack me two weeks after I told them.

Now I am looking at a court case and trying to get a decent settlement - I''m on sick leave and they''ve cut my salary by 50% so DH is having to help me out till things get sorted. I hadn''t figured this into my plan at all....


I also hear you all on being annoyed by other family members getting there first. This will sound really pathetic and whiney but there we are. My younger sister was always desperate to be the eldest and as that wasn''t possible to win in some way, she needed to win the getting married first, having kids first race. So, she married the first guy she dated after college and ha been unhappily married for 8+ years now (but she won the wedding race

), then she decided to have kids and she had a little girl - and won the first grand-daughter race - followed by a boy - and won the first grandson race...

Frankly I wasn''t that bothered by any of it, except thinking that this extreme competitiveness wasn''t too healthy (especially since I didn''t even have a bf and so wasn''t even a contender in her race).

However, when I started dating DH, it seemed pretty likely that we would have the first grandchild there - and it would have been - except his youngest brother got some girl KTFU on the 4th ''date'' and then found out 3 weeks before the birth that he was about to become a father.

Mega shock to all. Needless to say there have been custody battles and all manner of drama and DH''s family don''t see a lot of the baby.

I will admit to a minor childish tantrum in the privacy of my own bathroom.


I hope all of you who will know before xmas have happy news and that everyone else has happy news in the New Year.

 

[vizsla]

hey ladies....

i''m mostly a neurotic lurker - gosh you learn so much by reading, who knew?

buttttt i just wanted to send out my support to all of you.

i don''t post because i have this totally weird phobia that once i say something out loud it will never happen... buutttttt.... DH and i have been married since oct 2007 - he''s 33 i''m 31 - i''ve been off BC since last march and still.... nothing... nothing....

each month i think of when our due date would be.. and each month i say in my head "ohhh a june baby would be so much better than a may baby" "a july baby would be soo much better than a june baby" .... you get the picture - now i''m onto "ohhh a september baby would be so much better than an august baby."

so whilst i don''t post.. know that there are probably many more ladies ''out here'' who share, empathize, feel and completely understand the frustration.

it''s sooo crazy when your brain does the switch from "no kids" to "maybe one day" to "must have kids right now" - it''s amazingly awkward how i feel about other people getting pg... i mean just amazing.....

 

[InLuv101]

Good Morning ladies...

Peony -- Good luck on the last exam! Your chart is looking great. I''m surprised you haven''t gotten crosshairs too!

Fisher -- Sorry you lost your crosshairs.

I love going to the nursery/children''s church on Sunday''s too! It''s so much fun to watch the little ones

Vizsla -- Sorry you are having TTC troubles. It''s nice to know that there are some others out there reading who are going through the same things. It''s nice to know others ''get it''.

it''s sooo crazy when your brain does the switch from ''no kids'' to ''maybe one day'' to ''must have kids right now''

Truer words have never been spoken...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Peony looks like you ovulated, which day is hard to tell, but you got some action in there so who cares what day it was! My fingers are crossed for you. I have seen lots of charts with women with much longer cycles who ended up KTFU, so here's hoping. Actually, two of my friends got preggo such cycles, which are very common for them since their cycles are regularly 5-6 weeks.

Fisher poop on the cross-hairs! Time will work it all out. I'm glad you had such a nice weekend with the little kiddies!

Vizsla have you been charting? Just curious, feel free to ignore. I just ask b/c many women discover from charting that they were missing their actual ovulation day, which happened later than they assumed each month. CDT from here is one example. She tried for 4 months (I think) then got KTFU the first month she charted!

 

[vizsla]

oh thanks everyone... i was just throwing out my support for you ladies and i got some in return... you all are so sweet!

to be fair we haven''t been ''trying'' in the traditional sense since march... it was a joint decision to go off BC - and we were of the ''if it happens it happens'' camp. and i gotta say.. DH was not fully on board in the beginning. i was always realistic that if he''s not doing his ''thing'' there is no way i''m getting KFU

plus we were waiting, in a round about way, until our first anniversay (although we''ve together for 7 years

)

after that - when my cycle was 32 days (always always always 29 days) and i got a BFN - i could see that even he was a *little* disappointed. i showed him the digital "not pregnant" test and asked him "it was OK if i cry for a second'' - he just hugged me and said "absolutely".

i think we still want to go about it the ''old fashioned'' way... meaning having regular BD and if it happens it happens... sometimes the ''science'' behind everything makes me a little nervous... i''m OK with holding out for a little while longer for my miracle.. but in the same breath i understand the waiting and frustration just as much as the next TTC lady

 

[Dreamer_D]

Vizsla the "old-fashioned" way has worked for a long time, so I'm sure it will work for you soon! Baby dust!

 

[AmberWaves]

Good morning ladies. Still hanging out here in stupid idiot CD2. I just want to take a cue from Anchorman and punch myself in the ovaries. It''s like Vizsla said, years ago I would have welcomed a handful of cramps because that meant I escaped another month of not getting pregnant. Now each and every cramp is like a painful reminder of what is missing right now. Eh, another few weeks and I''ll have another chance. Hmmm, would that be around the 22nd or so. Hmmm.

So this morning I got myself an amped up coffee (extra caffeine? PLEASE!), and a pop tart (which I promptly dropped on the floor) because I craved excessively sweet fruit-like substances and some icing (which by the way, Pop Tarts are seriously holding back on the frosting, I must say).

Last night I was depressed. Really really depressed. So was DH, but from something completely different. So I prepared an enchilada casserole, spanish rice and vegetarian refried beans and had them all ready when he got home. He was thrilled because I''ve never really had a whole dinner ready for him when he got home. After dinner we laid around a bit, then turned on Charlie Brown Christmas ("For I bring you tidings of good joy", who can resist that??) and FINALLY added ornaments to the tree that has been up since Saturday! Seeing all our ornaments we''ve been collecting since we got together was uplifting.

So... that''s my last few days. Full of food, chocolate and festiveness. I should start wrapping gifts, that''ll make me feel better.

 

[natalina]

Hi Ladies,
I''ve been a lurker for a while, but hope it''s okay if I join you all officially

. Just wondering- what did you do leading up to TTC to increase your chances of being successful/healthy? What should we be thinking about if we plan to really jump in in a few months? Prenatals and exercise, I know. What else? Any special considerations for vegetarians? Thanks for your help!

 

[InLuv101]

Amber -- your past few days of "food, chocolate and festiveness" sounds great! Oh and I'm so stealing your new acronym - ASFF! Love it!

Natalina -- Welcome welcome!

I sure hope you don't stick around long. I don't have much to offer as far as making you more successful at TTC (if I knew, I sure would be doing it, lol!). You didn't mention if you would be charting/temping or not. I totally recommend it at least to start. Before charting, I thought I was O'ing around day 14 when in fact I don't O until day 17. So if I wasn't charting we would have stopped the marathon too early and missed the window each time. If you aren't planning to jump in for a couple months maybe you could chart now so when you are actively TTC you will have a better idea of how things are working. Anyway, good luck to you!

ETA: I can't believe I almost forgot to say this - And listen to whatever DD says!

 

[Sha]

Date: 12/9/2008 7:54:09 AM
Author: fisherofmengirly
Hey everyone,

Amber, sorry about that stupid period showing up. What a brat.

****

Peony, hope those crosshairs show up soon, and then stay there!
****

Sadly, mine went away. I thought maybe today''s temp would bring it back, but no. Pretty sad about it, but again, for whatever reason, if the time''s not now, it will be the right time soon. I''m a firm believer that God brings what His children desire, in His time and in His ways. If that means we need to see a Dr., then okay. I''ll come to terms with that when and if the issue arises. This weekend I was in the nursery on Sunday at church, and I fell in love all over again. I love the 2-3 year old group the best. They''re so awesome. One little girl kept saying, ''I learned please and welcome.'' And to *everything* anyone did or said to her, she would say, ''please'' or ''welcome'' to. It was so cute!! Then Sunday night we went to see Paul''s mom (who went back into the hospital yesterday for round three, so all you prayers, lift her up!!) and they had a cousin over with her CHUBBY two month old baby, who I went crazy over. She was the most perfect baby, smiled and cooed and only fussed if she couldn''t see where she wanted to be looking. Loved it!! Her bib said, ''Santa, spoil me rotten.'' Haha.

Plus, I hit my head *really* hard yesterday and now I have a goose egg on my noggin. Can I just tell you how cute I''ll be looking at work today?

It hurt like nuts at first, then dulled to a soft throbbing, and I slept fine and it''s somewhat smaller today. Hopefully, it''s less noticeable than I think it is. It''s right at my hairline, so hopefully my gobs of hair will cover it up some.

Our new plan to tell Paul''s parents (because this will be their first grandchild and Paul''s mom has been so sick and we want to make it super special) is to do the picture frame with the ultrasound picture and wrap it in Christmas paper (whenever the time comes) and tell them it''s an early Christmas present. That would be totally cute if we could have a baby before Christmas next year, because by that time, it would be due like in October, November, or December (next couple chances we''ll most likely have). So, that made me happy to know that we have that to look forward to.

****

Oh yeah, Peony, GOOD LUCK on those finals. Fun times, I''m sure.

Fisher, I''m sorry to hear that the crosshairs were taken away, and about that minor concussion. Ouch!

Peony, your chart looks quite promising for O... maybe you''ll get crosshairs tomorrow? Good luck on your exams as well!

Just an update that I finally got crosshairs today for CD46! Although I think my real O date was CD48. Anyway, whatever! I''m just really glad to have finally O''d, and that I won''t be having an anovulatory cycle after all. I was actually thinking of going into the Doctor today (CD50) to talk about getting Provera to jump start AF. So Fisher, chances are that you may still O this cycle. My FF guide encouraged me to continue BDing as any O, even if very delayed, can mean possibe fertility. Unfortunately, I didn''t get to BD at all around O since DH was working late all week and didn''t want to...

and then I was mad with him over the weekend because of that.

Oh well, it''s onto the next cycle, I guess!

Natalina, you could begin taking Prenatals if you haven''t already. Also exercising and eating healthier help to improve your chances, so I''ve read. Also cutting out smoking and drinking, if you do smoke/drink, and restricting your caffeine intake. Some women also make a preconception visit to the doc, just to ensure that ''all systems are go!" for TTC.

 

[natalina]

InLuv-
Thanks for the welcome! I started charting this month, and I am on CD3 today. I''m a bit worried about the temping, as I work crazy hours and shifts are different daily/weekly. I was thinking about just setting the alarm to temp at 6am daily, then going back to sleep if it''s not time to get up yet. On any given day, I will have been asleep for at least 4 hours by the time 6am rolls around. Not sure if DH will be a big fan of the 6am alarm on weekends, but if/when it pays off I think he will agree it was worth it!
Do any of you have thermometers with back lights? If so, what brand? How about a beep for when it''s ready to start temping, then again when it''s done? From what I can tell of mine so far, it doesn''t seem very user-friendly. It''s basically impossible to use without turning on a light (which would not be very nice to do to DH, and to be honest I wouldn''t like it too much either) or leaving the room, and you really aren''t supposed to move around much before taking the temp, right? Maybe I should get a flashlight

?

 

[natalina]

Sha-
Congrats on your crosshairs! Fingers crossed for next cycle! As for the "pre-conception" Dr. appointment, do most women do this? What do they test?

 

[InLuv101]

Date: 12/9/2008 12:49:01 PM
Author: natalina
InLuv-
Thanks for the welcome! I started charting this month, and I am on CD3 today. I''m a bit worried about the temping, as I work crazy hours and shifts are different daily/weekly. I was thinking about just setting the alarm to temp at 6am daily, then going back to sleep if it''s not time to get up yet. On any given day, I will have been asleep for at least 4 hours by the time 6am rolls around. Not sure if DH will be a big fan of the 6am alarm on weekends, but if/when it pays off I think he will agree it was worth it!
Do any of you have thermometers with back lights? If so, what brand? How about a beep for when it''s ready to start temping, then again when it''s done? From what I can tell of mine so far, it doesn''t seem very user-friendly. It''s basically impossible to use without turning on a light (which would not be very nice to do to DH, and to be honest I wouldn''t like it too much either) or leaving the room, and you really aren''t supposed to move around much before taking the temp, right? Maybe I should get a flashlight

?

I set my alarm for 6am also. It kinda sucks because I don''t actually have to get up until 6:30a but DH has to get up at 6am. Becasue he wakes me when he gets up, I figured it''s better to get the temp in at 6am then to try to fall back asleep for 30 min and get an inaccurate reading. On the plus side we get to spend 30 extra minutes together in the morning! It does kinda suck on the weekend, but I just roll over and go back to sleep.

My thermometer doesn''t have a backlight. It beeps once when I turn it on and beeps 4 times when it is done reading my temp. I usually just turn it off until I actually get up and read it then since it saves my last 4 temps. If for some reason I really want to look at it at that moment, I''ll just use my cell phone as a flashlight. My only issue with mine is that on the weekends I have to make sure I don''t fall asleep with it still in my mouth since it''s so silent until it''s done. I got mine from Walgreens. And you are correct, you aren''t supposed to move around or talk before temping.

Hope that helps!
*******************************************

Sha -- Yay for Crosshairs!!

Even though you didn''t get any BD in, I''m sure it''s still a relief to see them.

 

[Festy]

Peony - looks like you O''d to me...maybe since you''ve got an open circle for today it''s delaying your crosshairs? I really think you O''d though.

Hi Fisher - I''m still holding out hope for you for this cycle

Gosh, I''m going to miss people because there''s been so much activity since I posted last. Sha - glad you finally O''d! November - dear lord, I feel for you. I''m glad you have a dr.''s appointment this week. Hopefully you can jump start AF and move on to the next cycle, or better yet, find out what''s going on and address it.

Hi Natalina, and welcome! My doctor took some blood tests before we TTC, but that''s because I take medication to regulate an underactive thyroid and also to rule out any possible suseptibility to genetic diseases since both DH and I are half Jewish. So it might not be a terrible idea to see either your obgyn or gp to see what they have to say. I was given the all-clear and take a multi-vitamin instead of a prenatal. My ob said multis have enough folic acid which is what you really need. As for temping, I do the exact same thing that InLuv does and it works just fine for the most part. I used to have the kind of thermometer you have but switched to one with a backlight. It''s this one:

http://www.target.com/BD-Basal-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B000WKW376/sr=1-1/qid=1228846858/ref=sr_1_1/188-4227478-9750409?ie=UTF8&rh=k%3Abd%5Fbasal%5Fthermometers&page=1

Hope you''re not here too long!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Hi guys.

I went off the pill in August. Here''s my history:

Period: Sept. 11
Ovulated: Oct. 1 (wasn''t tracking but could feel it - left ovary)
P: Oct. 16 (started using fertility monitor)
O: Oct. 31 (right)
P: Nov. 14 (stopped using Claritin this month, which I determined was messing up CM)
O: Nov. 30 (left)

Sunday and yesterday I had pinkish then brownish spotting. Implantation bleeding? I don''t want to get my hopes up, but I feel different . . . TIRED!!! A little achy. Slept a lot this weekend. I could be fighting a bug. Is it too early for these to be signs?

I''m planning on taking a PT next Tuesday if I don''t get my period before then.

Fingers crossed . . .

 

[IloveAsschers13]

Date: 12/9/2008 10:33:54 AM
Author: AmberWaves
Good morning ladies. Still hanging out here in stupid idiot CD2. I just want to take a cue from Anchorman and punch myself in the ovaries. It''s like Vizsla said, years ago I would have welcomed a handful of cramps because that meant I escaped another month of not getting pregnant. Now each and every cramp is like a painful reminder of what is missing right now. Eh, another few weeks and I''ll have another chance. Hmmm, would that be around the 22nd or so. Hmmm.


So this morning I got myself an amped up coffee (extra caffeine? PLEASE!), and a pop tart (which I promptly dropped on the floor) because I craved excessively sweet fruit-like substances and some icing (which by the way, Pop Tarts are seriously holding back on the frosting, I must say).


I''m a lurker, and not TTC but I just LAUGHED OUT LOUD and read this to my BF and he did too. You ladies are too funny!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Hey guys, guess what? I came home to a surprise today. Paul got us an eliptical from Craig''s List. A really great one, for an awesome price! Yay! It''s a NordicTrack and it''s great! I am so excited. It has really good programs set into it or you can do your own thing. It has a book rack on it, so I''m bound to use it regularly. Whoo hoo! Just did my first 20 minute session. And to boot, it''s low impact, so I can do it while preggo, too.

YIPPEE for late birthday presents!!!

 

[AmberWaves]

Welcome Natalina! TTC is... awesome?

Hope your stay here is short!

Fisher, how is your head? Nothing worse than head eggs. Yay for the nordictrack! I totally wanted those. I buy pretty much everything on infomercials, and those commercials make me want one!

Phoenix: I'm hoping for great news for you!!!

ILoveAsschers: thanks! I guess my little monologue admitted that I did in fact eat that pop tart after it fell on the floor. I should probably be ashamed, but well... I needed sugar!!

 

[Sha]

Hi phoenix,
Sound promising!!

Fingers crossed! I hope it is what you think it is!!

Natalina, I think a lot of women do go in for a preconception visit, and of course, many choose not to. It''s not something you have to do, it''s just that a lot of women like to make sure that everything is working correctly before trying to conceive. At my appt., I just requested a pap smear/breast exam and some other routine tests. It doesn''t even have to be fertility related tests, per se. For me, I just wanted to make sure that I was generally healthy.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Hi Amber,

Egg head is almost gone now. I woke up this morning and it had greatly reduced. The throb is much less noticeable now and I only whince if I touch the knot. Hah. Yeah, I''m learning not to touch it.

One funny thing, yesterday morning when I got up, I went to feed the cat (constant meowing reminds you of these things) and instead of picking up the cat food that we keep in the hall laundry room, I picked up the liquid detergent. Took a LONG time to get it free of suds before I could feed her. She was irked at me. I blame that on the noggin knot, too. It''s probably just more about me being a nerd, but hey, if you have a knot, you can blame stupidity on it sometimes.

I knew the eliptical was coming because Paul called and said he found something and had to go get it. I can''t handle surprises, so I did get out of him that it was a NordicTrack, but I didn''t know they made elipticals, only the big things you see on those infomercials. I was thinking, "Great, just what I''d been wanting." It was totally surprising when he got home with a big-ol eliptical that''s almost like the one at the apt. gym we used to use. Yay!

Paul and I fell off the BD wagon once we thought we''d finally ovulated, so I''m trying to convince him of the need to get back to it, but at this point, I don''t know. Maybe a break would be a good thing.

Peony, hoping for those crosshairs today, girl!!!

 

[Festy]

Fisher - enjoy your elliptical! Like you said, it will be great to use when you''re preggers too.

Phoenix - good luck to ya!

Rant incoming...I think I need to withdraw my endorsement of the BD thermometer. For people just starting to temp it may be ok, but I switched to it after 2 cycles using a different BBT, and my temps are way off. It has given me now 3 higher than normal readings and today was the last straw. My pre-O temps average around 9.2. They can go as low as 96.9 and as high as 97.5, but are generally in 97.2 arena. This morning, on CD 11, I got 9.7. I got up and OUT OF BED (raises temps, right?) to find my old BBT in the bathroom. It read 97.5. So I''m going back to the old one. I suppose if I had started out charting with this one it may not have mattered, but I also feel like the temp fluctuations are way out of control with this thermometer. Maybe I just got a dud.

My apologies to those who are new to temping if I make you stress unnecessarily. This BBT has gotten many positive reviews, so it may just be me.

 

[peonygirl]

WTH, my temp went up another .1 today and I didn''t get crosshairs? I temped at my usual time too, so it can''t be that they disregarded my temp. Weird. I even tried to put in a fake high temp for tomorrow too, and STILL no crosshairs. It''s like the software has decided to abandon me, ha! I can''t believe that whatever algorithm or heuristic or whatever they use to determine O hasn''t kicked in by now. This is important too, because I''m supposed to be taking my progestrone test 7 days after ovulation. My guess is that I''m 6 days after right now, but who knows. Thanks for letting me vent.

Fisher-Enjoy your new elliptical! We have a cute little gym in our apartment building, and it makes it much easier to work out, since I have no excuse 24-hrs a day!

Festy- I use the BD thermometer too, and it did get great reviews on drugstore.com. Even though you got up momentarily to get your other thermometer, unless you did a few jumping jacks or it took a while to find your other one, .2 degrees lower is not a hugely unreasonable difference if you have an n of 1 (that is, no other data to compare it to). Maybe I''m just defending your thermometer because I don''t want to think my temps are skewed too! I''ve done test-retest reliability (temp than temp again) measurements on it and they''re never more than .1 degree apart. But that wouldn''t account for all temps being higher overall. But I do understand your frustration!!! If you have the time and desire, would you mind doing me a big favor and putting both thermometers by your beside for a few nights and then testing with each one back-to-back? I would be VERY curious, and then it would help you clarify what was going on too. I totally understand if you think that''s a hassle and just want to chuck the BD one though.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think one of my thermometers was a BD brand too. It doesn't matter one iota if one thermometer is consistently giving you higher temps than another. The only thing that matters is that each thermometer shows a temps shift. Absolute values are irrelevant. I too switched thermometers from one cycle to the next and my second thermometer was about .2 higher... consistently. And Peony I did the test re-test and also temped with both thermometers for about a week and found the difference between the two was indeed consistent, and within one thermometer the error was only ever about .1 degree. So I switched and my new chart was just .2 degrees higher that month! Makes no difference at all, each theremometer is calibrated a little differently.

Beony you can post your chart and ask the fertility people at FF and ovusoft why you got no cross hairs, that might be useful. Using the FAM method of determining o-day I think you ovulated on CD-42, so I'd go with that for your 7-DPO test.

 

[peonygirl]

Thanks bunches Dreamer!! I agree with everything you wrote, and I''m glad that you already did the "test" so now Festy doesn''t have to! I''m going to post my chart on FF and Ovusoft and see what people say, thanks!!! I agree with you on the O date. Looks like I''ll be taking my progestrone test tomorrow!

 

[Festy]

Flippin website just ate my post.

Peony and DD thanks! That''s helpful. I guess what was making me second guess the BD was that my temps didn''t seem to be consistently higher but were fluctuating much more than usual. Now, that could totally be a fluke of this cycle, as I have been getting over a mild cold. I''ll try the test re-test method and let you know what I find.

Peony, yeah, CD42 for sure. I''m curious to hear what the experts have to say. It''s a good reminder that the software isn''t infallible and to cover our bases.

 

[Festy]

Hey, do you guys wanna laugh? I've got poor FF so confused from using two different BBTs that they gave me crosshairs at CD 8! For consistency's sake I should probably discard the temp from CD 9, since it was taken with the BD thermometer (see above post) and has been giving me way high temps. Since I discarded two other temps using that BBT, I should probably be consistent, no? If I discard it the crosshairs go away. I mean I *know* I haven't O'd yet, my CM hasn't evev turned fertile. This chart is going to be a mess.