Sunday 28 December 2014

Post Christmas Recovery

Belated Merry Christmas to you. It was a good quiet-ish one this year just spending time with family. I must admit I did not stick to the diet plan as laid out in the book "Yes You Can.." which I finished reading on Christmas Eve. Although I tried to avoid the sweets as much as possible (nah, not really) and pigged out on heaps of seafood, roast pork and veggies instead. Feeling good doing my daily meditation and visualization.

Yes Christmas Eve, also the day I threw out my resolution not to buy another OPK... I did, purchased a Clearblue Advance Digital Ovulation Predictor Kit. I wish I could say that I was just walking pass a chemist and made an impulse purchase. No, I actually drove all the way to a chemist further than the one near my home to get one, they had it on sale. I have been using it for the past 5 days yesterday and today I got a flashy smiley face. My LH surge may be tomorrow.

Christmas Eve also brought in the mail Fertilaid for Men for dear hubby (more on this later) and FertileCM for me. I also purchased Fertilaid for Women but that was from another online supplier and has not arrived yet. No biggie, I have been on Blackmores Conceive Well Gold for the past month so I'm not too worried about pre-natal vitamins,

I am worried about the lack or perhaps perceived lack of clear egg white cervical mucus (EWCM). I must admit I have not been paying too much attention to cervical mucus. FertileCM has been getting good reviews so I suppose it can't hurt to try. Well, I thought to myself, if I need a bit of help lets Google what else I could be using. Ah Google my friend, where would I be without you? Probably living a more productive life outdoors, but hey I digress. I did come across a product last night called PreSeed Personal Lubricant. Here is a little something I lifted off their website;

"Pre~Seed®’s patented formula was uniquely developed by a woman Sperm Physiologist to match fertile cervical mucus in pH, osmolality and viscosity. Some lubricants contain a spermicide which may harm sperm and therefore should not be used whilst trying to conceive."

Guess what, yes I could not help myself. Called up a few pharmacies as not all stock this product and found one that had one bottle left. Got them to hold it and I was down there within the hour to buy it. 


Sunday 21 December 2014

Test Results

So, I got my test results back a few days ago. There is doubt if I am immune to chicken pox. I did get vaccinated when I was about 23 (I'm 38 now), perhaps it has waned over the years. Test results did not say I have no immunity, just a doubt as to whether I do or not. huh?

Hmmm. If I decided to re vaccinate, the two injections will be done about 6 weeks apart and no trying for a baby at least 3 months after the second injection. I don't want to wait 5 or 6 months before trying, we have a visit with a fertility specialist next month. I may ask him what he thinks.

For now I will not worry about it and just enjoy the new book I bought online, good on you postie for providing me with a little weekend reading. 'Yes You Can Get Pregnant: Natural Ways To Improve Your Fertility Now And into Your 40s' by Aimee Raupp. I also bought 'The Infertility Cure: Ancient Chinese Programme for Getting Pregnant' by Randine Lewis. Hope the latter comes in the post soon.

I have not finished reading Yes You Can, but so far I think it is has good and sound advice and best of all the author Aimee is good at making her readers feel positive and optimistic. I don't want to breach any copyright laws by giving too much information away but I will quote part of the book here. It really opened my eyes a little.

"The widely cited statistic that one in three women ages 35 to 39 will not be pregnant after a year of trying, for instance, is based on an article published in 2004 in the Journal Human Reproduction. Rarely mentioned is the source of the data: French birth records from 1670 to 1830. The chance of remaining childless - 30 percent - was calculated based on historical populations.
In other words, millions of women are being told when to get pregnant based on statistics from a time before electricity, antibiotics, or fertility treatment. Most people assume these numbers are based on large, well conducted studies of modern women, but they are not."

The books talks about diet, lifestyle and mental and emotional well-being, playing more of a factor for fertility challenges than age, and ways to improve our fertility through the right diet and supplements and meditation techniques etc which she explains in detail and lays out in an easy to follow way. It is not a hard book to read, and is easy to understand. It actually helped at a child's birthday party I went to yesterday. More on that later.






Thursday 18 December 2014

Hot Mumma!

No other reason for this post but to rant and rave about the weather. It is hot, hot, hot! The kind of murky heat that leaves you feeling lethargic and wanting to die on the couch.

I suppose we could just leave the air-conditioning on all day, but the last electricity bill came up to about $300 even with a big solar system installed. So it is cutting down I'm afraid.

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, it was about 36 degrees Celsius yesterday here in Brisbane, 35 today and looking like a possible storm brewing, and predicted 36 deg c for tomorrow. Arrgh!

Oh, before I forget, I received an sms message from my doctors office to make a Non-Urgent appointment to discuss test results. Non-urgent... yeah right. My head knows that it is in relation to my blood test I did a week ago and all is good except that the results of my chicken pox immunity was yet to come in. It will be the doctor telling me I may need another round of chicken-pox vaccination. (I had them done when I was about 23. I'm 38 now.)

However my heart is playing with me. Imagining all sorts of horrible news imaginable that I could receive. I'm not usually crazy and am quite a rational person by and large. Must be the heat, have to cool down. Off to have a cold bath with a glass of lemon ice tea.

Medical Remorse

I have always had very painful periods since I was in my late teens and would often get very sick on the first two days. I had an ultrasound scan about 15 years ago which showed nothing. I never though more about it until a couple of years ago when I was 36 and ready to have a baby. I always thought painful and irregular periods were normal for some people, and that I was just one of the unlucky ones.

My GP decided to send me for an ultrasound scan two years ago. Apparently being so sick that you get yourself admitted into the Emergency department at your local hospital whenever your period comes is not normal. The scan showed that I had multiple cysts on my ovaries. I was booked in for keyhole surgery 6 months later. While in there removing the cysts, the doctors discovered I had endometriosis. So here I was, diagnosed with PCOS and severe endometriosis and feeling very depress and sorry for myself. Oh well, what is there to do? So back to hospital for a laporoscopy to remove the endometriosis four months ago.

Now my periods are somewhat in a normal routine, I find myself checking for my LH (Luteinizing Hormone) surge using digital ovulation test kits. Sounds easy right? For the past to months we have been doing the deed as we should on the correct days, but two menstrual cycles later, sad to say still no BFP (Big Fat Positive) on the multiple pregnancy sticks which I pee on religiously.

Why did I not get tested for endometriosis sooner? Why must I have all these problems? Why oh why?.. I must admit I do stress myself out and I am making a promise to myself today; that I will make an attempt to relax, maybe do some meditation and not track my ovulation this month, and just enjoy Christmas.


Introduction

During my late teens and early twenties, I would find myself praying I would not get pregnant after a drunken night of forgotten condoms. Funny how, now that I am in my late thirties, the subject of my prayers have not changed, simply the outcome. Now I pray for a positive pregnancy test, cry when my period comes and stress both myself and my wonderful hubby with ovulation test kits.

"Don't worry about it, try not to stress, it will happen when it happens." from the more understanding friends. "When are you going to have a baby? Your mother wants a grandchild." from the not so tactful aunties and older relatives. It's not easy when all your friends seem to be having babies so easily, especially when you want to have a child of your own with the man you love more than anything. As I have always been able to express myself more with pen and paper than speaking about things, this blog will  be my attempt at de-stressing and centering myself.

Hopefully I will be able to entertain and provide my experience as I regale you with tales of my baby journey. Laugh with me, cry with me, learn from me and teach me. Welcome to my world, sit back and enjoy the ride.