Saturday 28 December 2013

Start your engines

A belated Merry Christmas to you, blog friends!  I hope you all had wonderful holidays with turkey and eggnog and presents and awesomeness.  Sorry to leave you hanging with the drama of my last post.  Our power stayed out for just over two days after the ice storm last Saturday.  We kept popping into the house on our way to and from work to make sure things were still OK, and to deal with minor issues like water seeping out of our freezer as things defrosted.  Full power was restored Christmas Eve morning, just in time for us to pack everything up and head to the in-laws' place for the holidays.  We ate a lot, lounged around in pyjamas, and in general had a wonderful relaxing time.  Unlike many of you, there are no other kids in M's immediate family so we didn't have to deal with constant reminders of our infertility, although Skyping with my sister and niece on Christmas morning was a little hard.  Seeing some of the pictures of her little face while opening her presents...well, let's just say that it made me wish more than ever that we had our own child to spoil.

It seems like it's been a while since I've updated on actual ladyparts stuff.  Well, after a full two months of absolutely nothing happening down below, I think I would have had to have been in a coma not to notice the engines revving again.  First the hot flashes started dissipating, and somewhere around the second week of December I finally stopped having any hot flashes or night sweats at all.  Then, much to my amazement, I started getting cervical mucous.  And oh, the cervical mucous!  This shizz was beautiful.  Calling it "EWCM" doesn't do it justice, my friends.  Copious in amount, slick and slippery in texture...it was like gold.  Snotty, slimy, mutantly stretchy gold!  Never one to look a gift horse in the cervix, M and I humped like rabbits every second day until it went away.

Something else that happened this cycle that normally doesn't was ovulation pain.  In the past I might have gotten a twinge or two, but this month I was downright uncomfortable.  At one point on the day that I think I ovulated, I was walking the dog and my ovaries felt like two bowling balls jostling around in my abdomen.  It was almost like how I felt post-egg retrieval.  I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing, or if it means nothing and it was just more noticeable because my system was restarting itself after two months of inertia.  Either way, I am as confident as I can be without charting or using OPKs (because I gave up on those a long time ago) that I ovulated on December 18th.

So now I'm in a two week wait.  It's something that I haven't experienced for a while, and I'd kind of forgotten how much I hate it.  I mean, let's face it, I'm not pregnant.  It would take a bloody Christmas miracle.  Not even Dr. Google can find me a single story of someone getting pregnant their first cycle off Lupron Depot.  And before you start asking, the answer is no, I'm not having any symptoms.  At least, none that aren't totally imaginary and/or explainable by a million other things.  You know, the usual.

The real concern that I have is how long my luteal phase is going to last.  This is important because my clinic is currently closed for the holidays.  It reopens on January 2nd, so if I get a period any time before New Years' Eve I can't go in for Day 3 monitoring...meaning that a January FET is not going to happen.  I'll have to wait a whole extra month to get some closure on this whole "own eggs" thing.  My normal luteal phase is long, at 17 days, which would put me safely into the new year with a period on January 4th.  Even a standard 14-day LP has my period arriving on January 1st, which is in the clear.  But as we all know, my uterus is an asshole so for the first time in the history of ever I'll probably have a 12 day LP, putting me just outside the Day 3 monitoring window.  The suspense, it never ends around here.

25 comments:

  1. I know you're absolutely sure that you're not pregnant, but I do believe in miracles! Just not for me--for other people, of course. Happy New Year, and good luck on the timing of your next day 1.

    --Ellen

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  2. So glad things are getting back to where they should be (for both your house and your ute)! Fingers crossed for a January FET!

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  3. Hoping your luteal phase cooperates and that 2014 brings you all you've ever wanted!! XOXO

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  4. Hoping your luteal phase holds out...do you have any supplemental progesterone?

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    Replies
    1. I have some Crinone stashed from my last FET...would that help stave off AF, you think?

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  5. Here's hoping your uterus cooperates with your clinic's schedule. Enough waiting! I am ready for you to be pregnant already.

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  6. The return of EWCM is amazing, isn't it? And my ovulation was awfully painful, too, though with pain lower than where I think the ovaries should be...
    I ended up in a similar-but-opposite situation - the clinic expects my period on Dec 29, but I didn't ovulate until Dec 26. So I've started to worry that AF might start too late for my FET protocol (is yours a FET in your natural cycle?). My luteal phase tends to be (too) short, which for once could be an advantage. Hoping both our bodies cooperate, for the timing and for actually nurturing a baby for 9 months!

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    Replies
    1. No, I'll be starting Estrace on Day 3. Which is one of the most annoying parts of all of this...I had already spoken to my RE about skipping Day 3 monitoring if I got my period on the holidays, and just starting Estrace and going in for a check when the clinic opened. For some reason she changed her mind on this and her secretary (who is like some troll gatekeeper) wouldn't let me talk to her directly to clarify. Looks like I'm in the clear, though...no AF as of right now so I think I made it!

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  7. I hope 2014 brings you everything you have wished for!!

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  8. I have everything crossed that your 2014 will rock your socks off!

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  9. I just laughed out loud at your very graphic description of your cervical mucous. How I would die to have something like that right now. I don't know why, but I have had very little of that in the last few months. So I often imagine Bob's swimmers dying on the way uphill. You know I have some friends who are envious of my 14 and 15 day luteal phase because they have short ones like 9 or 10 days. I often think that long LP is useless when the eggs aren't cooperating. Hope that the timing of your LP is as usual so you'll get this FET going! Hoping that the first fabulous news of this community in 2014 comes from you!

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    Replies
    1. I've had very little CM at all, and especially little EWCM, in the last year or two. I chalked it up to diminishing hormones and DOR. We used Pre-Seed lubricant for a while but it's expensive and wasn't working so eventually we kind of gave up. I'd love to be the first good news of 2014...hope that's not too much to ask for!! I like to think it's my time!

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  10. How cool that you saw such great change in your ECWM! Hoping and praying for your family!

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  11. Isn't it fantastic that we get excited about cervical mucous! But I totally know what you mean. The last two cycles (prior to BCP cycle) I also had an increase in CM, and it was really stretchy too. Something I don't see very often. Don't know if it was the acupuncture, DHEA/Co/Q10, or just something like luck finally on my side, but I'm reading it as a good sign!

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  12. Happy New Year friend. Hope your 2WW is flying by and this year brings your baby.

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  13. I'm desperately trying to catch up in my blog reading! Just letting you know I'm still here :)

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