The (NOT SO) Skinny Girl

So for 2.5 years, I used an app called Glow to track my cycle and predict my fertile window for ovulation. Maybe I didn't use it to it's full potential; however, the app was consistently able to align with the painful ovulations and cysts my ovaries put me through, and also would accurately predict 'Aunt Flo's' arrival. I teamed the app up with Ovulation Predictor Kits for at least 6 months, still no luck. And in early December, after debating spending money on IUI, a chance meeting with a Creighton Model Nurse Practitioner pushed me to challenge the the factory line of main stream fertility clinics and go a little old school. We scheduled an introductory session that my husband and I attended, at which we gained better understanding of how this was going to go down and I purchased supplies to move forward and scheduled my first follow-up appointment. Now, technically they suggest you abstain from trying or sex in general for 30 days to allow yourself time to adjust...

I use the "Glow Fertility- ovulation/period tracker" app, I have been a 'member' of the Glow community for about 2 years now. I have learned that there is something called the 2WW (not to be confused with WW2)- the two week wait. So, the way I understand it is- women who are trying to conceive should wait 2 weeks after projected or confirmed ovulation to take a pregnancy test. 2 weeks. Assuming that 14 days post ovulation is time enough to see if you've gotten the deed done and if the oven's got the bun. So this month I decided to look at my "ovulation date"- which was confirmed by a very painful ovulation- and calculate the exact # of days from that day to the day my period was due to arrive. 15 days projected, it arrived in 16 days. All of the ladies who are looking for support during the 2WW say things like "When is it too early to test, I just can't wait the 14 days I want to know now". Multiply that by like, 100 people. Oooor, ...

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that we "waited" to conceive during certain parts of our journey? We got married in June 2015. I had been off birth control a few months and we had not used condoms in years. Technically, we were not 'trying' right after we got married- we had two months until our honeymoon and I was afraid of morning sickness and not being able to enjoy ourselves in Slovakia, Poland, and Italy... especially the wonderful wine... So we didn't actively try until we touched down in Italy, our beautiful, wonderful adventure of a honeymoon. At that point, I didn't know much about my cycle and my ovulation days and what not. We came home, I got my period, and reports of "we're pregnant" started pouring in immediately. A couple who got married a week after us got pregnant immediately, a couple who got married in September got pregnant immediately, two couples who had been married a few years let us know they were pregnant- one with...

So after the HSG there were many reports of conception for couples because the procedure opens up the tubes and cleans them out. So my husband did some research and got a little excited about it, told me about it, and I have been (trying really hard not to!!) waiting, watching and counting down until the day my app says I should get my period. And again, like clockwork, the floodgates opened. My husband asked me last night why I was acting weird. I told him I was tired (overtired really), sore, grumpy. I seriously was starting to think I was pregnant. My boobs were tender at one point this week, I had these pangs in certain areas, I felt nauseous a few days. I was starting to settle in to the thought of finally being pregnant- because I KNOW what it felt like- and then starting to worry about life decisions like going out on the motorcycle earlier that day and feeling uncomfortable and unsafe (what if I wasn't traveling alone??), like having a f...

So my husband and I have been toying with the idea of IVF. That some sort of fertility treatment is probably the next step. And I figure there are three steps to try. If you think/know of others, please share in the comments! 1. Inject his sperm directly into my uterus 2. Take hormones to make sure I am poly ovulating (not sure the scientific term- but it causes more than one egg to ovulate) during a cycle or two 3. Put sperm and egg in petri dish and force glorious union which is then deposited into uterus While I would love to think that being zen and chill and happy with my life as it is could lead to a spontaneous conception during my next cycle, it's hard to be terribly optimistic. And I'm really really fighting optimism this month after my husband read article upon article saying couples had a higher chance of conception after the HSG procedure because it kind of cleans the cobwebs out of the tubes. Gross, but you get the idea. It's like draino for your lady plum...

Yesterday I took a day off work, in the middle of the week in the middle of the summer. And everyone asked me"OH WHAT FUN PLANS DO YOU HAVE??" And I just answered, "nothing really". Which wasn't quite true. I didn't sit on the beach or go somewhere fun and exciting. I slept in, walked the dog, rode my motorcycle around a little to clear my head. Then my husband and I made a trip up to the local hospital to meet up with my OBGYN for a "small procedure". In response to my anxiety over this, my husband had been saying "It's just another test" for weeks since I scheduled it. Last week I finally broke down and cried and asked him -- "What if something is WRONG with me?" You don't go to the hospital and schedule in a department for 'just another test'. They don't tell you to take 1000mg of ibuprofen an hour prior to ease cramping or bring in sterile tools and betadine for 'just another test'. It was a p...