I Think Progesterone is Working.

I'm 10dpo and I usually never make it past now. (I know, I am probably speaking too soon.) I made it to 11dpo once. Yesterday I thought for sure AF was going to come because I had a temperature dip, but today when I woke up my temperature spiked. If I get two more temperatures as high as today then my chart will be triphasic. I know that I'm not pregnant and triphasic charts are quite common when a woman is on Progesterone, but I will be so happy if I can for once have a normal luteal phase. I was so worried that the Progesterone wouldn't work, but now I'm confident that it will. I will stop taking the progesterone on December 26, 13dpo. That would be so awesome if I could have a 27 day cycle with a 14 day luteal phase. I think I will probably be just as excited to see a normal luteal phase as I would a positive HPT.

First Round of Treatment

On December 1 AF came. I called the fertility clinic and made appointments for cycle monitoring.  First I had to take 50mg of Clomid for five days from cycle day 3-7. The only side effect I noticed was bloating and abdominal discomfort. I could never get comfortable. I'm not sure if the Clomid worked or not. I know that it did give me more follicles and my mature follicle grew faster in a day than it did last month.
CD10 14mm and 4 smaller ones
CD11 15mm and 3 smaller ones
CD12 18mm and 14mm
CD13 19mm and 15mm


On cycle day 13 my doctor told me that my follicle was mature enough for ovulation, so he gave me an HCG trigger shot to speed up ovulation, and WOW did it ever speed things up. Usually I ovulate on or around cycle day 17, but this month I ovulated on the same day I had the HCG injection, cycle day 13. I read online that follicles aren't mature until they reach 20mm which confuses me. Why would my doctor tell me 18mm and why would he force my body to ovulate if my follicle wasn't mature enough at 19mm??? This is one of the many reasons why I need to stop going on TTC forums. There's so much misleading information.


I was also prescribed progesterone suppositories to start taking after ovulation, and oh how fun. They are little white waxy bullets that you have to shove up your miffy 2 times a day. Taking the dose at bedtime isn't bad, but in the morning it's awful. I have to wear a pad every day because I leak out white thick creamy progesterone. It also makes my pee white and bubbly LOL.


I also have some bad news. They aren't working!!! I thought they were supposed to increase my progesterone making my luteal phase longer, but I'm 9dpo and I had a temp dip today like I do every month at 9dpo. I suspect AF will show up tomorrow or the next day. Hell, I might even start spotting tonight. My temperatures were also very low and slow rising in my luteal phase meaning that my progesterone is probably still low. This sucks!!!! I think next month we will increase the progesterone from 400mg to 600mg. A doctor I saw during my monitoring told me that we would be also increasing the clomid from 50mg to 100mg.


I'm pms'ing, so I'm feeling very depressed. If the progesterone didn't work, will anything work? If the second half of my cycle isn't long enough and nothing lengthens it, will this make me completely infertile? I doubt procedures like IVF would even work because the embryo wouldn't be able to implant. I guess that means we would have to move on to a surrogate which I believe are illegal in Canada. You would have to get someone you know verses paying someone, and there is not one person in this whole entire world who would do that for me, not one!!! Maybe I will pay someone secretly and pretend to know them if it comes down to it. This is the only option I could see that would actually work. FML!!!!

Low Progesterone

I had my second fertility specialist appointment this morning. He explained everything to me. During cycle monitoring my follicle didn't grow in a day and I was quite worried about it. He said that it happened because it was too early in my cycle for the follicle to grow. It was 15mm on cycle day 10 and stayed the same on cycle day 11. On cycle day 13 it went to 18mm and by cycle day 14 (when I had an LH surge), it was 20mm. When I went back in on cycle day 17 it was gone which meant I ovulated. The doctor I saw on cycle day 17 said I ovulated on cycle day 16. It turns out my follicle grew just fine. All of my tests before yesterday came back normal, although the doctor did say my testosterone levels were elevated, but he didn't seem concerned.


Yesterday I went in for my 7dpo progesterone test. My doctor said that it was 5 times lower than what it should be. He said it was 2.2 and the normal was 10+ He prescribed me two different drugs that he said will help me. Serophene (the same thing as Clomid, but made by a different company) and Progesterone suppositories which I will have to take twice a day for 12 days after I ovulate.


I have to call them on cycle day one to book blood tests and ultrasounds to monitor ovulation. I'm very excited that something is being done! I hope this works. If I ovulate early this cycle, I will be testing on Christmas day! If I ovulate on CD14, I'll be 10dpo by Christmas. I know it's a little early, but I like to plan ahead. If I don't test on Christmas it will be on New Years.

Cycle Day 17 Ultrasound...Now I'm confused!

I went in for my cycle day 17 ultrasound and was sad when I saw the big white sign saying someone named dr. Jizz was the doctor of the day, (every time I say his name I laugh). Anyways, I went in to get my ultrasound done and I couldn't believe how rough the lady was. She rammed the probe up my miffy so bad that it hurt. She at first asked me if it was okay to use water instead of lubricant, but since I'm not trying this month I told her to use the lube. Thank god I did, or it probably would have hurt a hell of a lot worse. The next time I see her I will ask her to be more gentle. My husband says that she probably likes her sex rough LOL.


I went into the exam room to wait for Dr. Jizz. I was convinced that I hadn't ovulated yet because my temperature was still low. Dr. Jizz told me that my ultrasound confirmed ovulation. He said it happened on cycle day 16, and I'm wondering if there is a way they can tell when the exact day of ovulation occurred, or if that was a guess. When I went in for my cycle day 14 ultrasound I had a 20mm follicle, so I don't know if it's possible I could have ovulated on cycle day 14 or cycle day 15.


Why hasn't my temperature rised yet? It's cycle day 18 and it is still in my usual pre O temp range. Could my temperatures have been lying the whole time? Some people on forums are saying that it doesn't look like I have ovulated yet, so now I'm extra confused. Could the doctor be wrong? If I was trying this month I would be going insane. Hopefully, it rises tomorrow. Dr. Jizz was like, taking your temperature without plotting it on a graph won't work. I had to tell him that I have been religiously taking my temps for 5 months now and have been putting them on fertility friend. He then reassured me that fertility friend was wrong and ultrasounds don't lie. He told me that charting was used years ago when there was no other way to pinpoint ovulation and that it doesn't work for some people. I have been getting temperature shifts every month so I'm not sure why this month is so different. I'm wondering if maybe my temperature just takes longer to rise than normal.


I have booked my followup appointment with my doctor for Tuesday, November 29. I am super excited. I have a list of questions for him which hopefully he'll be able to answer. My biggest question is why my temperature hasn't rised after ovulation like it should have. I have all of my charts printed out and they are on the fridge so I dont' forget them. Maybe he'll be able to explain it. I'm worried that he will say there is nothing wrong with me and won't help me. He did say when my follicle wasn't growing that I would need fertility drugs and he did say when my follicle was 20mm that if I was trying he would give me an injection of some sort, so maybe he will give me something to make me extra fertile. I still haven't gone in for my cycle day 21 (7dpo) progesterone test. That's the one test that I have wanted to have for the longest time.

Cycle Day 14 Ultrasound

Yesterday I went in for my cycle day 14 ultrasound. My follicle grew 2mm like it should have grown. It was at 20mm. The doctor told me to come back on Tuesday to see if the follicle released an egg or not.
I'm sad that I can't go in today because I really wanted to know if it was still there or not. I thought for sure I was ovulating yesterday, but my temperature didn't rise today. I hope it rises tomorrow because if it doesn't I will be so confused.

Repeat Semen Analysis Results

I have some great news! Yesterday we went into the clinic to give a sample of my husbands semen and when we got the results today we were so happy that everything appeared to be normal. There are some things that are borderline normal, but normal!


Volume: 3ml Normal: >1.5
Viscosity: Low Usually it's moderate
Concentration: 28 million/ml Normal: >20 million/ml
Motility: 50% Normal >50%
Progression 2 Usually it's 2+-3+
Total Motile Count: 42 million Normal: >20 million/ml


I'm not sure why, but the morphology was missing from the report. We will ask the doctor about that when we see him next.


I know that the count is still a bit low, but at least it's normal. From my research, it seems that lots of men have over 100 million/ml sperm so hopefully 28 is good enough.

I'm ovulating!

I just got a call from the fertility clinic. The nurse told me that my blood work this morning showed an LH surge, so I could go ahead and have intercourse. I had a rubella shot this month, so I can't try.


I'm so confused! I never ovulate this early! Despite my fertility monitors peak and my blood work, I don't think that I will ovulate. It's just too early lol.


The nurse told me to come in on Tuesday for an ultrasound to check to make sure that the egg has been released, but I want to go in tomorrow to see how big the follicle is and to see if has been released or not. I have no idea when I'm actually going to ovulate. My temperature spiked today and my ultrasound showed that I didn't ovulate today so I can't go by what fertility friend says. I have been having period cramps this afternoon, and I usually get them after I ovulate. Maybe I ovulated today after my ultrasound.


I'm going to call the ultrasound department to see if I can come in tomorrow.

Cycle Day 13 Ultrasound and CBFM Peak

I went in for my third ultrasound today and I was so happy when I saw the usual technician. There are six technicians in the clinic and it's a bit weird having people stick things up my vagina. I would be happy if it was always the same technician because I'm very shy.


I didn't get to see my RE today. All of the doctors at the fertility clinic rotate, so I will be seeing different doctors all of the time. I guess I was just lucky that I saw my RE for the first two times. I liked the doctor I saw today, but he didn't give me the same information as Dr. E did. He wouldn't tell me how many follicles I had. All he said was that it doesn't matter because only one matures. He said there's a 1% chance of two maturing without medication.


My mature follicle grew from 1.5cm to 1.8cm in 3 days. This concerns me because I have been reading online that it is supposed to grow .2cm every day. The doctor said that I should be ovulating today or tomorrow. I didn't believe him because I thought my follicle would grow slowly and not release, but when I got home I decided to POAS for my monitor, and to my surprise it got a peak! I'm only on cycle day 13 so this  is a complete shocker! I always get my peak on cycle day 15 or later. I'm so curious to see what happens at tomorrows ultrasound appointment. I also wonder if because I'm ovulating super early this month if maybe my luteal phase will be normal, or if I'll just have a shorter cycle.


I also forgot to mention that I'm ovulating from my right ovary. I think I might always ovulate from my right side because I feel the most discomfort there when I ovulate.

Cycle Day 11 Ultrasound :(

Yesterday when I went in for my CD10 ultrasound I was really confused. My doctor told me that I would probably ovulate in 2 days. This was confusing because I usually don't ovulate until day 17, so day 12 seemed a bit early to me. Yesterday the doctor said that everything looked normal and all was okay, but today he said something different. He told me that my 1.5cm follicle is still 1.5cm. He said they are supposed to grow every day, and that I will need fertility drugs. He also cancelled tomorrows ultrasound and told me to come back on Friday. The doctor told me that I would most likely ovulate by the weekend, but that's still too early for me usually.


I am again very confused and don't know what's going on. I would like to know why the follicle isn't growing and what kind of fertility drugs I will need. The doctors seem like they are always in a hurry so I can't ask any questions.


Tomorrow we are going into the clinic to give a semen analysis. We figure that maybe if we give the sample at the clinic maybe the numbers will be higher. I'm thinking some died on the trip to the clinic. There was also a tiny bit that didn't get into the cup and the paper that the clinic gave us said that the first drops have the most.


I am making an appointment with my doctor in two weeks to go over all of my test results and talk about treatment. I can't wait.

Cycle Day 10 Monitoring

I went into the fertility clinic today to get my cycle day 10 ultrasound and blood work.


I had three follicles, or eggs?. The doctor said they were eggs. They measured 1, 1.2 and 1.5. The doctor said that once it gets to 2 I will ovulate. He said that would be by Thursday which would be cycle day 12! I never ovulate that early. I always ovulate around cycle day 17, so I'm kind of confused.


I have to go back every day this week. I wonder if there will be anymore follicles. I wonder if I really will ovulate on cycle day 12. This is all so confusing. I guess I will understand it more as time goes on.

My Saline Sonohysterogram Experience

I have read a lot of bad experiences about this procedure. I was really scared of having one. I have never had any procedure where they had to stick any kind of probe up me so I didn't know what to expect. At first the doctor gave me a pap smear which was fine. It felt a bit weird when he was scraping my cervix, but that was it. Then the ultrasound tech did a vaginal ultrasound and that was nothing. It was the easiest part.


Then they did the saline sonohystergram. I felt a bit of weird pressure cramp in my uterus when the saline was injected, but it only lasted for 2 seconds. It was funny because when the doctor said that he was done I asked him if it was time to do the saline sonohysterogram, and he said, "I did it already." LOL. When I felt the weird pressure cramp I wasn't sure what was happening. I thought it was a part of the ultrasound. The worst part of this procedure was the anticipation. The procedure itself was fine and WAY easier than I expected it to be.


The best part of the test is that everything was normal. I'm very happy that nothing was found.

Scary Tests and Semen Analysis

It's Friday today which means that I have to go in for the scariest test I have ever had on Monday at 1pm. It's a saline sonohysterogram. They will stick a long probe up my vagina and insert saline into my uterus. I'm FREAKING out. I have never had a test as scary as this before. It's even causing me to have nightmares something that I never get. I have read so many horror stories online that I'm seriously considering cancelling the appointment. The only thing is, if I cancel the appointment, the fertility specialist won't help me because of the stupid protocol, so I have no other choice.


He also mentioned something about a laparoscopy. I really don't want to be put under and cut open. This whole baby making process  scares the crap out of me. Why couldn't we just conceive naturally like everyone else I know. I'm very scared and I feel all alone. I have no one to talk to and no one who understands. I'm so desperate for someone, anyone to talk to about this whole situation but I have no one. I even went as far as going to trying to conceive forums, but no one ever gives me the time of the day.


I'm so sad that this is all happening. My husbands semen analysis came back and it isn't good. Everything is low. It's all borderline low, but it's still low. His sperm count was 18 million, but his motile count was only 8 million and the normal is 20 million. I have seen women say their men had 200 million, so this is a bit scary. My husband has stopped smoking as of yesterday and he's doing such a great job. I'm very proud of him even if he is extra cranky. He also switched from boiling hot baths to showers. He's taking zinc every day too so hopefully his numbers will go up. He's going back on Monday to get tested.

My Dog Can Predict AF

He does it every month. A day or two before he will get extra cuddly. He's very cuddly to begin with, but before AF comes he gets extra annoying. He will lean in towards me and he must be touching me. If I move away he will follow me. This is the only time he ever gets like this. It's very weird, and I can't explain it, but I'm assuming maybe he can smell it.


I'm 9dpo, so I guess I should expect AF within 1-3 days :( At least I'm getting closer to treatment.

What is wrong with me?

Ever since ovulation I have felt throbbing ovary pain. And no, I'm not symptom spotting. I know I'm not pregnant. This has me very worried. Is it normal, or is there something wrong. I guess I'll find out next month when I have ultrasounds and other tests done.

3dpo today!

I was worried yesterday when my temperature dropped, but today my temperature was 36.95 so I'm pretty sure I ovulated. I doubt that todays temperature is a fluke, but we will see tomorrow. Fertility Friend gave me crosshairs today.


I'm pretty certain that I'm not pregnant. My chart doesn't look like that of a pregnant persons would. I have an obsession with looking at them in the gallery lol and mine does not look like one. I also have a luteal phase defect, so I think it will be impossible for me to get pregnant without any kind of treatment. I really wanted to conceive naturally, but it doesn't look like that will ever be an option. I hope and pray that whatever happens I won't need to have any kind of a procedure like IVF. I'm terrified of all of the procedures that required to have it. My hope is that my doctor will prescribe me Clomid and Progesterone like he said he would for my luteal phase defect and hopefully it works.


I'm curious to see what my luteal phase will be this month. When I first started charting it was 8 days then 10, 10, 11, and 9. I really hope it's longer than 10 days this month, but I would be stupid happy if it were more than 12 days. I also hope that my temperatures warn me this time that my period is coming. My temperatures last month didn't drop as much as they usually did.

Fallback Rise?

Cycle day 20 and I think I'm 2dpo today. Yesterday I had a temperature rise after having positive OPK's for 2 days. I thought I ovulated, but today my temperature dropped. After researching online, it seems as if I may have a fallback rise. My temperature went from 36.35 to 36.61 and then back down to 36.44. Tomorrows temperature should tell me what's going on. I still haven't had a peak on my CBFM, so maybe I haven't ovulated. We will continue to BD.


I can't wait for my period to come so I can book all of the tests that have to be done so I can start some kind of treatment.


Here's what FF has to say about fallback rises:

Fallback Rise

Temperatures may show a "fallback rise" pattern. In a fallback rise pattern the temperature rises significantly and abruptly as you would expect, but then it drops again immediately before it rises again and is sustained throughout the luteal phase. You may not be able to tell whether you are seeing a fallback rise pattern or whether you are seeing one "fluke" high temperature. Your non-temperature signs, or, retrospectively, your luteal phase length, can help you to determine whether or not you have a fallback rise pattern.

Cycle day 18, and still no peak :(

I'm confused and frustrated. I was expecting my CBFM to peak today because I got a positive OPK yesterday and the day before, but it didn't. It's still high. I have no OPK's left. I want to get more, but the weather is horrible and of course I'm getting sick so I don't feel like going anywhere. I guess I'll just wait to see what my temperatures do. They are still low.


Yesterday DH and I went to the clinic to have our blood taken. He had 4 vials of blood taken and I had 30 lol. My arm still hurts like hell.

I got a smiley face!!!

I peed on my last clearblue digital today, and was totally shocked when I got a smiley face. My Clearblue fertility monitor read high this morning, so I wasn't expecting a smiley face.


It's time to have sex like crazy! I'm not sure when we should have lots of sex. I was thinking we would have it like 8 times in one day on my second peak, but now that I got a smiley face, I'm wondering if we should have sex multiple times during the next few days until I see a temperature shift.


I hope this is the last time I ovulate until after our baby is born.

Cycle Day 16

Usually by now my CBFM gives me a peak reading, but I'm still getting a high reading. This is high number 8 for me. The estrogen line is getting lighter so I know that my monitor will peak soon. The question is when. It's hard to tell this month. Usually I can tell when it's about to peak, but not this time. It could peak tomorrow, or it might not. I think if it doesn't peak tomorrow it will definitely peak on cycle day 18. The stick today doesn't look like it usually does the day before it peaks. If it peaks on cycle day 18 then that means I will probably ovulate on cycle day 19 :(. A few months ago when I started taking vitamin b I ovulated on cycle day 19 and I thought for sure it was because of the vitamin. I guess this means it wasn't the vitamin. I'm going to start taking it again today in hopes that it will increase my luteal phase.

CBFM sticks

I'm on cycle day 14 and usually by now my clearblue fertility monitor sticks change. The estrogen line gets lighter, but it's still really dark. This concerns me. I have a feeling I'm going to be ovulating late this month.

My Fertility Specialist Appointment

In September 2011 I went to my family doctor and told her that I suspected something was wrong and I felt that I would never conceive. Even though you have to wait for 12 months before getting a referral, my family doctor said that she would refer me anyways because technically we have been trying for almost 2 years since we have been having unprotected sex for 2 years after coming off of Depo Provera. I was so relieved and happy when she told me that she was going to refer me. I have been seeing her for 2 years now, and my family doctor that I had before her would have never referred me. He never referred me to anyone.


I had my first fertility specialist appointment on October 12, 2011. The appointment went very well, and I liked my doctor.  He ordered a semen analysis for my husband and blood work for both of us to check for infectious diseases like AIDS. I have to call them on cycle day 1 of my next cycle to book some tests. That should be on or around November 4. I have to go in on cycle day 3 for an ultrasound and blood work. I have to book a saline sonohysterogram before cycle day 11. I have to go in for blood work on cycle day 21, (7 days past ovulation). I also have to go in for cycle monitoring where they give you ultrasounds starting on cycle day 10 to check for ovulation. I then have to make an appointment with the doctor after all the tests have been completed.


Before I had my appointment with my specialist I was curious to know if our government would pay for it. I live in Ontario, Canada. It turns out that they cover all of the testing needed, but they will not cover treatment. They will pay for one month of cycle monitoring, but then if I want to I have to pay $250 for a year. They gave me a list of medications with price next to them and they all seemed cheap for medicine except for some that are needed for IVF.

How It All Started

Trying to conceive is driving me nuts, so I thought I would start a blog to write about it.

I was on Depo Provera for 7 years. My periods were absent for 7 years. They finally came back in December 2010, three months after I started taking Provera. I was so happy when my periods finally came back because I was so ready to start trying for a family even though I was getting married 4 months after that in March. 

I originally started using OPK's (ovulation predictor kits). I bought the ones from Clearblue that give you a smiley face when you are ovulating. I read the instructions and started to POAS (pee on a stick), starting on cycle day 9. I would pee on them for 7 days until I finished all of the tests, but I never got a smiley face :(. It was very depressing and I couldn't figure out why I went from month to month without ever getting a positive OPK. 

So, after 6 frustrating months of negative OPK's I went straight to Shoppers Drug Mart and bought a Clearblue Fertility Monitor and a basal body thermometer. I bought the fertility monitor on cycle day 7 and was so upset when I discovered that I had to use it from cycle day 1-5. I started using it in June 2011.

After using my Clearblue fertility monitor and charting my basal body temperature, I finally figured out why my OPK's were never detecting ovulation. It turns out that I ovulate really late in my 27 day cycle, so I was using the tests too early. I also discovered from charting that I have a luteal phase defect. That is when your luteal phase (the time from after you ovulate to the day before your next period), is too short to sustain a pregnancy. My fertility specialist says that even if I were to get pregnant I would probably miscarry. :(

I have been trying to conceive for about 11 months now, so it is time for a checkup.