Onward to the 14th cycle....

Well she came...that bitch.

I blame my HSG this month for the terrible cycle I just went through.

I use Fertility Friend to chart my BBT and even decided to pay them this month to use the extra "special" tools since it had a hard time picking up when I ovulated. This past month we traveled outside the country for our anniversary and I had a very difficult time charting. To be honest I'm not sure why I even tried. I stayed true to my OPK's however and finally on CD 19 and CD 20 I received my positives. This month felt way to long. After 32 days I was happy to have this cycle over and be back on the playing field! I'm actually surprised at how quickly I bounced back from my usually gloomy "failed month" mood. I guess it's because I know that I have options now. Come December we are going to go through our first IUI (artificial insemination) and that just makes me excited! Finally the first step to a solution for our lack of conception (Merry Christmas to me!).

My DH starts his last year in his master's program in September so this is my last chance to pull out all the stops before he has to concentrate on school again. I'm not doing anything too different this month except fully commiting to the SMEP (sperm meets egg plan). I've done varients of it since its a bit difficult to stick to and I've never wanted to schedule sex to the point where it isn't fun anymore. Also I'm convinced I don't produce enough EWCM (egg-white cervical mucus) which is what allows sperm to really live much longer in you and what helps them swim past your cervix with more ease. Soooo, I will be taking Robitussin this month. Many women have sworn by this, you take three doses a day starting CD10 and stoping when you have ovulated. I'll make sure to dedicated a post with all the types of ways and tools that can help you get pregnant.

For now I'm on CD4 and waiting for the bitch to leave...

Womb-mate Wanted! (My TTC story thus far)

My DH and I met in the spring of 2006 while studying at the same college. From day one I knew this was it, this was love. I could not begin to describe what the past 6 1/2 years have meant to me by just having him in my life. He is my best friend, my supporter, my most honest critic, and my teammate. Everything we have accomplished together up till now has been challenging but rewarding. I'd like to take this moment to express how much I love my DH.  We as women during our TTC journey so often forget that this journey has two travelers and that the relationship you have with your significant other should never be forgotten during this time. He is not just a baby-making machine!

Continuing on....

We maintain a long distance relationship for a couple of years which is never easy for those who have tried it. Finally after 4 years of dating & 1 year of co-habitating my DH proposed. We were married last year on a very hot day in July. It was the best day of our lives.

Shortly before we were married (on my birthday to be precise) we decided to throw our lives "to the wind" and light the last box of condoms we had on fire. After all, we were to be married soon and we both wanted to be young-ish parents. We didn't expect it to happen very soon and if it did we would be happy either way.

Well, we were right. It didn't happen soon.

In fact it still hasn't happen.

Month after month went by. During my 4th cycle I had my regular checkup with the OBGYN and my first transvaginal ultrasound (which can only be described as being raped by a robot). Ok, I'll be honest; it was my first pap smear ever! What can I say? I didn't have health insurance in my early twenties.

Since my OBGYN said I was fine I figured just keep swimming!

Well the rest of the months passed by pretty quickly. I joined forums, learned how to chart my BBT, used preseed, Sperm meets egg plan (I'll go into that in another post) and hell even had a few months here and there were I did nothing but knock back a few drinks and pretended to have a one night stand.

Flash forward to my birthday this year. I sit with a beautiful pink cold stone's ice cream cake in front of me, trying to hold back my tears because my last birthday wish never came true.

Since then we have started working with an R.E. (reproductive endocrinologist). You go to this person when no one else can help you. They're in the know; they've got the good stuff. So far I have had blood work done, an HSG (hysterosalpingography) and my DH has had a Semen Analysis done. If I have time I will have to get him to recount that story, it was pretty dam funny and I couldn't do it justice.

I'm currently in the horrible, hellish 2WW wait period of my 13th cycle. If no baby, then my R.E. gets a follow-up appt. with us to discuss our fertility testing results and treatment options.

In the next post I'll go into a bit more detail about the testing that was done and so forth.

So that's our story in a nutshell for now. Please stay tune.