All I want for Christmas....

Ok so! This is the longest TWW (Two Week Wait) of my life. What is the TWW you ask? Allow me to explain...

The TWW is the Luteal Phase. "The luteal phase is one stage of the menstrual cycle. It occurs after ovulation (when the ovaries release an egg) and before your period starts. During this phase, the lining of your uterus normally becomes thicker to prepare for a possible pregnancy."- Web MD

I really should have pursued being a health teacher....

Basically the Luteal phase is the time between the end of your fertile window and the beginning of your next cycle. This is when women start symptom watching, CM checking, and peeing on sticks. The first week is pretty useless since there is no way you could possibly be pregnant that soon. But the second week, oh that's when I get the crazies.

So I am extra crazy this month. Why you ask? Well it's for many reasons....

1. It's the holidays. Cute babies in Christmas outfits, kids waiting for Santa, family and love every where....you get the picture.  But just in case you don't....here's one!

2. We were going to do pregnancy announcements as our Christmas card.

3. The test results for my progesterone levels are...GREAT. In fact, it's the same exact level as when I conceived in May.

So I realize the image is hard to read, but it shows on Oct 16th my level was 16.2 and as of Dec 11th my level was 26.2. (I missed my test in November, but I can tell you that I am usually right around 15 -16) So what does "21" mean? What is going on? So really all this means is that on day 21 there was likely a fertilized egg hanging out. The body amps up its progesterone levels to prepare for implantation. Implantation occurs 6-8 days after conception. (right around that 21 day test) See it's starting to come together right?

So my doctor called to say that my body is preparing itself for pregnancy. Her exact words were "This could be the month." NOW WAIT. Do not ...I repeat... DO NOT get excited. (I know it's super hard) A million things could happen that could prevent an embryo from implanting. Including the fact that it may not even be an embryo. It could implant wrong, it could stop dividing, it could have incorrect genetic material, or even no genetic material. If any of thses cases is true, there would be no pregnancy. (...and believe me the list of issues goes on! Remember that even when everything goes right there is only a 20% chance of achieving pregnancy each cycle)

Fertilized eggs that do not implant correctly are often called "chemical pregnancies" because your body was chemically all geared up and ready, but something went wrong in the process. Basically, it is the earliest form of miscarriage and it is very common. Usually women are not aware as it happen so early that their cycle can remain unchanged. Chemical pregnancies are "on the rise" as more and more women are taking a proactive approach to their fertility. In reality they really aren't "on the rise" it's just that more women are aware of them than ever before. 

So now what?

PANIC. Just kidding. Please don't. Now because I am a crazy person, I took a HPT. (POAS addict remember?!)  That was a really dumb idea....of course it was negative. I have a whole week left to wait...DUH!

So why the wait? If there is an implanted egg in there why cant I know now?  Well.....because....SCIENCE...

OK so pregnancy test are checking your HCG levels. HCG is a rapidly producing hormone that is released during pregnancy and your body begins to develop this hormone after your egg implants and the placenta begins to form. HCG doubles every 2-3 days. Remember in science class when you would use Litmus paper to check acids and bases? It's the same idea for checking the chemicals in your pool. This may look familar...

The liquid reacts to the paper and bam results! Well if your liquid only has a very small amount of acid or base you might get neutral result. This is exactly what happens with pregnancy tests. A negative pregnancy test is essentially just a neutral result. This is why pregnancy tests come with a base line. The base line lets you know that the test is working and hasn't been compromised. It also gives you something to compare a result to. (WOOOO SCIENCE)

So, in order for a pregnancy test to pick up the HCG there has to be enough present to see the result. This is why many brands recommend taking the test in the morning when you've been holding your pee. It's super gross but a more concentrated urine will often show a stronger result.

HPTs , at the earliest begin detecting pregnancy at 20mIU. This level would allow you to test before your missed period. These highly sensitive tests are usually marked "early detection" where as some drug store brands have very low sensitivity coming in at 100mIU.

I took a FRER (First Response Early Results). The forum ladies sing it praises daily. FRERs have a sensitivity of 25mIU, which is really good compared to the 50mIU in my beloved dollar store brand. (BTW- walgreens brand is 100mIU....but their digital is 50mIU...buyer beware)

So if you are googling around you will see that most doctors and even test companies tell you to wait until a day after your missed period for 99% accuracy.  Prior to that day it is possible to get a false negative. Since I took my test 7 days early, (I told myself it was only 6 because I found out the day before my missed period last time) I am hoping it was a false negative which is likely since I was an idiot. I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!

Anyway so that is where I am. It is going to be a very long week! Fingers crossed and no more tests!

Bonus Post for December! (WTF is happening here?)

Ok so, weird things are happening and I have to vent...

I started my third cycle of clomid (after miscarriage) on CD5. I do days 5-9. I know lots of folks do days 3-7. It's up to your doctor when you do your dosage and how much your dosage is. My dosage is very low because I am ovulating so why have increased symptoms and complications. (Plus increased probability of twins). So I am all for the treatment plan I am currently on...but then this happened...

What?! What?! What is this?! Ovulating on CD 11? I think not. That is ridiculous, right? Now it is true that clomid makes you ovulate early. When I conceived in May, based on my due date, I ovulated a day earlier than I thought. But this would be super early. So let's break this down...

CBFM (Clear Blue Fertility Monitor): CD 11
PT (Period Tracker): CD 15
Ovia: CD 16

Does anyone else think PT and Ovia are too late? In May we pinpointed CD 13 and CD 14 is the average. But CBFM looks too early too.

So of course I hit the internet and I am spinning down the rabbit hole that is fertility forums. Lot's of women seem to have the same issue. It could be a number of things. Maybe I was ovulating naturally and the drug kicked it into high gear or maybe I was taking the clomid later in the day so its closer to CD 6 - 11 so my monitor picked up the clomid. Anyway long story short, there is no way to tell but I did find this handy-dandy flow chart.

So this is for folks doing IVF or IUI. So I am using this as my guide. They have clomid starting CD 5 and BD (baby dancing) CD 10 - 14. But, PT and Ovia are saying CD 15 or CD 16. So maybe the monitor was closer to the truth? I guess we will find out based on the CD 21 progesterone test which is scheduled for Friday because Day 21 is actually a Saturday and you know what happened last time day 21 landed on a Saturday.


In the mean time I am researching into the difference between taking clomid on CD 3-7 and CD 5-9. So far the main response I am seeing is that CD 3-7 produces multiple eggs ( thus multiple chances) where as CD 5-9 produces one super-egg. I havn't found any science to back up this claim so I am not fully convinced that it is true. Back to the internet rabbit hole I go!

aww, isn't he cute!