Charts & Temps & Kits, Oh My!

I have had crazy, irregular cycles for years. I can't seem to figure out what causes the issues, and apparently neither can any doctor I talk to. I've been tracking my cycles on an app on my phone and recently downloaded a new one. This one has chat forums right in the app so you can talk with other women who are going through the same thing you are. I know I'm at the very beginning of "trying" but I feel like there's so much I haven't been paying close enough attention to.
Like, there's a completely different thermometer you should be using to check your basal body temps first thing every day. And if you log & track it, you should be able to figure out just by that, which day you are going to ovulate. Oh but most of them beep the whole time you're taking your temp to make sure you're using it correctly, which is pretty annoying, especially if you don't even get out of bed before you stick that thing in your mouth (so says most of the amazon reviews of every single one).
Or you can buy handy dandy ovulation kits and test - which, um.. why are there like a million different brands out there?

A friend of mine practices natural (non-birth control) family planning, where she tracks her cycle and when they were trying to conceive, she used the ovulation tests to know when they should try, and when they aren't trying, they avoid those days. It seems easy enough but I am not even sure that my body is doing what it's supposed to.

The more I thought about it, I realized that even though I could be using two different apps on my phone to track my erratic cycle, it is only going to assume that I am actually ovulating. So what if I'm not? I read a bajillion reviews and settled on one of the top rated brands that was also available through Amazon Prime.

I've been charting and knew that the big O should be any day now, so I started using the tests to see if I'd get any sort of results. I'm not going to lie, I seriously picked out one that was going to be the easiest to use. I insert a test into the kit (which looks like a larger pregnancy test), pee, and then wait for it to do it's magic trick. A big O shows up if I'm not ovulating, and a big smiley face shows up if I am. Simple. No wondering if one line is darker than another. No reason for a false reading.

After testing it out for a few days, I'm happy to report that I got a big smiley face the other day. So, I'm happy that it appears the test works like it should, but also really happy that it would also appear I am ovulating. Maybe the HSG kicked my body back into the right mode?

Look Who's Talking

Remember that scene in Look Who's Talking, maybe it's the credits? I don't really remember because I was probably, like, 12 when I saw it last... but it's the part where they show the sperm racing to get to the egg?

So that visual right there... was what my dream was last night. For real. I don't remember any Beach Boys "I Get Around" playing in the background, but the rest of it was definitely my dream. It was apparently baby-making time and those little sperm were making their way, one in particular zooming ahead of the others until he made it.

I remember feeling really warm and happy, but I'm not sure if it was a reaction to my dream and I actually felt that way, or if in my dream I was watching some sort of ultrasound-video of how my baby was going to start growing. Seriously the strangest thing I've ever dreamed about.



A year ago I had a dream that my sister was pregnant. I sent her a text when I woke up that morning telling her, to which she replied, "You're crazy! Maybe you are!" We laughed and I passed it off as a silly dream. But not two weeks later did she call to confirm that she WAS pregnant but hadn't wanted to tell people yet but she thought my dream was so crazy.
Then this past fall I had a dream about my sister in law, and when we spent time together I just had this strange feeling. I told my husband that I thought she was pregnant and he laughed, told me that his brother hadn't said anything or mentioned that they were trying for a third. I told him that a lot of people don't announce anything until after the first trimester anyway, so they could be expecting. And they were! We found out a few weeks later!

So normally I'd be all psyched out thinking I was having a pregnancy dream about myself finally, so maybe I was on to something ... but I know it was just because of all the baby talk lately. It's really the only thing that's on my mind so obviously I would dream about it.

Anway, I couldn't get this crazy, semi-creepy dream out of my head all day so I thought I'd share! -lol-

BFN #1

BFN = Big Fat No (At least according to all the pregnancy blogs & forums I've seen.)

Today is the first official NO. I got a little teary eyed when I realized why I'd been feeling so crummy for a few days. We've been out of town for my husbands business and it's been a colossal pile of stress. I figured the stress and lack of sleep was taking its toll on me. Also, when your period shows up a week EARLY, that's not exactly your happiest day when you are trying to get pregnant.

Since the HSG, I wanted to be sure to track my "days" so that I wouldn't miss the big ovulation moment. I'd been using an app on my phone to track my cycle for about a year now. I had figured it was a great way to help the doctors see how my body is acting, and not depending on my tired brain to have to remember all the details.

The only problem is that when your period comes early, doesn't that mean your ovulation days were earlier than you thought they were? Either way, I thought I knew which days would be the best to try, and not too long after, there's that definite sign that I'm not pregnant.

I know I said before that I was going to take the "flushing out" pregnancy possibility with a grain of salt, and not get my hopes up .... and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be that easy ... but it still stings a little bit.