A Fresh Start

The past few days have been crazy.

As some of you know, I chart my cycles to see when I ovulate. This consists of taking your temperature with a special thermometer every morning at the same time, before doing anything else. At the beginning of your cycle, your temperatures are lower. When you ovulate, your temperatures rise. If you have very predictable cycles, charting isn't as important. However, every cycle is different for me.  So far this year since I started charting again, each ovulation day has been different. (CD = cycle day). Not everyone ovulates on the same day each month, but a large amount of lucky women do.

February: cd19
March: didn't chart well, but looks like cd19
April: cd18
May: cd19
June: cd17
(miscarriage)
August: cd22 or cd25

Now, I bet you're wondering why I don't know my ovulation day this month. The answer? FertilityFriend was (probably) wrong. Anyone who uses FertiltyFriend knows that it is very accurate. However...the first cycle after a miscarriage is crazy. I've always heard that, and I even heard not to chart for the first cycle after a miscarriage because your temperatures might be all over the place. But I like to know what is going on with my body, and I like knowing when my period will be coming.

In short, FertilityFriend told me that I ovulated on cd22. Which meant by period was due Tuesday. Well, Tuesday rolled around and...nothing. I instantly started worrying. I took a pregnancy test and it was completely negative, so I took another look at my chart. I'd noticed a second temperature shift after cd25, but it could have been a fluke due to slow-rising temperatures. But I told myself not to worry, I probably ovulated on cd25 and my period would be here Friday.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up Thursday to blood! I still don't know which day I ovulated. If I ovulated on cd22, then my luteal phase has extended by two days somehow, which probably isn't the case, but that would be awesome since my luteal phase is on the short side. If I ovulated on cd25, which is more likely, then my luteal phase has shortened by a day, which isn't very good. But I'm not going to worry about that right now. I don't need to - I need to relax! I am just SO happy that I ovulated at all. I was starting to get worried that my high temperatures didn't mean anything, since I had a few low ones, and I was having an annovulatory cycle (which can go on for 40-70 days or longer).

So, I had a 35-day cycle, which really isn't *that* bad. It's on the extreme long side of normal, but it is normal. I am praying that I get pregnant this month of course, with a STICKY baby. I'll be taking soy isoflavones, which I used with Audrey. If nothing happens by January, it's back to the OB, for more tests and probably clomid. I hope so much that we don't have to do that, but if so, then that's what we will do. I really wish we could move my ovulation date up to around cd14-16, because I have read multiple times that women who ovulate later (like myself) don't have the best egg quality sometimes. Of course that is a scary thought to have right after you miscarry, but I have always suspected it. I worry a lot though, that's just who I am.

So the plan this month is soy, and RELAX. Both times I've been pregnant I was very relaxed. I don't know how likely it is to get pregnant on the second try (we did try on our post-miscarriage cycle) but I did get lucky enough to get pregnant on my third with Sunny, so who knows. Technically, it will be our fifth try, since we lost Sunny...and Audrey took two kind-of trying (NTNP) and then six more actively trying (TTC). We will just have to see!