The Longest Journey Begins With a Single Step - Part 2

First off, I want to apologize for the huge delay in posting. Between work (including a huge schedule change), family, and holiday hoopla, I haven't had a chance to really sit down and write. So sorry.

So, where was I? Ah, yes - officially trying. I remember now.

So, in June 2009, after I'd finished my period for the month, we officially started trying. Now, I still use that term somewhat loosely, because let's be honest, at the time I really had no clue what I was doing. I knew that the gobs of clear goo I often found in my underwear about halfway through my cycle was likely fertile cervical mucous, and I knew that we were supposed to have sex around that time. Beyond that, though, I had no clue.

The first few months were kind of touch and go, doing what we had to do about midway through my cycle, occasionally seeing fertile CM at the same time; other times, we didn't see it until several days after. When we didn't get pregnant, I started looking into ways to increase our chances. I first learned of basal body temperature charting (hereafter known as BBT) about 4 months into our journey. I then found Fertility Friend, a site used to keep track of said temperatures. Prior to that point I didn't know much about it save for the fact that it was often lowest prior to ovulation; after ovulating, your temperature goes up and stays up for an amount of time (usually anywhere from 10-16 days), before going back down and then your period would come. According to Fertility Friend, it was only really good to confirm you ovulated; other than that it didn't tell you much. But, they said, if your temperature stayed elevated for more than 18 days post ovulation, it was a good sign you were pregnant.

Huh? What happened to "it's only good to confirm ovulation and nothing else"? Way to confuse me.

All things aside, the actual act of charting seemed to be easy enough, so I decided to give it a try. To make a long story short, I did this for 16 months, and did confirm that I was ovulating on my own each month, which was and is a good thing. But after 16 months of doing the same thing at the exact same time every single day really took a toll on me. It got to the point where I was abbout to make a phone call to my OB and ask for help. It had been over a year of trying at that point, and I was beginning to question whether or not there was some kind of issue. However, I was holding back; I was afraid of what I might be told and knew that infertility related issues were not covered by my insurance.

Little did I know, there was a small light at the end of that tunnel that I couldn't quite see. That little light, after months of trying, and sadness, and hundreds of tampons, was about to make its presence known, and QUICK!

Stay tuned! (and I promise it won't be as long of a delay this time.)