Safety in Numbers

Who ever knew miscarriages were so prevalent? I have heard different statistics but about 1 in 3 women will have one and 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. The nurse practitioner told me that since they are so common, doctors don't even test for a problem unless you have 3.

I told myself I was a victim of bad luck and this time next year I would have a baby. Since I got pregnant so quickly (two months) I figured it would happen again in short order. We waited a couple months per the doctor and started trying. But my cycle had gone haywire- unlike anything I had ever seen before. Ah- the gift that keeps on giving. My luteal phase (time between ovulation and menstruation, should be 14 days and shouldn't vary) was erratic. One month it was 19 days and then next 8 or 9, not long enough to sustain a pregnancy.

So how do I know all this? I discovered temping- how they did it in the dark ages before the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor. I actually used them in conjunction.

The premise is you take your temp at the exact same time at the exact same conditions (i.e. room temp) every morning before you even move. Before ovulation, your temps are low, and the after ovulation, a hormone, progesterone spikes and it causes your body to heat up. So you can see a sustained thermal shift. You can actually pinpoint that day you ovulated, and become more aware of signs of impending ovulation (I have a temperature drop the day before I ovulate).

I started off taking my temp at 6:20am. But then Greg convinced himself he would start going to the gym before work. He would set his blackberry for 5:30am. Here is the kicker, he never got up, he would snooze until 6:30, but my temperature was ruined. As such, from October to April, I woke up every morning at 5:30am to take my temperature, weekends, holidays and vacation and then input my data in fertilityfriend.com (definitely recommend if you are charting). Greg probably made it to the gym before 6 about seven times during that same period.

Okay, so back to the luteal phase. I started getting monthly progesterone draws at the doctor to find out why my luteal phase was so short. I found out I had low progesterone, which I don't think I had previously had because I never had spotting before and months before had a 19 day luteal phases. They said they could give me Clomid. This drug would give me a "stronger ovulation". I still don't get what that means.

I don't even like taking Advil, so I said I would try some things on my own. Plus my doctor insists on an HSG (more about that later) and a semen analysis before prescribing Clomid.

This was the launch of my alternative approach to getting knocked up.

Did you ever take clomid? Would love to hear about it.