Originally Posted by elvislover324:
Lunarsongbird---when it's time to start really charting for baby planning, make sure you check in with your doctor. I thought I was tracking my ovulation perfectly and it turns out that I was never ovulating at all! I told my doc I could tell I *WAS* and she just shook her head and said I couldn't have been.

I know you are very knowledgeable with this info but I just didn't want you to waste any time like I did. :)

Good to know! I think I'm going to go to an OBGYN next month for a check up. I haven't had a pap in quite sometime. So the midwife I'm interested in recommended a couple. Maybe I will push it out for a couple months to show them some charts and see what they think.

I had a girlfriend that told me some fertility doctors wont see you if you haven't been charting and "trying" for a year. So I wanted to try my hand at it.

Originally Posted by bethFromDayton:
The first time I was pregnant, I loved being pregnant. The second time, I hated it. But I got perfect babies out of both times, so I consider it an absolute win.

Just to clarify--it was being pregnant that I hated. I got pregnant on purpose. I wanted the baby desperately. I just didn't like being pregnant--been there, done that, give me the baby!

DD, who is 17, loves to tell her friends that I hated being pregnant with her. :dizzy:

Originally Posted by bethFromDayton:
Just to clarify--it was being pregnant that I hated. I got pregnant on purpose. I wanted the baby desperately. I just didn't like being pregnant--been there, done that, give me the baby!

DD, who is 17, loves to tell her friends that I hated being pregnant with her. :dizzy:

Awww, Beth!! I didn't read your message in a bad way!! You seem like a caring and loving person and a good mom, I never thought you meant it anyway but the way you explained it!!

Originally Posted by lunarsongbird:
Good to know! I think I'm going to go to an OBGYN next month for a check up. I haven't had a pap in quite sometime. So the midwife I'm interested in recommended a couple. Maybe I will push it out for a couple months to show them some charts and see what they think.

I had a girlfriend that told me some fertility doctors wont see you if you haven't been charting and "trying" for a year. So I wanted to try my hand at it.

lunarsongbird - does your midwife not do well-woman care? I've almost always seen midwives for my paps/regular exams and I'm a HUGE fan of the midwifery model of care. I felt like I had way more personal attention from the midwives I've seen (I've seen both CNM's and CPM's depending on where I lived at the time) than I ever received from an OBGYN.

Also, I've never charted long term (doesn't work so well when you're a doula dn you might have to get up in the middle of the night to go to a birth!) and have been seen by multiple fertility professionals, so that has to be an office-by-office thing.

Well, I've noticed after losing what I have my physical pms symptom are loads better, I'm not as moody, and my actual flow doesn't last as long. It's the water retention, weepiness, and breast tenderness that drive me batty the most every month! I tell my husband don't even think about touching them or I'll chop your hands off!!! Dr. said that's a good sign of ovulation so I'll just agree with her and go about my business.

Still sucks though and I'm miserable. UGH..... three more days of scale avoidance and crying at the drop of a hat. Not fun.

Originally Posted by FickleHearts:
Well, I've noticed after losing what I have my physical pms symptom are loads better, I'm not as moody, and my actual flow doesn't last as long. It's the water retention, weepiness, and breast tenderness that drive me batty the most every month! I tell my husband don't even think about touching them or I'll chop your hands off!!! Dr. said that's a good sign of ovulation so I'll just agree with her and go about my business.

Still sucks though and I'm miserable. UGH..... three more days of scale avoidance and crying at the drop of a hat. Not fun.

Breast tenderness can be a good indicator of ovulation because it's caused by progesterone rise, but is by no means a fail-proof way of knowing whether or not you ovulated! If it's driving you crazy wondering whether or not you ovulated you can ask for CD21 blood work and/or ultrasound to confirm ovulation.

Originally Posted by FickleHearts:
I tell my husband don't even think about touching them or I'll chop your hands off!!!

This made me crack up to see it in writing, even though I know exactly what you mean!! And God forbid he lean into me reaching for something or something else innocent, watch out!!

I just wish Mother Nature would send me a text, "Hey, good job with NFP, you're not pregnant, chat next month", and that would be that.

I struggled with infertility for almost 10 years with my 1st husband, it was horrible. Charting, temps, tests, heartrending, tearjerking stuff. It's pretty much why our marriage ended, even though we couldn't say it at the time. We also got married very, very young.

Obviously, as I have 3 kiddos, naturally, one of which is a Depo baby, it seems like it took forever, but I just want to encourage you ladies who are struggling, do not EVER give up hope. You can be a mom naturally, or by adoption, it's not -how- a family is created, but that a family was created that matters.

For my youngest, which was an oops, following a loss, I used FertilityFriend, which is basically a tracking app for ovulation, with lessons and tutorials on what to look for, when etc. I was actually charting to see if I had a short luteal phase which would be indicitave of a progesterone imbalance. My progesterone level during the miscarriage was <2 which made it impossible to maintain a pregnancy. Eventually found an AWESOME CMW who helped me see the problem with my past charts and the chart from the month I got pregnant with the loss. Very next month, positive pregnancy test with blood work confirmation and an RX of Prometrium, now I have a happy and loud 10 mos old. All of that to say....just, don't give up.

Originally Posted by bethFromDayton:
Just to clarify--it was being pregnant that I hated. I got pregnant on purpose. I wanted the baby desperately. I just didn't like being pregnant--been there, done that, give me the baby!

DD, who is 17, loves to tell her friends that I hated being pregnant with her. :dizzy:

I had 9 full months of morning sickness when I was pregnant. So bad that I was actually out of work on disability for a lot of it.

My son finds the fact that I was so sick while carrying him very amusing. :eek: