The Blossoming, Twitterpated, Spring Is In the Air~ONE THREAD March 20-26 - Page 3

[Gemmine]

cecelia7: Do you want me to move you to Waiting to Know? Do you have a chart? It's hard for me to tell anything about your temps without being able to visualize them.

[cecelia7]

I do have a chart but I can't figure out how to post it...work blocks FF but not this site (yet) so that's the other part of the problem.

c.

[Gemmine]

Ok well when you can access it, go to the Sharing tab at the top, then click Setup. It will give you the link to share with us. In the meantime, shall I move you to Waiting to Know? :-)

[Stevi]

Vitex can help with PCOS and irregular cycles. I would not recommend it if your cycles are regular, as it screws them up (I tried it once.) Also be prepared to be patient, Vitex can take a couple few months with some women to have any effect.

Maca is supposed to help fertility as well, I don't know much about it. Believe it or not, in all these years I haven't tried that one! LOL

Chicajones...   So, did you get a BFP or not? Your post sure didn't sound like you did... ??? Don't leave us hangin here!!!! :)

AAM...   BDing did not start last night, Spicy was a no show. Hopefully it will start tonight with Sport. I'm not stressing out yet, as ovulation isn't due until the end of the week. That's when I'll start stressing. LOL

Everybody Think Fertile Thoughts!!!

[justKate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemmine 

justkate: I just added you! I'm having trouble linking the chart smiley to your chart. I will try again in a bit. I bet FF is giving you dotted lines because of your CM. When I put in 'creamy' around O date I got dotted lines. When I took it away I got a solid line. Either way that's a pretty steep temp jump so it looks like you ovulated when they say you did. Do you use OPK's? Hopefully it's a really late BFP. What kind of tests are you using? Have you tried FMU with a digital test?

I'm going to play with my chart a little and see what i get.   I don't use OPKs because we were technically not trying...and i was sick during O time so I'm afraid that complicated things!  So far I've used First Responses in the pink wrapper, and a target brand blue dye.  Yesterday afternoon I took a FRER with only a 2.5 hr hold, and got a WHITE line.  Seriously.  The line where the pregant line should be was whiter than the surrouding area.

I've got one FRER and a target-brand blue dye left.  How can I be 14 DPO when my LP is 11 days and not be PG?!

[chicajones]

WHOOPS! I totally pasted the wrong chart link in my post! I definitely did not get a BFP (or even ovulate for that matter)! Sorry about that--here's MY chart link:

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/32b88b

[LadyScientist]

Hey Tantylynn: I saw your post about the PCOS diagnosis. I did my PhD thesis on PCOS and without knowing anything at all about your history, I just thought I'd chime in with some info that you may already know or may not find helpful; just thought I could add to the discussion.

It is important to keep in mind that PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a syndrome so there are multiple symptoms and characteristics associated with it, but not all women that are diagnosed with PCOS display all of those characteristics (does that make sense?). You are right, the "classic" PCOS model involves insulin resistance, usually related to obesity, and generally the symptoms improve when these women lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity. However, many women diagnosed with PCOS are lean. PCOS is also assiciated with elevated androgens and elevated LH levels. If insulin resistance is involved, you may be prescribed metformin (an insulin sensitizing drug), which has been shown to improve PCOS-related issues. If you are of a healthy weight and don't have issues with blood sugar, etc., don't worry too much about needing to lose weight - that may not be the issue. It is also possible to have ovarian cysts and have "PCO" but not actual "PCOS." In other words, this is a complex disorder that a lot of scientists are working to figure out, and there are a lot of complicating factors as far as diagnosis goes. Wait to see what the specialist says because they will have a much better idea of what has worked for patients in the past with a similar set of symptoms to yours. There are many options out there so definitely do not be discouraged!

[Gemmine]

Yikes! LOL well congratulations to the phantom BFP person then! I'll update your chart, chicajones.

justKate: I added your chart! I'm in Google Chrome now, the trouble was Internet Explorer.

LadyScientist: What is your PhD in?

[justKate]

Originally Posted by chicajones 

WHOOPS! I totally pasted the wrong chart link in my post! I definitely did not get a BFP (or even ovulate for that matter)! Sorry about that--here's MY chart link:

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/32b88b

Oh, chicajones, I'm sorry for causing a stir.  I saw green on your chart and wanted to congratulate you!   Don't hold it against me...
 

[LadyScientist]

Hi Gemmine, my PhD is in Cellular and Molecular Physiology and my focus was Reproductive Endocrinology. Are you in the biomedical field?

[Attached2Elijah]

Hey girls... checking in again on all of you. I was hoping to see a lot more BFPs but hopefully they are right around the corner! :) I'm chillin' out at 3-5dpo (depending on FF's mood) .... nothing interesting but hoping there will be next week! ;) Haven't really been doing much in the way of weight loss this week... (btw -- it was cutting calories and exercising for those that asked) but I have been bad this week. Oops!

I think I may have found a way to post by using firefox. I liked it on my laptop but just never downloaded it for my netbook .... so maybe it will out better for me now. :)

I

[Gemmine]

LadyScientist: No, but that area has always fascinated me. I would love to go back to school for it but I think it would be too much time/money at this point.

Attached2Elijah: Hey there! I'm 5DPO so it looks like we're cycle buddies again :-)

[justKate]

Lady Scientist, do you work for NIH? 

I grew up in So. MD and went to Univ. of MD in college park for undergrad. 

[LadyScientist]

Gemmine: Cool, Endocrinology is certainly a fascinating field. You can always keep up to date with the current research even if you don't pursue a degree

justKate: I'll PM you in a second. That's awesome that you're a former Marylander! I have been living in MD for 5 years now and really like it.

[Stevi]

Some of my favorite relatives live in MD, I used to visit there as a kid.

ChicaJones...   Darn!

[MommyMatsumoto]

Well ladies, I'm off to paradise tomorrow to hopefully have a (reproductive) and relaxing vacation!  I hope I come back to lots of BFPs!!  Aloha!

[chicajones]

Stevie, Gemmine, JustKate, (et all) no worries! Thanks for beings so excited for me, LOL. :) It's funny, I had that chart open in another window when I was posting because I was encouraged that another FF user had conceived after such a long cycle--guess I just left it on my clipboard when I copy/pasted and didn't notice. Who knows though, maybe it's a sign! Course, I'll be happy enough just for AF to show.

I ordered Vitex today--I forget who posted the Amazon link, but DANG, what a good price! I've seen it in health stores for something around $20 or so--$4.84 is a MUCH better deal.

LadyScientist, now you know we're all going to be asking you questions. :) I actually had to see an Endocrinologist two years ago because I had high prolactin levels at my annual. They did an MRI, the whole nine yards, because they thought I might have a hyperprolactinoma. They didn't find anything, and my second blood test showed normal prolactin levels and blamed the hormonal birth control I was on. However, they did say that if I had difficulty conceiving I might want to go in again. It's not yet been a year of being off BC though, so I'm not sure if it's worth going in yet (because I think it's just my body getting used to not having the hormones). I wish I could just go get a prolactin level blood test without having to go through the whole mess of seeing a specialist. 

Ok, off to meet with my midwife friend--she needs some marketing consulting and I'm hoping to do some bartering with her (well, bartering for the future...hopefully I will need her services at some point!).

[Gemmine]

MommyMatsumoto: Aloha! I hope you have a safe and magical vacation!

chicajones: I hope the Vitex works out for you. I read good things about and if the price is right that's icing!

[tantylynn]

MommyM Aloha! Have a great time in Hawaii (looks like a ukulele to me haha)

Stevi Thanks! I read into Vitex, it just seemed a little more dramatic than Maca (people getting their cycles messed up, etc). My cycles do vary...I've been keeping track of them since May 2009 when we started TTC. My shortest was 26 and my longest was 69, average is 39 but usually anywhere between 30-45 days. Do you think that's considered irregular enough? I did have another issue with trying Vitex, but that leads me to my next question...

LadyScientist Thank you so much for the information! That's so nice of you to just jump in and lend your expertise like that. Like someone else said, I think you may have inadvertently opened yourself up to a lot of questions haha, hope you don't mind. The reason I decided I would rather try Maca than Vitex was because, exactly like you said I have a higher than normal LH to FSH ratio, greater than 2:1...closer to 3:1 actually. Most of the information I've read says that Vitex works by increasing LH and suppressing FSH. So if elevated LH is already an issue for me, than it doesn't seem that Vitex would be a good choice. Anyone agree/disagree?

I can't wait to get into the specialist to find out more. My appt is set for the 17th of May. We still haven't worked out whether my cycles are ovulatory or not. I'm repeating the hormone blood work around the time my dr thinks I should be ovulating, on April 15th. I'm also temping and checking CM. Is it worth buying some OPKs at this stage to figure out if I'm ovulating? If so, anyone know where to get them cheap? Australia is usually crazy expensive for most things, so I checked the prices of OPKs just for reference. Cheapest I found was 7 OP tests and one PT for $20.

Sorry for all the questions! Even though we've been TTC for a while, actually talking about it and seeking help is a whole new world to me!

[CDsMom1031]

Just popping in to say have fun, MommyMatsumoto!!! Swim in the ocean for me!!!

I just told Facebook, ladies. It's legit now. I didn't want to tell Facebook this early. I hope I didn't jinx it. kdjasldkjfal.