TTC Prep Post #1
Have I posted yet about my babymaking preparation master plan? I don't think I have, so for those who care, here are the goals for the summer:
Theoretically, if I can chart the positive OPK tests, followed by the temperature spike, I should be able to (maybe) pinpoint the timing of ovulation a little better, and if I'm lucky maybe I'll get to see a regular pattern that will help me predict the timing more accurately.
And what is the point of that, you ask? Why the heck are you starting all of this an entire YEAR before you even plan to make any actual insemination attempt? Well gather 'round, children, for Meg's crash course on Where Babies Come From....
In order to get pregnant, there have to be sperm waiting in the fallopian tubes at the moment of ovulation (when the egg is first released from the ovaries.) Pinpointing said ovulation moment is tricky, since there's about a 24 - 48 hour window from the moment a hormone surge is detected. For couples who can simply have sex whenever they want, it's not such a big deal -- fresh sperm can live up to 5 days, so there's a darned good chance that if they just make a point of having sex a couple times after that hormone surge is detected, there's going to be some sperm in there at ovulation time. (And even so -- statistics show that pregnancy occurs usually only about 20% of the time, or approximately once out of every five times that an egg is released and the swimmers are where they're supposed to be.)
But for those of us who will be using frozen swimmers from a bank, the timing has to be much more precise. Those little frozen guys, once thawed, usually only live about 12 hours. That means that unless you can predict more precisely when ovulation will occur, you could easily miss it. To be thorough it would be a good idea to do an insemination at 12, 24, 36 AND 48 hours after you first get a positive OPK result; but keep in mind that a single vial of frozen sperm costs around $300 - 400. O.o AND, even if you did have the money to buy four vials at a time, and even if there ARE happy living swimmers in the right place at the right time, your chances are still 20% (or 1 in 5) that fertilization will be successful. Theoretically, then, assuming that it takes 5 tries and that you use 4 vials each time, you're talking about spending something like $8000.00!!! *falls over* And that's if the statistics even hold true for you.
So, most folks seem to use two vials, and a few use three, at either 12 & 24 hours past, or at 12, 24, and 36. I believe most doctors will do an in-office insemination at 36 hours past, and they only use one vial... but of course by the time you finish paying the doctor bills it's likely going to cost more than if you'd used four vials on your own. Shasta and I really want to try at home first, before bringing a doctor's clinic into it. And of course, we'd like to get the most for our money by ensuring that our timing is right on every single attempt...
THEREFORE -- I want to gather a full year's worth of charts before we make our first real attempt at insemination in order to be as certain as possible that we're not just tossing our money away. AND, I want to make sure that my body is in as fertile a state as possible, to see if maybe we can't boost those 20% odds.
With all that being said...
Today is CD10 (cycle day 10, for those who don't stalk babymaking message boards) for me, which means it's the first day that I switch to my Ovulatory Phase yoga routine, and begin using OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) tests. I woke up this morning, took my temperature & memorized it to chart later, then went to the bathroom and used my very first OPK.
These little (expensive) digital tests are ridiculously CUTE -- especially for something you have to pee on. O.o The test stick itself has a pretty little pink cap, and little pink arrows on the stick and the digital holder to show you how to properly assemble them together. The holder is gracefully contoured with a pretty curved pink "eject" button. And, when the test result is positive, you get a happy digital smiley face on the display. After using the test you put the little pink cap back on and wipe the holder clean while you wait for results. So, as I was brushing my teeth and watching the display for the result, I was a little in awe of how incongruously cute the whole test assembly is. :P
Of course, I didn't get a smiley face just yet. And I'm sure by the time I've done this for 12 months this will not seem nearly as fun as it does right now, hehe... But they really went out of their way to make these tests as cute and fun as possible -- the only thing missing is a Hello Kitty theme! :P
Anyway, when you eject the test you can see the blue lines that indicate (much less definitively) the results. My second line was visible but very faint. Noting this for comparison to tomorrow's test...
I would also like to note that I am "feeling" my ovaries more in the last couple days than I ever have been aware of them before, and I think much of that has to do with the yoga routines I've been doing. Now some of it may also be because the Follicular Phase routine involves a lot of stretching of the hip flexors, but it's amazing how just 30 minutes or so a day, every day, has resulted in this keen awareness of sensations I've never felt before. Yoga really puts you in touch with your body in general, but I'm astonished at the level of focus that it's capable of! Super cool.
I promise not to completely overwhelm our LJ with babymaking posts, but it's been on my mind a lot lately so I had to put some of this out there. *grins*
- Take daily prenatal vitamins. I'm dreadful at remembering to take vitamins daily, but I've set an alarm on my phone and thus far this cycle I haven't missed a day... so far so good!
- Do daily fertility yoga. The routines are just 30 - 40 minutes long, and I'm finding it's easiest to squeeze them in before I go to bed. Again, thus far I haven't missed a day - I've completed the menstrual and follicular phases thus far this cycle.
- Go to the dentist. From what I've read, good dental health is a key component of healthy fertility (and pregnancy.) I haven't been to the dentist in over a year. *hangs head* There's no excuse, either, since I have free bi-annual cleanings through my dental insurance. So I made an appointment for next week & will go again in January.
- Diet. I'm hoping to lose about 10 lbs or so in the next 6 months, because I want to look cute in my bikini when we go to Hawaii next May! But, I plan to start a more fertility-focused diet in January, so if I want to do a weight-loss diet it needs to happen before then. Cutting fast food will be the hardest part, because oh how I love french fries... :(
- Take my temperature every morning and chart it. Your temperature spikes AFTER you've ovulated, so by charting it you can get an idea of when ovulation has taken place.
- Take Ovulation Predictor tests and chart the results. These little suckers are expensive, but they detect a hormone surge that occurs about 24-48 hours BEFORE ovulation.
Theoretically, if I can chart the positive OPK tests, followed by the temperature spike, I should be able to (maybe) pinpoint the timing of ovulation a little better, and if I'm lucky maybe I'll get to see a regular pattern that will help me predict the timing more accurately.
And what is the point of that, you ask? Why the heck are you starting all of this an entire YEAR before you even plan to make any actual insemination attempt? Well gather 'round, children, for Meg's crash course on Where Babies Come From....
In order to get pregnant, there have to be sperm waiting in the fallopian tubes at the moment of ovulation (when the egg is first released from the ovaries.) Pinpointing said ovulation moment is tricky, since there's about a 24 - 48 hour window from the moment a hormone surge is detected. For couples who can simply have sex whenever they want, it's not such a big deal -- fresh sperm can live up to 5 days, so there's a darned good chance that if they just make a point of having sex a couple times after that hormone surge is detected, there's going to be some sperm in there at ovulation time. (And even so -- statistics show that pregnancy occurs usually only about 20% of the time, or approximately once out of every five times that an egg is released and the swimmers are where they're supposed to be.)
But for those of us who will be using frozen swimmers from a bank, the timing has to be much more precise. Those little frozen guys, once thawed, usually only live about 12 hours. That means that unless you can predict more precisely when ovulation will occur, you could easily miss it. To be thorough it would be a good idea to do an insemination at 12, 24, 36 AND 48 hours after you first get a positive OPK result; but keep in mind that a single vial of frozen sperm costs around $300 - 400. O.o AND, even if you did have the money to buy four vials at a time, and even if there ARE happy living swimmers in the right place at the right time, your chances are still 20% (or 1 in 5) that fertilization will be successful. Theoretically, then, assuming that it takes 5 tries and that you use 4 vials each time, you're talking about spending something like $8000.00!!! *falls over* And that's if the statistics even hold true for you.
So, most folks seem to use two vials, and a few use three, at either 12 & 24 hours past, or at 12, 24, and 36. I believe most doctors will do an in-office insemination at 36 hours past, and they only use one vial... but of course by the time you finish paying the doctor bills it's likely going to cost more than if you'd used four vials on your own. Shasta and I really want to try at home first, before bringing a doctor's clinic into it. And of course, we'd like to get the most for our money by ensuring that our timing is right on every single attempt...
THEREFORE -- I want to gather a full year's worth of charts before we make our first real attempt at insemination in order to be as certain as possible that we're not just tossing our money away. AND, I want to make sure that my body is in as fertile a state as possible, to see if maybe we can't boost those 20% odds.
With all that being said...
Today is CD10 (cycle day 10, for those who don't stalk babymaking message boards) for me, which means it's the first day that I switch to my Ovulatory Phase yoga routine, and begin using OPK (Ovulation Predictor Kit) tests. I woke up this morning, took my temperature & memorized it to chart later, then went to the bathroom and used my very first OPK.
These little (expensive) digital tests are ridiculously CUTE -- especially for something you have to pee on. O.o The test stick itself has a pretty little pink cap, and little pink arrows on the stick and the digital holder to show you how to properly assemble them together. The holder is gracefully contoured with a pretty curved pink "eject" button. And, when the test result is positive, you get a happy digital smiley face on the display. After using the test you put the little pink cap back on and wipe the holder clean while you wait for results. So, as I was brushing my teeth and watching the display for the result, I was a little in awe of how incongruously cute the whole test assembly is. :P
Of course, I didn't get a smiley face just yet. And I'm sure by the time I've done this for 12 months this will not seem nearly as fun as it does right now, hehe... But they really went out of their way to make these tests as cute and fun as possible -- the only thing missing is a Hello Kitty theme! :P
Anyway, when you eject the test you can see the blue lines that indicate (much less definitively) the results. My second line was visible but very faint. Noting this for comparison to tomorrow's test...
I would also like to note that I am "feeling" my ovaries more in the last couple days than I ever have been aware of them before, and I think much of that has to do with the yoga routines I've been doing. Now some of it may also be because the Follicular Phase routine involves a lot of stretching of the hip flexors, but it's amazing how just 30 minutes or so a day, every day, has resulted in this keen awareness of sensations I've never felt before. Yoga really puts you in touch with your body in general, but I'm astonished at the level of focus that it's capable of! Super cool.
I promise not to completely overwhelm our LJ with babymaking posts, but it's been on my mind a lot lately so I had to put some of this out there. *grins*