[FyreMommy2B]

Well here goes! Hello everyone.. My name is April (35) and DH is Jake (27) - we've been married about 2.5 years and we've decided to TTC Baby #1 (this will be the first for both of us). Oh...and I'm an Air Force Wife, DH has been in for almost 9yrs & he's career Air Force (*thank goodness he will retire at 20yrs when he is 38). We're both originally from Texas but Washington state is our home for now.

My story goes as follows and I'll try to give the Cliffs Notes version of things:

- Stopped my Birth Control in February 2007
- Jake (DH) deployed March - June 2007
- I got my cycle (AF) April 24th - May 1
- Jake returned from his 2 month deployment and we decided to have a Baby
- I had my annual exam (PAP) on July 23rd
- I didn’t have a cycle for May, June, July or August
- They had me make an appointment with the base Fertility Specialist on Aug 27th
- Had bloodwork done (a FASTING bloodwork no less…bleh! and they took 6 vials.. sheesh!)
- Fertility Specialist put me on Provera to induce my Cycle (AF) - started 8/29 - 9/5 (10 days)
- Finally got a cycle on 9/10 for 8 days. Yay! but it was hellacious & painful!
- We BD (BabyDanced …aka tried to make a baby) on 9/18.
- I have an upcoming appointment with the Fertility Doctor on 9/24.
- On Thursday, 9/20 (CD11) - picked up Ovulation Predictor Kit, Basal Thermometer (for Charting) & cute little Pink Alarm Clock to keep on my nightstand.
- I set up my account at Fertilityfriend.com for charting purposes (it’s a really great site!)
- Expect to ovulate around Wednesday 9/26 - Friday 9/28 (Jake gets home from a trip on Wed (CD17) so I hope we don’t miss the window this month)



I'm still not really sure when I will O because I don't exactly know what my cycle length is, so I'm using OPK and paying attention to my CM to hopefully predict when it happens. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law had a seizure earlier this week so DH flew home for the family emergency and I don't think he will get back in time before I O. We will just have to wait and see if he makes it back in time to catch the egg. Obviously I didn't have AF come for 4mo so something is up but it's still too early to tell.

Also, DH may be re-training so he may be gone off and on alot in the coming months (one portion of the training will have him gone for 7.5 weeks) so I will have to hope to catch him Home when I'm about to O.

So when I met with the Fertility Specialist on base (I am not sure if she is an actual ER, I will be referred to one downtown if necessary) - she mentioned Metformin? and Clomid and possibly having an HCg & u/s done but I don't think we are to that point yet. I had been on BC since I was 18 (except when I wasn't in relationships for a few years here and there) so it could just be my body getting back to normal. 2 of my very best friends have PCOS and they describe to me their monthly cycles or lack thereof in detail which always sound so painful. Mine have never been bad to that degree and the BC kept me fairly regular. With me being 35, I'm just now finding out what my true cycle patterns are or if there are any problems.

My only other main concern, and I'd love to hear from any ladies who have dealth with this issue... is my Back. I have a pretty badly herniated disc which causes me ALOT of pain and discomfort as well as those days where standning up is just downright painful. Here is the picture from my latest MRI which shows the (1) herniated disc. All the others are normal and my Neurologist said it's pretty much gonna be a crap shoot. I might be fine and I might be miserable once I get pregnant. I was always fairly slim before I hurt my back and now it's a fight to keep my weight down because exercise (even walking) can cause a fairly bad flare up. But that's a whole other story.

I might start tracking my weight on Fertilityfriend.com so we'll see. Thank you all for any input & I truly look forward to getting to know you all and I wish you all the very best. Sprinkles of BabyDust galore for you all!!

So current status of things:

Today is CD12, CM has increased GREATLY .. it's very Watery, slightly creamy.

I have my little pink alarm on my nightstand so that I can take my temp at the same time each morning. Mind you! I might just take note of the number then roll over and go back to sleep and update it later online.

I wonder how long from when you start to feel pretty watery until it get's sticky like EWCM. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

[FyreMommy2B]

I forgot to include the shot of my Herniated disc which greatly concerns me when it comes to getting Pregnant. It's the L4 / L5 (in between that area)



I'm sure I'll think of other things I forgot to include! Also, had a slight bit of O pain (I think - I've had it before so I know what it feels like) which was barely noticeable tonight.

Other things to note:

- Base Fertility Specialist put in for DH to have an SA just to make sure rather than waste time to find out at some later point if there could be any issues. At my age I don't have alot of time to waste but I'm glad we waited until we were ready. He is completely supportive and willing to do anything he can to help make a baby.

DH laughs when I told him some of the Fertility slang / abbreviations. I told him I had to Google the terms to get familiar with them. The following was a comment from him on IM....

9/21/2007 10:28:27 PM Jake ewcm? extreme white chicken mating?
9/21/2007 10:28:38 PM April's Laptop hehe...don't make me laugh

Men! gotta love'em!!

[FyreMommy2B]

CD 30 - 10/9/07

Well, I'm at CD 30 & I'm expecting the arrival of AF any day now. I felt a bit crampy and achy tonight but I'm not sure if it was from working late to get an order out tomorrow. Since September was Cycle #1 for TTC, I feel like I have a better idea of how & when to do my OPK's. Plus I also have more data from temping & charting so I can see what a 'true' cycle is for me when not on BCP.

I have an order of IC OPK's and external preseed (to go with the internal preseed we bought) for this next month of trying. I got good news that DH is going to be working with a different squadron so he won't be going TDY or deploying which will make for better BD'ing chances. Oh I hope we can be PG by Christmas! That would be the best present EVER!!

So, I feel pretty prepared for October's attempt for a and I hope it works. I just wish would get here so we could get this show on the road.

I'm feeling fairly optimistic due to all the wonderful advice and information I've learned from my fellow members here on JM. What a blessing!!

I will update more later. Ciao!