Royal Jelly Smoothie!

So, Friday I skipped my Royal Jelly dose, partly because I was in a hurry, and because I'm having an issue with the taste. I finally tried it in a smoothie, and yum! I have one of those "mini-blenders" that I can put just enough for one. So I throw in a few of may favorite fruits, a few cubes of ice, a spoon of peanut butter and almond milk. Yum! Of course, if you're smart and have frozen fruit, you can skip the ice! I think I'll love taking my RJ this way!

Otherwise, I've been having a huge rise in hormonal symptoms during my period. Breast tenderness, cramping, bloating, fatigue, etc....but as soon as my period stopped, I started feeling so much better! Perhaps this is just my body regulating on the Bee Fertile supplements and RJ, but I hope it stays stable. I've been riding the TTC rollercoaster so long, and I'd just like it to have a few less rises and dips.

Right now, CD5/6, period is gone and gearing up to ovulate. Will also use my CBEFM and maybe give the Sperm Meets Egg plan another shot!


Disclaimer: These supplements were provided to me at no cost, but all opinions are my own. Believe me, I will give you the good, bad, and in-between with an unvarnished eye.

Current cycle status and vitamin regimen

So, since I am not charting, OPKing, or doing really anything to track my cycle most of this is a guesstimate. I would say the only thing I am really doing is marking when my period arrives on my phone's calendar and when it is projected. Since I tend toward 30 day cycles, I am estimating to get my period this cycle on 11/25/11--Thanksgiving, AGAIN. I only hope that it is much less painful than last Thanksgivings. Still, I am about 4 days away from my expected period--still no spotting, but I could still get it as close as 2 days before.

I really am trying not to obsess about my cycles, but when my BBs hurt so much, and I know that I've ovulated....I can't help but wait and wonder. I only keep track of when to expect my period so I can know if it is late. I try not to obsess about whether or not I am...I tend to despair that I will never get pregnant naturally.  I did have some spotting about a week ago for 2-3 days..not much...could have been O-spotting. Time will tell. 

I'm also out of supplements. I need to get my Royal Jelly, B-Complex and Folic Acid replaced. I've been out for awhile. Other than that I'm going back on my Melaleuca Vitality 4 vitamins since when I added that to my regimen last time I had such a long luteal phase. So I really believe in those. 

Hopefully I'll be able to get some soon. 

My Review of The Keeper/Moon Cup

So, you might have read a post of mine a few weeks ago about buying a Menstrual Cup to replace my pads. I chose the Moon Cup--which is the silicone version of The Keeper (made of natural gum rubber or latex). I'm not necessarily allergic to latex, but I liked the idea of a clear one and just in case I was and since the prices were the same, I thought, why not? Here is a picture of the Moon Cup  and the Keeper

Riding the Big Red Wave today...

So, Saturday the spotting turned into full flow. I'm so tired of maxi pads, etc. Plus they are bad for the environment. I had previously looked into cloth pads, but the idea of washing them so often wasn't appealing.

I checked out a thread on TMP that gave a lot of good examples to durable alternatives to disposable pads/tampons. After looking at all the options, I decided to order The Keeper (I actually ordered the Moon Cup made of medical grade silicone). This is a menstrual cup made of either natural gum rubber (latex)--The Keeper or medical grade silicone--The Moon Cup.

The way this works is that the cup is inserted in the vagina to catch the menstrual flow. I'm excited for it to come in for the next cycle.

However, I do have a cardiac MRI on Feb 3. My doctor is going to analyze it to see if there is any real difference and decide what to do. If there is a decrease in function as one of the ECHO's showed, he will call me in for an appt. Otherwise I'll see him in September!

I'm really hoping that I'll be able to actively TTC this cycle! I'm even going to break out my monitor to see if I can start tracking my cycle again. I wasn't before because the test sticks are so expensive, but it is quite accurate.
 
That's the plan for now. Fingers crossed I'll be given the go ahead to TTC!

Temp drop!

So, this morning I woke at 5:30AM. I think I needed to pee. I was SURE AF had come in the night. I go to pee and my pantiliner is spotless. So I decide to do one more HPT. I thought I saw a shadow of a line, but I think I was just willing it there.

Took my temp at the reg time at 6:45AM and whaddya know, massive temp drop!! Wooohoooo!!! So, I imagine AF should land sometime today or tomorrow. Normally on an ovulatory cycle I wouldn't really want to get AF, but my doc recommended at least one cycle after the m/c to kind of clean the system out so to speak.

So, hopefully today will be CD1, just b/c I love when the CD match the calendar as it is Sept 1st! I do think this AF will be particularly mean and witchy. May be a lot of cramping. I've already had a lot already. So, I guess we'll see.

The Silver Lining

So....my fertility signs have been super confusing. After my positive OPK, I have had a continually high cervix and sore nips. CM stayed kind of wet but mostly creamy/sticky.  And my temps have not been cooperating at all.

Today looks like it might be the nail in the coffin....Spotting. When I checked my cervix I had brownish and very red spotting. Also a HUGE temp drop. If I DID O when my OPK said I did, I would only be 6DPO. In desperation I can hope that this is implantation. But my heart tells me this is it...AF is sending her calling card and I will start another cycle.

The silver lining to this is now I get to start using the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor! It's odd that I was kind of hoping not to be pregnant so I could use a device that will help me get pregnant. But the little bit of hope in me is going to wait for Full Red Flow before I start cycle CD1 on either fertility Friend OR the CBEFM.