Oops! Some things I missed.

So, I was looking at the spoon provided by Bee Fertile again, and I realized that the small line around the bowl of the spoon, about a 1/4 in from the top was to mark the 1/2 tsp mark, and the full spoon marked the full 1 tsp or 5 ml. I think I mistook 5 ml as equal to 1/2 tsp. So it is an excellent tool if you want to measure 1/2 tsp OR a full tsp. I'll post a similar correction in my Began Bee Fertile post later, but my computer is being borrowed and Blogger doesn't seem to work well on iPhone for editing.

 In other related news, I've noticed some changes to this part of the cycle. I had forgotten that for me, taking Royal jelly can really stabilize my mood, at least in the 1 week between AF ending and the beginning of my LP. Having a mood disorder, I'm so used to having my moods fluctuate greatly, and often with no rhyme or reason. With the Royal Jelly, I find that my mood changes are slower to change and less extreme. Although I have noticed an overpowering sense of nostalgia; any show I watch or song I hear makes me wistful and remember with great strength of emotion and a time when I felt like that in the past. Today it has progressed to a sort of weepiness, although when I am not overcome this way I feel at peace. I don't know if it is all the Royal Jelly contributing; I know Vitex has affected my moods in the past and there are other herbs in the Bee Fertile I haven't tried before.

 Also, very strange and vivid dream last night. I had bought a strange, but bulky, electronic HPT with a screen that showed the result in a pink plus sign. I decided to try it out, and I walked away before it was finished, convinced it would be negative. When I got back, ai found a pretty pink plus sign between 2 bars like this: |+| Then of course I had to verify the BFP since it was outside of the time limit, and I got a positive on the cheapie and a FRER. I knew it was a dream when I saw the dye strobing up the HPT in waves. There was more, but not relevant to most of the dream. Today I am very tired. Also, I have had heartburn since the beginning of this AF. I thought it was a period symptom, but as it is continuing each night, I wonder if it is the Cayenne or another ingredient in Bee Fertile. Time will tell.

 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.

Detect5 Progressive Pregnancy Test by early-pregnancy-tests.com

Sooo, I was looking through my inbox and got the monthly Early Pregnancy Tests.com newsletter featuring their August sales. (Seems a little late for sales at the END of the month). Anyway, a new test caught my eye. The Detect5 Progressive Pregnancy Test. Sounds intriguing, right?  Apparently, this test is like FIVE pregnancy tests in one. The design is to give you a better indication of where you may be in your pregnancy (or at least what levels of hCG can be detected in your urine at the time). Here is a picture to tease you with...

Detect5 Progressive Pregnancy Test

So, I haven't purchased this yet, as it is $25.00 regular (on sale for 19.95). Meaning to me that this is not a test I buy to SEE if I'm pregnant, but after a BFP is confirmed by cheaper means, this test would give me the luxury of determining AT home, what range my hCG could be detected in my urine.

For an infertile woman, this is priceless. How many of us anxiously await the phone call from our doctors with our beta hCG levels? Wondering how high they are?

Now granted, this would not replace the exact definitions of a blood beta hCG serum, but for most of us girls, the comfort of being able to tell if our levels were falling BEFORE the lab processes the results, sends them to the doctor's office, nurse receives and manages to call us with them.....well, might be priceless comfort for a girl in her 1st trimester.

So, one day, maybe, if I do get a BFP on more traditional HPT, I might buy one of these suckers. But at $19.95 a pop, I'd really want to need to use it...I mean if my Doctor is going to do a beta, I would most likely only use this after the 1st one or if I feared m/c....to see if the levels were dropping*.

*note--this test and the beta may not make a good comparison as the urine does not transmit as much of the hCG as the blood. So, it would only be an "estimate" of the change---even if lower it could mean no appreciative drop since the two means of testing are so different.*

Anyway, it's a cool idea, and I can see why one would be so expensive...essentially it's 5 tests, of varying hCG levels, plus the packaging. But....it's a lot. Not to say I haven't at LEAST thrown that much towards 50+ pregnancy tests that have all been negative in the last few weeks, but, still...when it's all at once on ONE test....don't know.

The way it works is you dip the test in urine...each of the 5 tests should get a purple control line. Then, if you have at least the amount of hCG in your urine, a line would appear on each test that has this much urine or less. The 5 levels are from least to greatest mIU levels: 25, 100, 500, 2000, 10000.

So, if you had more than 100 mIU hcg detectable in your urine, but less than 500, you would only see test lines on the 25 and 100 tests. Unfortunately, this means the higher you go that your level can be in a range that increases from 75, to 400, to 1500, to 8000.

Still, it's a step closer for women fearing miscarriage to see if their hCG levels are rising or falling. Or at least to give the1st trimester mamas some peace of mind.