Cycle 2, Day 9/Full Ferning

This morning when I woke up, my basal temp was 97.05, which was the same yesterday. I am confused about my chart right now because I had a full Ferning on the scope this morning, yet my CM was not that great. I was thinking when I got a full Ferning, that my CM would be more fertile. I am thinking, and hoping that tomorrow I will still see Ferning, and my CM will be better than today. Anyway, here is what the Ferning pattern looked like this morning:

Cycle 2, Day 6

Last month I felt like I ovulated really close to the time my period ended. Today is the first day I have no spotting, and I saw a lot of Ferning on the scope this morning. From what I have researched, it seems like there are women who do ovulate earlier in their cycle than the typical day 14. I am just going to keep a close eye on how I am feeling, and watch for Ferning the next two days. 

Here is what my microscope looked like this morning:

Cycle 2

I started my period today, but I can tell the FertileAid is regulating my cycle. Normally my cycle would be 6 to 7 weeks before I would start my period, but this past cycle was only 35 days!!!! Plus I also noticed that I wasn't so hormonal before my period.

You have to remember to give the supplements 3 months to heal everything. I believe our attitudes and minds are very powerful, so if you get to a place in your mind that you WILL get pregnant, then you will!!

Fertile-Focus Ovulation Microscope

Today I wanted to discuss a Fairhaven Health product called Fertile Focus. What Fertile Focus is, is a small microscope that looks like a tube of lipstick. How it works is, you take your saliva first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth or drinking any water, and place it on the lense of the microscope. You then allow it to dry on the lense, giving it at least 5 minutes or so before placing the cap back on the tube.

There is a push button on the bottom of the tube that lights up the lense so that you can see what your saliva looks like. What you are looking for is a pattern called "ferning", which occurs up to 72 hours in advance of ovulation. The ferning represents an estrogen surge, and shows hormonal changes. I have been watching for ferning using the Fertile-Focus microscope for the past four days, and I finally saw a partial ferning pattern this morning!!!

Here are the photos I have taken of the microscope since I started:

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Monday, October 28, 2013

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Finally A Big Change This Morning!!

I woke up this morning around 6:30am, and took my basal temp. It had a tremendous drop! It went from 97.20 c yesterday morning, to 96.63 c today. My CM was super stretchy too!! For the first time ever! I believe it is from taking the Fertile CM. I took a pic of my chart so you can see exactly how much of a change occurred.

If you look at the blue line on the graph, you can see how much my basal temp went down. The blue bar's height determines how fertile or stretchy your CM is.

Cycle Day 15- An update

I know I have been slacking the past few days, I have just not really had anything happening that I have felt is worth blogging. My basal temperature has been really strange, I am not sure if it is because of the PCOS or what, my CM the same way. On days 11 and 12 my CM was very fertile, like an egg white, and was stretchy. Then on day 13 it went back to being of a creamy substance and my basal temp shot up to 97.33. On day 14, my CM was sticky, and my basal temp went back down to 97.18. This morning my basal temp read at 97.20 and my CM is going back up to creamy. 

I am just really confused right now, since this is my first month tracking. I guess it is going to take a month to figure out the pattern of my cycle. I am really hoping that my next cycle will be more regulated and I can figure out around the time I am supposed to ovulate.

We have added another supplement into the mix from Fairhaven Health. My DH is now taking the Countboost along with the FertileAid for Men. So as of now we have:

• FertileAid for Men
• FertileAid for Women
• Countboost
• OvaBoost
• FertileCM
• and the Fertili Tea

 I have not been drinking the tea every day, but at least every other day. I did make an appointment to see my gyno. I will be seeing her in less than two weeks. I will report back what she says about the Fairhaven Health products. 

Not much else to report for now.

Cycle Day 8 (PCOS & LH)

I have felt a little better today, as far as having energy. I went to the gym for the first time in almost 2 weeks, and attempted to get on the bike. I was on the bike for about 8 minutes and started to have severe pain shooting up my legs from the tendonitis. I had to stop, which is something I never do. I ended up doing a couple of the weight machines, then got back on one of the newer bikes, which tends to put less stress on your legs. Anyway. I am now laying on ice, icing both of my ankles and calves.

This morning when taking my basal temp, it registered at 96.8, which seems to be right on target. I really think I had a false reading on Tuesday, from not getting any good amount of sleep the night before. I really don't think I am supposed to technically ovulate until next Tuesday, which would be Day 22 of my cycle. 

It's nice seeing a gradual change in my CM, which is a good sign that everything is going the way it is supposed to be. I keep reading on some of the message board sites that I have been on lately that a lot of women with PCOS show high levels of Luteinizing Hormone (LH). This is the hormone that shows up in urine when ovulating. I find this interesting that many women with PCOS claim that they cannot trust the ovulation tests because of this, since every OPK test I have ever taken has come up negative. This could be good or bad I guess. Good that I am not getting false readings, but bad that maybe I never ovulate. 

I am keeping the faith though that after being on the supplements for a while, everything will straighten out, and read accurately.

Could I be ovulating??

Today has been one of those days where I just wanted to stay in bed all day. I seriously did not fall asleep until 4:30 am..so crazy! I don't know if I am feeling bad because of my body adjusting to the FertileAid products or what, but I just feel so tired and not at all like my normal self. 

All day today, I have felt a cramping, twinge pain on my right side near my hip. Could I actually be ovulating??? I have no clue! I took two of the OPKs today, and both came up negative. Maybe I am getting ready to ovulate...I really don't know. This is all new to me since with having PCOS, I don't think I have seriously ever ovulated. 

I seriously have spent a lot of time today researching signs and symptoms of ovulation, PCOS, etc. on message boards and on medical websites. I drank some of the fertili Tea before going to bed tonight, and I even took some pain medication, and I still feel that cramping. I probably should make an appointment to see my gyno.. anyway, I am going to try to get some rest.

Good night for now.

This is CRAZY! -Cycle Day 7

I woke up this morning and took my basal temp, and it spiked up to 97.33, and yesterday morning it was 96.80. So when I charted it, the drop in temp yesterday, then the spike today made my fertility calendar say that I actually ovulated yesterday!! I really don't think I have ever, ever ovulated in my life! I had to actually do some online research to find out what to look for when ovulating, and I found out you get cramping on one side, and right now I do feel cramping on my right side. This is super crazy! 

I did not sleep well at all last night, which I know can throw your temps off, but I am just going to trust that since I do feel some cramping on my right side, that I am in fact ovulating!! Yay!!

11:00am Tuesday:

I really still don't trust my cycles just yet, and I am really not believing that I am ovulating, so I ended up going to a nearby dollar store and grabbed several ovulation tests. I am going to try one out here shortly, and will be back with the results. 

As you can see below, I was right. The LH surge shows that I am not ovulating, which proves especially when it comes to PCOS, not to always trust charting basal temps alone.

My Rant About Fertility Doctors

I felt compelled to write this post because I know if you are in the same boat that me and my husband are in, you have been trying to start a family for so long, and will do almost anything to make it happen.

When I saw my gyno, he referred me to a fertility specialist here in Tampa, who was with a reproductive medicine group. The doctor had an arrogance about him, although he was trying to start us off with the most affordable options since our insurance, and most insurances these days do not cover any sort of infertility treatments such as IVF. 

Our insurance at the time we were being seen by him, had a large copay you had to pay upfront, I think ours was around $500, then what that covered was the test he ran to clear out my fallopian tubes, along with appointments to see the doctor, and any blood work. So basically it would cover anything related to the diagnosis of what the fertility issue was, but not any infertility treatments. 

As I stated earlier in my blog, my husband had a semen analysis done several times, and his count and morphology kept coming back lower every time. He did have to have his appendix removed around that time period, so I am not sure if that played in any part of why it was dropping so dramatically. So anyway, we were told eventually that IVF was our only option, since the doctor was not going to try Clomid on me since my husband's sperm count was too low. 

Now for my rant. 
First off, I HATE drugs! Since I have had to take drugs my entire life for seizures, and have experienced every bad side effect out there humanly possible...Drugs are my enemy! What really BUGS me is, and I know this is what doctors are taught in medical school, but they always want to just cover up any sort of problem or issue going on with some sort of drug! Oh your in pain? Here take a pill! Oh your depressed?? Here take a pill! When in fact, almost everything they want to cover up with a drug could probably be treated or healed more natural or holistically. I know, there are some things where drugs are the only option, but most of the time, there are other alternatives.

So this fertility doctor says to us that our only option to have a baby is through IVF. Okay, so let me just grab my thousands of dollars I have laying around! No big deal right?? He never once mentions to try taking any natural supplements, or doing anything that might actually CURE the problem, he like many doctors out there wants to do what I call "Cover up" the issue with some good ol drugs, instead of actually giving any medical advice such as maybe eating differently, or using a natural supplement in your every day regimen.

The fact is,  the reason many women with PCOS who have IVF done, miscarry because they have issues going on that are not being cured by IVF. All IVF really is doing is it fertilizing the egg for you, but why would you put a healthy fertilized egg, back into an unhealthy environment where it is not going to allow your baby to grow? I would never want to risk that, this is why there are so many failed IVF attempts. 

I was going to a holistic doctor who did acupuncture for infertility. Again, insurance would not cover this because it was not western medicine..which I think is ridiculous! So I was not able to see her except for a few times. But during the time I was seeing her, I was feeling very good, healthy, very little pain. No drugs involved.

Anyway, what I am wanting to get at is, before draining your account, or spending every bit of money you have for artificial fertility treatments, try using natural supplements. A fertility doctor of course is not going to suggest this to you, because he/she wants you to rely on their way of so called treating the problem with drugs. In the long run, it will be better for you and your baby if you can get pregnant with more natural supplements.

Ok I am done now. :)

FertileCM

Today I wanted to talk about the FertileCM from Fairhaven Health because I am already noticing a big change in my cervical mucus. This description is coming directly off the Fairhaven Health website:


"FertileCM for Women is a balanced dietary supplement to promote the healthy production of fertile cervical mucus – the bodily fluid central to fertility and conception. The ingredients in FertileCM have also been shown to support female arousal and sexual sensitivity and strengthen the uterine lining, both of which can increase chances for successful conception.

Fertile cervical mucus during ovulation is central to getting pregnant, helping to nourish and protect sperm and facilitate sperm transport. A woman's cervical mucus changes throughout her cycle (volume and consistency in the first half of the cycle will differ from cervical mucus after ovulation takes place). In order for conception to occur, sperm must swim through the cervix and uterus and ultimately to the fallopian tube where fertilization occurs. The ingredients in FertileCM promote the production of healthy, fertile-quality cervical secretions by hydrating and thinning the cervical mucus and ensuring a proper pH balance for a vaginal environment conducive to conception."

I have been keeping  track of my cervical mucus, and I noticed that it is changing pretty dramatically by the day. The last two days of my period, when I was spotting, my CM was pretty dry. Day 5 of my cycle, my CM was sticky, then the next day (today) it is already watery!

When a woman is most fertile, her cervical mucus will be stretchy, you can take it between two fingers and it will stretch out pretty far. This allows the sperm to survive in the cervix, when traveling towards the egg. According to my fertility calendar, I am supposed to ovulate next week, so I am looking forward to reporting more changes in my CM!

What is Vitex Chasteberry?

I am naturally a researcher, so tonight I decided to look deeper into some of the key ingredients in the FertileAid products. I discovered that the Vitex Chasteberry, which is one of the main ingredients in the FertileAid for Women is considered to be an effective remedy to regulate female hormones.

It works by stimulating and normalizing the pituitary gland, which is responsible for regulating the balance of estrogen and progesterone in the body. Typically, estrogen is higher before ovulation, and progesterone is higher afterwards. What the herb Vitex does, is it balances and supports the endocrine system and balances out what is needing to take place.

The Vitex increases the chances of conception through it's ability to regulate ovulation, and also can help prevent miscarriages if taken within the first trimester of pregnancy. Many women with PCOS have miscarriages. Now it makes sense to me of why this happens. 

The Vitex Chasteberry is sometimes referred to as "the women's herb", because it is sometimes used for menstrual cycle irregularities, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as well as symptoms of menopause. 

I am now understanding why the FertileAid does what it does. It seems to really help women who have PCOS because I know with myself, I have a low level of progesterone, which is making sense to me now after researching more about it, why I have most likely never ovulated. 

I am now more interested in seeing what these supplements do for us. It is just sad how so many people who have to go through so much heartache to have a baby because of the failed trials of IVF, or any of the other infertility treatments. I believe God created natural plants and herbs to cure almost anything. So obviously God created the Chasteberry to help cure infertility. 

Signing off for now.

Cycle Day 5

Today is Sunday, and Sundays are our lazy days around here, especially during football season. It's nice to have that one day a week where you just do nothing. This morning when I took my basal temp, it shot up almost an entire degree from yesterday morning. It read 97.05 degrees. I am thinking it is going to take a month of charting to figure out what my basal temp pattern is like, since everyone is different. 

I have been drinking my Fertility Tea religiously. I heat a bowl of distilled water in the microwave until it is boiling, then put the tea leaves in the infuser and let it set for about 5 minutes. I cannot drink hot tea, so what I have been doing is sticking my cup I use in the freezer and filling the cup with lots of ice. I then add a packet of the Stevia in the Raw sweetener to the drink. The tea is very tasty as I have stated earlier, and it is really supposed to help with regulating your fertile health. I think it would be good to drink around bedtime, because for some reason it tends to make me feel sleepy. 

So I spent a lot time outside on our back patio today. I LOVE this time of year here in Tampa. The weather is so mild, no humidity, and it is just beautiful! We have an awesome view too behind us! Here is a pic I took of behind our apartment, so you can see what I have looked at most of today!

It looks even prettier now, since we have had a lot of rain recently and the water level is higher. Anyway, Nothing else new to report for today. Write more tomorrow.

Cycle day 3

Today I have felt like I have had a little bit more energy, compared to earlier in the week. I woke up around 7:45am, and ate my normal high protein, no carb breakfast. I was actually excited about making my tea too! :) 

So I know this is a little TMI, but I need to record this for myself. Normally my period lasts at least 3 days of a regular flow, and 2 days of spotting for a total of 5 days. This time being on all the fertile supplements, I had the first two days of heavy/regular flow, and today I started spotting already. I am going to trust that I should not have to worry too much about it. 

I went to the mall today, which is something I rarely do unless absolutely necessary, and honestly, is there ever a time that is truly a necessity to go? Anyway, I went to walk around and get out of the house. I am telling you this because normally when I am near the food court at the mall, I am very tempted to eat foods I do not need to be eating. I saw a couple places I almost thought about going to, but I chose to leave before making any bad decisions! That was a big plus for me! I was very proud of myself! I chose to go to a whole foods market and buy something more healthy.

I will write more later..

Cycle Day 2/ Fertili Tea

I am feeling much better today, compared to yesterday! I got up and took my basal temp., and it was a slight bit lower compared to yesterday. I am loving the cooler temps this time of year, so I got out and took a walk this morning to take advantage of enjoying the beautiful weather! I have been trying to do some sort of exercise if not every day, at least every other day. I found out I ended up with tendonitis in my calves and feet, from doing the treadmill and bike. So I have been trying to get my workout done at the pool, to not put so much pressure on my joints. I am noticing a difference, but I am really missing my routine of working out in the gym. 

So I want to tell you that I normally do not drink tea or coffee. I just have never liked the taste of either one. I do like flavored drinks such as the pumpkin spice, but regular or coffee or tea..*YUCK!* 

I bought the Fertili Tea, because I read a lot of great reviews on it on the Fairhaven Health website. I have had it now for a few days, but wasn't too excited about drinking tea. I finally tried it this morning and I absolutely loved it!! It comes in a loose leaf form, so you will need to get a filter to put it in.

It contains the following fertility-enhancing ingredients:

Chasteberry (Vitex): Stimulates the hormones involved with ovulation and helps restore female hormonal imbalance.

 Red Raspberry Leaf: A potent fertility-promoting herb and slightly nutritive ingredient.

Green Tea: A powerful antioxidant to promote reproductive health.

Ladies Mantle: Helps regulate the monthly cycle and tone the cervix.

Nettle Leaf: Has vitamins and minerals that are critical for good reproductive health.

Peppermint Leaf: This is why I love it! It makes it taste really good!
 

End of Day 1

So I thought would go ahead and blog about how my day went. I have felt really bad all day today. I usually do feel pretty bad on my first menstrual day, but today I have just felt worse than usual. I ended up going back to sleep around 9am and didn't wake up until almost 11 and I woke up screaming in my sleep because I had a really intense seizure. I rarely have seizures anymore, and if I do, it is not bad at all, but this one was different than any other I have ever had. It felt like a severe intense pain in my head, and I started screaming, and woke myself up.

I have just felt very drained and tired since then, all day today. I don't get to see my neurologist until next month, which I am going to have to report the seizure to him, plus tell him we are TTC. I am hoping he keeps me on the same medication I am on now, because I do not do well with all these newer anti-seizure drugs that are on the market. Most of them cause a lot of pretty bad side effects, and seem like they do more harm than good for me. One of the side effects is depression, which I tend to always have when trying out anything new.

I also have ate really poorly today. I am sure all you ladies out there agree with me that during that time of the month, chocolate is a must! So yes, I broke down and bought me a bag of Twix bars, and unfortunately they are almost gone! But tomorrow is a new day, I think maybe I feel bad today because I ate bad.

Anyway, I am hoping I feel better tomorrow because I hate feeling like all I want to do all day is lay in bed. I will post more tomorrow. Goodnight!

Morning of cycle day 1

I woke up this morning around 7:30am and took my Basal body temperature. The chart I am using, has a range of temperatures listed starting off with 97.0 up to 99.0 (F). My body temperature is usually pretty low, even when I have a fever it is not much above 98.6. So I took my temperature, and it was around 96.8..so I need to record that on my chart since 96.8 is not listed.

My period is already different than it usually is being on the FertileAid supplements. Typically, on my first day, it is mostly spotting then I don't really start any heavier flow until day 2. This time, the flow was normal on the first day! I am excited to find out how my body temperature chart turns out during these first 40 days.

Also, I wanted to add that I did a little bit of research and found out that women who have PCOS do really well on a higher fat, lower carb diet. A lot of fertility doctors are telling women with PCOS to do the Atkins plan. I was on Atkins years ago, when it was popular and I did really well on it.

So my husband and I started two days ago cutting way back on the carbs, and increasing the fat by eating foods such as cheese, and using natural whipped butter with cream in it.

For Breakfast I have been eating:

Eggs and bacon, the eggs I cook in 1 Tablespoon of the whipped butter, the bacon I microwave, since I can't stand bacon not crispy.

For Lunch:

Romain lettuce with protein. I made a caesar salad with steak added, then another day made a taco salad, no carbs.

Dinner:

I have been eating vegetables low in natural sugars, and some type of protein.

I am feeling like my blood sugar is already starting to become more under control in just the first few days..

I will write more later when I have anything new to update! :)

Day 1 on FertileAid

So I want to start off by telling you that I have done a lot of research on the FertileAid products. They are an all natural supplement that naturally heals any problematic issues with trying to conceive. 

What we started off with was the FertileAid for Women, the FertileAid for Men. the Ovaboost, and the Fertile CM. Since I am over 30, I bought the Ovaboost because it is formulated to help older women who are TTC by healing the eggs they have left. A women is only given a certain number of eggs to last a lifetime, before she goes through menopause, so that is what this helps. I also bought the Fertile CM, because it is made to help the cervical mucus, which is important when it comes to trying to conceive. Most women with PCOS have a CM that tricks them into thinking certain days are fertile, and they really are not, which makes it really difficult for conception. 

I will also tell you that the products came really quickly! I ordered them on a Thursday, and had them by the following Monday! So now we are up to date. 

The day I started taking the FertileAid was the next day, Tuesday (today). I went and bought my Basal thermometer from the local drugstore. You can find those near the aisle where pregnancy tests are. What this does is it reads your body temperature first thing in the morning, but you don't start reading your basal temp until day one of your cycle. Well, guess what??? I started my period at the end of my first day on the FertileAid supplements!! YAY!! Now I can start tracking! :) 

Story of Why we started Fertile Aid

This blog is going to be based on our journey using the FertileAid products. I will start off by explaining what we have been through up to this point in our process of Trying to conceive (TTC). 

I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) back when I was in my 20s...I am now 41. My periods have always been sporadic, some months I would go without having a period at all, then the following month, my period would be really heavy. I went at one point years without a period. I knew when I married my husband, that we were going to most likely have a really hard time getting pregnant because of the PCOS. 

I have had epilepsy my entire life, being diagnosed with it at only 10 months of age. So being on seizure medications was another avenue to worry about, since many anti-seizure drugs can cause birth defects, and requires women on them to take extra folic acid. 

My husband and I started TTC probably 1 to 2 years into our marriage. We got married in June of 2005, and I had brain surgery for the seizures in January of 2006. Once I started feeling like I was well healed and ready to move on with my life from the surgery, we attempted to try to start a family. A couple years go by, and nothing is happening, and we have even gone to a fertility specialist.

The fertility doctor first off checked me because we knew I had PCOS. They ran a bunch of blood tests on me, and ran a test to check to make sure I had no fallopian tube blockage. Everything came back normal, except for the fact that I had cysts on my ovaries. I was put on Metformin, which I am still currently on, so I have been on Metformin now for 7 years. The Metformin, helped regulate my blood sugar, but it never really helped much with my menstrual cycles. They put me on Provera, which is a drug you take for a few days to start your period, then had my keep a calendar of my ovulation. Nothing was working correctly, I still wasn't ovulating right. 

The doctor then decided to try to put me on Clomid, but before trying the Clomid, they were going to have to check my husband's sperm count to make sure his count was high enough and had enough morphology to put me on the drug. When testing his sperm count three times, the sperm kept coming back lower and less morphology with every test. :( After all of this, the fertility doctor recommended my husband to go see a Urologist, because there was not much more he could do for us unless we were ready to try IVF.

I was really afraid to put thousands of dollars towards something that had no guarantee it would work. This lead us to the road to trying to adopt. 


So we started looking into adoption back in 2007, we went through a parenting class required to get either a foster license or the start of our adoption home study completed. After years of fighting and nerve racking annoyances, and still no child placed into our home, we are back to square 1 of trying to conceive on our own. 

This is where the FertileAid comes in...Oh how I wish I would have found this product a long time ago!