A big ole mess of information
Since I have been irregular all of my life I figured that getting pregnant would not be an easy feat. It took my mother somewhere around five years to become pregnant with me, so I felt for sure that I would have to give it the ole college try over and over and over again for years and years and years. Well, you know what? It just so happens that I was wrong.
When Jim and I decided that we were ready to start trying, (I believe that was right around the time that I bawled inconsolably after hearing the Celine Dion song A New Day has Come, my shame...it knows no boundaries.) we did just that, started trying. But nothing happened, which was pretty much what we expected. So, I went out and got the book 'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' because my fertility needed some serious help. The book goes into great detail in regard to how a woman can tell if she is near ovulation, regardless of whether or not she is regular every month. Signs include change in daily temperature, change in cervical fluid (yik) and change in (are you ready) position of cervix. Exsqueezeme? So, being the brave and willing student that I am, I started trying to document all of my "changes" on a daily basis. My temperature was easy to record, I would always take it as soon as I woke and chart it on a handy little graph that the book provides. The other two signs I tried to document as well, but I wasn't as diligent with recording the daily information. Plus, looking for my cervix was a bit tricky and I didn't really like giving myself an Obgyn exam every single morning.
I think I started using those book methods the early part of 2006, maybe February? I thought that once I was recording all my vital womanly stats that pregnancy was right around the corner. The thing was, I really didn't completely grasp how all the information was supposed to mesh together and I basically just said I little prayer that if I kept recording the information I would just get pregnant. I am such a scientific dingbat. For a little while nothing happened, and then low and behold...I was pregnant. It worked! My scientific method was foul proof! I was a genius. But then, we all know the story, I lost the baby and everything came to a crashing halt.
After I had that miscarriage I was devastated. My body ached to become pregnant again right away, it was all I could think about. So, I re-read my fertility self-help book (fshb) and vowed that I would make myself understand all about my body, or die trying, but I just ended up even more confused. So when my temperature dips that means I am done with ovulation? Or wait, when it dips that means I could still possibly get pregnant? HOW many types of cervical fluid are there and honestly, can women really tell the difference?
Even though I was feeling like a failure due to the fact that I was a woman and could not grasp a book about women's reproductive systems, I trudged on. I dutifully recorded temps and recorded when we did it (gasp!). According to the fshb it is helpful to record when it happens, because if a woman has 18 high temperatures after doing it then she is more than likely pregnant. From March to June I did everything I was supposed to (short of actually understanding I was doing) and still did not get pregnant. I began to suspect that a second pregnancy was not as easily attainable as the first, and though disappointing, I focused on the alone time I still had with Jim. Apparently that is the way you become pregnant, think of all the free time you have on your hands and how determined you are to enjoy said free time. Voila! Pregnant!
After one Friday night in late June my temperature started to steadily rise again, and stayed risen. Wha? Could it be? This shift in temperature was much more subtle than the shift for my first pregnancy. During my first pregnancy my temperature shot up almost two whole degrees and then started dropping right away. Bad sign. For this shift I saw it start to rise and then level out about a degree higher than my normal temperature. Good sign.
So, it has been just over 18 days and I have had a temperature that has stayed consistently high, something for which I am so thankful. I feel pretty confident that I know the day we conceived, since I was into deep into my fertility self-help, and I related my perceived conceived date to the nurse at my Obgyn's office.
Nurse: Oh, I really doubt that is possible.
Look lady. Whose body is it? Who meticulously recorded all the damn information (never mind that I didn't exactly understand it)? I think I know when I got pregnant, okay?
Nurse: So, if you think you conceived on June 23 then that makes you a little over 4 weeks pregnant.
Right! Wait? 4? I thought 2? Huh?
It turns out that I actually know nothing about pregnancy except that my breasts are like two over inflated water balloons and my stomach is now a full time gymnast. But I shant let that stop me from thinking I know more. After all, I read a fertility self help book, so there.
When Jim and I decided that we were ready to start trying, (I believe that was right around the time that I bawled inconsolably after hearing the Celine Dion song A New Day has Come, my shame...it knows no boundaries.) we did just that, started trying. But nothing happened, which was pretty much what we expected. So, I went out and got the book 'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' because my fertility needed some serious help. The book goes into great detail in regard to how a woman can tell if she is near ovulation, regardless of whether or not she is regular every month. Signs include change in daily temperature, change in cervical fluid (yik) and change in (are you ready) position of cervix. Exsqueezeme? So, being the brave and willing student that I am, I started trying to document all of my "changes" on a daily basis. My temperature was easy to record, I would always take it as soon as I woke and chart it on a handy little graph that the book provides. The other two signs I tried to document as well, but I wasn't as diligent with recording the daily information. Plus, looking for my cervix was a bit tricky and I didn't really like giving myself an Obgyn exam every single morning.
I think I started using those book methods the early part of 2006, maybe February? I thought that once I was recording all my vital womanly stats that pregnancy was right around the corner. The thing was, I really didn't completely grasp how all the information was supposed to mesh together and I basically just said I little prayer that if I kept recording the information I would just get pregnant. I am such a scientific dingbat. For a little while nothing happened, and then low and behold...I was pregnant. It worked! My scientific method was foul proof! I was a genius. But then, we all know the story, I lost the baby and everything came to a crashing halt.
After I had that miscarriage I was devastated. My body ached to become pregnant again right away, it was all I could think about. So, I re-read my fertility self-help book (fshb) and vowed that I would make myself understand all about my body, or die trying, but I just ended up even more confused. So when my temperature dips that means I am done with ovulation? Or wait, when it dips that means I could still possibly get pregnant? HOW many types of cervical fluid are there and honestly, can women really tell the difference?
Even though I was feeling like a failure due to the fact that I was a woman and could not grasp a book about women's reproductive systems, I trudged on. I dutifully recorded temps and recorded when we did it (gasp!). According to the fshb it is helpful to record when it happens, because if a woman has 18 high temperatures after doing it then she is more than likely pregnant. From March to June I did everything I was supposed to (short of actually understanding I was doing) and still did not get pregnant. I began to suspect that a second pregnancy was not as easily attainable as the first, and though disappointing, I focused on the alone time I still had with Jim. Apparently that is the way you become pregnant, think of all the free time you have on your hands and how determined you are to enjoy said free time. Voila! Pregnant!
After one Friday night in late June my temperature started to steadily rise again, and stayed risen. Wha? Could it be? This shift in temperature was much more subtle than the shift for my first pregnancy. During my first pregnancy my temperature shot up almost two whole degrees and then started dropping right away. Bad sign. For this shift I saw it start to rise and then level out about a degree higher than my normal temperature. Good sign.
So, it has been just over 18 days and I have had a temperature that has stayed consistently high, something for which I am so thankful. I feel pretty confident that I know the day we conceived, since I was into deep into my fertility self-help, and I related my perceived conceived date to the nurse at my Obgyn's office.
Nurse: Oh, I really doubt that is possible.
Look lady. Whose body is it? Who meticulously recorded all the damn information (never mind that I didn't exactly understand it)? I think I know when I got pregnant, okay?
Nurse: So, if you think you conceived on June 23 then that makes you a little over 4 weeks pregnant.
Right! Wait? 4? I thought 2? Huh?
It turns out that I actually know nothing about pregnancy except that my breasts are like two over inflated water balloons and my stomach is now a full time gymnast. But I shant let that stop me from thinking I know more. After all, I read a fertility self help book, so there.
posted by Al at 3:23 PM
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