I just realized it is July!!! Hope the BFP trend continues!

JJ-big *hugs* sorry about the bad news. I am glad that you feel that your Dr. is finally explaining things to you so that it at least makes sense. I've known a couple people personally (not even including the girls on here) who have had success with IVF so hopefully it helps a little to at least have a direction to go in now. I think it is all these unknowns that can be hard to deal with.

Mare-where are you and have you tested again??

Jen-congrats!!! I think you have a great attitude. I always say to enjoy each day that you are PG.

Mel-I've heard that because sperm count and other issues can fluctuate so much, they like to do multiple analysis to make sure everything is ok. My friend was told her DH had swimmer issues according to the tests but that they weren't really too concerned, and they got PG that very month!

I went ahead and set up my FF chart. After seeing sticky CM yesterday (I wasn't trying to look I promise, lol) I decided that I would keep up with the temping for now just to see what is going, especially since it hasn't been stressful since there is no TTC involved.


am working from home today so will hopefully have lots of time to check in.

__________________

Ah July.... time has really flown! And I see that I hit 1000 posts yesterday... I was hoping to be on the pg side by the time that happened... sigh... I fluctuate between being so hopeful and downright pessimistic. Yesterday at the doctor she made a point to mention that she doesn't want me to get my hopes up since even with clomid it can take 3-4 cycles.

Christie - thanks I hope the clomid is doing its job too. Has AF let up yet? I used up all my tampons last month and haven't bought a new box yet... the silly things we do!

Mel - ugh to having to do the S/A again. Mary has a point that travel time could have had some impact - I guess there's no other place where he could do it? Hopefully she sends you the full results soon so we can analyze them together - I hate when doctors just tell you something so vague when we want all the specific numbers! I would just give him the results - as a guy I'm sure he'll want to do it again to make sure there's no problem.

Jen - yay for a positive on a digi test! Thats awesome. I'm glad that your new doctor has made you feel more confident. You have a great attitude!

JJ - I'm so sorry about your eggs... I guess I just really kept hoping the doctors were wrong Its good that she finally explained everything to you and that you're feeling optimistic about IVF... I'm sure the cost is daunting but I think we've all learned the lengths we'll go to for our dream of creating a life. Too funny about the commercial with AF as a present... thats a gift I'd like to return!!!

Mary - for some reason I thought your first cycle was a short annovulatory one? That is good if it was 27 days... and your temp went back up a little bit so hopefully AF will hold off long enough.

Bina - I think it will be good for you to know when you O and when AF is coming etc. Are you going to use NFP to prevent? Awww - Avery is so cute in that new picture!

__________________

oops! Copied my last post over here.

Good Morning Ladies!

Sorry... yesterday was crazy, and I know today will be the same. Tomorrow it should calm down a bit.

I ended up not testing this morning; I thought if I waited a few days it may double and give me a dark positive. Now I just need to figure out where to hide the remaining tests so I can't get to them. lol.

Mary - My appt is Thursday. I don't think I've ever been more anxious about the vampires. I wish it was today!

Jen - Woohoo! I'm praying for you.

JJ - I'm sorry about the news...I will pray that everything works out.

Mel - Skagway isn't a stop on our cruise. We are stopping at Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Dh and I have our activities narrowed down, so we will be booking those soon. They are so much more expensive than the last cruise we went on (western Caribbean)!

__________________

Mare-I can't believe you are holding out on us

Irene-I think I may use NFP for post-O but I am a little wear of using it pre-O, especially since my cycles will be out of whack. I'm hoping that I will O by the end of the week because now my CM is EW. I would say TMI, but I know there is no such thing on CT
I know that 3-4 cycles can seem like an eternity but hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones and it will happen quickly!

__________________

Mel - Hopefully you got my msg about telling Capn in time. As long as the sample was in your boobs (which they were) the distance doesn't matter. The sample needs to liquify before they even touch it and that takes an hour. People who have low counts do get pregnant all the time, a handful of women on the boards have, myself included. However that doesn't mean you don't remain proactive about the results. When I went to the resolve conference I sat in a class for an hour going over data about a test group that did S/A over a 30 day period. The results were fascinating on how much it flucuates. The problem is if the "occasional" bad count happens on a day you are ovulating, the other 29 days of good counts, doesn't really matter. When you've been trying for months and months dealing with Drs and doing the balancing acts of appointments, it's important to remain proactive on what your next step is. Stay on them to get your reports, I've had drs tell me I didn't need them, and I had to remind them of my legal right to have access to my medical records. Sent an e-mail too.

__________________

JJ- Oh crap. I'm sorry to hear that. I was so hoping that test would prove the Dr's wrong. But there's still some hope in the IVF, though, right? Who am I kidding, that news sucks and I'm so sorry. On that AF comercial......what did it show the "present" coming out of? I have a mental pic and it ain't good.

Mel- Capn's count is a "little low" ARRRGG! I hate it when they use language like that. I like knowing the specifics. They told me DH's morph was a "little low" too......too bad their definition of a little low is infertile. I hope they get the actual results to you soon. Surely Capn't isn't going to pitch too much of a fit, once he understands why the follow up. It's just terrible how we have to make them masterbate. How torturous.....too bad they can't get a vag u/s huh?

Mare- You have too much willpower. Seriously.

Bina- Thanks for that explanation, about the CL and all that-that makes alot of sense.

Mary- I don't think your O is late, neccessarily. I forgot the rest of what you said-sorry, I'll have to go back to June.

Irene- I hear ya about the pessimism.

__________________

Claire - sheesh glass half empty... I did say that sometimes I feel hopeful I'm trying to find that balance again... have I mentioned that I hate the 2WW?

Betsy - I was thinking the exact same thing... that if sperm levels fluctuate so much there's no way of knowing what kind of swimmers you're getting at the crucial time... I'm trying not to think about that too much - just flooding the gates and hoping for the best!!!

__________________

Irene- Oh, sorry-didn't mean it like that. I know exactly what you mean. It's just that I worked on the first part of my post for a while and then a REALLY needy client called and I was trying to get the post up quick. . I do that alot.
I have a hard time understanding how you are supposed to know much about the sperm if they do fluctuate so much? Fragile little creatures. And is it true that the sperm you get today were made 90days ago? Meaning that if there is any benefit from, say, quitting smoking-you have to wait 90 days to find out?

__________________

Irene - flooding the gates is exactly what you need to do. The other thing (of my very long list) of things that people say that make me crazy. "it only takes one"....noooooooo that's not true. Only one can fertilize the egg, but unless it has a whole army of other swimmers pushing him through, he's not getting in, which is why low count is a problem. the anology I give (to add to my roller coaster one) is think of a faucet that has one drip of water hanging from it, if you open the faucet that one drip of water is coming down. Same thing with spermies.

__________________

Claire - yes the 90 days is true. I gotta go to work am supposed to be there in 3 minutes, if not I would go into more details but basically there is the whole cycle of maturity of the sperm that it needs to go through and that cycle takes on average 90 days.

__________________

Wow. 90days. Huh. Of all the things I wish men would take their sweet time on, making sperm isn't one of them! LOL.

__________________

Claire-90 days does seem like a long time, I'm always bugging Dh to take his vitamins when we TTC. Have they ruled out infection in your DH as a cause of poor swimmers? I had heard that some swimmer issues can be resolved with antibiotic. I forgot to say before that I was sorry to hear about your work/financial stresses.

Irene-you have to stay hopeful you are our cheerleader!

Betsy-oh if I had a dime for every dumb comment I've heard about TTC, and now about m/c..grrr! It is nice to see you posting again.

I bid on a 2 box set of digital OPKs on ebay and won! It was still a lot of $$ but way cheaper than I've ever seen in the store.

__________________

Bina- thanks, we'll muddle though these hard times somehow. Actually all we have on DH is an SA. I don't know anything else besides what little I can find on the internet. So, no nothing has been "ruled out". I did just now make an appt with the urologist for DH...of course they can't see him till August 5th, but oh well. And I can't get DH to take his vitamins either-unless I put them on the side of his plate at dinner .

LOL- I've never bought anything on ebay- didn't know you could bid on OPKS!

__________________

Claire-you can buy ANYTHING on ebay! I don't really care for the whole auction aspect, if I want something I just want to be able to buy it but some people love the thrill of the auction. Even if you don't want to buy from ebay it is a great way to find "stores" that you can buy directly from for cheaper.

__________________

Good morning, goils! Thanks so much for weighing in the s/a. It took alot of willpower to not tell Cap'n what the doctor said. I want all the information first and then I will present. I don't know or think that the s/a can be given there. The hospital I go to doesn't even do the s/a on site, a courier takes it somewhere else! I mean if push comes to shove, we could do it in the parking lot, but I know Cap'n would not be feeling it. I'm really hoping it is a situation of what Bina and Betsy said that it just fluctuates and that is what I'll bring up with Cap'n. I too, wish Cap'n would take vitamins...erg.

Mary ~ I'm actually about 500 miles away from San Diego. I'm way interested in hearing your b/w results!

Mare ~ I stopped in Ketchikan and Juneau. I loved Ketchikan but didn't get to see a whole lot of the picturesque town (and the red light district) because we had booked a crab feed tour which was fun and I have an awesome picture from it, I'll have to look for a copy of it, but it took up our entire time....Okay, just found the picture. This is from the crab feed tour and we were pulling up crab pots, studying the crabs, and measuring them and throwing them overboard. Well, in one pot there was this giant sunstar. Everyone thought it was an octopus and I ran over there and begged the tour guide (pictured behind me) if I could hold it and that is what you see in the picture. Everyone was completely grossed out that I would touch it, but when I told them I was a biology teacher that seemed to ease their fears and disgust. http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...arInAlaska.jpg Juneau is okay. We took a cable car up to the top of the hill and got to look down on our boat and see a bald eagle named Cessna who is now held in captivity b/ she crashed into a cessna plane once, was rehabilitated then crashed into the windshield of a car! I insisted on getting a picture in front of the capitol building... wish we hadn't bothered walking there, it is nothing special. BTW, I've still got my fingers crossed for you!

Jen ~ Congrats and I really hope this one sticks for you!

__________________

Mel- you being a teacher doesn't make that thing any less yucky! But you look so happy to hold it-LOL! Sounds like a great trip. DH spent half his childhood in Anchorage and I made him promise to take me to AK one day. The place he did his s/a BTW they did it all (including producing the sample) on site. It was The hospital's center for RE-so maybe that makes a difference. DH had to drive an hour to get there.

Bina- huh. I didn't think about that-I'll remember that about the "stores".

Jen- I think I totally spaced a big congrats! Glad you like your Dr. fingers crossed for you!

__________________