Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Period.

As many of you know, we are wanting another child.  **if this is already TMI--you are advised to stop reading now**  I had my IUD removed in April of last year, and after some waiting and regulating --I regained my period.  We have been without birth control from several months, and I havent conceived yet. 

With Elliott, I got pregnant the first month we tried.  Quite a shock, really.  We only talked about having a baby for a week or two, and the next thing we knew the pee stick was positive.  Talk about a shocker.

I thought that it would be easy to get pregnant again.  But, it has taken more time than I thought.  And, I have a hard time waiting for things, hate surprises, and want things to happen NOW.  So, you can imagine that my frustration level is high.  To make matters worse--my cycle is all out of whack.  This month I ovulated early, and got my period after only 21 days.  Darn you mother nature.

I have been exceptionally tired the last 2 or 3 nights.   And along with being impatient and tired--I am also a worrier.  Naturally I started wondering what could be wrong with me.  Did something happen during my C-section and now I am unable to conceive.  Of course, nothing is physically wrong with me, but I discovered something interesting.

You can break a woman's menstrual cycle into 2 parts--the first part being different for all women. And, the second part beginning on the day of ovulation.  It is in this second half we are all similar. From the time you ovulate until you start you period is 12-16 days*.  This is according to the FAM method book I am re-reading (since I apparently didn't read it thoroughly enough  the first time around).  

This is an awesome discovery for me, as it allows me to identify exactly when I will get my period each month so long as I track the day I ovulate (which also explains why my cycle is so short this month).  It will also tell me how many days each cycle will be.  You may be wondering why I don't already know this being a mature woman of 34 (advanced maternal age in OB speak)!!!!  Well, since I have been on birth control my whole life; I never needed to track my cycle since it was chemically regulated.  

Lets hope that this awesome discovery will help me get knocked up this month!  Yeah for biology.

*as with all things in nature there are occasional exceptions

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

TMI - you're cracking me up! I find it rather amusing that you "procreators" (NOT meant in a bad way whatsoever - it's just that I have always known exactly how conception, cycle and contraception work w/out really needing to...) worry so damn much! Biology works, YOUR biology works, you have living proof of it! Will you please relax?!

What's more ironic I think is that you yourself say, indeed emphasize here, how worried, under pressure, stressed-out and impatient you are, totally obsessing on conceiving...not to mention that you have just lost your job...while on the other hand describing yourself as comfortably clueless and relaxed when conceiving Lil E ...

Don't you think you're offering yourself the solution to your own problem here on a big blogger platter?!?! :-D

I'm always stunned at parents who are desperately trying to get pregnant, thinking they can just will it to happen, not understanding the influence stress hormones have on the cycle, the ovaries, the uteral lining and the cervical mucus (TMI yet??)
Stress, my dear, activates our most natural and most effective ‘innate’ contraceptives.
So. Just. Chill. Take a deeeep breath. Let things be. Make love and totally forget about getting pregnant. Just do it. For yourselves and the sake of just being together. And, yes, from about the 12th day* after the first day of your period on for a day or two – but stop planning!!, 'coz if you’re really all relaxed, you’ll be able to tell the signs of ovulation a couple days beforehand anyways… grrrr ;-)

Laugh. Love. Enjoy. Period.

xox