3 posts tagged “trying to get pregnant”

The ultrasound today confirmed that I have something that looks like a big, black hole, hopefully an egg of some sorts is hangin' out down in there somewhere.  It appears that I'm likely popping my tart a little later and perhaps that has been some of the reason why we've not managed to conceive yet, among many reasons.  I have a few theories:

My biggest conclusion and mantra is, you can't control nature.  I suppose to some degree we can control some things in our lives.  For example, I opted to not get the hormone shot today.  By getting the shot I could "jump start" my gaping sac and, perhaps, increase my chances of getting pregnant sooner.  That much I can control.  But even then, my body will do as it will do.  And I really think when it comes to pregnancy the body has an agenda of its own.

I've read the vagina is acidic and this can be very deadly to the spermies.  By the time one of those suckers has reached my fallopian tube he has been to hell, I mean fried to death, nearly.  I mean, if my insides are anything like me?  I'd be shocked to think anything could survive inside my vagina/uterus.  And while cervical mucus during the fertile days is supposed to "house" and protect the sperm, even move them along toward the fallopian tubes without them being eaten alive, even the mucus can be a bit much-- anyone seen the movie Alien?  You know what I mean.

I think mainly it's the timing.  You can't presume that little twinge or mid-cycle cramp means you're ovulating.  What it probably means is that your oven is pre-heatin' and that you'll not actually pop the little tart until two to four days later.  It just sits in there baking takin' its own sweet time, and that, my friends, is really annoying.  It's annoying because you try to make sure you really get her by having lots of sex, but then what you end up doing is not giving your husband enough time to bake his own little goodies.  So you end up with a bunch of headless swimmers in an endless sea of fire and slime-- they never had a chance, you know?

I know it sounds crazy, but I really want to believe that my egg can and WILL get fertilzed (at least that is my big hope) when it is damn well good and ready to relent and do so.  In the meantime, I think it will "play hard to get" for a while-- making those little guys hang around squirm, fry, drown in mucus, or just plain wilt until they expire and the whole process starts over again.  Basically, I need one good bitch of an egg to stop sittin' in there with her legs crossed and come out and show herself before that last laugh and then plunging to her death.  So annoying.

I don’t want to make light of the conception issue by making proposals that may seem ridiculous.  However, those of you ladies out there who are trying to conceive may want to switch over to high fat dairy products.  A study conducted for eight years by Jorge Chavarro at Harvard school of medicine suggests that women who have diets lower in certain fat intake decrease their chances for ovulation.  The study concludes that dairy products may have a fat-soluble chemical, which improves ovarian function.  If you weren’t aware of this before, you can have a period even if you haven’t ovulated.  So, you might think you’re ovulating, but you’re not.  It’s possible to have a period twelve months out of the year but maybe only ovulate eight of those twelve months.

Common sense tells us that healthy eating plays an important role in most of our daily activities.  Even if you’re skeptical, it can’t hurt to live a little and experiment a little.  After all, the benefits of eating or drinking one to three servings of whole milk or ice cream a day would have to outweigh not eating either of these.  Try Horizon organic whole milk and Brown Cow all natural yogurt.  When it comes to ice cream, however, it may be best to stick to the more natural flavors like strawberry, peach, or plain vanilla.  The key, I guess, is to eat the dairy products in their most natural form.  Ben and Jerry’s is still good too, I’m sure J.

It’s official—“Auntie Flow” arrived today.  Once again I must sigh (with some relief).  As of late, the sigh is the concrete evidence of the results this month, whether it be the results I wanted, or not.  After days of a terrible PMS and thinking my symptoms were pregnancy symptoms, I am now relieved by some answer to this less than desirable physical state (even though pregnancy symptoms would elate me regardless of how bad they might be).  My PMS is rarely this bad, but this month’s long sickly phase of headaches, fatigue, dizziness, mental and speech impediments, nausea, really sore breasts, muscle cramps, irritability and terrible gas among other things threw me for a loop.  This month I had it all and managed to not turn into Mr. Hyde.  It’s rare that I have bad PMS.  But, like irregular periods, I suppose I should get an irregular PMS too.  I’m sure everyone would agree that it seems unfair to go through that, think you’re possibly pregnant, and then get a period.

I’ve done myself no good by looking for clues (like I have nearly every month) that I might be pregnant because PMS and pregnancy symptoms are so strikingly similar.  I know this, yet I do it every time.  However, it is getting easier.  The catch is, if you’re trying to conceive, then yes there is always the chance that you will be pregnant this month.  So I have to ask myself why bother so much with the other details?  If I start my period, then that’s that.  If I miss my period take a test and discover I’m pregnant, the rest will soon follow.  Allowing myself to journey forth to my period, if that’s the way it should be, will make getting a period a little easier.  It’s probably impossible to not think of it at all, but if I keep spending the weeks up to the end of the cycle looking for clues and being obsessive over whether I could be pregnant or not, the arrival of “Auntie Flow” is all the more a letdown.  Plus, I’m just missing out on the rest of my life.

The challenging part of trying to conceive is making it through each month, picking up and starting again.  Reproduction is a fact of life—so are our periods.  You also want your life to be about more than getting pregnant.  So, we can embrace our periods as another part of being a woman and normalcy.  I’ve developed a habit of treating myself to something I like (Starbucks or chocolate) after the letdown of my period.  This helps to remind me that I will start fresh again with renewed strength.  So here’s to a grande mocha and some ibuprofen!  I have so much to be thankful for.