Not clear, nor blue, nor easy

Thank you very much Clear Blue Easy ovulation test stick for malfunctioning! I used up my 7 generic Target brand test sticks (all negative) so I stopped by wal-mart on my way home from work (hey, it's like two blocks from my house and I was in a hurry). I had to pee so bad that I wasn't thinking clearly and bought a name brand kit. I run home, pee on the stick...and nothing. Not even a reference line! $18!! I will try another one tonight (hopefully I can make myself pee again soon, I was holding that last one in all day) and I swear to whatever, if it malfunctions as well, I'm asking for a refund.

Hopefully this is the only dud in the box. I will NOT be a happy camper otherwise.

Can't I just get some litmus paper? Peeing on sticks seems like a chemistry experiment anyway.

I feel like I'm back in trigonometry with all these graphs

Yeah, I'm getting a little discouraged. Not to say nothing will happen, but today is cycle day 15 and my fifth day of using the ovulation predictor tests. All have been negative so far. I've also been temping for 5 days (even though I said I wasn't going to do that this time around). I saw a tiny little spike in it yesterday and it dropped again today. Nothing significant though. Supposedly, your temp is supposed to drop right before ovulation, then increase after that (more than .4 of a degree I guess). I didn't start temping until day 11. It probably doesn't work the same for everyone, and since I'm always just a little bit different, I'm sure I'll end up being an exception to the rule, haha. I guess at least if I don't get a positive ovulation test before my blood test on day 21, I'll know what to expect when my labs come back. Then they'll probably have to up my dosage which I'm sure will be a JOY. Some people ovulate later than others, maybe my day is yet to come.

Staying upbeat about this whole thing is exhausting.

Clomid Inferno

So I've experienced a couple of hot flashes. What is this, menopause? Seriously. Lucky for me, they've been brief. I had one at work today this afternoon and one while I as in my shorts curled up in a blanket on my couch. All of a sudden I just got really hot and uncomfortable and threw my blanket off disgruntledly (is that a word?). Well, the disgruntledliness might have been because I had just realized the damn DVR was not recording Project Runway like it was supposed to be.

Last night I bought an ovulation predictor kit. By the way, those freakin things are expensive so I went with the Target brand. 12 dollars and some cents for 7 tests. The name brand ones were 18 bucks and up. Sheesh! The man has got us down! I also picked up a thermometer tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to start using the OPK sticks and I might start using the thermometer if I remember in the morning. I couldn't find a basal thermometer so I bought what I thought would be a "good enough" one. I'm already 10 days into my cycle so I can't chart from the beginning this time around, but I might experiment with it. Hopefully the Clomid doesn't cause my OPK sticks to malfunction. I guess I won't know for sure until the blood test at the end of this month. BTW: I am soooo sick of having blood drawn. It really grosses me out the whole thing. I mean, I always handle it well, but in my head I'm barfing my guts out at the thought of it.

Clomid: The Egg Maker

Well, so far so good on the Clomid I guess. I took my last pill last night (day 7). I haven't really had many noticeable side effects yet. Sunday night I got a crappy night of sleep, kept waking up every other hour, was hot, and had some really bizarre dream that involved peeing on an egg (like chicken eggs from a carton). Then the word "yes" or "no" would magically appear on the egg. That's all I got from the dream. So I'm assuming it has something to do with taking a pregnancy test??? So weird.

But other than that, no real side effects. I have been rather sleepy lately but who knows what that is from. I sure could use a hot flash at work because it is FREEZING up here. My mood has been stable except for the occasional grumpiness, which I am allowed to have, as is everybody.

I decided that I wasn't going to temp (take your basal body temperature each morning) because it's a lot of work. I might try it next cycle if this cycle doesn't pan out. I was considering buying an OPK (ovulation predictor kit). My cousin informed me that it can often give out a false positive while on Clomid. I did some reading about that and most of what I read indicated to use the OPK no sooner than 3 days after your last Clomid pill because it can mess with your LH levels. So I might try that. I'm not sure how much they cost so if they're ungodly expensive then I might reconsider. Though, considering how much money I've WASTED on home pregnancy tests in the past, an OPK is probably not a bad investment.

Ain't no rest for the less fertile

Had a moment of worry yesterday. My doctor called in my prescription but the pharmacy didn't have it in stock. In fact, no pharmacy in town had it in stock because they said they called around. But this is why god invented express shipping, so that I could start my new meds on time. I just took my first pill tonight so we'll see how tomorrow goes. Everyone deals with medication side effects differently and I don't tend to have side effects with most medication but this is a whole new adventure.

I warned two of my co-workers/friends about the possible side effects so they promised that if "Chloe" (my clomid alter-ego) shows her gnarly face, that they would keep me in check.

I can't believe I'm on fertility medication. That is sooo weird to say. Some people have asked me if I'm going to turn into octo-mom. For the record...NO. That's not quite how it works. The fact that I have an 8-10% chance of having twins while on this medication freaks me out enough.

Buckle your seatbelts, we're going on the Clomid rollercoaster

I would normally never post a blog while at work but I'm pretty excited right now so I just need to! My doctor (or rather, my doctor's nurse) called me yesterday and left a couple of voicemails. I assumed that they were regarding my fasting glucose test results. Well I was out and about all day yesterday so I didn't get a chance to call back in time. The nurse called me at work this morning (as a male co-worker was talking to me at my desk, so I tried to be discreet) and informed me that my labs came back completely normal! No sign of insulin resistance! Sooo, no need for the Metformin, we're going to go ahead and start the Clomid treatments. Holy shit I'm so nervous about this.

Aaaand, my period started yesterday. Shortest cycle (8 weeks) in a loooong time. My boobs were super sore and I was awfully cranky/emotional last week so I figured it was coming. It's perfect timing really since I will start the clomid...well tomorrow I guess (day 3). The nurse asked me if I wanted to start Provera (which helps induce a period) and I said "no need, it just showed up yesterday" and she seemed very glad about that.

So, here's the deal. I will take Clomid (starting at 50mg) on day 3-7 of my cycle. Then I get to "do it" a bunch, and then I go in on day 21 of my cycle for progesterone testing to see if I'm actually ovulating. Then at the end of my cycle I will either have a period (or need Provera) or have a positive pregnancy test. After that, they will adjust my dosage if need be and we start over again. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I hope I do ovulate on the Clomid because that will be a good sign. Once again, I do ovulate on my own just not in a regular fashion. In fact, in a completely sporadic fashion.

I'm all kinds of emotions right now. So excited though that I'm not pre-diabetic. That was a huge concern of mine.

I've been to my OBGYN 3 times in the last week!

So, I met with my actual OBGYN yesterday. I checked in and sat in the waiting room and as I sat there, I saw another woman walk in and say to the receptionist, "I'm here to see Dr. Hess." Ugh! That's my doctor! I better get in first because I was totally on time. But as usual, they overschedule everybody, leaving the doctor with just enough time to say "what's your problem?" and "see you later." I did get back to the room quickly though and only had to wait a few minutes for Dr. Hess to arrive. Her personality is fairly straight-forward and sometimes that can be interpreted as cold, but I think that's just her and I'm starting to accept that.

We discussed the PCOS, symptoms, frequency (or lack thereof) of my periods, and treatment. First and foremost, she wanted to me come in and have a fasting glucose test or whatever the official name for it is. PCOS and diabetes can be related and PCOS can lead to insulin resistance which can then lead to type 2 (I think) diabetes if not treated. So I fasted for 12 hours yesterday and went in for some blood work this morning. I should find out the results within a day or two. I'm assuming they will call me back because if I have to call them, I'm going to be pissed.

If the tests show insulin resistance, or pre-diabetes, then they put you on a drug called Metformin. You can google it and read about it, I don't know that many details. Apparently that can help regulate your period and help control some of the lovely traits of PCOS, ie: acne, excess hair growth, weight gain, etc. If we want to be more aggressive with trying to get pregnant, they would couple the Metformin with Clomid, which is an oral fertility drug, again, google. There are some lovely side effects with both Metformin and Clomid. Metformin has mostly GI (gastrointestinal) side effects so I'll be pooping my pants a lot. If my tests come back normal, well then the course of treatment is usually either birth control or Clomid. Obviously we're not gonna go the birth control route, been there, done that, perhaps we'll meet again in the future. So pretty much, it's going to be very difficult for me to get pregnant again without the help of something...unless Venus aligns with Jupiter in the 7th sun, and that's not predicted until the year 2315!