Know Nothing

Wow, this week has totally gotten away from me. I meant to post Tuesday night after I got some interesting news from the RE, but it was my brother's birthday, and he was more important. Then I was going to post again on Thursday after I got more interesting news from the RE, but I ended up snuggling with Hubs instead. Same goes for Friday night. Needless to say, I am also very behind on my blog reading and commenting. It is amazing how sometimes time flies by. I think the rotten avocados in my fridge agree.

Monday morning I called my RE's office to tell them that AF still had not shown up, and I was then 17 days overdue. I asked them to please kick-start my visitor, but they told me to come in to have things checked out first. They got me in first thing the next morning. Sometimes the quickness with which my doctor gets me in makes me wonder if I get some kind of special treatment, or if he does that with all his patients. They are always squeezing me in and letting me know the doctor wants to see me ASAP whenever I call.

Anyhoo, I went in Tuesday morning, bright and early, not sure what to expect. I can tell you this, I didn't expect much, so I had no where to go but up. The scanner goes in, and I watch on the screen as Dr. D takes a look around. He then takes a look at my ovaries and says, "You are getting ready to ovulate."

Wait. What?

I didn't have a period. I spotted lightly for four days, and we're talking light spotting.

"I estimate you are going to ovulate in the next 2-3 days. Your right follicle is 18mm, and it will go at around 22-23mm." He then told me my lining was a bit thin (no surprise there), and that I needed to go home and put on an estrogen patch ASAP.

I was in shock. I asked how I could ovulate when I hadn't had a cycle. He told me he sometimes sees that happen with his IVF patients. I then asked if there was enough time to build up the lining, and he assured me there was because I had at least two days until ovulation and then at least 5 before implantation.

When I left he told me to slap on two patches for good measure and come back two days later, once again telling his assistant to get me in to an already booked schedule.

I left there completely shocked. Realizing once again what a strange thing the human body is. Somehow, my ovaries still knew what to do and when to do it, even though I never had a cycle. Who knows where that lining went! This was also not the first time I have been compared to IVF patients. Back when we were in the minor leagues of IF and I was doing the smallest doses of FSH and Hcg, I responded like an IVF patient on the higher doses. Apparently my body just responds really well to synthetic hormones. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

Needless to say, having not known I was still producing a follicle even in the absence of AF, it was too late to use my monitor on this cycle for having it give me any type of prediction. However, I know what to look for to give me indications of ovulation, so I started using it anyway. Thursday when I went back in, my follicle was at 21+mm, and by Friday night, my monitor reading confirmed ovulation. That leaves me now, amazingly, in a TWW.

I won't hold my breath, but at least I know when to start using the monitor for my next cycle, just in case AF goes MIA. That way if she does, I can still keep track of my electrolyte spikes.

With that, I am ready to give my product review on the monitor. I think it is fabulous, and I'm glad I spend the money. HOWEVER, it makes no sense to buy the monitor without the Va-jay-jay sensor that costs an extra $100, making it a grand total of $350. But if you put that into terms of how much you spend on OPKs every month, it may just be worth it to you. The oral sensor only detects when the dominant follicle is chosen, but does not confirm ovulation (which I was NOT happy about when I realized that because I then had to spend another $100 for the other sensor, making me feel jipped). The Va-jay-jay sensor confirms ovulation because it detects the change of estrogen to progesterone, which is the indication ovulation has occurred. If you're seriously serious about getting pregnant and keeping track of ovulation, spend the dough. I highly recommend it for you gals with irregular cycles.

Now I am off to try to catch up on blogs before my eyes decide they have had enough!

P.S. I have been given a blog award which I promise I will get to this week!