I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fertility monitor. It was about $125 for the monitor and about $35/box of 30 test sticks. I bought all of this on Amazon. The monitor is easy to use and has a very clear, easy to understand display.
Every day the monitor tells you what day of your cycle you are on and then tells you whether it needs a test done on that day. I think it had me test everyday from day 10-25 or something like that (it's been awhile since we've used it). First thing in the morning, you have to pee on the stick and then just click it into place on the monitor. It then tells you the level of your luteinizing hormone (LH-which starts ovulation), either in 1, 2, or 3 bars. Your 3 bar days are supposedly your peak fertility days and are days on which you should have sex.
We used the monitor from about May-October with no results. By then we started thinking about seeking medical advice. I already had my yearly exam scheduled in December, so I decided to bring it up then. I think the hardest thing to hear is "you've been pregnant before, so we know it can happen". That's all well and dandy, but doesn't make me feel better after months of nothing.
(Don't even get me started on what I hate hearing....that's a completely different entry)
At that appointment, we discussed the lack of progress and they had me come in for blood work. The blood work determined that I was not ovulating (still trying to figure out if it's possible to get a positive reading on the fertility monitor but not actually ovulate). As not so great as that was, it actually made me feel a little bit better. I feel like I finally had some small reason for why things weren't working and a place to start from in trying to fix it.
Because I am not ovulating I was prescribed a medication called Clomid. This is a medication that induces ovulation. Fun little fact: Clomid has been around since the 60s and originally they thought they might use it as a contraceptive since it has some anti-estrogen properties! Clomid is taken for 5 days on days 5-10 of the menstrual cycle for no more than 6 cycles. I started on the 50 mg dose. On day 21 my doctor does blood work to see if I ovulated. I have been on the 50 mg dose for 3 months (Jan, Feb, March). Because there have been no results, they have increased me to 100mg. Joel has also been in to be tested. Other than one tiny dip, his results were all completely normal.
I've been a little frustrated about the decision to up the dose to 100 mg. I'm not sure that this is the best route for us to go. The Clomid caused me to ovulate on the 50 mg. It seems to me if I am not getting pregnant, we need to start looking at other things. In order to get a second opinion and learn a little bit more about our options, Joel and I have a consultation tomorrow at a fertility clinic. I'm looking forward to the chance to get more information and possibly start moving on a more productive path!
That brings us to the present (yay for no more flashback stories). I'll keep you all updated as things happen or as I feel the need to talk!
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