The 'OFFICIAL' Ex Mirena Thread

[gardenofedens]

Congratulations Garden! I have been waiting for your exciting news! 32 weeks for us already!

yay! you found me!! how on earth did you find my post on here? lol. I was going to send you a message but thought it might be weird if you didn't remember me!

32 weeks!? That's amazing! What gender(s) are your beans? You must be getting so anxious - just a few more weeks from here!!

 

[gardenofedens]

@Panda - I'd been using the OPKs twice per day - the first one around 1-2:00pm, and the second around 8-9:00pm.

I temp at 6:15am *sharp* every single morning, scrupulously. I set my alarm... and if I don't stir quickly enough to grab the thermometer, my partner is shoving it in my mouth before I can move.

I had been staying at my other house (we rent an apartment, and have a house we bought as well. I kind of 'live' at both for now, until the house is finished and I feel like I can move in without the undue stress of working on it at the same time as living in it. I am generally at the apartment, but spent the weekend + Monday at the house this week), for all of those days... but still temping at the same time. I don't think that could have any bearing on things... could it?

I honestly kind of hope I DIDN'T ov yet, cause I never had any cm changes at all. And I check that several times per day. You know. Cause I'm an obsessive obsessor from obsessivesville. I'm the freaking *mayor* of obsessivesville in fact. AND! I didn't bd on Friday. I did on Thursday night, and Saturday night... but not on Friday. So I'll be all obsessive about that until I either get a bfp, +opk, or af.

Thanks for your insight. It's much appreciated.

Hey hun,

I agree with Panda - I think even though you didn't have ewcm or even watery cm, based on your temps I'd guess that you've ovulated. Some people have VERY short surges and will be negative at noon and positive at 1pm as crazy as that is. I had the opposite problem and had LONG surges 3-4 days long. With OH's low volume, he had nothing left by the time I actually ovulated so it was great when I was finally able to notice the patterns in my temps (after about 7-8 months!) and realize that I usually had 3-4 days of positives (finally this cycle) so I could properly time BDing and of course, the first cycle we were able to do that we got our bfp! And we didn't BD on ov day either - only the day before and the day after. Well, actually FF keeps going back and forth about the day that I ovulated. I think it was CD18 based on my temps and OPKs but FF keeps fluctuating between CD15 and CD18. In any case, we didn't BD on either of those days so don't stress that you didn't get the day spot on.

And this is your first cycle temping so try not to stress yet - the pattern really doesn't become clear until a few cycles in!

Lots of to you and everyone!

 

[OperationBbyO]

I'm going to have to break down and temp....arg!

 

[gardenofedens]

I'm going to have to break down and temp....arg!

If it's going to stress you out, don't. I know for many women I've spoke to over the past year, it only made them stress more. I found it calming as it let me know my body was "working". I'm also a science fan and thought it was absolutely fascinating, lol. So if you can use it as a learning experience to learn about your body, your cycle, and the patterns your specific body follow without stressing, it's great. If it's going to make you stress, don't do it.

Oh and don't bother symptom spotting....seriously. This cycle my bff and I both had ZERO symptoms and we got our bfps.

 

[babydreamers]

My temp charting seems to be a bit of a random number generator - I work shifts which probably doesnt help. Im undecided whether to keep going for another month or give up on it and just keep using OPK + CM.

 

[purplepanda]

Ginger- That looks like a good and proper temperature spike to me, and it seems pretty right-on with timing too... are you taking your OPKs first thing in the morning? Once a day? Some people have really short LH surges and CAN miss it completely if they only test once a day (I know, one more thing to obsess over, right??). Was there anything different about those days when you had higher temps- like, did you temp later than normal, or were you sick or not sleeping well?

Calasen- So sorry.

afm..... FINALLY got a + opk!!!!! I was in shock. And incredibly excited. AND we already had a donation lined up for that day (last one before going out of town), so the timing was perfect! Now to settle in for the dreaded 2WW. I'm having the hardest time not just assuming I'm pg already. Honestly, I think I'm most excited that my body is still doing regular cycles... I was getting awfully discouraged with all the neg OPKs. But at least I know where I am in my cycle now! What a relief!



to all!

@Panda - I'd been using the OPKs twice per day - the first one around 1-2:00pm, and the second around 8-9:00pm.

I temp at 6:15am *sharp* every single morning, scrupulously. I set my alarm... and if I don't stir quickly enough to grab the thermometer, my partner is shoving it in my mouth before I can move.

I had been staying at my other house (we rent an apartment, and have a house we bought as well. I kind of 'live' at both for now, until the house is finished and I feel like I can move in without the undue stress of working on it at the same time as living in it. I am generally at the apartment, but spent the weekend + Monday at the house this week), for all of those days... but still temping at the same time. I don't think that could have any bearing on things... could it?

I honestly kind of hope I DIDN'T ov yet, cause I never had any cm changes at all. And I check that several times per day. You know. Cause I'm an obsessive obsessor from obsessivesville. I'm the freaking *mayor* of obsessivesville in fact. AND! I didn't bd on Friday. I did on Thursday night, and Saturday night... but not on Friday. So I'll be all obsessive about that until I either get a bfp, +opk, or af.

Thanks for your insight. It's much appreciated.

And WOOO for +opk! YAY! Fingers crossed so hard for you!

@Calasen - I'm really sorry... hugs. But I hope you aren't feeling like *you're* a failure. You're not. It sucks and it's frustrating and sad that it's been so long for you... but you are NOT a failure. Reallyreally. Promise. More hugs!

Wow, yeah, sounds like you're doing everything right... In the absence of ANY other signs, my guess would be that ff got it wrong. I've heard of situations where they move the crosshairs later in the cycle. Keep doing what you're doing... GL!!!

 

[purplepanda]

*

Panda---woo for a + opk. None for me yet. I'm still wondering if my ovaries are broken. Now that the semester is over for both of us our new goal is to just relax in a routine of having sex every other day. I'm going to keep faithfully using my opks through the end of the year and then stop until AF shows up. I really hope nothing is broken. lol Good luck with your 2WW!!

Oh gosh hunni I TOTALLY know the feeling!! DH had to listen to me complain for days about how I was convinced my ovaries were broken! It's amazing how discouraging all those "mini bfp's" can be. I think my AF was masked by my withdrawal bleed... I didn't ov until cd18, and that's counting my first day of spotting as cd1! Keep going, you'll get yours too!!

 

[purplepanda]

My temp charting seems to be a bit of a random number generator - I work shifts which probably doesnt help. Im undecided whether to keep going for another month or give up on it and just keep using OPK + CM.

Ugh. Shifts. I've started discarding all my temps after work, which means I only get 4/week. Luckily I work 3 in a row so I can do that. They're still pretty crazy though. Fx'd I won't have to worry about it next month... GL to you!!

 

[gingerfaerie]

Aaaaand today's OPK was also negative, but darker than the ones yesterday. I dunno what's going on with my body. Gah! And my temp dropped this morning too. Dang it body, be not-weird!

 

[OperationBbyO]

I guess if I phrased it to myself in such a way that it was telling me how my body was working then it might not stress me out. At this point I'd find any sign that pointed to the fact that my ovaries were working as a relaxing thing. I think I'll wait until after I get my first real AF though because I can't begin to have the first clue about where I am in my cycle.

Back to voo dooing my ovaries this month! I hope that works!

 

[purplepanda]

Aaaaand today's OPK was also negative, but darker than the ones yesterday. I dunno what's going on with my body. Gah! And my temp dropped this morning too. Dang it body, be not-weird!

That doesn't sound weird... That sounds EXACTLY like what I was experiencing the week before my ov- dropped temps and a slowly darkening opk! Gooo ovaries!

 

[Calasen]

really trying not to get hopes up but I think the bleed I gad may have been implantation!!!!

 

[gardenofedens]

really trying not to get hopes up but I think the bleed I gad may have been implantation!!!!

That would be so great calasen! Fingers crossed for you!!

 

[babydreamers]

Aaaaand today's OPK was also negative, but darker than the ones yesterday. I dunno what's going on with my body. Gah! And my temp dropped this morning too. Dang it body, be not-weird!

I think that means your soon to ovulate! OPK may come positive and then you;ll get temp rise after the dip. Better get to it!

 

[babydreamers]

really trying not to get hopes up but I think the bleed I gad may have been implantation!!!!

Good luck with trying NOT to get excited Sounds very promising - have you had spotting like that in previous cycles?

 

[gingerfaerie]

@Calasen - Oh my gosh, I really hope it was implantation. My fingers are veryvery crossed for you.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. My temp dropped a lot this morning. Fertilityfriend took away my crosshairs too. It decided I didn't ov after all. I didn't think I did... but it's still frustrating, because now I don't have the 'well... maybe I did! woo! maybe tww!' thing. Now it's back to 'what the crap body! work damn you!'.

Hopefully you're all correct, and the opk continues to darken over the next few days. I know my cm has certainly gotten thicker! Not watery or ew at all, but there is more of it, and it's thicker than it was. C'mon ovaries... do your job... (that is being said to *all* of our ovaries, by the by. I think we should make Ovary Cheerleaders t-shirts or something. it'd be neat-o)

I'm gonna try to fit in extra BDing just-in-case... be we BD almost every day currently. So. We'll see. Fingers Firmly Crossed. For all of us!

 

[Calasen]

babydreamers - I don't spot honey and I certainly don't bleed this early in my cycle

I trying hard not to believe it until I can test weather I can hold out on that though is to be seen

 

[purplepanda]

Calasen- fingers FIRMLY CROSSED for you!!! Good luck not getting your hopes up. That would drive me bonkers.

Ginger- Just to warn you, my OPKs got lighter again before they got darker and finally +. So don't get too frustrated if (when) that happens. At least you know what CD you're on... OV can't be far now!

GO ovaries GO!

Quick note afm... Temping is making me nuts. I might just give up after this cycle. Even when I'm not working (on vacation) my temps are still all over the place... I keep watching for the temp rise/crosshairs to show up, but last night I took nyquil and slept soundly for the first time in MONTHS so my temp was lower when I woke up. UGH. Whatever, I'm sticking with assumption I ov'd on Monday or Tuesday.

 

[gingerfaerie]

@Panda - If temping is stressing you out, were I you, I'd totally stop. You're using OKPs, check your cm, and go with that. If things change for you at any point, you can always go back to temping again. Of course hopefully you'll get your bfp ever so quickly and won't need to worry with any of this stuff anyway!

I certainly HOPE ov is close. I'm chomping at the bit and driving myself batty! Thanks for telling me about the stupid opk getting lighter. If I hadn't known that before using one today I'd be ready to throw something at my ovaries. Or at least give them a Very Stern Talking To about acceptable behaviour. *nods*

So I was reading somewhere about OPKs working better with more concentrated urine? Has anyone heard of this?

Personally, I drink about a gallon and a half of water per day, plus several cups of herbal tea. I am extremely well hydrated. My current obsessive worry is that I drink so much water that my urine isn't concentrated enough, and therefore OPKs won't work properly for me.

Did... did I ever mention that I'm kind of an obsessive worrier? High strung, I think my partner likes to call me...

 

[gardenofedens]

lol, ginger you're hilarious. OPKs will show more accurately if your urine is concentrated but I'm with you and drink a TON. I still got very dark OPKs but part of that is that I have a pretty strong bladder so even with drinking at least a gallon of water per day, I only go to the restroom 3 or maybe 4 times per day so I'd wait until it had been a few hours and it was extra concentrated and then do one.

You can always go the smep route and BD every other day to cover all your bases and ensure there's enough 'fresh' swimmers to replenish between BDing. True SMEP is every other day from the last day of your period and then every day for three days once you have a positive OPK and then back to every other day. Seen lots of good results with it too.

@Panda - Don't temp if it's stressing you out - that defeats the purpose!

to all of you!

(On a side note, can I still post in here to support you guys?)