Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Let's talk about cervical mucus

I find myself talking an awful lot about my cervical mucus these days. Even with friends who don't have kids and are only minimally interested in doing so. When I'm talking with friends who are having fertility issues about cervical mucus? Oh, we could go on for half an hour.

About a mucus. That comes out of our vaginas.

Because let me tell you something about my cervical mucus. It went on a hiatus or something. Pre-birth control, I had plenty. Too much, even. And I'm talking about the "fertile" stuff -- the egg white stuff. Before I knew what this stuff was, I had a kind of "What in holy hell is this crap?" attitude about the sticky goo that presented itself for a few days every month and then just as mysteriously disappeared.

Post birth control, I was seeing a tiny teensy weensy bit maybe one day out of the month, and not for the whole day. I'm not blaming birth control. I have no idea why this happened. I am older and fatter, which probably doesn't help.

But!

Since I started taking the many, many supplements I take every day, as recommended by Making Babies? I'm seeing more fertile cervical mucus. Not like it used to be, yet, but definitely more. I like that. I like that I can see a direct positive result coming from all this crazy junk I do every day to help improve my fertility.

And actually, that's not the only positive result. My skin seems clearer, my hair and nails are growing very fast, and I have more energy. Also, my last period was less painful than usual.

If you're curious what exactly I'm taking every day, here's what I do: Three times a day I take a New Chapter Organics prenatal pill. Twice a day I take a New Chapter B-complex pill. Twice a day I drink 8 ounces of water with 18 drops of chlorophyll in it. Three times a day I take two flax oil capsules. Once a day I take a baby aspirin. Once a day I drink a mug of green tea, and once a day I drink a mug of red raspberry leaf tea. When I ovulate, I'll begin taking chaste tree berry.


I have a couple of friends who suggested I post about how much money I've spent on my home fertility treatments so far. So I gathered all my stuff and put it on the kitchen counter and took this picture. This photo doesn't include a few books I've downloaded and read on my Kindle. A ballpark estimate of all this stuff is probably somewhere around $500. It's a little cuckoo. And I'm done buying new stuff, unless it's refills for the supplements that I think are actually helping me. Or if I determine that acupuncture would help. So basically I'm gonna keep spending money.

Now. To segue to The Machine. The update on The Machine is that it's Day 14 and it's telling me I haven't reached peak fertility yet. Which I would not have anticipated. This means I might reach peak fertility tomorrow, putting ovulation on Day 16 or 17, which is a bit later than I thought it was happening. So, I may have been wrong about The Machine. Maybe The Machine knows what it's talking about. Also - there's a possibility I'm not going to ovulate this month. Supposedly The Machine will not indicate a peak fertile day if you don't ovulate. Which would be helpful information to have. More info to follow next week...

15 comments:

  1. So THAT's what that stuff was! Honestly, I had no idea.

    I'm too old to worry about this stuff anymore. :-) And I'm okay with that.

    Good luck!!

    Pearl

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  2. Had you been using OPKs? If so, how do the machine results compare?

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  3. Pearl - thank you, and HA! :-)

    ErinW - I was using OPKs and they were telling me my LH was surging around Day 13, compared to what the machine is telling me, which is Day 15. Granted, I think this month is different than previous months in that I believe I AM ovulating later. My temperature hasn't gone up yet, so I haven't ovulated, whereas in previous months I got a temperature spike around Day 14. So, the jury's still out.

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  4. I never thought I would be jealous of cervical mucus. I so am. Maybe I need to switch the type of prenatals I am taking...

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  5. now that you mention it, i remember getting that stupid egg white stuff too. but i don't remember the last time i saw it. which is unfortunate.

    did i mention i hate getting older...?

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  6. Libby - the prenatals I take are from whole foods and I really feel like they "work" better than pills I've tried in the past. Might be worth a shot! I feel like flax oil or fish oil are a definite must, too, plus staying hydrated.

    TILTE - Yeahhhhh. It's supposed to show up right before you ovulate, so like Day 12-13ish? Being old has been a major bummer, so far. I mean, KFed is on his fifth kid and I haven't even managed to have one. How the hell is that fair?

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  7. don't EVEN get me started on what's fair when it comes to certain people who can have kids while others can't.

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  8. oye, im sorry this seems like a job in iteself, just remembering when to take what. like you need a damn chart!

    btw thanks for the pizza recc. i dont get down to the sj area too much, but when i do, it will be on my list! (i keep a food list in my blackberry by city :) im a nerd)

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  9. hahah...$500 seems about right. Isn't it crazy how much we spend on something that our whole life we thought would just come "naturally." "Naturally" my ass.

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  10. Holly - I know, there are lots of places I want to try in the north bay but I rarely make it up there...

    Mary - Believe me, I thought this was going to be a piece of cake. I really spent many years thinking I was extremely fertile, only to find out: Not so much!

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  11. I priced one of those machines the other day. Yeah no, out of my range right now. Can you buy one used? Is it safe to buy a used one?

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  12. Leslie - I'm not sure if you can get those used or if you'd really want to... They test pee sticks, so they do essentially come in contact with urine.

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  13. The title of this post was enough to convince John that he didn't want to read anymore. :)

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