I'm officially three days late,
and 5 HPT's later I think it's sinking in...

OK - the long and gory details...

I was on BCP's for 10 years when
we decided to have our 1st - it took 3
months & I was pg (I was 25).
Around the time my dd turned 4, we
started trying again - that was
September '99. 4 months of using OPK's,
NOTHING. The OPK's were turning
+ on cd11. Well, I thought that was
odd, since with dd I'd o'd on cd18
(temps confirmed). So in January I
started temping, and I was o-ing on
cd17-18, like I did before. But I
noticed that my LP was about 10 days,
and after finding this board, I
figured the short lp was the problem.
Sooo, after a couple of months I
tried vitex, which did make lp 13 days.
Meanwhile, I'd scheduled my
annual pap with dr, and I took 4 months
of charts in to show him what
was going on. He said, "Yep, short lp,
let's try Clomid next cycle".
So I stopped the vitex and waited until
cycle #5, and took the Clomid
with HIGH HIGH hopes. I took 100mg cd5-9.
No side effects to speak of,
and I just expected it to work - well,
when AF showed up, I cried and
cried. Also, almost every single
one of my cb's had gotten pg that
month or the one before,
and I was SOOOOO depressed.
Mom, DH and dr told me to RELAX,
that I was so stressed
out that ttc was consuming my
life, and it was. So I told the board
I was taking a break, and we had
two vacations planned, so I put the
thermometer & BBT chart away, took
my second round of Clomid, and just figured
I'd see what happened. I
did take 3000mg EPO cd1-o, and 2 tsp Robi
twice a day cd10 - o. We dtd
on cd 10, 13, 15, 17, 19. I'm pretty sure
I o'd on cd17, like usual - I
had LOTS of cramping that was gone on cd18.
Anyway, we were on a
camping vacation when I guess
I must have conceived - we're talking
PRIMITIVE conditions!
No pillow under my butt,
nothing - just having fun
in the woods!

For the last 7 months I have had
EVERY symptom imaginable, and not been
pg. So this month, I REFUSED to
pay attention to how I was feeling.
Looking back I think the only thing
that was weird was that I was
burping a lot, like indigestion, and
had some twingy cramps on my left
side (still do sometimes) which I
thought might be AF coming on. When
we got back from vacation, I took my
temps just to see - and they stayed
around 98.6. My cp was high, soft,
and lots of clear or lotiony CM.
When I was one day late
(which I hadn't been EVER)
I suspected, but I
was SOOOOOOO scared to test, because
I didn't think I could handle
another --. So I waited until 15dpo
(2 days late) to test. 1 minute
after peeing on the stick - nothing.
I nearly started crying right
then. Two minutes - faint FAINT hallucination
of a line. I just knew I
was seeing things, because I wanted it so badly,
but I went running into
the kitchen where dh was making lunch & said,
"What do you see?????" He
said, "Well, there's something there." As we
continued to check on it,
it got a little more defined, a little darker,
and at 10 minutes there
was a light but definite line. I kept
looking at it, waiting for it to
disappear! Just to be DOUBLE sure, I took
another test - same thing.
Then three more - same thing. Wooohoooo!!!!
I was jumping around the
house like I'd won the lottery!!!

So to Clomid users, to those with LPD, and to
those who've been told to
"just relax and take a break" - what can I say!
It worked for me, I PRAY
that it will work for you. This board
is a WEALTH of information and
friends - it has helped me more that
I can even begin to say.

I have a dr appt July 31 - can't wait to
see dr's face, and I know he's
going to say "I told you so"!
I BAWLED in his office last month, scared
the heck out of his new intern who thought
I was having a breakdown! He
had to stop dictation to pull me aside,
give me a hug, and tell me.
"I've never lied to you before -
it just might take some time, but it
will happen." He was right,
and he's going to get SOOO much
satisfaction out of telling me so!

God Bless, and +++++++++++++++thoughts to you all!
Marissa & Minime, edd 3-22-01
(#2), cy#7, #2Clomid 100mg5-9

Hi Momma Kath,

It's been a very long time but I
decided to come and tell you that I did it!!!!
We are pg!!!!!!!
Tested the 18th(night)
and couldn't believe it
so tested again the 19th(morning)
After trying for more than 5 years
it finally paid off!!!!
Last periods the 15th to the 17th June
2 test +++++++

corinea and dh
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Posted By: Meme, edd#2 (2/22/01)
Wednesday, 14 June 2000, at 5:46 a.m.
The Details At Long Last (m)
I've probably posted all of this before at some point,
but here goes again.

We started ttc'ing for the first way back in 1995.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis by my gyn and
since I wanted to get pg, she referred me to an re.
He did an u/s and diagnosed polycystic ovaries -
but not pcos.
I did some reading and realized that I did, in fact,
have most of the symptoms of pcos. Anyway, he put me
on clomid 50mg, but nothing happened. In hindsight,
I probably did o, but since he never bothered to tell me
about BBT charts, I have no idea. After 2 rounds of clomid
and a car wreck 'cause it made me feel very spacey,
I gave up on the clomid. Oh, yeah, the re said
I'd ovulate on my own if I weighed 125.
Well, I'm 5'8" and up until about 1993,
I weighed around 150 and wore a size 8.
The lowest I've been is 135 after I had
mono for two months and I looked terrible.
If I weighed 125, I wouldn't ovulated
from being underweight!
Anyway, ditched that guy.

DH and I continued to ttc w/out any medical help.
No success and I was only have af about 3-4 times a
year. Finally, in August 1997 I heard about the
Zone Diet and tried it. I lost 19 pounds in about 3 months.
I had af in August, but nothing after that. In January 1998,
I started being awakened at night by sore bbs and
craving rootbeer. On a lark, I took an HPT.
Low and behold, it was positive!!!
So I took about 3 more, then had to have a bloodtest
to be sure. Turned out I was about 9 wks or so
when I found out. I got pg on about cd110!

At about 7 months, I decided my ob and I weren't going
to have a pleasant relationship. I wanted natural
childbirth w/no episiotomy or epidural. He told me
natural childbirth was Indians squatting in the field.
Ditched him for my new ob who I absolutely adore!
Had uneventful pg up until about 8 months when I
started having lots of contractions and was about 3 cm dilated.
I was working like 100 hrs a week for over 2
wks. Anyway, after my trial was over, bedrest and
magnesium gluconate. DS was born 8/16/98 - 2wks early.

Breastfed for 7 months, then decided to wait a while
before trying again. Started ttc'ing again in August.
My dr put me on glucophage 850mgx3/day. It made me very sick,
so I backed off to just 2 a day. Lost about 11
pounds or so. I started charting in August too.
We started ttc'ing seriously the next month after af came.
I was definitely o'ing on the glucophage,
but nothing was happening.
I wasn't o'ing until cd23-25. I did take
B6 for 2 cycles and it lengthened LP
by a day or so to 12.

I finally decided in April to add some herbs.
Tried vitex and had an u/s that month.
U/S showed definitely pcos with about 7-9 cysts per ovary,
but my ovaries weren't enlarged.
Stopped taking vitex after I read it only
increases LH surge -
which I definitely don't need with pcos!

In May, I took clomid. And I got really sick
with sinus infection. That caused me to lose
about 7-8 pounds right before ovulation.
On cd11, u/s showed smaller follicles and
enlarged ovaries. My dr suggested ovarian drilling
and no more clomid. He didn't expect me to ovulate in May.
He also upped my gluco to the 850mg/3xday.
I started that immediately.

I finally ovulated on May 29th - cd28.
I didn't really have any symptoms early on
like I've had the past few months.
No nausea, sore bbs or anything.
However, around 3dpo I started craving
rootbeer and pickles and watermelon.
I even considered eating pickles with icecream!
Up until now, that sounded really gross.
Pg does weird things!
I also had gassy cramps about 3dpo.
In the next couple of days, I had a backache
which is very rare and sharp pulling cramps.
I've continued to have some cramping around my
sides and back, as well as right below belly button.

I took hpt on 11dpo and it was negative.
At least, the line didn't show dark enough
for me to see w/out holding it up to the light.
I tested again on 13dpo with Confirm (same as before)
and it turned dark. Tested two more times
with Confirm on 14dpo. The lines didn't turn right away
and I got really depressed. When I held them up to the light,
though, you could see the faint lines. I think it was
just the test. I went and bought a First Response
and it turned pink right away. That was all on 14dpo.

Called my dr and he ordered beta hcg and progesterone.
Got those back yesterday.
HCG was 116 and progesterone 18.7.
Progesterone was kind of low, so I'm on prometrium
for a while.

No nausea yet, and my bbs are just now
starting to get a little bigger.
Oh yeah, I have very fair skin and you can see my veins,
but they are showing up more so than usual. My nipples
have gotten a little darker and larger.
And I have to pee like every 10 minutes!!!!

That's about it. Sorry it was so long.
I can't think of anything special we did this month.
I guess I attribute getting pg to upping the gluco,
losing some weight and taking the clomid.
Though I'm not sure how much the clomid really helped.
It made me o several days later than usual.

I want to thank all of you for your support and friendship
these past few months. When I found this site,
I knew very little about ttc'ing. I've since learned
a lot more. Thank you for being here through my obsessing
and whining and griping. You ladies have been a
HUGE help to me and I truly appreciate it.

I hope that those of you with pcos will take hope
from my 2 successes.
It is beatable!

Best wishes to all of you and I hope to see you all
very soon on the AB!!!!

Love,

Meme