Ovulation Tracking - Week 6 (Period begins)

Well this week of testing was kind of sucky. First three days I was still menstruating. My period ran like it used to, 5 days. Day 1 was light, 2 & 3 were medium-heavy and 4 & 5 were light again.

I skipped a day of testing every other day after my period. For no other reason that I didn't set the alarm property and kept forgetting.

Ovulation Tracking - Week 5

I think I jinxed myself with my last post when I talked about not having a period, because this week, Aunt Flo came to town!

It started with a little spotting the night of May 11, nothing that I was too worried about. On the morning of May 12 I didn't have too many issues but by later that day, oh my god the cramping! It made sleeping that night difficult (even with meds) and the following day and night as well.

It wasn't anything more than I remember from before implanon, so it was expected, but the medication I used in Australia (Ponstan aka mefenamic acid) is only available by prescription here and I didn't see a doctor to get any (I did ask my ObGyn when I got my rod out but she wanted me to try the normal stuff first). None of the other meds helped (Tylenol, Aleve, Ibuprofen) so I'm hoping to see the doc before next month to get some Ponstel (that's what it's called here).

Anyway, I expect this to last about 5 days so May 16 should be my last day. May 12 is my "cycle day 1" and my app says I'm expecting I should ovulate around the 25th. Time will tell!

Ovulation Tracking - Week 4

Week 4 is over and all negative. Day 1 is left over from ovulating which is why it's a little darker than the rest (but still not as dark as the previous day).

Initially I had intended to stop testing now (only testing for 28 days) but on speaking with my husband, we decided to at least test until I ovulate again (and a few days after) to get the best idea of the cycle because I have yet to have a period.

If I do end up having a period between now and when i next ovulate (predicted in 8 days according to my app) then I'll still continue to when I ovulate so that I can have a better idea of my cycle length.

Ovulation Tracking - Week 3 (Positive OPK)

Well! After the drama of Day 1 of Week 2 (April 16th) and not being sure whether I ovulated or not, I now know for sure that I DID ovulate this week on Day 7!

It's really obvious (now that I've seen it) that the previous result was definitely not a positive BUT it definitely indicated something (a surge but perhaps not ovulation) because the symptoms from my day of ovulation on the 29th were very similar to the 16th, bar one major difference, painful ovaries... And my word was my left one sore on that day! It twinged while walking and I had a bath and took some ibuprofen before bed. It definitely reminds me of what pain I'm in for when I have my period (I always have a painful first day).

So, mark your calendars (okay well I will) approximately 2 weeks from that date, we're hoping to start my period (and I haven't hoped for that ever before!). This should indicate that the implanon hormones are definitely out of my system. Just seeing the positive OPK gives me hope that conceiving won't be the mammoth task I've convinced myself it will be.

Yay!

Ovulation Tracking - Week 2

Week 2 of tracking is over as you can see from the photo below. I'm getting worse at taking the test on time. I have an alarm set but I just don't need to go and get distracted...

I've been doing some reading about the different ways to use OPK's (blog post to come) and some people test more than once a day (say mid-morning and mid-afternoon) but I'm only testing once a day. I mention that now because as you can see from Day 1, it looks like I had either ovulated and was on the way down, or on my way up (it's not 100% the same or darker), especially when you remember that just the day before the line was darker than usual (but not like this).

Some people would start testing many times that day (and the day prior), looking for the peak, but because we're not actually "trying" yet, I simply marked this date on my calendar and expected to see my period around 2 weeks later.

My symptoms for around that day (which I didn't really think were symptoms but wrote down anyway once I saw this line) were:

• April 15, 2014 - Bloated, nauseous, painful stomach (unable to solve with Gas-X), moodiness
• April 16, 2014 - still bloated in the morning and mildly moody. Took gas-x and felt better in the afternoon

I actually thought perhaps I was getting sick. I also wondered whether it was because I hadn't really eaten very well that day (I forgot breakfast).

Ovulation Tracking - Week 1

This is my very first week testing ovulation. I'm relatively certain all of these are negative, although Day 7 does appear to be darker than the others. I won't feel "sure" until I get my first period and after I've done an entire month so know what to expect... so time will tell!

Implanon Removed!

Implanon

On March 7, 2014 I had my Implanon birth control rod removed. For those that don't know, it's a small rod that contains progesterone which is inserted under the skin of the upper arm.

I'm not having it removed for conception purposes (yet), I'm having it removed for weight loss reasons, to give my body time to normalise in time for when we ARE ready to try for children, and also so I have an idea of what my cycles are like now and hopefully increase our chances of conceiving relatively quickly.

I've had two (2) rods, starting with the first in July 2009, and it's replacement in September 2012. They're "good" for 3 years and while leaving it in a little longer doesn't hurt you (I've read some people just leave them in forever!), your chances of accidentally getting pregnant are increased.

My symptoms with the rod have been pretty good (I think) compared to some of the stories I've read. I haven't had a full period since I had it put in (a light one about a month in then nothing except some light spotting after the changeover). I've LOVED not having a period. No pain. It's been great in that regard. No pregnancy scares except at the change over (which I will explain again later).

The bad is I've gained a LOT of weight. How much is the rod and how much is lifestyle change (got married, moved to another country etc) I'll never know but I simply cannot shift the weight with it in. It's so disheartening to exercise, eat right, track calories and all that jazz and instead gain weight! A lot of people report the same thing. Gaining weight and it being next to impossible to shift. I have successfully lost weight PRIOR to getting the rod so I know that it's possible for me, and I know how to do it right (well I did... maybe my old body needs something else now), but it's just been going up and up and though I noticed it, I didn't really worry about it too much because at least I wasn't pregnant or having a period or worrying about taking the pill at the right time.

The doctor wasn't too impressed with where it was (it was pretty high up and curved downward) and when she was pressing down on it to get a good feel for where it is/was it started to ache, which I told her. She told me it was going to hurt a bit when she took it out because she was going to have to push it (great!).

She gave me the local, swabbed with the brown stuff, poked me to make sure I was numb and then made the cut and fiddled around until she got it out (maybe 5 mins or so). She put a steri-strip on it, a sticky bandage pad thing and then wrapped it in a bandage. I had to wait 24 hours before I could get it wet and if i got it wet I need to change the bandage pad and put a bandaid on it.

And now that's it!

I've yet to have a period and I have no idea when it will come. Some people report getting pregnant as soon as it is removed, others that it took them several months, even a year plus. This is why I've got it out now. While I'd love to be one who was able to get pregnant immediately, I'm not sure I would be, so it's out now and we're using barrier methods of birth control in the interim.

Now to track my ovulation!