CD 18 - 3 DPO! (cycle day 18 - 3 days past ovulation)

Wahoo! FertilityFriend confirmed ovulation on CD 15 (Tuesday), but the crosshairs on my chart are dashed, i.e., "a dashed crosshair means that your fertility signs are somehow in conflict." Ugh! I wish I could just know the exact day! At least I'm relatively certain that it's happened within the last three days... If you know about charting, please take a look at my chart and send me a comment if you have any insight for me!

So, I'm officially in the 2WW (2 week wait)! YAY! (On average a woman needs to wait two weeks after ovulation before obtaining a positive pregnancy test if conception has occurred.)

CD 16 (cycle day 16)

This is so cool! I think I am feeling ovulation pain for the first time! I think maybe I've noticed before... but didn't know what it was. I think I may have thought it was bad gas. :) teehee... It's pretty exciting to recognize it. I feel it all the way on the right side of my abdomen, maybe two inches from my hip bone. I'm pretty sure my ovary is there! Here's what Cindy on one of my online groups said:

I always felt it anywhere from 3-5 days prior to O. I've also heard that you can feel O pain on the opposite side from which you're O-ing or always feel it on one side even though your ovaries are alternating O-ing each month... yet again, our bodies are so wacky, lol :) They say that some people don't feel it as well... cooky, huh?

Yes, Cindy, incredibly cooky! And an article from FertiltyFriend:

Ovulation Pain: Also known as mittelschmertz , which means "middle pain" it refers to a slight pain that you may feel near your abdomen or ovary at the time of ovulation. It does not necessarily occur at the exact time of ovulation and not everyone feels ovulation. As such, ovulation pain is useful to cross-check other signs, but cannot be used to definitively confirm or pinpoint ovulation. Also, it is very difficult to know if the pain you feel in your abdomen mid-cycle is related in any way to ovulation or your fertility. Other pains are often mistaken for ovulation pain. It is still useful to record, even if you are unsure if it is related to your fertility. As you become more in tune with your fertility signs, it will become easier to recognize ovulation pain if you experience it. Women who have never noticed ovulation pain often begin to notice it when they begin to chart their fertility signs.

also...

I felt ovulation pain before ovulation is detected on my chart. Should I change the ovulation date?

When you feel ovulation pain (not everyone does) you can feel it before, during or even just after ovulation, and many other kinds of cramps or twinges can be mistaken for it, so it is not a good indicator for pinpointing ovulation on a particular day. It provides an additional clue, like other secondary fertility signs. Ovulation pain can not be used as a primary indicator for pinpointing ovulation. It is best to look at all signs and the "big picture" when interpreting your chart.

So I really believe ovulation is around the corner! :-D

In Memoriam

Rebekah Grace (2/10/07) & Jacob Nathaniel (2/13/07)... twins that God took from our cousin at just 20 weeks along... So sweet and perfect lil' angels.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed [a] in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
~ Ecclesiastes 11:5

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
~ Isaiah 55:8-9

CD 14 (cycle day 14)

A change to note this cycle... (TMI ahead:) I have noticed a significant improvement in the quality (and quantity) of my cervical mucus. I attribute this to the evening primrose oil. I've been taking it morning and evening, 2000 mg per day. "Fern" shapes are changing in my saliva. I think ovulation day is approaching!

CD 11 (cycle day 11) - The Due Date

This week was our "due week" of our angel we lost in July. The actual original due date was 2/11/07 (this Sunday). It's surreal to imagine that we could be home with our tiny one already, or anxiously awaiting her arrival. I have heard that the anniversary of the miscarriage ends up being more difficult to face than the actual due date, which I think may be the case for me as well. I have prayed that God will bless us with a baby in His proper timing. Unfortunately the weeks surrounding February 11 just wasn't that time. I so wanted to be pregnant again before this date to help ease or erase any added anxiety of losing the baby, but I recognize that it wasn't necessary. God has protected us and our emotions, and the life of our unborn child who most likely would not have had a healthy or favorable quality of life had it lived even a short time.