Monday, February 25, 2013

Starting from scratch.... sort of

I'm on my last bottle of Fertil Plus... as a matter of fact, I only have about a week's supply left.

I am learning from my mistakes again. I think that because the last time I got pregnant with Fertil Plus, after just taking 3 bottles, I kind of assumed that all I would need this month, was another 4 month supply, like I'd bought before. 

I hadn't factored in the fact that stress puts a HUGE damper on TTC, and my husband and I definitely experienced that, this time around.  We got into a couple of really good arguments - right around the time I was ovulating, and I felt like any chance I had of maintaining a pregnancy just went right out the window. 

The first and second months I was on Fertil Plus, I didn't mind that I didn't get pregnant, because I had just started TTC again and wanted to give my eggs a few more months to get as healthy as they could be.

But then on the third month, I was getting anxious. I felt SO ready to conceive, I was SURE I was going to get pregnant in December. My hormones were going nuts, I could feel strong mittelschmerz on both sides of my ovaries. I may have even conceived, but due to stress, or my husband not taking care of himself regularly, I wasn't able to maintain the pregnancy. Or maybe I just didn't time it right, who knows. But my boobs sure did feel big! (Btw that is one benefit of Fertil Plus... I don't know if it's because I was getting pregnant for a few weeks or what, but my boobs never looked and felt so great).

In the new year, after being pretty disappointed that I didn't get pregnant in December, when I felt soooo healthy and fertile, I went through a couple of months of feeling like, "screw it." It's not that I wasn't trying at ALL, but I was indulging in things I hadn't, the last time around. For example, a few times I'd let myself go out and have a margarita, or drink a cup of coffee, or a couple of beers. I ate more junk food, and less healthy food, and wasn't nearly as good about drinking water regularly.  "If it's going to happen, it'll happen." I told myself. 

But I was kind of in denial. The fact is, I really do want to have a baby. So, this time around, I'm going to make more of an effort to EXACTLY DUPLICATE the things I was doing when I got pregnant the first time. 

I started my period early this month because I got so bad about taking my Fertil Plus for a few days, it started on the 23rd (my last period was on the 29th). Just a 27 day cycle, which is WEIRD for me. I think that may be the shortest cycle I've ever had in my life. If anything, I usually have long cycles. But when I take Fertil Plus regularly, my period is like CLOCKWORK. So I know it was me not taking it regularly, that screwed things up. 

One thing I hadn't done this time around, was keep a checklist. Yes, when I'd gotten pregnant, I'd literally been using a checklist to make sure I was taking my Fertil Plus at the right time of day (8am, 3pm, 10pm), and doing other things like taking fertile CM, maca, oil of evening primrose, drinking enough water, avoiding caffeine, going running, etc..  Unfortunately I had it stored in an excel spreadsheet and for the life of me can't figure out what I did with it, so I may have to make a new one. 

Also, I got into the habit of drinking Neuro the first thing in the morning (sometimes I'll even have two... or maybe even also have a Visalus "Go" or Coffee).  But when I'd gotten pregnant I wasn't doing that. I'd only drink one Neuro in the afternoon, and that was IT for my caffeine intake for the day. If I went to Starbucks, I had a Vanilla Ruibos tea, not coffee (not even DECAF). 

I was also going running EVERY DAY, in the morning, as soon as I woke up. I was really good about this. And then I'd either have 9 grain cereal for breakfast, or a big bowl of fruit and granola, and decaf green tea. This morning I had 9 grain cereal, and then had a vegetable smoothie for lunch. And I finally bought more Pumpkin seeds (I'd run out a few months ago) and ground them up, and also ground up some flaxseed, and mixed them together, and added it to my smoothie (about 1/8 cup). Yay for me : )

I always wondered if exercise was a good contributing factor to my pregnancy. I used to have this boss, whom I'll call Leila, who was 39 and went through a few unsuccessful rounds of IVF and was ready to give up hope. She and her husband decided to take a break. During the IVF she cut back on her running somewhat and had switched to walking, but then when she decided to take a break, she started running again and BAM, Leila was pregnant. I know, it's true, you hear all kinds of stories about women who get pregnant right after they stop doing IVF. But I always wondered about the exercise... maybe it really helps!

Here is a bit of an article I'd like to share, showing how exercise affects fertility: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/pregnancy/fertility/how-exercise-affects-fertility/?page=2

"...for sedentary women the subtle physiological changes that come from increasing exercise can benefit their odds of conceiving. Exercise improves metabolism and circulation, both of which contribute to better egg production. Regular activity also optimizes your reproductive system by stimulating the endocrine glands, which secrete hormones that help eggs grow. Plus, getting your sweat on is a known stress reliever -- a good thing, because stress significantly decreased the probability of conception in one study."

Reading this makes me feel really good about exercising again. I will admit, I was REALLY bad at it, for the last 3 months (I'd exercise for a day or a week, and then suddenly stop for several weeks). I know it had a lot to do with my back pain. I was so sick of having terrible back pain (it was really, really bad in December, when I was doing a ton of fertility stuff). So in a way I was just relieved to not be feeling any pain anymore. It seemed like my back problems got worse when I went running, and also when I increased the things that enhanced my fertility, like eating yams. So there was a part of me that just wanted to say, screw it! I'm not doing any of this stuff anymore. 

But now I'm thinking, oh stop being such a baby. I can deal with a little back pain for a little while. Yeah, it's not fun to have back pain, but it's not like it was debilitating, either. So, I ran about 3 miles a day, for the last 2 days, and although my body is pretty sore, I feel pretty good about myself. 

Another thing I'm going to do this time around is make an effort to keep my husband happy and make sure he's in a great mood. I notice that there is a HUGE difference in his attitude and  his mood, when he comes home to a clean house. We've gotten into arguments about housecleaning (90 percent of it seems to fall on me). But when he comes home to a clean house, he is almost ALWAYS in a good mood. And when your Man is in a good mood, he's more likely to be IN the mood, if you know what I mean!!!

I'm also going to make more of an effort to make him smoothies in the morning, and put his Visalus vitamins in them. He stopped taking his vitamins because he felt healthy enough with just the shakes, and didn't like taking large pills. But I could tell a difference. The Visalus vitamins used to put him in SUCH a great mood! And I can't help thinking they also increased his fertility. So, what I do is I pound up the vitamins (and cut open the white one) and put it all in his shakes, along with CoQ10. I've been doing this on and off for a few months, but am going to add it to the checklist and make sure it gets done DAILY!

OK I need to get back to work. I gotta clean the house before my hubby gets home : )

EB