OMG... I'm actually PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!

I realize it has been a really long time since my last post, so it may have seemed like I gave up on the idea of having a baby... but I didn't! I just didn't have time to write out everything I've been doing lately... but I'll fill you in, in the next posts, exactly what I did (to give you the rundown, it boiled down to diet, exercise, decreased stress, Fertil Plus for Women, and Visalus Vitamins for me AND my husband... but I will talk about that in the next posts). And of course, a little luck, good timing, and a lot of blessings from up above must have played a part!

Yesterday I took a pregnancy test, and for the first time in my life, it came out positive (as you can see I'm one of those people who cuts the test strips into halves or thirds, to save money). Yes, the second line actually turned dark... and I mean, FAST. It turned dark so fast, I began shouting expletives. I was in shock... it truly seemed so surreal, it was hard to believe I wasn't dreaming! I can't tell you how many times, over the last 10 years, I've taken a pregnancy test, and... NOTHING. That second "test strip line" never even came close to turning pink. And suddenly, I could see it changing color (a dark purple) right before my eyes!

A close girl friend encouraged me to take a second test, so I went to Costco and bought an "Answer" brand test for about $7. I took the test right there in the Costco bathroom, and sure enough... Positive. And the "pregnancy" line looked even darker than the "constant" line (the one that always turns pink no matter what).

People, I AM FORTY THREE YEARS OLD (something about that number just SOUNDS so old to me... it was making me FEEL old!). I also have a tilted cervix. My hair (without haircolor) is about 75% gray. I was getting to the point where I truly thought I was getting so old, maybe a baby just wasn't in the cards for me. It was hard not to think about all the reasons why I might not be able to get pregnant at all! I smoked on and off in my 20's and 30's. I had taken several rounds of the drug Accutane in my teens and 20's, and was starting to suspect that it could have dried up my mucous membranes to the point where the only way I could get pregnant was to do IVF (which I'd concluded was a route I probably wouldn't take, even if I could afford it).

I began to identify with all the people who never had babies, and decided, life might not be so bad just because I don't give birth (luckily I do have two great step kids). I even spent a couple of hours on www.adoptuskids.org, earlier this week, and decided, that was the route for me in few years. I was bawling, watching the videos on the website, looking at all these kids who truly need homes (by the way, I haven't ruled out becoming a foster parent... no matter what happens with this pregnancy, it's something I would really like to do in the future, if I can get my husband on board too).

Well, I guess because I was so psyched about the idea of becoming a foster parent, that the positive pregnancy test kind of put me in shock. I just stared at the test strip and kept saying, No way... No WAY!!!! Holy ****!!!!

For the record, I believe the date of conception was on or around January 5th (at least, that's the date my OPK said I was ovulating... and the line on the test strip was DARK).

For the last 3 weeks, I haven't felt much in terms of "pregnancy symptoms" (though on Monday I did have a weird little bit of nausea - just a few seconds - around lunchtime but it could have been my imagination, or something I ate). Yeah, I was getting the big boobs around the last week of my cycle. But I can't tell you how many times that's happened, and my excitement about the possibility of being pregnant turns to disappointment as soon as my period arrives.

The reason I took a pregnancy test was because I was having a few other weird symptoms:

1) Fatigue. On Wednesday night I wanted to work late into the evening but ended up coming home and just wanting to sit on the couch, I was so tired (I thought maybe it was from cleaning all day, or because I went for an extra long run - about an hour, on hills). My lower back was really bothering me, and I had to get on my Back to Life machine to alleviate some of the pressure. I realize, most of my fatigue did probably come from the long run and from cleaning all day, but it just seemed like I was extra tired. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch with my stepkids and watch TV!

2) Diarrhea. On Wed. and Thurs., I woke up with terrible diarrhea. I suspected something must be up, because the only time I've ever had diarrhea first thing in the morning, is if I'm violently ill, with a bad cold or the flu, etc.. But I felt pretty good, and hadn't eaten anything that should give me the runs!I googled it and discovered that even though it's not common (constipation is actually much more common), there were quite a few women who DID experience diarrhea, early on in their pregnancies (apparently some womens' bodies have that reaction to the increased levels of progesterone). You can see the discussion here:

http://www.babycenter.com/400_is-diarrhea-a-normal-symptom-of-early-pregnancy_860275_923.bc

3) Discharge. It seemed like there was an unusual amount of discharge on my undies a few days ago (I could tell because the undies were purple, not white). I looked it up, and sure enough, I guess that's a sign of conception. http://www.babycenter.com/0_vaginal-discharge-during-pregnancy_270.bc

4) Change in my body temperature. This is not actually something I noticed myself, but my husband commented, when we were having sex on Wednesday: "Wow... you're really warm! (down there)!!" I didn't make the connection that it could be a "symptom" of pregnancy until I found out I was pregnant, but now I am thinking that must have had something to do with it!

5) No pain with orgasm. Let me explain this one. For the last few years, I've had an issue with cramping after orgasm (it's gotten better since I've taken Visalus, but it's still there to some degree). This doesn't tend to occur during the first 3 weeks of my cycle, but one way I can tell my period is about to hit, is, if I have an orgasm that is accompanied by painful cramps, i know menstruation is on its way. Well, about a week ago, I had an orgasm and could feel a little bit of that pain coming on, so I figured my period was just around the corner. But when I had an orgasm two nights ago, and felt NO PAIN whatsoever, it seemed odd. Wasn't my period supposed to be around the corner? I always figured that pain must come from blood that is about to be released... so where did all that blood GO? Did it somehow disperse, or find something better to do than flood down the exit door of my cervix, as it always did on the fourth week of my cycle? I would say this was, more than anything, the biggest reason I was suspicious that I might be pregnant.

I am trying to be realistic about this pregnancy, in that, I realize, at my age, it may not actually "stick." All of my girl friends who have gotten pregnant over the age of 35 had a miscarriage on the first try. So without being pessimistic or negative, I want to keep a realistic outlook on the situation, and do everything I can to stay healthy and give this little embryo the best chance it can have! If it turns out to be a full term pregnancy, I will consider myself truly blessed (I already do consider myself really blessed, just for being able to GET pregnant!). If it doesn't, at the very least I will know I CAN get pregnant! But I'm going to do everything I can to ensure this is a healthy pregnancy. I've already gone and bought tons of healthy food from Costco: Salad mix (dark green spring mix plus an iceberg mix), organic baby bell peppers, baby carrots, bananas. I'm going to be a salad eating machine!!!

Stay tuned for my next post to see the things I did to help me finally get pregnant!

Fertili-Tea cured my Athlete's Foot!

I just had to share this. I swear to God, Fertili-tea cured my athlete's foot.

I've struggled on and off with a nasty case of athlete's foot since I was about 27. It happened when I biked to work and didn't use slippers when I used the company "locker room" shower. I couldn't figure out why my foot was so itchy all of a sudden, and then my boyfriend broke the news to me: I had athlete's foot.

I've tried different creams and sprays over the years, and it just seemed to keep coming back. I should mention here, though, that it does seem to get worse when I ingest too much sugar and/or yeast... like donuts.

But I discovered - by accident (as is usually the case for my best discoveries) - that Fertili-Tea - the tea you drink to improve your fertility - made my athlete's foot practically VANISH.

I noticed this about a year ago, when I was working as a receptionist and got in the habit of making a large thermos filled with FertiliTea every afternoon. Sometimes I would even drink the leaves. I did this every day for a couple of months, and then one day I noticed... hey wait a minute... that nagging itchy foot problem isn't there anymore!

The only thing I could think of, that could have done it, was the Fertili-Tea.

A few months ago I noticed the Athlete's foot was back. So I started drinking my FertiliTea again (I'd stopped for a long time), for about a week, and sure enough - the Athlete's foot is now gone.

Who would have thought that the best cure for athlete's foot would be to drink Fertili Tea! I have no idea what the ingredient is, that cured it (there are several, including red raspberry leaf and peppermint). I'm assuming not a lot of dudes would want to drink the stuff. But I swear to you, it worked great for me!!!

Vitamin D Can help you conceive!

I just want to do a separate post for Vitamin D because it's helped me so much.

This past winter, I discovered by accident, how great Vitamin D is. I began taking vitamin D supplements one day when I was experiencing a bad bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder... the thing you get when you get a BAD case of the winter blues. I'm one of those people who could never live (happily) in Seattle or Portland. I get wigged out when I don't get enough sun.

Well, I'd heard of people buying "Vitamin D Lamps," but didn't have one of those and couldn't afford one. So I decided to take Vitamin D supplements and see if that might help any. I knew I could get a big bottle at Costco for something like $15 or less.... a lot cheaper than a $150 sunlamp!

I took about 5 pills - about 10,000 mg (I think I heard once that Dr. Andrew Weil said this is ok), and sure enough, I did feel a little better. But what was even better than that, was that my lower back pain suddenly disappeared.

I have been struggling with lower back pain since 2005. Up till then, I'd had a really strong back and practically bragged about how strong my back was. If a friend needed help lifting something, I was happy to help. I used to pick up my nephew and turn him upside down and "shake him like a salt shaker." No back pain. Until it all caught up with me at once.

I thought if was a combination of 3 things: Drinking way too much coffee, not drinking enough water, going vegetarian (and not getting enough protein), and having all those years of abusing my back, finally catch up with me.

Suddenly I realized, a big part of my lower back pain had to do with me being severely deficient in Vitamin D. It made sense, as I was rarely drinking milk and wasn’t really getting it in other ways. Maybe I’m one of those people who needs even more than the average amount of Vitamin D.

It kills me that I'd never heard, anywhere, that Vitamin D can help SO MUCH when it comes to lower back pain. It worked so well for me, I felt almost annoyed that I'd spent YEARS dealing with lower back pain when all I had to do was take vitamin D. The pain was so bad sometimes, my back would hurt just bending over to feed my cats in the morning.

Anyway, I started researching Vitamin D and sure enough - there is a lot of evidence to support that yes, Vitamin D helps with back pain. I'd just never seen it or heard of it before. You can read an article about it here (or just google it! tons of stuff will come up). http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/112633.php

I was also surprised to also find out that women who take Vitamin D supplements have an easier time Conceiving when doing IVF! Here is an article about it:

http://living.health.com/2009/10/07/vitamin-d-conception/

How much to take?

I'd like to quote this part of the article, in case you don't feel like clicking on the link:
“Vitamin D is a safely tolerated supplement,” Dr. Pal said. “What you get in a multivitamin is not enough.”
Even a prenatal vitamin may not be providing enough vitamin D, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), which published a report that echoes Dr. Pal’s concern. The measly 400 IUs in the typical vitamin may not be enough, even for a child.

It seems that taking at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily may be the best course of action. However, according to Dr. Pal, some people who were suffering from a deficiency must take much more before their blood levels show adequate amounts. Both Dr. Pal and the AJCN cite studies where people were given 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D daily with no deleterious effect.
In fact, the AJCN’s report mentions that if a white person were to go to the beach for the day in the summer, they would receive about 50,000 IUs of vitamin D—a stark contrast with those 400 IUs in average prenatals.

Here is another interesting video: http://www.webmd.com/video/pregnancy-vitamin-d

Enjoy : )

Taking a break... sort of...

My ovulation cycle is totally out of whack. I'm not sure why it is that I'll ovulate on day 28 of one cycle, then day 9 on the next cycle. But that's just what happened this month. I ovulated on day 9. The day my stepkids were over - which happened to be the WORST possible time to "get the job done" because we weren't going to see them for 2 weeks and we wound up staying up so late with them that me and my husband were way to exhausted to take our clothes off. It just kills me too, because I was producing soooo much cervical fluid that day. That was how I knew I was ovulating. I stopped taking my temperature a few months ago, but it was pretty obvious that I was ovulating when I saw how wet I was every time I went to the ladies room. My cervical position was high and soft. And I got a positive line on the ovulation test strip.

But I like to think it may not have been a viable (wasted) egg, because I didn't experience other ovulation signs, like pain with ovulation. I also couldn't feel that huge bump I would sometimes get when I ovulate. I got that about a week later. And it was so unusually early for me to be ovulating. Yes. I know. I'm probably kidding myself.

Whatever the case, due to a huge mound of financial stress I've been under lately, I've been putting this baby thing on hold (for NOW). Or maybe I should say, I've been taking a less active approach to getting knocked up. It's not like I'm trying NOT to have a baby, but I'm definitely not doing everything I could to make it happen. I realize that being 41 isn't the best time to put something like this off. But I've started a new career that won't be profitable for a few months, and until I have money coming in, I feel like I just don't have the brainspace to devote too much time to my fertility right now. My husband would freak out if I announced I was pregnant right now. Plus I have so much work to do, I've been drinking coffee, which I heard is like liquid birth control for women in my age range. It's definitely scary for me to keep putting it off, but I have to hold onto the hope that things will somehow work out for the best, in the long run!

Ovulating late in the cycle

I just found out I ovulated on day 28!

In previous cycles, I'd typically ovulate somewhere between days 12 and 16. But for some reason this month, I didn't ovulate till day 28.

My poor husband... he's having to deal with this whole "sex on demand" issue and we are BOTH confused about when's the right time to do it, but he's making an effort to be accomodating (though I suppose there are worse things to help your wife with... probably beats cleaning the garage!).

Anyway... day 12 came around... then day 13, 14, 15, 16... I just kind of assumed I must be ovulating, even though I wasn't showing any particular signs (except maybe a small amount of cervical fluid). But the OPK showed a negative result, and there was NO ferning on my ovulation microscrope.

Then, on day 28, after going to the bathroom I noticed a good amount of cervical mucus on the toilet paper. So I took a test and sure enough... it was positive. I also had a lot of ferning on the ovulation microscope, AND I could feel my ovary on my left side (it was huge). That was a few days ago, and now that I'm post ovulation I can no longer feel it.

I don't really understand why I had the delay in ovulation. Supposedly it's most likely to happen when you're under stress or your diet changes, but I don't think I was under more stress than usual this month, or made any drastic changes to my diet.

Anyway, I read about "late ovulation" online and supposedly my chances of getting pregnant this late in the cycle aren't good... the endometrium lining may not be as good. But it doesn't help to try, right?

I used the instead cup, tried to drink plenty of fluids, and laid down for about an hour after sex. Took my supplements, including primrose oil and guafinesin pills. I did have some decaf coffee though. Twice. With about 1/3 cup regular coffee. And half a pint of beer. Guess I'm going to have to wait and see what happens...

My new routine, including supplements

I got laid off in early November, and on the positive side my diet has been WAY better, now that I'm not surrounded by all the candy and soda that was in full stock at the company I worked for.

I try to eat a big salad every day. I TRY to have this healthy 12 grain breakfast (mentioned in the last post) on a more regular basis now. And I take a good amount of supplements almost every day.

It definitely helps to keep them in a pill minder, that way I don't have to keep unscrewing bottles and I can keep track of how good I've been doing during the week. I try to take the fat-soluble vitamins (eg vitamin D) when I have some fat (eg. milk or pizza, which is not a usual thing), and then the garlic and prenatal with dinner or when I have a big salad. I try to take the antioxidants in the morning.


The supplements include:


-Vitamin D (I heard it helps you absorb 3 times more calcium!). I started taking it because I was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and was pleasantly surprised I had a HUGE reduction in back pain after taking vitamin D. Actually I think the one I am taking may be Vitamin D3. I got it at Costco. The pills are super tiny, like 1/2 the size of a typical vitamin E pill. They're 2000 mg and I take 1 or 2 a day. I think it also helped me quite a bit with the seasonal affective disorder.

On another note, ladies: Vitamin D has been shown to help women undergoing IVF treatment! Check out this article: http://living.health.com/2009/10/07/vitamin-d-conception/

-Prenatal Vitamin from Costco. They're these big red pills - like a liquid / gel pill. I really like these. On the downside, they make my hair grow so friggin fast I have to keep coloring it (I know, you're not supposed to color your hair but I can't help it, I may have to go childless if that's the case).

-Pycnogenol. I heard this can really help women who have endometriosis. I started taking this before it was determined that I don't have it, but it's a really good antioxidant so I keep taking it anyway. You can read the endometriosis article here by the way: http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/More-evidence-for-Pycnogenol-endometriosis-benefit and here's one more: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/64791.php

-Resveratrol, from Costco, 1 pill

-SOMETIMES I take some ACAI (a friend gave me a bottle)

-Multiple B Vitamin.

-Odorless garlic tab from Nature Made.

-CoEnzyme Q10. I don't always take these, just if I've eaten enough during the day and feel like it. I feel like I'm taking so many things I don't want to overdo it.

-Folic acid. It's a tiny little brown pill (just found one the cats chewed up, on the ground). I think it smells like fish oil. Anyway there is folic acid in the prenatal vitamins but I take an extra one of these for the hell of it.

-Vitamin C. I am on the fence about taking this, as I think it helps keep me healthy but at the same time, having an acidic environment "down there" kills sperm. So I kind of stopped taking these. I do try to drink extra milk around ovulation time because I heard it makes your body more alkaline, which is more favorable for sperm.

WHEN I'M OVULATING, I take:
- Evening oil of primrose (a really big tablet)
- Mucus relief tablets
- Fertile CM (it's pricey so I save it and only take it between about day 10 of my cycle and day 20.

I TRY to drink 2 pots of tea a day but that doesn't always happen. It does help if I make it at night in the coffee pot, let it cool down by morning and pour it into my favorite bottle (an alhambra 33.8 oz. water bottle... go figure why it's 33.08 instead of like 32 but whatever). I've heard it's not great to drink out of those bottles (because of the plastic residue... BHT? BBT? shoot I forget the proper name) but I'm praying it's still doing at least SOMETHING good.

Fertility Breakfast - 12 Grain "Cereal"

Just wanted to share this yummy breakfast I've been eating for a while now. It's 12 grain "cereal" (though it looks more like bird food than cereal) and you can get it at Whole Foods or Rainbow Foods, in the section where you scoop stuff out of bins into a plastic bag, write the item # on the twist tie, and pay by the pound. It doesn't look very glamorous but it tastes GREAT when you cook it right, has tons of fiber, and best of all, it gives me a REALLY GOOD ENERGY BUZZ that I just do not get from other breakfast foods. Particularly NOT cereal, which tends to either make me sleepy and wanna crash, or it just makes me feel hungry later.

The only downside is it takes 5 minutes to cook it and, being the most impatient eater in the whole world, sometimes that's too long for me to wait. When I'm hungry I want to eat right that very second, and you actually have to cook this for 5 minutes (I managed to overcook / burn it every time until I realized my microwave has a kitchen timer, so I can get it to beep and remind me when to take the pot off the stove!)

When it's done, it's really good.

This is how I make it.

-1/3 cup 12-grain cereal

-2/3 cup water

Bring to a boil on stove (cook for 5 minutes total).

Halfway through cooking I throw in:

-handful of fresh cranberries, cut in half (or a small handful of dried cranberries)

-a whole apple, diced

-a small handful of walnuts

-MAYBE 1/2 a banana sliced up, if I feel like it (added after removing from heat)

Then when it's all done I put it in a bowl with:

-big spoonful of brown sugar***

-2 tbsp. ground flaxseed / pumpkinseed mixture (you can get both from whole foods or rainbow foods and i grind them up in my Magic Bullet that I LOVE).

I pour about 1/2 cup of soymilk over the whole thing and mix it all up. It is sooo good!

(***NOTE: I'm making an addition to this blogpost on 1-27-12: I no longer use brown sugar and soy milk. Now I just mix my morning visalus shake into the bowl, after cooking, and it's perfect. I'll pour about 1/2 the shake in, and drink the rest because i love the shake too.)

It's really high in fiber and the pumpkin / flaxseed mixture give it a really good nutty taste. I heard from Fern Reiss' book on fertility that it's good to eat pumpkin seeds, and I really don't like the taste of raw pumpkin seeds but for some reason when I blend them up like this, they taste really good! I blend up the flaxseed (which must be ground in order to give you the beneficial effects) and pumpkin seeds in my magic bullet (that I got at Costco for $40 with a coupon... one of my best investments EVER). And I keep the stuff in a plastic container in the freezer (flaxseed goes rancid very quickly unless you refrigerate it).

Ground Pumpkinseed / flaxseed mixture, before putting it in the freezer.

It's really inexpensive to make this for breakfast and it's soooo good for you. Go try some!