Community post

Oh yes, girl, your soldier's behavior is pretty par for the course. I don't know if it's how they keep their living quarters when they're gone or the relief of not having to upkeep but they're all slobs. It's incredible. And the neediness mixed with the irritability is pretty common too. DH's unit sends out newsletters and help sheets about dealing with a returning airman and it mentions lots of similar stuff, most of which we'll deal with each and every time. It's almost like releasing an animal back into its natural habitat. It's a long process but it'll pass before you know it. They're basically children on the inside and I'm coming to learn that, the more you do for them to take some of the stress, the more you're actually stuck doing full time. Rant away, it's one of my favorite hobbies. Haha! I know my husband is great, it doesn't mean he's perfect. I vent to ease the pressure so I don't explode... Lol!

I'm so glad to hear you've got a battle plan set out for your fertile window. I really hope you get your ! What a welcome home gift that would be! We have a few friends who have a baby marking the end of every deployment. It makes me laugh (and a little jealous as I start to cut my journey a bit close...). Do you see a specialist for your Femara or is it just your GYN? I'm planning on trying to get some help next cycle, if this cycle doesn't take, but I have no idea what route I need to take. I sincerely hope there's no issues with me but I guess it'd be easier to deal with than if something was wrong with DH... I can imagine trying to drag him to see a specialist... Super Sperm is a prideful thing. Lol!

As for now, the progesterone prescription I took to jumpstart my last period seems to have messed with me. Usually, I ovulate pretty noticeably thru my CM but this month it was late and the EWCM was spread lightly over multiple days instead of all at once. I did research (a TTC lady's best and worst idea...) and that could be a sign I actually didn't O at all and my body is just trying repeatedly to force it. *Shrug* So, seeing as I have long, irregular cycles, I'm pretty much just waiting to see if shows her ugly face or not. If not, I'll take a test all right but mostly just to rule out pregnancy before I see my doctor. In all honesty, I just don't feel pregnant. Other than the occasional twinge and pinch in my ovarian area, I don't feel much of anything and, being on CD35, feeling anything at this point would probably be due to the pending arrival of the witch anyway. We did like crazy though. Up until 3dpo, we BD'd thirteen or more times (nearly every day in my fertile window) but, if I don't ovulate, a lot of good it did me (beyond the stress relief ). Next cycle is our last rest cycle before we work our hardest at it up until January, when we have decided is our cutoff.

P.S. Thank you! Hubby is pretty yummy. It makes baby making that much more fun! And he makes pretty babies, though DS acts just as ornery as his father. Haha!

Honestly, what you're describing with your cycles sounds a lot like PCOS with the irregularity. I don't see a specialist; there's ONE GYN locally at the Army hospital that is willing to write for it, but that's after you have gone through the Clomid regimens. Which I personally hated. Albeit DS is a Clomid baby, it's a horrible drug as far as the side effects goes. Personally, before you even mention it to the Dr, I would try another route that I have researched. It's called Soy Isoflavones. It's known as "Nature's Clomid." It's essentially phytoestrogens taken from plants, and it's taken the same exact way as Clomid; 5 days at the beginning of your cycle. You can pick it up at Walmart and probably Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid. It's less than $10 a bottle, if memory serves. I'll try to post the link to a site that gives a lot of good info on it, if you want. I have 2 friends that have conceived using Soy Iso (SI in most chat circles.) One was TTC for over a year with no luck - got her BFP on her first round of SI. Another one had been TTC almost a year with no luck - I bought her the bottle of SI, gave her the links to the info, helped her figure out her dosage and days to take it. She struck out the 1st cycle on CD 2-6, so we upped her dosage and changed the days to 3-7 the next cycle - she gave birth in April to a baby girl from that cycle! It's pretty good stuff! I've used it, and didn't have any side effects from it. Clomid has a tendency to thin the uterine lining considerably, and dry up CM like a bitch! I was TTC for DS for TWELVE YEARS; I have done more research and study into TTC than most of the GYNs I've ever seen! I'll help in any way I can!

And as for the full grown toddlers we are both married to ... I'll say this: we lived with my mother when DH first went back on active duty until our house sold - we needed the BAH to pay the mortgage. It was roughly 8 months (Daddy retired here at Fort Hood, so Mom lives within 5 miles of post.) She and I have a secret name for Matthew that he knows nothing about ... we have named him Pig Pen. Ever watch Peanuts as a kid? Nuff said!

Seriously, tell me whatcha think about the Soy Iso. I may even have a bottle that I'd send you if you wanted to try it. But since you're already waiting for AF, it may be better to pick up a bottle so you'll have it when the time comes. I'm so excited for you!

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a25234421/soy_isoflavones_for_dummies

Sadly, we've looked into the SI as an aid but I have thyroid disease so I'm supposed to avoid soy, especially in concentrated doses. It affects how I absorb my meds and, as if in a cruel circle, makes me less fertile. It's awful. I have a feeling I might have something, maybe not PCOS but something keeping me from conceiving. Honestly, I spend most of my time kicking myself. I waited so long to try to have another child, hoping it would come as easily as the first (I had no reason to believe otherwise) and now I'm quickly running out of time. And my boy wants a baby so badly he can hardly stand it... It's going to break a whole bunch of hearts if my body let's us all down. Who needs that kind of pressure, honestly?? But all these methods that have had success for others either conflict with my current regimen or I have no luck with it myself. My husband thinks I'm worrying too soon but, after six months of no , I can't help but start to panic. I really do try to keep it from affecting our romance and my stress levels but, at night when he's gone to work and my baby is asleep, I get a little down and overwhelmed... Know what I mean? I'm probably just overly tired...

I know exactly what you mean. Exactly. Is DH deploying soon? You'd said that you're running out of time. I'm not trying to pry. I felt so much pressure to get pregnant before Matt left for Korea that it almost killed me. I was temping, peeing on anything within reach - I was a wreck. And then when I got the bfn the month he left I was devastated, but oddly relieved at the same time. I would have 9 months of no TTC stress! I had the Mirena put in and it was a God send! I also have PMDD really bad, and the Mirena was the magic key to regulating my moods. I can't wait to have another baby just so I can get back on it! Honestly, I don't really have any desire to be pregnant right now. If I'd had my way, I'd have left my Mirena in and decided how/when/if to have it removed later on down the road. But DH talked me into having it removed before he came home. He said "I don't wanna TTC actively yet, I just wanna let things happen as they happen." Yeah. Say THAT to the woman who tried to get pregnant for 12 years (I was married 2x before DH and I tried with my ex's) before my first bfp! I told him "I'm either going to be on BC or TTC. My body hates me WAY to much to just be dicking around with hormones for the next who knows how many years." And considering my age (I'll be 33 in October) I guess it IS best to do it sooner rather than later.

I've spent the greater part of my life positively hating one part of my body or another - it's like they're all secretly conspiring against me. My favorite rationale: Millions of crackheads and whores all over the world are getting pregnant and having babies that they don't even want. But here I am, arms wide open for God's blessing, and nada. I had never had not one bfp before the one with DS. All (and I mean ALL) of my friends had already had children. Some of them were 10+ years younger than me. Now most of them have more than 1 and I'm still sitting over here like "Oh ya know; just me with the broke down girlie parts!"

So no, you're not alone in panicking. Panic to me all you need to! I share it! We TTC for 9 months before he left, and all I had was one chemical that I didn't even realize was one until I started talking to some other girls. Wait ... so if I had a chemical, wouldn't that make my next baby a "Rainbow Baby?"

Luckily, DH did not get voluntold for the deployment in September so I have nearly a year before I have to worry about that mess again. Lol. I'm running out of time due to the limitations I have set on myself. Many people think it's silly and I know God doesn't work on my schedule but I have spent the last five years being a stay-at-home mom and wife. I do everything for everyone, often at the expense of myself. It has been the absolute best years of my life but I have never been a sit at home girl like my mother and I have a degree that I am so ready to use. I am going to be 29 in November and I have always hoped to dedicate my 30s to me and culturing the family I had already built. I want no more stress of TTC or balancing a young child with a sibling who's many years older. I have four older brothers (+5years, +7 years, +8 years, +9 years) and there's just a huge disconnect I don't want for my DS (I'm close only to my +5 years older brother). January is just ten months out from my 30th birthday so that's what I mean by running out of time.

The only I've ever had was with my son too, not so much as even a scare. Now I feel lucky I got that one so easily since the brother I'm close to and his wife have been trying for nearly six years with zero luck. I can't imagine that. While my other brothers have two or three apiece, some with multiple women, and don't raise them and it just adds insult to injury. I totally feel you, it's like God overshot the pass and it landed in the wrong arms. Frankly, I'm not big on pregnancy but I want the baby so badly. I'm just a little impatient.

I believe everything happens for a reason. I think we were supposed to meet! Our situations are so much alike it's a bit on the scary side! My closest sister and I are 10 years apart, and my older sister and I are 13 years apart. So I get you! My Mom was 31 when they adopted me, and I always felt that as a teenager that large age gap played a huge part in the troubles between us. Now that I'm older, we don't have any issues. But because of that, I always said I was going to be DONE having kids by the time I turned 30. Ha-Ha, yeah. Spend an obscene number of years TTC before my husband and I married. We had tried for 5 years and had finally gotten to a place where we were OK with not having any. Then BAM. A blazing BFP at 9 dpo. And guess what? I had just turned 30. Not saying don't try, but sometimes when we have a time schedule all planned out for what works for us in our own minds, God may have other plans.

Yeah, my mother likes to resurrect that old gem of "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans" whenever I tell her I'm almost done trying. She was 29 when she had me, my dad was 40 and they had had no plans of getting married. Dad had gone thru three divorces and had had to take meds to have his two boys (Mom was Fertile Myrtle and had her two sons 10 months apart in her first marriage!). I was an unexpected surprise and the fuel behind their nuptials. It's just hard, you know? I actually just made my GYN appointment for the 30th to have the issue investigated. It'll either be my first fertility appointment or my first prenatal but, honestly, I don't feel even remotely pregnant, despite all the . If I haven't had show up by then, I'm worried they'll stick me on Progesterone again. I hate that sh*t, forgive my French. It made my boobs swell and ache, I bloated up like day old roadkill, and I was constantly getting hot. It was like menopause without the fun of knowing you don't need tampons anymore. But, if you're right and I have PCOS or something, it's really only the start of my troubles. I am glad we found each other though. It makes dealing a lot easier. I have a Navy wife we should get connected to, start our own military wives support. Lol!

Sounds great! And honestly, PCOS isn't a death sentence for fertility. It just means there's different routes that need to be taken. And the best part is - Tricare covers most of infertility treatments! So far it's covered the Clomid and the Femara. So don't lose hope yet! There's still plenty of time! And we should really get a military wife's page together!

I have to say - I do Tricare! With DS, they just kept giving me stuff at the hospital because they knew my insurance would cover it. It's good to know they do the same thing for infertility (probably a small investment for future soldiers with battle already in their blood. Lol!). On a positive note, three weeks ago I started what some might call a crazy lifestyle change. Because of my thyroid disease, adrenal fatigue and the fact that I was 190lbs at 5'4" tall, I decided to go all organic, unprocessed, low carb and gluten free. Aside from spending a little more on groceries (like only 10% more) and spending more time in the kitchen actually cooking, I don't feel deprived or anything. My goal was to reduce my need for my medication but I've ended up having twice as much energy, a loss of my bad cravings, and I'm down 15lbs in three weeks. No exercise, no starvation, I even have some sweets. It has been amazing! If this doesn't help my chances of conceiving, nothing will. I totally feel out already this cycle so maybe, if I keep it up, I'll be in an even better position to get my the next time!

That's great!! I bet the hubbs is loving the home cooked meals!! I need to start cooking more. With DH gone, I got really used to going the route of fast food. I've gotta get back into the swing of things. Ugh. I've gotten so LAZY! I'm hoping that once I see the pain management Dr this coming Monday that I'll be able to get a handle on things. My ex husband fractured my spine in 6 places - they've all healed, but it's given me a nasty case of arthritis. Combine that with the SI Joint damage and 4 minor bulging discs in my lumber spine from a bad car wreck last August, and I'm straight up miserable with all this damn rain we've had. Hoping for good news! Tomorrow is CD 11 for me; I'm PRAYING I'll get a +OPK soon!!