The Chicken Vs the Egg (Part 2)

If you haven't read part 1, please do so now, or else you'll miss the exciting lead up to this post...


As I finally could see that shelf, once again the heavenly choir burst into a "ta-daaa" (this one was even louder), and I swear again on my life that a ray of light burst from the roof of the store onto that small box which promised to assist me in my quest or at least answer a few of my questions and besiege my worries.

One thing I will tell you:  if you know anyone who is trying to conceive, it is initially fun, however as time wanes on... it can become a minefield of stress and anxiety.  For me, it is like juggling the ever-present loudly-ticking Baby Clock inside my head with the increasingly garish and incessant banging of the Bass Drum of Woe.  The two rhythms are not in sync, and would not make a top-10 hit for sure.

Deep breath.

The box was on the shelf.  I snagged that mother up, paid for it, and left the store in search of test sticks.  Oh yes - that is another important part of this process.  The monitor requires test sticks (which are another small fortune unless you buy them in bulk or find them at a decent price on line).  I found those at a local drug store and came home victorious.  I announced to Hubby that our quest for conception had now taken a turn and we were armed with the latest technology to help us out.  From his recliner he looked somewhat dubious, but humoured me as I showed him our latest purchase.  I love him to bits.. he is as supportive as can be... but I think I lost him somewhere between describing the urine sample process and telling him all about the Luteinizing Hormone and it's impact on this journey.

So, in a nutshell (it's about time for a nutshell don't you think?), the next morning I added a new item to my morning itinerary and began to pee on sticks.  That in itself was pretty simple.  The sticks, thankfully, are easy to hold and are nice and long.  Then the stick gets inserted into the monitor, which takes 5 minutes to analyze the stick to assess the amount of LH. There are three possible results displayed in the results window:  low fertility, high fertility, and peak fertility (which even shows a little egg!).

I came prepared with a tonne of knowledge.  This monitor is pretty incredible.  It spends the first month getting to know the user, so it is not uncommon to not have a "peak" reading.  Through the days of requisite testing, I initially started with low results.  I wondered if I would remain low (which might mean hormonal problems).  My worries were quickly set aside when I suddenly found myself getting high results.  Then I wondered if I probably would not peak (which might mean that I don't ovulate).

Well, folks, I'm here to tell you that this Hotty in Training is definitely a Fertile Myrtle.

I have actually hit the peak, and seen the egg.  After endless disappointment with test strips and my calendar app, it doesn't get much better than that.  Even better: it appears that I ovulate a bit later than my app would predict.  (Day 18 as opposed to Day 14).  This means that what we had been doing up to now didn't even have a chance to work mathematically.

Of course the heavenly choir appeared with its "ta-daaaa".  The appearance of the egg hit me like a tonne of bricks.  I ran sprightly into our bedroom, woke Hubby from his deep slumber, and announced the arrival of our egg in the result window.  Later that night, I asked him if he was excited, and it turns out he didn't remember anything about my Peak Proclamation, the egg, or even kissing me goodbye that morning...  geesh.

My dear darling Hubby proceeded to tell me to try not to be so stressed, and that maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself.  That he would love me to the ends of the earth no matter what, and wanted to grow old with me with or without kidlets.  (God I love that man).

Here's the thing:  for me, personally, this process has now become much less stressful. This monitor has filled in some of the gaps.  I am fertile.  I ovulate.  I even ovulate later than we suspected, so there's no wonder why we haven't been blessed with a bundle because we were not adhering to the proper schedule.  I know this sounds like I am taking a lot of the romance away from the process, but I have an overactive and analytical brain... and in order to give conception the best shot, I thought I had been doing everything that I could. 

This monitor allows me to do one more thing.  Obviously if we don't have success, we can approach our Doctor armed with relevant data right down to the LH surge that was picked up by the monitor.  This leads me to think that if we do require further testing or intervention, that having the results from this monitor will help us to get there quicker.

Will I ever see a plus sign or happy face on a pregnancy stick?  I'm not sure.  I'm sure that I hope so.

But for now, seeing that little egg appear has put a skip in my step and a smile on my face.  I even took a picture of that egg.  I may frame it.  Hell, some people display pictures of their baby in utero.  Why not frame a picture of the LH results??? 

I can always slide the ultrasound photo in the frame later...  fingers crossed....