More Bloodwork

I heard back from one of the nurses today.

They want me to use ovulation tests starting at cycle day 10 and continue with then until I get a positive. Then, they want me to come in on cycle day 21 to check my progesterone levels to confirm that ovulation has occurred. She reminded me that a 12-14 day luteal phase is optimal for conception. I explained again how I came to the conclusion that mine wa so my 5 days last cycle and then asked  if I should wait and see if I self-regulate this cycle and wait until the next. Her response was that Dr. M. wants me to take care of it this cycle so if there is an issue, we can take care of it sooner rather than later.

Sigh.

It makes me nervous. We had NO issues whatsoever getting pregnant before my resection. No, we haven't had issues post-surgery because we haven't tried yet, but in terrified of it becoming a reality. Fingers crossed everything just magically works itself out!

I Jinxed Myself.

Apparently I should've stayed away from this little blog because I completely jinxed myself.

Friday night, around 7pm, I went to use the restroom and much to my utter shock there was blood. Not just a little either. It was clear that I was beginning a light flow.

I walked out and just stared at E. He gave me that look of, "What happened, now??" and I told him. He obviously didn't understand until I explained that it was way, way too early. And I only had a 5 day luteal phase (again, much explanation was needed).

Now here's where my concern was coming from:

1. Pre-surgery, my cycles ranged from 30-32 days and never any shorter or longer (unless pregnant). This was only a 25 cycle, and honestly, I could handle that.
2. BUT, pre-surgery my luteal phase was ALWAYS 13 days (again, unless pregnant). In all of the months that I temped and used OPKs, it never strayed from 13 days. According to Fertility Friend, I only had a 5 DAY LUTEAL PHASE. Alarms went off and panic set in. I certainly know what a luteal phase that short means.
3. I tried to calm myself and remind myself that my body has been through a lot in the past few months, so maybe that's why and it's just a wonky cycle. But then I committed a cardinal sin - I checked out Google. It seemed as though every story I came across, the women were lucky enough to have cycles identical to how they were pre-surgery. Commence total freak out.

Luckily, I've calmed down a bit and have mostly convinced myself that it's probably just a really, really weird cycle and everything will go back to normal. But I'm still calling Dr. M. tomorrow just to chat and express my fears of Asherman's Syndrome.

And with that, I think it's clear that we will not be trying for a baby this month.

Nothing. Ever. Goes. Smoothly.

Life Lately

Wow. I can't believe it's been two whole months since I last wrote. To be honest, I haven't had much to say. But let's back up. First recovery:

My recovery went really well once the constipation issue was resolved. All my anxiety about having the catheter removed was for nothing! It was seriously the easiest thing ever. I told Dr. M that I was really nervous and anxious and she told me it would take two seconds. It wasn't painful AT ALL. There was a bit of pressure and then it was done. Fantastic! I did have to go on antibiotics for a week because my laparoscopic incision was slightly infected. No biggie.

Then six weeks later I went back for my follow up, follow up appointment. I was nervous because I started to spot and lightly bleed while still using the estrogen patches so she had me start the progesterone early. Well it was 5 or so days after stopping the progesterone that I had my appointment. I expressed my concerns about not having a bleed after stopping it and she said to give it another week. If I still didn't start, we would do 10 more days of the Provera.

On my way out, I asked for a copy of my records and the receptionist told me to take a seat as it would only take about 5 minutes. I told her it would be a fairly large file to which she responded, "That's what everyone says! Don't worry; it will only take a few minutes". Ok. So I sat. I waited and waited. And then I realized MY PERIOD JUST STARTED!! I've seriously never been so happy to have a period. It was like the receptionist knew, too! Right at that moment she brought out my file. She chuckled and told me I was right, it was pretty big.

One year's worth of medical records and heartache. RIDICULOUS.

I also stopped to chat with Ellen. She made me promise that if we move before having a baby that we send pictures. She also told me that I can email her whenever I have questions, even if I'm no longer their patient. Nice!

Other than that, life has been fairly quiet lately. E and I went back to Michigan & Illinois last week and had a great time. We got to go up to the lake in Michigan and spend a couple of days with my parents. Then we went to visit with his parents in Illinois. We also decided that we're going to make a trip to visit them in Finland happen. I don't remember if I've mentioned it here, but his dad was sent to Finland for a year-ish and his mom is joining him for part of the time. So now it's time to save, save, save and then blow it all traveling :)

I'm really ready to start trying to conceive again and am having an inner dilemma about it. Dr. M said to wait 2-3 regular cycles. That looks like this:

• Provera bleed- June 22nd
• Regular Cycle 1- July 26ish
• Regular Cycle 2- August 28ish
• Regular Cycle 3- September 30ish

That's an exceptionally long time to have to wait still. I know I can't do that. I've done some research and even found a practice that says you can start trying after your first Aunt Flow shows. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to rush things but at the same time I know I can't wait until October to start trying again. I think I'm going to wait and see how my next period is and go from there. If it's back to how it normally was, I think it's safe to say that my lining is similar to what it was pre-surgery and we'll probably start trying the next cycle. If it's not, then I know we'll have to wait longer.

I've never wanted time to pass quickly as much as I do now!