Hi there
I am a mom of a 2 year old and we are hoping to add a little brother or sister in the mix. I went off my bc pills in February and have had a normal cycle since. Well, here I sit at day 36 of my cycle. No period and 3 negative home pregnancy tests. I even have had some nausea and some pretty bad breast pain (which I normally never have) along with fatigue. I went to the dr today and the urinalysis came back negative so there was blood drawn and I should hear back one way or the other in a couple days. Has anyone experienced something like this? I feel like a crazy person.
The doctor said that if I am not pg then my ovulation may be off and I can start using ovulation kits in the future. I am hoping that I am pregnant but if I am not, have you used these kits before? Were they easy to use? Did it work?
I know I have a lot of questions here, but I am really at a loss as to what I should even be feeling right now.
Thanks so much for any advice.
You are not crazy, first of all. My cycle is extremely unpredictable, sometimes 45 days instead of 28. I used the ovulation kit (which is super easy), and got pregnant with both of my kids on the first try. It's definitely worth a shot!
I have 2 girls by using OPKs. They have gotten a lot easier since I first started. They are like pregnancy tests now.
Hi L.,
I hope and pray that God grants you and your fiance's wishes to have another child. You are certainly wise to keep check and stay aware of what's going on with your body. Second opinions are always good also. Especially when there are negative side effects of some bc's. Stress can also play a major role in difficulties with conception. I'm a mother of 3 and grandmother of 5 and I've never heard of an ovulation kit. As I mentioned, "second opinions are good." It's your body, your health, and well-being. Now that I know better, I have patience, and I take control of my health. Don't want this to frighten you, just want you to be aware.
Here is my story about what we went through 28 years ago:
My husband and I wanted a new addition to our family. I'd been taking bc pills shortly before our separation in '89 and up until we reunited in 1990. What I thought was conception wasn't. I'd visited doctors 3 times about my symptoms; nausea, increased appitite, no period, breast pain, frequent urination, mood swings, weight gain.
After the second opinion, and getting similar prognosis, I went back to my doctor insisting on more tests. I was fortunate to do so. This time the ultra-sound found a cyst-(sist) in one of my ovaries. When they found it, it started growing. A few days into taking medication to "dissolve it", I found myself in the hospital getting an ovary removed.
I pray that all will be well with you and your family. Take control and take care. God bless
Your body is just trying to get back on track after the BC. It could take a few cycles before you are back to your normal cycles.
Ovulations tests are ok but expensive. The book "Taking charge of your fertility" really is great. It will help you to get in tune with your body & fertility. My cycles have always been very irregular & this book helped me keep track of everything and now I don't even need a calendar or to chart anything. I can tell you exactly what day I ovulate and what days I am fertile (even though they change every month). This also helps for after you have a baby. It is a lot cheaper than birth control to know what days you could get pregnant & either not have intercourse or to use protection on just those days. Plus you are not messing with your hormones... Also once you can determine what is normal for your body & cycle it is easier for you to determine if there really is something wrong, ie ectopic pregnancy, cycst, etc.
I'm very type-A, so when it came time to conceive, the ovulation kits seemed right up my alley. I used them with both pregnancies, and with each got pregnant the first month. Obviously I know my own fertility helped, but I remember being surprised at when the tests came back indicating ovulation--I would never have thought to try those days. So I believe they helped me. They are very easy to use...just like a pregnancy test.
I have heard that after going off the pill it may take awhile to get your schedule back on track.
I used the Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor and got pregnant on the 2nd month of use. This was after trying for over a year to get pregnant on my own.
Good luck!!!
Hi L.,
I sympathize with your frustration!!! It took me a loooong time to get pregnant with #2, partly b/c I didn't seek help as soon as I could & should have, but partly b/c of weird cycles like you're having this month. Long cycles with weird symptoms take you on such a roller coaster ride when you're trying to get pregnant. My cycles seemed to get out of whack for a few months, and then settle down again for several months.
I have used both the relatively expensive, branded ovulation predictor tests, and the quite a bit cheaper Target brand.... I never got a positive with the more expensive tests, but the Target brand worked well for me. After 3-4 months of testing in one of those stable cycle times, I could predict when the test was going to be positive and quit using them.
One other thing... have you done any research on other signs of ovulation? They're certainly not as definite as a positive or negative test, but looking at other signs as well as the OP test really helped me pinpoint it. I think www. fertilityfriend.com might have some good info?
Good luck!
Hi,
I've been there. My cycles varied from 28 days to 80 days, so it was a bit tough to time things correctly. And, using ovulation kits for all that time would cost a fortune!! I found the book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler to be incredibly helpful. Teaches you your body's signs when you are ovulating - sounds hard, but really once you understand it, is super easy. I never even did the charting, just watched the signs, and found it very helpful (actually, in our case, for a while to know when to use birth control and when we didn't have to worry about it).
Good luck,
J.
