Cycle update

Well I haven't really posted anything about my cycle lately. That's probably because I'm trying not to focus on the intricacies of it as much, and I guess it is working! But there's nothing wrong with an update. Here are the facts:

• Today is cycle day 19


• I ended last cycle with three days of spotting, followed by three days of my period, followed by five days of spotting


• I started mucus immediately following the spotting, on cycle day 9


• I had cloudy/lubricative mucus on days 9-11


• I had cloudy/clear/lubricative on day 12


• Clear/lubricative on day 13


• Cloudy/clear/lubricative on day 14


• Clear/lubricative on day 15


• Cloudy/lubricative on day 16


• And then cloudy on day 17 & 18


• All of these mucus days were a 10, or stretchy, which means it stretched an inch or more


• I am taking my temp just for fun, and it was low all cycle (97.7-97.9) until this morning when it raised to 98.2


• So far no mucus today

So that's it. It's still too early to tell if it's going to be really wacky. Definitely all the spotting is a bit strange. And does anyone know what it may mean that my mucus tapers off about two days before my temp rises? Is this normal? I assumed it was because my doctor told me my ovaries are "slow" and my progesterone doesn't kick in until a couple days after my estrogen does what it is supposed to do, but I'm no expert. I sure have a lot of questions to ask my doctor at my October appointment.

Speaking of that, I am not letting this bother me anymore, but that being said.. I do have a desire to understand what exactly is going on. At my last appointment things were explained to me very simplistically, which is fine; there was a lot of information given to us at once and to go any more in depth might have been overwhelming. And there's always the chance that my doctor might have explained what was wrong and I just didn't retain any of the information. That is entirely possible. He also spent a lot of time on the "why's" and kind of glossed over the "what's", meaning I know all about the hormones and how they affect the ovaries, but I know very little about what is actually physically happening in a practical sense. Call me crazy, but I like to picture exactly what is going on in there. The next time I am not leaving his office until I understand. I want to know everything.

For instance, here are some of the questions I have: What does it actually mean that my ovaries are slow (not why, but what actually happens)? If I ovulate and there is an egg released, then where does the break-down occur in the process? Is something wrong with the egg itself, or is the egg okay and the problem is actually with the environment the egg finds itself in?

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions between now and mid-October. I go into confession with a list, so why should a visit to the doctor be any different?!

In other news, our anniversary is now just a few days away! I already got my present; we went to the outlets last night (spur of the moment, too.. isn't my husband great?) and I splurged and got a really nice purse. It's just beautiful. We got a great deal on it, obviously, but it's definitely the nicest bag I've ever owned. For my husband's present, we're considering getting him the iph.one. He never wants anything, yet he's wanted this for a while. The only problem is that we hate living above our means and this might put us over our household budget a bit (although I've offered to have it taken out of our food budget.. less food means more weight loss!). I just really want to do it for him. For years I haven't had my own money to buy him presents for Christmas, birthdays or anniversaries and so we always just end up not doing presents. Yet right now, I actually have made some money and I want to spend it on him! It's not the cost of the phone though, it's the monthly bill that is the problem. So we'll see.

As for the actual day (this Thursday) we're partying it up by getting Chinese take-out. Yes, I'm cheating on my diet a teeny tiny bit. I'm ordering chicken and broccoli. Don't worry (because I know you are), I won't have white rice; I'll just make some brown rice at home to have with it. BUT.. I'm going to get some lo mein. I've been craving it. I never, ever cheat for fear that if I do, I'll open up the flood gates. But I'm confident that if I keep it to major holidays (birthday, anniversary, and maybe Thanksgiving and Christmas), then I'll be fine. And cheating will still be in moderation (my motto is cheat with fat, not the "white" stuff [unless it's lo mein on my anniversary]). My main goal is to keep my mind off the other anniversary that day - you know what one I mean - and Chinese food will achieve this goal.

And the festivities don't end there: Later in the month we'll be taking a trip to NYC for our anniversary as well. We'll stay with my brother-in-law, so it'll be a pretty cheap trip. The main reason we're going is to go to one of the last Mets games at Shea. We can't wait!

Well, that was more than just a cycle update. Sorry. My posts have been kind of like one big run-on sentence lately, so I'll try to improve on that in future posts. Have a great rest of your weekend!