Ovulation symptoms?

I'm feeling better, psychologically speaking. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and support. I'm going to have a bad day now and then, so thanks for reminding me that God is good and that I should have hope. Today was much better and I also firmly believe it has something to do with hormones (I'm not saying my feelings are completely due to hormones, but I think hormones determine when I feel the heartache more deeply). 

I'm not sure what cycle day it is off the top of my head (and I'm too lazy to walk into the other room to check), but I'm guessing it's like day eleven or twelve. Late tonight I started having abdominal pain. My entire abdominal region was rock hard and bloated, with pain mainly on the left side. It's not from food because I haven't eaten much today and haven't had anything out of the ordinary. I'm hoping this is just my ovaries getting ready to ovulate. I can't imagine I'm ovulating now, though, because my temp is still low and today was only my first day of mucus.

I haven't traditionally experienced a "feeling" of ovulation, like some women report, but the past couple cycles I have had some mid-cycle pain (further proving my point that this ovulation thing is fairly new for me). And speaking of ovulation, we are determined to use the right days this cycle. It seems like every time I look back on my chart we never used every opportunity. There's always a gap or I thought we'd have more time only to find out it was my last day of mucus. Or - and this happens almost like clockwork each month - we have a fight on what would have been our best day. What's with that? I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered, but it just makes you wonder!  

And one more update - the met is still going well. I experience a very slight upset feeling in my stomach a couple times each day but I definitely wouldn't go so far as to call it nausea. And I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I'm not as hungry as often (which is fine by me!). 

Alright, I'm off to bed.

Completely stuck

Well I am still on vacation and our internet connection isn't too great so I'm behind on blogging and reading blogs as well. It appears this cycle was a big waste, no big surprise. Of course I don't mean it was a waste because I'm not going to be pregnant. That was a given. I mean it was a waste because again I will have no blood drawn. Just when I think things can't get worse, they do.

So I don't remember if I posted about it or not, but I had too much mucus last cycle. As with every cycle so far since my surgery, SOMETHING had to happen to prevent me from getting a peak +7 blood draw, and last cycle it was too much mucus. So much so that PPVI instructed me to meet with my Creighton educator and learn how to chart with yellow stamps. So I spoke with my educator, who taught me all about distinguishing peak mucus from just extra non-peak mucus. I was ready. She was confident too. I was SO determined to learn it that I thought there was absolutely no possible way on earth that I wasn't going to get my blood drawn this cycle. NO WAY. Under what circumstances would I not be able to determine my peak day? I was getting my blood drawn one way or another. Of that I was certain.

I laugh at my confidence now. How humorous it is that I actually thought I would be able to get a simple blood draw. It turned out that I went from having too much mucus last cycle to having barely any this cycle. I had a few mucus days early on, and then a couple here and there for the next week or so (I'll post my current chart at the end of this post for anyone who cares). So the other day I decided to look back over my chart (thinking that it seemed like something wasn't right) and low and behold, my last peak-type mucus day (according to my new instructions - if I used what I was doing before, I had a peak day two days ago) was way past seven days ago. So no blood draw this month.

(Just to explain this a little - My educator taught me to define my peak day based on how my mucus has changed from day to day [for example if I charted 10KL x2 on day 12 and then 10C x1 on day 13, technically both would normally receive white stamps. But under my new instructions, the second one would receive a yellow stamp because it isn't as fertile as the first day]. One thing I'm not sure about, though, if those instructions are still to be followed if there isn't a lot of mucus, like with this cycle. I certainly don't have excess mucus right now. So there's still a glimmer of hope I could get a blood draw. I'm going to call my instructor tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath.) (On a side note, my mucus has been pale yellow a couple times in the last few days. Does anyone know what that means? I do have a deep cough right now, with yellow mucus in my lungs. Would that affect my cervical mucus?)

So I can't get a simple blood draw. I have no idea what my progesterone level is. That is a basic thing that all women going through infertility know. So basic and yet I am so far from knowing what mine is.

Not to mention that I am not ovulating. I am a 31 year old woman who just wants to be a mother and I am not ovulating. I don't know if I ever have, or ever will.

I try to remind myself that there must be a reason why God doesn't want me to have my blood drawn right now. I just have to trust that this is all moving in slow motion for a reason. I need to stop wishing my treatment was moving along like other people's. It isn't helpful to compare myself to anyone, whether it's to mothers, pregnant women, or women with infertility who are getting treatment at a quicker pace.

As for our vacation, it's been nice, except for the fact that I severly burned my face. Like second degree burns. I look like a freak. Like however bad you're picturing it right now, it's WAY worse. It's peeling and cracking and scabbed and oh ya, it's basically just one side of my face. And it's painful. I need to go slather up with lotion now.

1: 3/27 – H
2: 3/28 – H
3: 3/29 – H
4: 3/30 – H
5: 3/31 – L 0AD
6: 4/1 – B AD
7: 4/2 – B AD
8: 4/3 – B AD
9: 4/4 – 0 AD
10: 4/5 – 10C x2
11: 4/6 – 10 KL x1
12: 4/7 – 0 AD
13: 4/8 – 10 CL x1
14: 4/9 – 10 C x1
15: 4/10 – 0 AD
16: 4/11 – 0 AD
17: 4/12 – 10 CK x1
18: 4/13 – 0 AD
19: 4/14 – 10 CY x1 *
20: 4/15 – 8 CY x1 *
21: 4/16 – 10 CY x1 *

* I wasn't sure how to chart this yet, so I know this probably isn't how it should appear. I'm going to ask my Creighton educator tomorrow.