TTC Cycle #7 & #8

TTC Cycle #7: February 22, 2010-March 25, 2010 (32 days)

I contacted the Couple to Couple League last cycle and asked them to analyze our six charts of TTC to see if they could give me any advice or help.  They say that they will and also ask me to submit a one week food journal.  The letter I get back from them is very disappointing.  There was nothing medical, just behavioral advice. She wants us to stop drinking alcohol altogether (which I don't do after I ovulate now anyway), de-stress by quitting my job as a 4th grade teacher (but she's not offering to help pay the mortgage) so I can learn to garden and cook, eat more meat (DH is a vegetarian and the primary cook, so I mostly eat vegetarian as well), and postpone TTC for at least six months, maybe longer, to prepare nutritionally and possibly de-stress from my job (we've already been TTC for seven months).  She thinks the stress is what's causing my long cycles (I later find out that it's not the stress, it's other medical reasons).  I personally think quitting my job would make me MORE stressed about paying the bills, not less.

I would LOVE to stay at home. But when I say we can't afford it, I mean we really can't afford it. DH has two part time jobs, no benefits. We went to a free health clinic on Wednesday, and he would have qualified for services if we weren't married because with my job it's considered household income and bumped him over the bracket.

We don't fit the CCL's standard of "traditional stay-at-home mom family setup".  As much as it is my dream to do that, it's not practical for us.  I'm discouraged with their "help", and I'm not renewing my membership for now.


Ugh.


In other news, I started taking Mucinex for the first time ever to help my mucus quantity/quality during Phase 2.

We visit DH's best friend, A, and his wife, K, for a weekend (they're 3 hours away from us).  They know we've been TTC since July 2009.  I was an open book back then, telling everyone that we were going to get pregnant and have a baby.  K and I talk about my unsuccessful endeavors, and I ask her if she's going to start TTC anytime soon (they've been married for a year and a half).  She says no, and that it'll probably be a few more years.

I decide to stop taking pregnancy tests, even for the ridiculously long cycles.  I keep torturing myself seeing "negative" over and over again.  I can't put myself through it anymore.


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TTC Cycle #8: March 26, 2010-May 5, 2010 (41 days)


I continue with Mucinex for this cycle.  My temperature spikes twice--once on CD 20 and once on CD 29.  My charts seem to be more and more random.  It's really frustrating.


A friend recommends I see her OBGYN, Dr. C, to see if he can help me.  He's pro-life and familiar with NFP.  It takes me a while before I finally call and make an appointment.  I think I put it off because it's finally admitting to myself that there's something wrong with me.  The first available time they have for a new patient is 7 weeks away, on June 16, 2010.  I'm disappointed that I have to wait that long, but I'm glad that I finally called and scheduled an appointment.  At that point it'll be 11 months TTC, and I know from research that the standard time is 1 year if you're under 35.  We're still within the acceptable range of amount of time of TTC, but something in my gut tells me that I'm not normal.


On Easter Day, I get a text from my cousin, K, saying that they're 12 weeks pregnant with Baby #2!  I don't get depressed over this news because I know it took her 2 years to conceive Baby #1 and another 2 1/2 years to conceive Baby #2.  I'm thrilled for her.  Her baby is due six weeks after my sister's baby is due.  Lots of pregnant people in the family...