A wrinkle in timing.

by Alexa on January 2, 2007

Believe me, I’m just as tired of thinking about my Lady Cycles as you are of hearing about them, but alas things keep happening. If you want to stop reading now I will understand, and I promise to post something non-Lady-Cycle-related tomorrow.

***

Late last week, on cycle day 20-something, my temperature shot up. I ignored it at first, but by yesterday it had begun to look like an actual honest-to-goodness oocyte had been released from my usually stingy ovary. I cannot know for certain, as I had only been taking my temperature for a few days prior, but based on experience I am 98.7% sure that I am now five days past ovulation.
I am ashamed to admit that while my initial reaction was thrill, it rather quickly morphed into annoyance. And even a little anger directed at my reproductive organs, after which I am sure my uterus threw up her fallopian tubes like exasperated hands and said “Fine. I guess I just can’t do anything right. I thought this was good news—but then who am I to say? I’m just your Uterus, that’s all.”

The weary annoyance was because we had JUST settled on a plan. I’d JUST started to relax into the idea that we would be beginning IVF, and while it would be lovely if this rogue ovulation resulted in pregnancy, what is more likely is that it won’t. That next Thursday, the day our IVF pre-screening begins, I will be getting my period and the only spawn of this egg will be uncertainty. As in: If I am going to start ovulating spontaneously, maybe we should cancel our IVF appointments and see what happens. Maybe it will become a regular thing, occurring every month or so, you know, in a cyclical pattern. Of course according to the IVF coordinator, if we do cancel the appointments, we will not be able to get a slot in the April-June IVF series, and would have to instead wait at least until August, maybe longer, between the clinic’s schedule and our own.
What to do, what to do.

Luckily I have the Actually, who put a stop to my hand-wringing quick-like.
“We’re not cancelling the appointments,” he told me firmly.
As he sees it, we might as well have the prescreening done, and even if we get as far as the $3,000 deposit and then get pregnant on our own, $3,000 is much cheaper than the $14,000 we would be spending on our warranty program.

But what we will do, besides keep our prescreening appointments, is try Letrozole with no IUI and as little monitoring as possible in the next few months, just in case my body is belatedly responding to the Metformin. And Letrozole should only cost about $50 a month, not counting monitoring, so it is worth a shot, and won’t bite too deeply into our insurance money. And if this was a fluke, well, we’ve got an IVF cycle all teed up for May.

I have a call in to Dr. Doctor to apprise her of new developments, and we’ll see what she says. In the mean time, my good mood is restored, and I am even a little pleased with myself, ovulating like a real live girl. I feel like the Velveteen Rabbit, or Pinnocchio.

There are about a zillion other things I want to write about, not the least of which is a possible career development (I’ll have to password protect that post, I expect), and I have papers due this weekend, which means I’ll be procrastinating, which means I will be blogging my lazy, lazy heart out. I must tell you about the wedding cake we picked out on Sunday, and my resolutions for the New Year, and the fact that the Actually finally revealed what he will be wearing to our wedding. And I did order some pregnancy tests online, as I am too pessimistic about my chances this month to spend $20.00 at a drugstore when I could have them for 41 cents apiece. If the tests arrive before my period does, I’ll start taking them sometime next week, and you can console me when they are inevitably negative.
A good time will be had by all, I’m sure.

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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Jess January 2, 2007 at 2:57 pm

Wow, a rogue ovulation! Just imagine the kind of person that egg could grow into. The teen years would be brutal. ;)

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Jessie January 2, 2007 at 3:08 pm

Well, that’s a holiday surprise for sure! And I can’t wait to hear about your wedding cake, because I have to say that my wedding cake (chocolate cake with raspberry and fudge fillings) was one of my very favorite things about my wedding, and I usually don’t even like cake.

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KLynn January 2, 2007 at 3:10 pm

De-lurking.

I’m way to optomistic…first things I thought of were: 1. When was that wedding date again? and 2. Can that beautiful dress be let out to accomodate a little belly growth?

Fingers crossed that if this spontaneous (possible) ovulation doesn’t result in a beautiful, healthy baby, that the IVF consult goes perfectly, and May finds you knocked up.

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amanda January 2, 2007 at 3:23 pm

Often accused of an overly sunny outlook (which by the way, is often right on) with a side of foul mouthed sarcasm, I’ll be hoping I stumbled upon your site so that we might swap stories a year from now on the Pollockesque stains in the onesies of your lil person.

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Flicka January 2, 2007 at 4:25 pm

Ovulating, just like the big girls do! I am so proud! We should start a club because Miracle Max thinks the Metformin is making me ovulate as well. Maybe we can order pregnancy tests for even cheaper than 41 cents per!

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T January 3, 2007 at 6:33 am

Oooh, you and Flicka ganging up on the peestick people, I like it! Count me in – I’ll be cycling again – sometime.

A real live girl – congratulations! And puhleeze! Isn’t girly bit conversation what blogging is all about? No? WHAAAA?

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TB January 3, 2007 at 7:57 am

The Actually is a real gem. I like his approach. And in the meantime, a little optimism never hurt, so I’ll send some your way.

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amanda January 3, 2007 at 8:48 am

I kid you not. When I woke up this morning I suddenly thought… Alexa has not mentioned work in some time. I want to know how the new position is going! So. Waiting on that.

I agree with TB. I like The Actually. Here’s hoping that this New Year contains every surprise you are hoping for.

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Lut C. January 3, 2007 at 1:40 pm

You can only truly obtain urban legend status if you miraculously get PG while preparing for IVF. So the Actually has every reason to want to continue with that. :-)

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Erin January 3, 2007 at 2:01 pm

Maybe it was a holiday PCOS miracle–it happened to me, too! It did end with the mother of all cramps on New Year’s Day (just the way I wanted to ring in the new year–doubled over in pain. A harbinger of what’s to come this year?), but it did happen.

The Actually’s right–keep the appointment. Better to be out the $3000 (and frankly, I hope you are) than to have to delay by months and months.

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Josie January 3, 2007 at 3:16 pm

I had to laugh when I saw that you used the word “rouge” to describe ovulation since that word is a regular at our house to describe our dogs urination habits. He is trained to pee in one spot so my grass does not die, but he occassionally spites us by peeing elsewhere (which is incredibly evident now with snow). unlike rougue peeing which kills my grass, rouge ovulation can have a good outcome. Your ovaries really have a mind of their own, now don’t they.

.41 cents is awesome for pg tests. I thought I was getting a deal at the dollar store, where they are of course, a dollar. I may have to forego the not so pleasant dollar store experience for practicality.

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Carol January 3, 2007 at 5:04 pm

You’re going to have a full year. But it sounds like you have a good plan. good luck!

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Nico January 6, 2007 at 9:32 am

Ooooh, gotta love that spontaneous, natural ovulation. Even though it fucks with your head. I do hope that either this cycle, or one of your letrozole cycles makes those .41 tests useful!

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