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Previously on Self- made Motherhood Blog....our heroine discovered that she was not, in fact, knocked up (despite some weird physical stuff and what looked like her first possible implantation dip ever).  And so our intrepid mother-in-waiting endeavored to try in her next cycle.

Which brings us to RIGHT NOW! Welcome to the next cycle! I know what you're thinking: "Wow! That  was fast!"  And you're not wrong.  It was fast. Likely due in no small part to my short cycle and clearly inadequate luteal phase which seem to be intent on flushing out anything that may be contemplating sticking around my uterus for nine and a half months or so.  Not cool, guys! Not. Cool.

In an effort to circumvent (or really, more accurately, supersede) my uterine propensity for short luteal phasiness, I bought this stuff >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Progestelle - Progesterone suspended

in coconut oil.

If I were doing an in-clinic IUI, they'd likely prescribe me progesterone in some form (probably suppositories, like when I did the IUI in Thailand) to help lengthen my LP long enough for some implanting to take place and get good and stuck before my period could come and ruin it all.  So, I figured I should probably get in on that this time around. Now, when I was on the suppositories after my Thai IUI, it lengthened my cycle by probably ten days or more, even though I knew I wasn't pregnant (which was even more frustrating) because I was (and still remain) certain that the clinic's protocol was too strict and the timing was a bit off in my case. And since I'm sure my timing on the last one was spot on, but my naturally short LP kept anything from happening, I want to give myself (and my PFC) any little extra chance that I can. We'll see...

I got my first positive OPK for this cycle in the wee hours of CD12. On CD11, I'd actually tested at 10pm with a standard mid-stream and a Clearblue digital and gotten a negative.  But then I was heading to bed around 1am, and I just felt like I should check just in case, and that's when I got the smiley face!  Counting out about 20 hours from there, I figured somewhere around 9-11pm on CD12 would be an ideal first insem slot. CD12 was the Tuesday after the Memorial Day long weekend, so I came straight home from work and started to prep myself for the next day (pre-chop my breakfast smoothie ingredients, water the plants, take a shower) and then prep everything for the insem (slow-thaw the sample, get the syringe & catheter ready, do another set of OPK's to confirm I was still LH surging, place the Instead cup near the bed).  I also had to prep things (except for thawing the sample) for the 2nd insem because I planned to do it early in the morning before going in to work.

I did Insem 6.1 at 9pm on CD12 (followed all the same steps as before), put in the Instead cup right after, and did the "extra step" (*nudge-nudge*wink-wink*).  Then I watched The Lizzie Borden Chronicles and fell asleep.  The next morning, I actually got out of bed when my alarm went off at 5:45am and went out to the kitchen to prep the second sample. While it was in it's tepid thawing bath, I brushed my teeth & washed my face, and removed the Instead cup from the previous night's insem.  I also did another round of OPK's and still came up with the smiley face. All systems go!  Got the swimmers in the syringe and checked a drop on the ovulation microscope t make sure everyone was still alive and swimming (Check!), and retired to the bedroom for Insem 6.2 at 6:25am on CD13.  Put in the instead cup directly after and did the "extra step", then relaxed for about 20 minutes until I had to get ready to head out for work. I went to work and did all the usual things.

Because I'd gotten my first OPK+ at such a late/early hour on CD12, I was a little nervous that I may have done the insems too early or too late (i.e. What if I always LH surge at 1am, but don't know it because I'm asleep and don't find out until I wake up and test in the morning???).  So I did another round of OPK's at 3:30pm.  Unfortunately, I peed on the Clearblue digital before realizing that I'd not pushed the test stick all the way in, so that one was inconclusive; but the standard midstream OPK was still looking like two equal darkness lines to me.  I ran another Clearblue digi at 5pm though, and it came up negative, so my surge was starting to wane.  This gave me some confidence because it means that ovulation had likely happened in the morning and now things were winding down.  I removed the Instead cup at 6pm, and left work and carried on with my evening as usual.  I did another midstream test around 11pm just to see how much lighter the test line was getting.  It was definitely a noticeable difference, so I'm still feeling good about the timing.

And now we wait!  I start using the progesterone oil tomorrow (CD14), twice a day.  We'll see if it helps. I also found the moxibustion set from my HK acupuncturist and I'm going to start doing that nightly as well as it's supposed to help increase bloodflow to the abdomen (couldn't hurt). Fingers crossed, right?

Stay tuned...