Long Overdue Update

I have been absent for awhile, and it's not because I have good news. This was another cycle of trying naturally - we have been doing the Making Babies program for almost 3 months now with nothing to show for it except general well being. Which is great and all, but not exactly the results I am hoping and praying for.  I am still taking all of my supplements, trying to get a lot of sleep and live stress-free, in addition to exercising regularly and eating organic, whole foods as much as possible. I am also considering trying acupunture - for those of you who have done it, would you recommend it?

For awhile now I have suspected that I have Luteal Phase Defect (LPD). My luteal phase has never been longer than 11 days, and I usually spot a couple of days before my period. Which definitely doesn't leave enough time for a baby to implant. When I told my OBGYN this he had my progesterone checked on 3 DPO, results came back "normal," but he prescribed me progesterone supplements because I persisted.

Woe is me. I LOATHE progesterone supplements, but I used them religiously from ovulation until 14 DPO for three months. In its defense, it did lengthen my luteal phase and I had no spotting when I stopped it, I just went right into AF. It did, however, turn me into a terrible, terrible person. This cycle I wanted to see if somehow my cycle had magically corrected itself, and decided to forego the supplements in favor of the sanity of myself and my husband. 

Well, I started spotting on 7 DPO. Earliest day I have ever started spotting before. All of you experienced ladies, would you not agree there is something wrong with me? I am still spotting today, with no AF to be seen. It has been four days. Not fun.

In other news, I finally received all of my medical records back from the doctor. It includes all of my test results, except for the specifics on my husband's SA, which is supposedly also normal. Here they are:

Prolactin: 9.8
TSH: 2.217
Progesterone: 7.77

(These were all taken at the same time, on 3 DPO)

Ultrasound
Endometrial lining: 3.7 mm transabdominal, 7.7 mm transvaginal
Fibroid: uterine fundus, 1.7 cm x  1.9 cm x 1.5 cm (not in the cavity, thank you God and small)
Follicles: Three in each ovary, largest one measuring 1.7 cm

(This was on CD 13, and I ovulated 3 days later)

I need some advice ladies. Are these results really "normal?" I did Dr. Google all of them and refer to my fertility books, and they all came up as normal except for the endometrial lining, which is a little thin for that close to ovulation. 

I am struggling right now because I cannot figure out what is wrong with us. There does not seem to be anything glaring. We have decided to move forward with making an appointment with a fertility specialist to hopefully determine other possibilities such as bad FSH, low ovarian reserve, endometriosis, anything. My OBGYN does not seem really concerned in helping us achieve pregnancy, so I think it is time for us to move on. I am a little sad about this, and also excited. It won't be until March or April, so until then we will continue to try naturally and enjoy some fun spring activities!

New Post Coming Soon

I know I have had nothing interesting to say for quite awhile. I promise to get in a good update very soon, definitely by the end of this weekend, if not sooner. I hope everyone has a blessed Friday!

Stepping Up

I need to step it up and be a better blogger, especially if I ever expect anyone to read this thing. Not too much to report on in Orange World. We are officially in the two-week wait again. This has been the weirdest cycle we have had in over a year. I didn't ovulate until CD 18, which is way late for me. I typically ovulate around CD 15-16, so I hope there is not anything funky going on.

There has been a lot of stressful stuff going down at work the past few weeks. There are a ton of projects coming up, and for some reason I have become the dumping grounds for everyone else. To top it off, one of my co-workers is about to go out on maternity leave, so we have had to divide up her work and I am not looking forward to juggling that for 8-9 weeks while she is out. I have also been getting blamed for a lot of things. Just driving me crazy.

Okay, I am done whining. I am so grateful to have this job. This is a great job, with a great company. I make excellent money for our family. Because of my job, we are able to save tons of money, buy new cars, go on nice vacations, furnish our home. I am blessed to have such a wonderful job in this economy. No more whining!

I feel like I am in a good place right now with the baby stuff. So many people have it so worse than me, and have been struggling so much longer. Don't get me wrong - I want this desperately, I pray for it constantly. But I am resting in God's promises right now, and being patient in his perfect timing. There is always that niggling fear in the back of my heart, "What if I never get pregnant, and adoption doesn't work out for us? What if we never become parents?" But I am trying to give this fear over to God each day, because fear is from Satan and not from Him.

Nothing Much Going On

There is nothing much going on here. We are watching the Super Bowl and enjoying a night in. Tomorrow starts a full and busy week for both of us.

Snow Day

Home today for a snow day! I love the get out of work free card!

Water Cooler Destruction

And now for a funny story.

In the break room on our floor, there is a large filtered water cooler. When the jug runs out, you are supposed to call for help to have someone come and replace it. Well, I have seen many people lift and replace them all by themselves, and I have done it before with the the help of another person, so of course I thought I could do it on my own, right?

Try again, Orange Girl. I had used up the last of the water, and being the thoughtful person I am, I decided to attempt to replace it on my own. Well, as you can imagine, things did not go as planned. No sooner had I stooped down to take the big 'ole heavy jug into my arms did it slip right out, smash all over the floor and completely drench my face and arms in water as I desperately tried to grab it.

Let me tell ya, those smashing water coolers are LOUD. And my floor is QUIET. About three of the closest people came running in to see me standing there in a huge and quickly growing puddle of water, laughing my head off because what else can you do? We threw a bunch of paper towels down and made a crude sign advising people to stay out, and then called to have someone clean it up.

By the time the guys got up there, the inches of water had made its way out into the hallway and completely drenched the carpet. They had to bring up an air vacuum that is STILL GOING this morning. So of course I have had a lot of people teasing me, including myself. A girl on my floor made it even worse by commenting that she does it by herself all the time - ouch! And not to mention, she is seven months pregnant. 

Lessons learned. 

1. Do not attempt to replace water cooler alone. Ever.
2. Don't neglect the weight training during work outs.

In Pursuit of Oranges

So, why the weird title for my blog? As I mentioned earlier, we speak in code names often. This is because we have kept our struggle very, very private. The only people who know anything at all are my parents and sister, and even they don't have a full understanding of how I feel about it or how long we have been trying. Nobody at work has even a clue, and because we often talk about it while I am at work, we came up with some code names. (And also because we're just cool like that, and code names are fun!) 

My sweet husband has been excited for me to tell this story, and was trying to remember last night how our nickname started. He claims that it came from ovulation. Ovulation = oranges. He would ask each month when I was supposed to be ovulating, and use the word oranges instead. Now, I'm not sure this is entirely true, but as it's been so long I'll go with it. 

From there, it evolved into taking on the meaning for anything related to trying to conceive. Pregnancy = oranges, babies = oranges, doing the deed = oranges. Our conversations often sound like this, "If we have oranges by such and such date, will we still go on vacation/go to so and so's wedding/spend a lot of money on something?" Or you might hear us say, "It's time to make some oranges tonight!" Or perhaps even, "I am so very sad today. I pray each day for oranges, and I am ready to have an orange of my own!"

So there you have it. We are in pursuit of oranges. We pray for them nightly, we have cried many tears for them, our hearts ache for them, our arms are open and waiting for them. The Bible verse on top of the image is the verse I am claiming for this trial in our lives right now. I came across it the other day when I was feeling very broken and turning to God, and I remember reading it over and over again as it filled my heart with peace and hope. That is what I want to do. Delight myself in the Lord every hour of every day, and wait patiently and faithfully for my little orange blessing.