9 DPO

So this may be the one!  Today marks my 9th day post ovulation (DPO) and I'm just waiting to test.

To give a little background on myself:
I had been on oral contraceptives for a few years.  I first started using them in my early 20's as a means of regulating my menstrual cycles.  I went off them for about 3 years, and when I still continued having irregular cycles, I went back on them until about a year ago.   I decided I should go off the pill so as to prepare my body for when we try to conceive. About a month after our wedding last October, JC and I decided that if it happens, it happens, so we stopped using birth control.  My body had gone back to irregular cycles, so there were times when we weren't sure if I was pregnant or not.  After a few weeks of negative home pregnancy tests (HPTs), I decided to go see my doctor.  She ordered a lab workup, and it all came out clear.  So I could only attribute my irregularity to my obesity, which is something I've always been warned about.  It is known that obese women have trouble getting pregnant and risk dangers while pregnant.  I have tried a few times to lose weight but have been unsuccessful.  Because of this, I knew we would have a long and difficult journey ahead of us.

Now that we are sitting at nearly a year after all this, JC and I are really concerned about be not being able to get knocked up.  We've recently decided that we will start trying to conceive (TTC).  And so that meant me going back to the doctor to get another check up.  I went to this women's health and birth center in Pearland that my good friend Tanya recommended to me awhile back.  I am hoping for a natural birth, so I figured that I would start seeing the midwife here for general checkups and exams so that when our time came, we would already have that relationship established.  So about 2 months ago I went in for a pre-conception consult.  We went over my medical/family history and she ran some bloodwork on me.  Again all came out well.  She suggested I try some natural progesterone hormone cream to help regulate my cycles.  Use it twice a day for 21 days then stop for 7 days and repeat.  Simple enough right?  Well I started it that evening and 12 days after starting, Aunt Flo (AF) came for a visit.  I called the midwife to see if I should continued to use it till day 28, but she didn't return my phone calls for 2 days.  So I looked online and saw that once you start your period, your supposed to wait 12 days until after you stop, to go back to using it.  So I did this.  In the meantime, I've been recording my basal body temperature (BBT) every morning and monitoring my cervical mucus (CM)... both of which are very important if you are seriously TTC.  I use a program on Fertility Friend that helps monitor things while you are TTC.  This past month I presented with some fertile CM and took advantage of it.  So far my chart shows that I definately ovulated on September 26, which made our intercourse timing good!  As predicted, my temperatures have stayed elevated for 8 days since and these are all good signs.  Before, I had erratic and annovulatory charts.  I am still on the progesterone cream and just awaiting October 14th, when I can finally test!  (That is if that nagging AF doesn't come for a visit first.)

Another thing that I've noticed are several symptoms that have started more recently, including headaches, heartburn, bachaches, low energy, and gas.  These are all things that need to be recorded as you TTC.  Recently we've also been under alot of stress with trying to buy a house and that doesn't help: 1.) me trying to get pregnant and 2.) some of these symptoms can go hand in hand w/ stress.  So now with a combination of stress and perhaps even "psyching" myself out I'm experiencing all these symptoms that I normally wouldn't.  So you can see why I'm anticipating the day when I can test. I am staying positive that all these signs could mean one thing, but also not trying to keep my hopes up high... just in case.  But for some reason, I'm still leaning more towards the hopeful side and can't help but think.... THIS IS THE ONE :)  So until then...