Update

Here's an e-mail my wife just sent me:

Sweetheart-
We need to make a baby as soon as you get home b/c I have lots of slimy stuff coming out. I definitely ovulated!
Love You!

Gross ... (and awesome!)

Double Positive

My wife got ANOTHER positive ovulation test this morning. We're at a loss as so what this means. Theories range from faulty ovulation predictor test to an actual double ovulation (if such a thing is possible) Actually, those are our only two theories ... not much of a range. But anyhow, it is what it is ... time to procreate. I leave the country on Saturday, so here's hoping one of my 169 million strong white team catches the little egg.

New Car

Broke down and purchased a new vehicle last night - got a 2008 Ford Fusion SEL V6 AWD. Nice vehicle ... traded in my POS 2001 Ford Explorer Sport, whose ride dynamics can best be described as "bone-shattering"

Naturally, my wife will drive the new car and I will take hers.

How's it relate to infertility? The car salesman's son just had a baby girl that day (his first grandchild) Good day for him I guess, but I'm not really qualified to say seeing as how we don't have any children yet.

Out

Update on the premature ovulation situation: Wife has been taking ovulation tests each morning, and has yet to get another positive (not that we're expecting that ... we're just checking to be sure the early positive test wasn't a fluke) We've been busy ...

This weekend I leave for Germany for two weeks. My wife's cousin's wife is having a baby shower that same day, but my wife is opting to not go. I don't blame her. It's hard enough to have to send your spouse off on an airplane for two weeks while simultaneously enduring the pain/ridiculousness of a baby shower. She reads this blog and I want her to know that it's okay to bypass something that will only cause pain ... she should stay at home, and take a bath while Cooper tries to jump in with her before getting frustrated and wandering off to take a poop in the green room while chewing through the remaining straps on her shoes.

I am going to miss my wife terribly. And I'll miss Cooper too.

Hopefully there will be a positive pregnancy test sometime during my absence. If not, at least I'll get to come home to my wife shortly thereafter.

What the H-E Double Blue Lines?!?

Not THOSE kinds of double blue lines, but a positive ovulation test, rather. It's day 6 today, and my wife decided to take an ovulation test after feeling some slight pains (which she usually feels around ovulation time) Sure enough, positive test ... mind you, this comes a full 5 - 7 days before her normal ovulation time. Strange, but we'll take it.

Now, let's get busy making a baby ...

Dr. M Visit

Update on my wife's appointment with Dr. M this morning:

• Based on a digital exam (bi digital, to be more precise) no cysts were found. My wife was provided a prescription for 2 more months of Femara.


• Dr. M stated that most couples who are put on fertility drugs achieve pregnancy within the first 4 months. If we are still unsuccessful after 2 more months of trying we will begin IUI, and my wife will undergo laproscopy to investigate for endometriosis (which is present in 30% of women seeking infertility treatment, according to Dr. M) I was pleased to hear that IUI only costs around $300 per shot. That's manageable.

I had my wife ask him three questions about the male side of things:

• Caffeine: He said a few cups of coffee a day are fine, but due to their excessive amounts of caffeine, energy drinks are not. This is unfortunate, as I am a big fan of Monster Energy drinks and have consumed a lot of them over the past few months. From here on out, I will cease and desist all energy drink consumption


• Vitamins: A one-a-day multivitamin is more than sufficient for most men, according to Dr. M. I intend to continue my antioxidant cocktail of Vitamin C, E, B12, Zinc, Selenium, Beta Carotene, L-Arginine, L-Carnitine and Fish Oil until my current supply runs out. Then, I might switch to Wellman tablets, per some friendly advice from England.


• Semen Analysis: I wanted to know if it would make sense to have my levels checked again, but Dr. M advised that many active, swimming sperm were witnessed during our post coital test, which, in his opinion is a superior test to semen analysis as it evaluates the function of fertilization (part of it, at least) He provided some numbers: Normal counts are 20 million, but my counts are ~169 million, and my motility is above average as well. My morphology was low at 13% normal (below the 15% normal "fertile" cutoff) Let's do the math ... 15% of 20 million is 3 million. 13% of 169 million is ~22 million. Translated, I have over 7 times as many normal sperm as an average guy ... but at the end of the day it hasn't really mattered because none of them have made it to the destination ... or maybe they have and we're failing to implant. Either way, there is no need for another SA.

That is all, for now.

... one more thing

Forgot to mention in last night's post, my wife decided to have a period after all. No pregnancy this month. Bummer.

Wife goes in to see Dr. M. on Thursday to see if the medication is causing any cysts. If all is clear, the Doctor will renew her prescription for Femara, and likely send us on another 3 month tour (for the record, we have had two unsuccessful months with Femara thus far) She is going to ask him a bunch of questions, and hopefully get some reassurement - after all, patience wore out a few months ago, and we're getting low on hope. I'm wondering if I should have another SA conducted to see if my vitamin + reduced alcohol regimen has had a positive impact. Plus, the plastic cups they have over there are really hot.

I have a feeling this next month will be our month, assuming there are no cysts.

Good news over at "Faith In Fertility" - happy times in England.

Shitty Day

It's been a while, but I've been busy having shitty days, like today for instance:

-Sunday evening, receive a call from my boss stating I had screwed up the numbers on a slide he was about to deliver to a very high profile audience of CEOs, executives and board members. Oops. I feel like shit as I hate to make mistakes. Worse, he brings me into his office and belittles / humiliates me further.
-On way to the office following the conference at which my screwed up presentation was presented, my car runs out of gas on the freeway ... I coast onto the shoulder and walk through the ghetto (8-mile area) to find a gas station and fill back up. Return to work, reeking of gas for more humiliation.
-Sister calls: She is pregnant. Come home to wife, sitting before bottle of Jack Daniels.

I'm glad there are only 2.5 hours left in this shitty day. Plenty of time for the house to burn down though ...

Spotting

It's been a busy week, thus the brief hiatus in posting.

My wife started spotting last night, a full 5 days before she normally does. It was described as "brown" in color ... I'm no expert on spotting since I've never done it, but this strikes me a bit odd. My wife's spotting normally begins the day before she starts "flow", so this one being 5 days before the end of her normally very precise cycles is strange (she's usually at 25 days, exactly, to the hour almost)

I always chalk spotting up to "implantation bleeding", but have never been accurate in this assessment. Maybe this month is different? Doubtful, but it has to happen some time - right?