Stop for a while

The reason I had not updated this blog for so long...mainly is because I had something else in hand that needs my fullest attention. Apart from this, it was also because we will be heading to Bali in July. Thus we decided to stop trying for this moment. If we happen to hit the jackpot without trying so hard, as we did for the past few months, it will be a bonus. But then, if the jackpot strike, that only means we will have to cancel our trip which we had almost paid for everything, plane ticket and hotel stay. We had been planning for this trip for almost half a year, with me doing most of the research and booking if not all. This will also be our honeymoon trip. Not only will we not have honeymoon trip if I actually conceive, it will also means that it's impossible for the future.

We shall see in a week or two times if my 'Aunt' still miss me and pay me a visit then.

A date with Doc.

I did something a couple would think of doing after many failed mission. Although mine was just 2nd attempt, I consulted a gynea on my fertility. Yes, I know 2 times is not enough, but I want to make everything clear so that I can be at ease knowing I'm not a barren. Sis did that a few months ago after failing to conceive for nearly a year. Her result was positive, she's in good condition BUT...a big BUT the problem lies in BIL. Apparently, his sperm count was unbelievably low. Ok, if they had gone for the check up much earlier, then they would have done something much earlier too, to solve this problem. As a precaution, me and Hubs went for the check up too last weekend, so equipped with questions I went to see her doctor.

I don't know what's the big deal but I was trembling outside while waiting for my turn. I wanted to do pap smear like my sis, since everything will be charged to Hubs company. But Doc said our 6 months attempts (I lied to him ;p) only started, it was not necessary. It started with me going into the bed section with Nurse asking me to take off my pants and underwear as she held a piece of cloth (for me to cover up later) while she looked on. After lying on the bed and Nurse closed up my lower abdomen, she shouted "Ready". Then Doc came in and started applying the liquid on my tummy. He did what I saw on movie, the ultrascan checking for baby I guess. He proceeded to check my 'inside', sticking a penis like plastic after squirting a massive amount of lubricant. Yet, I was still painful and actually tensed up while making, "Argh..Ouch" sound every time that thing moved. It's so shameful when Doc asked me to put my butt down so that he can continue *blush* I don't know what he put in after that but I saw the screen showing my uterus. The I saw a black round ball, which I still don't know what it was till today. Doc measured the thing from the screen and walah! He's done. I cleaned up and went outside to hear his result. Was everything normal? Is there anything wrong with my tummy? Thank god he said all is fine. So now it's up to Hubs to do the sperm count. Too bad he can't do it that day as the test requires him to store up his champion for at least 6 days. He will have to go back again if he wants to do it. Another good news, my egg was on its way. I asked Doc on the calculation of ovulation since from the last post, I mentioned that some will have ovulation as early as day 6 and I suspected mine was not day 14 due to my spotting. Here's how he taught us to calculate.

Ovulation day = Next menses - 2 weeks
Fertility period = 5 days before till 5 days after ovulation
What to do? = sex on alternate days

Also, I did asked Doc on the spotting, what caused it to happen and all those. He said he noticed a lining growth inside just now which explain the spotting. As I did not mentioned it earlier, he was not able to checked further. If it still occurs and disturb my daily life, I could opt to have it taken out thru a minor surgery (poking a hole in my body? eww...) Not to worry, it will not affect the conceiving or cause any harm to body, just annoying it always stain my underwear and pants. Nowadays I wear panty liner but somehow it also overflow and stain a lil. Never mind, as long as my fertility is confirmed good, I'm more than happy.

Spotting??

I read somewhere about spotting during pregnancy and stuff and was thinking to myself. I had that almost every month, every time it occurred in between the monthly menses and the next menses. In simple words, it happened sometime near ovulation. Not exactly on the 14 day but more to a week or so before that. Today, I did some research on the cause of spotting for menses and found this Andorra Pediatrics. Well I'm sure what this thing has to do with pediatric but I find that it's something we need to know.

"At about day 14 of a typical 28-day cycle, the sac bursts and the egg leaves the ovary, traveling through one of the fallopian tubes to the uterus. The release of the egg from the ovary is called ovulation. Some women know when they are ovulating, because at mid-cycle they have some pain - typically a dull ache on either side of the lower abdomen lasting a few hours. Some women also have very light bleeding, or spotting, during ovulation. "

This explain everything. Previously, I was confused as why am I experiencing period twice a month. When I asked my friends, they said it was probably due to stress. As that time I was stress up bout my workload, I just accepted it. But then it occurred more often that it rings the alarm bell. Now every doubts are cleared but there is still one slight problem. It says that spotting is due to ovulation and mostly around 14 days. Mine was more likely to start on day 7-10, on and off till day 14. So what does that mean? Was it normal? I read so many e-info saying ovulation will be on day 14. According to one article on Parents.com,

"A woman’s fertile days are usually the day of ovulation and the four of five days before, not after. But don’t assume that you automatically ovulate on day 14 of your cycle: A study last fall from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that ovulation varies dramatically from woman to woman, occurring as early as day 6 and as late as day 21 of a cycle."

Now, isn't it something new? I mean, now I know one of the reason I've failed twice. Probably, mine occur not exactly on day 14 although my menses is mostly on time (27, 28, 29 days cycle).

Here's something to cheer myself up...

Mission failed

I woke up early yesterday to go for a morning pee but little did I realise, that was the time I had to say hello to my menses. Yes, it decided to visit me a day earlier to end my misery waiting. The moment I saw it came, I was in the state of denial. Was it just spotting? Was it something else that had happened? I went back to sleep hoping it was just a dream. Later of the day, I started to have the menses cramp it was so bad I actually thought of the possibility of miscarriage. I don't want to accept the fact that the little one is not there yet. I was terribly disappointed I could say. Hubs just soothes me saying it will come soon. I really don't know.
Now I'm really into believing all those superstitious thingy. Some said to place a pair of baby shoes by the bedside. Some said to get the baby pictures hang in the bedroom. I even bought the wishing bird and hung it outside to get my little wish for little one. Since it was Cheng Beng, I even sincerely asked for the ancestor to provide addition to our family when I prayed to each of them. We bought a pair of cute super tiny shoes for our unborn. Ain't this cute? A friend comment on the boyish look and jokingly asked if I wish for a baby boy. I thought it look unisex and no matter which come first, truthfully I don't mind anymore and will love my baby whole-heartedly. I just hope baby will know Daddy and Mommy are waiting eagerly for the arrival.

2nd trial

3 days to go till my next menses. I'm very anxious as I'm writing this. Well a lil bit dizzy for the whole day in fact. Today I woke up feeling dizzy and slight nauseous after drinking my cereal. It never happen before, so the first thing I thought was, "Is this the pregnant symptom?". Of course it's too early to tell. Anyhow also I will have to see if my menses will come next week or not. I don't want the early excitement only to turn it into disappointment later on. If you had followed my blog, you would have realised this is the second month I'm trying. I kept telling myself that dizziness is so common and I'm used to it. But at the same time I couldn't help wanting to go and take a test with Clearblue. All this while, I believe that I'm an easy conceiver but due to Sis case, it made me think twice. I totally don't want to give Hubs another false hope. I don't know, probably I'll go and find those Clearblue he bought last time when my menses was late for a day. Wish me luck that my menses will be late for another 9 months ;)

Just passed 14th day

I used the technique I mention earlier; i.e. 11th, 13th, 14th......now into 16th day, I'm not sure if we can make it. Hubs is down with food poisoning and gassy tummy. Hopefully he's well tonight ;) Hubs is down, FIL is going for cataract removal, so today I need to fetch FIL from hospital after work.

I read somewhere else about the method on conceiving. It says to do it on 4 days on your ovulation. Start a day before the 14th and continue till 4 days later; i.e. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. Well, I don't know who to follow now. So if I fail this month, I shall try it next month.

Not only 14th day

I was so shocked to learn a silly mistake I've made. A few days ago while chatting with two friends who are about to get married, the topic on conceiving was brought up. According to them (well, they are more versed than me..shame on me), although 14day is the ovulation day, one must have already started trying before that. There is a calculation, 2 times before with a gap of one day and 2 times after, with a gap of one day also; i.e. on 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th.Whoops! So many times!! Previous trial, I made Hubs keep his champion for almost a week before they are allowed to meet the eggs. I wonder if they have turned to tadpoles already or have actually died even before they see the world. I'm on 8th day now, so we will start 2nd trial in another 3 days. Wish me luck again!

Mission failed....retry in another 14days

Yes, my period finally came this morning after much awaited over the weekend. Actually I was hoping it will disappear for the next 10 months but sadly, it miss me so much it pays me a visit exactly on the 28th day. Guess we have to make more effort on this. After seeing my eldest sis and SIL trying so hard and still did not show positive result, I'm a bit worried.

Probably I should not have think of wanting it so badly that it affect the result. I always hear people saying the more the wanted for a child, the harder they can get it. But as soon as the stop trying, Pop! There comes the lil one. It's kinda hard to not think of it when you wanted it so badly. Hopefully the law of attraction will help me out this time.

Excercise for Pregnant mom

I was busy searching for suitable excercise yesterday. Yoga seems to be fine but there must be pregnant yoga right? Something on what I found..

Everything you need to know to safely stay in shape during your pregnancy here

The Expectant Mother here

I stumnle upon this too when I was browsing thru.

What should I eat during pregnancy? here

Looks like I shall not use 'eating for two' to get all the yummy food into my tummy and to suffer after the birth ;p Everywhere I read, they seems to be stressing on the goodness of folic acid. Here's a lil fact I got from the website.

During the first three months of pregnancy (and preferably before becoming pregnant) a woman needs folic acid. This is one of the B-group vitamins and is also known as vitamin B9. It is important during pregnancy for the creation of the baby's nervous system. Folic acid can help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida and other congenital malformations such as cleft palate or cleft lip. Good natural sources of folic acid are barley beans, fruit, green vegetables, orange juice, lentils, peas and rice.

So folic acid be it. I'm going to hunt them down starting from now...

A date with Hubs

As I've mentioned here two weeks ago, my date with Hubs was very predictable. He tried to kept it a secret but I managed to guess it even before he told me...hehe...no much of a surprise. From our wedding, we had a voucher for 2day1night hotel stay. We has procrastinate it for so long it is near expiry date. So he called up our hotel coordinator and booked ourself a bridal suite. He also planned the dinner to be at our favourite restaurant, Ingolf. Although not much of a surprise and the room was quite old, however we still enjoyed ourself very much.

Hubs made all the preparation.....to make a baby. Coincidently, it was also my ovulation day. Hubs kept his champion (as he calls them ;p) in quality AND quantity. He added coffee for the 'sprinter' right before. We had read so many articles and heard numerous advice from friends who are successful on the food to take, the day to choose, the position to be in, etc. So that two days went on very well and now, I'm waiting for it to be confirmed this weekend. Wish me luck!

Another 7 months

I just had my HepB last Tuesday, which is two days ago. According to Doc, it's safe to conceive even when you are getting the injection. However if I'm worried, then I'll have to wait. The first question come into mind is how long? Well, after the first dose, the second dose will follow the a month after that. Then the 3rd dose, which is also the last will have to be 5 months after the 2nd one. So? If you do the calculation, I only can start conceiving AFTER July. In this case, it's another 7 months. Gosh! So long.

I was already planning for either a Mickey or Minnie. Now I can only go for Moomoo Cow. This actually enable us to proceed with our honeymoon trip to Bali which we was discussing whether to forgo earlier. I don't know if it's a good news or a bad one.

Since I have 7 month to go, I'll concentrate more on finding info for the expenses of a newborn. Hopefully with this, we can work our way to achieve better when the time comes.

Am I ready?

Conversation after conversation, Hubs queries bout my readiness to have a baby we could call our own. Previously, I have been wanting to have one, then changed my mind about it due to some reasons and wanting it again. So it's normal for Hubs to get a confirmation. Initially we planned to have our honeymoon in Bali somewhere on July. But if following the calculation to have a Mickey or Minnie Mouse (born in year of rat), we have to try from say....Now? I wanted to go to Bali, really. But as time passed, my eagerness is not that strong anymore. I felt that Bali is just a place to see the ancient stuff and since I'm more of a bargain hunter, there will not be much for me to hunt there. Maybe I can ease my thirst of photographer but that is not the priority. I know Hubs will be eager to go for this holiday. First, he felt that he has not taken me to honeymoon since our wedding and this should be the one. Second, his buddies will be joining in so they will have a great time. I've heard and read somewhere that the first few months of conceiving is the most critical months. So it's better to stay at home and take care of the tummy.

What should I do? To go for the trip even if I will be pregnant by that time? Or cancel the trip and wait for it to happen at home?

Another 3 months

I can't keep it secret anymore. Yes, I want baby. But now is still not the time yet. Why? Cause I wanted something else before I can have the baby. Well, I'm going to correct my vision tomorrow. Upon consultation with the doctor, she told me it's advisable to try to conceive only after 2 to 3 months after the operation. The operation will not affect the fetus, but the hormone change due to pregnancy will affect the vision. Some will experience an increase in power during pregnancy and go back to normal after delivery. Thus, the doctor's advise is that to let the vision stabilise after the operation before trying to conceive. So, another 2-3 months before I can start. Erm...that's not the only factor that will delay it I guess. As I have ZERO HepB immune antibody, I'm suppose to get one. So if I were to get one now, how long will I have to wait? Well, we'll know after I consult doctor next week. Sigh....

Predict the sex of your baby

As I was searching for the remedies to choose the sex of a baby, I came across a chart by this website, Lil Venture . It was stated that the accuracy of the chart has been proved by thousands of people and is believed to be 99 percent accurate. I am not so sure of the accuracy as calculating from my preggie sister month of conceiving, hers was suppose to be a baby girl. However, numerous scanning has proven otherwise. Well, I could only guess she is the minority 1 percent. This could be used as a reference for those who are trying hard to get a certain sex after trying for so long.

Up to come is regarding the food one should take to have higher chance of determining the sex before you conceive. Stay tune.

First step

It’s a big decision for us to set a date to start trying for a baby. It fills us with excitement as well as fear. Questions keep popping into our head, will we be good parents? What if we can’t become pregnant? And most importantly – how an earth do we go about conceiving a baby? (It’s harder than it seems) The Ovulation calculator can predict exactly which days I am fertile over the next year so we can plan that romantic weekend! Having a few friends and relative trying hard to conceive but failed did not make this easy for us. We know the frustration and stressfulness on trying for a baby, and finding out you’re not pregnant. That's why I'm getting myself arm with sufficient information and increase them from time to time. Hope this will be useful info for others who are on the same track as us.

How does it take to get pregnant?

The length of time it takes to get pregnant is completely different for each couple, and while your health, lifestyle, age and when you decide to start trying for a baby are factors to consider, how long it takes is a lottery for most couples. It’s worth remembering that if you have regular intercourse without protection, 25 per cent will conceive in the first month, 60 per cent within six months, 75 per cent within nine months, 80 per cent within a year and 90 per cent within 18 months.

It goes without saying that the healthier you are, the more likely you are to conceive. One of the common reasons for infertility is your weight. Being overweight may cause insulin levels to rise in your body, which may cause your ovaries to over produce male hormones such as testosterone, which can cause ovulation problems.Studies from the British Medical Journal found that women with a high waist to hip ratio or an ‘apple’ shape had more difficulty conceiving than those with a low waist to hip ratio or a ‘pear shape’. If you are too thin, your body can also stop ovulating, so it is important to maintain a healthy weight. It is important to start eating a healthy, varied diet at least three months before you try to conceive so your body (and your partner’s) is in tip top shape.

Other factors may be the work environment. Both men and women can be exposed to unseen hazards in the work place, which can affect their reproductive health. Your office probably looks harmless, but it may be time to pay attention to the potential hazards surrounding you while you work. Most offices are completely safe, so there’s no need to panic, but it’s worth investigating your office environment if you suspect you or people in your office are finding it hard to conceive.

Computers Office equipment like fax machines and computer terminals emit a low frequency radiation, so too much exposure can pose a risk. Try to stay clear of the back of your monitor, as this is where most of the radiation is emitted. Arrange your desk so you are not facing the back of anyone else’s computer whilst you work. Push your screen back as far as it will go on your desk (as long as you can still see) and avoid taking breaks or eating your lunch near the back or side of your terminal, or turn your computer off if you do.

Poor ventilation from dirty heating or air-conditioning systems can be harmful so speak with your employer or human resources department if you suspect the system needs to be checked.

Chemicals Direct contact with toxic chemicals, often those associated with photocopiers and printers can cause a problem, especially if you work somewhere that manufactures these products. If you work in hospitals and are exposed to dangerous chemicals, or on farms where you come into contact with pesticides or pollutants it may also affect your fertility. Read the instructions carefully when dealing with chemicals and always use the correct dosage.

High temperatures are especially dangerous for male fertility, as working in conditions over 100 degrees will affect sperm production. Kitchens, restaurants, bakeries and factories can get this hot, so make sure you take regular breaks in a cooler environment.

Sitting still for long periods of time at a desk, or long-distance driving can also affect sperm production, as the testicular area can warm up if air isn’t circulating around it. Give yourself plenty of breaks where you can walk around, and don’t wear tight trousers. Having a hot laptop on your lap does much the same thing, so put a pillow underneath to protect yourself. Testicles hang below a man’s body so are at a lower temperature than the rest of the body, but if conditions get too hot, the production of sperm is at risk.