With the plumbing fixed and an abundance of swimmers, my wife and I tried… and tried… and tried to get pregnant “naturally.” I mean come on, how hard could this really be? Some might think (especially the guys out there) “oh what fun – all that lovin!’.”
Well it was fun, at least for a while. The first few months or so we tried conceive it really WAS thrilling. The excitement of no birth control and throwing caution to the wind made us look forward to our nights of baby-making-love. Then each month we’d anxiously look forward to seeing the blue + mark of “baby on the way” on the home pregnancy test – only to be disappointed.
Then, the “no baby blues” set in. One month we were so sure she was pregnant. Her breasts were larger and very sensitive, she had the queasy morning feeling, she was tired, and she even started having weird middle-of-the-night peanut butter and ice cream cravings. But the pee on the stick test disappointed us once again. We even thought there MUST be something wrong the pregnancy tests we bought – she HAD to be pregnant. We were so convinced we actually went to her OB/GYN to get checked out. Again, to our (now) massive disappointment “she was perfectly fine” and indeed, very un-pregnant. UGH!
OK, time to change strategies, and mix things up a bit. We did our research and put an action plan in place. My wife started taking her Basal body temperature in the morning (most women experience a slight jump in body temperature just after ovulation). Next she became VERY observant of any changes in her body. Most notably checking her cervical mucus. (fun stuff!) It’s thinner and clearer during the most fertile time of the month. We learned that thinner mucus allows for easier movement of the sperm in their quest for the egg. Another indication of ovulation is slight pain when the egg is released from the follicle inside the ovary. She paid particular attention to that, as well.
Next week I’ll tell you in “excrutiating” detail what my wife and I did to get ready. Likely the same steps a lot of you have taken.
