Tuesday Tea

Hi everyone! This is the start of my new weekly series called "Tuesday Tea." Here I will share what new teas I've been loving and any new "tools" that I would recommend. I wanted to make small changes to what I was eating/drinking during my TTC journey to be just a little bit healthier. About eight months ago I gave up soda and coffee. I never consumed a ton but on average 2-3 cups of coffee a day and one soda. It was definitely difficult at first, especially dealing with caffeine headaches! I found it challenging to find things to drink other than water. Recently, I started doing more research on caffeine free teas and decided to give it a try. My first few purchases included: Sleepytime Kids Goodnight Grape, Peppermint and Tazo Passion Tea. I found I don't care for the fruit teas very much at all. My next step a few weeks later was a trip to Teavana, which was about 45 minutes away. I was so impressed with the customer service associate that helped me. I told her my likes/dislikes and that I preferred caffeine free teas. The associate was so knowledgeable and directed me towards three of her recommendations (all of which I purchased!). My absolute favorite purchase was the Dosha Chai Rooibos. I am also really enjoying the Honeybush Vanilla Herbal. My least favorite of my purchases is the Zingiber Ginger Coconut Rooibos, it smells amazing but there's just something I don't love about the taste. I also ordered the Teavana Perfectea Tea Maker prior to going to the store and that arrived just a few days later. I only purchased 2 oz. of each tea so I could get a good idea of what I like. I plan on going back to Teavana this weekend to try a few more. I would also like to try Fava Tea Company which is near Teavana. I'll let you know all about my purchases in my post next Tuesday!

Ashley

CD21

Good morning everyone! I'm currently on CD21, still haven't gotten a positive OPK but I swear that second line is getting just a little bit darker each day! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. We were blessed with some amazing weather this weekend, so I tried to get out as much as possible. We picked up a new couch this weekend and I love being able to lay down and cuddle with my hubby and pooches again (all we had before was 2 recliners..that lasted about a year). My beloved Green Bay Packers also won in a nail biter of a game on Sunday! Overall, it was wonderful. I'm already looking forward to next weekend, I've taken a vacation day from work on Friday and we are headed out of town and enjoying the fall foliage! I'm going to start a special weekly blog post tomorrow called Tuesday Tea. Here, I will be sharing my favorite tea "tools" and what I've been drinking/obsessing over! See you tomorrow!


Have a great Monday!
Ashley

Headaches...you suck!

Good morning everyone! I'm here to talk about...HEADACHES! Now I know I mentioned in a previous blog post that I've dealt with headaches most of my life. Starting in middle school I started getting really bad migraines. For quite a while, my parents and physician were pretty concerned about it. I went though a TON of testing, including a CAT scan to rule out a tumor and thankfully everything came back fine. I then proceeded to go on a variety of medications throughout middle school and high school including...Imitrex, Maxalt and finally it seemed like Propranolol worked the best (and was the most reasonably priced). I must say, those are some pretty intense prescriptions for a teenager and even at that age I always struggled with taking pills. Propranolol seemed to work for a couple of years but one day I just decided to stop taking it to see what happened, I was sick of taking a pill everyday. Luckily, I seemed to do okay off the medication. I still got the occasional headache but through more holistic healing, I managed. Fast forward to infertility medications...these are some of the nastiest headaches I've had in several years. It doesn't help that I work in the automotive industry so I'm constantly hearing loud noises throughout my work day. I've had this nasty migraine that started Sunday evening and just keeps hanging on. On another note, it's CD15 and I got another negative OPK this morning. I was on YouTube yesterday watching a ton of older videos of the people I'm already subscribed to and it seems fairly common on Femara to not get a positive OPK until CD22-28 so I'm still very hopeful! I've decided if nothing has happened by CD30, I will contact my doctor and figure out our next plan of action. Originally, I was going to do 3 rounds of Provera and Femara but if I'm still not ovulating, I'm wondering if there's a blockage of some sort. We'll see, I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it at this point. I hope you all have an amazing day! I will leave you with some of my favorite infertility Ecards that help me smile on days like today and make getting through this roller coaster of a journey a little bit easier!

xoxo,
Ashley

Ok, so I've never deleted someone on my FB for this...but I may have thought about it...DON'T JUDGE ME!

CD14

Happy Monday everyone! I'm currently on cycle day 14. Not a whole lot of news to report, I'm still patiently (kind of ) waiting for my first positive OPK! I had a pretty relaxed weekend; did some shopping at Teavana, Sams club and had a nice dinner out. Also we've been on the hunt for a new couch for our living room for several months now and I've had what I wanted pictured in my mind but just wasn't finding it anywhere and I finally did! We had a large microfiber sectional for several years and unfortunately it was chewed up by our puppy about 2 years ago. We decided since we had this giant piece of furniture for so long we would go more simple so we purchased a small table and put a leather recliner chair on each side of it and as nice as it is, I just miss having the extra seating. I'm hoping by the end of the month we'll have the extra money set aside to purchase it. Sunday is usually my catch up day for housework, so aside from watching a few NFL games my day was pretty uneventful. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I will keep you posted in the coming days!


xoxo,
Ashley

TTC Tag!

TTC Tag Questions:

1.  How long have you been TTC?
     Just over 3 years

2. How many kids do you have/want?
    Currently have no children, we would love 1 or 2

3. How old are you and your husband?
    I'm 26 and my husband is 28

4. How long have you been married?
    We've been married a little over 3 years

5. What are some crazy things you do while TTC?
     I don't think I do anything TOO crazy...I just have a lot of OPKs on hand

6. Does your husband know all about the TTC cycle?
    He knows all the basics, it can be hard for the fellas to keep up :) 

7. Have you been diagnosed with any kind of infertility?
    PCOS

8. What keeps you busy in the 2ww?
     I've never had a 2ww

9. What day do you usually ovulate?
     I've never had a positive OPK

10. What gender are you hoping for?
       As cliche as it sounds, I would be overjoyed for any gender..as long as baby is healthy

11. How many pregnancy books do you own?
      Probably 10..but the majority were free/cheap downloads on my kindle

12. How many HPTs do you go through per cycle?
      I still test probably 5x a month, just in case my OPKs were not accurate

13. What have you bought for your baby/pregnancy already?
       Just vitamins, I don't want to purchase too much and jinx it! 

CD9

Happy October!! This is absolutely my FAVORITE time of the year! I live in Wisconsin and the fall colors are so vibrant and beautiful. Temperatures this weekend are expected to be in the upper 40s/low 50s which is perfect for the pumpkin patch and hiking in the crisp woods with my hubby and two very energetic dogs.

I'm currently on CD9, tonight will be my last dose of Femara. As I said in my last post, I'm so grateful my symptoms haven't been bad at all. I've heard so many Clomid horror stories so when I started going to this new doctor, I already had decided (after much research) that I wanted to try Femara over Clomid but I was going to see what he had to say first. I was pleasantly surprised when he said he didn't think Clomid was right for me and I would get Femara instead. The first day or two on Femara I had leg pain and headaches. The headaches weren't constant (thank goodness) but when they did come...it was pretty intense. I've always dealt with migraines and tension headaches since junior high, so I can handle it like a pro but at times, it got a little difficult to concentrate at work. However, I'm happy to report that after that second day on Femara, my symptoms have been very mild or non-existent. I'm also starting my OPKs tomorrow. I have probably 150-200 of the cheap internet tests (anyone who has been TTC longer than 3 years won't be shocked by that number) but I also purchased the Clearblue ovulation tests as well. I will be sure to keep you posted over the next few days/weeks! I'm SO ready for my positive OPK. I did the math quick and I've taken upwards of 1,000 ovulation tests over the last 3+ years and I've never gotten a positive! Good things come to those who wait..right?!?


xoxo,
Ashley

PS...I will leave you with some photos of our exquisite Wisconsin autumn! I do not take credit for these images. I feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place!

CD7

Hey everyone! I'm currently on cycle day 7. I started Provera on Sept. 3 and took 10 mg for 10 days. I did take it in the evenings just in case I got some of the not so pleasant symptoms. Overall, I really have no major complaints about Provera. I got a lot of menstrual type symptoms (cramping, bloating, break outs, tender breasts) but it wasn't a big deal at all. Generally it should only take 3-7 days after the last pill for your cycle to start...however my body was stubborn. My doctor had me come in for blood work 10 days after my last Provera pill after I still didn't start bleeding. I was definitely panicking at this point (thanks to google and all the horror stories online). I left work at 4 PM that day, made the 25 minute drive to my doctor, got my blood drawn and the VERY NEXT MORNING...my cycle started. I was frustrated/elated all at the same time! I thought if I had only been more patient by about 12 hours, I could've saved myself the worry. Fast forward a few days, I started Femara on Sept. 27. I also opted to take this at night because drowsiness is a pretty common symptom. I take (2) 2.5 mg pills for 5 days total. Again, I feel pretty fortunate that so far I haven't had any horrible symptoms. I have been having headaches off and on and also some leg pain...both of which are common. I feel like no matter what symptoms come by way, it's all for the greater good and it will be so worth it in the end! So hopefully, within the next week or two I will be lucky enough to get my first positive OPK and we can finally conceive this baby we've been praying oh so long for! Baby dust to all!!

Until next time!

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.- Philippians 4:13