Is 32 too old to like Kelly Clarkson?  I hope not because I just got tickets to see her in concert in September.  Yes, I realize that is five months away...but they just went on sale.  She's actually coming to Vermont so I figured I should take advantage of the opportunity. 

I'm psyched because my friend Casey is coming with me.  Casey is one of my closest friends.  We went to high school together and were even cheerleaders together (yes I was a cheerleader, mock me if you wish, just remember that I carry a gun AND a taser!).  At one time, after college, she lived in Japan, but now she lives about 25 minutes from me!  She has two of the cutest kids you've ever seen in the whole entire world.  Okay, so maybe I'm a bit biased because her 2 year old (Alex) is my little buddy.  He is so amazing the things that come out of his mouth.  He's a freakin' genius I tell ya!  And her newest little one (Eden) was born on December 30th so she's a little snuggle bunny.  Yes, she makes my uterus ache, I'll admit it!

On that note...(Disclaimer to Bob - this next part will be about my woman parts, or rather, woman parts in general.  It's not graphic by any means, but you may find it a bit boring and irrelevant, so I won't be offended if you stop reading)...as some of you many know from my past posts, I've embarked on a little journey to get to know my body a little better, or really to figure out what it is, or isn't, doing.  It's always been a bit of a mystery as it seems to just do whatever the heck it feels like in terms of my cycles.  And for the better part of my life since I was 18, I've been on the Pill (several different kinds).  This has been a blessing and a curse at the same time.  So my experiment began with me going off the pill in an effort to try to figure out how my body is functioning.

I'd read a lot about monitoring your basil body temperature so I thought that was a good place to start.  I got my special basil body temp thermometer (it's not really that special, but it's accurate to the hundredth of a degree, not a tenth of a degree like other thermometers) and set out to chart my temps.  Then I read on some message boards (yes, I've also been stalking some infertility and/or trying to conceive message boards - and before you ask...no, I'm not trying at this moment but I'm getting some good information for when that time comes) about this book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, so of course I had to look it up on Amazon...and then order it.

Let me tell you something ladies...you think by the time you reach your 30's you have your body all figured out and you know what's going on inside of it, but you are wrong.  I've even taken Anatomy & Physiology 1 AND 2 (aced them both, I might add!) and I have still learned SO SO much from this book.  It's freakin' amazing!  I would recommend it to any woman whether she is trying to conceive or not.  It's actually written for both because the charting methods can be used as birth control too (and NO, it's not the rhythm method).  It's really amazing what goes on inside our bodies and how much you can figure out on your own just by charting a few simple things everyday.

The author is careful to say that there will be times when invasive medical procedures will need to be done, however, I can see how it would be possible for the woman to help the doctor's pinpoint the problem rather than just take test after expensive (maybe not necessary) test to figure out a problem if she is trying to get pregnant and is having difficulty.  This book has helped me to see that I was quite possibly misled by a doctor several years ago who told me to expect problems with trying to conceive.  I don't think this doctor meant me any harm, in fact, I think she meant just the opposite.  But having learned some of the things that I have learned from this book, I really don't think she had all of the information needed to make that statement.  Yes, she may have been right, but as for now at least, I have hope that she was wrong (and I have been worrying and obsessing all these years for, maybe, nothing).

I think this doctor based her "findings" on two things.  One, she had my blood drawn for a hormone test which apparently showed questionable results.  I have since learned that it's important to take the same test several times throughout a cycle and specifically on several key days within the cycle.  Therefore, taking one test on a random day really tells you very little.  Two, I had come to her with my own version of a "chart" in the form of tracking how long my cycles were.  These ranged anywhere from 32 days to 49 days over about a year and a half.  Now, I never believed that EVERY woman fell into the "28 day cycle", but I was misinformed into believing that "normal" was at least somewhat close to that.  I was thinking somewhere along the lines of 26 to 31 days, so I thought that meant that my long cycles were indicating that I wasn't ovulating.  From reading this book, I know that might not be the case.  I also never believed that EVERY woman ovulated at perfect "day 14" either, but with cycles as long as mine are, I had lost hope.  From this book I've read about women who don't ovulate until "day 28" or even higher!  I didn't even know this was possible, so I have hope.

I just completed my first cycle off the pill, 39 days.  Before reading this book this would have freaked me out (although I probably would have shrugged it off as just coming off the pill...which probably does play a role, I know).  Also, my chart for this first cycle does not show a clear "thermal shift" which would suggest that I didn't ovulate this cycle...but again, I didn't expect to this cycle.  I believe pumping myself with hormones year after year after year will eventually take it's toll and my body will take time to adjust (at least this is what I keep telling myself!).  I will only question this if I don't see a thermal shift after several cycles.  But there again, I will have more knowledge going to see a doctor and will know that is the problem (versus many of the other problems women face with trying to conceive).

So there you have it.  My overaies, in a nut shell.  You can blame Patresa since she asked.  Just kidding P! :o)  Until next time...happy blogging!