A Question Posted

In reference to the last post, a couple questions were asked. I thought I'd post the answers here for others to benefit from.

Questions : How do you use progesterone cream? Where do you apply it, and what does it do?

First of all, it's very important that you purchase natural progesterone cream. It must have the label USP progesterone cream in the ingredients or it's not natural and could actually be harmful to your body. You won't find natural progesterone cream at Walmart, it's usually at a health food store.

Basically you rub 1/4 tsp. 2 times a day for cycle days 14-28. It's just like rubbing lotion on. You rub on any of the areas of thin skin; the inside of your upper legs, inside of your arms, tummy, or chest. Within 5 days of stopping the cream you should have a normal cycle. For the first month of use, you should double the dose and you may have to try twice before it works.

Our bodies naturally produce progesterone, so you aren't introducing anything new into your system. By using progesterone cream after ovulation (which means that you might have to adjust the cycle day that you start the cream), you are helping to balance out the levels of estrogen and progesterone. Sometimes women have too much estrogen that causes their cycles to be irregular. Some women have too much progesterone that causes them to have irregular ovulation. By introducing progesterone at the correct time into your system, it helps to naturally balance your levels.

Progesterone is produced by the corpus lutem (the remains of the follicle that drops to be fertilized). If conception happens, it produces progesterone until the placenta forms and takes over (usually around 6-7 weeks). If a fetus isn't detected by the corpus lutem, it stops producing progesterone and the withdrawl induces the beginning of your cycle.

I think I covered everything there. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I don't mind answering questions.

Normalcy... for Me?

I haven't written in some time about our journey with infertility. So I wanted to give a very brief update on that.

Basically here's the run-down since my molar pregnancy....
A few trials of natural progesterone cream helped the molar pregnancy to pass and hence no longer be a problem for me.

Post-pregnancy loss cycle (Cycle 1) - I used natural progesterone cream on cycle days 14-28 of previous cycle. AF (Aunt Flow) arrived on cycle day 31. I also started taking Soy Isoflavones 120mg on cycle day 5-9 to help my body to ovulate properly and in a timely manner. I tested positive for ovulation on cycle day 17. A normal cycle.

Cycle 2 - I used natural progesterone cream on cycle days 22-31. AF arrived on cycle day 31. I took Soy Isoflavones 160mg on cycle day 3-7. I'm not sure if I ovulated or not. I messed up the testing a bit because of traveling and taking the tests at the wrong time. A normal cycle.

Cycle 3 - I used natural progesterone cream on cycle days 19-30 of previous cycle. AF arrived on cycle day 31. I took Soy Isoflavones 200mg on cycle days 3-7. I also added Robitussin to the mix this cycle. I began taking 2 teaspoons 3 times a day on cycle day 5 to help thin my cervical mucus. I'm now in the waiting process to see if I will ovulate or not.

As you can see this is great progress. I give God all the glory and thanks for helping my body to once again be normal. I'm telling you natural progesterone cream is a miracle working cream. Who would have known that the cure for most of my problems was in a jar at a health food store? It just blows my mind that I could have been helping my body all these years, but I didn't know it even existed.

I've also adding BBT charting on FertilityFriend.com . I began that towards the end of cycle 2, but it was too late to show if I had ovulated. So far I've been consistent with temping every morning, even though it is incredibly annoying. I set the alarm on my cell phone to wake me up so I can temp at the same time everyday. It's slowly becoming a habit. I'm hoping that it will help me to discover a pattern in my cycles and if I'm truely ovulating.

If the soy doesn't work this month (meaning giving me a definate positive ovulation), then I'll be lowering the dose and using it on cycle day 5-9 again. Usually the dosage starts at 60mg and ends at 200mg. I choose to start in the middle because I was sure that I needed more help than the lower doses would give. It is a substitute for the fertility drug called Clomid. I took that last year on cycle days 5-9, so that why I started with those days first. It's a guessing game to figure out, so that's why I'm exploring using different doses on the different days. Hopefully I'll find a combination that works well for me soon.

I'm hoping and praying that God is healing my body in preparation for a healthy successful pregnancy. It's coming to the end of year 8 for my husband and I. At the beginning on 2007, I heard a message preached on God's new beginnings and how the number 8 stood for new beginnings. Since then I've been focusing on that new beginning; the possibility that year 8 for us would truely be a new beginning. It is probably merely coincidence that it is 2008 and our 8th year of marriage, but I hoped that it meant something. Our 8th year ends this upcoming month; the 8th month of the 8th year of 2008. It's very strange and probably something I've just thought about too much. Somewhere deep down inside of me, where the dreamer still lives, I wonder if it still might be possible to have that new beginning, our number 8.

And for a few laughs, here's a few more number 8's for you......I'm supposed to ovulate on or around 8/8/08. If I become pregnant it will be our 8th pregnancy. And when I switch to a new OB/GYN, this will make number 8 for me in the past 8 years. LOL... I think I'm becoming obsessed with the number 8. But this isn't anything new, because I remember as a child that my favorite number was 8. It's probably because my birthday is in August. I have always, as long as I can remember, picked the number 8 in everything; chinesse Christmas, pick a number for a drawing, etc. 8 has always been mine. I sure hope that God allows me to have number 8 this time.....

A Pic Post

A little overview of my life through pictures.


Noah's 1st Birthday Party:

My beautiful goddaughter Genna...isn't that the cutest little pose?

Noah patiently waiting to eat.

Lou acting silly. This is so a MySpace photo...or maybe I'll keep it for a future date?

Bill's Graduation:

This was a really neat water feature. I loved the look of this photo.

A great pic of Genna and her dad at his college graduation.

Swimming with Genna:

Don't you just love that little swimsuit...even if it is a little blurry?

That's a cute little butt shot!

The only shot I was able to get at the pool. Lou and Genna were playing in the kiddy pool.

Deeper Still Weekend:

Adrian and I at her parents house.

A cute pic of me that Adrian caught.

The group shot of us Daughters girls who went to the conference.

The Phillips Arena where the Deeper Still Conference was held.

Another cute photo Adrian caught when we got back from the conference.

4th of July Pics:

Noah snoozing at the park before the fireworks show.

Genna stopped for a quick pose.

.Hannah, me and Lou grabbed the traditonal cell phone pic.
Genna and Lou lounging for a bit.

Genna and I anxiously awaiting the fireworks show.

High School Reunion and Other Things

I received a call yesterday from my high school senior class president. I recognized her voice immediately even though I haven't heard from her in a little over 9 years. Admittedly it was quite strange answering her casual questions about general life. She asked that I send a paragraph about my life so far to be put on our reunion's website and into a book available at the reunion.

I've been thinking about what to write ever since she called. I'd just gotten over the idea of not labeling myself based on my career or accomplishments. Now I'm struggling with writing this update. I don't want to seem like I'm a nobody and have nothing to say for myself. But on the other hand, I don't want to get back into the rut of labeling myself based on my 'accomplishments'. It's just a difficult thing to describe oneself to people you once spent everyday with.

Onto other things...I've been a terrible blogger. Life has been incredibly busy so far this summer, which not unusal for the summer. The unusual thing is that I've been simply overwhelmed by everything going on. I'll give a brief update on things and try to get more detailed later on, but I'm promising.

Women's Bible Study Class:
So far things have went just ok. Ok is fine, but I was hoping for great. So far it seems that we are generally disconnected. I believe this is due to the fact that we simply don't have enough time to interact with one another. We watch a video one week and then do a discussion of that session the next week. It seems that we are always so rushed to fit everything in that we really miss that personal aspect of the class.

The class format is definately a learning experience for me. Don't get me wrong the study itself is excellent. But if I ever choose to do a video series study again, I will not do so in a church setting, unless I have my own projector and a longer class time. Ideally it would be excellent to have at least an hour and 30 minutes for each class or have the full 2 hours that's suggested.

I also miss being able to actually teach. This class simply allows me to moderate the study. But I miss digging into the Word for something to teach to my students. I'm a bit lost because the teacher in me is not able to emerge.

Deeper Still Conference:

Meeting everyone: I was also shocked at how natural it was. I found everyone to be exactly who they appeared to be online, which was very refreshing to me. I thought Nicole's home was even more beautiful in person than in the pictures she's shown online. Lauren had a great personal style that I admired. I enjoyed the times that we had to talk. It's a rare occasion that I find someone who has a love for music like myself. I was also impressed with how cultured Nicole was. Although I felt a little bit uncultured when the topic of cheese came up Saturday at dinner, LOL. Overall, I wish we had had more downtime together to just enjoy each other more. I too was exhausted during the car rides and drifted off to sleep a few times.

The Conference: By far my favorite speaker was Priscilla Shirer, which I wasn't expecting at all. I'm a big fan of Beth Moore, so I was expecting her time to be the best, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was a bit thrown off with Beth's level of personal vanity, like talking about her hair, etc. Priscilla seemed to be more concerned with delivering a fresh Word to us.

I was not at all impressed with Kay Arthur's speaking. I found myself bored and a bit frustrated at all the repetition she used. Also I'm not fond of using the platform she had for political influencing. I was however impressed with her as a person. I admired her knowledge of the Bible and how she could use scripture so effortlessly in conversation. I aspire to be more like that.

I enjoyed the life stories that were shared. I was encouraged in my own personal walk. But I didn't have that 'spiritual high' that many spoke about in the Deeper Still blog.

Overall, I enjoyed the conference but the size of this conference was a bit much for me. I was exhausted and felt like we were so rushed. I wish that it was either a longer conference so that things could be spread out or that not so many things would be packed in. We definately needed longer breaks.

Time Spent with Family:
With the conference I got the added bonus of spending time with my family. I enjoyed the times that Adrian and I spent taking silly pictures and teaching her how to digital scrapbook with Photoshop. I'll never forget feeling her little boy move (she's pregnant) and how excited he became when I got a nasty case of hiccups on Monday morning.

Creatively:
I've been working hard on finishing up some projects. I'll leave you with a little sneak peak of the blanket I made for Adrian's baby. You can head over to my creative blog for more details.

~*Melody*~

*Picture courtesy of A.G.*