FET #1 - Delayed

If you'd rather not find out a bunch of personal information about me, then please, stop reading. However, if you are interested in our family planning, or you just find the human body an interesting science, please join me for the rest of this post.

Today I am four days late. That never happens. I thought for sure that by now, I would have started my meds for our first FET. But it hasn't happened. There are 3 possible reasons I can think of that may have caused this effect. 1) I'm pregnant - which according to the doctor's is impossible; 2)I'm completely stressed; or 3)Our vacation wasn't so relaxing after all and caused massive changes in my body.

If we were at a horse track and I had to wager, I would say #3 has the best odds. I always knew that excessive exercise could cause unpredictable cycles. Sort of the same way that obesity causes unpredictable cycles. Most young females know that it is important to be a healthy weight when trying to conceive. It turns out that sudden exercise above and beyond a normal routine can also delay ovulation.

So our vacation this month, wasn't quite relaxing. In fact, the first few days were downright grueling. Four days backpacking the Appalachian Trial, climbing more than 3,000 feet up a massive hill, stumbling for hours with a 50 lb backpack, etc - was probably more than normal exercise. In fact, I know that my heart got about 7 hours of cardio exercise the second day of our trek. Thomas and I weren't nearly prepared enough, physically, for the trip. Case in point, my ovulation was stalled and now my cycle is taking a little longer than normal.

I think I have pretty strong proof, I noticed during the month that I ovulated about a week late. Did you get that? I thought it was weird at the time and that I must have been imagining things ... but, I guess not.

And for all of you who are wondering, yes, I did take a pregnancy test. And it was negative.

Today, was a very interesting day. I had my first ever acupuncture appointment - and it was FANTASTIC! I can not stress enough how much I enjoyed it and how relaxing it was. Turns out - I'm perfectly balanced. I always thought so myself! =) But it was great to have the massage, music, and I even think the needles were helpful. But more importantly, acupuncture is scientifically proven to have some type of link to increased success with infertility treatment.

Here's a clip from a website: "A German study done in 2002 showed that of the 80 women who underwent IVF and received acupuncture, 34 women got pregnant, a success rate of 42.5%. Of the 80 women involved in the study who received IVF without any acupuncture treatments, only 21 women (26.3%) became pregnant. More recently, an American study involving 114 women showed that 51% of the women who had acupuncture and IVF treatments became pregnant versus only 36% of the women who had IVF alone. Deeper analysis of this study revealed that, while 8% of the women in the acupuncture group miscarried, the rate of miscarriage in the IVF-only group was 20%. Furthermore, women who received acupuncture also had lower rates of ectopic pregnancies."

Did that convince any of you naysayers? Well, anyway, I enjoyed it. And if puts my mind to rest a little more, even better.

And on the fostering/adopting track, our health home study by the Florida Department of Health is tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what happens.

Also, one last thing, I added a link on the right hand side titled "House of Hartsfield" - check out our friends.