We had a rough bed time last night, with Gatito in and out of bed between 8:30 and 10:30. He wound up in our bed around 4:00 a.m. and woke early, at 6:30. The day did not start out great, since he immediately requested a car. You know, the ones he gets for staying in his own bed all night long, and was (kindly) denied, and it all kind of went down hill from there. Getting him dressed took forever and I was glad we were in the half of the class that started at 10:45 this morning. Maybe it was nerves getting ready for school, but I think it was just being almost three.
I gave him a quick kiss and hug at the classroom door and he was immediately engaged by the super-sweet teacher who told him she’d found a baby (toy) snake to go with the ones he played with on Monday. I beat it out of there as fast as I could (only partly because I had to pee so badly) and went to the parents’ meeting. At the end, we met the kids out on the playground.
I found Gatito sitting on a bench by himself, doing nothing. He didn’t seem upset and he said he didn’t cry. This is so his personality and the thing I worry most about him at school is that he’ll be easily ignored because he’ll be sitting off in the corner by himself being low-maintenance. But I asked the head teacher if he’d been sitting there the whole time and she assured me that he had not been, that he had done fine and that he had talked a lot. I hope that’s right and I know she wouldn’t have had any reason to be untruthful about that.
There are a lot of nursery schools around these parts that have pretty awesome facilities and that cost $10,000/year for three mornings/week. And while part of me would love to send him into a beautiful building every day, instead of the back of a church, I know that architecture is not the most important thing. As I mentioned, this is not a drop-off nursery school. Including the information session last October when we applied, this is already the fourth meeting I’ve had where they engage with the parents. And what has come through loud and clear every time is just how focused they are on understanding how little kids see the world and how they learn and develop. I just do have a really terrific feeling about this place. I think it’s going to be good.
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Charting has been interesting! I got my positive OPK on Day 16 and my temperature went up this morning, on Day 19. I had assumed I was ovulating the day after the positive OPK, but it looks like, at least this months, it is two days after. So two things: One is that for one reason and another (kid not going to bed on time, anyone?) we ended up being “active” early on Day 15 and late on Day 16 and so I feel like we were within the realm of possibility but definitely not optimized. I don’t have records on previous months but I think this may have been true in the past. On the other hand, this is the exact timing that led to the January (ectopic) pregnancy, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
The other thing is that, assuming this is a consistent pattern, it means my luteal phase is only 11 days, and that is with progesterone support. That seemed worthy of a call to my regular OB. The plan is that I will get a progesterone blood test today (before starting the Prometrium) and then have an ultrasound to check follicles on Day 10-12 of my next cycle. I know not to waste a lot of time addressing fertility problems with a regular OB/GYN, but I’m not ready to do the whole fertility clinic thing yet. This seems like a nice in-between step that will hopefully provide a little more information and help me figure out where to go from here. Stay tuned.
Update: Everything I read on the Internets says to do the progesterone test seven days after ovulation, not one day after. Is my doctor just being an idiot or is there some reason to test now? Help!
Is it definitely true that the temp will go up the morning after ovulation and no later? I thought I remembered it could take a day or two in some cases. But it’s been a while since I was immersed in Toni Weschler 24/7…
re: Gatito, since i know nothing about luteal cycles…
he is a thoughtful child. and he has had a reasonably calm life, unencumbered by the constant screaming throngs of other children, dogs, and televisions that most children know. So, he may just need his quiet time – and the fact that he knows well enough to go and get it, when he needs it, bodes well for his emotional development.
I remember playing alone a lot at school. In part, I think I needed that time to imagine, think, and get some peace. And to this day, I need quiet time every day. If, after a few weeks, he doesn’t tell stories about friends or even come home with complaints about other kids, you might have a problem. Otherwise, thank your lucky stars that your kid doesn’t burst into tears and explode when he needs space.
That preschool really does sound great, and like Lily, I think it just sounds like Gatito has really good coping skills.
As for the progesterone, my RE said that the 7 days after was the time to do the test, but in her opinion, if you need supplements, you need them starting with 48 hours of ovulation. So basically, by the time you can test, it’s too late. (Something about it takes so long for the progesterone to get into your blood stream?) Since progesterone’s not gonna hurt anything (first do no harm, right?) we supplemented, and did regular tests until right at the end of the first trimester I showed a big spike in the numbers, indicating that the placenta had taken over production from my ovaries. So there’s your one comment from the peanut gallery. Take it for what it’s worth.
So, I think the problem with progesterone can be two-fold: (1) it’s not getting high enough in the beginning (weak ovulation? I forget), and (2) it is dropping off too soon. I think traditionally progesterone testing is done at 7 DPO for problem #2. I guess your dr. could be testing right after ovulation to (a) confirm you ovulated and (b) check your initial levels, but personally I would go for the 7 DPO test since it is probably the sustaining problem that is more critical.
Now, on the length of the LP — the temp spike can take a day or two – -that said, I think 11 days with progesterone supplements is a bit short, though not a game-changer (you’ve been pregnant 3 times, right?). When I was going for #2 my LP without supplementation was 8 days and I got to 14 and going strong with supplementation (suppositories, not oral progesterone … I’d read bad stuff about oral not being effective). Maybe check your dose? Or type? If you get really concerned you can always go for PIO injections — supposedly the gold standard where progesterone support is concerned, though to get that far you’d have to get to an RE, I suspect (never having been there myself).
Hang in there! When looking at the big picture, you don’t really have any trouble *getting* pregnant … remember, fertility declines *g*r*a*d*u*a*l*l*y as we age so it is perfectly natural to take longer today than you did 4 years ago.
Working with gifted children daily, I would say based on what you have described before about Gatito, along with his sensitivity, etc. that he is probably a very bright little boy who has different needs that some more “average” playmates. Quiet time is actually common amongst gifted children. The school sounds like a great fit and I would bet in the next few weeks that he will make some new friends and find a comfort zone that is right for him.
As for the progesterone, I have always done it orally. With Ainsley, I know that my progesterone was always high when I was taking Prometrium, but I read that the oral Prometrium can sometimes make the numbers look a little higher than they are. I have never had a mid-cycle check, but I do know when I was considering doing Clomid, they wanted to check my lining and progesterone about 5-7 days after ovulation.
He sounds so lovely. I’m glad they’re treating you both so well at preschool.
I know you’re probably not interested, but I extended my 6-day luteal phase enough to get pregnant with Frank by taking Vitex (chasteberry). And it is often used to increase milk supply, so I felt totally comfortable taking it while nursing Mimi.
I hope it all goes well. And I know that Gatito will love preschool.
I’ll weigh in on both:
From everything you’ve described Gaitito is a slow to warm up child, who is very verbal. He probably needs to take everything in, and may need to talk about it (I know that can sound odd, but I work with a lovely 14 year old who was very very slow to warm up at preschool, and needed to describe to her mother in the evenings everything everyone did for the first 6 weeks).
I think getting a projesterone test now and at 7dpo makes sense. If you only have a 11 day luteal phase then 7 days out is way to long to wait–7 days is essentially teh middle of a 14 day luteal phase. I have a short follicular stage (usually ovulate by day 10 even though my FSH is low) and when I was getting my HSG I had to shop around for a hospital taht would time it to my cycle, not to the ‘standard’. As an inferitlie I say “More blood tests, more often.” but then, I’m kinda weird.