No one may find this interesting at all so I am pretty much just documenting it for myself.  After having my first two post-baby cycles at 47 days each, I finally had a cycle of a more normal length of 34 days.  It might sound long to you, but this is the first "normalish" cycle (non-drug induced) that I have had since my miscarriages.  So, that means that it has been since 2011.  Wow.

I am still not temping or anything like that.  We are not TTC now (or possibly ever again), but it would be good to track my cycles for prevention since I have no plans to take any birth control.  We'll see.  I feel like if I take out the thermometer my husband is going to get suspicious and feel like I am trying to pull something.  Haha. 

On the subject of birth control, a few things I have noticed about my body since I have stopped taking it and let my cycles be as they will...  The major thing is the pre-period insomnia.  This is BAD.  I never get insomnia, but the past 3 cycles have provided me with several total sleepless nights.  Not fun.  I G.oogled it and apparently it is a common problem caused by hormones.  Who knew?  Definitely not a problem that I had while on birth control for 10 years.

I also have much worse PMS (my poor family).  I get super testy and more emotional than normal.  I am not the most emotional person, although I will admit that I have gotten to be more so since having a child.  In the few days before my period, I get mean and then weepy.  I never had PMS while on birth control.  I was always super even-keeled.  This whole emotional thing is a new challenge for me...and my family.

I actually have a sex-drive and it peaks when I am ovulating.  I recognize that this is just biology, but I NEVER had any really strong desire to have sex while on birth control at all.  Of course, I would, but it wasn't like I was ever really that excited (nice pun) about it.  This makes things potentially dangerous and condoms a mid-cycle necessity!

Another nice non-hormonal by-product is increased flow.  While taking  birth control I had very light 2-3 day periods which would start with spotting.  While not taking it, I have 4-5 day flow with no warning flood-gate onset like when I was in high school.  I woke up in the middle of the night to blood soaked pajamas during my last cycle.  Seriously?!   

The last thing I notice are the CRAMPS.  YUCK.  I did have them while taking birth control, but they are oh so much worse now.  So much worse that I have contemplated calling out of work sick. 

Anyways, now you all have the 411 on my cycle.  Have a great day! :o)   

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So my temp was way down today at 5 dpo (see off the the right).  I know that it is too early to tell if I am pregnant or not, but I feel like that is a bad sign.  The only preggo chart that I have was from my 3rd miscarriage (see below).  It was triphasic and continued to climb up, up, up.  I was on progesterone at that time so maybe that had something to do with it.  I'm not sure.

I always wonder if all of my pregnancy charts will look like this or if they might all look different.  Will my next pregnancy chart be triphasic also?  I often wonder if I should stop charting during the TWW to give myself a break so that I don't have to think about it or over analyze it.  I also wonder if I should put any stake into comparing my chart to the thousands of preggo charts on FF and seeing that mine never looks like a typical pregnancy chart.

For all you charters out there I have some questions for you...  If you have charted multiple successful cycles, were your charts similar all of the times?  Do you put any stake into triphasic charts?  Do you think that there is any way to tell if you might be "a little bit pregnant" by the way your chart looks at the beginning of your LP?  What about at the end of your LP?  For those of you that have charted while on and off fertility meds, did your charts look much different?  This is only my 6th cycle charting, so I am still trying to figure out the answers to these types of questions.  My RE would tell me to go take a hike...she (and their office) don't "believe" in charting.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

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Normally, any women who is TTC does not want to get her period.  Now a woman who has recently had a miscarriage...it is all she thinks about.  When will I get my freaking period?!  Is there something wrong with me?!  Well AF finally came today and I was quite happy to see her.  Her visit means I can finally start moving forward again.

After my first m/c and d&c, I was not yet charting.  I really had no idea when or if I was ovulating and thus no idea when I would get my period.  The wait for my first AF after my first d&c seemed like an eternity.  My Google searches regularly consisted of "how long after a d&c will I get my period", "what is the normal amount of time it takes to get a period after a d&c", "is it normal to not have your period 6 weeks after a d&c".  My search results almost always included several hits regarding Asherman's Syndrome, which totally freaked me out.  From Ashermans.org, "Asherman's syndrome occurs when trauma to the endometrial lining triggers the normal wound-healing process, which causes the damaged areas to fuse together. Most commonly, intrauterine adhesions occur after a dilation and curettage (D&C) that was performed because of a missed or incomplete miscarriage, retained placenta with or without hemorrhage after a delivery, or elective abortion. Pregnancy-related D&Cs have been shown to account for 90% of Asherman's Syndrome cases."  At one point after my first d&c, I had convinced myself that I had Asherman's...then I got my period a few days later.

The cycle following this d&c has been different for 2 reasons.  First of all, I charted this cycle.  That has been the most helpful thing for me.  I knew that I ovulated and I knew that I was going to get AF today.  No surprises and no freaking myself out that I had Asherman's.  Secondly, this chart is starting to somewhat resemble that of a normal female's.  Yes, I still ovulated late, but not as late as usual and my luteal phase was a full 12 days with no spotting!  NORMAL!  I am not sure if it is the b6, the red raspberry leaf tea, the acupuncture, the yoga, or a combination of everything, but something is working.

For anyone who has had a miscarriage and a d&c, I would strongly recommend charting your bbt, taking opks, and checking CM with a tool like Fertility Friend.  That way you won't be guessing what is going on with your body.  Maybe you won't ovulate, but at least you'll know.

My temp took a nosedive this morning and I just knew AF would show up...she did.  My RE's office does not "believe" in charting.  When I called them up once to ask them a question about my chart they snidely replied that they don't believe that works and that temperatures are too variable.  I am glad that I did not listen to them and continued to chart...otherwise my yoga class this morning would have turned tragic.
:-)

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