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Pregnancy is confusing b/c Ovulation is Confusing!

Let’s face it, Ovulation is confusing because it’s different for every woman and because doctors don’t know as much as they’d like about a woman’s body and how to get pregnant.

A good friend of mine began trying to conceive at the tender age of 33.  They tried everything for 2 years.  Then they decided to get tested.  After going through 2 years of testing, they told her they couldn’t determine why she wasn’t getting pregnant.  Her eggs appeared healthy and his sperm looked normal.

So they decided to do “In Vitro” and that’s when answers started to come up.  After 3 failed attempts, they finally told her her eggs weren’t good.  Now, if she would have known that earlier, she would have taken more eggs out in the first harvest.  The short story is, doctors don’t know that much about making babies.  They know the basics and that’s about it.

signs of ovulation:

• Change in cervical fluid
• Change in cervical position and cervical firmness
• Brief twinge of pain or dull ache that is felt on one side of the abdomen
• Light spotting
• Increase in sex drive
• Elevated level of the luteinizing hormone which can be detected on a test
• Body temperature chart that shows a consistent change
• Breast tenderness
• Abdominal bloating
• Heightened sense of vision, smell or taste

In my next post, I’ll list the myths about ovulation!

Image via Wikipedia

Could i be pregnant after sex in shower?

Answer:

Ok, there are so many ways to answer this question but it will require lots more information that what was provided by this young girl.

1.  There is always a chance of getting pregnant when you don’t use any protection.  And to clarify, just because you use contraceptives, it’s not always 100% protection.  For example, even if she used a condom in the shower, there is a small likelihood she could get pregnant if the condom broke or had a hole.  This has been known to happen.

2.  That being said – let’s dig a little closer.  When I started trying to get pregnant I was super surprised when I didn’t get pregnant upon trying.  And I mean we tried, all the time, three times a day even.  Turns out, there is only a window in time that you can get pregnant, when you’re ovulating.  For most women, you ovulate once a month and you can get pregnant during that one month window.

Of course sperm can live 3-5 days inside of you.  So even though you may not have had sex during ovulation, you could still get pregnant if you had sex prior to ovulation and the sperm survives.  It’s no wonder women are so confused about conception and when they can and can’t get pregnant.

During my research, I did find out that there are some women who ovulate more than once per month.  Do you always wonder about women who can get pregnant at a drop of the hat?  Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were ovulating more than once.

So the more protection you have, the likelihood of pregnancy continues to reduce.  Without knowing the girl’s ovulation cycle and when they had sex with that ovulation cycle, it’s difficult to answer a question like that.

Image by TM - the crocheteer! via Flickr

Think you might be pregnant even though you haven’t missed your period yet? 

Most women associate pregnancy with missing their menstruation, but the truth is the body sends out a good number of pregnancy symptoms before missed periods. While it is true that a missed period can be your simplest yet strongest sign for pregnancy, it also helps to know more about the changes that your body is undergoing. Thus this will help you have a better and more detailed understanding of the situation that you are in.

When suspecting to be pregnant, it pays to give keen attention to details. While this is more of a case to case basis, women generally share common signs of pregnancy. Take for example the feeling of tiredness or exhaustion; ever felt that sensation when you’re just sitting down and yet you feel so tired from doing practically nothing but breathing and taking a few steps around the house, that can be a sign. See, pregnancy is one of those many events in a woman’s life where the body undergoes big changes. Once a woman is pregnant, there is a heightened level of progesterone circulating within her and this hormonal change usually results to that feeling of fatigue

Another is light spotting; while it may appear like an ordinary spotting at the end of your menstrual cycle, this is actually more of implantation bleeding where the fertilized egg burrows through the lining of the uterus. Now, it happened that the uterus lining is rich in blood thus results to spotting. This is usually either light red or reddish brown in color and it usually happens for a day, one to three tops. But if the spotting comes with pain then it may signal some complications, in such case it is best to see an expert to have the situation checked at the same time to rule out possibilities for ectopic pregnancy.

Frequent trips to the bathroom may also signal pregnancy. See, pregnant women have increased blood and water supply and the excess is processed by the kidney. Aside from that, the pregnant woman’s body produces the hCG hormone which also triggers frequent urination. Aside from that, cramps are also very common among women, as the uterus contracts exercising, walking or moving and even having an orgasm can cause lower abdominal pains. Nausea and vomiting are also two very rampant signs of pregnancy, as used by a good number of movies.

If you want to know more about the other pregnancy symptoms before missed period, there are a good number of pregnancy resources online which can help you. Try visiting quiz – based websites as they offer a more personal touch to it, asking you questions and answering will also help you analyze your own situation. There are also videos in youtube in vimeo which are made and uploaded to help women. But one of the videos I really like is Am I Pregnant Video as it has helped a lot of women straighten out their pregnancy confusions and what’s great about this video is that it’s found in a quiz website so you can also have fun answering questions and learning more about your own situation.

Image by bailemoselbimbo via Flickr

Pregnancy Quiz

I couldn’t find the words to say how a pregnancy quiz online have touched my life in a very personal way. Thanks to websites like this, women like me can have a better and fuller understand of the situation we’re really in. It’s a hassle free and convenient way to gain the necessary knowledge.

Taking the test

My regular days are filled with a simple set of chores in the early morning, followed by work and a party to end my night. Having a lot of stress is also part of my routine but I learn to live with my challenges. I always believed that everything can be managed if given enough time. Little did I know my happy organized days would hit a large bump in the road.

The problem

I had an unexpected delay in my monthly bleeding. I told my BF about it but we both agreed there were a lot of things at work that got me real stressed up so I didn’t bother with the delay. However, as the days went by the fear started to kick in. Any girl in my shoes would probably be counting the days frustratingly like each day was a make or break moment. But then my delay hit 1 ½ week. At this point I couldn’t hide my fears anymore. I asked my partner what to do with 10 days of delay.

Dealing with it

When I talked to him about it I got quite the shock.  Apparently he was just as worried as I was. He even went through almost every Internet site about pregnancy and even asked a few of his buddies about it. It gave me so much relief that he at least is taking steps to help me out (I would have preferred  however he didn’t ask his friends). Now we sat down and talked about what to do. He then insisted we just go take the pregnancy test.

What to do

In my mind I knew taking a pregnancy test was what I should have done right from the start but the truth is having to use it for the first time scares me. I heard about 2 of  my friends using it so I felt that I  had to consult them. They recommended a brand or two but all they could say about the instructions is to just “pee on it”. I couldn’t believe it was that simple. Surely something like this had a bit more technicality than just an aim-fire approach. What am I a guy?!

I had to search on my own but instructions found around the Internet just said the same thing. Thankfully my persistence paid of. I found this site that had an actual video explanation of what to really do and what time of the day is ideal. It just makes it a lot easier if I don’t have to just trust my test on how I imagined taking the test would look like.

Relief

Well I wasn’t pregnant! I took the test and I came out negative and sure enough after a few more days my time of the month came. It was such a relief that I actually had to re-think my overtimes. That’s the last time I’m ever going taking double shifts on a whim. Then again this was a good experience for me. I was pushed out of my comfort zone but with a clear head and an extremely supportive BF I got it done.

Image by dizznbonn via Flickr

This is a great video explaining some of the pregnancy symptoms – especially early pregnancy signs.  She was 5 days from missing her period.  BUT – this was her 2nd pregnancy.  As I discussed in First Symptoms of Pregnancy post, most women who’ve experienced pregnancy before will find it much easier and earlier to determine if they are pregnant.

With my 2nd pregnancy, I also knew right away, prior to my first missed period.  Similar to the girl in this video – things were out of wack.  The biggest indicator was that my breasts were extremely swollen and painful.  I’m not talking about tender – like when you are ovulating or getting your menstrual cycle.  It’s different.  I also was nauseous, bloated and my stomach also cramped a lot.  It was quite obvious.  Now my first pregnancy was not quite so obvious because my body wasn’t used to being pregnant and I didn’t know what signs or symptoms to look for.

I hope the video helps.