Unnatural pregnancy

Let me say up front - no I'm not pregnant - but this month I'm starting to feel the side effects of the drugs I'm on to try and tip the baby make mission odds in my favour.

My clomid / serophene double dose (100mg a day for 5 days) didn't seem to cause any problems when I was taking it, but in the week leading up to when I ovulated, Oh My God!!!!!

A quick recap - the clomid / serophene is taken to block the oestrogen receptors in the brain. The tricked brain sends a message to the body to make more follicle stimulating hormone to get more follicles developing and release more oestrogen... or something like that. In my first appointment with the fertility specialist, he explained that the body creates a certain amount of oestrogen per egg that is ovulated. So if you ovulate two eggs the oestrogen is doubled.

This month my blood tests to identify when I was ovulating were all over the shop. The doctor had me going in every second day, 6 times in total, until finally we got the nod. Last month it only took 3 tests to pick the day. So I think, even though the doctor didn't mention it, that my oestrogen count was higher this month, indicating I was ovulating more than one egg.

I'm pretty lucky in the women's health department as a general rule. I've never really suffered from period pain, or complained of bloating or water retention throughout the cycle. I've often heard other women complaining of these ailments and felt lucky I haven't suffered. Well, this month I suffered. Ughhhhh, my guts felt like they were going to explode. Things I ate were going straight through me and my lower abdomen felt like a balloon filling up under the skin. On ovulation day my left side, down near my hip was aching. It was horrible.

But now I'm on the other side of ovulation and everything is back to normal - thankfully. And I again know this month we have had good timing and am waiting waiting waiting.

The drugs to support the other side of my cycle have been swapped this month. I was gearing myself up for another round of injection perfection to find out Brisbane is experiencing a pregnyl drought...so I couldn't get any. The doctor told me it was going to have to the pessaries.

These little wonders are made of wax that slowly melts at body temperature. They release progesterone, that is then absorbed through the uterus lining. Unlike the injections they are time intensive, needing to inserted twice daily, after which you have to lie down for a half hour. So night time isn't a big deal, just insert before going to bed. The doctor told me in the morning I'd have to get up a half hour earlier, only to then have to go back to bed and lie down for another 30 minutes. He also said that my husband should bring me tea and toast....hmmmmm... perhaps I should have gotten Matt to ring in to get his instructions as there hasn't been single tea and toast day yet. I have to do this for 15 days!

Even though I'm not up to the big interventions like IVF yet, it certainly isn't all that natural. Recently I had a few people ask how I felt about having to start taking the drugs etc, whether it was disappointing. I am grateful that this is one thing that doesn't bother me. I actually find it astonishing that it is generally completely acceptable to intervene for as long as we like to ensure we don't conceive and then when we do want to conceive we put an added pressure on ourselves that we must do it  naturally.

Fingers crossed this month I'll have an unnatural pregnancy. Just as good as a natural one in my mind.