Day 3.

Here I am, watching a clock tick by, one measly stupid smug second at a time, wishing it would just move it's butt faster to day 14.  I have made no bones about the fact that I hate waiting.. and this is quite simply no exception!  Instead of whining about the TWW today, though, I'm going to write a little bit of a message to anyone trying to conceive...

I literally stalk to TWW forums every day and so so so many women (no one that I know) don't have a clue about the cycle and how it works, as well as the work it takes to fully understand it.  I certainly don't think any less of these women just because they don't know, but I feel that if I can educate just a couple of people on the baby making basics that I've learned, then my work here is complete! ;)

Here's what you will need to do/know if you're trying to conceive (or simply want to understand what's going on..):

1.  Just because you have a generally regular cycle doesn't mean it will forever and always be that way!  Your cycle is not a carbon copy each month, so saying you always get your period on day X isn't foolproof.  Your body goes through amazing and incredible things each month to ripen an egg, release it from the Ovary and produce different symptoms in your cervix and mucus patterns to facilitate fertility.  If there is stress, an immature egg, illness etc, this may interrupt the delicate balance required to go through the whole process.  This WILL make your cycles varied.. your period is not "late".

2.  The luteal phase (the part after ovulation) is a set amount of days (usually 12-16). It doesn't tend to change. ** In some cases women have a short LP, others have long, but mostly this part of the cycle IS regular.  If you feel that you are certain of your ovulation date and your period hasn't turned up by 16 days past, you are either pregnant, or something else is going on.  Before posting on forums (or yahoo questions.. "Could I be pregnant??") perhaps take into account that you may have again miscalculated your ovulation date.  There is NO way of being certain, even if you chart/temp/observe physical signs/use OPK's.. so just breathe, relax and wait it out.  Pee on a few hundred sticks if you want while you wait? ;)

3.  False negative HPT's are RARE!!!!  It's possible that you are a late HCG metaboliser, but more than likely, at 13/14DPO a negative is a negative.  Have a cuppa, down some tim tams and start again once your period shows her face.  It's true what they say, it's not over till the Witch shows her face, but most of the ladies I've spoken to who have negatives by the time it's due, are in fact not pregnant.

4.  Charting is the best way to know where you are and what's going on in your cycle.  Take your BBT (basal body temperature) the same time each morning before getting up.  This will show you a clear pattern of temperatures which change after ovulation from generally low to generally high(er).  Doing this takes a lot (but not all) of the guess work out of your cycle.  For instance, this last cycle I charted temps, mucus findings and CP (cervical position).  I did all of that because I want to conceive.. duh.. ;)  If I hadn't taken my temperatures, and solely relied on one of the above symptoms to determine my most fertile window, I would have stuffed it completely.  You see, my body geared up to ovulate about 5-7 days prior to successfully releasing an egg.  If I hadn't been temping, I would have assumed that I'd ovulated and then when my period didn't arrive 14 days later, I'd be peeing like crazy on anything with a window and wondering why on earth I wasn't getting positives... YOU SEE?????  This saves your sanity in my honest opinion!

If you've done everything you can to determine these things on your own and you're still confused, jump onto the TwoWeekWait.com forums and ask someone to look at your charts, or just commiserate about symptoms you think you're having that are perhaps driving you crazy with wonder while you wait to test.  There are loads of awesome women in the same boat just dying to talk about everything conception related.  (I'm one of them -- YAY!) "

No need to be confused about your body, unless of course, your body isn't working correctly and you need the help of medical pros.  There are many many women going through a lot of heartache due to factors out of their control, and this post is not for those women.  To the rest of us, good luck and happy baby making!!

A. xo