Back Story : Clomid Cycle #1

So, in November 2011, Dr. M gave me a prescription for Clomid to induce ovulation. The dose was 50mg on cycle days (cd) 3 through 7, and we were told to "do the deed" (DTD) on cd 13, 15, and 17.

On December 28, I began what could best be considered as a light flow. It was more than spotting but less than a full blown period. I called Dr. M's office and the nurse I spoke to said that Dr. M likes to see a "constant flow" in order to judge when cd 1 is. "Well," I thought, "it IS constant.... just low in volume," so I decided to make December 28 officially cd 1. On December 30 I took the first Clomid pill. Fortunately, I experienced no side effects from the Clomid other than a warmer than normal body temperature and a tendency to get mild hot flashes. Some women experience more side effects, including mood swings and increased emotions - like an extreme case of PMS. If you've never tried Clomid before, I would not let the possibility of side effects deter you - the drug absolutely works for many women, but you won't know how you react to it unless you try it.

While I was taking the Clomid, I was doing some research. I belong to a message board for those who have been diagnosed with PCOS, and in particular I follow a thread dedicated to those of us who are on Clomid. Some women there said that they found they were ovulating early with the Clomid, and others said they were ovulating late in their cycle. So, I got the bright idea to extend the time period when we should DTD. We were active on cd 9, 11 and 13..... but then the notion of scheduled "relations" got old. Really old. More for Mr. Lost than for me, but still - scheduled "relations" are not fun relations. We've since learned that you need to up the romance factor to make up for the schedule factor.

We refused to feel bad about the fact that we didn't DTD as much as we probably should have, because we weren't even sure if this cycle would really work or mean anything, thanks to that "is this a period or isn't it?" scenario on December 28.

Beginning around day 9 or so, I also began using an ovulation predictor kit (OPK). The version that I used required you to pee on a stick (some versions use strips of paper). I never saw any positive results from this test, so I was convinced that I didn't ovulate. On cd 21 I went for a blood test to check my progesterone levels - this is the only monitoring that Dr. M does in a Clomid cycle. Other gyn's and nearly all RE's will do ultrasounds to check follicles and whatnot, and this is something we will be pursuing in the future. For this first cycle of Clomid, my cd 21 progesterone was around 3.8.

Now, internet research will tell you that for a "normal" cycle, that number should be around 5 if not higher. The production of progesterone is triggered by ovulation - no ovulation, no progesterone gets made. The progesterone is needed in order to ensure that the lining of the uterus is thick enough to support implantation of the fertilized egg. The progesterone level will climb after ovulation, but if no fertilized egg is implanted, the body is given the signal to stop producing progesterone. That sudden decrease in progesterone is what brings about the next period.

So. My number was only 3.8, but Dr. M was confident that I had shown a response to the Clomid and had ovulated. That had me excited, and I did the normal girly things - my personal Pinterest board suddenly had a "Project Baby" category, full of cribs and nursery sets and birth announcements. I was trying very hard to not get my hopes up, but it was hard to not get excited about the possibility of being pregnant.

Dr. M instructed me to take a home pregnancy test (hpt) on cd 28 if AF had not shown up. If it was negative, I was to wait - if AF had not shown up by cd 35, I was to test again. If that test came back negative, I was to call the office for a serum pregnancy test (blood test). I think I must have tested 3, maybe 4, times between cd 28 and cd 34, which is when AF decided to rear her ugly head. This time around, though, there was no mistaking her - she was definitely a full-fledged period.

So, Clomid Cycle #1 was a bust. Our disappointment was slight and very short lived. As I indicated above, we weren't even sure if this cycle would mean anything. We had come to regard it almost as a "trial run," to see how I would react to the Clomid, to see if 50mg was a strong enough dose, etc. So, no bad feelings - we were just ready to take what we learned into the next cycle..... which is where my next post will pick up. See you then!