Pregnyl Shot

I had my Pregnyl shot on CD 19. Dra. Tanangonan informed me to go to the clinic for an ultrasound. This, after five days of ovulation testing that resulted negative.

She said I may have a problem with the hormone being detected by the ovulation tests that's why none of the tests produced two dark lines.

We forego of the ultrasound to check on the size of my three follicles and instead did a Pregnyl shot. A shot costs P2,000. I'm not sure of the dosage though. It was an intramuscular injection, meaning, it is injected within a muscle, not an a vein, but a muscle.

Dra. asked me to put my elbows on the clinic bed. She lifted a part of my blouse at the back, grabbed the muscle along my waistline, said "Ready" and injected this potent drug. It was a bit painful (I'm not a piercing fanatic) but I have to endure it. Whatever it takes to have a baby, I will do.

While she is injecting Pregnyl, I kept saying to myself to relax and this too will be over soon. Relax. Relax. Relax.

I do hope that this cycle of workup is successful.

Our "Stash"

Having a fertility workup includes purchasing lots of drugs and testing kits. I've had drugs to make me ovulate (Clomid), to make my uterine lining thicker (Progynova) so a future embryo have a nice "cushion" to implant itself and now I have something to prevent miscarriage or "pampakapit" (Duphaston).

Sometimes I wonder if these drugs will have a negative effect on my body and my future baby. But in times of urgency, I would have to believe in what my OB prescribes. Besides, this is the last cycle of workup for this year. If this cycle remains unfruitful, Hubby and I will try again next year.

Iskrambol

When I was in elementary, street food vendors flock the gates of my school. They wait from lunch time until the afternoon when students rush home after eight hours (or more) of learning. Of course, students would always buy their fish balls, unripe mangoes with bagoong, cotton candy, fried peanuts, ice scramble (called "iskrambol") etc before going home. I like ice scramble for it is a combination of cool and sweet. But, I rarely eat street food, fearing I'll get hepatitis or some unclean food-borne disease.

Good thing, ice scramble is making a come back. In a morning show, an owner of an ice scramble business said their advantage to ice scrambles sold in the streets is that their product is clean. I've seen people patiently waiting in line to buy ice scramble and I joined the pack and tried some.

A small cup costs P7-10 depending on the "brand" you are buying from. Additional P3-4 if you want to add toppings like cereals, candy sprinkles (my fave), choco sprinkles, rice crispies, etc. When I smelled the milk and choco syrup on top of this cold treat, I was brought back to my younger years in school. Funny how a scent brings back memories.

Where's our Lot?

That is how our lot looked like before.

After four months of not visiting the site, Hubby decided to take a look and see where we would plant our seedlings. He missed the site because of the shrubs and grasses. He looked for the cement wall to know that it is indeed our lot.

We hired 3 of our neighbors to cut the grass and clean the site. It took them 1 1/2 days to make the site presentable.

Note to self: visit and clean the site frequently to avoid the massive growth of unwanted plants.

Enhance Your Fertility

I saw the article "8 Natural Ways to Enhance Your Fertility" on Yahoo!. Quite timely isn't it?

Pregnyl

On Cycle Day 14, I went to Dra. Tanangonan for a check-up. Today is Follicle Monitoring day. The wait was so loooong. It took sometime before the secretary gave me request slip for a TVS (transvaginal sonogram) and I waited more than an hour in the Ultrasound lobby for my turn. I was worried that Dra. might have forgotten me and leave the hospital soon.

I was with pregnant mommies also scheduled for an ultrasound. There is one who looked like she's carrying the baby lower than the normal position. I heard she is going to have an abortion since the position is perilous both to the mom and baby. Sad.

All the other patients in the waiting area are finished with their ultrasounds. Another set of patients came and I'm still there! Luckily, Dra. finally came and did the TVS.

On my right ovary I have 2 follicles measuring 1.1 and 1.3cm while on my left ovary I have a 2.2cm follicle. Last cycle, I only had two follicles in my right ovary.

We went back to the clinic and the secretary thought that I already left the hospital. Waaah! Maybe she kept calling me while I was in the Ultrasound room waiting for my turn.

Dra. recommended I do ovulation tests for three days. When the test becomes positive, I should contact her. She will inject Pregnyl. It is a drug that would stimulate mature follicles to "rupture" and release the egg. And the cost is outstanding...P2,000 for a shot!

I thought if P2,000 is the only thing that keeps me from getting pregnant, I might as well pay for it though expensive. Yes, many would say that this is so exaggerated. But, if your husband is going away for months and you desperately wanted to have a child, wouldn't you do the same? I just console myself that the money can be gained again but the chance of hubby and I getting pregnant are going slim every single day. Might as well do what it takes to help me get pregnant.

Sometimes, I think that life is unfair. But then again, maybe it isn't.

There are those who have unwanted pregnancies, abort their babies, leave their babies in churches or garbage dumps! And there are those who desperately want to have a child but are having difficulties.

I am just thankful that we have the resources to finance our workup. I know a couple who got married three weeks ahead of us who are still trying to conceive. They don't have money to pay for a workup.

Christmas Gifts

Christmas is still 3 months away but I'm thinking of what to give to my family and friends. I may try buy at the mall (or Divisoria) but another voice says I should try to be creative. I'm thinking of having a DIY gifts which I could turn into a business in the future.

Right now, I'm looking at making soaps. I love scented soaps, aromatherapeutic soaps, multicolored soaps, etc. We all use soaps so that's a practical thing to give.

I still have to find a recipe for an organic and eco-friendly soap. Most of the sites I viewed uses lye, a strong chemical you need gloves (and maybe a face mask) to protect yourself. Waaah! Scary!

Thanks, Cheps!

Being unable to succeed in trying to conceive a baby, my friend Cheps is one of my emotional support. She now lives Down Under but I keep updating her on my conception progress. It took her a year after marriage before conceiving. She always remind me that she and her husband are together for that whole year unlike Hubby and I who only have a few months of togetherness. I need not fret too much she says.

Thanks Cheps for being here (figuratively, that is) for me. It means a lot to me that you keep on giving me nice thoughts. It comforts me that I know that you understand where I'm standing right now. You're so right in saying I do not need to hear other people's criticisms masked as opinions. Other people, in their good intent of advising, sometimes come off as being judgemental and I don't need that, do I?

Thanks again for being my friend. See you soon!

Fertility Yoga

Is there such a thing? After a few clicks in Google, the answer is YES. Searching for natural ways to help me conceive, I came across the Yoga4Fertility website. The name says it all!

The website contains asanas for beginners, home and Bikram and meditation for fertility. I'm so excited to have encountered such a site!

I saw this website a few weeks ago. Since Hubby and I were not successful in our first cycle of workup, I decided to finally give the asanas and meditation for fertility a try. As much as possible, I want to do holistic ways to aid my highly-medicated workup. I feel that my medications to make me ovulate affects my hormones and I fear that in the future, I might be having problems caused by these meds. So, to counterbalance (sort of), I'll try to follow the yoga poses and meditation from Yoga4Fertility.

Wish me luck! Hope I can pull this off.

TTC Cycle 1 - Failed

I'm so disheartened. We really, really thought that our workup with Dra. Tananggonan is successful. I'm supposed to have my period on CD (cycle day) 32. That day came and went without the red visitor. CD 33 came, no period. CD 34 came, no period, until night came. There was very minimal spotting. Hubby and I hoped that it was just that. But, before I went to bed, my period made sure that it was ever present and not just some spotting.

Hubby reminds me to take it easy and not to stress thinking about it. I want to think of something else besides baby-making. But it keeps on popping on my mind! Huhuhu.

Why is it that the things which your heart desires are the things which are hard to get?

Preggy Sites

In my search for holistic pregnancy and child rearing, I came across The Green Doula site. A doula, according to Dictionary.com, is a "woman who assists women during labor and after childbirth".

The site writes about everything eco-friendly, holistic and "green" about pregnancy and life. There are products, ideas and suggestions that can help an expectant mom. The writer is based in the US so there are some articles which are locally-centered.

Another site which I visit is the Offbeat Mama with the tag line, "Parenting against the grain." Nice huh? The author of the blog, Ariel, is also the author of Offbeat Bride. She went from bride-to-be to a mom. The site features write-ups of other "offbeat mamas" which celebrates the miracle of pregnancy and childbirth. I'm not a tattoed-wife but it didn't sway me from reading these articles. Motherhood is a gift and women should embrace it in whichever way is comfortable to us.

Eventhough Hubby and I haven't yet confirmed if I'm pregnant, I still can't help myself in browsing sites and blogs about pregnancy and buying books about it. Yesterday, I bought a book about holistic pregnancy and one about nursing. I know that I will be pregnant and will have children in the future, might as well buy these books so I can learn about things beforehand. Also, these books are on sale. I'll have them in another post.

It's nice to think about the possibility of actually carrying another life within you. I hope we are successful this time.

Rambutans

It's Rambutan season! The rich red and "hairy" fruits are a nice contrast on the tree's green leaves. It seems it is telling you to pick them up already!

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is considered as an exotic fruit in Southeast Asia. But this fruit is so ordinary in our community that almost every backyard has a rambutan tree. Most of the trees are planted in the front yard, where it can get lots of sun. Inay says she thinks rambutan trees wanted all the sun it can get. She noticed rambutan tree started "flowering" when the trees in our neighborhood are already bearing fruits. Our tree doesn't get much sunlight because there is a big santol tree blocking the rays.

August-September is the time to gather the rambutans. I love rambutan but not as much as Hubby. I think he can finish a kilo all by himself, although he's modest and didn't do it at home.
We were able to give bags and bags of these fruits to neighbors, friends and my in-laws.

After gobbling up the fleshy fruit and sipping its liquid, we are now out of supply. Till next year!

Plant Seedlings

Hubby and I visualized our home to be relaxing and shady. A place where we could unwind, prop our feet on a chair while drinking a cool glass of juice.

Over the weekend, we went to a nearby nursery to buy plant seedlings. We have been planning to buy fruit and shade trees that will surround our future home. There are rows and rows of different plants in black plastic "pot". A green thumb's paradise indeed.

We bought 3 seedlings of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) at P40 each, 2 calamansi (Citrus ×microcarpa) and 1 chico (Sapodilla) for P50 each. We chose rambutan because it's one of our favorite fruits and the calamansi is a basic cooking ingredient and condiment. We bought the chico seedling because this bears fruit that is brown, not the usual guava-apple types of fruits. I want our future children to be familiar with all sorts of plants and fruits.

We also saw a pomelo tree (Citrus maxima) already bearing fruits. The tree is a bit taller than us with low branches. You can easily grab a fruit for your salad or you can eat it as is. Hubby likes pomelo and wants to have this tree in our backyard. Sadly, the nursery has sold out all their pomelo seedlings. Many are now planting pomelos. We'll be returning to check if these seedlings are available.

The seedlings we bought are now in Inay's garden waiting to be planted. I'm excited to bring them to our lot and plant them.

Tip: Bring a big bag or plastic when buying seedlings and you don't have a private vehicle with you to take you and your seddlings home.

September Goals

Today is the first day of September. I think today is the start of the Christmas season in the Philippines since it is also the start of the "BER" months (months ending in "ber") leading to Christmas. I already heard carols on TV and the radio.

I made a list of things to do for this month. Since Hubby returned, our days are filled with eating out, cooking, travelling, Facebooking (if there is such a term) and watching TV. Now is the time to be a little bit productive and make proper use of time.

Here are the things I want to accomplish this month:

1. clean my closet and remove clothes which I haven't used and will not use in the future

2. recycle the jars/bottles and use them as container for salt, garlic powder, paprika and other seasonings

3. plant the seedlings which we purchased over the weekend to our lot

4. update the layout of the collection of German and Russian recipes I searched on the Internet. This is for the Hubby, by the way.

5. try to cross-stitch at least 2 hours on weekdays. My cross-stitch project has been left undone for several months now.

Hopefully I can stick to these assignments so I can be proud of myself by the end of the month.