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98 point 3 Fahrenheit degrees.

2005-05-19 - 11:59 a.m.

Of course, the day I missed taking my temperature could well have been the day it would have shown a dip, because today it�s up to a whopping 98.3 degrees. Woo hoo?

If you�re actually following along with my little trying-to-conceive saga at home, I�m afraid you are stuck with the minor ups and downs. It�s hard to rein in the small spurts of hope that accompany any little development. Today, for instance, I know that one reading at 98.3 degrees doesn�t mean anything in and of itself. Until I�ve stayed over 98 for three days in a row, I can�t conclude that I did, in fact ovulate. BUT the first day it goes over 98, I can�t stop this could be IT! from entering my head. And even staying over 98 degrees for three days in a row shouldn�t be that exciting because, a) Dr. Hubris, in his �professional opinion,� doesn�t believe in BBT charts and doesn�t think I�m ovulating and b) even if I�ve ovulated, it doesn�t mean that fertilization happened. Supposedly, if my temperature remains elevated for 18+ days in a row, then I�ll have something to be cautiously optimistic about.

Even knowing all this, I get a minor squee when I see that first elevated temperature, and then another when it hits the third day of being elevated. Every day after that I mentally cross my fingers when I stick the thermometer in my mouth; c�mon, stay up there, I think.

And then the day it drops, I don�t burst out into tears of anything, but I do feel that small letdown. Every time, it�s a small mental doh!

I try not to let these reactions, the ups or the downs, show in my �real life� interactions, not even with J, who knows almost every thought that enters my head (and doesn�t even mind that fact). Though a lot of people have an idea that we�re trying, can you imagine having to hope along with a friend, and then find an appropriate response to her disappointment EVERY CYCLE? I bet you�d be at a loss and it would get kind of tiresome after awhile.

So, I�ve got you, internet, to share these things with. You don�t have to listen, but it helps me to get it out there. And I am comforted by the odd email that floats my way from a kind reader who sympathizes and even empathizes because they�re going through, or have gone through, something similar.

Today, I�m pleased at the temperature climb. I don�t know what to expect though since this is my first cycle with Clomid. I don�t know if the pills I took for those 5 days near the beginning can still be monkeying with my temperature; I don�t know if the temperature change means anything different than in non-medicated cycles, or even if I should be more hopeful this time because it means that the medication is working. I do know that I feel more optimistic about this last fact than I did yesterday and that a blood test for my progesterone level scheduled for this Saturday might show better results than I�d been letting myself hope for. Since today is day 22 of this cycle and according to this site, �In most patients, ovulation appears to occur from 6 to 12 days after completion of therapy,� so an elevated temperature today would put ovulation yesterday or the day before (days 20 or 21), just within the predicted window.

Oh the suspense.

Before - After


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