ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor Review

So here's the LONG awaited product review of the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor and Test Sticks.  Life has been SUPER crazy the past few months, so I do apologize.  I am now 16 weeks pregnant thanks to this monitors help and some other wonderful fertility boosters.

The ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor was extremely easy to use.  Now, you HAVE to follow the instructions that come with it to get the best results.  Keep in mind, this does NOT guarantee that you'll get pregnant using this monitor.  All it does is help REDUCE the time it takes to get pregnant by telling you when your LH and Estrogen hormones peak right before ovulation.

This shows the features of the monitor.  

Get to know your monitor BEFORE you use it. That way you can avoid mistakes better and

know how to fix them if they arise.

You can start using the monitor on the FIRST day of your next cycle, NOT before.  When you press the m button your tell the monitor that you have started your period.  Keep in mind that when you do press the m button, you establish the 6 hour "Testing Window" that you will continue to test within throughout the duration of this cycle.  The 6 hour testing window automatically sets 3 hours before and 3 hours after you pressed the button.

DO NOT USE A TEST STICK UNLESS THE MONITOR ASKS FOR ONE!!!!!!  It'll explain why in the instructions.

I pressed mine at 8am which gave me a window of 5am-11am.  That way on work days, I could test while getting ready, and weekends I could sleep in a still make my window.  Find what works best for you, but again, keep in mind that morning urine works best.  If you are a night shift worker, then you may have a completely different window.  Set your window to test after you sleep for 6-8 hours.  You want to use the MOST concentrated urine.

If you start the night before or in the morning before your chosen "setting time" you can press the m button when you wish THAT same morning.   If your period starts in the middle of the day, after your "setting time", you should WAIT until the following morning before pressing the m button.  You should set that as day 1 of your cycle.

The monitor will ask for the first test stick on cycle day 6!  A symbol will apear telling you to insert a test stick.  It MUST be a Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor Test Stick for it to work.  No generic brands.  It must be the same brand as the monitor.  I recommend buying little disposable cups to urinate in then dip the test sticks to avoid any splash.  I've learned that the tests come out more accurate that way. Once you dip, or urinate on the stick, you will place the cap over the area you dipped, or urinated on (the cap comes attached to the test stick) and then you will insert the stick into the monitor until you hear it click, meaning it's inserted properly.   The symbol with then begin flashing meaning that it is testing your levels.  This takes about 5 minutes, which if you sit and watch it like I did, then it seems like it takes even longer. lol.  When it's done testing the symbol will tell you to remove the test stick.  After removal, your result on the status bar, if any, will show.

My results on day 6.  This means low fertility status.

Day 6 test stick.  The estrogen line shows, but until the LH 

surge, the other line will stay pretty faint.

DO NOT TRY TO PREDICT OVULATION FROM JUST READING THE TEST STICKS!  The monitor learns your cycle and is WAY more accurate at calculating your peak fertility status than you are.  Let the monitor do it's job.

My fertility status changed on day 8 to high fertility meaning that chances of conception were increased.

Sorry for the text.  I couldn't find the original.  I was excited. lol

Like I said earlier, everyone's cycles are different and will peak at different times.  Some will peak on day 14 or 18.  I peaked on day 15.  I couldn't tell  you in words how excited I was because I honestly didn't think I'd peak at all.  For me, this was just a test run to see how the monitor worked.  I wasn't suppose to be able to get pregnant for another year or 2 because of my treatment and what not.  Thank God for this monitor!  It proved the doctors wrong. :-D

Day 15 peaked fertility status.  

This means that I'd ovulate within 24 hours of this status. 

I was blown away at the sight of this.

Day 15 test stick.  The lines look about the same.

Everyone's will look different.

When to do your "baby dance", and how often, is entirely up to you. Well, obviously.  During your peak is when you have the HIGHEST chances of conceiving.  You can still conceive in the days following, so the fertility status will remain high. Personally, we did our "baby dance" every day that week.  lol.  If you go through some of my past blogs, you will find tips on helping your chances of conception even more.  For example, doing your baby dance in the morning will raise your chances.  Aslo, if he drinks a cup of coffee right before your baby dance, it'll help his swimmers swim faster.

Though I only got to use this monitor once, I LOVED it.  It was a little pricey, but I found it cheapest on amazon.com.  I will certainly use this monitor again when we start trying for our second child.  I just have to finish incubating this one and let it grow up a little bit first. ;-P

If you do go to amazon.com, they usually have bundles where you can buy the monitor and test sticks together, sometimes they'll even include home pregnancy strips.  

I wish y'all the best and hope this review was helpful.  I will continue to pray for all of you, ladies, in hopes that you have your BFP one day.  Baby dust and sticky vibes all around!!

From this:

To this:

 This was my 12 DPO HPT with FMU

This was my 11w 4d ultrasound.  Hopefully I'll get 

another one soon and learn the sex! :-D

Good luck and God Bless,

Ashley

Finally a Reveal I can be Proud of!!

Okay, ladies.  Time for the truth to come out.  We have FINALLY done it!!!  I have had to bend the truth a little in my last blogs because my mom and my husband's mom follow my blogs.  But since my husband's parents flew in last night, we finally got to tell them, and now the news is out!! I'M PREGNANT!!! I'm 9 weeks and 2 days today!!!!  I finished my reveal video and posted it on youtube.com.  I'll also post it on here.  Ladies, I just can't believe we did it.  I'm so sorry I had to wait so long to tell y'all, but I wanted our families to know first so I could make the video.  Everyone is MORE than stoked!!  We've been praying for this baby for a LONG time!!  Here's the video!!

I will be starting a new blog, but will post back on this one because there is still so much information on TTC out there that I haven't posted about yet.  Also, I still need to do a review on the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor.


SO, I really have been busy lately.  But it's more because I've been trying not to vomit all the time.  My "morning" sickness is so bad that, at one point, I couldn't keep food or water down, so they put me on zofran (an anti-nausea drug) and it's been a lifesaver.  I've been able to eat, but unfortunately I've still lost 12 pounds.  Because of my build already being tall and slender, the doctors were a little worried and ordered me to be on a NO excersize and HIGH calorie diet.  So I'm suppose to eat whatever I can, whenever I can.  I've only gained 2 pounds back because I still can't eat a lot.  I still get so sick to the point I have to lay down after I eat, every time I eat.  Every has been promising me that the second trimester will be MUCH better, so I'm holding them to it.  Other than that, I have all the normal symptoms that go along with pregnancy.  I'm going to keep this short and sweet today.  I just wanted to announce the great news to all of you.  Now all of you know that miracles really can happen.  God is SO good, ladies.  Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Stay safe, ladies, and TONS of baby dust and sticky vibes!!

Good luck and God Bless,
Ashley

A Support System. You'll need a good one. Trust me!

Hi ladies, and possible Gents.  I'm so sorry that I've been neglecting my blog lately.  I've been so busy I barely have time to breath!!  I've also been getting the house ready for CJ's parents arrival.  They'll get here around 11pm tomorrow.  He's been home sick, so I know he's super excited! It's nice to have family you can call and talk to and have come and visit every now and then.  This brings me to the topic of my entry today.  A good support system.  


When you're TTC it can be extremely hard to go through it alone.  Yes, you have your husband, or partner, but if you're anything like me, you don't want to stress out your better half.  They always say they don't mind if you vent to them, but the truth is that they are stressed about it too.  Mostly because they want to be able to help, but it's out of their control.  Guys hate when they can't fix something, especially when that something is making their partner depressed.  If you have other family, don't be afraid to ask them if they've been in your shoes.  Most likely one of them has.  You wont believe the relief you will get once you know someone knows how you feel.  I didn't know that I had some family with infertility issues as well until I started asking, and by some I mean 2.  Now I can talk to them and ask them how they coped with this, or how they dealt with that.  It helped me through a LOT.  Just to be able to vent to them, because they KNEW exactly how I felt!

It's better knowing you're not alone.  

Guess what, you're NOT! :-)

My family, as I've said in past blogs, are full of "Fertile Myrtles".  Meaning, they sneeze and they're pregnant.  I don't mean this in a mean or taunting way at all.  I was just completely jealous of their baby making superpowers.  But, after MUCH  prayer I was able to come to terms with the path God had put me on.  It's extremely bumpy, but I've got 4 wheel drive, a.k.a. my support system.

The more support you have, the better.

There are TONS of support groups online, if you are uncomfortable with opening up to your family.  There are bad ones and great ones.  I personally like countdowntopregnancy.com.  There are SO many women on their that are going through exactly what you're going through.  I was a little nervous when I first signed up on it, but after going through some of the topics and talking to some of the ladies, I felt right at home.  You can find cycle buddies and cheer each other on each day.  You can compare your symptoms each cycle to those of women who actually became pregnant.  You can also upload HPT photos that you take.  If you can't tell if there's a line or not, upload it under "Unsure" and other ladies will vote Pos or Neg if they see a line or not.  I think overall it's an amazing support site.  AND if you do achieve pregnancy, they have a sister site called countdownmypregnancy.com.  AND it's all FREE!!!

countdowntopregnancy.com

Track your cycles day by day. BBT charting.

HPT and OPT picture uploads.

Best of all, GREAT women to talk to.

Keep your chin up ladies.  The hardest part about infertility is the first step to overcoming it.  Opening up about it to others.  Once you can do that, you can come to terms with it and overcome the challenges of it all.  Having a support system helps take aways a LOT of the stress behind infertility and makes your quality of life so much better.  You'll feel better about yourself knowing someone is there to help and listen.  Your marriage will improve since you don't have to lay your whole load on his shoulders.  If you need help on ways to open up to your family, don't be afraid to ask.  I'm sure there are great tips online somewhere as well.  Please try the website I suggested.  I really met some awesome women on there and they've given me some amazing advice!

Yeah, that's an all too familiar feeling.

Sometimes I wish I could tell people to just shut it.

I liked this.  Thought you might enjoy it as well.

I will continue to pray for all of you and that we all get our BFP's someday soon.  Much love and best wishes! Tons of sticky vibes and baby dust to all!!

Good luck and God Bless,

Ashley

Hydration All The Way!

I know I've been neglecting my poor blog baby, but we've been SO busy here with work and the fires on the mountain.  For the past 4 days there has been a HUGE fire near Pike's Peak.  My husband and I were on our way to Rudy's Bar-B-Q when we saw it first start and have watched it grow uncontrollably in 4 days.  The night of the 24th and 25th we could actually see the flames from our backyard.  The latest news report from today there is 15,324 acres of pure fire and is only 5% contained.  We do not have enough air support or ground support to get it under control. There were no houses that burned until today.  Over 32,500 residents in the city and county have evacuated and are out of a home.  We live in Falcon, CO and are 25-30 minutes from the city.  We can see the whole side of the mountain and valleys that are being burned and the HUGE smoke cloud that as of yesterday afternoon surrounded us.  We still have ash raining in our backyard.  Today the pieces are MUCH more spread out and MUCH smaller than they were yesterday, but the house completely smells like smoke.  I'm going to have to go get a humidifier and air purifier for our bedroom at least. PLEASE pray for all the residents and commercial structures that are still in danger.  They estimate that this will not be contained until at LEAST July 16th!!!!  I don't know how much more of breathing this in I can take.  I can't imagine how the people feel who live close to this. God be with them!

This was when it first started on the 6/23/16  Around 1pm. 

We could see the flames peaking from here.

 This was about an hour later. 6/23/12 2pm

 This was on our way to the church 6/23/12 3:40PM

This was taken by my husband that night from Fort Carson.  Those are the flames.  I could see if from the house too. 6/23/12 11:16PM

This was taken yesterday evening from our backyard.  6/26/12 4:40PM

This was less than 2 hours later from our back door.  Ash was falling everywhere and smoke filled the house. So sad. 6/26/12 6PM

This brings me to a VERY important topic when TTC.  Hydration Hydration Hydration!! Too many people out there forget to drink enough water.  Who cares if it makes you have to use the rest room a LOT.  Think of it as practice once you do get pregnant.  lol.  Please believe me when I say that soda, tea, and other beverages OTHER than water does not count as water.  If you don't like the taste of water, or don't like that it doesn't have any taste, use your future baby as a motivator.  You need the extra fluids to create a healthy environment for you baby to implant and grow in.  If you're dehydrated, you could be creating a hazardous uterus, so to speak.  The amount of water you should drink depends on how much you weigh, where you live, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and some other factors.  I found a GREAT calculator/quiz that takes some information from you and calculates how much YOU should be drinking.  

http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm


Go to that link to see how much water you should be consuming to stay hydrated.  Remember, the more water you drink, you actually up your chances.  Stay hydrated ladies.  I'll continue to be praying for all of you out there in hopes that one day we'll all see our BFP!




God Bless and Good Luck,
Ashley

All I Hear is the Theme to Jeopardy.

****CAUTION**** 

Some of this blog may be TMI if you are shy about sex talk. Just sayin. Otherwise enjoy!

Did I ever mention how impatient I've grown. lol. I'm still waiting for something to happen. *sigh* 

Well, on a happy note, my mom is coming to visit in a couple weeks. Around the 4th of July as a matter of fact, so that will be good and it'll get my mind off this whole thing.




Today, we're going to talk about keeping the romance alive while TTC.  When you're TTC it can become very routine when it's time to BD and takes most of the romance out of it.

First off, do NOT call it baby dance to your hubby.  He may start feeling like the ONLY reason you're ready and willing so often is JUST to make a baby.  Remember, you're making love, not just BD-ing.  You must remember the reason you want a baby in the first place.  Because you love your husband SO much that you want to create a part of him with a part of you.  An extension to your little family.

Let him know how much you love him and focus on each other, not on creating a baby.  If you focus on each other, then you lose yourselves into each other.  You forget the stress of TTC and get lost in happy, love filled passion.  The less you think about it and stress about it, the higher your chances of conceiving are.

A guy can also start to feel like it's becoming too routine and loses interest because it's not spontaneous anymore.  Don't tell your man when you're ovulating, unless he's as into the baby making business as you are.  If he's not, then it'd be best to withhold that info.  If they want spontaneity, well then by golly ladies, lets give it to them.  If you are using a monitor that says you're ovulating or you suspect you might be ovulating, before he gets home, light a few candles, put on some music, and wear something skanky. lol.  You know your hubby's and what they like, so play with some of their fantasies.  If they are home before you or you both have been home together all day, then slip away and either dress up, or dress way down and call him to where ever you are.  

Try getting out of the bedroom.  Also, if he says he's too tired then try waking him in a "happy" way at 2AM after he's been sleeping for awhile.  Trust me, they wont realize what's going on till everything is already in full motion.  No pun intended. lol.

Don't think too hard about "doing it" right. Studies have said that the Missionary Position is the best for conception because it gets the sperm closest to the cervix, but it doesn't mean that that's the ONLY position you can do.  I mean, go crazy ladies, just make sure you're on bottom when he finishes.

HAHAHA GROSS!

Also, this is probably the most unattractive part, but make sure you lay there with a pillow, NOT A BIG ONE, under your hips with knees bent for at LEAST 20 to 30 minutes, according to research.  If you raise your hips too high, the sperm could slip behind the opening of your cervix and miss entry.  They also say to do it 2 days before you ovulate and the day of.

I'll continue to pray for y'all and pray that one day we'll all see our BFPs. Remember have fun and relax!


Good luck and God Bless,
Ashley

Acronyms and Terms Used in Infertility

2DPO.  The only thing I can come up with today is helping explain the acronyms that I and other ladies use in our blogs and throughout the TTC community.


I know that when I first started to research ways to help us conceive, I found myself SO confused on the acronyms some of the people and Dr's were using.  I had to do research for my research. lol!  Well, I'm hoping that this will help some of you out there who are as confused as I was.

Haha!! That's happened a lot. 

• BFP= Big Fat Positive (Positive Pregnancy Test)
• BFN= Big Fat Negative (Negative Pregnancy Test)
• TTC= Trying to Conceive
• BD= Baby Dance (Sex)
• BMS= Baby Making Sex
• TCOYF=Taking Charge of Your Fertility  
• AF= Aunt Flow (Your Menstrual Period)
• DPO= Days Past Ovulation
• O= The Big O or Ovulation
• 2ww= 2 week wait (The time between ovulation and AF, or between ovulation and BFP)
• RE= Reproductive Endocrinologist (A fertility doctor) 
• CM= Cervical Mucus
• EWCM: Egg White Cervical Mucus
• DH= Dear Husband (Also DS, DD for Dear Son, Dear Daughter, DF, DM for Dear Father, Dear Mother)
• OPK- Ovulation Predictor Kit
• POAS- Pee on a stick (Take a pregnancy test)
• BBT =  Basal Body Temperature 
• CD= Cycle Day (Cycle Day 1, the first day of your menstrual cycle)
• CB: Cycle Buddy (someone who shares the same cycle dates as you)
• CF =  Cervical Fluid (Another term for Cervical Mucus)
• IVF= In-Vitro Fertilization
• IUI=Intra-Uterine Insemination
• FMU= First Morning Urine
• PCOS= Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Endo= Endometriosis

I got this information from another blogger at : http://www.journeytobfp.com/2010/12/cracking-fertility-code-ttc.html

So thanks to my OPK I'm know I'm 2DPO and after my 2ww I can POAS using FMU and get my BFP and then surprise my DH. HAHA! Sorry, had to do it.  This is actually what a lot of the research looked like when I first started looking.  Needless to say I felt SO lost.

So Sweet!! How cool is this picture!?!? Apparently dolphins can tell 

when a woman is pregnant.  I may have to test this theory one day.

Here's to understanding each other now, and here's to tons of baby dust and high chances of getting your BFP!! I'll continue to pray for all of you ladies.

Good luck and God Bless,

Ashley

I Hate Waiting Games

Here we are 1 DPO, having complete faith that it didn't turn into a cyst.  Today's post is going to be about info on timing.  Timing of when to get busy during ovulation, how long it takes for his swimmers to reach the egg, how long it takes till implantation, and how long before you should be on the look out for symptoms and what they are.  


I'm not going to list much about how I feel or what's going on with my body for a few weeks, because I know my mom reads my posts sometimes, HEY MOMMA, and lets face it, we want to surprise our parents. If God does bless us with a surprise, then I'll write a post, after the family reveals, about how I felt from 1 DPO to my BFP followed by, hopefully, video of the surprises.


All my information is from research I found on medical websites and were ALWAYS posted by OB/GYNS or interviews with them.


First of all, before "babymaking", we want to make sure we are doing everything we can to get our bodies in shape and eating the right things to produce the healthiest eggs, and for men the healthiest sperm.  Look to one of my previous posts for information on the right foods and stuff. Also, just FYI, I stopped drinking my FertiliTea 2 days before I ovulated.


It takes 3 months for men to create sperm.  So 3+ months before you start trying is when you want to start eating the RIGHT foods and taking vitamins.  For ladies the is also the perfect time to start taking pre-natals.  You want to start taking them before you get pregnant because then you have all the nutrients the baby needs before they even settle in.


To track when you're ovulating will be different for EVERY woman depending on the length of their cycle.  It's usually 1.5 to 2 weeks before your next period.  The are a lot of ways to track it.  Basal body temperature (BBT) is one way that a lot of women use, and probably one of the cheapest.  You can buy a basal thermometer at your local drug store.  What you do is as SOON as you wake up, before you even move, you take your BBT. I suggest keeping the thermometer on your night stand. Since I have endo, I learned that this method didn't really work for me. With a normal healthy woman, you will have a base line temp that fluctuates slightly.  When your BBT dips then rises quickly to a peak, that means ovulation has already occurred. Ovulation happens right after your temperature dips.  If it stays elevated 2 weeks after your next period, you're most likely pregnant, but the missed period should have been a big hint too. lol. ;-P Here is a picture of what BBT tracking looks like.

It usually takes a few cycles of charting to understand when you ovulate.

If you achieve pregnancy, your temp will stay high, but like I said, everyone is different.






The cheapest way to track ovulation is observing your cervical mucus, because that's free.  Gross, yes, but it works for some people.  They say that dry or sticky mucus means not fertile.  Creamy is possibly fertile, watery is fertile, and an egg white type mucus is very fertile.  Usually the egg white type happens during ovulation.

This is such a perfect chart. (Based on a 28 day cycle)

Another and more accurate way of tracking your ovulation is to measure your hormones.  You can do this by buying an ovulation kit at your local drug store or online at amazon.com.  This is the method I'm using.  I have the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor.  My mom bought me the monitor and I bought the test stick online at amazon.  She really wants a grandbaby from me.  At the drug store the test sticks are $55 and at amazon they are $37 for 30 test sticks.  You want the same brand test sticks as your monitor.  What mine does is that it measure your LH and Estrogen levels.  When they peak means that you will ovulate within 24 to 48 hours.  Pretty awesome stuff!

That's right. #1 Recommended brand.

Helps reduce the time it takes to conceive.

Now onto what to do before "babymaking" and when to do it.  Research says that in the morning is when men have the most potent sample.  I'm not a morning person and my husband leaves at 4am, so neither of us are in the mood that early.  Also, they say that ONE cup of coffee moments before you get it on will help the mobility of the sperm.  The caffeine gives them an extra boost.  


Dr's have said that having sex at least 3 times a week will give you the BEST chances of getting pregnant.  If you're not into doing it that often, then they said that doing it 2 days before, the day of, and the day after ovulation will also give you high chances.  The ovum will only survive for about 12 to 24 hours after ovulation.  Sperm, however, can live up to 5 to 7 days.  7 days is rare, but it is possible.

Have fun! Don't make it a routine chore. Spice it up! ;-)

Also, don't lose the romance while doing it. Yes, trying to conceive (TTC) can be such a chore and routine, but that doesn't mean that you can't have fun while doing it.  Dress up, or down ;-), light a few candles, try a different room, put on some music, or try some foreplay.  Dr's say that orgasm helps with conception because it opens the cervix and allows more sperm to pass through.  So do what you gotta do to make it better.  The more fun, the better the chances.


Everyone is confused on what's the best position.  My OB/GYN told me that missionary postion (guy on top, girl on bottom) is the best position for conception.  It places the sperm closest to the cervix than with any other position when he ejaculates.  Also she said to place a pillow under my hips and lay there on my back for 20 to 30 minutes.  Don't get too big of a pillow or raise your hips too high because you could actually prevent them from entering.  Also, use a sperm friendly lubricant if necessary.  There is one called "Pre-Seed" that was created by an OB/GYN to help aid the sperm and increase chances for conception.  Use can slather it on, or you can use the applicators that come with it to apply internally.

The applicators are on the right.  At the top of the box

it says, "Seriously fun baby-making." ;-)

I've also found through research that his fastest swimmers can reach the egg in 30 to 45 minutes!! All others could take up to 12 hours. What a difference!!  Out of 100-600 million sperm, which is in one ejaculation, far fewer actually survive to make it to the cervix.  They have to swim through the cervix and all the way up to the fallopian tube containing the egg.  Only ONE sperm from that bunch will penetrate the egg.  Once it does, the egg outer protein layer changes and goes on "lockdown" and prevents any other sperm from entering it.  That one lucky super sperm sheds it's outer skin and releases what will create the complete makeup of your future baby including the sex.  The Mom can only offer the X chromosome, so the dad's sperm that penetrates the egg has to carry and Y chromosome to make it a boy (XY), or another X to make is a girl (XX). The sperm containing the Y chromosome are smaller and faster than the ones containing the X chromosome, so they die off quicker and are less likely to make it in a more acidic environment.  The days JUST before and the day of ovulation are the best days to conceive a boy because the mucus the woman creates is the least acidic.


After the egg has been penetrated and fertilized the cells start rapidly spliting and the egg makes a journey down the fallopian tube, to the uterus, and finally around, 9DPO, implants itself into the endometrium that built up due hormones getting the body ready for pregnancy.  So it takes roughly 9 days, on average, after ovulation to implant.  On that day, some women have felt cramping and spotting.  That is due the the egg burrowing itself in the lining of your uterus.  Some women have also noticed pregnancy symptoms starting that same day.


Pregnancy symptoms are very similar to PMS symptoms and are all too often mistaken as so.  Here is a list of early pregnancy symptoms that you may know about, and others you may not know about.

Wishing you ladies the best of luck!!

• Shortness of Breath: Because your growing fetus needs extra oxygen to grow so it may leave you a little breathless at times.
• Sore Breasts: Tender and heavy-feeling breasts, darkening of the areolas and even more pronounced veins on your chest can be a first sign that you're pregnant
• Fatigue: Due to increased hormones in your body during pregnancy.
• Nausea: Most women experience this around 6 weeks, but some have experienced it earlier. Try eating crackers or ginger ale to help ease your stomache.
• Frequent Urination: Due to your body produces extra fluids during pregnancy.
• Headaches: Due to changes in hormones.  Be sure to take pregnancy safe acetaminophen instead of ibuprofen. Ask your doctor which ones are safe for you.
• Backaches: Due to the ligaments in your back loosening for pregnancy. Sorry, this one may last a while.
• Cramping: Due to implantation and then stretching of your uterus getting ready for the baby.
• Cravings or Food Aversions: Again, due to hormone changes.
• Constipation and Bloating: Due to extra progesterone, slowing down your digestive system.
• Mood Swings: Due to, you guessed it, new hormones.  Warn, and assure your hubby that it'll pass.
• Elevated Basal Body Temperature: If you are pregnant, it'll stay elevated 2 weeks after you were suppose to start.
• Super Smell: Do I have to keep saying it? Hormone changes!! lol
• Dizziness or Fainting: Due to low blood sugar or blood pressure. Stay hydrated and eat enough to prevent this.
• Spotting: Due to implantation of the egg into your uterine lining.  Some women mistake this for their period.
• Late Period: This is the obvious one. Due to, DUH, you're pregnancy! lol. We all pray for this, I know!
• Positive Pregnancy Test: Do NOT take the test too early because it could result in a false negative.  Wait till your period is late, if it still says negative and you're not starting, wait a couple more days, or call your Dr.  If it's a BFP, then YAY!! You did it!

I'll continue to post about health before pregnancy and during.  I'll continue to pray for all of you!  Have a great day!! ;-)

Good Luck and Good Bless,

Ashley