Lessons learned, Clomid #2

Well I decided to make a list of things I’ve learned from this cycle, instead of just being bummed (for the second time) that it didn’t result in a pregnancy.

1. It makes a huge difference when you switch to a competent doctor’s office.
2. My period CAN choose to arrive without Provera. This was the first cycle all year, and hopefully next cycle will be the second.
3. I really don’t have many side effects from the clomid, except acne, which I have anyway. Sure, I’m kind of a bitch when I’m on it, but let’s be honest, I’m kind of a bitch all the time. I don’t have the maddening mood swings many women report – at least not on 50 or 100 mg.
4. Same with the progesterone. At least on the dosage I’m on, all I experienced was a handful of cystic bumps on my face. Occasionally I felt flushed, but it wasn’t major. No breast changes, and I kept up with my benefiber so I didn’t even get very constipated.
5. While I’m on a roll, I also had no side effects from the trigger shot. Apparently I am immune to hormones.
6. I don’t handle ambiguity well.
7. It is best to insert the progesterone seated, on the edge of the toilet. Twice I had to fish the damn thing out of the bowl and wash it off. Yuck.
8. Cramps. Do. Not. Mean. Anything.
9. When your husband worries aloud about the results of his upcoming sperm analysis, don’t just boldly proclaim “Well if anything’s wrong, we’ll just get a sperm donor.” With these types of decisions you’re supposed consider his input instead of just deciding on your own.
10. The only words to describe the two week wait are “Total Mindfuck”.
11. Depending on your emotional fragility, hormone fluctuation, and what’s going on that day, some things hurt a lot worse than a BFN. The day I fought with the pharmacy guy, then ended up with the wrong dose of clomid, got home and realized my dog had eaten my favorite shoe…that day was worse than both BFNs this cycle. Ditto to the day of the work-related pregnancy announcement. I was way more vulnerable and emotional mid-cycle than when the BFNs came around.
12. People do not understand.
13. My body responded to 100 mg of clomid.
14. Do not listen to your doctor’s office when they ask you not to test at home. If I had just tested yesterday morning, I wouldn’t have had to wait all morning, a bundle of exhausted nerves, feeling so anxious I thought I might get sick, only to hear my second BFN. This time around I will be purchasing bulk tests off the internet and testing to my hearts desire.

What have you learned this cycle?