HOW DOES ANYONE GET PREGNANT??

Firstly, could this boy be any more of a poser if he tried? Anyway...

So, I'm still not pregnant. I didn't really expect to be, since this is my first cycle of doing things differently, but once you're trying, every month brings new hope and it becomes a little all consuming. 

Strictly speaking, I'm still in the "two week wait" so I suppose I could be pregnant, but I'm not hopeful. I started charting my basal body temperature this month, and to say it's all over the place would be an understatement. If you didn't know, tracking your basal body temperature (you have to take an accurate digital temp measurement every morning before rising so you are at full rest) essentially tracks your hormone shifts. Here is my chart so far, so you can see what I mean:

I should probably say at this point that for the first few days, I was using our in-ear thermometer while I waited for my proper basal thermometer to arrive in the post, so those days can pretty much be discounted as it's not nearly as accurate. Anyway...

The day after you ovulate, your temperature will see a sharp rise, as the hormone progesterone is released into the body. Ovulation is marked on my chart here with the red dotted line. It's dotted because although my temperature shift indicates that it happened on day 17, I still got a positive OPK (Ovulation predictor kit) on day 18, which throws the date into a question  a little. If it weren't for this OPK, the line would be solid red. But whatevs, I'm assuming I ovulation on day 17. 

So basically, my temperature after ovulation is a very good indication of my progesterone levels, and as you can see, it's kind of all over the place. I started taking Progest-E Complex on Sunday (I was in Bruges until then and hadn't taken it with me, otherwise I would have started taking it on Friday once I knew I had ovulated) and you can see that my temperature started rising again after this, for a couple of days, but then it starts dipping again. Apparently it can be a sign of implantation to get a temperature dip  between 7-10 dpo (days past ovulation) but I don't think this is the case for me, as it dipped for 3 days and even went below my cover line (the horizontal red dotted line) which I'm pretty sure is bad news. Then today, at 9dpo it shot right up again higher than it was before. I also woke up with a nasty headache which I still have, and I'm feeling a little nauseous. Some might say this is a good sign, but I could also just be coming down with something. Who knows. The only choice I have is to wait and see what happens. I expect I will probably come on in the next couple of days, and the cycle will begin again. 

My overall suspicion, is that I have what is called a "Luteal Phase Defect". The Luteal phase is the time from ovulation to the start of the period. For most women this phase lasts between 14-17 days. Anything below 12 days is usually too short to support a pregnancy, and if my chart is anything to go by (with the temperature dipping so early) I think mine is quite short. Of course, I can't be sure of my luteal phase length until I do actually come on, but we'll see. As well as Progesterone, I am also taking vitamin B6, and Vitex (agnus castus) which are both supposed to be good at lengthening the luteal phase.

I'll leave it there for now, as you're probably as bored of my secondary fertility issues as I am, for today at least :o)

If you are/have been in the same boat as me, please let me know in the comments section. I'm really interested to hear how these situations work out for other people and share tips on how to help each other.

Thanks for reading xo

OPERATION: PROGESTERONE PART II

If you haven't already, you might want to go back and read my first post on this to get the full picture.

To summarise, last time I told you that I had been to see Sophie Lamb, a medical herbalist, because I have been having a few miscarriages recently. She recommended a few supplements (which I detailed last time) and also gave me some advice on my diet. This time, I'm going to tell you about the dietary advice she gave me.

Firstly there are a few things to avoid: 
Vegetable oils, except olive oil which I can have cold, as a salad dressing for example. Did you know that you should never use olive oil as a cooking oil? It becomes unstable at high temperatures, and is therefore bad for your health. Something like coconut oil, avocado oil or organic butter are much better options as cooking fats. 

Seeds & unprepared grains: A lot of people think they need to cut grains out of their diet completely, but it's about understanding how they should be prepared for optimum benefit. This is mostly a simple case of soaking them before use. For example, if you're going to have porridge for breakfast, soak your oats in milk or water overnight beforehand. If you're going to have rice for dinner, soak it in water from the morning until you cook it in the evening. If you're going to eat bread, it should be sourdough. My local cafe does THE BEST sourdough pancakes, they are out of this world, and not entirely bad for you either :o)

Cruciferous Vegetables: This includes things like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. The only one of these I ate regularly is broccoli and Sophie said it's fine to have this occasionally, once a week perhaps. The reason I should avoid these types of vegetable is because they contain enzymes that interfere with the formation of thyroid hormone. As somebody with congenital hypothyroidism (an under active thyroid gland since birth), this is bad news for me.

Next are the "sacred foods". In some tribes and communities, they put young men and women on a special diet for 6 months before marriage, to give them the best chance of having successful pregnancies, resulting in healthy, beautiful, well formed babies. The diets consist of these "sacred foods" and the key to the sacred foods is a thing called fat soluble activators. These activators are the animal forms of vitamins A (retinol isomers), D (vitamin D₃ and isomers) and K (vitamin K₂). That is to say, activators are only available from animal products. As much as you may not want to hear it, a vegetarian or vegan diet simply cannot provide these things. A more detailed article about this can be found here.

For me, this means lots of eggs, butter, meat on the bone and liver. Eggs, butter and meat on the bone I can do, no problem. Liver?? That's food hell for me. I cannot stand the texture of liver. I like liver pate, and Sophie has recommended I eat a pack of organic chicken liver pate per week (that's the sort of dietary advice I like) but I also need to try and have actual liver. Other organ meats are just as good, but liver is the most readily available. She has recommended that I try and get used to it by hiding it in other meals, such as bolognese or casserole. I managed this for the first time on Friday. I made a bolognese sauce, and added 3 chopped livers to it. I'm not going to lie, it was a struggle. Every time I came across that undeniable weird powdery texture, I had to think about something else and have a huge gulp of water after each mouthful. But I'm hoping that in time I will get used to it.

As for meat on the bone, this isn't always possible for me. For example, if I make a curry or a risotto or something, I don't want my meat to be on the bone. The way to get around this, while still getting the goodness, it to add gelatine to these meals. Gelatine comes from animal bones, and it so, so, SO good for us. I got a bag of bovine gelatine from Botanica which I make up and add to any meals where I'm not using meat on the bone. I also have a teaspoonful dissolved into the milk I use for my morning latte each day. Another way around this would be to make a bone broth/stock and use this is your cooking. Just go and ask your butcher for some good animal bones, boil them for 6-24 hours and use the liquid for soups, stews and anything else you fancy.  

Sophie also told me that I should be eating gouda cheese on the regular, for a good dose of protein, and something like sweet potato, or mango daily for a healthy source of carbs. Also sea salt, and plenty of it. The myth about salt being bad for our health needs to be stopped in it's tracks. As long as it's a good sea salt and not that rubbish processed table salt, it's all good baby. At the moment, a typical day in the life of Kate looks something like this:

Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled with sea salt & black pepper, on a slice of sourdough toast. Served with a bovine gelatine latte

Lunch: Sweet potato wedges cooked in coconut oil, sprinkled with cinnamon, A wedge of gouda cheese, and some mango chunks for pudding. Served with a glass of orange juice.

Dinner: Jerk chicken made with thighs and drumsticks, served with two grated carrots (see my previous progesterone post for the relevance of the grated carrots)

I'll keep you posted on how this goes. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments or via the contact form.

laters taters (as Beau says)

xo

OPERATION: PROGESTERONE PART I

As you may know if you have read the last few posts, I've been suffering with miscarriages. I've now had 3 in the last 5 months, and after the most recent one last week, I decided enough is enough, I must take control of this situation. 

Like anyone in this day and age, firstly I consulted Dr Google.This brought up a lot of feeds, mostly giving the same advice. That advice being: recurring early miscarriages are often a result of low progesterone levels. You see, the menstrual cycle can be broken down into different phases, which are ruled by different hormones. The phase from day 1 to ovulation is ruled by Estrogen. During this phase, the body has a period, and then starts to release follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) which tells the ovaries to prepare a follicle which will then release an egg into the fallopian tube. Once this (ovulation) occurs  progesterone takes over (if you are charting your basal body temperature, the spike you see once you have ovulated is caused by the release of progesterone in your system) and if that egg has been fertilised, it's fate then lies in progesterone's hands as to whether it will successfully implant in the uterine lining or not. Assuming fertilisation has happened, the fertilised egg will spend 7-10 days travelling down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, which should be ready to receive it and give it a nice cushy home for the next 38 weeks so that it can develop into your gorgeous fat baby.  If you have a progesterone deficiency (as I suspect I do) then that fertilised egg may be unable to implant, and you will then have a period. This is known as a chemical pregnancy, and technically, you are pregnant for those few days. If, like me, you take an early pregnancy test on say day 9 or 10 dpo (days post ovulation) then you will get yourself a faint positive, and try as you might, you will get all giddy and excited at that point, only to have it all fall down around you not long afterwards.

Progesterone is a hormone, and there are things that one can do to encourage this hormone's presence in the body. I already knew from Dr Google that a common route is to take a combination of vitamin B6, a low dose of aspirin and to use a progesterone cream. 

After a consultation with medical herbalist, Sophie Lamb, yesterday, I now have a little more knowledge and a few other tricks up my sleeve in my quest for progesterone. Firstly to say, all purchaseable progesterone was not created equally. If you are interested to read the ins and outs of this, then this article by Dr Ray Peat is incredibly helpful. If not, suffice it to say that the best form to buy is Progest E Complex. It is not greatly more expensive than any other products of it's kind, but it is greatly more effective. I ordered mine this morning and it cost me around £31 including postage costs.

Second of all, as I alluded to earlier, estrogen and progesterone are like yin and yang. They are both essential and work in partnership with each other, But if you have a progesterone deficiency, the likelihood is that your estrogen levels could do with being stamped down a little. Most of the population have too much estrogen (men included) in their systems, and a really simple way to help your body excrete a little of that is as simple as eating one or two raw carrots per day. It is explained better here but in a nut shell, the fibres in carrots, when eaten raw, essentially mop up excess estrogen and toxins in the intestines and you then excrete them through the bowel. So no matter who you are, you could probably benefit from this little tip. And lets face it, it couldn't be easier so why the hell not.  

At this point I should also say that I have an underactive thyroid. I have had this condition since birth. It was picked up on the heel prick test when I was 5 days old, and I have been taking levothyroxine to treat the condition ever since. Thus far, it has never caused me any problems. I have never knowingly suffered from any symptoms or side affects of the condition, and when other people have moaned about having it, I have kind of thought "what's all the fuss about? I've had it my whole life and it's never bothered me one bit". I suppose because it has never caused me any trouble, I have never really looked into the thyroid in any detail. When people have asked me what the thyroid does, all I know is that it affects your metabolism. I always had a sneaking suspicion that there was a lot more to it than that, and I have heard the terms T3, T4 and TSH thrown around but never paid it any attention. I've had regular blood tests all my life, and depending on the results, have increased, decreased, or maintained my dosage. Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that Sophie has suggested that my thyroid is likely playing a role in my hormone issues, and therefore the miscarriages. I'll confess that I was a bit bamboozled by everything she was telling me, so I can't quite explain to you why this is. But we're treating that as an issue too, just so you know. (And I am going to do some research on the thyroid so maybe I can be a little more informed next time somebody asks me a question about it)

I'll do a separate post on the diet side of things, but in terms of supplements, this is what I'm taking, and why (if I know!):

Daily: 

Selenium (200 ug): This one, I'm not 100% sure on the science behind, but it has been proven that women who miscarry have lower selenium levels in their blood than women who don't, so that's good enough for me.

Folic acid: This one is common sense for any woman trying to get pregnant. It goes a long way to preventing conditions such as spina bifida in the developing fetus

Vitamin D  (3000 iu): Again, this one is pretty common sense. Unless you are lucky enough to live in a sunny climate and can get this the natural way, then you should be taking a vitamin D supplement, be you man, woman or child. 

Vitamin B6 (200mg): This is self prescribed. Vitamin B6 is said to increase the luteal phase (google it) which I suspect is not long enough in my case.

Aspirin (75mg): This is self prescribed, after doing my research online. A small daily dose of aspirin helps to thin the blood and therefore helps bloodflow. Since the uterine lining is made using blood, this is a no brainer.

Vitex Hormone Regulating Tincture (2 ml): Sophie made me up this tincture and I'll be taking 2mls per day in cold water. Vitex (also called agnus castus) is good for all kinds of women's hormone issues, from progestrone issues like mine, to PMS, to menopause. It doesn't contain hormones, but the little magic vitex fairies somehow balance out hormones when there is an imbalance. That's as much as I know, magic vitex fairies. Look it up online, there is a wealth of information about it, and a lot of women believe it has been the secret ingredient to them having a successful pregnancy. 

Daily AFTER ovulation:

Progest E Complex: The reason you should only take progesterone after you know you have ovulated, is because it can actually prevent you from ovulating if taken before. It is a key ingredient in all contraceptive pills, and is THE active ingredient in the mini pill. So you have to allow your body to ovulate first, and then you take the progesterone to help that phase of your cycle when hopefully a fertilised egg will implant and eventually give you all those sleepless nights you're dreaming about. This particular progesterone supplement is dissolved in vitamin E, which does a natural version of the job the aspirin does, so I'm getting a double whammy of goodness by taking it in this form. 

So that's my supplement menu. There is also the diet side of things to support this (nothing too scary or restrictive) which I will tell you about next time. But for now, I hope this has been useful or at least interesting to somebody. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me in the comments, and if you think Sophie could help you then I'll give you her contact details and you can arrange a consultation for yourself. 

I bid you adieu my pretties
xo