IUI/SO-IUI: Anyone?

hi gals, thanks alot!

dawn, was feeling real down tat time when the blood test results out. straight away, my hubby n i discussed if not successful, will hv to stop n try TCM. whereas on my side, i keep tinking wat can we do if we really din succeed..i even tot of wat if ivf oso fail, do we go for adoption??? haha, during tat time, alot of adoption articles keep popping out, tat's y tot of tat..
i'm currently in 10wks. gyane hv to review me every wk out of precaution.

ashley, yes, his wife is dr tracey lim. actually both are v nice gynaes, makes a perfect husband n wife team.at 1st, i'm worried tat i might not feel comfortable wif her oso but gradually impression will changed. jus like, when i did 1st SO-iui, as i'm not responding well to jabs, she had to keep increasing the dosage or hv to stop completely and wait for nxt cycle, she will asked me, any problems on financial b4 she decide on wat to do next.
overall, pretty happy wif her.

* tomorrow will be a better day *
 


okeanosmao, u really think alot....but luckily ur baby just playing trick on u....so no need to think further liow. How u feeling in ur 1st trimester so far?

jolene, understand how u feel. Very jealous seeing pregnant women. My neighbour who got married a few months after us, just gave birth to her 2nd child last week.....*sigh* why i not even pregnant with 1 child? why why why ? *sigh*
 
Hi sisters
Hmm... this thread has been quite quiet for the week... but then ===> The weekend is here again!!
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Hope all of u relaz and give our bodies rest + less stress!

Dawn
How r u? U taking TCM?
 
Ashly, I stopped taking TCM since i started my IUI, sinseh says dun take together.....i going to start my 3rd IUI soon......

anybody doing IUI again?
 
hi Dawn

I have done my 3rd IUI and waiting for results. Am contemplating of whether I should go for 4th attempts should the 3rd be unsucessful.
 
hi atlas,
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hope it will be successful this time, so that u wun have to think about 4th attempt. is it IUI or SO-IUI?

I know for SO-IUI, my gynae told me that the success rate drops sharply after the 3rd try...so I will go for IUI after the 3rd try....
praying for good new for u!
 
Hi dawn

Thank for your well wishes. I was doing the IUI.

BTW, does your doctor give u any medication after he has done the IUI? I heard that some doctor will prescribe 2 weeks of medication (for luteal phrase support)to patients. As for me, I was not given anything after the procedure. Doctor just tell me that it is not necessary for me. Am wondering whether the medication will increase the success rate.

Hoping that your 3rd IUI will also be a success.
 
hi atlas, for my 2nd SO-IUI, the doc did give me progesterone inserts after the IUI, it is to help the lining to become sticky, so that the embroy can stick properly onto the wall. Maybe your progesterone level is high, so the doc don't prescribe?

yah, today my AF came, so will be CD1.....think will start my injections this friday....
today is how many days pass your IUI?
 
dawn,

I did my IUI 11 days ago. According to my gynae, there is no need for luteal phrase support if AF were to come 10 days after IUI. Since he did not give me any medication, my TCM doc gave me chinese herbs to boost my progesterone level.

I saw some pink discharge this morning, maybe AF coming soon. Sigh......
 
atlas, maybe implantation causing the bleeding also. will pray for u.....ask the embroy to stick properly!
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Hi Dawn
how r u? i "disappeared" for awhile... i'm seriously considering doing ICSI, just need to check whether i shd do it at KKH or pte hospital? U? On your 3rd IUI attempt?

Hi Atlas
How r u feeling? Be careful not to climb up and down too frequently... gravity lah...
 
Hi Ashly, yes....on my 3rd SO-IUI.....feeling the emotional strain liow....but i think will still go on. what to do....want piggy baby so much!

Depends on where u feel more comfortable doing your IUI lor....and also the cost plays a part too.
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I know KKH is about 6 to 8K depending on the amount of injection u need....
 
Dawn
I understand the kind of "strain"... like very heavy leh, rite?! JIA YOU
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sometimes i also cannot understand how come there r pple (like us) who really want a bb very badly and hv to try n work so hard for it... but there're others, who always say "it was an accident, i actually dun want another kid"
argh!!!!! buay ta han
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hi dawn, how much did you spend on each SO-IUI? What is ICSI? Did you try IUI with clomid first before embarking on SO-IUI?

Thanks in advance.
 
morning gals!
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ashly....ya....somemore i am a teacher....see some pupils 12/13 years old get preggie so easily and just went to abort like it is a simple thing. they not even ashamed or guilty. very fed up with them right?

beautiful, i oni took clomid 3 or 4 times...without IUI. KKH do not do IUI with clomid alone. they only have SO-IUI. My first SO-IUI cost about 900+, stopped injection quite early cos too many follicles stimulated. In fact they told me can convert to IVF if i want...but i wasn't mentally prepared. My 2nd SO-IUI is 1.2K. ICSI is a type of IVF....instead of letting the few million of sperm come into contact with the eggs, ICSI specifically insert one sperm into one egg. should have even higher success rate bah....
 
Hi Beautiful
ICSI = Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection. Its actually something like IVF. Difference is tt in IVF the egg (after ER) is placed together with a healthy sperm for "natural" fertilisation" to occur. For ICSI, the sperm will be injected directly into the egg instead.
There's a write-up in the KKIVF web-site which i found quite well-written. The link is given below.

http://www.kkh.com.sg/PatientHealthLibrary/WomensHealth/ProblemsConceiving/

Hv u consulted wif your RE on the IUI procedure?
 
Hi dawn,

How is your progress in your IUI? When is your date of the blood test? I have confident in you.

Hi Ashly,

Have you started your IUI?
 
Hi atlas007

I believe you must be staying at west. How long do you see Dr Koh Lee Hoon? 1 year? or only six months?

I know TCM Dr from thong chai is usually good in solving female infertility problem. That why I went to see them.

I know Dr Koh also has a PhD in TCM. I prefer a female chinese physician. I hear a lot of good report about her. If you just see her for less than a year, you should continue see her. Dr Koh is from Thong Chai too.

Do you feel any improvement???

If you are staying in the west and consultation hours suites you, you better to stick with Dr Koh. Dr Koh is another good chinese physician in infertility. I feel no point travel a long distance to just see a chinese physician.

I get to know from a mainland chinese physician in EYS telling me Dr Tan Kian Sing is good in solving male infertility problem only.

I have confident in you. Good Luck
 
Hi beautiful,

I took 5 days of clomid and 10 days of injection. Every hospitals has their own IUI procedurce. KKIVF migh have a different IUI produrces from other hospital.

Who is your currently gynae?

Good Luck.
 
Hi everyone,

Just need some sharing from you gals .... I've gone thro' 2 cycles of SO-IUI and failed. Doc now gave me the option of doing another round of SO-IUI, do a laparoscopy to investigate what's wrong or go staright into IVF. Did any of your docs advise u on the protocol for all these fertility treatments? I'm not sure .... not too keen to try another round of SO-IUI as have failed twice so no confidence to try again. Any of u done laparoscopy before? Pl share. Tks

Dawn - Remember me? We 'chatted' a few mths ago when I did my first SO-IUI. Unfortunately it failed. Looks like we are still waiting for good news ...
 
hi gals,

i have seen Dr tan siew buoy yesterday, she is frank to tell most of us that her program do not complement with western dr, if you wan to go with her on her treatment then dun do any IVF or IUI treatment, do not mix the 2 treatment, that is her policy, else she will reject you as a patient, she said that thong chai is non profit organisation so they have their way of doing treatment and no acp for her treatment too, only take herbs, so for those that are have not decided to go with IUI or IVF, maybe you would like to see her, any option for you gals to choose first, her theory is hormone injection and clomid might further complicate our current problem of infertility, cannot take clomid for more than 6-9 mths cos it will causes our linning to be thinner for implantation. my advice is to talk to the individual professional personally and weighs your option.
 
Hi 75gal

My RE advised that he would only allow me to proceed with SO-IUI if the fallopian tubes are confirmed to be open and DH's SA is fine. The reason is that drugs used for the SO-IUI cause side-effects and it is pointless going through the exercise if the tubes are in fact blocked. Whether the tubes are open can be confirmed by either the HSG test or by laparoscopy. Laparoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosis. If the HSG test shows that one or both tubes are blocked, only laparoscopy will definitively confirm the diagnosis. In my case, I did the HSG test and subsequently the laparoscopy. This was the same advice that was given by two other REs which I saw for second and third opinion.
The laparoscopy went fine and I recovered in 2 weeks. My only problem is that I need to explain to my employers why I need the time off to recover from surgery without explaining the whole work-out.

Hope this helps.
 
hi Dawn
Thank you for your warm wishes.
However, no luck again this time. AF came liao.

Kimly
I have just switched to see Dr Koh Lee Hoon. I was previously seeing a sinseh at Marine Parade for 1 1/2 years. I am staying in the east and have visited Dr Koh at Tampines Central. Thank you for your encouragement and warm wishes.
 
Thanks gals for your replies!

My gynae is suggesting me to go for SO-IUI. Initially, I thought I can do IUI with clomid but during my recent gynae visit, she advised me not to take clomid as it will thin the lining. Thus, more difficult for implantation. Do you know if this is true?

I wasn't prepared to do SO-IUI, hence needed to understand more through this thread.

Are the injections painful? Does your gynae prescribed you with medication after the procedure? I am a bit lost now, not sure if I should go ahead with SO-IUI since age is catching up.

By the way, can we use our medisave for the procedure? Any government funding?

Thanks in advance.
 
hi hi gals...wow today the thread very busy hor?
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atlas, *pat pat* don't feel discouraged, we will succeed one day, lets fight on towards our dream! I am so glad there is this forum to help pple like us. Don't give up okay?
You know, I don't feel like telling my frens or colleagues about all i am going through during TTC, even though they ask about it, cos they really don't quite understand what we are going through....cos all of them conceived so easily. *sigh*

yes, remember u, 75gal.....guess we just have to work harder, pray harder, wait longer. My gynae Dr. Sheila Loh, actually encouraged me to go for IVF but I am not ready, so will do my 3rd round of SO-IUI this cycle......last try....after that will go for IVF. Actually oredi went for IVF couselling last month liow....booked for December/Jan IVF slot. (very very packed u know....even want to do early also no slot....seems like singapore alot of pple doing IVF nowdays hor?)

beautiful, don't take too much clomid....some studies say it may cause ovary cancer u know. In fact, cannot take more than 6 consecutive months clomid. SO-IUI injections are not painful, really okay one. You can use medisave for this procedure, but usually the nurses will advise you not to use medisave. Reason being: For your first use of medisave for this kind of assisted procedures, you can cliam up to $6K. 2nd claim 5K, (not so sure... then 3rd claim think it is less). SO-IUI usually cost 1K to 1.5K while IVF cost 6K to 8K....so if u claim 1K for IUI, next time do IVF, can't claim as much.....

Yvonne, i also seeing a sinseh from Thong Chai, she also says the same thing, doesn't want to see me when I am going through SO-IUI or IVF, so i have stopped seeing her for a few months liow.
 
Priscilla - Tks for sharing. So why did u hv to do laparoscopy? What did the doc discover and do during the lap? After the procedure, did the dc advise u to proceed to do IUI or IVF or can try naturally?

Dawn - Your doc's advice is to go straight into IVF after SO-IUI fails? I also not ready for IVF though it's one of the options my doc gave me. Read that it's a stressful process, also not cheap. Require a lot more jabs & drugs as compared to SO-IUI. I cannot imagine how I am going 'explain' to my bosses and colleagues if I need to take time-off for freq doc visits and jabs etc (I am one of those who dun dare to do injections myself; so have to go the clinic daily for injections while undergoing SO-IUI. This is one of the reasons why I chose Mt E cos more convenient for me to go there on weekdays during my lunchtime). Anyway, try your best this cycle and hope that you won't need to use the Dec/ Jan IVF booking
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Yvonne - I also heard from a colleague that Dr Tan fr Thong Chai is good. I haven't tried yet. Are u switching to TCM? Can we just go Thong Chai and request to see Dr Tan or have to make prior appt?

Beautiful - I've gone thro' 2 rounds of SO-IUI. Initially very scared of the injections and was painful the 1st time. But somehow, body adjusted and it wasn't so bad after a while. But I put on 2 kg during the process!!
 
75gal, my gynae says according to the studies done over the year, the odds for success for SO-IUI plunges drastically after 3rd SO-IUI. So if can get preggie by this method, should have gotten preggie by 3rd time lor...*sigh* but she told me to try IVF cos the success rate is higher lor.....33 to 40% depending on age, SO-IUI oni got 20% success rate. oh yah, i also put on weigh after the IUI leh...i tot it is because i ate too many mooncakes daily these 2 months! hee hee....my tummy as round as the moon......like 3 month pregnant like that! haha

u can train your hubby to do the jabs....so u don't have to do mah. I also worry about the problem about explaining to bosses and colleagues....some more i am a teacher, difficult to go off for scannings and doc visits in the morning. sure will have principal, colleagues, pupils, pupils' parents, shcool vendors, servants ask why i always not in school.....*Sigh* then the whole school will know liow!
now i still *scratching my head* thinking if i should take half year no pay leave...so no need to explain so much. *sigh* really hope no need to go for IVF in dec/jan. but don't think will be that lucky lah. The medical worker at KKH quite good, very encouraging....and told me that I should not feel dejected as I have already tried the best within my means to get pregnant. quite agree with her lor.....
 
Hi gals...Will like to ask how long you take to conceive "naturally" before you embark on IUI?? If hubby's sperm morphology is only 2%,still able to proceed with IUI?? I read from websites saying that IUI is only suitable for males with mild low sperm count...
 
Dawn - Haha ... looks like we're in the same boat. I am not doing any treatment this Oct cycle so trying hard to lose the 2 kg I put on ... been going to the gym and swimming but still cannot get rid of the extra kg leh ...

Is it easy to get no-pay leave for teachers? I'm also in public service. Though we have the no-pay leave scheme, it is mainly for new mothers or those going to studies. I also thought of applying npl while undergoing treatment; hoping that if I don't need to work, my body will be more relaxed and therefore more receptive to treatments. But unfortunately, I think my boss will not support no-pay leave appln for fetility treatment
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Plus I also dun want everybody to know lah ... If u can think of some good 'excuse' let me know ...

Btw, what's your problem? Done HSG or lap before?

Nonetheless, must be positive. I wish u all the best in your SO-IUI.
 
Dawn - Haha ... looks like we're in the same boat. I am not doing any treatment this Oct cycle so trying hard to lose the 2 kg I put on ... been going to the gym and swimming but still cannot get rid of the extra kg leh ...

Is it easy to get no-pay leave for teachers? I'm also in public service. Though we have the no-pay leave scheme, it is mainly for new mothers or those going to studies. I also thought of applying npl while undergoing treatment; hoping that if I don't need to work, my body will be more relaxed and therefore more receptive to treatments. But unfortunately, I think my boss will not support no-pay leave appln for fetility treatment
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Plus I also dun want everybody to know lah ... If u can think of some good 'excuse' let me know ...

Btw, what's your problem? Done HSG or lap before? As for me, it's PCOS.

Nonetheless, must be positive. I wish u all the best in your SO-IUI.
 
hoonie, I tried 1 year naturally b4 going for check-ups by gynaes...then given clomids to TTC, did charting...did HSG, did all sort of tests possible. Tubes not blocked, but i got PCOS, so have been taking Metformin to keep it under control...but menses still quite irregular. so to summarize.
Year1- natural TTC
Year2- TTC with charting/clomid
YEar3- TTC with SO-IUI /charting
did hear that if morphology of sperm low, should try IVF straight away. However, I have seen quite a few cases of SBO gals' hubby's sperm oni 1% also managed to conceive naturally!!! very motivating hor?

75gal, yah, me PCOS patient too. i rested last cycle...didn't take medication and the cycle was super long 49days...*sigh* not easy to get no pay leave also....i approached my principal last year to take no pay leave verbally, he turned me down very nicely, telling me dun take things at school so seriously.....cheh...but still give me so much work to do. think if i really embark on IVF, I will write in formally to ask for NPL, but like u say, if don't want pple to know, difficult to explain why u away for 1/2 year. cant be studying right? haa haa.....
 
Hi Dawn,

haha..think your school really need teachers..that's why principal turn you down for NPL....
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I am a teacher too..Fully understand your situation....

Mind I ask your hubby's sperm is ok?? Or is it a 2 side problem?? From my last check up at KKH, I am ok...have regular menses too..Just that hubby's sperm not so good...

Have you tried TCM to "tiao" your body? I had chatted in ttc thread before and realise that some of the gals succeed with the help of TCM..Another frenz of mine whose hubby's sperm morphology only 1% and conceived with the help of TCM!! Very heartening news!
 
Hi Dawn .... ya loh, difficult to apply for npl. I dun even dare to apply! Can't think of a 'valid' reason for my bosses (if u have any good 'excuse' pl share
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)... wah, u tried for quite a long time. I more kiasu, like hoonie, tcc for 3 mths with temp monitoring & ovulation kit etc ... cannot make it then quickly see doc. Hv seen 2 docs so far. What's confirmed is PCOS. Not sure abt endo as cannot detect accurately from scans. DH's quite ok, SA not perfect but doc felt the 'problem' shd be with me, not him. TCM also hard cos now I read from some of the threads here that their physician actually discouraged TCM concurrently with IUI/ IVF.
 
Hi 75gal, I did the laparoscopy because the HSG test showed that the dye did not flow through the tubes but the cause could not determined; it could either be due to spasms or blocked tubes. The laparoscopy confirmed that my tubes were not blocked (fortunately), and I am now undergoing SO-IUI. RE asked whether I wanted to proceed with ART after the laparoscopy. I decided to go for SO-IUI simply because I felt I waited long enough - 3 years. Also DH's sperm count is not that great; my RE thinks it is good enough to go on the SO-IUI program but another RE I saw thought it was too low side for IUI (based on same test results) and recommended IVF.

Hi beautiful, The daily injections for SO-IUI so far are not too bad - the Gonal-F pen is used and needles are very fine. Instructions are also quite easy to follow. I could do the injections on my own. For the HCG shot though, I think the injection has to be done at the clinic.

On the employer issue, I work in a male dominated environment. My employers are definitely not the sympathetic type. My bosses mostly men with grown up children. So I had to choose a clinic which afforded me a fair amount of flexibility in terms of fixing of the timing of appointments etc. I was able to fix appointments on Saturdays to review the test results etc. Also the waiting time is comparatively short so my absence is not that noticeable. Only major leave I took was the laparoscopy which had a 2 week hospitalisation leave - I just mentioned day surgery but said I would check emails from home, take conference calls from home etc.
 
75gal,

Haha, me too. Scare to do self injection and am planning to go clinic for jab if I start on the IVF program.

Ladies,
I was also being "rejected" by Dr Tan at Thong Chai when she heard that I was undergoing IUI.

Our actual plan is to go for IVF after 3 rounds of failed IUI. But my HB TCM doc advise us to postpone until his morphology has improved.

On the employer issue, my boss is not so understanding. When I was given 3 week MC after lapro, I was told to work from home. I wish I can accommodate, but I cannot sit for long at home too. They don't really understand our situation.
 
hi hoonie, hubby's SA quite okay, oni last year when he was switching career, then suffer stress and the SA went down to 4%, now his job stablilises and the SA has gone back the normal range. Think the problem lies with me lah, cos I cannot ovulate properly. Have taken TCM for 5 months during the 1st 1/2 of this year....havent seen effect...think must be patient lor.....

wah u all 3 or 5 months TTC oredi go and check...so fast!
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i always so busy in school, can oni wait till holidays then can go and plan my next step...haha.

atlas, if i can think of good excuse, will share with u....now cracking my head leh...worse come to worse, i think have to be prepared to let the whole school or rather the whole world know lor. (unless hubby's company suddenly decides to send him overseas, and then i say i go with him...hee hee....) so u take a rest this cycle? good to take a break, i felt so NORMAL finally last month, without all the injections, temperature taking, opk and progesterone inserts. This month going to start all these stuff all over again...*sigh*


Priscilla, aiyoh, u work in male dominated environment worse hor....no other ladies there that can understand what u going though?

lapro usually given 2 or 3 weeks MC? I thought nowadays lapro, they oni need to drill a few holes? pardon me, i don't know much about this procedure...pl enlighten
 
Hi dawn
Laparoscopy - if diagnostic, only 2 week MC. If repair work is required, it would be 3 weeks (a friend had 3 weeks off after undergoing lap to remove fibroids). It is true that surgery is minimally invasive; some pple recover quickly but I, like atlas, had problems sitting up for long after the surgery. The other issue I had was that i could not carry heavy bags for 2 weeks - even though I theoretically work in an office environment, I do have to lug files around e.g. for meetings - on balance, it was better that I stay at home. I can't explain all of that to my male bosses without sounding like a wimp. There are a few women in my workplace but they are all are single, so they would not understand.
 
Dawn...

Ya lor..think for man's sperm result sometimes will vary from time to time...maybe i should not take that 1 SA result so seriously coz right now hubby is working shift and study part time as well..that's why lor...
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My frenz all say I too stressed liao..My gynae tell us to relax we too stress liao...haha

Oh ya...wat is the normal range/percentage for normal sperms??
 
priscilla, i c ......poor thing, this kind of thing really difficult to tell male boss, unless he is really understanding or his wife has gone through this b4.

hoonie,
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u oni TTC 5 months so not very long rite? maybe it is just stress..... yah, guys's sperm are really sensitive to stress, will make a big difference to count and morphology. Normal range for sperm given by hospital report should be more than or equal to 14%, but gynae told me as long as around 10% should be no problem conceiving. nowadays teachers are very very stressed too.....*sigh* luckily going to be holidays soon!
 
Hey dawn, Thanks for your reply...

I juz got a bad news yesterday
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from my gynae's blood test result this month show I no ovulation....Aiyo...Now I can really feel that..teacher's life is very very stressed..me a trainee teacher's life isn't a bed of roses either!
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Think our bodies is quite screwed up now....sighz..
 
hi hoonie, is it the progesterone test? When did u do the test? maybe u had very late ovulation? sometimes my ovulation can come as late as Cd 30to 40.
 
Ya..it is that one..I tested on CD21..My progesterone level is only 1.2
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..Today is already CD30 and no signs of AF....Think my body really screw up liao...
 
What is your normal cycle length? My cycle usually 40odd days if i don't take clomid or other medication, so my ovulation quite late, if i measure on CD21, definitely have not ovulated too. Did u take any clomid?
 
Hi Dawn,

My normal cycle is 30 to 32 days on the average...usually 30 days...Think I am stressed this month that's why the delay....My gynae see my low progestrone level and put me on clomid this coming cycle..But no signs of AF now leh..How to start on clomid??
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hoonie, have to wait patiently for AF to come then can start clomid lor. I remembered 2 years ago when my pupils had PSLE, I was so stressed that AF went missing for 90 days....went to see doc to induce AF only after their exams...haha...no time. check with doc, can take progesterone pills...to induce the AF.
 
Hey Dawn,

Is it possible that we O late coz of stress in that particular month?? Today is CD36 liao..still no signs of AF...
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hi hoonie,

very highly possible 'O' late....haha...cos i always 'o' late one! did you chart your BBT? If you take your temp, u will roughly know when u have 'o'ed. I do measure my temp, but i dont record nowadays. juz observe a drastic jump in temp upwards will know that you have ovulated. hee hee...then hubby won't have to work so hard during the 2ww!


TGIF! and holidays are coming soon!
 

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