Dragging Tail (Not To Be Confused With "Dragon Tails")

Today I'm 6 DPO (days past ovulation) and that could be construed as insignificant, but that's just mean to all of those 6's out there, so let me tell you *why* today is important in the grand TTC scheme of things.

Progesterone.

Progesterone is made by the corpus luteum, the left over part of the follicle that released that little eggy six days ago, and it is responsible for keeping the uterus from shedding it's lining too early. Your progesterone peaks at about 7 DPO, and then decreases after that crashing a day or so before your period. If you are pregnant, your progesterone levels get steadily higher throughout pregnancy.

It is pretty standard for women involved in fertility treatments to have a CD 21/ 7 DPO progesterone level test. If your progesterone is low, or crashes to early, your uterus will shed it's lining (aka you'll start your period) before an egg ever has a change to implant. SO even if fertilization *did* take place, your luteal phase will be too short, and it won't get to stick. Women with low CD 21 levels will be put on a progesterone supplement to hold off Aunt Flo until further notice. Some doctors will keep a woman on progesterone supplements throughout early pregnancy to prevent a miscarriage from low progesterone levels.

NOW, since progesterone *is* one of the pregnancy hormones, when it surges after ovulation expect to feel some of those much coveted pregnancy symptoms, pregnant or not. Fatigue, vivid dreams, odd cravings, interesting digestion. Once you know what to look for you can almost feel your body bogged down with it on 5/6/7 DPO.

Lo and behold I could barely drag my tail outta bed this morning, and I feel like I could eat an entire jar of pickled jalepenos for breakfast. As much as I would love to think that these could be "OMG EARLY PREGNANCY SYMPTOMS!!" It's more likely another form of good news, that my progesterone is starting to surge, and my levels will be high enough after my test tomorrow. Fingers crossed y'all, progesterone suppositories DO NOT sound fun.

Now, with Clomid (or any other stimulating medication) since there will most likely be multiple follicles, there will be multiple eggs released, ad therefore multiple corpus luteums working. This can result in super high progesterone levels. A few months ago I had a CD 21 progesterone test and my levels were that of a 2 trimester pregnant woman. Good thing no eggs stuck that month, sounds like I would have had an army.

I'll have my blood drawn first thing in the morning, and the results first thing Friday, so lets all think happy, high progesterone thoughts shall we?