Day 8: Progesterone Result #1

Highlighted point in blue represents the progesterone result of 8.1 nmol/L on Day 7

Pearl’s first test, done on Wednesday (day 7 of her heat cycle), came back at 8.1 nmol/L - which is almost the exact same concentration it was for her first litter (in fall 2020) on the same day! Looking at the trajectories of both litters’ progesterone tests shows that Pearl is fairly consistent between her heats. If everything goes “as planned”, Pearl will likely ovulate on day 12/13, which would be the upcoming Monday/Tuesday.

In order to have sea men 🤣🤣🤣 arrive on day 2 after ovulation, I’ll need to coordinate to have the stud “collected” and "shipped to me (for more details please witness @lacorgi’s “studventures” here) the night beforehand…but before that I need to make sure ovulation is happening as projected!

Our next test is happening on Saturday morning, where I expect Pearl’s progesterone to have risen to approximately 10 or 11 nmol/L! If it’s any higher, I might just have to pull the trigger on a shipment on Monday for Tuesday arrival!

Below I have attached a chart illustrating how to interpret the output #:

What do these terms mean?

Anestrus - “not in heat” levels of progesterone
Late proestrus - end of the first, non-fertile stage of the heat cycle. Indicates that the girl is progressing towards the LH surge.
LH surge - a spike in luteinizing hormone which signals imminent ovulation (within 1-2 days)
Ovulation - Release of immature ova into the uterine horns - ripening takes about 2 days upon which “optimal time” is reached for a live / fresh chilled breeding.

Therefore - Pearl is just heading into the LH surge, meaning that we have about 3-4 days before ovulation occurs, and then another 2 days after that we can have her bred!

Clear as mud? Cool. And even messier - y’all AMERICANS use different (Imperial) units! Canadians use nmol/L, whereas stateside they use ng/L - as if we needed even more hurdles to clear 🤣🤣

Cheers - Jenny