14 months and counting

We crossed the year mark.

Last month, we finally decided to see a specialist.  Our first appointment was a sit down with an advice nurse.  So far, we're doing everything they suggest.  The one thing she had me change was NOT to take my temperature every morning.  She explained that is what our grandmothers and great-grandmothers did to get pregnant.  It's a way to tell you when you've already ovulated, but doesn't give you a head's up about when you are going to ovulate.  Instead, I've started using the opk (ovulation predictor kits).  Online sites have them available for an extremely cheap price.  Just buy the dip strips, not the plastic pee sticks, to keep costs down.

Next, we went through an array of tests including urine tests, multiple blood tests on specific days, and a sperm test for Tony.  Monday was our recap appointment with our doctor (who is fabulous, by the way.  Super sweet).  Come to find out, Tony's sperm count and mobility are on the low side.  If it were just one or the other, we'd probably be fine.  With both being low, it's been keeping us from conceiving.

The next step is IUI (intrauterine insemination).  Basically, we moniter my ovulation.  As soon as we have a positive test, both of us go to the clinic across town where they take Tony's sperm, wash it, and inject it into me using a catheter style tube.  It gives the sperm a head's start, so to speak.  We checked out the cost of the procedure with our insurance and are really lucky.  It'll be $190 per try.  The cost is lower because I don't have to take any medication or ultrasounds or anything to detect or encourage ovulation.  Yet.

We'll try this for two cycles.  If we aren't pregnant then, they'll check to make sure my tubes aren't blocked and then start monitering my ovulation along with the IUI procedure.  We'll keep you posted!

BFN

Not this cycle.  AF showed up yesterday, and my temp dropped 1.3 degrees this morning.  *sigh*  Oh well.  We'll try again next month (the trying is really fun :).

Actually, it's been a year since we started trying.  We'll make an appointment in August to see a doctor and make sure everything is okay.

¸.·:*¨¨*:·. Baby Dust! .·:*¨¨*:·.

Breaking it down

Okay.  Getting serious.  (ha!)  About 10 months ago, I had a few weeks I really felt pregnant, and I was gitty over it.  My symptoms that month were far beyond anything I'd felt before.  Hell, my breasts felt like hard water balloon grenades, translucent and ready to bust if you TOUCHED them.  It hurt even to walk.  AF was late, but when she finally came...well, you all know what that's like.  It was horrible.

Since then, I've been skeptical of symptoms I feel.  It doesn't stop me from googling the crap out of them, but I have tried very hard not to put too much stock into what signs my body may or may not be giving.

Except...

This month.  So different.  A quick list of why.  I didn't keep track of dpo because, like I said, I've been trying not to get too excited about what I feel month to month.  I didn't expect to be this convinced.

• Late af
• Sore nipples
• Nausea one day
• Insomnia - never, ever, EVER had trouble sleeping before (I know.  I'm blessed for that.)
• Creamy cm
• EXCESSIVE burping for 4 or 5 days
• Constipation
• Irritability/moodiness
• Weight gain/water retention - as in, my work slacks looked like leggings...until the butt split out.  Not kidding.
• Achy, tingly legs at night - think Restless Leg Syndrome.  Kept me awake.

Thursday.  I've told myself Thursday, and I'll retest.

Tmi. Tmi. Too much information!

So I finish typing out my first blog entry, hit submit and lean back with pride.  There.  I am officially part of the online writing community.  Bloggers unite!  Phase one of Operation TTC Blog complete.  Phase two meant I still needed to put the word out that my reproductive life was on public display.


I sent the link to a few close ladies in my life, namely my sisters, mom, and a couple girlfriends, forgetting none of them are belly deep in "am I or am I not pregnant" forums.  I'm desensitized to all the nitty gritties of the symptoms, so they must be, too.  Right?  Hello, Earth to Jill?


A couple positive responses came back (woo hoo!).  Then yesterday I saw one of the gals I sent the link to in person.  A little chit chat, and I ask her what she thought of it.  "It was good Jill, but a couple of times I was like, 'ohmigod, did she really say that?'"  Oops.


A ttc forum reply put it well when the gal posting her question kept adding "tmi" after the symptoms she listed.  The reply came back, "there is no such thing as tmi on this website."  Women want to know what other women are going through.  It reassures them they're normal.

And unfortunately, this particular blog topic covers every little detail of our swimsuit parts.  That being said, there's probably going to be a little more info given here than some might like.  Apologizing in advance!


Oh, and I didn't wait 4 days.  I took a hpt today, bfn.  I'm still optimistic, though!

Deciphering the Lingo

Through my obsession of the Yet-To-Conceive-But-Still-Trying-Like-Hell Community, I've picked up the lingo and use it in my blogs.  Here is a decoder.  Hopefully, this will help you understand my blog or similar online posts.  I'll continue to update, too.  Please let me know if I've missed any.

AF - Aunt Flow (your period)
BBT - basal body temperature (taken every morning before getting out of bed)
BB or BBS - boobies
BD - baby dance (sex)
BFN - big fat negative
BFP - big fat positive (woot! woot!)
CD - cycle day
CM- cervical mucus
CP - cervical position
DD - dear daughter
DH - dear hubby
DPO - days past ovulation
DS - dear son
DTD - did or doing the deed (sex)
EDD - estimated due date
EPS - early pregnancy symptoms
ETA - edited to add
EWCM - egg white cervical mucus
FF - fertility friend (online ovulation calendar)
FPS - false pregnancy symptoms (I get these a lot)
FX - fingers crossed
HPT - home pregnancy test
IVF - in vitro fertilization
LP - luteal phase (time between ovulation and period)
Nips - nipples
O - ovulation
OPK - ovulation predictor kit (hard as hell to decipher!)
OV - ovulation
PG - pregnant
PNV - prenatal vitamin
POAS - pee on a stick (pregnancy test - usually used to reference poas addicts!)
RE - Reproductive Endocrinologist
TTC - trying to conceive
TWW or 2WW - two week wait (between ovulation and 1st day you can test)

I should buy stock in Google...Being Symptom Crazy

Hi.  My name is Jill, and I am a Google-My-Symptoms addict.  Seriously.  Clickity-click I go on the search bar with words like, "dry cm, creamy cm, achy legs, constipation, diarrhea, sore nipples, late af, burping, tingly teeth, split ends, panicky impatience, early pregnancy symptoms?"

I skip any irrelevant results (naturally).  Instead, I get my fix hitting forums where women list their identically ridiculous symptoms begging to see the response, "of course your pregnant!  No ttw for you!  Consider this comment a BFP and go buy a bassinet!"

DH and I have been ttc for 11 months now.  For the last 5 I've really kicked into gear by temping orally in the am before rising, taking prenatal vitamins and bding like a rabbit.  Most months, I write off my crazy symptoms as premenstrual, and I turn out to be right.  But...

But what if THIS month is different?  I've never been pregnant before.  I've never had a 10 year hs reunion before either, but that isn't stopping me from attending my first next month.  What a warm, gooey, yummy baby dust glow I get when I dream that this time it is really happening.  What hollow, stabbing heartache I could feel if I allow myself to get excited and run to the bathroom expecting tell-tale creamy cm in my underwear and find blood instead?

Four more days, and I'll take a hpt.  Oh God, did I just say I would wait four more days?