Aftermath

It's been a little over a week now and things are getting back to normal. Last week we went camping in Harper's Ferry, WV and had a great time just spending time together and relaxing. The dogs I think were the most happy of all. Fudge was positively giddy about being outside. We cooked on the campfire, made s'mores, swam, hiked...all that kind of good stuff. We had a few sad moments, particularly when we went to the outlet mall and were looking at baby stuff. Saturday was another hard day...We basically stayed home all day and read/watched TV. Nothing else. I think now that we're looking on to our third try the pain will lessen a bit. It's just so frustrating to have to deal with all of this.

Our plan this time is to use natural fertility boosters/light remedies for common fertility problems. In addition to her prenatal vitamin, Megan is taking low-dose aspirin, vitex, and evening primrose oil (EPO) supplements before ovulation. After ovulation, she'll drop the EPO and use progesterone cream instead. We're hoping that will do the trick so we don't have to see the doctor about things. Megan realllllllly doesn't want to visit the doctor. She truly hates them and prefers to control her own health...funny that I'll be a doctor one day soon...

Anyway, with a little luck, Megan will ovulate this weekend and we'll be back in the game. Here's to hoping that this will be our last try!

Not again.

Yes, yes again. We had a chemical pregnancy again. This time was so much harder because we knew the positive was REALLY a positive and Megan's symptoms were so much stronger. Life just isn't fair.

It depends on who you ask

FertilityFriend says 13 dpo. TCOYF says 12 dpo. Either way, we're pregnant! We tested this morning with Dollar Tree and last night with EPT early, and it looks like all systems are GO! We're so excited, I can't even say. Gaaaa! We're not telling the world until we get a positive EPT Digitial though, because that one is less sensitive. But OMG we're just so thrilled.

The latest: 12 DPICI

So we've tested a few times now, using mostly dollar-store cheapies and one First Response Early Result. The cheapies have shown increasingly visible but still barely shadows of lines. The FRER gave us nothin'. Zip, zero, zilcho. But the cheapies are getting darker, so we're still hanging in there and staying hopeful. M's bbs are still killing her, so we'll see what happens :)

11 DPICI

We were really hoping to have clearcut good news this morning, but we've got nothing! Well, we may have a little something. I think there was a very faint line on the test this morning, so faint that I could barely see it and Megan actually couldn't see it, but I'm sure there was something there. We'll have to let you know tomorrow!

9/10 DPICI, one more day until testing!

This weekend looked good. It really did. Megan had sore bbs and a few episodes of cramping. I've been doing lots of chatting to her tummy in hopes I can encourage the embryo-let to implant, hang on, and develop into the baby we're trying to hard for! The only thing frustrating this weekend was a pretty steep temperature dip, down .2 degrees yesterday and again today. I'm really hoping that it's an implantation dip (which it still could be at this point!!!). Gosh, this waiting thing makes me crazy.

I'll write more tomorrow I hope :) I am hoping hoping hoping to have good news!

6/7 DPICI today

We have some tentative good news to report! Today we've added some additional symptoms, namely very sore, bruised-feeling bbs and throbbing in the lower belly. M says the throbbing isn't painful, but that it feels bubbly "with a heartbeat" in her uterus. I'm sure hoping and praying this is a good sign! It's hard to not get excited when things seem so promising, but we shall see, we shall see. More updates to come over the weekend!

5/6 DPICI

Wow, the wait sure does seem to be flying this time. I mean sure, each day can be a little rough, but I can hardly believe that TOMORROW we'll be half done!

I have a little news to report. Yesterday, Megan told me there were some additional signs and symptoms (sore bbs, different food tastes, among others) and today her temperature is up again after a verrrry slight dip for two days. It's at the highest level yet! So we're allowing ourselves to be hopeful now, cautiously...it's so hard not to be. I think we just believe so much that this is meant to be that we stay hopeful each and every day until we have clear evidence that the wait is over.

That said, our weekend plans might include a trip to the beach to get in a little extra rest and relaxation. It was so much fun to see the dolphins last time, I can't wait to do that again! It doesn't look like we'll get to paint b/c the roofers might be coming, but we'll see what happens. More updates to come!

4/5 DPICI and holding!

Not too much to report yet. Megan's temperature is still up (though yesterday it dropped 0.2 degrees and held that level today), and there are a few other mild symptoms, including some "fizzies" last night!

Oh, right, last night. I got free tickets to see the Dixie Chicks and it was great fun. Much to our surprise, Anna Nalick (who sings 2 a.m.) was the opening act! Heck, we would have paid to see just her! I'm not a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks, but I really have an appreciation for them now for a couple of reasons. First, that fiddle player is damn good. I can't imagine being able to play like that! Second, the lead singer has a truly wonderful, powerful voice. Third, I am pleased to support a group of women who are successful based on their talent, not on their looks. I'm glad we went.

So, we got to bed pretty late after the concert, but I seem to be doing ok energy-wise today. I'm just at work and missing Megan like MAD. It sucks to be away from her during the TWW :P I know, I'll survive.

So, next update to come in a couple more days! We're trying to hold out until day 15 to test, but I doubt we'll make it that long. We'll keep you posted.

2/3 DPICI, 3 DPO, and counting

So everything went just swimmingly (haha, pun DEFINITELY intended). Megan even thought she felt ovulation pain 3 hours after the ICI on Friday, which meant our timing was right on! We went out gallivanting to the Reading outlet mall on Saturday and did another ICI that evening, which was followed by a dinner of the absolute worst pizza we've ever had. Philadelphia should be ashamed of Golden Crust Pizza!

Anyway, Sunday we went to the Jersey Garden outlet mall in Elizabeth, NJ, and that was a BLAST. We had so incredibly much fun! There were tons of kids stores, including Old Navy, Gap, and Gymboree outlets, which definitely kept our attention. On the way home, we hit the regular Gymboree and spent our remaining Gymbucks on some of the most cute clothes ever. I think we're done with clothes now, and we'll be focusing on diapers and other kinds of baby supplies when we need retail therapy.

No symptoms to report yet, though Megan and I are still in disbelief that she ALREADY ovulated, even though her temps and chart definitely say she did! There is no feeling that we made something happen this time, though that feeling last time could have been first-time jitters. It's only day 3, so there's no way we'll know for another week and a half anyway, so we'd best sit tight, cross our fingers, and pray! I will of course keep the updates coming...

So it's been a while...

So after our BFN and chemical pregnancy last cycle, I didn’t feel too much like blogging. We’ve been focusing on each other and buying baby stuff ;) No, really. We’re amassing quite the collection of very small clothes, which we’ve enjoyed.

Megan’s cycles are usually really, really long, and we weren’t expecting her to ovulate again until early August. Heh, we were wrong. So, today Megan wakes up and notices that her fertility signs, which have all been quite negative up to this point, all of a sudden took a turn for the VERY positive! She took an ovulation test, and lo and behold, she’s ovulating! We ordered a fresh tank of swimmers today and they should arrive tomorrow. We’re very excited.

Sadly, I have to go on business to Harrisburg tomorrow, leaving no wiggle room for me to skimp on work to do the insemination, but we can do it as soon as I get home. Then we’re back into the TWW again! I’m so excited!

In other news, we gave my dad the bookshelves and moved the desk in the soon-to-be nursery and bought some really, incredibly cute nursery bedding, so that’s moving along nicely. The room is all clean, so it’s starting to have that “new apartment” smell. We’re keeping the door closed so the darn animals don’t ruin anything. Megan is working hard on her writing and I’m plugging away at work, trying to think about other things than TTC, but that’s much easier said than done.

I will keep you posted! Beware of almost-daily symptom updates ;)

Two words

Chemical pregnancy. Better luck next time I suppose...

I can't believe we don't know yet

So, nothing yet. And no period yet. M had some light, light spotting this morning, but nothing since then. Who the heck knows what's going on? I certainly don't. If her period doesn't show soon, she's going to be giving the doc a call to see what's going on. This is getting pretty crazy...

12 DPICI

BFP?...BFN?...we're still holding out, but nothing yet...

10 flipping dpici

So we're still waiting. And waiting. And hoping, and wishing, and of course praying, but we're ready to know! We had a faint + on a HPT, but we don't really know what to do with that. It was SO faint we don't know if it's real. It's frustrating to think that things like chemical pregnancies do happen, but I'm just so hopeful. Other than that, not too much to say. The weather is very rainy and stormy and we were lucky enough to get the dogs out before the deluge. Otherwise, I would be a very, very drenched Karisa. More updates soon, and I hope it will be good news!

7/8 DPICI

So we're now a little over a week into this ordeal and we still feel like things are still looking good. Megan's temperatures took a dip over the weekend (along with some cramping) and now they are up again pretty high, so we're optimistic!

Today we went shopping and got more presents for Melaine, our good friend who will be having a boy this fall. It's nice to be able to shop for someone's baby since it would be a little presumptive to shop for our own at this point! Regardless, I bought a few things for M online today that she was eyeing, but they were on sale, so it's all good :)

This weekend was nice. We hadn't seen Evelyn in a year and it was great to have something else to think about for a few days. We even went to see the Liberty Bell and the outlet mall. Mmmmm shopping :)

Well, that's it for now. I'm enjoying my night off! No more accounting, woo hoo!

3/4 DPICI

Hello out there... we are now 3/4 days past our ICI's and M is having some interesting sensations in the area of her uterus. We're hoping this is a good sign! She's also been pretty nauseated today, so I don't know if that's due to EPF, which is immunosuppressing and could mean she caught a tummy bug, or somatization :P We'll keep cyberspace posted (which is really all this is, being that I haven't given anybody the URL yet)!

This weekend our friend Evelyn is coming up from Baltimore to visit. She's there working at the zoo (she's a vet student) and has a weekend off. It should be great, as we haven't seen her in more than a year.

Back to work...I have an accounting final exam due tomorrow and left work early today, so I need to work on my book chapter as well. Never a dull moment!

Two down, Fourteen to go!

So we just finished our 2nd insemination and Megan is propped upsidey down on the couch. We thought she was still fertile today, so we're hoping that now there's a nice double-dose of swimmers in there and that they'll be able to do their thing. We are officially on Day One of the Two Week Wait, so just two short (yeah, right) weeks until we know of we're pregnant!

Megan had a little "fizzy" feeling today in the morning, but we're trying not to think it means anything (it's too early anyway). We'll keep you posted, though!

Finally!

Well, we did it! Finally Megan had her LH surge and 12 hours later, we did the insemination! It was a little harder to do than I initially thought it would be, but overall, I think it went well. Tomorrow we have insem #2, and then we're on to the two-week wait! I can't wait to see what happens, but obviously I'm hoping that everything works out okay! Finance class was tonight, but I skived off in order to come home and do the insem. We went out to a nice dinner, took the dogs to the park, and spent some quality time together, so overall, it was a great night.

It's funny, right now Megan is lying with her feet up, just like in the movies! I can't believe we're finally here. We finally did it!!! I'll try to keep up to date on the TWW and let you know if there are any symptoms Megan mentions. She said she won't, but I bet she will if she feels something!

The swim team is here!

Yay for Disney!!! Here we are (Megan on the right, me on the left) at the Animal Kingdom in March. We look so happy and relaxed...thing of the past, huh?

Well, our cryobank woes have resolved! They finally received our wired deposit and paperwork, and we received our Dewar tank of swimmers yesterday! Now we're just waiting for Megan to get her LH surge and we're good to go. The tests appear to be getting stronger by the day, so we're happy about that. I'm so excited now! I feel like finally it's going to happen (which it is, because there is the tank of swimmers sitting locked up in the bathroom). It's funny, my dad said it's like the purple rhino in the living room..."Pay no attention to the purple rhino. We have thrown a blanket over him for your convenience. There is nothing going on." It's almost that funny :P

My new summer job started Monday...I'm working in Health Policy with Dr. David Nash writing a book on health in the 21st century. It's really interesting, to me anyway.

Well, here's fingers crossed for Megan ovulating sometime in the next 24 hours!

Nearing TTC #1

This is the beginning of my great adventure in motherhood. I'm getting there via a different path than most...my partner, Megan, and I decided several months ago that we wanted to start our family, and now we're ready to start!
We are choosing to do at-home ICI for our first try, due to the fact that she's not too fond of doctors and the sperm bank we're using allows specimen release to our home. We've picked out our donor and everything...mostly to match my traits, but also to improve a little bit while we're at it :) He's a professional dancer, which is far more athletic than me, the occasional lap swimmer.
Our conflict of the day is the sperm bank. In their promotional information they said that as long as we filed the appropriate paperwork we wouldn't have to pay the exorbidant deposit on the shipping tank (the dewar), but because Megan is self-employed, they're making us anyway. Sheesh...we know that this whole endeavor is expensive, but we hadn't budgeted for this, you know? Well, we're wiring them the money tomorrow, so hopefully we can order our swimmers, yay!
Back to medical student life for me until tomorrow...finals will be over, and then I get my first weekend in months! And then we get to start trying to conceive! Woot!