Day 28, 9 DPO

It's been a whole week since I blogged. Sorry for the delay. It's been a busy week. I spent Monday, Tuesday, and until about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday being super busy. We managed to get everything wrapped up though, and then I have been off work the rest of the week.

Wednesday, Eric, Zeus, and I drove over to Terre Haute, Indiana to Eric's Dad's house. We got in about 9:45 p.m. and spent a couple of hours visiting. Then Thursday morning we got up and visited some more. Eric's brother and family ended up coming over to his Dad's too, so we got to see them. We don't see them a whole lot and Eric is really close to his brother, so it was really nice to see them. Also, I got to spend some time with my niece Logan. She's about 5 months old now, and so cute. The last time I saw her she was just 10 days old. Holding her and playing with her was so great, I can't wait until I have my own. We left his Dad's at about 4:30 p.m. and made it home before 9:00 p.m. Eric had to work on Friday, so we had to come back.

Friday, Eric got up for work, and I got up for shopping. I hit the stores at about 8:30 a.m. and didn't get home until 5:30 p.m. I got most of my shopping done. I still need to finish up for Eric, but everybody else is pretty much done. Eric and I met for lunch on Friday. I also spent 1 hour and 45 minutes in line at Best Buy, which was totally crazy. Shopping the day after is good because of the deals, but it can be totally crazy. I went by myself, which is cool because there's no one else to keep track of, but it would have been nice to have someone to talk to in the Best Buy line besides the angry shopper behind me.

Saturday I just tried to chill. Eric worked from 8 to 1. I slept until about 10:00 then got up and did some Christmas decorating. I got the tree up and all the inside done. We put up some outside lights today. I remembered why I like to decorate without Eric here. I got everything pretty much put up before he got home, and was taking some boxes back to the basement. Eric was standing in the living room where I put the tree and asked if I wanted to help him move some furniture around so the "design" would look better. I gave him a look, like "are you serious". After all, I spent the whole morning dragging boxes from the basement, moving furniture, and putting up the tree and decorations, and he didn't like where I put the chair. Moving the furniture would have required moving the now decorated tree, so he agree that he could live with the furniture placement for a month, and that was settled.

Sunday has been really laid back. Eric and I got to sleep in together which was very nice. Sometimes I think that's why I haven't been going to church much here. Eric works at least half of all the Saturday's every month, and I just love days where we can sleep in together. Anyway, after we got up we put up the outside decorations, then we decided to go to BW3's so Eric could watch the Colts game. After a quarter, they were losing and Eric decided we could leave, since we had to go get a couple extension cords and another light set to finish up outside. Now that it gets dark at 5:00 p.m. it limits our time to do outside stuff. We went to the grocery store and then went home and finished up lights. Then I wrapped all the gifts I bought and am just blogging. So that's what's happened in the last week.

For those who read for the baby updates, not much news yet. I found a cool website that lets you do free BBT charting called Fertility Friend. It's kind of cool. I'm on Cycle Day 28, 9 days post ovulation. I'm glad I charted or this is when I would have started taking the pregnancy tests. Now I am waiting another week. Speaking of pregnancy tests, I went ahead and picked up some for next weekend. I bought the ClearBlue Easy Digital tests. They have a read-out that says "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant", they were 3 for 14.95 at Wal-Mart. EPT was 2 for $14.95. After getting home I opened them and read a little. While the digital thing is cool, the read out disappears after an hour. That means you can't save a positive. So, I guess if I'm pregnant, I'll go buy another one and save the one with the two lines. I kind of like being able to keep your positive test. The other thing is that I wasn't sure how sensitive the digital's were. EPT detects at 40 mIUs and ClearBlue at 50 mIU, so it probably won't detect as early either, but digital is cool. Here's the website to compare pregnancy tests. So anyway, I have one more week to wait to test. I'm not sure how I feel yet. My temps aren't giving me any clear signs, I have felt tired recently, not really nauseous, no real food things, except I have been hungry, no breast changes, I seem to have broken out more lately, no mood changes. So it could be something or nothing. I guess I just have to wait.

Ok, I'm going to go hang out on the couch until bed time. Later!

Weekend Recap

I thought I'd maybe write about something other than my reproductive cycle for once. So here's my weekend. It was actually very relaxing and laid back, a perfect weekend. On Friday night I did some housework. I got caught up on the laundry and cleaned the downstairs because we were having people over on Saturday. Eric and I even steam cleaned the floors and they look tons better. Then Saturday we had some friends over to watch the OSU vs. Michigan game. It was a good time, I ordered 50 wings from BW3's, made my hamburger/cheese dip for chips, and invited 2 couples over. OSU lost the game which is disappointing because everyone in this town is so crazy over OSU, but we still had fun. Then we spent the evening with our neighbors/friends and had pizza and watched finding Nemo at their place. We see them every Thursday when we watch TV together, but it was nice to hang out and actually get to talk about something other than who we want to see voted off Survivor next. Sunday we slept in a bit and then Eric went to watch the Colts play on TV at BW3's with Martin. I stayed home played on the computer some and went to the grocery store. Then I spent most of the evening making 8 dozen yeast rolls. I tested one, and was disappointed when they weren't as good as my Mom's. I froze them and will be taking them to Thanksgiving at Eric's Dad's house. I also had a nice chat with my Mom. I'm a little sad that we won't be seeing my parent's at Thanksgiving this year. This will be my first Thanksgiving away from my family. It will be different, but I suppose Eric and his Dad are my family now too, so this is just a different way to share the holiday.

Also talking to Mom, she mentioned that Grandma reads my Blog, so I just want to say I hope I haven't embarrassed her. I know that this is a public site and that I gave my family the address, so I usually write with that in mind, but it seems a little weird that Grandma knows as much about my "sex life" as my friends. Then again, while it's not something I would probably discuss in person with her, this is what I'm feeling and this website truely reflects who I am. I'm not ashamed of anything I've written here, so I'm glad we can connect in this way. If you're reading Grandma, I love you and am glad you care enough about my life to check in. I'll give you a big hug at Christmas.

I think I'm ready for next week. I've got so much going on at work, that I'll be super busy every day. I may even be working late Monday and Tuesday. Then I'll have stuff to do at home. I need to make cookies on Tuesday night to take with us. Then probably do a couple of loads of laundry and pack. We'll leave on Wednesday when Eric gets home from work. I'd also like to organize my Christmas shopping list and knock most of that out when Eric's working on Friday and Saturday. I also will be decorating for Christmas and probably doing some Christmas crafts for presents for people at work. I also wanted to work on my GWO scrapbook. Sounds like I need more than a long weekend, but it'll be fun. I also don't mind staying busy, so the next two weeks will go by quickly. Well that's it for now. I'll try to update again before Thanksgiving if anything interesting happens.

Day 21, 2 DPO

I've officially ovulated. Not really sure how I feel about it. According to my temps, it probably happened on Friday. We really should have been together on Thursday and then I'd feel like we have a really good shot. For those keeping track, I ovulated on Day 19, which gives me a 33 day cycle and expected period on December 6th. I may try to wait until the 7th to test unless I have symptoms, because by missing Thursday, I'm guessing there's a chance we missed the window. I can't really find much information on how long sperm actually live, so I don't know if being together on Tuesday night and Friday night will work if I ovulated some time on Friday. I guess we wait 12 more days to see. I think that will actually go by pretty fast. There's nothing really to do now but wait and we have Thanksgiving week in there which will probably fly by. Wish me luck. How crazy is it that I started my period 4 days before Erica, but will have to wait a day longer than her to find out if my month worked? I wish her luck too. I read somewhere that for a normal healthy couple there's a 25% chance in any one month of getting pregnant. To me that means by Month 4 you should be close!

Day 19

Ok, so now I'm getting a little tired of this. Still no significant increase. My biggest fear is that it will happen today and Eric and I haven't been together since Tuesday. I guess we'll make sure we are today, so there's a chance that we could time it right. Last night we were just so tired. I'll be really upset if skipping that day screws up our chances this month. While I'm getting frustrated that I don't think I've ovulated yet, I'm clinging to the fact that my first period post pill was 35 days and then probably close to that for the month I got pregnant (since I had to wait so long for a positive test.) Looks like Erica and I will be finding out at about the same time in December. I wish I was a 28 day cycle. Sigh... Ovulation today will give me a 33 day cycle with a period expected on December 6th. That just seems like a long time to wait.

Day 17 - Maybe?

This morning's temp was weird. It's still not the .2 jump over the last 6 days. (See Drawing Coverline ). But it did jump .3 from yesterday. We were together last night, so if ovulation was yesterday or today it'll be cool. So now I'm looking at a 31 day cycle. This makes me realize how I could have not had a positive test until 6 weeks last time. I'm a late ovulator. I wish I could figure out how to post my chart, so other people could take a look. It's an excel spreadsheet, so if you've got any ideas, please e-mail me.

Day 16

Still no spike. I think I was just getting a little anxious, I'm usually longer than a 29 day cycle too, I'm usually around 30 to 32 days, however, my first cycle off the pill was 35 days, and then I got pregnant, so it's hard to know for sure. Anyway, ovulation today would put me at 30 days, so we're getting closer, but it still could be a couple of days. I just have to be sure not to quit trying yet. Weekends are easier, but I'll have to make sure to stay on top of it. No pun intended. :) Another good note, work is keeping me busy, so I don't really have time to sit around and obsess about it. That may change after ovulation when I have to just wait the 2 weeks out. I also want to say "Good Luck" to Erica. We're on almost the same cycle, but hers is shorter, so she should be ovulating in the next couple of days too. I'm just hoping this is our month. We'll just have to wait and see.

Day 15

I have not ovulated yet. I'm kind of glad because we've been doing a good job on "trying" so I feel like anytime I ovulate, we're in good shape. My temp dropped this morning back to 97.6, my all time low (except the one day at the cabin), maybe this is the dip before my spike? Anyway, we've been together for 7 of the last 14 days so I feel like I'm in good shape if I ovulate soon. I've decided I like charting. I won't start looking for my period until 14 days post ovulation, so right now I'm expecting at least a 29 day cycle (if temps spike tomorrow). That would mean December 3rd would be the earliest I'd test.

Weekend Update

It's been a good weekend, although I don't think I'm ready to go back to work. Friday night was kind of dull, since I spent all night studying for my first CPCU exam (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter). I procrastinated and hadn't read the texts and my essay exam was on Saturday morning. This exam was on the Foundations or Risk Management and Insurance though, so I figured I knew most of the material, since that is my job and I've already completed my ARM designation (Associate in Risk Management), but I spent Friday night cramming.

Saturday I got up went to take the test. I think I did pretty good, although I have to wait 6 weeks for them to grade it and send me my scores. That was a relief to finish. I think I've been stressed about the test because I keep doing other things when I should have been studying, and now I don't have to feel guilty about doing other things. Saturday afternoon I went shopping with Samara. I didn't buy much, but it was nice to catch up and spend some time with her. We've both had stuff going on and haven't seen each other in about a month, although we do talk on the phone a couple times a week. Saturday night, our husbands caught up with us and we went to BW3's for wings and then to the movies to see Elf. It was cute and turned out to be a nice evening.

Sunday has been really laid back. I slept in and then have just done laundry, I even ironed my sheets! I also paid some bills and updated my excel budget spreadsheet. Then I've been doing some thinking about Christmas. I really need to figure out what I'm getting people and start shopping soon. I have some ideas, but won't share here since I'm not sure and may be doing some gifts for people reading this board.

As far as the baby subject goes, I'm really pretty focused right now. I did some more reading on the Cervical Mucusand Cervical Position stuff your supposed to do in conjunction with BBT to help predict ovulation. While I haven't been checking and charting this month, I have started paying attention to the mucus lately. Today especially there's seem to be a whole lot of it. Yesterday I tried to check my cervical position for the first time. I found it, but with nothing to compare it to, I'm not sure what it means. It was kind of cool though, because I could feel the slit where the opening is. Maybe next month I'll chart that stuff too (if this month is unsuccessful, that is). I still haven't had my temperature spike. I thought it was going to this morning, as Saturday I hit 98.0, the highest yet. Then this morning it was 97.7, so not really a jump. I think for me to know it spiked, I'll have to hit 98.2 at least.

Well, I'll write tomorrow if my temp spikes, but that's it for now.

Stole this from Erica

I just stole Erica's sidebar 'cause I think it's a great idea. Abbreviations mean: LMP - Last Menstrual Period, EDO-Estimated Date of Ovulation, ENP-Estimated Next Period, DOC-Days in Cycle.

The only one I'm sure of is LMP. Estimated date of ovulation is based on a 28 day cycle. The next period is based on 31 days, and 31 days is based on how long it took me to get a period after my D&C. My cycles have always been regular, but a little longer than the 28 day average. I'm guessing 30 to 31 days. So, it's a little difficult to know when I'm "late". Good for the HPT industry.

Day 11

I started a similar post about 2 days ago and then my computer just turned off in the middle of it. Maybe it's good that that post didn't get published because it had a lot of kind of sad feelings about babies, pregnancy etc. Speaking of babies, I may get to go see Jonathan again today. That will be cool. I wonder how much bigger his now. He's 2 weeks old. I'm still working diligently towards my goal of Motherhood. I'm sad to say that last night we were together for the sole purpose of trying to conceive. Neither one of us was in the mood, but we are trying to be together every 2 to 3 days and it was on day 3. Although, without giving too many details, (I know Mom reads this), we were ok with the decision by the time we were done. :)

I don't really know why, but I think I've very close to ovulation point. That really doesn't make since to me, since I usually have a little longer than 28 day cycle, I would think I ovulate after day 14, but something makes me think I'm earlier. I had a migraine three days in a row Monday-Wednesday. I've read that hormone induced migraines can be either at the time of your period when hormone levels drop or during ovulation when they spike. My BBT charting has also been interesting. It's been pretty stable except for the 2 days we were at the cabin. My first 3 days of charting it was 97.6 degrees, then Saturday morning at the cabin it dropped to 97.0. Sunday I had a spike of 97.9 then Monday through Wednesday back at home it was 97.7, so a little higher than before, but stable. Then today it went back up to 97.9. I kind of feel like tomorrow it will inch up a little more or I'll have the real spike that means I ovulated. If so, then it's a good thing we were together last night.

I'm sure it's pointless to say, but I really hope I get pregnant this month. Although I'm definately functional, I think I'm in a bit of a depression. I'm usually such a happy positive person, and although there hasn't been a complete reversal, I feel like every happiness still has a little shadow. I'm really tired of that, I want to be truely happy again. I hope being pregnant will do that for me. It's what I want most. When Eric asked me what I wanted for Christmas, the only thing I can think of is to be pregnant. He's doing his best, but I definately won't be finding out at Christmas. If this month works I could find out as soon as Dec 1, but definately by Dec 8. If not, it will be January for the next month.

I'll post more if anything exciting happens.

Weekend Recap

It's been kind of busy the past few days so I haven't had time to post. The weekend getaway was pretty good. All the alone time and being with my sweetie was great, but I would probably pick a different location next time. Actually this location wouldn't have been bad if we would have done some research in advance and had some things to do.

We got to the castle on Friday at about 7:30 p.m. We checked in and got to check out the cottage. It was nice, but definately more on the rugged cabin end of the spectrum than posh hotel suite. We used the jacuzzi tub, which was fun, but the water smelled like rust and we weren't allowed to use bubbles with the jets running. The cottage came equipped with a 13" TV/VCR combo and a supply of old movies, and by old I mean 1970's or earlier. The TV was only good for watching movies, no cable.

On Saturday we went to breakfast at the castle, which was ok, considering it was included in our room rate. Then we were stuck with the what do we do question. We took a walk around the property, but it was pretty cold out, so we decided to drive to a town to look for a Blockbuster to rent a movie to watch. The nearest town (15 miles) didn't have a Blockbuster so we drove to a bigger town about 30 miles away, back towards Columbus. We found a Blockbuster and rented a movie and then decided to head over to BW3's for lunch and to watch the OSU football game. We ended up watching the whole game and then made it back to the castle around 5:00 p.m. We hung out in the cottage until dinner in the castle. We ate at a table with another couple and were served by people dressed in Midevil clothes. Dinner wasn't great, but we had snacks back in the cottage. Then we went back and watched our movie.

Sunday we just got up packed and headed home. Back in Columbus, we went to watch the Matrix Revolutions movie in a matinee and then picked up Zeus from the kennel. Overall a decent weekend and we did get a chance to have some "romantic" time in a different setting than normal.

Big Weekend

I'm looking forward to our weekend getaway this weekend. I've packed the bags and scheduled the kennel. We'll be leaving right after we get home from work and take Zeus to the kennel. I'm hoping it will be a great weekend to just unwind, relax, and spend some quality time together. Some romance would be nice too. We scheduled this trip right after the loss as a sort of healing time. We seem pretty healed right now, but being together will be really nice.

I have been doing the BBT charting for 3 days now. It's kind of weird, but it's been exactly the same every day. I wonder if I'll be able to tell when it changes and I ovulate.

Got some disappointing news earlier. Erica is NOT pregnant. I really thought this was it for her. She'll try again though and sooner or later it will work. It's still early for her. On an upside, this gives us another chance to get pregnant at the same time. Our periods were only 4 days apart so we could both get pregnant this month. That would be cool.

Day 3

I'm getting focused and ready to start "trying" again. This morning I remembered to take my BBT and chart it. Hopefully that will be of some help this month. If not, at least I get to make a chart and I enjoy that.

Been chatting alot with my friend Erica and am about 95% convinced that she succeeded this month. Hopefully we'll find out this weekend.

Remember Ava? (See Oct. 24 entry). Well I found a link that might help explain her intuition. It's a Chinese Gender Birth Chart . You take the Mother's age at conception and the month of conception and it tells whether the baby is a boy or girl. If Erica's pregnant now (October) and I get pregnant on this try (November) then she will have a boy and I will have a girl, like Ava predicted. Cool, huh! I tried it out and it worked for Tammy!

I also wanted to add a link for anyone interested in charting BBT to get a blank chart. The thermometer usually comes with one, but here's a link.

Day 1

Had a good weekend. Did alot of cleaning around the house. I even cleaned out the closet in the computer room, which is where we tend to throw stuff that we don't know what to do with. Eric and I also went to see Dracula at the Ballet on Saturday night. It was really good. I'm so impressed by the athleticism of the dancers. It was a good story line too, not too much foo foo dancing stuff. Eric said he'd see another ballet with me, so I figure that's a good start.

If you want an explanation of the heading, today is Day 1 if I get pregnant this month. Yes, that's right, I started my period. I'm kind of excited, because Friday was 4 weeks (28 days), so I really started pretty quickly. Eric and I are going away this weekend, but I think it's too early for conception. It will still be nice to just get away and be together though. The week of the 17th is probably our best bet. I think the safest thing is probably just to be fairly consistent all month long.

One more week until we found out how Erica did this month. I read her blog and it seems like it's a possibility. She's had some strange food experiences and mentioned that's she's had trouble sleeping. I'm not sure if it relates, but I had trouble sleeping right before I found out I was pregnant. Doesn't really seem like it should be a symptom, but who knows.

We'll keep you posted.