Month 2, Day 27, 11 DPO

Still waiting. Tomorrow will be the big test day. Although, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. It may still be too early. From reading the TCOYF book (everyone should really read by the way), it says that your lutal phase never varies more than 1 day on either side. I've only completed 1 month of charting, so for me this means that my Lutal Phase could be from 11 to 14 days long. (If 12 is my average it could be 11 or 13, if 12 was 1 day less than average it could be 13 or 14 too. So anyway, testing at 12 DPO may be a little early. Conservatively, if not pregnant, the absolute latest AF could come would be Saturday. I'll test tomorrow because finding out on New Year's eve would be cool. If negative, I'll probably test again on Friday.

I feel pretty good about it this month. Today I had a beautiful high temperature, 98.3. That's my highest post-O temp after excluding the one 98.6 that was effected by outside factors. So we will see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully, a BFP (big fat positive) for me and no AF for Erica. (I'm hoping for no AF, because that could mean that her ovulation was delayed because of stress, etc. and not that she has normally perfect cycles with no ovulation.)

Month 2 Day 25, 9 DPO

Ok, so here's the baby scoop from the long weekend. I was right that Christmas has helped keep my impatience to a minimum. I'm still feeling pretty confident, but am dying for the chance to take this test. As of now I'm planning on testing the day my period is due rather than waiting until it's a day late, unless I have any negative indications with my temps. Last month they dropped below the coverline on both 11 DPO and 12 DPO and then AF came on 13 DPO.

My temp taking was fairly consistant while traveling, although I took it about a half hour early on Christmas Day and 12/26. On Friday, I was a little nervous because it dropped below the coverline. My coverline is at 97.7 and my post-O temps have been between 97.8 and 98.1 (that's leaving out the one fluke at 98.6 and the dip I'm describing now). On Friday it was down to 97.6, but it came back up to 98.0 the next day. If I turn out to be pregnant, I think it could have been an implantation dip, as it was 7 DPO. I also felt a little crampy on Christmas Day.

Only 4 more days to wait. I also picked up the Taking Charge of Your Fertility book by Terri Weschler (maybe spelled wrong). It's awsome so far. I agree that everyone needs to read this regardless of whether they are trying to get pregnant or not. We'll see how it goes, but I may consider using the FAM (Fertility Awarness Method) as birth control after I have a baby. It's nice to think I may not have to deal with the hormonal changes the Pill causes. The upside, if I don't get pregnant this month, I've learned more to use next month.

I can't wait to get filled in on Erica's situation on Monday. From what I've read in this book, it doesn't seem possible that she hasn't ovulated over the past 4 cycles. She's been way too regular for that. She thought that she possibly ovulated last Sunday, Day 19, but that's the last I heard from her. I'm kind of hoping stress caused her to ovulate late this month (holidays, sister situation, etc.), that would cause AF to be "late" this month. That makes more since to me then her not ovulating at all for 4 months, but still having AF like clockwork. It just doesn't add up to me.

Ok, I should probably go to bed. I'm hoping for another high temp tomorrow. Maybe a really high one and we'll see if I can get a triphasic chart.

Christmas Update

Have you missed me? It's been a crazy long weekend. Although good. Eric and I did our Christmas on Tuesday night 12/23. He spoiled me and I loved it. I got a beautiful diamond necklace and a pair of gold hoop earings that I had wanted. Also the white athletic socks and 2004 Pug calendar I wanted. My gifts for him weren't quite as perfect and we spent today returning them and he picked up 5 DVD's that he wanted. I also let him buy us 2 tickets for the Indianapolis Colts playoff game in Round 1, so it looks like we'll be heading back to Indiana next weekend.

On Christmas Eve I worked until 12:30 p.m. (whew, I got a lot done too) and Eric worked until about 3:30 p.m. We hit the road at 4:15 p.m. and arrived at Grandma's around 8:00 p.m. It was nice, Mom, Dad, and Jeremy were already there. Mom also finished my wedding scrapbook (after 2 1/2 years) and it's wonderful. Christmas morning we got up and did Christmas with my Mom and Dad and brother. We haven't done that in a while. Mom got me a nice bookshelf stereo system for work (although I'll probably end up keeping it at home, it's really cool.) and Eric got his favorite gift of the holiday, a authintic Marvin Harrison Colts jersey. He really raked in the Colts gear. Christmas day there were a ton of people at Grandma's house. All of my aunt's and uncles came, only one cousin, spouse and children were missing. Let's see that's 31 people and 3 dogs. Christmas night we went to see Cheaper by the Dozen (good family movie) and then spent the night in a hotel with my parents.

On Friday, we got up and headed to Bloomington to my brother-in-laws house. We got there around 10:30 a.m. and spent the day with my Donna, Kyle, Ashton, and Logan. Leslie had to work until 6, but then came home and we spent the evening. We had our gift exchange there and it was very nice.

Saturday, we volunteered to watch the kids while Kyle and Leslie went to work and after loading up the car and stopping to feed the baby her breakfast, headed to Eric's Dad's house. I think we did ok on baby sitting. Between the two of us, we changed 3 diapers, and fed the baby both baby food and formula. I also changed her outfit once. Oh yeah, we're ready. Saturday afternoon we did another gift exchange. My favorite gift from that exchange was a journal chest. It's kind of like a hope chest, but it comes with a journal and some ideas of what things to keep and you are supposed to journal yearly. That will be nice to get started.

Saturday night we left around 7:00 p.m. and headed for home. We got in right around 11:00 p.m . and thankfully got to sleep in our own bed. Holidays are nice, but it's good to be home.

Month 2, Day 19 - 3 DPO

It's official. After 3 days of elevated temps. I ovulated on Friday. Now to wait. Testing dates are confusing to me. If I still have a 12 day lutal phase my period is expected on January 1. I may test on January 2. Hopefully the next 10 days will go quickly. With Christmas and New Year's in between, it should go fast.

Month 2, Day 17

Ok, so I think I may have ovulated yesterday. It's three days earlier than last month, but I had a definate temperature spike today. All of my temps this month have been between 97.2 and 97.7. To detect ovulation, you look for a temp .2 degrees higher than the previous six days. For me that would have been 97.8 since my highest temp in the last 6 days was 97.6. This morning it was 97.9. To confirm ovulation, I'll have to monitor and make sure they stay up there for the next three days to be sure it wasn't just a fluke temperature. I was planning on Monday being my O-day, so I was planning on spending this weekend focusing on the trying part. I'm ok with it if it was Friday though, since last Saturday, we've been doing the every other day thing so I'm pretty sure we were in the window. It will be interesting. Since the lutal phase doesn't usually change, if I did ovulate on Friday I'll have a 28 day cycle this month. That means that AF will now be due on 1/1/04 and I'll see if I can wait to test until 1/2/04. Very interesting. I'll update more after I see what my temps do tomorrow.

Month 2, Day 15

I don't know why, but around this time of month, I tend to get a little frustrated and think about throwing in the towel. Not sure why, but I feel like it's not going to happen. That doesn't make since, since I haven't even ovulated yet, but it feels like a lot of pressure. I just don't like this in between stage. If I was pregnant I could concentrate on that. If I wasn't trying, I could go full force at the diet and exercise plan. Now, I'm just sort of wishy-washy. Hopefully, this stage won't last too long.

I see my friend Kim at work who reminds me of where I would be with my first baby. It seems like it's going to fast. April seems so close. Then sometimes I'm glad that I'm not pregnant yet, because it would be almost over. I suppose that's just because I haven't had all the experiences that go along with being pregnant. I want to enjoy all of those moments. That probably doesn't make any since to anyone but me, but oh, well.

Currently, things are still going as planned. My temps are still staying steady, so I am definately a later ovulator. Eric and I have been prepared in case it happens earlier, but I I'm still expecting either late this weekend or Monday. Then the hard waiting game begins.

Month 2, Day 12

It's been a busy weekend. Friday I did the necessary chores around the house including grocery shopping and laundry. Saturday, I went to a cookie exchange party at my neighbors which was really fun, but lasted from about 12 to 4, and was murder on my eating habits. I also had to make the dough and stuff beforehand and felt like sleeping in, so I skipped the workout. From 7 to 10 we had the Christmas Party at the bosses house, which was fun. We may have found a new couple to befriend. There's a fairly new guy in my office and I got to meet his new wife of 6 weeks. She was cool and Eric liked the guy I work with, so we may try to get together sometime. Sunday, I went to church with my neighbor, then after church we brought home the church ladder to change our entryway lightbulbs. That was an adventure, but we got it done. Sunday night the Survivor season finale was on, so that took up the whole evening. None of my favorites won, but at least John didn't either, so that's cool by me.

Ok, the baby subject. I've had a pretty relaxing first two weeks (almost) of this cycle. I haven't been freaking out about how often and when to try. I'm using last cycle as a guideline and feel like I'm just now coming up on the time where trying becomes important. My expected ovulation date is in 1 week, next Monday. I can really only worry about it until Tuesday, because then we're out of town from Wednesday night until Sunday. Another good thing is the hard waiting time will be in the midst of Christmas and New Year's so maybe I'll be too busy to obsess. I'm fairly confident this time, that we'll be able to time things better. Last month, I was so worried about missing ovulation time that by the time it finally got here (Day 19) we were sort of burnt out on the trying frequency. We'll see what happens.

Well, lunch is over and I have work to do.

Month 2, Day 7

I've been posting so much in my Diet/Fitness blog that it seems like I'm neglegting this one. Although, I just posted yesterday... I think it's good I'm focusing on getting in shape again, at least that's something else to concentrate on this month. I'll need to start gearing up for the "trying" phase again. I don't really want it to be, but it kind of becomes a different mindset. If I was a "normal" girl, I could be ovulating in about a week. I'm thinking it will be closer to last month so I've still got about a week and a half, but I think I should at least be semi-prepared in case I'm early. I'm thinking this is Month 2 and 2 was my lucky month last time. Ok, I really don't have anything interesting to write about and it's about bed time, so I'll end for today. Hopefully next week will start to get more interesting on the baby front.

Random Thoughts

I was doing some baby related thinking today. Waiting is hard. Sometimes I think God makes us wait (teaches us patience) so we will really appreciate things when they come to us. Before trying to conceive I never imagined that I would have difficulties or lose a baby. Actually, I thought more about NOT being able to get pregnant than losing a baby. The thought of a miscarriage never entered my mind. Even when I got pregnant, I could read the scary parts of the What to Expect book and not really worry. I was more concerned about the changes happening to my body, than to worry about the life inside me. Now I think about that. The longer I wait to conceive again, the more I worry that I'll be scared while I'm pregnant. Initially I thought, that I would be able to relax after I make it to the first Dr. appointment and I get to see the heart beat. That didn't happen last time. I still hope that's true. I'm not usually a worrier and I don't want to spend 9 months being afraid. I want to enjoy every moment.

I think another example of my fear is considering when I want to tell people I'm pregnant again. Of course I'll tell my family and close friends. Although, last time I made a big deal and it was special the way I told my parents. Now they know we're trying and we discuss it throughout the month. There are a couple of people I'm close to at work that I will probably tell immediately. (Tammy, Kim, and Heidi, probably Kristin too, since I dragged her into my feminine cycle so she knows when I'm expected AF). I think the rest of the workplace will wait until after the first trimester, well at least until I have that first doctor appointment. I'm not sure why I want to wait. If I lose another, I'd want them to know, but I think I'd kind of like to have my little secret for a while. We'll see what happens, I thought I'd wait a couple of weeks last time, and I told everyone within 3 days.

This post is starting to get long, so I'll make this my final thought for now. I think about Erica alot. If I could say a little prayer (I already did earlier) my hope is that Erica gets pregnant first. I'd love for it to happen the same month. This one is fine, as we'd have the same due date, but if only one of us gets it, I want it to be her. When there's something you want very badly, time seems to almost stand still. This is month 4 for her which must seem like an eternity. It seems right that she's been trying longer, so she should get it first. (Technically, I've been trying longer if you count the first one, but I think the counting starts over). I also pray that my experiences won't rob any of the innocence and excitement from her. I'm a little scared about getting pregnant again, but I don't want her to have any fear. Ideally, this will be the month for both of us and we can be amazed together as we count down the weeks. It only seems right that we would have babies very close together, since we were born only days apart.

Ok, I'm really done now. It just feels good to get your thoughts down sometimes.

Month 2, Day 6

Tammy just came into the office with Jonathan. Yep, I still want one.

My Journey to Fitness

I took Danialle's example and started a Diet/Exercise blog. The link is attached. I'm thinking making it public will make me more likely to stick to the program. I think I really mean it this time. I'm even planning on getting up early and going to the gym before work. I wonder how that will affect my temp reading. I guess I'll start taking it earlier every day, so days I go to the gym in the a.m. won't affect my readings. Whew, this could be complicated.

Month 2, Day 4

This is my usual Sunday evening recap. Nothing really exciting going on, except I started coming down with a cold yesterday and now it's here. Since, I know I'm not pregnant right now, I'm taking cold medicine and that makes me feel better.

I didn't do that workout yesterday, although I'm still planning on dieting this week. A cold usually makes me less hungry, so that should help a bit.

I finished up my Christmas shopping yesterday. Yeah! Now I just have to be patient before giving all my gifts away. It's been a pretty quiet weekend, not too much to report. I'm just procrastinating instead of wrapping gifts right now. I better get to it.

I'll check in later this week.

Day 1

Yes, that's right. I had a vistitor this afternoon. One more positive from charting, I kind of expected it. It's also interesting that my Lutal Phase was only 12 days. They only consider it a problem if it's under 10, but I'll be curious to see if it's always 12 days. Supposedly, that doesn't change. Hopefully, I won't be able to find out because I'll be pregnant next month, but we'll see. Also, interesting that this cycle was 31 days. Is it a pattern?

For sure, the dieting is starting Monday. I'm going to attempt to jump start it with a workout on Saturday. I'm going to try to be strict too. Especially no sweets!

Ok, Erica, we have the same LMP now. Let's see what happens in December.

Day 32, 13 DPO

I don't think this is the month. :( As you can see from the title of the post, no AF yet, but I'm guessing that could change by the end of the day or tomorrow. Today was my 3rd day in a row with temps below coverline, and I actually dipped again today to my average post-O temp. Despite still feeling a little nauseous, I also feel incredibly fat and a tiny bit crampy. I trust the temps and that AF will be here soon.

Positives:
- If AF shows up today, that will officially make this a 31 day cycle and I would have had 2 in a row the same length.
- By charting, I know I ovulated.
- By charting, I didn't take tests early, and therefore, didn't waste any money this month (on tests at least)
- I won't be having an August baby. (Not that September will be any cooler).
- I have at least 1 more month where I'm allowed to diet and see if I can shed some weight.

Ok, got to work.

Day 30, 11 DPO

Not a whole lot happening this week. I've had a lot to keep me busy at work. Turns out this week is going faster than expected. Yesterday, I finished up a lot of the paperwork from our 12/1 renewal, and then today I kept having little questions or issues pop up that I had to deal with. Today was also Eric's birthday, so we went out to dinner. Tomorrow, will be a pretty worthless day at work. I have a continuing education class on Policy Checking (fun stuff) from 9:30 to noon. Then my boss is picking me up by my house at 3:15 p.m to head to Cincinnati for a client Christmas Dinner. Cocktails start at 6:00 p.m., so it looks like it will be a long night. We are driving back though, so at least that won't eat up my Thursday. Thursday, we have some college students in the office interviewing, so I have to go to a lunch to discuss life as a recent grad. I wonder how long, I get that title? I've been out of school for about 2 1/2 years now.

I was supposed to start dieting with my girls this week. They are doing good, but I'm a complete failure. Caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror this afternoon, and can I say UGGH. I didn't realize how much I'd miss that BFL body. I know it's just a matter of will, but I seem to be having problems with that lately. I'm going to try to be reasonable in December, but told Eric that our New Year's resolutions will be to get back in shape. He's gained back about 25 of the 35 pounds he lost this year. Sigh... At least we are getting fat together, so neither of us can really complain.

Nothing has changed on the baby front yet. My temperature dipped below my coverline today. I don't really know what that means. I've also felt slightly nauseous the past two evenings. Yesterday I also had a killer headache though, which tends to make me nauseous under any circumstances, and today I spent most of the morning with my boss who was definately under the weather. He looked like Death warmed over by 4:00 p.m., so I'm not counting on that as a symptom. Mostly I just feel normal. There's really no way to tell before a pregnancy test. Any "symptoms" are only obvious in hind-sight. Only 5 more days until I can test (closer to 4 by this time of night). If this month isn't it, I'm thinking next month will be a toughie. If my cycle is a similar length of time, I'll be fertile right around Christmas time, when we'll be at a variety of relatives houses. We are NOT going to break those "rules." We may just have to wait until January. :) I guess that just gives me more time to get in shape! Better start now!