Birthday Recap - Jennifer Turns 25!

Today is my birthday. Considering I had to work I think it went pretty well. People important to me remembered and it was very nice, but low key. Here's I recap of what I scored.

Cards
Erica - sent me 2! I guess she couldn't decide which one she liked better!
Grandma & Grandpa
Donna (my Mother-In-Law)
Tammy - from work
Eric
Samara - via e-mail
Michelle - from work

Gifts
Manicure at Kenneth's - from Samara
Vanilla Candle (large) - from Kristin at work
Flowers - from the girls (Erica, Danialle, and Heather) - (picture tomorrow)
Stuffed Pug Dog - from Eric
Lighted Make Up Mirror and Stool for Use in Bathroom - from Eric
Gift Certificate from unknown location and unknown amount - Still in mail from Mom

Food
The Melting Pot - Dinner with friends last Saturday
BW3's - 12 free wings on your birthday - dinner today
Lunch Wednesday - with work friends

Also, my brother did call and leave me a message saying Happy Birthday. Nice to know he remembered.

I say overall that's a good birthday. No cake, but Mom did sing the first line of Happy Birthday on the phone to me.

I hope I didn't forget anyone or anything, so anyone who reads and made the list, I appreciate you thinking of me and thank you very much!

Good night all.

Month 4, Day 28 - 5 DPO

I've had a very nice ending (so far) to a very LONG week. To start out, Friday was a pretty good day. I called the bank to find out how much Eric's check was and found out that our tax refunds had been deposited. Yeah! Then my boss called me into his office to let me know about my raise and bonus for this year. I'd like to preface by saying I had my review about 2 weeks ago and things went pretty well, plus I switched departments in July and am in a MUCH better situation. (That's another conversation in itself). Anyway, my raise is 8%! The average for the office was 3% and I've been between 2-4% the other two years I've gotten raises. Someone must think I'm doing a good job! Then he told me my bonus amount which I think is awesome! Probably shouldn't provide $ amounts online, but it will certainly help gets some bills paid off. Oh yeah, my temp made it up to 98.0 too!

Today is Saturday and I woke up to a beautiful day. I had an appointment to get my hair cut and highlighted at 12:15 p.m. so I did that. Then I came home and took Zeus for a walk. He appreciated it and now needs to rest a bit...


Still to do this weekend...tonight we're going to The Melting Pot (fondue place) with W & S for my birthday dinner. (Monday, I'll be 25). Then tomorrow, we'll probably go to church in the morning and then we have tickets to the Arena Football game at 3:00.

I'm in a really good mood. Well, I should probably get off the computer and do something productive like study for my CPCU exam, but... we'll see.

I just hope the rest of the weekend goes as well.

Month 4, Day 26 - 3 DPO

My temps are still headed upwards, so I think all is good. Fertility Friend moved my O-day to Monday (day 23) so I am going to go with that one. Now just 13 days to wait and we'll see how we did.

Month 4, Day 25 - 1, 2 or 3DPO?

Well, I think I ovulated. My temp was up to 97.5 today which is .2 over the previous 6 days, but is still really low for me. Fertility Friend gave me an O-date of Sunday (day22). I'm not so sure that's right. If I had to put money on it, I'd say late Monday night or Tuesday morning. I had some breast tenderness creep in Tuesday, so that makes me think I already had some progesterone flowing in there. If I mess around in fertility friend and add 2 more days of temps at 97.5, it moves my O-date to Monday, so we'll see what happens for the next couple of days. Regardless, I think we're in the wait for this stage. I'll probably wait to test until the March 10th or 11th.

FINALLY!

Month 4, Day 24

No spike. Did you really expect different? Took another OPK this afternoon. Negative. I'm taking that as a good sign that maybe I've already ovulated? If I spike tomorrow I'll expect this to be a 36 day cycle. That's long even for me. But the longer this cycle goes the more it makes me think the cycle I got pregnant was like this, just I didn't know. I put this in an e-mail to my girls a couple of days ago, but want to post here for me to look back on when I actually am pregnant and laugh about what I didn't know.

The logic.
June Cycle
We know AF arrived 35 days after stopping birth control pill. We can assume with a 12 day LP, I ovulated on day 23.

July Cycle
We know AF arrived 7/12 and positive HPT on 8/23 CD42.
We also know there was a negative HPT on CD35 and BD occured on CD20 and CD24 among others.
Theory - if I ovulated on CD24 or CD25, I would have only been 10 or 11 DPO when I got the negative HPT on CD35 (too early). That means that the breast changes I noticed on CD40 would have been 15 or 16 DPO and the positive HPT would have been on 17 or 18 DPO. That timeline makes a lot of sense to me.

The moral of this story. I've probably had cycles this long before and possibly got pregnant during one of them. I'd like to see that happen again. Ok, there's only so much I can talk about without annoying even myself.

Month 4, Day 23

My temp was still down today. 97.1 at 7:00 a.m. I didn't wake up when the alarm went off at 6:00 to temp, but it was still low, so I don't think my waking up late affected it. I may take another OPK today, but am REALLY hoping my temp goes up finally tomorrow. I feel like then I'll be able to relax a little and just wait. Yeah right, when have I ever been able to relax while waiting? I did a little browsing through the chart gallery on Fertility Friend, and it seems like a lot of people ovulate the day after the positive OPK, so I'm not really concerned yet. I sure hope I get pregnant this cycle. This has seemed like a lot of work!

Month 4, Day 22

Finally some good news today, no my temperature didn't spike. I just took the second OPK and this time it was positive, meaning that I should ovulate in the next 24-36 hours. All I have to say is it's about time! I'm not sure if that means I'll spike tomorrow or the next day. Either way, soon, I should be in my 2 week wait. I'm hoping a long cycle is a good sign for me, I think my last PG cycle was long too!

Land of Crazy

I officially have crossed into the land of crazy. I usually don't get this anxious/anxiety stricken until the 2ww. This month I'm really concerned that I may not ovulate. I'm still holding out hope that it's just going to happen later. I don't really have any reasons not ovulate. I haven't been under any particular stress, except this last week waiting every day to see if I actually ovulated. Can be anxious about ovulating, actually keep you from ovulating?

Here are some signs of my obsession:
1. I have been taking my temperature several times a day, just on the off chance I ovulated sometime during the day and it's on it's way up.
- Why that's bad...The only time your temp means something is first thing in the morning before any outside factors like moving, eating, drinking, showering, etc. can affect it, yet I still have the urge every couple of hours to do it anyway. At least I can reuse my thermometer, it isn't like taking HPT's twice a day.
2. I can't go through an evening with Eric without mentioning, my temperatures, how late my O-day is, or what we need to do to get pregnant.
- Why that's bad...My DH is of the belief that worry about getting pregnant is a sure fire way to not get pregnant. Once it becomes my only topic of conversation, he gets annoyed.
3. I bought my first pack of OPK's tonight. I was hoping they would help me find my missing O.
- Why that's bad...You probably shouldn't start using them on Day 21, but it was negative, so I think I can expect no spike tomorrow. They were also only $12 for a 5 day supply and came with a bonus HPT, so that's not so bad. It also gives me some practice at POAS (just added that one to the glossary).

Anyway, this cycle is not that fun anymore. Read Erica's blog and she's thinking it's not so fun either. Message to Erica, stick it out and see what happens this month. Your timing couldn't have been better. It does take a while for some people, but places like FF I think exagerate that. I mean people who get PG on the first shot, don't usually make it to the charting and waiting around in TTC chatroom stage. If you're concerned, I would call the doctor after this cycle. It's been over 6 months of trying and you have a couple of great charts, so you have something to start with. I have faith that it will happen eventually. Don't worry about feeling a little meloncoly about your cycle this month. I felt the same way last month and also had perfect timing, it really did help take that sting away when AF did show.

On another note. According to my OPK, I probably won't have a spike tomorrow. Which means I didn't ovulate today. If I ovulate tomorrow, and spike on Monday, I will be due to test on 3/9/04. I think that could be a sign. If Erica is due to test on my birthday, and I'm due to test on hers, I think we should both get positives, for working it out that way. I think that would be a great birthday present.

Month 4, Day 21

I've got good news and bad news.

The bad news...still no spike.
The good news...still no spike. That means missing 2 days in a row were not the 2 most important days not to miss.

I had a dream last night. Eric and I were leaving for a trip to Hawaii. Our plane was leaving in 1 1/2 hours, but we weren't ready yet. I was rushing around trying to get all of our stuff together, at first Eric helped me out, but then he got distracted and just sat in the car while I was trying to finish getting ready. At one point I thought we're never going to make it in time, I should just stop trying, but then thought of how great Hawaii was. Then I got mad because Eric wasn't helping me. Dream interpretation... Hawaii = pregnancy (something really good that I want to do), Trying to get everything ready for the trip = Us doing our part to acheive pregnancy (BD), The fact that there wasn't very much time to get everything done = My anxiety about my O-day being MIA, Eric's originally being helpful and then lack of helpfulness = My hidden anger that last night he fell asleep again instead of trying to help me "get ready". Being ready to give up = frustration at the missing O and being ready to give up.

It's weird how dreams can do that. I tend to occasionally have dreams where I get really angy at Eric and just let him have it. I wonder if that's because I don't tend to get angry that easily when I'm awake? I understand about last night. I was really frustrated because I'm afraid we'll miss the window. Now I'm a little concerned that there may not be a window this month. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm a little afraid that this has now crossed the line into being obsessive this month. Eric's cool about the whole thing until he thinks it's consumed my every waking thought. Probably not a good sign that the first thing I said to him this morning was, "You're lucky my temperature didn't spike, we still have another chance." Maybe I should have started with "Goodmorning?"

Still Month 4, Day 20

Highlight of today...Lunch at Tammy's. Jonathan is so BIG. He's almost 4 months old. It feels so good to hold a baby. Just gotta be patient. My day will come.

It's been a pretty relaxing evening. I was exhausted after work, so I came home and took about an hour nap. I figure it's ok if I can't sleep, because tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have to get up early, so I can stay up as late as I want.

Eric was in a bit of a mood when he came home. It's been a rough week and he had to stay an extra hour and a half at work tonight to find an accounting error his new employee made before he could make the nightly deposit and come home. He also said he had a headache, so I sort of steered clear of him and played on the computer. I'm looking for more cool things for my site.

I had a good chat with Mom tonight too. I think I'm going to plan a trip to see them in the next couple of months. It'll be interesting to see how the house is coming.

I just went down to see how Eric was doing and he was asleep on the couch. I kind of tried to wake him up, but he's not interested in waking up. That combined with the fact he wasn't in a great mood when he was awake, leads me to believe there may be a disruption to our (strike that - my) BD plans. I know we've had a busy week, but I'm sure that I'll be o'ing any day now and I think missing 2 days in a row is not the best course of action. It's a delicate line, I don't want him to feel "used," but timing is kind of important. I guess I'll try to wake him up one more time, and if not... If it's meant to be, it will be.

I feel like reading some good blogs. I may do a search and start linking to people. For some reason I have the desire to be read by a lot of people. Maybe I better get a more interesting life. I read someone's blog that had a Friday 5, where every Friday a group of people answered 5 questions about themselves. Maybe I'll do that.

Month 4, Day 20

Ok, so I'm getting a little tired of waiting on the big O. I'm a little concerned, but keep thinking of those long cycles the first time I got pregnant. It was 35 days after stopping the pill and I did get a negative HPT on CD35 last time I was pregnant, so maybe a long cycle is a good sign!

Another cool thing. As many of you know, Erica and I were born only 8 days apart. 3/1 and 3/9. Erica is due to take a test on my birthday 3/1. If today is my O-day, I will test on 3/7. So if the O hides out for 2 more days, I would test on Erica's birthday! I'm hoping it comes sooner than that, but it's still cool.

On another note, I'm so glad it's Friday. It's been a long week and we have NO plans this weekend. I just want to veg.

New Features

I learned how to do some new things! Check out the coolness on my sidebar! Also, as requested I added the link to the doll maker site, so I didn't "steal" anything. The other "blinkies" were on free sharing sites although I did upload them to my own server. I found a free place to store images, so we don't have to take up Chadd's space! I could stay up all night, but I have to work tomorrow.

Month 4, Day 19

Just thought I should put another entry in. I'm stilll in the pre-o stage, but am really hoping that today is the day and tomorrow I spike (actually that's been the hope for the last several days). The first month I charted I o'd on day 19, so I'm still in my "historical" window. That's not to say it couldn't happen later than that, but so far it's not abnormal. Not much else to say except still waiting.

Oh yeah, my CM issue has cleared up a little I had EWCM both CD17 & 18 (not sure about today yet), I guess the fact that I haven't o'd yet, explains why I hadn't had any back on day 16, it was just too early. I'm tired of trying to guess when O will happen, I just hope it happens soon (so I can wait for another 2 weeks, 16 days to be exact, to see if I can take an HPT.)

Gotta get ready for work. Hopefully, there will be a good update tomorrow.

Month 4, Day 17

Still no spike. The look of pain on Eric's face this morning, when I told him. He just doesn't think he's cut out to be a rabbit.

Month 4, Day 16

I'm looking for my spike soon. I'm hoping maybe tomorrow. I have o'd on day 16 for the last 2 months, so I'm hoping it's the same this time. My temp was down at 97.0 this morning, and it probably doesn't mean anything, but I took my temp this afternoon (around 5:30 p.m.) and it was 98.5, now that was right after I got back from the gym and took a hot shower, but still.... If I do spike tomorrow, I'll feel pretty good about the timing, we'll have gotten 3 days in a row in. Last month was perfect too, so who knows. This cycle is weird though, my temps have been all over the place, I think I'm looking for a 97.9 for a spike. Technically, the highest temp over the past 6 days is 97.4, so 97.6 would be a spike, but I've had 3 temps that high this cycle, so I'd rather see something a little closer to 98.0. My CM pattern is really weird too, I've only had 1 true day of EWCM (Friday, which we didn't take advantage of). I'm not sure what that means, if I am going to ovulate later this month or if I just don't have much. Kind of hard to analyze now. I guess I'll just see what happens.

By the way, Erica has a beautiful chart this month. Her temps are so stable. She ovulated a little later than expected, but it looks like a definate ovulation pattern. Her BD timing was also great, so I'm hoping that something come of it. It's been 7 months, that seems like a long enough wait. Interesting thought, Erica is 2CD ahead of me, with her not Oing until day 16 and her LP is 14 days, if I O on day 16 with a 12 day LP, we technically will be due for AF at the same time. We'll have to see if we end up testing together.

Bizarre

Ok, I had to add this link.

I was surfing the web looking for some other trying to concieve journals and someone had a link to this guy's website for a Valentine's day "perfect man." In case you don't want to visit the site, here are a few of my favorite quotes. This guy is a freak.

He wants, "2 - 6 women to have 2 - 15 children by me."

Here's his timeframe:
February through April - Promote web-site. Receive responses. Begin initial selection.
Mid-May - Complete initial selection. Complete respectful notification of those not selected. Request further information from those initially selected.
May through July - Receive additional information. Correspond to become better acquainted. Possible personal meetings.
Mid-August - Final selection

Here's one of his preferences, "If your vision uncorrected - either by lens or by surgery - were normal or you were farsighted up to perhaps +5 or +6 diopters, this would be a definite plus.

"I would like to have 17 children. Why 17? I don't know. It just seems like a good number to have. I didn't say this earlier in the web-site because I didn't want to scare you away right off the bat."

"Our tractor would have an enclosed cab. "

"Harvesting our wheat, beans, and potatoes in the fall would require a lot of work, but I think we could do it. "

" I would prefer, when we were working outside, that you use such items of clothing, etc. that would prevent you from becoming roughed up and weather-beaten. "

"Shoes would be left in the entranceway."

"Everyone in the household would keep a baseball bat under their bed to deal with possible burglars, intruders, and trespassers. "

He sounds like a real winner. I think I'm lucky I got my man.

Happy Valentine's Day! - Month 4, Day 14

I'm about ready to head to bed on Valentine's Day night (for sleeping). I thought I'd do a mini recap of the first part of the weekend. Friday night I came straight home after work because we had tickets to the very first home game of the Columbus Destroyers. That's the new Arena Football Team in Columbus. We bought season tickets and this was the first game. Our neighbor Martin bought a ticket to the game too, so he rode with us, but our seats weren't together so we didn't see him again until the end of the game. It was pretty exciting, although they lost. The other team scored with 2 seconds left to win the game. That took up all of Friday night.

Today was really busy although I didn't get much done in the way of domestic chores. Eric and I slept in a until about 9:30 a.m. Then he went to work and I went to the gym, where I must say I made up my cardio I skipped on Friday, plus did lower body and abs. After I got back from the gym I picked up lunch and wrote my receipts for the week in the checkbook. We had an appointment to do our taxes at 1:00 p.m. We were there until 3:30 p.m. It took along time, because they did the return both filing jointly and separately, and we determined that we'd get back about $450 more if we filed separately. We're pretty happy about out tax return as we'll be getting back about $4000. Get to make some major payments on some bills. After taxes we came home showered and dressed and then decided to go to Outback for dinner. We got there at 5:15 p.m. to put our names in for a 2 hour wait. Then we left and went to Blockbuster to get a movie and went and walked around Bed, Bath, & Beyond. We then went back to the restaurant to wait some more. We got in at about 7:30 p.m. and had dinner. After dinner we came home and watched our movie "Out of Time" with Denzel Washington. Good movie. That's about it. We just bought each other cards and stupid little stuffed animals for V-Day. Neither of us really saw the need to go out and spend tons of money. We love each other all year long, we don't need a "Hallmark Holiday" to tell us to do something special.

Not much going on yet on the baby front. My CM pattern makes me think it may still be a couple of days until O-day. I'm trying not to focus on that too much. All the plans are nice, but right now I think it's more important to focus on the big picture. It'll happen when the time is right, although we've only got one more month if we want it to be a tax deduction next year!

I'm off Monday, so I still get too more days of weekend! Yippee! I'm also going back on BFL tomorrow. Boy do I need it.

Month 4, Day 12

Well, the first thing out of Eric's mouth this morning was I'm sorry. He said he woke up at about 2:00 a.m. and realized he missed his chance. Oh, well, we'll have to work on it tonight after we get home from the neighbors. We always go over to their house on Thursdays to watch Friends, Survivor, The Apprentice, CSI, and ER using TiVo. Last week we skipped ER because it got to late, we may have to this week too because of the "Operation Rabbit" plans.

Month 4, Day 11

Just thought I'd say that so far my "Operation Rabbit" plan is not working. It was supposed to go into effect tonight, but my husband is not cooperating. He decided this would be a good evening to fall asleep on the couch at 7:30 p.m. He does that about once every two weeks. Anyway, I am about ready for bed and he shows no sign of waking up before morning. All I can say is that it's a good thing I'm still in the "sticky" phase. He knew the plans tonight, seriously, how important is sleep?

So you don't know what "Operation Rabbit" is? I didn't want to be too graphic, but I bet if you think about the nature of rabbits, you can figure it out. Hint. Hint.

Weekend Recap - Month 4, Day 8

This turned into a really good weekend. I thought I'd give you a full recap for the record. To start, I've been feeling really "blah" since I took an entire week off of my diet. I feel so yucky though, that I can't wait to get up tomorrow and have a fresh start. Here's how my weekend went down.

Friday - Came straight home from work and totally skipped any workout. I'm not sure what I did until about 7:30 p.m., but it probably involved computer games. Then Eric and I decided to order a pizza. I order from Pizza Hut online and it said that the pizza would be delivered in about 30 minutes. After an hour had went by I decided to call and see what was up. Apparently the internet sent our order to the wrong store, which doesn't deliver here, so they cancelled our order. Nice, didn't even call. The plus side, the guy on the phone rerouted our order to the appropriate store and gave it to us free, but we had to wait another hour for delivery. But hey, free pizza! I kind of felt bad for the delivery guy, because I was planning to pay via debit card and had no cash for a tip. Anyway, we also watched Titanic, amazingly it was Eric's idea.

Saturday - I slept in which was wonderful and then planned on meeting Samara at the mall at about 1:00 p.m. for some shopping. I had an appointment at the day spa to get my eyebrows waxed at 12:30 p.m. and then we hooked up to do some shopping. We had dinner reservations and wanted to get something new to wear. We ended up shopping until the last possible momement, but both ended up with sexy/hot outfits. Mine was from the Limited and I got a very sexy black top and some winter white slacks. It's cool because I can wear the pants to work, so it's not a one time deal. I also wore the boots I bought in Chicago (2nd time) and can I say my calves certainly aren't getting smaller. I also bought another pair of pants and top that is appropriate for work. Samara got this sexy satin lacy blouse and a skirt. We were definately hot mommas. We then went back to my place and changed for dinner (the guys were waiting). We had dinner reservations at 7:30 p.m. at Cameron's and dinner was great (expensive, but great). I got the "special" soup, some kind of spicy potato, followed by the Grilled Filet Mignon. It was great, also served with Garlic Mashed Potatos, asparagas, a portabella french fry, and a rich port wine sauce. I ate every bite. I also got creme broule for dessert. Very tasty.

Sunday - I made plans to go to church with April, but Eric said he would possibly join me, so I decided to drive separately. I got up at about 9:00 which really felt like sleeping in, and asked Eric if he was going. He decided to sleep in and I got ready. I was running a little late so got to the service right when it was starting and slipped in and sat on the side. I saw April a few minutes later and waved, but ended up sitting by myself. It was the first new Praise & Worship service for the church. It was nice, but apparently a very new type of service for this church. For me it just felt like home. I knew it had to be good when I was disappointed when the sermon was over. I thought he could have talked a little more. He was discussing evolution a bit, and I find that debate fascinating. Then I headed up to Sunday School and again had a good time. They are discussing the Apostles Creed, which I don't think I've ever read, but really dug into what every word really means. I like those deep discussions sometimes much more than being preached at. All in all a good day. After I got home it's been the normal go to the grocery store, do laundry, etc.

So that was my weekend, doesn't sound like much, but felt really good. I just wish it wasn't over tomorrow. I have a work meeting that I'm kind of dreading. Oh well, it'll be over soon enough.

Month 4, Day 4

Not a whole lot happening yet. I had a really good weekend with our Superbowl party. We ended up having 9 people over and had way too much food. That was the beginning of the end for me. I stuffed myself and it was not a pretty sight. Then I tried to get back on the diet track on Monday. I did fine at work, but by the time I was ready to go home, I had no intention of going to the gym. I had to have chocolate and wanted it NOW! I ended up eating about 4 slices of pizza, a king size Hershey's with Almonds, a couple handfuls of Goldfish crackers, and a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream. I think PMS hit with a vengence. I made sure to indulge. I'm trying to do better now, because that did not do good things to my diet and I'd rather not destroy a month's work of weight loss in a 4-day binge just because it's that time of the month. This can't happen every month or I'm doomed.

I'm hoping February will be a good month. I could find out I'm pregnant within days after my birthday, so that would be cool. If the baby doesn't happen, I hope it's a good month in other ways. We're a month into the new year and I haven't done all that great on my resolutions. Dieting was one of them, and I'd done good on that until this weekend and this week. I also said I'd be going back to church and haven't made it yet, I'm planning on going this week though, so hopefully, that will get me back on track there. Does it ever seem like you spend your whole life trying to catch up and get "back on track"? I guess if we were always on top of things, we wouldn't have a chance to grow. That's what I want to do. Grow. That should be my new goal. Whatever happens this year, I want it to make me a better person.

Month 4, Day 1 - Ok, this time I mean it.

Yesterday was a fluke, but AF did arrive today. Arriving today, officially gives me a 12 day lutal phase. That makes me happy. All the same positive feelings as yesterday, with a correction that Erica and I are now 2 days apart. Glad it happened this morning, so I don't have to sit around all day waiting. Now if these cramps would just go away....

False Alarm?

So, I am confused again. Remeber earlier when I said AF was here? This may be too much information, but I have to write it somewhere. I came home from the gym earlier about 1:00 p.m. and went to the restroom, there was a little bit of brown discharge and a little more when I wiped. I assumed that meant AF was here, so I put in a tampon and forgot about it. Well, I never have "spotting" when AF comes. It just starts, and it's not usually brown it's bright red, so I was thinking about that and the fact that I'm not really crampy like I usually am the day I start. So...I went up and checked my tampon. There was a little on it, but all brown, no red and now when I wipe...nothing. So I put on a pantyliner and will see what develops. I also took my temp, which means nothing this time of day, but it was 98.7 which seems high to me. I'm not really sure what I'm saying, but technically a new cycle doesn't start until the first day of regular flow, spotting doesn't count. Like I said, I've never spotted before AF before, so I'm not really sure what's going on. I guess I'll keep watch for the real stuff and see what my temps do tomorrow? It seems really late for any implantation signs like temp dip or spotting. Hmmm...

Month 4, Day 1

Ok, so not so confused anymore, AF decided to show today. That means I had a 27 day cycle! I don't know if that's every happened. Because of it being so short, I'm thinking that maybe I did actually ovulate on Day 14 instead of 16. That would mean my LP was 13 days this month (or 11?). Anyway, it wasn't 12 or 15 which were my previous numbers. I thought getting AF would make my cycles easier to interpret this month. That would be too easy though. Anyway...

I can honestly say that I'm not that crushed. It happened before I was ready to start testing and I really had prepared myself for a negative.

Positives for this month: 1. Another good month to work on BFL. I lost 5.5 pounds this month, I may be back into my smaller clothes by the end of next month. 2. I didn't take a test! No money wasted. 3. The work situation I was concerned about would be a little better for a pregnancy this month. 4. Baby due no sooner than mid-November, we're getting into less of a "summer" pregnancy. 5. Erica and I still have a shot at doing this together. Our cycles are now 1 day apart.

We'll see what happens this month. I kind of liked not stressing. I'll try to do that again. I'll get pregnant when the time is right. Well, I guess I should schedule my annual exam now. They sent me a card a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait to call until I knew whether I'd have a pregnancy appointment first. I'm not due for my exam until mid-April, but I'll get my appointment on the calendar and hopefully, they'll turn that one into a pregnancy appointment. I was also thinking, if nothing happens by then, I'll have a lot of good months to take my charts in.

This could be it. They say that even with perfect timing, you only have about a 20% shot of pregnancy in any one cycle. That means that most people will get pregnant within 6 months of trying if they have good timing, etc. I know we had good timing on 2 of the 3 months and ok timing on the other one. Statistically, every month we don't succeed makes it more likely the next month.

Ok, gotta clean the house for our Superbowl party.

Month 3, Day 28 - 12 DPO

Not really sure what to think this morning. My temp plunged down to 97.6, which is still above my coverline, but .4 is a pretty big hit. I took that at my normal time, and then went back to sleep. I woke up for good about 3 hours later and decided to retake just for kicks and at 9:00 a.m. it was up to 98.4, so who knows. I guess I'll see what tomorrow brings. If it's in the same vicinity tomorrow, my guess is that AF will arrive by Monday. Now today I'm feeling a bit crampy, but honestly I'm not sure if it's "cramps" or "other stomach issues." That's as much information as you need. If AF does come, I hope she comes tomorrow, so I'll know that I do "regularly" have a 12 day LP. Ok, stuff to do. I'll update if she decides to arrive today.

Lack of Motivation

Do you ever know you have alot to do, but have no desire to do it? That's kind of how I feel right now. I have 12 people coming to my house on Sunday, so I should probably start cleaning, so I won't have to do it all on Sunday morning, but have I cleaned this evening? No. I at least thought I'd do my meal plans for next week, so I could go to the grocery store in the morning when I'm out at the gym. Have I done that? No. So what have I done this evening? I got home from the gym at 7p.m., then made some dinner and sort of laid around on the couch. Then I got up and cleaned up a little of my mess in the kitchen and tried that dip. Oh yeah, I also wrote all of the receipts in the checkbook. All that and it's already 9:30 p.m. I could start cleaning now, but that seems like a waste. I kind of feel like heading to bed, but it's awfully early for a Friday night.

Month 3, Day 27 - 11 DPO

First of all I want to say I'm sorry for Erica and her BFN this morning. :( It's so disappointing when it looks so promising. Lots of long distance hugs to you! If it helps you kept me from sleeping much too. Everytime it would cross my mind last night my stomach would clench up, then I had a crazy dream this morning. You were here for a GWO and took your test in my guest bathroom. There were clearly too lines and I gave you a big hug and we went out to the guest bedroom to tell Danialle. (That's the normal part of the dream, there was also a weird guy from my office in the dream and for some reason we were all in bath towels, hmm.) It'll happen Erica, don't give up hope.

Not much new to say for me. I had another day of a 98.0 temperature. This month is hard to interpret because my chart is alot different than last month. I'm on the countdown now and will be testing in 5 days, unless AF arrives first. Looks like she won't be coming today, which means either A) I could be pregnant or B) if not pregnant, I didn't ovulate on day 14 with a 12 day LP. I definately don't expect AF tomorrow, but possibly on Sunday if I ovulated day 16 with a 12 day LP.

Month 3, Day 26 - 10 DPO

Six days until I can test. I feel a little weird today. Don't really know how to explain it. I'm sure it's nothing.

One More Thing

Eric told me this morning that last night he had a dream that I was pregnant. That has to be a good sign, right?

Month 3, Day 25 - 9 DPO

I'm getting so anxious for Erica. I got up this morning and couldn't wait to check her blog to see how her temps were doing. I think tomorrow will be the telling day. That is the day AF will be due for her on her "normal" cycles. If the temps are still up, she'll have one more day to wait and then can take that test.

Believe it or not, I haven't been obsessing this month nearly as much as previously. For some reason I'm just assuming I'm not. We made plans to go to a fancy dinner with Will & Samara next weekend, and Samara mentioned that they have great wine, but I wouldn't be able to drink any, and I corrected her and said that I'll know by then, and if not pregnant I'll be in the "safe zone." I'm not even assuming that it worked. Hopefully, that will make it easier if I'm not, and if I am...then I can get excited. My temps aren't as convincing as Erica's, but they are still plenty high and aren't giving me any reason to worry. Seven days until test.

New Link

I've done some re-arranging and have added a new link called "glossary." I added common terms and abbreviations used both in my TTC journey (look it up!) and in my diet, and with the girls. I put it on my own site, so if anyone wants me to add anything let me know and I'll try to keep it up to date.

Month 3, Day 23 - 7 DPO

Just stole Erica's link to her chart and added mine. That is so nice that other people can check and comment. By the way Erica your's looks great! I think that dip on Day 8 could be promising considering it went back up and is still nice and high! 4 more days!

Month 3, Day 21 - 5 DPO

I e-mailed a question on Fertility Friend and they changed the detector on my chart and it now agrees with me on the day 16 ovulation. For some reason that makes me feel better. Earlier today I was thinking about when to expect my period. It could come on 4 different days depending on when I ovulated and how long my lutal phase is. Either this Friday (Day 14 O-day & 12 day LP), next Sunday (Day 16 O-Day & 12 day LP), next Monday (Day 14 O-day & 15 day LP), or next Wednesday (Day 16 O-day & 15 day LP). Because of that variation I'll be waiting to test until next Wednesday (as long as I wake up that day with high temps). My temps are still nice and high right now, and I've seemed really tired, so maybe that's a good sign, but I'm sure it's too early to notice any pregnancy symptoms even if I am. Maybe next weekend I can speculate more on that.

Month 3, Day 19 - 3 DPO

I think there's something about the lutal phase, but I get very down on myself and discouraged. I have no reason to feel negative, but for some reason I feel like quitting. I seem to remember feeling this way last month too. Maybe it's some hormonal thing? Progesterone makes me crazy? Anyway, my temps have been nice and high and it's too early for any signs or symptoms either way, but I just feel blah! I don't know how people do this month after month. I'm pretty confident that this won't take too much longer, but I think after 6 months of charting, 3 more complete months, I'll take a break if I'm not pregnant yet, that seems to be Eric's ideal way to do it. Sure I say that, then I'd be a mess not knowing when i ovulated or if I was "late". I know not knowing exactly when it happened made me crazy last time I was pregnant. Ok, so I'll keep charting. It's just going to be a long 13 days.

Month 3, Day 18 - 2 DPO

Still not sure about O-day, but I'm calling it Monday. Today's temp was way up at 98.0, but I'm going to count all of the other indicators and call it Monday. So now the waiting begins. At least Erica's results will be in before mine, so I have another day to look forward to first. I hope the next 2 weeks go fast. I'm not planning on testing until 2/4. That would be 16 days past ovulation if Monday was the day. My longest lutal phase was 15 days, so that should be safe.

Let's just focus on the diet and exercise until then. I've lost 3 1/2 pounds in the last 2 1/2 weeks, so that's good. I'll just keep that up.

Month 3, Day 17

So I'm a little confused. I'm pretty sure I ovulated, but I'm not sure what day. My temp was 97.4 this morning and all of my CM has dried up. I also had some pains in my lower regions yesterday afternoon/evening that are not there today, that could have been ovulation pains. My temps however, suggest that Saturday may have been the day. I'm not sure how much weight to give that though, since I had some wine throughout the evening on Saturday.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure that ovulation has occurred and now I just need to wait to see if it worked. I'm hoping O-day was Monday rather than Saturday, because of our timing with "trying", but Saturday may give us a good shot too.

Erica sent me an e-mail about her huge temp rise this morning (5 DPO). I think that looks like a really good sign. I'll be curious to see what this month brings her. Hopefully a positive HPT and no AF.

Month 3, Day 16

We're getting to the important time of the month now. Last month I ovulated on Day 16, so I'm thinking this could be the day. Despite GWO, we've done a good job on the window, so if I see a spike tomorrow, I'll feel pretty good. We'll probably try again tonight to feel a little more confident. We got great news for Erica as her temperatures over the weekend confirmed that she did in fact ovulate this month, and thankfully, it happened before she left for our weekend. Looks like they may have had good timing too, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Hopefully there will be at least one positive pregnancy test this month.

I don't really feel that stressed this month. I'm not taking it for granted now. I think before I kind of assumed that it would happen really fast for me, since last time it did. Then last month, I thought we timed everything perfectly, so this month, I'm going to try to relax and just see what happens. I'm serious about the diet and exercise now, so that's where I've been trying to put most of my focus. We'll see what happens. We've only got about 10 days to wait for Erica to test.

GWO III

Wow, what a weekend. Today ends the 3rd GWO. We of course had a great time. Everyone got in safely on Friday and we spent the evening catching up on all the gossip. Saturday we had our "free day" breakfast at First Watch and it was heavenly. Erica and Danialle are also on the BFL diet thing so we were definately looking forward to Saturday. After breakfast we found a scrapbook store that we browsed for a while. Then we headed over to pick up Samara and go to the mall at Easton. It was a really icky day, so we did most of our shopping indoors, but it was still a good time to see the girls. Then the highlight of the evening was our dinner at the Melting Pot. For anyone who hasn't had fondue, you're missing out. All of us ladies certainly made it interesting as we sat and ate for 3 1/2 hours. Our waiter didn't seem to be especially happy with his job, but Heather made it more interesting for him, by getting his number at the end of the evening. Sunday, Heather headed for home, but the rest of us decided not to shower or do hair or makeup and went to browse at Babies R Us. That definately got at least 2 of us in baby mode. Hopefully soon we'll be able to shop there. After shopping we went back to the house saw the final sad moments of the Colts game and then played some dominoes. Dominoes lasted well into the evening and then Danialle and I ended the evening with some insightful discussion while waiting on Eric to decide he was ready for bed.

Monday morning we made quick breakfast and the rest of the girls left. Ahh, good times and only 3 more months until we can do it again.

Month 3, Day 9

It's been a while since I posted. I guess I was so into my dieting that keeping that blog updated has been enough to keep me busy. I had a not so relaxing weekend, so I'm looking forward to my days off this week and my upcoming Girl's Weekend Out. Eric has decided to redo the basement, which I think is a good idea, considering the decor when we moved in was a baseball theme and he's been hanging all his Colt's items, which is football. I finally agreed to his idea on painting the color to the Colt's blue, but we will also be adding a grey ragging technique on top. Anyway, to get the process started we have to take down the wallpaper. Not fun. Eric had football to watch this weekend, so I spent most of it in the basement stripping wallpaper. It's a slow process. He came down to help last night from 8:30 to 11, but we still aren't done. I'm hoping we can finish getting the paper down tonight and paint tomorrow, so I can clean, work on my scrapbook and actually relax on my days off Thursday and Friday.

Really looking forward to my Girls Weekend. I miss everyone even though we e-mail daily. I am also looking forward to my girls meeting Samara, since she's my best friend here in town. Hopefully everyone will get along and like each other and it will be tons of fun.

I think according to my past cycles, I'll probably start "trying" around Wednesday of this week. That's using my earliest O-day (16) and the 5-day rule for sperm survival. I'm not sure how the GWO will affect it. That will probably be the best timing considering either a day 16 or 19 O-day. We've said we will still try, but I'm not so sure, as I mentioned before, this wouldn't be a bad month to not get pregnant, so maybe we won't try that hard. I don't know, we'll see.

Month 3, Day 5

I've been doing all my posting in my Fitness blog this week. Not much to talk about on the baby front. My temps have been really low this month so far. I wonder if they are getting back to "normal." It's quite possible it is taking my body a little while to get on a "normal" cycle because I was on the pill, then pregnant, and now not. That's ok. I'm not really as pumped about trying this month. I think last month was just a real bummer. I've actually started thinking about if I get pregnant this month my due date would be in mid-October, then I would be back from maternity leave in mid-December. November to January are my absolute busiest months at work, so I'd be coming back to work right in the thick of it. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm certainly not delaying my trying to work around my work schedule.

Month 3, Day 1

Yes, that's right. AF found me bright and early this morning. I took my temp and saw a 97.4 and knew this wait was over. Sure enough when I got out of bed and into the restroom, AF had arrived. I'm sad.

Ok, let's look for the positives this month.
1. At least AF came in the morning, so I was prepared for the day at the Colts game. (That was completely awesome by the way).
2. Since the Colt's game was today I was busy all day and didn't really have time to mope.
3. Another month of charting gives me some history and I know I ovulated.
4. Another cycle of exactly 31 days.
5. Baby won't be due until at least October (a little cooler?).
6. At least one full month of dieting with weight loss goals is possible.

I think I'm out. Here are the negatives I can't quite put away.
1. I really want a baby.
2. What the heck kind of history do I have with a 12 day and 15 day lutal phase? Isn't only supposed to vary by 1 day?
3. I really want a baby.
4. I wasted money on 3 pregnancy tests.
5. I really want a baby.
6. I'm driving my husband crazy.
7. I really want a baby.
8. I have to wait another MONTH?!
9. I really wanted my first baby.

Well, my new chart starts today and we'll see what 2004 brings us. At least I enjoy charting, but I hope I don't have to wait much longer. If I hadn't lost my baby, I would be 26 weeks pregnant or towards the end of my 6th month. I really want to be pregnant and have been to the doctor and know everything's ok before my first due date gets here. If there isn't another baby on the way, that will be a very sad day for me.

Ok, I should head to bed. Tomorrow starts my 2004 dieting resolution. I have my meals packed already, but I will have to go to the gym, so I should get my sleep.

Month 2, Day 31, 15 DPO

I thought I'd update tonight since I may not get a chance tomorrow. Still nothing today, but I'm for some reason feeling discouraged. I've felt slightly crampy. Nothing major and it could just be gas, but I keep running to the restroom to check. I think I'd feel better if my temps would have stayed up at the 98.3 range.

Tomorrow Eric and I are traveling back to Indy to go to the Colts playoff game. I'm excited it should be really fun. Hopefully it will take my mind off of things for a day. I'll probably throw a tampon in my purse just in case, but hopefully I'll make it through another day with no AF.

If AF does come, I'll be really confused about my cycles. I didn't think you could have this much variation in the lutal phase. Hopefully, it's not a variation and I'm just pregnant. Not knowing either way for sure is killing me. Sigh...I suppose I'll know soon enough.

Month 2, Day 31, 15 DPO

So far so good. Another day without a visitor. This morning my temp was again 97.9, so while I wish I was still back up in the 98's I'm still above coverline and no change from yesterday. Let's cross our fingers that today, like yesterday, brings no visitors.

Yesterday I really felt nauseous all day long. I also had a headache for most of the afternoon. Eric and I went to Steak and Shake for dinner, but I couldn't even eat my sandwich. Not sure what that means, but I'll take what I can get.

I lied. I couldn't wait until Monday so I took another test. Still negative. So that's three this month. I bought some more yesterday, but now I really will wait until Monday. Stupid tests.

Month 2, Day 30, 14 DPO

Well, AF didn't come yesterday. Yeah! This morning my temp was 97.9 at at 6:15 a.m. I usually temp at 7:00 a.m. but Eric had to get up early for work and I really had to use the restroom so I did it early. It's a lower temp than I wanted to see, but 97.7 is my coverline, so I'm still above it. So I took another test. Still negative. I'm a little bummed, but I'm not giving up hope until AF comes.

So today I will hope that I have no visitor, which could be a good possibility since my temps didn't plunge yet. As you may remember from a previous post. I figured out that if your lutal phase only varies about a day on either side, the longest lutal phase I could have is 14 days. (If 13 is my normal and last month it was short when it was 12 days, 14 would be my long cycle). If that's the case, AF could come tomorrow. So if I make it through today and tomorrow with no visitor, I'll be about 90% sure that I am in fact pregnant and these stupid pregnancy tests are really wrong. In order to save some cash, I've decided to wait on my next test until Monday morning. Monday I would be 17 DPO and personally about 98% sure I am pregnant.

Today my plans include finishing my major house cleaning project I started yesterday. I still have to do the 2 upstairs bathrooms, my bedroom, and the basement. I also have another list of various projects to work on, so I'll try to get to most of those. At 2:00 p.m. I have a dentist appointment. I think I'll tell them not to X-ray just in case, but I really wish I was positive.

Ok, time for breakfast.

New Years

I hope you all had a happy New Year's. Ours was pretty good. We went over to our best friend's Will and Samara's. Samara and I started cooking some cheese fondue to snack on while we made a "fancy" dinner. The fondue was awesome, now I'm really looking forward to our girl's weekend when we are actually going to a fondue restaurant. Then we made the meal. Samara made a Salmon dish for her and Will, but since Eric and I aren't big fish fans we made Chicken Cordon Bleu for us. We also had a pesto angelhair pasta and salad. For desert we had cream puffs with carmel, chocolate, and powdered sugar. It was really pretty because Samara used her china for us, and focused a whole lot on presentation of the meal.

After we ate (about 10:30 p.m.) we broke out the new DVD trivial pursuit pop culture game Eric and I got for Christmas. We played boys vs. girls and had a very close game, but the boys ended up winning the final question. We played until about 1:30 p.m., but took a break to watch the ball drop and have that first New Year's kiss. It was nice.

So the new year is hear and I think I need some goals. Here they are.
1. Get back in shape - I know this is cliche but I really don't like what's happened to my body in the last 6 months. This goal will apply regardless of how soon I get pregnant. I'm preparing the diet/exercise plan today and maybe even starting tomorrow, if I can get rid of some candy. Monday will be the absolute latest I start.
2. Go back to church. I've neglected my spiritual life for a while. I need to get back into a church family and get active. I always like it when I'm involved, but then life seems to get in the way. I definately think growing up going to church and with spiritual parents made me a better person and I want to give my children that chance as well.
3. Work on my Scrapbook. I still haven't started my GWO scrapbook and now I need to do the journaling in the one my Mom gave me. Also I have the new journal chest that I need to get started on.

That seems pretty good for now. Happy New Year's everyone!

Month 2, Day 29, 13 DPO

I should have wrote yesterday, but I never got a chance. Here's what was going on at day 12 DPO. I woke up early (too excited to sleep) and took my temp. 40 minutes early than normal it was still at a beautiful 98.3. So I went to the bathroom and took a pregnancy test. It was negative. Despite the result, I wasn't that down. Here's why.

I compared my chart from last month to the one from this month and have noticed some very interesting and, I think, important differences. My temps in general are lower this month, but my pre-ovulatory pattern looks really similar to last month. Then post ovulation both charts temps go up and sort of spike at around 5 DPO. Then the changes happen. Last month after 5 DPO, the temps headed back down and hovered right around the coverline for the next 7 days. They didn't drop below coverline until 11 DPO and then they stayed below until AF started on 13 DPO. This month my temps started dropping on 6 DPO again, and then actually dipped below coverline on 7 DPO. Then on day 8, they went back up to where the 5 DPO spike was and have stayed well above coverline since. My hopeful interpretation is that my egg implanted on 7 DPO and my temps went back up to keep my uterus "warm" for the egg to grow.

I've had some other symptoms that could either be pregnancy or other things like stress, PMS, etc. Like I was really tired all day yesterday (12 DPO) and I've been a little moody and I have breast tenderness. In itself, that's not enough to say I'm pregnant, but with my new temp pattern, I'm hopeful.

I also did some reasearch and think that your HCG levels are rarely high enough to be picked up in a HPT until about 14 DPO. So even if I am pregnant, it may just be too early to detect.

Ok, so that was yesterday. I woke up and took my temp this morning and it was 98.0. I was hoping for another high like the last two days, but 98.0 is still above my coverline of 97.7, so I guess I'm ok with that. Today I just have to wait around and hope AF doesn't come. Today is the day it is due. If AF doesn't come and my temp is still above the coverline tomorrow, I will test again. Aaah, waiting, aint it fun?

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!

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.