Belly Pictures

Here's my belly picture. Amanda insists that I do them. Starting NOW. Even though I'm just my normal fat self.
Taken 2/26/09 around 5:30 pm. 4 weeks and 1 day pregnant

Beta Results

Yay! Yippee! Wahoo!

My beta was 80mIU/ml on 15 DPO. Wahoo!

That means that it almost tripled! (27 x 2.9=80)

Yay!

Could there be more than one peanut in there? Who knows!

I asked the nurse when he would want my first 'real' prenatal appointment to be and she said when my beta reaches 15,000.

So, I was like, um, what do I do then? Keep getting betas? (ugh, more blood draws!)

So, I did some quick math...I think I did it right.

If the beta of 80 on 15 DPO continues to TRIPLE every 2 days, that would mean I'd be back in 8 days.

If the beta of 80, doubles every 2 days that would mean I'd be back in 16 days.

If the beta of 80, doubles every 3 days (what they say is "normal") that would mean I'd be back in 24 days.

So, sometime between 1 and 3 weeks from now, I'll have another beta! We shall see...

Medicines I'm Allowed to Take

As of 2/26/09:

Regular Tylenol
Immodium AD
Gas-X

My friend Tabitha gave me this link to her doctor's website. It's great!

Pregnancy Symptoms that I adore

Well, I took my first sick day. I woke up about 4:30 am, with a God awful cramp in my stomach/lower back. After just a tiny bit of wiggling, I was able to decide that it was gas. Ugh. Yuck. I tried going to the bathroom, with no luck. So, I spent the next hour and a half miserable. At 6:00 am, I called Subfinder. There was no way I was going to work in that kind of pain. At 7:30 I got up, checked Subfinder, and then called the school to let them know I wasn't coming in, even though nobody had picked up the job. Oh well. It's not my responsibility.

So, almost as soon as I got off the phone, I ran to the bathroom, passed a TON of gas, and then got the liqui-poo. How grand. My doctor doesn't open until 8:30, so I can't ask about Gas-X or Immodium. Fun. I will defintely ask and then make a note. Actually, I think I'll start a FmyI post with the drugs my doc will allow me to take.

So, even though being gassy & then having the runs really does suck. I'll take it. Because it means the baby is okay.

I also have excruciating breast/nipple pain. Like agonizing. But, I'll take it.

I've also been running to the toilet about every hour. Which as a school teacher, bites. I have to choose between holding it until I can find someone to cover for me or leaving my kids alone. (2 of my 16 kids are suspended today, for fighting on the bus yesterday, good times)

Finally, I've woken up each day since at least Saturday with a headache. Not a migraine, but just a headache. Tylenol helps it, but so does eating. I think I might be a touch dehydrated over night. I'm going to get more bottled water today & try keeping some in the bedroom. (I'm getting up at least 2x a night to pee ALREADY!)

Tim says it's all in my head. But I don't think so. The other women on my Nov. due date board are all experiencing similar things.

Oh well. I can't wait to hear the results of the beta later on today!

Beta Results

Today's beta results were 27 mIU/ml. Low but OK for now.

We're hoping that the number on Wednesday is betwen 50 & 100. I won't have those results until Thursday though.

Please continue to pray for our little baby. (Who thanks to the ticker at the top, NOW looks like an actual baby & not just a ball of cells! Cool!)

hCG Levels

Hey Folks,
This is probably going to be a boring post for yins, but I need this info & I want to keep it handy!

Guideline to hCG levels during pregnancy:
hCG levels in weeks from LMP (gestational age)* :
3 weeks LMP: 5 - 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks LMP: 5 - 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks LMP: 18 - 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks LMP: 1,080 - 56,500 mIU/ml
7 - 8 weeks LMP: 7, 650 - 229,000 mIU/ml
9 - 12 weeks LMP: 25,700 - 288,000 mIU/ml
13 - 16 weeks LMP: 13,300 - 254,000 mIU/ml
17 - 24 weeks LMP: 4,060 - 165,400 mIU/ml
25 - 40 weeks LMP: 3,640 - 117,000 mIU/ml

So, tomorrow, we'll know what we're looking at when I get today's results!

The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy. It is made by cells that form the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall. Levels can first be detected by a blood test about 11 days after conception and about 12 - 14 days after conception by a urine test. In general the hCG levels will double every 72 hours. The level will reach its peak in the first 8 - 11 weeks of pregnancy and then will decline and level off for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Key things to remember about hCG levels:
In a bout 85% of normal pregnancies, the hCG level will double every 48 - 72 hours. As you get further along in pregnancy and the hCG level gets higher, the time it takes to double can increase to about every 96 hours.
Caution must be used in making too much of hCG numbers. A normal pregnancy may have low hCG levels and result in a perfectly healthy baby. The results from an ultrasound after 5 - 6 weeks gestation are much more accurate than using hCG numbers.
An hCG level of less than 5mIU/ml is considered negative for pregnancy, and anything above 25mIU/ml is considered positive for pregnancy.
The hCG hormone is measured in milli-international units per milliliter (mIU/ml).

AND JUST FOR MOM:
From betabase.com, a list of multiple pregnancy beta ranges:

DPO/Midrange levels/Lowest levels/Highest Levels

13/190/10/486 <--Monday
14/262/23/1157
15/356/16/2010 <--Wednesday

Mom thinks it might be boy/girl twins. If this is true, I'd just squeal with delight. I have always dreamed of twins.

What a DAY!

So, this morning I got up, went potty & dipped the FRER line test. I came in here & opened up all of the pages I frequent. When I looked down the FRER was already positive. I started tearing up. I ran into the bathroom & dipped the digital FRER. Then I came back & started typing to you all! When the YES+ popped up on that test, I burst into tears! OMG. I was SO happy!
I had a good little cry, went to my boards & shared the news & then went to tell the hubs. He was happy, but cold & wet coming out of the shower.
We are SO excited.
I got to work & waited for 8:30 to roll around....FINALLY I got ahold of the doctor & scheduled a 10:00am appointment. Then I called Subfinder & put in for an absence. Only they never got me a sub. So, I had to wait until the last minute to leave & then Mrs. White had someone cover my room.
I went to the doctor & he did an internal & a blood BETA. He also scheduled me for another BETA, on Wednesday. When I left the doctor's office, I called Dad & Amanda. Then I went to Chic Fil A for a quick lunch.
When I got back at school, it took me a good hour and a half to get back in the *zone* to teach. We had a decent math lesson, nothing like what we did the other day, but we got some work done.
After school, I checked my e-mail and then headed home, because I'm pooped.
Another pregnancy thing (besides the constipation, weepiness on 9DPO, and excema) is that yesterday I started having some breast tenderness. Spencer kicked me while I was changing him & it hurt. Today they hurt even if I touch them. Not fun, but I'll take it! I'm 13 DPO...my period wasn't even due until Wednesday! I feel good about this baby though, and I think he/she is going to be fine!

I'm still pregnant!

OMG. My heart is like a butterfly right now. The FRER line test is positive. I've NEVER gotten a positive on a FRER.


AGH! The digital is positive too!
I'm crying. OMG.

Must go tell Tim!

Sunday Update!

Well, it looks like I haven't blogged at all since Presidents' Day. I'm so sorry!

Monday the 16th Night:
We bought me a new computer! Yay! Tim now works for HP & they were having some awesome Pres. Day sales. When we combined that with Tim's employee discount we were able to save boo-koo bucks on a new sweet kick butt computer, 20" flat screen monitor, & an HP all-in-one photo printer! Yay! The printer & monitor arrived yesterday & the computer left Texas yesterday as well! Wahoo! I can't wait for the Sims 3 now.

Tuesday the 17th:
This is the day my constipation finally ended. That was wonderful. Oh, you didn't know I was constipated...well sheesh, I should have told you, I was stopped up for like 4 days! (I'm now thinking it could be a pregnancy thing! YAY!) It was a LOONG work day, followed by a Girl Scout meeting. Chrissy called, because she was working in my neighborhood & wanted to know if I could pick up Carolynn from her job site. I told her I couldn't, but Tim could. So Tim babysat until I got home from scouts. He did a GREAT job. Caro ended up being there quite late & we actually put her to bed!

Wednesday the 18th:
I can't remember. Isn't that sad?

Thursday the 19th:
I went to work. Mrs. White came in and observed me during workstations time. I still haven't had a post-observation meeting with her. She was supposed to e-mail me, but didn't. She said I needed to do more hands-on teaching. I was working with a group almost the entire time she was in there. Interesting. It was a half day for the kids, followed by a staff meeting for us. Boring, with a capital B. After the staff meeting I went back to my room & worked until around 6ish. Then I headed to Va Beach to babysit for my pal, Melanie. The only noteable thing really was that I was SUPER emotional all day & had to fight back tears on several occasions. When I got to Mel's and spent a bit of time on the computer, I realized that it was 9DPO in my cycle. This was the day that I burst into tears in church during my Nov. pregnancy.

Friday the 20th:
I had a long day at school. I taught math, whole group, for 3 1/2 hours & most of my kids GOT what I was teaching. I had previously spent 8 one hour sessions trying to teach the SAME material in small group. (Each group got about 25 minutes of my time.) In one three hour lesson, I got kids to mastery. I hate teaching in small group. I got the boys right after school & headed home. Mandy picked them up very soon after we got back to the house & I went to chillaxx on my computer. Only around 5:00 Chrissy showed up on my doorstep with all 4 kids. She wanted to know if I'd babysit while she went to the job site in my neighborhood & finished up. Sure, why the hell not. So, we had the big kids & Caro until about 7:30ish & they were good. When Chrissy got home we all went out to Golden Corral for dinner. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth $27 smackers! After dinner we pretty much crashed.

Saturday the 21st:
That day started out with the excitement & worry over the light lined test. I spent too much time analyzing and taking pictures & then had to race to get to Saturday school on time. After Saturday school, I dropped a student off at home, went to 7-11 to put gas in the truck & went to Pep Boys to buy the wrong brakes. I didn't know they were the wrong brakes until tonight, though. When I got home, I got busy cleaning our house. James was already here, helping Tim work on my car (new front brakes & a new serpentine belt!) but Missy and the T-Man were coming at 4:00. As it was I didn't get the chores done until closer to 5:45, but I did eventually get the house clean. Missy and I chatted while I cleaned & fixed dinner. We had Italian chicken, peas, bread sticks, and baked potatoes. After dinner I was beat. The boys played video games & Missy & I chillaxxed on the couch. When James and Missy left, I crashed, hard.

Sunday the 22nd:
Another super light test greeted me first thing this morning. Bummer. I was hoping the lines would darken up. It showed up after 2 minutes though, so it's definitely NOT an evaporation line. We got ready for church & I did some dishes. We had to pick up Spencer and Grayson on our way to church & they weren't ready. We managed to get them ready & out the door JUST in time to squeak in the doors at church before the service started. After church we headed to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Mmm mmm good! After that, we buzzed home, and then buzzed back out to James and Missy's house. The plan was to put the rear brakes on my car & set-up a grill of James & Missy's. Only, my car has drum brakes, not disc, so they didn't need changed! And there were some other guys there to visit, so not a lot of work got done. Oh well. Missy made a yummy dinner that I couldn't really eat. I just wasn't feeling hungry at all. After dinner we started packing the boys up & got ready to leave. When we left we headed to Amanda's to get some formula & then we headed to Wal-Mart to get the pregnancy tests. I got a 4 pack of FRER tests. Three are lines & one is a YES/NO digital. I also got a 2 pack of Clearblue digitals. So I have 3 of each kind. Yay! We also got $70 worth of wires, so Tim can use the t.v. in the office as a monitor & a shower mirror. I picked up a few baby things on clearance too, for Caro. When we got home, we vegged out & Grayson ran around and played. Lindsey just picked the boys up around 10:45. So, now that this post is done, I'm heading to bed.

The plan for tomorrow is to call the doctor & try to get a blood test ASAP. I'm going to take a line test first & then if there's anything there, switch to digital.

Keep the prayers flowing!

Here's today's test again. Stacey from Diaperswappers touched up the contrast so you can REALLY see the second line! Yay!

Side by Side Comparison

Here is a side by side comparison of Saturday's test vs. Sunday's test. You be the judge.

I am not going to test tonight. I'll take another (or two) in the morning. That way I have new info. to give the doctor.

This is just a quick post, Grayson and Spencer are still here & my belly/back are still crampy. Also, I've been EXHAUSTED all day!

PS. This is coming to you from my new 20" monitor!

Another, can you see it?

Hey Folks,

Since this is about ALL I can think about right now, it's all I have to post for now. Hopefully I'll come by and do a LONG Sunday update tonight.

OK. This is the same picture, just in the bottom one I drew you an arrow to help you find the line. It is a lot fainter today, which is depressing & scary. I'm praying like crazy, begging God to let me have this baby and to keep it safe and snug in my womb. I KNOW there is a tiny little baby in there just wanting to be ours forever. It's just so hard to be excited when there's so much fear. I'm terrified of losing it, I want it so badly.

Here's a prayer that one of my Diaperswappers Mamas sent to me.

Dear heavenly Father,
I come before you right now to lift my sister, Steph, and also myself up to you in prayer.

We both know and awknowledge you are the true creator and you make everything perfect. We give you admiration, praise, and love, Lord, for everything you do is good.

We thank you right now for answering our prayers, for looking inside our hearts and learning our deepest desires. You are faithful and GOOD!

Lord, we ask that you keep your angels over us. We ask that you set up your wonderful hedge of protection around us, our bodies, and these precious children that you have knit into our wombs.

We are putting our utmost faith into you, God. We believe your word and we believe in you.

Give us your strength, God, in our moments of weakness. Remind us gently of your promise in our moments of doubt.

You are beautiful and wonderful and so worthy of our praise. We love you, Lord and we pray this prayer in your son Jesus' precious and holy name.
Amen!

I'll be picking up some digital tests and some more line tests tonight. Digitals aren't as sensitive so I think I'm going to wait to try those, because I definitely DO NOT want to see "NOT PREGNANT" on a test.

Please, please, pray for our little baby!

Can *YOU* See It?

Here's one more, from the scanner. That's the control on top & the test line on bottom.

I'm 11 DPO today. This first one is Straight-Out-of-the Camera or SOOTC.

So is this one!

In this picture I turned all of the midtones down. You can see it here, I think.

In this one I turned the color hue and saturation way up and I think you can see it there too.

Here's another sootc.

Tell me what YOU think!


PS. Tim can see it! In REAL LIFE! OMG. Amanda you need to come look at my pee stick! Puh-LEASE!

Another TTC Update

Well, I know you probably get tired of these updates...BUT, here's another.

Today was 15 DPO, official time for Aunt Flo to show & nothing. So, I hacked my chart to pieces and I have now changed my O date. I "disturbed" all of the temperatures I had on days where I was too sick to get out of bed & now it says I am only 9 DPO. Great, that means AF isn't late and all....BUT, there is absolutely NO chance of me being pregnant, if I am 9 DPO, because we didn't "finish" the one time we had sex even REMOTELY close to the O date, I now have. (Which was still like 4 days before it says I Oed.) So, I'm out for this month. Which is depressing and not helping with me being sick as a freaking dog. (OK, so I've said this phrase quite a few times in the last couple days & I just googled it...) I am heading to the Urgent Care Center tomorrow after Saturday School to get some treatment. I now have what I believe is bronchitis and have had 4 (yes FOUR) asthma attacks today.

So, no Trick or Treat baby for me. Oh well. I'll try not to cry TOO much about it. I am taking my promised break from TTC boards & charting though. No more boards, starting today, no more charting as soon as AF shows.

Wii Fit & TTC

Well, folks, it's official! I LOVE Wii Fit! I haven't even had it a week yet & I'm already loving it so much! Even when I'm tired & ragged from work, I want to do my Wii Fit exercises. I skipped the yoga & balance yesterday & today, because I've discovered a great new thing--BOXING! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is SO fun! I did the original one like 4 times today (3 minute sessions) until I got 3 stars out of four. Then I tried the "advanced" sessions (6 minutes) and got three stars on my first try! I was SO excited! I can REALLY feel the exercise both while I'm doing it & later. I can feel it in my arms, legs, and stomach! Yay! I love exercising! The only craptastic part? I'm doing it at night & then I can't fall asleep. How to get around that? I guess eventually I'll have to get up early enough to do it before work. UGH.

So, on the TTC front. Things are not looking good. I'm 14 DPO, supposedly, but no sign of old Aunt Flo yet. Pregnancy tests last night & tonight were both negative. I'm fully expecting her to make her appearance tonight, during my slumber. But, I do normally spot for a day or so before AF...so it's wierd.

I just looked at my chart. I have spotted for one day (AT LEAST) on every single cycle and most cycles that I was ovulating on I spotted for 2 days...so what is going on! Tomorrow, if I'm not bleeding, I'm going to take another test, as AF is officially supposed to start then. It can't be the exercise, because you can't change your LP. You can change your Pre-O cycle length, but not your LP. So, I don't know what's going on. Pray for me, I'd really like to be pregnant this month since it would make my due date Oct. 2, 2009! A little Halloween baby! If I miss this month, I'll have to dress up as the dumb "bun in the oven" costume because I'd be preggo on Halloween (which is my MOST favorite holiday of the year!)

And still, if I'm not pregnant this cycle, I'm NOT going to chart next month. Not going to do it.

OK, the Oreos are calling my name & I must resist...so I'm off to bed!

Big Update!

Wow, what a weekend! This may be one crazy scatter brained post, b/c I'm C&Ping a lot of it from my TTC board! (Sorry!)

On the trying to make a baby front:

Well things seem to be a little more steady with my pre-O temps. I'm just hoping I get a few more low temps in before I O. I'm on CD 9 & O between 14-16, so I should be able to get some low ones in there, so that I don't have a high coverline. I'm remarkably laid back this cycle. I told Tim a few days ago that we needed to have sex today & then dropped it. I texted him last night (we weren't together, b/c I was babysitting at the kids' house while he went out with buddies) that I wanted him. We pretty much continued the flirting & banter all day until I FINALLY got home around 8:30! Yay for LOTS of anticipation!

I just took a nice warm, relaxing bath and ready some Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). There's a whole chapter called "Lovemaking not Babymaking"...that's what I was reading tonight. I'm going to back and re-read all the parts about infertility. I love that book--it has taught me SO much about my body! It's great to know that I'll never need to go back on hormonal BCP! Yay!

I go back to work tomorrow. UGH. They SHOULD NOT give us 2 weeks off. I don't wanna go back! Whine, cry, stomp feet, and all <---I'm throwing a fit! I have SO enjoyed the last 2 weeks, even this weekend babysitting, because I wasn't dealing with work stress & now I have the Science Fair in 3 weeks & only 2 judges! ACK!

We never made it roller skating. It was $9 a person & the two littles wouldn't have been able to skate, so we skipped it! Oh well. Maybe another day.

Today, we went to Olive Garden for lunch (with Tom, Peggy, and Beth to celebrate Tom's birthday!) & then saw "Bedtime Stories." It was VERY good & I totally recommend it! (Tim and I went alone, no kiddos & LAUGHED OUT LOUD!) We also went to Sports Authority and looked at skating pads. Tim wants me to wear full on protective gear if I skate in the neighborhood & I'm willing to, if he buys it. (It's over $40 for a set of pads & another $50 for a helmet!) Then we went to the mall & walked around the Disney Store and Kay's. I was eyeballing a necklace (the exact same locket I used to have & lost) and a cross charm. I want a box chain to put them on that I can swap the two out & have 2 n 1 necklaces! Sometimes I feel like wearing a cross...and the locket was my every day necklace until I lost it on a trip to PA. Cry.

Here's a picture of the cross I picked out!

And here's a picture of my locket, that Tim gave me when we had only been dating a short time!

Oh, oh, another thing...a lady came up to us at church, who I've had very limited interactions with & definitely not in the last 2 1/2 years to tell us a story. Apparantly, she had a dream about me. I was PREGNANT & had just found out it was a BOY! She said she's had these dreams before & has normally been right! She seemed nervous to tell us (only one fam. at church knows we're trying, the Pastor doesn't even know). She was like, "I'm not sure how to say this & I don't want you to take it the wrong way, but....I don't know if you're trying, if this is good news to you or what, but I just thought I'd tell you!" I used to watch her now 6 year old in the church nursery. I haven't even been to church in several weeks. She even said, at first, she couldn't place me! I feel SUPER bad because I know her husband's name (Roger) and both of her boys' (Owen and Colin) but cannot think of her name! Ugh! Anyway, Tim was pretty excited by the news, because you know he'd love to have a little boy! (although we now have NO boy choice decided upon!)

Tim's playing Wii & I'm relaxing a bit but I think we're heading to bed soon. We both go back to work tomorrow & neither of us is looking forward to it!

Guess what! Today my freaking insane monster period from hell DRIED UP! Completely dry since at least 1 o'clock! Can you believe that! Agony for 48 hours & now nothing! I took a darvacet this morning to get through church & by the time it was over, nothing. I did pray & get prayed over though, for healing & peace. Perhaps this is God's work. I surely hope so (and I believe he heals people in HIS time.)
The message at church today was to see the positive side of things & I really needed that. (Mind you, we were visiting my parents' crazy hippy church.) I had been really down in the dumps and depressed & seeing only the negative of the whole TTC journey.
I got to thinking. Dh and I have been married 2 years and 5 months. We've been together for 5 years in January. We're young and in love. Making a baby needs to be less of a CHORE and more FUN. Now don't get me wrong, we are enjoying ourselves....but the constant worry & nagging & obsessing has dragged (drug?) me down. I'm going to strive to look at TTC as a time for DH and I to build a closer relationship with each other & to truly enjoy the time we have ALONE w/o a baby, so that we will cherish our lives together after a baby even more.
Do you follow that?

Aunt Flo

Well, I'm officially on Cycle Day 1 of Cycle 7. Today marks 1 year that I've been trying to concieve. That's kind of sad. In 12 months, I've had 6 cycles. That right there makes my chances of getting pregnant 1/2 that of a "regular" woman.

I'm beginning to think there are no "regular" women. The ttc boards are jam packed with women who are having difficulties getting or staying pregnant. My IRL friends have had troubles getting/staying pregnant. It's just depressing.

Since I started the provera to induce Cycle 4, my periods have knocked me flat on my back. I thought it was the Provera at first...then I thought it was the Clomid, then I thought it was the miscarriage, now I know that's just how it's going to be for me. I'm expecting a migraine headache that kicks my ass around CD 6-8. I had 2 days of spotting this cycle. At first it was barely there pink tinged tissue. Then it was slightly heavier but still barely there on the tissue & pad.

Around 3 o' clock yesterday (Friday) I doubled over in pain and was in tears. I had the worst cramps. My parents didn't have a heating pad, so I got into the bath tub. I played an episode and a 1/2 of Prison Break while I soaked in a scalding hot bath. That helped a lot.

After the bath, I went to bed and just laid there, curled up in a ball. Around dinner time, my mom came in to get me and I was crying silently from the pain. I was still watching Prison Break b/c I couldn't sleep through the pain. After dinner, I asked Tim and Dad to go out and buy a heating pad. I went back to bed. This time I sat indian style & piled a bunch of pillows in front of me and curled down onto them. It helped.

When Tim brought me the heating pad, he said that Dad wanted to watch the latest Mummy movie. So I went out into the living room to watch the movie with them, heating pad in tow. I managed to make it through the movie.

As I was getting ready to go to bed, I had a little heart-to-heart with Tim. I told him I feel like a failure. I can't seem to do it right. I want so badly to be pregnant. I've quit drinking caffiene, I take the folic acid every day, I try to watch what I eat, I have been getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of water. I just want a baby. I ended up crying, but Tim was comforting and reassuring. It's nice to know that he loves me no matter what and that he doesn't blame me. He's not very open about how he feels about all this, so when he opens up even a little, it means a lot to me.

I didn't sleep well last night, but at least this time I wasn't hot! My parents house is ridiculous, it gets hot if someone even walks fast! So it's generally around 77* in here...when we're cooking it can get over 80*! We opened our window last night, so we'd be comfortable. Ahh.... I got up at 9:30 and changed my pjs...my period had come full force during the night. It was a mess. I cleaned up as best as I could and got a drink, then went back to sleep. I got up about 11:30, still in agony, and took one of mom's darvacet pills. Ahhh...within 1/2 a hour, I was pain free.

I think it's wearing off now though, and I'm going to take another I think. We are supposed to be going to Uncle Tony & Aunt Dianne's house soon. They're ordering pizza for dinner. I don't get a lot of time to go online, since we're trying to "relax" and do stuff together.

Oh, we did decide to chart in January and try. If we get pregnant this month it will give us a due date somewhere between Oct. 4 and 14. (depending on when/if I ovulate) If I don't get pregnant in January (but I did ovulate on my own), I am not going to chart in February. If after February, I'm not pregnant I'm going to ask to be put on Clomid again & have more tests done. There is a theory that athough it can LOOK and feel like I've ovulated, the egg could be a cyst on my ovary that never got released...which can be bad. So, if Idon't get pregnant by Feb. I'm going to ask for another internal ultrasound too.

Ok, I think that's all for now.

-Steph

An update!

OK, so what are we looking at here?
1. I ovulated on my own on CD 12! Wahoo! The only downside of this is that now, my doctor says I don't need Clomid anymore. Even though I liked it! (I had a longer fertile phase & more fertile quality cervical fluid.)

2. I am 10 (days past ovulation) DPO and my temp spiked big time today. For the first time in a year of charting, I recorded a temperature higher than 98.2*. My temperatures today were 98.46* and 98.62*. So you might ask why did I recorded 98.3* today? Well, that's because I woke up late.

3. I have had some new "possibly pregnant" symptoms! Heartburn, crazy bloatedness, exzema, crampy-ness, and frequent urination. The only one of those I've noticed before was the exzema last month & it's not as bad this month. My skin is definitely drier but I'm also not letting it get bad. (Lotioning up & all that good stuff...)

4. I'm really and truly hopeful that this could be the month. If I am pregnant, we are going to beg and plead with Dr.Morgan to get some bloodwork done before I leave town to make sure my hormone levels are ok. I don't want to go to PA and then have another miscarriage & not be able to get to a doctor.

So there you have it, a ttc update! Wish me luck & if you pray, please pray that we are pregnant & that it's a nice healthy sticky little poppy seed!

Chemical Pregnancy

Well folks, it's confirmed.



I have just experienced a chemical pregnancy. Basically that means that I WAS pregnant, but that the hormones in my body didn't support the pregnancy & I miscarried.


The plan is:

A. wait for bloodwork to come back tomorrow
B. take December off of the baby making. (no 9/09/09 baby for me!)
C. Chart only my temps & try to be "stress free"
D. If I ovulate NATURALLY then we will TRY TRY TRY. If I don't, I'll wait & see what happens period wise. If I get a period, yay! If not, oh well. I'll go a month & then call Dr. Morgan & have him give me provera to start my period, so that I can move onto another round of Clomid.
E. If I ovulate naturally, then we have to decide whether or not we want to continue to use Clomid (just for added assurance that I will O or to regulate my cycle) or go at it on our own w/o the Clomid.





Becuase I WAS pregnant, we know that:
A. my tubes are open (or at least 1 of them is)
B. Tim's sperm can do the job
C. I am indeed ovulating thanks to the Clomid
D. Tim and I are able to time intercourse correctly
E. The only tests we may still need to do are hormonal!



Here's some info on chemical pregnancies, C & Ped from Babyhopes.com



What Is A Chemical Pregnancy?
A chemical pregnancy is the clinical term used for a very early miscarriage. In many cases, the positive pregnancy test was achieved before the woman’s period was due but a miscarrige occured before a heartbeat was able to be seen on an ultrasound.
With the ultra sensitive pregnancy tests on the market today, it is easier than ever to get a positive result 3 or 4 days before your period is due. It is wonderful for those who NEED to know, but does have it’s down side. Early testing shows chemical pregnancies which would not have been detected had the woman waited for her period to arrive.
Chemical pregnancies are unfortunately very common. 50 to 60% of first pregnancies end in miscarriage very early in pregnancy. Most occur without the woman even knowing that she was pregnant.
What Causes a Chemical Pregnancy?
Most chemical pregnancies are due to chromosomal problems in the developing fetus. Other possible causes are inadequate uterine lining, uterine abnormalities both congenital or acquired like fibroids, low hormone levels, luteal phase defect or certain infections.
How can I Prevent Chemical Pregnancies?
Most chemical pregnancies can not be prevented. If you have recurring chemical pregnancies, your doctor should be able to investigate and help you formulate a treatment which is best for you. Potential treatments include vitamin B6 (at least 50mg a day), progesterone cream, and baby asprin. Be sure to discuss potential treatments with your doctor.



And here's a balloon for my little lost poppy seed:

Wordless Wednesday!

I'm starting CLOMID tomorrow folks! Check it out!

Click the picture to make it bigger so you can read it!