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second baby in our family, first baby in my body
EMG_REL
Posts: 2,379
I just returned home from my first visit to a highly recommended RE, and I feel that our journey to baby #2 has finally begun. We have not yet tried to conceive but have chosen to begin this summer because we are both teachers. I want to use this thread to document what I hope will be a smooth road to conception.
If you're wondering why I've already been to a specialist, it's for a few reasons:
1. We only have 8 vials of our donor in storage, so we only plan to TTC at home once in July before we move on to the doctor assisted route in August. It's important to us that our two children are biologically connected.
2. Two years ago, I had uterine polyps that had to be removed via D&C. Polyps, according to our OB, are relatively common and not always detected; mine were detected because I was having mid-cycle spotting and went in to investigate. Regardless, I worry that this has somehow lowered my chances of conceiving.
3. Unlike my DP, I am overweight, and I have had issues with acne and facial hair; I have not been formally diagnosed with PCOS, but my feeling is that it's possible, even though my cycles are pretty regular.
So here are the next steps, according to the RE's office: Today is CD14, and I usually get my smiley on CD16 (at the latest ever, it was CD19). On the day that I get my smiley, I am to call their office in the morning (by 6:45, which sort of worries me because I tend to get my positive in the late morning hours) to schedule to come in for bloodwork that day. The next tests will be on CD3 at the beginning of June and sometime between CD5-10 a few days later. I'm anxious to get started!
Cycle history:
I've been tracking since July 2012 using Fertility Friend because I knew that we would be starting to try in July 2013 and wanted to have a year to understand my body. I didn't start temping until January 2013, though. My EWCM indicates like clockwork that my smiley will arrive in the next two days, but the start of EWCM varies between CD14-17. My temp shift has been less reliable, but during most months, the rise happens within 24 hours of my +OPK. After discussing all of this with the RE today, she confirmed that it will be a good idea to try our first at-home insemination (IVI with two ICI vials) at 12 and 24 hours past the smiley.
One more note that I want to document here to hold myself accountable is that I lost 40 pounds in the fall of 2011 and have gained most of it back since my dad passed away in the spring of 2012. I can't seem to get back on the wagon, and I really do want to. I'm 5'9" and 195 pounds; at my thinnest, I was 175 pounds. I'd like to at least get back down into the 180s before we start TTC.
Thanks for reading. I'm hoping that all or any of what I document will be of some help to someone. When we got my DP pregnant in 2010, I learned every single thing from this forum. For her, we succeeded on the second cycle with inseminations at 7 and 24 hours past her smiley. I can only hope to be so lucky.
If you're wondering why I've already been to a specialist, it's for a few reasons:
1. We only have 8 vials of our donor in storage, so we only plan to TTC at home once in July before we move on to the doctor assisted route in August. It's important to us that our two children are biologically connected.
2. Two years ago, I had uterine polyps that had to be removed via D&C. Polyps, according to our OB, are relatively common and not always detected; mine were detected because I was having mid-cycle spotting and went in to investigate. Regardless, I worry that this has somehow lowered my chances of conceiving.
3. Unlike my DP, I am overweight, and I have had issues with acne and facial hair; I have not been formally diagnosed with PCOS, but my feeling is that it's possible, even though my cycles are pretty regular.
So here are the next steps, according to the RE's office: Today is CD14, and I usually get my smiley on CD16 (at the latest ever, it was CD19). On the day that I get my smiley, I am to call their office in the morning (by 6:45, which sort of worries me because I tend to get my positive in the late morning hours) to schedule to come in for bloodwork that day. The next tests will be on CD3 at the beginning of June and sometime between CD5-10 a few days later. I'm anxious to get started!
Cycle history:
I've been tracking since July 2012 using Fertility Friend because I knew that we would be starting to try in July 2013 and wanted to have a year to understand my body. I didn't start temping until January 2013, though. My EWCM indicates like clockwork that my smiley will arrive in the next two days, but the start of EWCM varies between CD14-17. My temp shift has been less reliable, but during most months, the rise happens within 24 hours of my +OPK. After discussing all of this with the RE today, she confirmed that it will be a good idea to try our first at-home insemination (IVI with two ICI vials) at 12 and 24 hours past the smiley.
One more note that I want to document here to hold myself accountable is that I lost 40 pounds in the fall of 2011 and have gained most of it back since my dad passed away in the spring of 2012. I can't seem to get back on the wagon, and I really do want to. I'm 5'9" and 195 pounds; at my thinnest, I was 175 pounds. I'd like to at least get back down into the 180s before we start TTC.
Thanks for reading. I'm hoping that all or any of what I document will be of some help to someone. When we got my DP pregnant in 2010, I learned every single thing from this forum. For her, we succeeded on the second cycle with inseminations at 7 and 24 hours past her smiley. I can only hope to be so lucky.
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I got my smiley this afternoon and will be calling tomorrow morning to go in tomorrow. Excited to get rolling!
...man, I wish we had some swimmers today! Next month won't work either because we'll be on vacation. The stars are still aligning for July.
My next step is to call on CD1 to have CD3 testing. According to FF, CD1 should be around June 1st.
Anyway, my temperature was still down this morning (97.3, same as yesterday), and I do expect it to rise before tomorrow morning. At least I hope so, so that will confirm my 12 and 24 hour plan!
I'll let you know what my results turn out to be. They had to "send it away" to another lab.
The next thing I'll need to have done is a sonohistogram. This needs to be performed by a doctor, which means that I can't have it done on a weekend day. This is a total bummer for me because it must happen between days 5-10 of my cycle, and I absolutely cannot take time away from work this week for several reasons, unless it can happen on Friday (and apparently no doctors are in on Friday, either? Annoying.). Otherwise, I have to wait until my next cycle. Honestly, that could work to our advantage because my next cycle will be our try-at-home cycle, so taking a quick peak at my fallopian tubes beforehand wouldn't be a bad thing.
The worst part about this is that I'm a total control freak and have been tracking my cycles for a year. The last time I had a D&C almost two years ago, my cycles were wacky for at least 8 months. I hate that I'm not going to be able to predict myself as well now.
I'm trying to just relax and be thankful that the polyps were found and are being taken care of BEFORE we waste time and sperm TTC. I know that polyps reduce the chances for pregnancy, so this is a GOOD thing. Sigh.
ETA: I forgot to mention that my fallopian tubes "look nice and open", so that's good. I just spoke to my mom and my DP on the phone, separately, and they both reassured me a lot. I'm starting to feel better and see this as a blessing.
To further complicate matters, however, I have a colonoscopy scheduled for July 2nd, which will be during my period. It's a long story, but because of my family history (both dad and paternal aunt had colon cancer), I'm supposed to be examined before I'm 33. I'm 30 now, and my DP and I thought it might make the most sense to do it before I get pregnant to get it out of the way. So the first week of July will include both a colonoscopy and a D&C for me. Fun!
Oh, and I got my predictable CD16 smiley today.
Yesterday was the first day that I wasn't spotting, but recovery was easy. The procedure was on Tuesday, and I think Thursday and Friday were probably the crampiest for me but nothing more than the feeling of regular period cramps.
The big question now, of course, is whether my ovulation will be changed. As planned, the tank arrives on Thursday, which is CD13, the earliest smiley I've ever gotten. I'm going to start POAS on Wednesday, just in case, but I can always tell when the smiley is on its way by the arrival of my EWCM the day before. I hope that still happens this cycle, so I don't get confused!
See, it's totally crazy for me to panic. On any other cycle, I would get EWCM one day and nonchalantly know that my smiley was coming probably the next day--and it did. Also, my surge is never super short, so I can't have missed it. Or did the polypectomy speed up my cycle so much that it sped up my surge, too?
^ I don't know why it's not showing up, but it's a picture of my positive smiley test!
+ 18 hours will be 3:30am. I didn't test between 6:30 and 9:30 this morning because H and I were visiting my mom (Yes, we're all early risers!), and I had a feeling at around 9:00, so I think I'll set our alarm for 2:45 to aim for 3:00am.
Here we go!!!
P.S. My CM has returned to a nice eggwhite texture, but I read online that the yellow stuff could be super fertile, anyway.
By the way, since the tank has been in our house (arrived Thursday), I've gotten approximately a total of 8 hours of sleep. I've also been congested, which doesn't help, but I think it's mostly because I'm excited. But I'm also exhausted, haha.
Ovulation day: So far at about 7:30am, I feel like stuff is "up there" for the very first time in my life. There is a fullness that I didn't expect. I'm hoping for some O pains this morning, and I'm willing to bet I'll get them by noon. -- It's now 9:55am, and I've been having some twinges since 9:30 that I'm hoping are ovulation cramps and not gas, but my stomach is all in knots from excitement, anyway! -- At nearly 8pm, I've noticed EWCM throughout the day and am hoping it dries up before tomorrow to help confirm our timing. We may have been a little early? I'm going to try not to obsess about the possibilities...
1DPO: Since bedtime last night (It's 12:30pm now.), my breasts have been sore. This usually happens sometime during my luteal phase but rarely so soon after ovulation. I'm taking it as a good sign that my hormones shifted and that I did ovulate on time, though. Otherwise, I finally slept last night. I'm still a little crampy/full but not as much as yesterday. Also, my CM is more lotiony today, though I did have a glob of non-stretchy, cloudy stuff a little while ago. -- It's almost 4:30pm now, and I just got off of the treadmill where I swear I could feel my nipples rubbing against my sports bra more than ever before.
2DPO: I felt nothing interesting all day, except for a little bit of bloating and yellow CM, but I've been having some mild cramping since about 4pm (It's 9:30pm now.). I also usually have a few pimples by now after ovulation, and I'm totally clear...which could also be a positive result of the polyps being gone. Otherwise, the girls are still sensitive, but that's about it. Another day down!
3DPO: This is silly. I'm documenting what could just be PMS, anyway, so I'm going to quit driving myself crazy and wait to focus on it until I test next Tuesday. It's going to be a long week regardless. -- But I can't stay away! It's 8pm, and here's what's going on today: took a two-hour nap in the afternoon, very sore shoulders from carrying some boxes yesterday (probably just normal strain), continued cough and congestion from since before ovulation, cramps when I'm sitting, backache (everyday but not mentioned before because I almost always have lower back pain), increased thirst, heartburn (with a little bit of acid creeping up into my throat, BUT I ate pizza for dinner) and gas bubbles...but all of this stuff could just be regular life! I wish I could stop googling symptoms. An hour or two ago, I cried to my DP about how the TWW is just too long.
I'll continue my "symptoms" log in a new post later today.
5DPO: I just "woke up" (It's 6am.); I put it in quotations because I had a terrible time sleeping, and when I did sleep, my dreams were intensely vivid. In one, there was a pregnancy test involved, but I can't remember if it was positive or negative. I just remember the excitement of peeing on it being very real. After that one, I got up to pee, which is not usual for me. It was 1:11am, and I made a wish. I got back in bed and tossed and turned for what I thought was an hour or so, but when I looked, the clock said 4:11. Between then and now, I had a dream about my dad for the first time in quite a while. The gist of it was that I was able to rewind to July of 2011 and tell him that he was going to die on March 28, 2012 (which did really happen), unless he was willing to take better care of himself. I spent the rest of the dream consoling him and monitoring what he ate and drank. I can still feel his head in the crook of my right arm. All night, it didn't help that I had heartburn and gas pains, and the anxiety of the dreams just made my stomach worse. -- It's now 8:30am, and I'm just feeling generally yucky. I still have the same cough and congestion that I acquired about three days before O. My head hurts, and everything I eat gives me heartburn. I'm tired from not sleeping well and irritable because of it. I felt something "come out of me" before I left the house earlier, and it was watery CM, but inside the CM is still generally creamy with white specks. My stomach is "burny", and I've gone to the bathroom twice. Blah day. -- Now 9:45pm. My mood improved throughout the day. The gas bubbles returned in the afternoon and are still here. There were two spots of creamy CM in my underwear tonight. This is new: my left labia is sore. Either my son kicked me without me noticing (which is possible, but he's a kicker, and I've never felt this before) or something interesting could be happening. I hope I sleep better tonight.
6DPO: I slept much better last night. One dream was sexual and vivid. I still have creamy CM today and have been having gas and AF-like cramps off and on. The weirdest thing so far today (it's almost noon, by the way) was a random throbbing pain to the right of my belly button that lasted maybe a minute and then disappeared. Otherwise, I'm not especially tired or hot or anything like that. Should I test on Sunday (8DPO) or not do that to myself? -- It's about 4:15pm, and I recently had the craziest hot flash accompanied by acid reflux and cramps. I'm inside of my air-conditioned house on the couch, and my shirt is wet from sweat. The flash has basically left, but the reflux and cramps are still here. DP wanted to go out for an early dinner, but I told her I feel sick. Then I said, "Either it's because I'm getting my period in a week, or I'm pregnant!" and she gave the cutest little excited laugh. She hasn't been letting herself get excited, and I'm trying not to, too! -- It's 6:15pm, and for the second time today, on my toilet paper, there was what can only be described (WARNING: GROSS) as a crunchy little green booger. The first time, it was so small that I couldn't even get it off of the toilet paper; this time, I was able to pinch it between my pointer finger and thumb, but it just crumbled like a dry booger. My CM is still white and creamy, so it doesn't match up at all. Weird. -- It's 10:20pm, and when I took my bra off, my breasts were extremely sore and heavy. It's not the worst I've ever felt in my whole life, but it's definitely significant. I looked back through my FF charts for ANYTHING noted around 6dpo or CD21, and I found a few notes mentioning tender breasts as early as 8dpo but not earlier; however, I didn't have anything charted between 4dpo and 8dpo for any month because I apparently suck!
ETA a few more details about the dream mentioned above, so I can remember it: I was at my mom's house, and she had gotten me a bunch of pregnancy tests (IRL, she doesn't even know I'm in the TWW but only that we'll be "trying soon"). I was bleeding but peed on one, anyway, and the results were literally a sentence or two that said something like, "You're pregnant, but a test won't show it yet. Test again on Friday." Then, I kept peeing on more--one I even did by squatting over a towel on her couch. Weird! I should mention that I've always been an intuitive dreamer; for example, one night during this past school year, I had a dream that I was pulling rusty nails out of my bare feet, and, that very day, I stepped on two thumbtacks in my classroom that I had to pull out of my shoes. I'd never had that happen in my classroom before! Anyway, my period is due on Friday. Won't it be funny if that's when I get my BFP? We'll see.
Still 9dpo: It's a little after 1pm, and I just had the strangest pulsating feeling in my abdomen. I'm lying on the couch and had to unbutton my shorts to figure out what the heck was going on. I could see my pulse in my belly. Is that always there?! Other than that, I have a curious lack of symptoms for the first time in the TWW. My breasts are still NOT sore, even when I poke at them, which is very strange indeed for this time of the month.
11dpo: BFN with FMU. I slept better last night than I have in days. I'm gassy and constipated. Temps still up, but they usually are until CD1. I had another BFP dream where I got a positive on FRER and CB digital (with my mom there again, haha). I'll be trying to distract myself as usual. -- It's 7:30pm, and the day has been pretty normal for the impending arrival of AF - cramps, fatigue, craving sugar, and three pimples (although they are pretty superficial and not the cystic type that I usually get hormonally). The only strange things that I have going on today have to do with my arms and legs: my legs are weak (especially the left one) and both my left leg and both arms have a "pins and needles" feeling tonight, and my leg actually went numb at one point on the couch. That is totally new for me. Anyway, got another BFN in the afternoon. On to tomorrow...-- It's 8:30, and my limbs are still tingly. In addition, the area between my ribs cage right below where the underwire rests, directly in the center, feels sore and bruised but isn't. Are my hormones just going crazy because my period is coming?
12dpo: BFN with FMU. Finally went to the bathroom after being constipated all day and night. Sick feeling, though, at 8:30am (now), like I have to go again but can't. I've peed like seven times already this morning, which is unusual but not unheard of in pms for me. The most unusual thing for me today is that my bacj does not hurt. My lower back generally hurts 24/7 and gets worse during pms. I'm just tired of waiting. I'd rather get my period tomorrow than have to wait anymore. I guess that's not true. Remember the dream I had earlier in the week that a test told me I was pregnant but a test couldn't tell me until Friday? Well, that's tomorrow when AF is due, so I guess we'll see. I've been saving my package of CB digitals for the potential occasion. You better believe I'm wearing a pad today and tomorrow, though.