SA Results are in

And the boys can swim! Now if we just need one of them to swim right into my egg and make us a baby already. My doctors exact words were "the sperm look normal, so have a go at it". Too funny.

Private Practice

So last nights Private Practice episode totally freaked out my husband. We are waiting for his SA results and haven't heard anything yet. On the episode a husband finds out that he is sterile. And the doctors miraculously find one lonely sperm in his testicle, extract it, let it fuse with one of the wife's eggs in a petri dish and then implant it in her. How lucky. Hopefully we won't need such drastic measures. Hopefully we will get good answers back and be able to proceed as planned with the baby making. Next week I ovulate so it would be nice to know one way or the other what is going on with him.

The Hunt Continues

So after my period started I got really bitter. Why am I now pregnant yet? What is wrong with me? Well since I've already had all the tests and have even had 2 surgeries to correct my fertility issues I have to believe that there are only 2 possible answers.

1. Male Factor. Just in case I had my husband go for a semen analysis on Wednesday. He is scarred for life. He said the place was so cold and he felt like everything was filthy and covered in other mens semen. So he wouldn't touch anything including the helper magazines. He didn't even pull down his pants. Just unzipped his fly. I told him things are much more difficult for women obviously. But he is still very upset about it it. Hopefully it will all turn out fine. In which case we move to possible answer number

2. Nothing is wrong. It is only month 5 of ovulatory trying. It takes most couples 6 months. So statistically speaking I should get pregnant in the next two months so I should just relax and try to have enjoy all the sex.

2 cool things

1. The PATS are still undefeated. Ha Ha. And so now they are 11-0 in the standings and this game they beat the Eagles 31 to 28. So that in itself is cool. but here is why it is way cool. I amd 11 DPO and 11 is my lucky number. And I am 31. Therefore, I think I'm going to be undeafted this cycle and get my BFP. You'll all know in a day or 2.

2. Notes from the underbelly is coming back to primetime tomorrow. I'm so excited. I love that show and really thought they had cancelled it like they have cancelled all the other shows I really like. So even if BFP remains elusive in Novemeber, I will be treated with a great show that is all about pregnancy.....which is obviously my favorite subject.

Implantation Dip?

O.K. so after my freakout yesterday I thought it over and decided to put my ultra low temp into my chart. Turns out when I compare it to other charts my low low temp yesterday with my normal temp today makes it look like I had an implantation dip. I thought day 10 would be too late for that but when I checked on fertility friend (www.fertilityfriend.com)this is what I found on implantation dips:

11% of charts that showed ovulation but did not result in a pregnancy displayed this pattern.
23% of charts that showed ovulation and did result in a pregnancy showed this pattern.
Of the pregnancy charts that showed this pattern, the most likely days for the dip to occur were between 7 and 8 days past ovulation.
The data suggest that this pattern is indeed more likely to result in a pregnancy.

Hmmm. So I can be a little hopeful. Since my dip wasn't until day 10 that is not sticking close with their 7-8 DPO findings. But there always has to be an outlyer right. He he.

I know. I can make the data fit anyway I like to satifiy my goals. I gotta just wait and see what happens. Hopefully my temps will stay up tomorrow and Tuesday. And if so, I've got a digital just waiting to be peed on.

Achy, stuffy head, sneezing, sore throat agony

Yep. I'm sick. This sucks. My husband and I were planning on taking a weekend getaway. I wanted to get out the christmas decorations and maybe start Christmas shopping. But alas. I'm here feeling like crap.

And I'm freaking out a little because I had a crazy BBT this morning that doesn't seem right at all. But first let me start with my reasons that I don't believe it. 1. Due to my stuffy nose I slept with my mouth open the entire night. 2. We don't have our heat on yet and our bedroom was ice cold. 3. Due to my illness when I popped the therm in I realized that I couldn't really breathe through my nose with the therm in my mouth so took a couple of breaths throught my mouth while recording the temp. Only in about the last minute did I shut my mouth completely. So my temp was something like 97.8 Which is way loww for the 10DPO that I am today. So I had gone back to sleep after I took that temp and just had the thermometer save that temp. When I woke up an hour later I decided to take my temp again because that temp was so crazy. And this time got a 98.37. I know that after 1 hour of sleep that that temp isn't good to use. So I've decided to leave my temp empty for today in my charting program. And just wait until tomorrow. If I have to I will blow my nose before taking my temp. I know you aren't supposed to do anything before temping but if you can't breathe then you can't really take your temp. O.K. freak out over. Just putting down here has made my do-over logic sound even better to me.

Symptoms?? Or simple mind?

So now I'm 6 DPO and I'm starting to have symptoms. Or so I think. Mostly I think I'm nuts because I have "symptoms" every cycle. I had weird poking pains coming from in my uterine area for the past couple of days. And today I've noticed that my breasts are sore. This doesn't usually happen this early in my 2WW. So maybe maybe. Errr. I don't know.

Being a scientist, I know that all the feelings I've had recently are not pregnancy symptoms. I probably just have indegestion or something half the time. The boobs hurting. I don't know why they should be sore already. This usually occurs before my period. But I'm going to go the logical route and blame it on my bra needing adjustment.

I'll let you know what other crazy things I feel in the next few days. I'm sure I'll be nauseous and craving pickles and ice cream for Thanksgiving dinner.

The waiting game

So now that I've ovulated we have to just wait. Wait wait wait. Last month I was so calm. Now I'm anxious. Anxious anxious. I blame part of it on the fact that it seems like everyone around me is pregnant or already has a baby. And babies are all over t.v., pregnant celebs. I just can't get away from it. I'm going to try my best to relax. Maybe yoga. I dunno. Blogging is supposed to help. Right?

POAS

So for the past couple of days I've been peeing on sticks. On the TTC boards we refer to that as POAS. I'm getting quite good at it. The last 2 days I had positive OPK tests. It is nice to know that at least my body is making the pre-ovulation hormone and at least that hormone is surging enough to be detected by the sticks. I'm about to go pee on one now. I've been holding my urine for the requisite 4 hours. Hopefully I'll get a negative. Which should indicate surge over and ovulation has occurred or will do so soon. We've been have sex every night. And I swear I felt ovulation pain on the left last night. But my temps don't show an obvious shift to indicate ovulation yet. I'll know in a few days. But seeing a negative OPK now will make me feel better. O.K> I gotta pee. I'm ready to burst.

FLB Week

So this week I should ovulate. Should occur Thursday if everything works as it did the last two cycles. So my husband and I will be pretty busy. I'm going to follow the Halle Berry and Nancy O'Dell method. The method is doing it 5 days before ovulation and 5 days after. Technically it is a modified method. So we will be doing it about 3 and 3 days after. I think that is all we can handle. In my 20s I never would have thought that we could have too much sex. But we can. And I really really want this cycle to be THE cycle. So we are goint to FLB (F*ck Like Bunnies).

Toning my uterus

So I've decided to add a naturalist approach to my obsession. I've added raspberry leaf tea to my arsenal. It is supposed to tone the uterus. Other benefits are easing menstral cramps. I took it during my cycle and found that it did seem to help my cramps. And Native American women and Chinese women have taken this leaf as a tea for centuries to help prepare the uterus for a child and also late in pregnancy to prepare for contractions.

So now I'll be drinking this tea at least once a day and green tea 2x a day. Green tea is supposed to help create lots of healthy fertile cervical mucus. Well. On the bright side if I don't get pregnant (yikes can't even believe i wrote that) this time around I'll be getting all sort of good anti-oxidants and stuff. Yeah tea!

STUPID AUNT FLO

Cramps up the wahzoo, feeling icky, feeling tired, feeling pissed that we didn't make a baby yet.
This trying and waiting and trying is starting to really get to me. I'm trying to stay positive but this really sucks. I just want a baby. is that too much to ask for.

12 DPO

This morning I woke up and took my temp as usual. And as I fervently prayed to GOD I waited for the beep to let me know that my temp was high and still above coverline. Luckily it was. And I was excited to think that all is still really good. But then I overlayed my current chart with last month and I was at the same temp. Ughhh. I really thought I was better off this month. So I'll have to go through the whole rigamorole tomorrow morning. Sigh.....

2 week wait

So I'm in the two week wait now. The crazy time after ovulation when I hope and pray and wish that a sperm has successfully reached my egg and the little ball of cells is dividing and about to implant into my uterine lining. I drank green tea to help with conception. I'm drinking only decaf coffee and avoiding alcohol. And taking my prenatals religiously. I blow fallen eyelashes off my thumb and wish for a baby. When I drive over railroad tracks I lift my feet up and and wish for a baby. I try to think happy thoughts and visualize (the way they teach you to do in sports) the positive outcome that I want. ie, the little baby implanting cozily, the big PREGNANT sign on my digital HPT. Am I crazy to do all this. Probably. Deep down I know that anything I do now would not affect a baby. But I don't want to jinx it. So I do my crazy things just in case. O.K. so can you tell I'm a worry wort?

Last night my husband and I watched March of the Penguins. It was so interesting to see how they sacrifice so much to have a healthy chick. They walk for like 70 miles on the ice to get to the safe breeding grounds. Then brave the freezing cold blizzards while holding the precious egg on their claws and under a warm flap of skin. After the mother transfers the egg to her mate, she walks the walk back to the sea to catch fish to eat. The father stays behind and cares for the egg. He goes without food for 4 months until the mother comes back to take over and feed the hatched chick. Then he gets to go and walk the walk to get to the sea to feed. But before he goes he memorizes the song of his chick so that he can find him/her to feed when he returns for the sea with food. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. To think that birds go through so much to have and care for their young. It makes me feel a little less crazy for doing all the wacky things I'm doing to have one of my own.

Whomever

I love The Office. That show is so clever. Tonight they had a conversation on the correct usage of whoever or whomever. I was laughing so hard. Offic and 30 Rock have really great writers. My name is Earl on the other hand is totally sucking tonight. I used to really enjoy that show but it is going downhill. I really hope that something happens to bring back the creativity that got me to watch Earl in the first place.

O The Magnificent

O, egg drop, ovulation, or O The Magnificent. Whatever you want to call it I think I'm doing it. Right now. I've got lots of egg white cervical mucus and I had a positive OPK test on Monday. I think it is happening on the right this time. I'm kind of crampy right in the spot where my ovary is located. I've never noticed all the little cramps my body creates before I started this process. Then again I was on the pill for 10 years. So I wouldn't have been ovulating.

Husband and I have FLB'd the last 2 days and plan to do it tonight. So we should be hitting the window. Hopefully we are increasing the shots of his guys meeting my egg.

The Same Old Fight

My husband and I had the same fight today that we've been having every cycle of TTC. He falls asleep before me on the couch while watching TV. When I wake him up to go to bed he just wants to stay asleep. We are supposed to having as much sex as possible but he can't motivate after being asleep. When I try to seduce him he pushes me away. He wants to sleep. Last night I got so pissed that I went to sleep on the couch. I ended up going back in our room because I realized my thermometer was in there and I would need to take my temp in the morning and didn't want things to be disrupted. So when I woke up to take my temp he was all "what is it today". I replied with "why do you care". He wanted to talk things over but I declined and took the dog out. He wants to talk about the fight later but I just don't know what is left to rehash. We have this fight every month. I just don't think he cares as much as I do. Well I know he doesn't. If he did. He would motivate for sex. I mean it isn't like pulling teeth. It is sex. Who doesn't want to have sex. Luckily (or unluckily) I did not have a temp spike. So no ovulation. So I guess we didn't miss a prime baby making window. Maybe tonight. I guess if I want to salvage this cycle I'm going to have to seduce him at like 8pm. No excuses!

Testing

O.K. so I've been reading blogs for a while now and this is my first real online blog. So I've got to futz around with the bells and whistles to see what I'm working with here. So I'm going to try to post some photos in this little test blog
This photo is of my mom when she was about 3 years old.

1 liners

So I'm in that annoying waiting to ovulate stage. For the past couple of days I've been peeing on OPK sticks to figure out my most fertile days. So far I'm getting 1 line instead of the 2 equal lines that indicate that I'm about to ovulate. I shouldn't be too annoyed since I'm only on day 17 and the past two months I got a positive 2 line OPK on day 18. But I like to be precise so I take the tests for several days just in case I ovulate early or something.

Well I hope it happens soon. I hate this limbo time. I just want to get into the FLB (F*$k like bunnies) stage. Although we are already doing that to some extent. After we saw Halle Berry discuss Nancy O'Dell's baby making strategy to do it 5 days before and 5 days after my husband and I are trying that. If it works for late 30s-40 year old ladies then it should work for me. But that egg has to drop for anything at all to happen. So drop little eggie. Drop. Please.