Queer Conceptions: November 2012 - Page 5

[carmen358]

Great news, outdoorsy Super happy for you and your DP! Enjoy your pregnancy!!

[scorpioma]

nosreves:

I really appreciate that advice. Seriously. 

Oftentimes I feel like my DP is more anxious about things like preparing/not shaking things up/etc... And I like this perspective so much. 

My goal is to be calm!

[SunandEr]

Hope everyone is having a great November! Looks like we are going to be out this cycle. I was deployed to Rockaway Beach NY as a Paramedic for FEMA this morning and they are keeping me at least 2 weeks. I would have prob ovulated any day. Guess it wasnt meant to be but I have plenty of sitting around time so I will be following the board closely looking for all the BFP's good luck everyone!

[Sphinxy]

SunandEr - and good luck to YOU. A bummer about this cycle, but bless you for helping out in such a needed area.

[joyseattle]

nosreves - I also appreciate the advice, so thanks for coming back to share. I'm actually not really too stressed, but I'm a "do-er" so I try to balance my desire to be doing something with my need to relax. Thankfully, I consider self-care/relaxation/acupuncture/meditation doing something so that works for me. Once I have a plan, which I feel I do now, I just follow it and try to let the rest go.

Anyone have experience with Endometrin? That's the progesterone I've been prescribed. I've done some research and found what I think to be the best price (those suckers are pricey and if I get a BFP I'll be on them for awhile), but I'd love to hear any personal experiences.

 

[Sphinxy]

scorp - my plan is to test on thanksgiving, but if i feel a strong urge to test a little early, i'm just going to let myself. i don't want to be playing games in my head about poas. so we'll see. fertility friend says i am 5DPO, but i think i'm actually only 4DPO. fx for you and your dp for some good kd test results. 

joy - sounds like a perfectly personalized plan. did you start your opks today?

granite - how goes the 'cloments'? 

m&m - was your visit for the second-opinion helpful? thinking of you!

afm - these last couple days i'm feeling pretty good. some inevitable ups and downs, but overall much more "normal" than last cycle. i do keep wondering if every little flutter i feel in the area of my tubes/uterus is *something*, but not with as much anxiety as last month. i had a nice visit from my parents this weekend. they know we are ttc and have been very supportive, but it was kinda nice that they barely brought it up in conversation - i got to take my mind off the wait and just enjoy their company. and in other news, we finally got our cable/internet access back 12 days after sandy! i know it is such a first-world problem compared to what some are going through, but OMG it is such a gift!

Edited by Sphinxy - 11/11/12 at 6:07pm

[joyseattle]

I did start my opks this weekend and we have our dewar as of this afternoon! No we just wait until we get a positive to determine timing. I have Mayan.Abdominal.Massage tomorrow afternoon to look forward to as well.

[Sphinxy]

joy - exciting stuff! good luck for good timing! how many insems this cycle?

afm - hit a record high on my basal temp this morning, 6dpo. i'm hesitant to get too excited, so i'm just going to smile that it can't be bad news, right?

[granite]

I hear you, fmorris28, on your partner taking the BFN harder than you did... While I haven't gone through that myself, I can *totally* see that happening with my DP and I, given our different attitudes! Whereas I can distract myself with improving my nutrition/relaxation/etc., DP's role as a non-gestational parent (and her personality!) means she hasn't got much to keep her busy while waiting for the pregnancy to happen. It's hard, that's for sure.

I'm so sorry to hear about your totally crap week, lizbian... Here's hoping that this next one is better.

Happy graduation, outdoorsy!!! So rad!

Joy, my acupuncturist wants to see me literally within an hour of the IUI, then every two days (if not daily) throughout the TWW! From seeing other practitioners, I've realized that she's quite eccentric in general, but she also sees more results in her clients... So I'm planning on rolling with it.

I love what the rest of you had to say about your approaches to conception overall and during the TWW... Especially hearing that nosreves had some wine and coffee during hers, given her current very pregnant state!  Thanks for broaching the topic, scopioma. Calmness is also what I aspire to.

Good to hear from you, SunandEr... I'm sorry to hear you won't get a chance to try this cycle, but it's great that you'll be doing meaningful work.

Sphinxy, I'm so excited about your high temp!!! I know, I know, they don't mean much on their own... But in a pattern, they sure as hell do! FX and babydust...

AFM: I just got back from a four day vacation on the mainland... It was my first trip to Vancouver in over a year, and only the second time ever that DP and I have visited the city together, which is totally nuts considering how close by we live!  It was lovely to spend time together away from our everyday life, and also to see friends and family. I admit that a few hours at the aquarium on Sunday made me have serious doubts about having kids, because it was just packed with screaming little ones... But I'm over that now. Finished the clomiphene with still no side effects, though I've been overly sensitive to smells, which is weird. U/s next Saturday to see where my lining/ovaries are at!

[joyseattle]

Just one insem, but if this cycle is anything close to normal I'll feel good with our proposed timing. Now my biggest concern is flat temps for the past few days. I'm concerned it's my thermometer, although when I took my temp again after getting up it changed, so that shows it's not completely broken. I think I'm going to go buy another of the same brand and take my temp with them both to see if it's "calibrated" -- I really don't want to change thermometers but I also don't want a dud ruining the cycle or stressing me out.

ETA: DP and I just realized my naturopath prescribed a new fertility tea blend (calendula, red raspberry, vitex), and I started drinking it the day before these flat temps started. Now I'm wondering/thinking that's the cause. I'm debating stopping it to see what happens. DP just reminded me this is why you don't start something new on the first cycle of trying! Has anyone had anything like that happen with fertility tea?

Sphnixy - fingers crossed that it's good news

Edited by joyseattle - 11/13/12 at 5:32pm

[DarcySD]

Hello, I am new here. My wife and I will be having our first insemination sometime this week. Today is day 18 and I usually surge on day 19 or 20. Last month we planned to inseminate but ended up being out of town the day I got the positive on the opk! This month we decided to do two inseminations and see how that goes. I look forward to getting to know all of you. Thanks so much for your support. 

Darcy 

[Sphinxy]

granite - Thanks! Your trip sounds lovely. Glad to hear you made it through the clomid without any unpleasantness, and good luck on Saturday!

joy - No experience with fertility tea so I'll let others chime in there, but brilliant idea on calibrating your thermometer just in case! With so many variables it's nice to be able to eliminate one so that you can set good timing this time, and/or have good data to look back on next cycle.

darcy - Welcome! You've landed in a very supportive place. Good luck to you! Are you inseminating at home?

[DarcySD]

sphinxy - Thank you! We will be inseminating at Pacific Reproductive in Pasadena, CA.

[joyseattle]

Darcy - welcome and good luck with your insems. Sounds like we'll be in the tww together.
 

[scorpioma]

Darcy: Welcome to you!! I am going to put you in the "Waiting To O" section at the beginning of the thread, if that's okay! When you inseminate we will move you to "Waiting to Know" 

Sphinxy: We are all crossing our fingers and SO HOPEFUL for you!! Keep us updated! Post your chart (if you haven't already and I missed it).

YAY!!

afm, my cycles are always so long- but I had a beer last night which was amazing, haha!

that has been awhile. the waiting process, in every phase of this, is so hard. Good news is that I am on this healthy eating plan and have lost some weight- I am now at 170. I don't feel better yet, really, but I am sure it will help during pregnancy if I continue to get healthier. It's these types of things that get me through the waiting period.  I've also been having big parenting fears. It's weird they creep up now when I am not pregnant and now imminently inseminating, but it feels scary and I think part of it is being in this constant phase of limbo! Maybe I will stalk the Queer P&P group for some good vibes on parenting, haha!

xo

scorp 

(sarah)

[Sphinxy]

Thank you so much, scorp, I truly appreciate the support! I am so happy for you that you are feeling good on your healthy eating plan. I also think the parenting fears are so normal - I mean, when you're inseminating it is suddenly so real and not just about planning anymore. I know for me both times it brought me to a gut-check moment of "ok, we're really ready for this, right?" and of course, we're as ready as we can be and just have to trust ourselves on the rest. Interesting you should ask about my chart because I'm actually having a dilemma about it this morning...

Confession - I hate temping. My charts are kind of a mess, and I'm questioning their usefulness during the TWW. I almost feel bad saying that because you all seem so positive and diligent about your charts and preparations each cycle. See, for a little over a year now I've been working from home. It has its ups and downs, but one truly beautiful thing it allows me to do is letting my body wake naturally each morning (which it does pretty consistently when the sun comes up). Once I started temping over the summer to prepare for our first try, my peaceful wake-up was gone, replaced with a panic - Did my cat knock the thermometer off my nightstand? If I fumble for my glasses so that I can look for my thermometer, is that muscle movement going to inflate my temp? Great, now the dog's awake - is pushing him off my chest too much exertion? I think I've been "half-awake" for these last 20 minutes, is this even an accurate temp? And then there's the recording of the temp and the instant thoughts of "oh, that pattern looks like.. nothing, I have no idea what that looks like" or worse - "S&!t, I think we inseminated too early/late". It's just... not a pleasant way to start the day, so I'm thinking I might take a break until AF arrives or I get a BFP. Phew - it feels good to get that off my chest!

[easttowest]

Sphinxy - Thread crashing to say that there is no reason to temp during the TWW and if you can avoid temptation, I highly recommend it. DW stopped after we had three high temps to confirm ovulation, and it made the TWW just become like real life again. She also didn't temp during her period, so basically it was only a week to ten days out of the month that she needed to for charting, and it kept us sane, I think. She always has a triphasic chart even when she wasn't pregnant, so temping just drove us insane, reading every sign as something.

Good luck all you TWWers and those waiting to insem!

[mrsandmrs]

welcome, darcy. may your stay be short & sweet. 

who's going to POAS next, hmm? 

sphinxy - i know some people are devoted to their charts, but I hate charting. Maybe it's bc I've been doing it since 2008, but I am so sick of it. I never chart doing the tww. I don't chart during my period. there is a point where you are oversaturated with information and it's no longer helpful, you know? 

scorpioma - was it a pumpkin beer? :D tis the season! what kind of eating plan are you doing? i am glad you're feeling good about how things are going. 

Sun - sorry to hear that you're going to miss a cycle, but thanks for doing that work. I have a lot of family and friends who have been affected by Sandy. so THANK YOU ! 

Joy - your massage sounds awesome. Good luck with the timing ! 

Granite - I'm glad the clomid is treating you well so far. I hope this cycle is the one for you. I love visiting Vancouver. The food there is so amazing -the naam holds a special place in our hearts. We got married in Victoria but we got our wedding license in Vancouver so it feels like the early days of our romance when I remember it. 

AFU

We had our visit with the second-opinion guy and oh, man... He was weird. Afterwards, I felt like if his office was my only option, it wouldn't change my mind about wanting to have more kids, but I would never choose his office over any other place. He seemed like he was annoyed that we had already been through so much, had so much information and experience and were not going to react to him like he was this God of Making Babies. I know people who have met with him and they come out saying "this guy can get ANYONE pregnant," and I think that's the impression he tries to give to people, but I didn't feel that way at all. His "best advice" for us was to be persistent. I'm 30. I'm ovulating on the drugs we've tried. There's no reason to think that if I don't keep trying and trying, I won't eventually get pregnant. Which, okay, sure. That is true, maybe. It was just not as reassuring or inspiring as I hoped it to be, so we're going to stick with our current clinic and protocol -- which means I need to get off my butt and order the follistim. 

My wife started charting this month. She had a beautiful 2 day +OPK, an ovulation dip, and corresponding fertility signs. I was like, "ohhhh so it IS possible for someone to produce a perfect chart." after my years of disappointing charting, i was not really sure they existed in real life. 

We're also going to an open adoption info session next month in Seattle. All hands on deck, leave no stone unturned, etc. we need a baby (or some babies) in this house. 

[DarcySD]

joyseattle - Thanks so much. Glad to have someone to wait with. We currently live in San Diego but my wife talks about moving to Seattle all the time. Do you love it there?

sphinxy - I hate temping, too. I have never been able to wake at a consistent time because our cats wake us up throughout the night.

scorpioma - Thanks for adding me!

mrsandmrs - Thank you!
 

[Sphinxy]

easttowest - Thank you so much for visiting to share your thoughts! It is so freeing to think that I don't have to temp tomorrow, you have no idea (well, OK, that's an odd phrase, because clearly you do!) I almost wish I had "confessed" sooner! I was worried it would mean I wasn't as committed to our conception process, but of course that's not true... the 7-10 days of temping sounds so much more doable too, that I bet I could get myself into a positive place to set an alarm for just those days. Ahhh... huge sigh of relief.

mrsandmrs - It makes me wonder whether this doctor has a reputation for being so good at is job because it's actually true, or because he has convinced others that it's true. Either way, sounds like you got some clarity from it, so that's good. You mentioned your wife is charting. Are you both going to be inseminating, I assume to increase your chances? We don't seem to have many TWW-ers around here lately, I guess because we cleared so many of them out last month! I think I am still the next one to POAS and that won't be until next week. My goal was to wait for Thanksgiving, but DW made a good point recently that we'll be away at my parents' house for a few days starting Wed night, and she'd like the test to be in our own place, so I'm thinking maybe Wed morning before we hit the road.
Edited by Sphinxy - 11/14/12 at 2:14pm