Queer Conceptions: December 2012 - Page 9

[Friederike]

Good luck and baby dust Sphinxy, Scorpio, Mrs!

Esenbee I am sorry to hear about your confusion with your partner. I had the same problems for years with my DP, getting positive and negative signals alternatingly and it was often quite hurtful. I hope you can talk about it.

Sotohana- what a beautiful happy couple you are. Confratulations! And kudos to everybody involved in the fight for equality. What the US is doing sets an example for the rest of the world too, it just gets noticed more, so what you guys are doing is extra important.

Afm - finally got the trigger in. It hurt like hell. The nurse was really lovely and told me about the baby luck contest she has with her colleague who gives more lucky shots. By the way, since we talked about prices a couple of days ago; I paid 37€ which should equal 40something$ for 3 cycle s of trigger shots. They had the option of the articficially produced gentech stuff which was double the price and the one I get which gets made out of pregnant womens pee. I bet the real production cost is just cents. The progesterone was 18€ for 30 pills. Inseminating tomorrow early morning. I have been side-eying the ticking tank of doom as we now call it, telling it not to loose too much nitrogen.
Edited by Friederike - 12/12/12 at 5:03am

[scorpioma]

thanks for all the well wishes, everyone! I feel really "sensitive" in my abdominal/uterine area. It may be psychological, the first time I tried I was SURE I was pregnant, ha!

but the mind is a powerful thing. this is the first time I have timed insemination correctly/O'd when I thought I would. Big temp. spike this morning, check out my chart in my signature...The body is pretty amazing...Every morning at 6 when I temp. my DP rolls over and sleepily says, "Lemme SEE!" It's so precious. We are doing this little science project together.

Going in for a last day at my internship at the DV Prevention Court today. I work there with a friend so we are driving into Detroit together this morning. A good distraction from TWW woes/excitements!  Not to mention I am exhausted after a week of a big final/constant worries about O/3 insems. PHEW. Time to rest my mind and body.

Yes, mrs, tell us about the adoption agency if you'd like!

fmorris, really glad you have a sense of when you O! The data is so reassuring!

sotohana, agreed, you two are a beautiful couple... 

(took down my photo- realized I want to be more anonymous on here- it's a public site, I guess! sigh!)

Edited by scorpioma - 12/12/12 at 1:14pm

[rs11]

Mrs2, Sphinx, Scorpiana, and everyone else in the TWW -Good luck and lots of baby dust!

Sotohana -you two are  beautiful couple!

AFM -I sent off the paperwork to become a registered client at NW Cryobank this week. Now we have to pick out another donor, sigh. I have an OPK question if anyone has time to answer it. I've been ovulating these past few months and having perfect 26 day cycles, with ovulation on day 14. I thought I should start tracking my cycles more closely this month since we're hoping to try again soon, so I got an OPK and have been testing. I'm on day 13 now and no positive. Now, historically I have a) had very short surges and b) ovulated really close to my surge, so I'm trying not to fret about it too much (ha!). Does anyone know when I should be testing so that I have a better likelihood of catching it? Thanks!

[mrsandmrs]

rs - how many times a day are you testing?

[carmen358]

Originally Posted by rs11 

Mrs2, Sphinx, Scorpiana, and everyone else in the TWW -Good luck and lots of baby dust!

Sotohana -you two are  beautiful couple!

AFM -I sent off the paperwork to become a registered client at NW Cryobank this week. Now we have to pick out another donor, sigh. I have an OPK question if anyone has time to answer it. I've been ovulating these past few months and having perfect 26 day cycles, with ovulation on day 14. I thought I should start tracking my cycles more closely this month since we're hoping to try again soon, so I got an OPK and have been testing. I'm on day 13 now and no positive. Now, historically I have a) had very short surges and b) ovulated really close to my surge, so I'm trying not to fret about it too much (ha!). Does anyone know when I should be testing so that I have a better likelihood of catching it? Thanks!

It can depend on the person but I would test at least twice a day. Do you have a fade in pattern or does it just go from negative to positive? For me, I test around 11am and then around 2pm. I don't think I have a really short surge though and a very traceable fade in on the internet cheapie opks. Maybe you can test 3 times a day and go 10am, 2pm and 6pm?

[cordelia15]

stopping by to check how everyone is doing!  good luck to all in the 2WW

samy and rs11. .to answer separate questions about surges

samy. I never got a dark dark line on the internet cheapies, mine always looked like the ones people posted as examples of "almost pos"  I started adding on the smile ones to double check which helped me relax a little

rs11.. def test a few times a day.. the last cycle we did I got a negative on my first test around 11, but a postive at 2:00 so it can be that short. .for most tests, it's generally worthless to test before 10 AM unless you are using the monitor you do it every day, and also useless to test after 10 PM, so hit a few times in between if you are anxious!  

[mrsandmrs]

whew, i feel like i've been gone forever since this board is moving so fast.

sotohana - congrats on the license! all the photos and stories that are happening right now are making me so happy. i am going to kick out some boyz ii men on spotify today in your honor. 

scorpio - your chart is looking good. i hope you're feeling good about your timing because it looks awesome! 

PDX - how's it going? did you catch a surge yet? 

fmorris - are you going in on the january cycle? it sounds like we're going to be out in force that month!

friederike - wow, that sounds really cheap for three months of trigger shots! i think mine is over $100 per shot (€77). mine hurt like hell this month and i have a giant bruise although it certainly has not always been like that. good luck with your insemination! any idea how soon you are onboarding the goods? 

we did our second iui with similarly impressive numbers (120m total, 25m motile i think? my brain is fuzzy) yesterday/tuesday. all day yesterday i was so bloated and sore. it was like, physically painful to laugh. i had an ultrasound today to confirm ovulation. all the minor follicles grew from the trigger shot so my ovaries are giant! and there's fluid in my pelvic cavity from ovulating, which is why i felt like that. also, in the ultrasound today, i got to see how the uterine lining looks different after ovulation. and i got to see two corpus luteums, which means we should have two good eggs working their magic, hopefully. i have had approximately one million pre-ovulation ultrasounds, but the post-ovulation ultrasound was a lot more interesting.

[mrsandmrs]

oh yeah, the adoption agency! we met with Open Adoption Family Services (which is the agency Dan Savage uses in his book The Kid, if you've read it). They have offices in Seattle and Portland. It was really interesting - a lot of information to absorb. They only do infant adoption, and they almost do 100% open adoptions. They are also a pro-choice agency and work closely on counseling the pregnant women with their "three options," which I really respect. There wasn't a lot that we didn't already know, but the details of the process, the time frame and how much each step costs were interesting. I had a rough idea of the process, but I haven't ever seen it laid out like that. They expect that you will have "moved on from your infertility" before they will accept you into their pool, though, so I am not sure if we are going to do anything about it now. I mean, if everything went smoothly, it seemed like it would take at least two years to get a baby. It could potentially be a lot longer because birth rates are down, people are using birth control, their # of adoptions are down and as a result their prospective parent pool is the biggest it's ever been. I really wish we could be in the pool while we are going through fertility treatments, but it doesn't sound like that is an option. So I guess we have to figure out when we would be "done" trying to have a genetically-related kid before we could go much further in the process. 

[sotohana]

Aw thanks Mrs2! That's really interesting about the open adoption agency. I wonder how they would know one way or the other about your TTC efforts. Could you go ahead and just say that you are done trying? I know that sounds deceitful, but c'mon! Do they really expect that people won't have a natural born child while they are waiting to adopt? That doesn't seem fair to me.

P.S. Sorry about the cramping from your O and the trigger. It sounds really intersting what you are able to see on the ultrasound though! I bet that is reassuring on some level too.

Cordelia- Why shouldn't a person test before 10am? I almost always test my first pee of the day. Am I doing that wrong?

Also, thank you, Rs11 :) We are also clients of NW Cryobank. They have been really nice to me so far. I just finished my paperwork with them yesterday.

Thank you Scorpioma, Freiderike & the others who complimented our picture! We are super jazzed to have our license and can't wait until everyone has this same right.

[mrsandmrs]

soto - you go through a LOT of counseling before you are allowed in the pool. you would have lie a lot to get past that, and since their whole mission and focus is on "openness," it feels like it would defeat the point. i would be interested in getting some of the early steps done, but every step costs between $500 and $7000. so, how much money do you sink into it if you are still holding onto the hope that your TTC efforts will still work out? i get it - they don't want a birth family to pick you and then you find out you're pregnant and not want the adopted baby. that would be hard for everyone involved. i do think they anticipate that most people are doing adoption in lieu of or because they can't have a genetic kid. they definitely talked as though everyone in that room would become a parent for the first time (we already have a kid, so that was a little strange.) 

re: testing, you want to do pregnancy tests with first morning urine, but the chemicals you're trying to catch with the LH strips are produced when your body is awake - so FMU is not the best for that. usually 10am-8pm is optimal time for LH testing. 

[sotohana]

I see now. That makes sense- hadn't thought of it like that- about the person picking your family only to have that potentially rescinded if you find yourself pregnant. Thank you for the tip on the FMU and best time of day to test.

I do still think it sound a bit strict, but they probably have had some bad experiences with potential adoptive parents thinking first of themselves- like I was doing. Ha! Sometimes in this process I get so focused on "needing" a baby now that I forget that this is a human life I'll be responsible for...desperation does some crazy shit to me.

[mrsandmrs]

yeah, open adoption is focused on honoring the birth parents and doing what's best for the child above everything else. i think they want to make sure that everyone is "all in" for the lifelong relationship you have with the birth parents. i know it's probably a complicated thing to navigate, and i can imagine it being difficult if i was also in the TWW or whatever. 

[fmorris28]

Twomommy, the first time i felt it i was absolutely surprised! I guess i wasnt really paying attention to the pain. I knew it was tooo early for AF cramps nd thats what prompted meeh to check. It may come in time after you start learning more and more about your body!

Friederike, Looks like your prices arent that bad either. I don't understand how some places can offer the trigger ( i'll be using 10,000 units of Novarel) at reasonable prices where others have it sky high! Looks like you're on the lucky side!

Scorp, Who are you telling! Its a lot easier to listen to your body then what technology is suggesting sometimes!

M&M, thats what we're shooting for. This thread isnt gonna know what hit it with everyone getting geared up for the new year lol!

AFM, woke up this morning with a sore throat and things have been going downhill from there..cant breath, cant stop sneezing, eyes watering. . .i feel miserable!

[PDXmother2b]

MrsandMrs-

I just got my surge tonight (6pm) I am so excited!  I have to get my progesterone tested again in a week, so we will see! 

How are things with you?  

[scorpioma]

sotohana: I totally get the desperation thing. Sometimes I just feel so desperate it is hard to think of much else related to reason!

Also, as an FYI, I take OPKs usually at 11, 3 and 7. I think 2nd morning urine or later is the best. I guess people already established that.

fmorris, you are so right... there is going to be a TWW boom on this thread come January! I cannot wait to "listen" and "read" you all during that time! I hope you feel better soon. It's definitely that season. *hugs*

I am also glad we've been talking about adoption a bit- we have met with some agencies in the past, to "keep options open," but like mrsandmrs said, we couldn't go down that road while actively TTC. It was too intense/complicated/expensive. That is really interesting about birth rates being down, also!

PDX! Congrats on the surge...It is fun to see!

Friederike! Insem. tomorrow?!? Keep us informed! So sorry the trigger hurt. I have not experienced that (yet) and think you all are brave and strong!

afm, weirdest thing EVER: since yesterday, bleeding and sore gums, hurts SO much to brush. Not to be snotty, but I have perfect oral hygiene, never have had a cavity, nothing. Called my mother who is a dental assistant and she was like, "pregnancy gingivitis?" HUH?!?!

Of course I googled it, but... has anyone heard of this weirdness?

It's ONLY 3DPO, but I guess you never know. I have never felt anything like it before in my life. Maybe it's psychological...

[Friederike]

I can be moved to TWW please. We shot up 2 0,5ml straws with 20mio motility this morning, 24hrs after the trigger. I would have preferred to wait a bit longer, closer to the 36hrs mark, but I am teaching today. Luckily everything worked beautifully, even though we had no clue what we're doing. DP handled all the paperwork and the tank pick-up but wouldn't come close to 'the stuff'. It was such a tiny amount, oh my.

[rs11]

Mrs2: Those are some impressive numbers! I'll have my fingers crossed for you!

Fmorris: I hope you feel better soon. Winter sucks for colds and such.

Scorpiana: It might be psychosomatic, it might be pregnancy, it might be something else. When I'm in the TWW, I go nuts analyzing every little symptom.

Fredeirke: Good luck!

AFM: I've been having problems with testing this round, because the damn test sticks keep flooding out. I've been trying to test right after work, once a day. I'm going to switch brands next month and see if I have any better luck. I may have missed the surge this month; I woke up this morning with ovarian cramping, which is a sure sign that my body's about to do *something*.

You can add us to the list of people who are TTC and TTA at the same time. We've been working with the foster care system in our state, and we got the call yesterday that we are approved and on the list. It might be a while, but one way or another a baby (or small child) will be coming here!

[esenbee2]

Well, yesterday my temp dropped a bit and this morning my temp dropped to my coverline.  Went to use the bathroom, AF had arrived.  FF puts ovulation day for the Saturday of the travels to the in-laws.  Last cycle, ovulation was probably sometime overnight after my surge that afternoon.  If that happens this cycle, then I wouldn't know my surge til Saturday afternoon -AFTER we have already left town.  DSp DOES NOT want to do the insem at his parents' and DOES NOT want to drive back home to do it and go right back.  It's only an hour drive there and an hour drive back, with an estimated hour to do the insem.  But apparently it is just not worth it???  DSp said, "Forgive me, but I'm not that optimistic this time.  If it didn't work last time, then it's not going to work this time."      To throw another monkey wrench into it, last time we were TTC, my cycles alternated, CD16-17 ovulation / CD20-21 day ovulation....  I have no idea if my body is still doing that, only been charting 1 month.  UGH!  Stupid me!  That would put ovulation this month after the holiday break, which would be good!  BUT I have NO idea of knowing whether we would need to inseminate before we leave or not, certainly not in time to order the swim team!  And I still haven't gotten to the conversation about only trying for 1 month and then quitting!

[scorpioma]

Friederike! I know, the vials do seem like so little, don't they? all it takes is one!! 

Glad you did it! Welcome to TWW!

Did you do the IUI yourselves? So cool. DP and I weren't brave enough to do that!

rs11: You are totally right! Psychosomatic! I am trying not to analyze too much, but just enough for it to be fun. 

CONGRATS on being approved as foster parents! That is amazing! How long did it take? YAY!

esenbee: I DO NOT understand your DSp's reluctance to drive back and insem! That seems like such an easy choice! UGH!

You guys going to have a sit-down? xoxo good luck!

[Friederike]

Esenbee, that sounds extremely stressful. I would be majorly pissed if my DP told me, it wouldn't work anyways. I hope you two get to sit down and really talk aout what is going on with your DSp. In the meantime feel free to vent here.

Scorpio - thanks! I only did the simple ol' IVI where I tried to get as close to my cervix as possible. It felt like I did it riright.
And - TMI warning - for such a small amount it seems like quite a lot came out afterwards. I swear I felt sth. for a couple of hours. Anybody else experience a certain, ahem, leakyness after?