Queer Conceptions: December 2012 - Page 20

[Friederike]

Lindsey - those articles are great. I have to be at work to gain full acess but I will definitely read every single one of those. Thank you for the pointer. I tried to find stuff like this before but as I am not familiar with medical journals and databases I wasn't particularly sucessfull. I agree with Scorpio, great to see those studies exist.

Sorry to hear about your wacky cycle, it sounds totally crazy! I didn't think such a quick change of hormone status could be possible. Could you drop in for a quick ultrasound somewhere? Fingers are crossed for low temps today.

[granite]

Lindsey, the fact that you've got lots of EWCM is totally rad and not TMI in the least!!! CM is a fantastic topic of convo here at QC, where we stretch the limits of TMI in every post

That sucks about the confusing OPKs... But I'd go with the EWCM as a primary sign, weighing it just as heavily as a positive OPK. Any chance you can get a look at your cervix and see if it's open? (I try not assume that everyone's got a speculum, flashlight, and handmirror/willing partner, but with this group, it's definitely a distinct possibility!)

[sotohana]

LindseyW- Keeping my fingers crossed for you! It seems like really serendipitous timing! P.s. Your son is so cute! P.p.s. Thanks for the links to those articles! I'm really excited to read them. 

Esenbee- So excited for your TWW! Yay!

Darcy- We are using a WTBK donor as well. That was important to us because we didn't want to limit our child's options in the future. At this point, I think I'd prefer for the child not to seek their donor, but that choice will be up to the child. The more I read about the experiences of kids as they grew up, the more I realized this was the best option for us. I just couldn't start out with a KD because I had a mini breakdown when that thought came up. 

Friederike- Good on you! It sounds like you have a good plan. Wish it was easier for you to use interventions if you needed them, but I am a lot like you in that I really don't prefer interventions anyway. Fingers crossed tightly for your upcoming TWW!

P.S. I started blogging again- same site- and I told my sister about it tonight after she gave me a haircut. In the (not so distant) past we've had a really tumultuous relationship, but so much has changed (long, long story) recently that I feel really good about this decision to let her in a little bit more. At the same time, I've been working in therapy on the balance between sharing everything and sharing nothing, so I think I'm going to do better this time at sharing just the right amount of information to feel close to those I care about, but not so much that I'm completely overexposed. Wish me luck with that one, eh? I might have just dug my own grave. Or not. 

[Sphinxy]

Lindsey - I suppose there could be such as thing as TMI on this board, but I haven't found it yet! Anyway, I just wanted to throw out there the idea that you may have just discovered that you are a multi-ovulator. Do you usually OPK this early? I would keep watching the signs and OPKing even after your insem to see if you also O around your normal time. This is how fraternal twins happen - two eggs! Anyway, tons of EWCM and a positive digital are great signs. And, it is totally normal to get a negative OPK right after a positive - your Lh levels fluctuate throughout the day. The most important OPK is the positive, the negatives before and after don't mean much. You may just have a short surge.

If it were me, I would be doing that insem right away when the tank arrives today. What a fun way to ring in the new year. Good luck!! 

Lots to say to others that I'll be able to write later, but I just had to get this out there!!

[redrockband]

SanDIego: So sorry for what you are going through. Hugs to you and DW 

Welcome KWPX2 and Lindsey 

Esenbee: Sounds like timing worked out really great, good luck! Love the shipment arrival story, I can only imagine

Sphinxy: Sorry about AF and the wacky cycle. Are your cycles usually regular? 

Sotohana: Are you switching back and forth between yourself and DW or just sticking with DW after next month if it doesn't take? My DW is adamantly opposed to carrying right now. Are you or your DW wanting to carry more? (I feel like that is the most horribly worded question but it's monday morning)

AFM: I've been horrible at temping this cycle and now FF says my temps are fluctuating too much, I'll blame it on the late night xmas gift sewing projects. DW decided to buy a fancy schmancy fertility monitor. It should arrive on the 3rd, so not much help for this cycle but we still have at least one more tracking cycle before our 1st insem month. DW has been really cute and excited about baby making. After reading somewhere about egg development, she strongly requested that I stop drinking alcohol and coffee asap, we've only got 2 months to go, but she said that would suffice. So I have a couple weeks to wean myself off coffee and enjoy my last oatmeal stout. It makes me laugh to think how she'll be when I'm actually pregnant.

[rs11]

Lindsey: Ditto what others have said. I've yet to see anyone yell TMI on this board.

Esenbee: Good luck! I hope this is it for you!

Sotohana: You have a neat blog. Good luck with it, and I hope you and your sister can have a better relationship from here on out.

2justice: The studies on coffee and alcohol affecting egg development conflict quite a bit. As long as you give up the leaded stuff a month out and don't have more than one or two drinks socially a couple of times a week you should be fine. (Also, to get really technical, eggs start developing at the cellular level a full year before they mature, which is why it can take so long for PCOS patients like me to get pregnant -we have to be on meds long enough to have a fresh batch of eggs all the way through).

AFM: It's been a crazy month. In addition to all the usual holiday craziness, DW's grandmother had a stroke and there's been some other family issues going on. We aren't going to be able to try in January after all. It's nothing to do with us; the sperm bank had a fit because the address on my driver's license doesn't match my current address, so I have to send in a copy of the utility bill (luckily, it's in my name) and by the time it gets there and is processed we'll have missed the window. So, instead of "waiting to O" I need to stay in "waiting to be ready".

Since we have to wait anyway, does anyone on here have any extended profiles from our bank they wouldn't mind passing on? Thanks.

[sotohana]

Rs11- which bank are you using again?

2JusticeMamas- That's a good question! We both have always really wanted to carry. We will still go back and forth from month to month if we need to. It sort of depends on DW's cycle, though. I'm not sure if she lost her period for 5 months because of grief from her father and sister passing or if it was something different. She recently got a prescription of estrogen and since that's finished she's been shedding a lot of lining. We hope that its actually restarted a normal cycle. She used to be very regular. P.s. Your wife sounds very sweet in how she's doting on you :) 

[lizbian]

Happy New Year ladies & all the best for 2013 & lots of BFPS ;) XOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXO

[granite]

Originally Posted by 2justicemamas 

AFM: I've been horrible at temping this cycle and now FF says my temps are fluctuating too much, I'll blame it on the late night xmas gift sewing projects.

Me too! Though we don't celebrate Christmas, so it's been my own knitting projects that've got me staying up all hours... Having holiday time off work makes me a little obsessive!

Good luck with the coffee/booze... I'm still drinking decaf about once a week, and a couple glasses of wine too, but am not very attached to either anymore. Are you going to quit gluten, too? My naturopath says that that is the single most effective food-related change a person can make when trying to improve fertility. I've mostly cut it out of my diet, but have been enjoying some gluten-laden foods during all these holiday celebrations!

[granite]

Originally Posted by rs11 

AFM: It's been a crazy month. In addition to all the usual holiday craziness, DW's grandmother had a stroke and there's been some other family issues going on. We aren't going to be able to try in January after all. It's nothing to do with us; the sperm bank had a fit because the address on my driver's license doesn't match my current address, so I have to send in a copy of the utility bill (luckily, it's in my name) and by the time it gets there and is processed we'll have missed the window. So, instead of "waiting to O" I need to stay in "waiting to be ready".

Oh, rs11, I'm so sorry! About your family issues, and the continued delays too... So nuts, the bank not approving of your ID. Mine doesn't even ask for any, now that I think about it: They just wanted my credit card info.

[pokeyAC]

mrsandmrs-I had repeat betas every few days until it got over 10,000 and then an ultrasound at 6 weeks.  After the ultrasound, the RE released me to my regular OB and I made an appointment with her.  She did an ultrasound at 10 weeks just to confirm pregnancy.  I think they do that at all the first appointments.  I have heard of other women having more ultrasounds at the beginning, but I guess that is not how my place works.  Maybe your clinic just likes to be more cautious.  I hope everything looks great!

Regarding OPK's and timing--Fertility Friend considers OPK's a secondary fertility sign with mucus and other things being primary signs.  So it's more like the OPK confirms what the other signs are telling you.  I hate OPK's!  I got some false positives even though they claim not to have false positives.  Looking at CM and cervical position are probably better indicators of how fertile you are.  I know it's frustrating and confusing and I'm sorry, but you will figure it out.  My last cycle, I had a positive OPK early but my other signs didn't line up.  I had an u/s and trigger shot and I ovulated just when I would expect according to trigger timing and follicle size, and it worked.  The smiley face lied to me.  Good luck!

[Sphinxy]

Happy New Year! Please join me on our shining new thread to ring in 2013! 

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1371183/queer-conceptions-january-2013

[SanDiego78]

thanks so much for all the support ladies, really means a lot...we're currently awaiting the results of our third beta (should have by this afternoon) to confirm the pregnancy is out of DWs system, or there's that itty bitty slight chance of a miracle and her #s increase.  The bleeding & clot passing was much less this time around, so we (and our dr) are holding onto a shred of hope.  Not to mention her second beta numbers doubled (but that also happened for us during the second beta, for our last chemical pregnancy) We're looking forward to our next game plan, and success in 2013.

happy new year to you all, and again thanks for all the support!  2013 will be a great year for us all 

[mrsandmrs]

SD - keep us posted. im holding you two in my heart. 

[PDXmother2b]

Hello ladies,

It has been awhile since I have been on the boards...I was having a hard time logging onto the site!  I hope everyone is well!

I am currently almost 6 weeks pregnant after our first insemination!  We are very excited and blessed to have had the IUI work the very first time!  

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!!!

[esenbee2]

Glad to see you back around PDX!  QC has moved to a February thread, http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1373561/queer-conceptions-february-2013

Feel free to join us over in QP&P, http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1373580/queer-pregnant-and-parenting-february-and-march-2013