Almost over....

Well, I'm scheduled to take the pregnancy test tomorrow. But I know the results will be BFN...my BBT's dropped like three days ago. Memorial Day was fantastic.. i woke up to the BIG 98.6....my day was fantastic!..I spent the day thinking maybe this could really be happening to me. But Tues my BBT fell to 97.8, Wed 97.7, and today Thurs, 97.4.....My friend Ivonne reminded me that this was like a "trial run". Fact remains that it still hurts. I emailed my doc to see when I can get off the progesterone so AF can come to visit. Our plans are to try again June and this time take clomid. I'm nervous because I'm not sure what to expect. Any advice on how to get through this?

Yesterday, I was feeling so upset and disappointed during my drive to work. I kept thinking, Why do I have to go to work and how am I going to put on my "happy face". Well I got to work early and had time to go on-line to read a couple of posts. I found this wonderful entry by someone also trying to conceive and reading it made me laugh. The post helped me through the day without balling my eyes out at work. My experience this month will only make me/us stronger for next time. ....Thank you Carrie.

TWW

Okay, I'm 1/2 way through two week wait. Trying not to read too much into my symptoms is next to impossible. N keeps telling me to stop b/c I'm gonna stress myself out. She's right, but easier said than done. I'm taking a progesterone supplement, taking a pre-natal vitamin, and keeping up w/acupuncture (my wonderful stress reliever).

The beginning of Week 1 was tough, my side effects from the progesterone were tough...got tired,nauseous, bloating, dizzy, moody, ... I felt really bad. Also throughout the week I felt a lot of minor aches about my ovaries area. Especially the left side. Now, when I had my sonogram before the IUI, my left ovary was so small the nurse didn't even bother measuring it..so I'm not sure why it ached so much? But my symptoms cleared up by Friday. As of now I'm mainly very bloated. My BBT's right after the IUI jumped from 97.5/97.7 to 98.1. But they have stayed steady ranging from 98.0 to 98.2..This morning my BBT increased to 98.3...I hope that's a sign...and they continue to go up.

(Warning..next part mentions bodily functions... please I don't want to offend anyone...but it's an out the ordinary symptom).

Last night N, N's family and I went to a festival in Round Rock to see hear some Tejano music! For lunch I had Greek (lamb gyro, hummus and dolma's) Yummy!!!! After lunch I got bad heartburn and gas (Since starting acupuncture and altering my diet I haven't had heartburn like that in a long long while.). I went home, took a nap, and hoped that I would feel better by the evening. We arrived at the festival about 8:00 pm and picked a nice spot not too close to the stage to set up our chairs. Everyone (except me) gets beer and something to eat. I'm worried about my heartburn so opt to wait to eat. I got my water, sat down and felt myself wanting to toot...I freak out because I'm worried that there will be an unpleasant smell. So I slowing try to let one out but of course I'm GASSY so I chorus some out...I look around and ...NO REACTION from anyone (either in my group or people sitting near by). Everyone is still having a good time. I lean over and ask N, "Did you smell anything?" She replies, "No...why?"....I then whisper, "I'm gassy." She looks at me weird and says, "Don't worry about it"...So the whole night as everyone enjoyed the music and food...I enjoyed myself to water and much needed "relief"...and no one noticed :-) ......thank goodness it was not smelly...

About Me

Let's see where to begin.

Who am I?

I am 38 living in the suburbs outside Austin And for the past 5 1/2 years I've been sharing my life with wonderful person (Norma). We were friends before we got involved. (You know the usual Telenovela drama, I was with someone and she was with someone when we met). But when it was all said and done, we found each other and have been together every single day since. I can't believe I've been blessed enough to find someone who loves me for me. As a kid, I used to dream about finding love and having a family. Well the LOVE part FINALLY came along when I was 33. However, the family part has taken longer than I ever thought it would.

Norm and I have been talking about having a baby since the first month of our relationship. But we got more serious about 10 months ago. That's when i made the appt w/my gyno to get the FSH test and info on artificial insemination. I started charting my BBTs, and noticed my temps were super extreme. A great friend of mine (who is now pregnant after having a pretty tough time of her own) encouraged me to consider Acupuncture treatment for help.

In February 2008 I began a 6 month acupuncture treatment with The Texas Center for Reproductive Acupuncture. The Acupuncture program included twice a week visits for the first three months. And weekly visits beginning the 4th month. TCRA has helped w/nutritional counseling, daily herbs and vitamins. I also started exercising. I can't even tell you how amazing it has been. Every one at the TCRA are fantastic and sososo supportive. I'm sure you can tell by my photo that I'm a full figured women. Acupuncture has helped me better my daily habits (on eating, exercising, handling stress) all with the intent to improve my health and to improve my BBT's. Since starting acupuncture I've lost about 16 lbs!. My follicular phase temps are right on...the luteal phase temps have improved but still need some work.

We'll May 08 we felt we were ready to try our first IUI. We are using a anonymous sperm donor from the Cali cyrobank. On May 15th and 16th we had our first IUI's. Day 1 of the IUI was a lot more "uncomfortable" I had a little bit of bleeding during the procedure and felt a little bit of aching afterwords. Day 2 of the IUI was fantastic (NO discomfort). OUR donor sperm count was 74 million! I really hope that everything works out this month. (BUT I DON'T WANT TO GET MY HOPES UP) I did not use any meds during the follicular phase. But I did get a HCG shot day before the IUI. And I'm taking a progesterone supplement now.

We considered a fresh donor, but for now, we think a donor from the cryobank is best. (No worries about all the legal stuff).

Why I created a blog?

Well, Norm pushed me to finally do this. I have never blogged or done anything like this. I have been reading so many blogs by other women (straight/gay/married/single) for the last months (BELIEVE ME NORM can vouch for me....every night at about 10:00 pm i hear her yelling for me from across the house to "COME TO BED....YOU HAVE TO WORK TOMORROW" or else I hear "YOU ON THE COMPUTER AGAIN"). You all have helped me feel like I'm not alone. And you've also helped educate me on what to do/expect/ask in this process of trying to conceive the precious gift of a son or daughter. I do not have many friends or family that I can talk to about the process/challenges of TTC. I admire you all so much. You all are the most courageous people I ever had the chance to "get to know". By sharing your lives in this format, you are all making a difference in some one's life. You have made a difference to me. What you share is truly a selfless gift. Thank you.