Rockin' and Flowing Blogger

Well, I woke up this morning, hungover and with the arrival of AF. But, I also received this in my email from my good buddy Geohld!

That is a pretty good 'consolation' prize for yet another failed (albeit DIY) cycle.

I'd like to pass it onto the following bloggers:

Serenity. What a great gal - and - I'm not too ashamed to admit -one of the group of pregnant bloggers that don't turn me absolutely green with envy. She is going to be a Rockin' Mama!

MaryEllen! My local bud who gave me great RE advice

Mamacate - and she knows exactly why she rocks.

Chris - my buddy in Unexplained IF

And last, but not least, Melanie, who I'm sure has already gotten one of these, but I just love the way she has pulled our IF blogger world together as a community.

I called into my new RE's office to declare CD 1 and schedule my sonohysterogram. That will be on Sept 4th. Any one had one of those? Can you tell me what the deal is? Do I need Aaron to come with me?

It's Thursday

And AF is not here as of 10:51 AM.

I would like to vent a bit about the similarity of PMS and early pregnancy signs and how it's all just not fair. I went on Wikipdia, and got the following list of PMS symptoms. The one with the stars next to it? Also a early pregnancy sign:

Weight gain from premenstrual water retention
Abdominal bloating
Breast tenderness *
Stress or Anxiety
Depression (mood)
Crying spells, Mood swings, Irritability, Anger
Appetite changes and Food craving *
Trouble falling asleep
Joint or muscle pain *
Headache*
Fatigue *
Acne
Swelling of Breasts *
Trouble concentrating
Social withdrawal

I think that is all bullshit. So, for those of us who are watching every little sign? Could be PMS, could be pregnancy. AUGH!

Top it all off, I went to spin class this morning. The instructor is 6 months pregnant with twins.

My clinical opinion? My sore boobs are a PMS symptom - anger isn't on the list of early pregnancy symptoms.

My boobs hurt

My period is due on Thursday.

Of this we shall speak no more.

Taking a ride on the hope train*...

Shit.

For whatever reason, I'm totally hopeful that we are going to get a BFP this month. I had one of the strongest positive OPKs that I've ever had, and we had great timing. I figured out when implantation will occur (this weekend coming up)... when I'd be due (May).

Isn't it funny how some cycles I don't even think about it, others I'm sure it's not happening, and others I'm sure it will!? I wonder what triggers those different feelings?

Anyway, haven't been on the hope train since February (I was SO SURE that I was pregnant - I was even participating in birth boards on pregnancy dot org, loser that I am). AF is due on the 23rd... so the 2WW begins.

I'm in Chicago for work - and I'm actually having a lot of fun! It's nice here in the summer. Off to meet my guys for dinner....

*this may brand me as a total dork, but I totally love the show 'So You Think You Can Dance' - and the hope train comment stems from the 'Hot Tamale Train'.

New gym and more house holes!

Well.... what is there to say on the baby making front? Not much - although I did get a positive OPK yesterday - which is always good news. I'm off to Chicago for all of next week for work - so the timing was nice. We keep trying - we did get it to work once on our own... I sure would like to avoid IVF. Although New Doc is pretty sure that I have some sort of tubal issue, so I guess our chances aren't super high. Doesn't stop us from hoping and trying, though.


Since that news isn't really all that exciting, I thought I'd show you some stuff that Aaron did on the house this weekend! You all know how I like to show the shocking 'big hole in wall picture':

Aaron does this hard work with a nice big smile:
And this morning? A nice new wall, two new windows, and a wall air conditioner:
It's all coming together!

I also made a big decision this week - I quit my Y and the bikram yoga place, and joined the fancy 'club' in my area. I enjoy Bikram, but it's a little extreme, and a 40 minute drive from our house. And the Y, I only joined for access to the pool. This new, fancy club has yoga classes, spin classes, a nice big workout area, and my master's swim team practices there. Plus - it's only a 10 minute drive from my house. AND. The pool is in a bubble - so during the summer? It's an outside pool. I'm loving it. I was there for 2 hours both yesterday and today. I think it's a good choice.

Alright - off to enjoy the last bit of my weekend.

My new RE?

Sorry I took so long to update you all on my second opinion! Work has been busy this week. All in all, I liked her a lot better. She didn't really tell us anything new - but for whatever reason, made me feel more comfortable. My old doc? His office was set up with his desk and computer facing the wall - so he would often have his back turned to us when we were talking to him to check his computer - New Doc? Looking at us straight in the eye the whole time. As she was paging through all my records - she was explaining what she was looking for and what it meant. Old Doc would just say that everything 'looked good'.

Edited to add: And also - I forgot to tell you all - she asked who my OB/GYN was. I don't really have one - I was going to my PA for my yearly checkups - which included Paps. She said - well, you will get pregnant! And you'll need a doc for that! There is something else my Old Doc had never even brought up. So, I'm asking the gals in my neighborhood who they use, and will set up a check up with that doc soon too.

I'm 99% sure that we will be switching to this new doc. Changing doctors will mean a pretty significant change in the travel time to appointments, so Aaron and I still need to talk about it. Aaron has already sent a fax to get his records sent over, and my mind is basically made up - but we are a team, and like to make the official decision together. It isn't like we are in a rush to decide - I need to get a sonohysterogram to check out my uterus (for insurance). That can't happen until my next cycle (which should start around August 23rd. And then they would submit for insurance in September. So - I'm thinking October or November at the earliest to get going again on all the IVF stuff.

But it seems like a fresh start, you know?

Late Update

I just realized that with all my bitching lately, I haven't been keeping you all up to date on my 'general health' progress. I've actually just broken through a bit of a plateau. I don't know if it really counts as such, as it was self imposed. Once I hit my 'goal' and adding in the realization that IVF wasn't a near future thing, I let my guard down. I was still working out regularly (walking and yoga) but I was letting myself eat more treats than I had been in the past few months. No weight gained, but none lost either.

As of the past couple weeks, I'm back on the bandwagon. I've dropped a few more pounds, and am dangerously close to what I weighed at my wedding. I'm definitely fitting into all the cute outfits I bought for my honeymoon, which is a bonus. It's like getting a whole new wardrobe!

It's all of a sudden really summer here - hot and sticky out. It's really tempting to stay inside in front of the air conditioner. Instead, I'm still going out every day for walks, unless it raining. Last night, it was 93 degrees, and I still went for a 6 mile walk! I was pretty pound of myself, actually.