2WW Symptoms

I just wanted to stop and say thanks to everyone for all the lovely good wishes.  I know it's early in the game, but I am feeling pretty secure about things and hoping for the best.  I'm sure I will be blogging over the next few weeks until the ultrasound, but after that I hope not to flood this blog with only pregnancy posts (more on that at a later time).  For now, I will share things that I think may be helpful for others.  I know that when I was in the 2WW I likedto hear what others have gone through.  I kept track of "symptoms" just in case it came in handy.  If you're interested in looking, here you are.

Here is my chart up until today:

This is what happened during the 2WW:
Cycle Day (CD) 11: Blood work revealed my LH was starting to surge.  The doctor called me in for an IUI the next day
CD12: IUI
CD13: no symptoms
CD14: no symptoms
CD15: Acupuncture treatment.  That evening I had crazy cramping in my abdomen... to the point where I could not walk.  I checked with my TCM and she said it was probably positive movement.  I think that was when I was ovulating (as I have had similar pains in the past).  As my chart shows, I probably ovulated that day or the day before.
CD16: Slight amount of spotting!  I do not usually have this mid-cycle, so that was positive.  Also my nipples felt a bit tingly.
CD17: Tired!  At night I had heartburn (but we had chili for dinner, which could have contributed) and my nipples were a bit itchy.
CD18: Sore lower back.  Felt a bit crampy.  Also the next few days had a ton of CM in my underwear (sorry TMI).
CD19: Tired, sore lower back.
CD20: Sore back, heartburn at night
CD21: Had a sore in my mouth, which was unusual.  Looked it up and couldn't really find a correlation, but wonder if it was hormone related?
CD22: Tired
CD23: Tired and a bit moody/emotional.  Actually I had a big cry, and was sure AF was going to show up in the next few days.
CD24: Couldn't hold out any longer...HPT = BFN!  Felt crampy when walking the dog in the morning - kind of pinchy pain and sore lower back (could this be implantation?)  Again, emotional and wanted to cry throughout the day.  Thought AF must be imminent.
CD25: Sore back, bloated feeling (AF MUST be here tomorrow!)
CD26: Had insomnia through the night (anxiety from testing?).  Woke up in the middle of the night with the excema on my hands itching.  The only other time I had this symptom was when I was pregnant last time... could it be?  Sore back all day (and super full feeling abdomen after dinner).  Blood test reveals BFP!  Beta= 55.
CD27: BFP on home test!
CD28: Beta = 215

Since then, there haven't been any extremely prominent symptoms, but this weekend I am tired.  Oh, and funny story this morning - We were on our way our for brunch and I was feeling kind of grumpy/emotional.  I totally cried because I was worried that DH would get upset with me being grumpy and not like me.  That made me cry.  Can you say pregnancy????  Haha!  I've felt a little nauseous and off today, and I hope that continues. :)

Waiting out the two week wait

Can. Time. Move. Any. Slower. ????

I figured it's time I sat down and figured out a way to get through this next week and a bit.  It's great that I am already almost a week along, and only have 8 more days to go before testing day!  In the past, though, I have made myself lists of things to do during the 2ww in order to keep myself sane (see here for that list).  Nothing like a list to add some sanity to my life. 

We had a busy, busy weekend filled with lots of people events.  It was fun, but it has left me tired starting this week.  Part of me just wants to plow through the week, but I know that if I have some intentions, I will enjoy myself more and stress out less.  So this is what's in the plans (not just for this week, but for the next few weeks to get me through):

1.  Do you remember last year at this time, I hoped to host a Spring Tea Party for some of my girlfriends.  Then I had the whole pregnancy stress and miscarriage, so that got taken off the list.  Well, I have planned it again this year.  A friend actually sells tea and has these home parties, so I have organized a ladies dress-up event in a couple weekends.  I won't have to plan much, except a simple menu and decorations.  I'll keep you posted on that!

2. Planning my trip to Australia - I need to purchase my Visa, and make some final travel arrangements.  Then I need to figure out what I actually want to do while I'm there.  Have you been?  Any suggestions?  I'll be mainly in Sydney with a little weekend trip up to the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast.

3.  Shopping!  I'm sure I need a few new outfits to take to Australia.  Plus I should go through my summer clothes to see what still fits and what I can take with me.  On that note, I need to have my suitcase repaired before I go too.

4. Spring cleaning!  My house isn't that dirty, but it's about time to tackle those jobs you never seem to want to do.  Pull out the fridge and stove and clean behind, clean out the fridge and oven, shine up those windows.  Plus, I'd really like to do a thorough purge of the house and organize closet spaces, etc.  I hate having so much stuff!  I'm not too good at purging though.  I told my BFF that if I am pregnant, she's coming over for a weekend to help me cull anything I don't need.  We are also having a new furnace put in in a couple of weeks, so that will give me a chance to re-organize the laundry room and tidy it up.  The other problem is getting rid of my husband's clutter...hmm...  (For a look at someone who is super crazy organized, with 5 kids... check out this blog.  It blows my mind!).

5. Plant some seeds in the garden!  This year I'm just going to plant them right outside rather than starting them inside and we'll see what happens.

6. Finish some sewing projects.  I need to finish the aprons I'm making for my sis-in-law and niece, and whip up a baby blanket for my new nephew, who is due in April.  I'm also recovering a cushion in the house.  Hope to get these done soon!

7. Plan a visit to Vancouver to see my BFF (and maybe do some shopping!).  This will definitely keep my insanity at bay.  I think I will plan it for after I get my results.  That way, we can either celebrate together, or mourn together with a bottle of wine. 

Wow, that is definitely a lot to keep me busy.  What's funny is that I looked over my post from last year when I was going through this same thing.  Not much has changed.  A lot of my intentions are exactly the same as they were a year ago.  In fact, our first IUI was less than a week away from this past IUI... March 1st.  How bizarre, how bizarre. 

(In other news... there are a few symptoms showing their face, which I believe I have seen before... maybe my mind is playing tricks on me... but it's helping keep me positive!  And this time I didn't have a trigger shot to blame the symptoms on.  It could just be hormones though too.)

1Dpiui

1Dpiui.  That just sounds so silly to write.  One day past IUI.  How do I feel?

Overall, pretty good.  I definitely felt cramping throughout the evening/last night.  I slept in today, which was glorious!  Between all the 6-hour trips to the clinic and getting up early for bloodwork before going to work this week, I was exhausted!  I really needed to catch up on some zzz's.  My neck and back are a bit sore today.  I'm not sure if that's a result of the IUI, or ovulation, or just sleeping funny.

Emotionally, I just feel pretty proud of myself for going through with it.  If you asked me a few years ago if this is something I thought I could do, I'm pretty sure I would have said a resounding NO.  I feel proud that we were able to take initiative and make this happen.  I feel like I could do it again if it doesn't work this time.  I really would prefer not to, but I know it's likely that we will.  It's not super common for IUI to work the first time.  And I'm worrying about the timing, since my eggs had not yet released and washed sperm doesn't stick around as long.  Really, it's all pretty nerve-wracking.  I just wish we knew one way or the other!  At the same time, even if we DO get preggers from this, I am freaked out about the possibility of a miscarriage or something.  I haven't had any miscarriages, as far as I know, but I still see it all the time on blogs.  But enough of that.

Here I am today and I have 13 days to go before I go for blood work.  I am going to make good use of this time.  And, since there are people I know in real life who read this blog (okay, only one but she's special!), I'm not going to be tracking any of my symptoms for the 2ww.  At least not online.  I will keep track and post them all IF anything happens.  But if not, I don't want to have the emotional roller coaster of obsessing over every little symptom here online.  And this way I can keep the suspense a little longer and have a chance to let others know in person before I blog about it.  So, come day 14, don't expect much of a spoiler post, because I'll give it some time to settle before I do blog about it.

Having said all that (my, I'm rambling today), I will keep blogging about other things in my life, and about thoughts about infertility in general. And, in light of that, I've put together a list of things that I plan to do to keep me occupied over this dreadful two-week-wait!  I love lists.  All yesterday I was making lists in my head and today is my day to get my life in order, write out my lists and get going on things.  I love that.  Am I weird, or what?  So, this is what I plan to keep me busy for the next 2 weeks:

1. Contact Olivia re. pampered chef pan (it cracked right in half just a month after purchasing it)
2. Plant vegetable seeds for my garden to start indoors
3. Repot house plants (need to buy pots first)
4. Buy new socks
5. Make laundry soap (I make an awesome home-made kind, I'll post about it when I do make it)
6. Plan my birthday tea party (I'm super excited to have a spring birthday tea and can't wait to start planning)
7. Finish knitting DH's scarf (now that winter is practically over...)
8. Find and bake a new bread recipe
9. File taxes (this is more of DH's job, but I'll try to get him to do it to keep him busy too)
10. Sign up for RRSP's
11. Trim bangs and wax eyebrows (maybe throw in a little pedicure too)
12. Find or make pillows for the living room (I need some colour in my life!)
13. Deal with consignment clothes piling up in the spare room
14. I'll leave this one blank... any tips or other ideas of something to finish off my list?

In closing, DH was talking with our friends P&J who know about what we're going through, and was telling them about the experience yesterday.  Apparently (I thought this was so cute) he told them that the whole thing the most intimate, un-intimate experience we have had.  Meaning, that as un-intimate as the whole thing was... we found a way to connect and have some intimacy through the ridiculousness of it all.  Does that make sense?  I thought it was pretty cute and just wanted to share.