BFP! BFP!

Yep. That's a BFP (Big Fat Positive)!

It's been, well, an interesting cycle. I actually wasn't feeling all that positive about this cycle. We did everything right, hit the target 3 times during what should have been my fertile period and then...nothing. My temp didn't spike for another two days. I thought we'd missed the mark. I was bummed, but started planning for the next month.

(Fair warning: the following contains details about throwing up, my period and nipples!)

Then this weekend, I went to San Diego to visit my mom (hi mom!) Everything was fine and dandy, I had a lovely time. Until Monday night. We had gone to a seafood buffet at a local casino that my mom really liked. The food was tasty and I stayed away from anything uncooked (just to be safe). Then we walked back through the casino. Weird fact: even though we are in California, with no smoking laws, you can still smoke inside a casino. The smell of the smoke almost made me gag. Then we went to the movies. The smell of the popcorn was almost too much. In fact it was. 15 minutes into the movie, I went to the bathroom and threw up. After the movie, I went to the bathroom and threw up. We got home and I threw up. I then proceeded to throw up or dry heave every 45 minutes for the remainder of the night. At first, I thought maybe I was pregnant. But I had a pretty high temp (around 99.5) and that didn't seem normal. I thought I might have had food poisoning, but again, there was that high temp, which is not normal for food poisoning. I slept most of yesterday, crawled on the plane last night, came home and went to bed. Woke up with, for me, a normal temp.

Now this morning, my temp was normal for me, but still in the high zone, meaning my period wasn't on it's way. That would put today at 15 days past ovulation. I usually have my period 12 to 13 days past ovulation. So I thought I'd take a test. Plus, there were a few signs I was trying not to read too much into before. Signs like: nasty taste in my mouth; nausea after eating, and sensitive nipples.

I was expecting nothing. But a few minutes later and I was jumping up and down and running into the bedroom to tell Brian!


So if everything goes well, we should be seeing our little guy (or girl) in about 9 months. Looks like we're having a Christmas baby!

No Dice

So yeah. Five Early Sign Pregnancy Tests Later (don't worry. I actually used the dollar store equivalent. Which are great except you have to first pee in a cup. Which is weird) and five negatives. Plus I got my period. I won't lie. I cried. At the movies. To see a kid movie (it was Rango. Excellent movie, by the way). It was an awkward moment for Brian. But he's awesome and held me while  I cried in the dark theater with kids surrounding me.

On the plus side, I've got some good data. It appears that my cycle is actually pretty regular (who knew?) and for the last two months, my cycle length has been the same and my ovulations have been within a day of each other. So it should make timing this month a lot easier. Starting tomorrow, I hit my five day fertile period, so wish me luck!

And now we play the waiting game...

Snicker. That line always reminds me of Family Guy. I'm a dork. I know. Moving on...

So, according to my charts--I've decided to combine the phone app with the charting; it's just easier to read the graphs on my charts than on my phone--my temperature spiked on Tuesday and the temps have stayed up (granted, it's now Thursday, so not THAT long). Which means that my most fertile days were the previous 6 days. And we...um...tried to hit the target three times in that time period.

Sorry. I know this is a pregnancy blog and all, so some sex talk should be expected but, you know, my mom is going to be reading this. And my sisters-in-law and my MOTHER-IN-LAW (hi Barbara!). It just makes me a little...squidgy.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I feel pretty good about this month. I mean, I felt pretty good the last two months as well, but we're far enough away from that first disastrous miscarriage thing that my cycle should be getting back to normal. And now we just wait. According to my previous charts, my luteal phase (Ha! Look at me using technical terms!) should be about 12 days. So 9 days to go before I take the pregnancy test (or for my period to start).

Is It Me, Or Am I Going Crazy?

I have been on birth control pills since I was 16 years old (have I mentioned this? Probably.) That means, I was on birth control pills for 12 years.

Apparently birth control pills are also behavior modification pills. Because now that I am off of them, I have gone CRAZY!

Now, when I was on birth control pills (or bcp, since writing out birth control pills over and over is making me brain hurt), I would occasionally switch types. When I switched, I could see that I was a bit more hormonal than usual (during the second semester of my freshman year of college, I switched pills and then called my mom crying once a week).

It never really occurred to me what would happen when I went off bcp cold turkey. Crazy is what happened. I say things, or do things, that I would look at later, almost in 3rd person, and think "seriously? why are you doing that?" I randomly get really angry or really upset for reasons that have never particularly bothered me before. And then I take it out on the people who are around me. Unfortunately, that is usually Brian.

I'm trying, really trying, to not let the hormones control me. I used to be a cool, relaxed person. Someone who let things go with the flow. I'm trying to find that person again. I liked her. Other people liked her. If I have done something or said something to you that hurt you or pissed you off or just plain confused you with it's irrationality, I am sorry. It's not me. It's the hormones!

Holy Acne, Batman!

That whole thing about breaking out when you go off the pill is no joke. Seriously. I have not had acne like this since high school. Before I went on the pill. Guess that claim of clearing up your skin actually was right!

So now, after years of washing my face with just water...maybe, I have gotten myself into a regular skin care regimen. I feel like such a grown up! It's been about a week since I started, and I think my skin is looking better. Less blotchy, red, and broken out. We'll see how I'm looking in a few weeks...

I am not good at charting

I am not good at charting. Seriously. I'm pretty good at remembering to take my temp and check my oil, as Brian likes to call it, but actually transcribing that onto the chart...not so much. I have so many other things to do while in bed in the morning. You know, like checking my email, my Facebook, coming up with a new word against Barbara on Wordfeud. What, you mean all of these things are done on my phone? So why don't I just download an app so I can just chart on my phone?

Ok. I will.

It's handy, plus I'll always know when my last period was (or when we tried last) for going to the doctor. It also indicates when you should be most fertile and when your period should start. It'll be interesting to see how accurate it is.

In case you are wondering what app it is, it's called My Days App.
Check it out if you are so inclined.

Happy New Year!

Well, my body seems to be recovering nicely and I'm back to eating my favorite foods: chai tea, sushi, wine and chocolate! And just in time for our New Year's Resolution--actively try to get pregnant.

Let me tell you, we plan on working VERY HARD on this resolution ;-)

On another note, our friends Sandi and Chris have officially announced that they are expecting and we are super excited for them! I can't wait to get started on my knitting projects for them.

Have a happy New Year!