General chatter while we wait (and commentary on the "pull out method")

His favorite hockey team is probably the one he plays on for fun with his friends. . It’s Sharks because he’s loyal to the bay even though his sexy ass grew up somewhere else. I’m trying to not do my usual crazy. I decided I just have to trust him at face value. If he turns out to be a d bag I’ll just drop him and move on.

picking up my bcp today and feeling blah. When did they move start day from Sunday to the 1st/2nd day of your af?! I thought I had a week to wrap my head around it but I’m due tomorrow lol

PL that’s so awesome!!!!!!!! Def share pics and more info as they come. So glad you are healing and yay girlie puppy!

 

Dobby so exciting about the guy! I'm really happy for you

Shae it's very unlikely that it would result in pregnancy and stress usually delays O in my experience.

Pacific yay for puppies!

 

Dobby - The Sharks are acceptable. lol. And I'm all for supporting local sports teams.

PL - Congrats on your puppy.

 

Dobs I’m so glad you do well on bcps and that he’s so sweet and seems like a great fit for you! I don’t know anything about hockey, really, I don’t watch it at all on TV, but I did go to one in person (not NHL) just before COVID hit, and I quite liked it. I have to admit, the best part was the fights I’m legit drawing a blank on what the Boston hockey team is, oops (edit: just googled, it’s the Bruins, idk how I forgot that). Anyway, I’m glad that it seems he roots for same team as you (I assume, since you live in the bay). Weird about the start date, though when I was on it I just used these sticker strips that came in the pack to change what day of the week it started on the label, I just started them the day my IUD came out I think (in 2018). I can understand the BP worries re:bcps, but if your doctor isn’t concerned/you don’t have other risk factors, I wouldn’t worry too much. Just don’t start smoking lol. My OPKs don’t give an LH level/number. I use the Premom app, you take a picture of the OPK at the 5 minute mark and it calculates the test to control line ratio, <1.0 being negative, >=1.0 being positive.

Pretty oh it’s totally a self fulfilling prophecy, I’m stressed about getting pregnant and then stressed that my stress could get me pregnant and then stressed that my stress about my stress could get me pregnant... anyway, I’m feeling much better today. Negative OPKs still, so I’m pretty sure I’m totally fine. Just using the diaphragm from now on lol, no more protection-less escapades.

PL yay for a little girl puppy! I’m glad it’s helping your mental health, especially after last year’s loss. Hopefully we’ll get to see pics when she goes home with you!

Flueks my experience is delayed ovulation as well, rather than early. I just stress because I know science says either can happen, and in my family it totally would lol. However, it’s looking like I’m totally fine, my OPKs are very negative, so I’m going to stop worrying about it.
I hope things are still going well with you and the girls!

AFM, not sure if you ladies are familiar with the MTHFR gene mutation?
If not: if you have the mutation, it decreases the enzyme activity that converts folic acid into an active form that can be used by the body. You can have one, two, or no variants. One variant means a 35% decrease in that specific enzyme activity, two variants means a 70% decrease in that specific enzyme activity. This means that to get the same benefit from folic acid in preventing neural tube defects as women without the mutation, women with the mutation need to either take in more folic acid or take the already active form. Most prenatals do not use the active form, though some do, and you can buy the active form as a standalone supplement.

ANYWAY, now that the background is over... I kept meaning to check my 23andMe raw data to see if I had any mutation variants, and I finally did check yesterday. Turns out, I do have one variant (could be worse, could be two). The prenatal I’m taking already has 800 mcg of folic acid, which should be plenty even with one variant, but I have a bottle of 400 mcg of the active form so I’m just adding one of those to my daily med regimen, just in case.

Other than that, not much new to report. Feeling less stressed about the pregnancy risk. More stressed about school because I still don’t have a capstone placement, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

 

Pretty lol yeah I mean they could be worse but they could be better. they do a lot of community outreach, especially at schools for reading and drug prevention. So happy to root for the home team for sure.

Shae yeah I’m from The Bay so Sharks/Warriors/Giants/49ers are the way to go. And lol that’s literally what my gyn said. She checked the notes from my pap last month, including bp, and said you’re great just don’t suddenly start smoking haha. Sorry about the variant but it’s nice that you’re able to know and it’s just a secondary pill to take. Fxed you get a placement soon! Oh and pretty nifty Opk app! Glad things worked out with the timing.

 

Dobs lol I love that your gyn said the same thing. Risk for blood clots has been drilled into my head re: combined BCPs from my pharmacology classes.

AFM last night I couldn’t sleep so at 3 am I took 2 anxiety pills (just hydroxyzine, not the strong stuff) aaaand I woke up at 4 pm. I woke up at 7 am to temp but I don’t remember it, I just checked the history and saw a new temp lol. So my sleep schedule is destroyed, and I may take more anxiety meds in a few to try to wake up earlier than I did today but also be able to go to sleep earlier than I have been. Like I legit woke up, ate chocolate and pizza, drank wine over family zoom, and am now eating chocolate and pizza again.

TMI about diaphragm use in spoiler below

Spoiler

Yesterday I used the diaphragm through sex for the first time, and I was not prepared for the amount of, uh, male fluid that immediately came right back out of my vagina logically it makes sense because it basically bounces off the diaphragm but I didn’t really think about that and my sheets were, uh, damp.

Oh, unrelated, I found this cool product on Kickstarter called Quilbie that’s a car seat cover but unlike standard covers like milk snob it’s water resistant, doesn’t trap heat inside, blocks light more efficiently, etc. I had no clue that standard covers could trap heat inside them when it’s really hot out, which of course is a safety risk. I ended up pledging for one of them cuz I think it’s cool plus if they don’t get fully funded you don’t get charged lol. Just thought I’d mention it cuz it seems cool and maybe those of you with infants would be interested. They charge $8 for shipping on top of the pledge amount, just a warning so nobody is surprised like I was. It’s supposed to ship out in May if it gets funded (and it launched today). Here’s the link if anyone wants it. (Geez I sound like an ad but obviously I’m not involved in the project)


Anyway, I’m gonna go back to eating milano cookies and Lindt lindor truffles and then conk myself back out with hydroxyzine.

 

Dobby - My main concern is that you're not dating another dirty Habs fan. Or an Ottawa Senators fan. Haha

shae - The pizza, chocolate, booze and sleep sounds like a dream. Not so much the anxiety though. :/
And that's why it's called a "wet spot". lol

 

Pretty LMFAO literally laughed out loud. he confirmed he is loyal to the locals, so Sharks.

Shae I agree great combo once you take out the anxiety . Sorry it’s really flaring you right now. Hoping you can get back on your sleep schedule soon

afm A broke the guard rail on the bed. I don’t want to replace it but I’ve definitely seen him roll out of bed lol. Unamused

 

Dobs, lol on the guardrail.. I wouldn't bother replacing it because sometimes even adults fall out of bed if you are worried you could always move his mattress onto the floor for a while until he learns to sleep closer to the middle or wall side.
Ds1 definitely a few times slinkied out of bed in his sleep when he first moved into his big boy mattress on the floor. He looked like a sleeping ferret

 

I think I’ll try tonight. He cosleeps with me in the queen and rolls around like me. He is so my child lol.

eta the wall of pillows ended up on the floor but not him. I feel like I need one of those days without incident counters

also getting mildly annoyed that af isn’t here. CD 30. I know my cycles had been irregular again but ugh. My gyn said I can start my pills even if I don’t get my period, but I’d feel better if I went by the books

 

Dobby could even put some foam like mats on the floor so fall is cushioned.

Shae the nature made prenatal has folate in it rather than folic acid. It's what I took during 2nd and 3rd pregnancy. Bahaha on the spoiler. I'm sure it takes some getting used to though.

AFM my body is being crazy again. I had some spotting, I've not checked to see if it's picked up. I've ordered some ICs for peace of mind since my body is being ridiculous. I had a really "bad" day of eating Tuesday after doing well Monday. It's like no amount of chocolate is enough. I was better yesterday. In any case, I'm not following closely as I don't want to harm my supply and she only gain 4.5 oz from New Year's to last Friday. Sooo, I'm going to make a cheesecake tomorrow or Saturday

Girls are good. V is doing well with potty training. Trying panties today and a short car ride. Oh E is the tallest when looking at 2 month appt heights and weights with all 3 girls. I also did a collage of all 3 at 2 months. Very similar especially V and E.

 

Dobs, my af is totally screwed up too. I went from a brilliant 33-35 days (less then once a month with active sexual life and not trying to have babies it was awesome!) To 27 days on my last cycle... I am average less then 30 days now. A total wtf, why a whole 7 days less over the span of a few months.

Puppies are all doing well, breeder and mom are doing a fantastic job raising them. In a week they have already doubled their birth weight

 

Flueks ahhh my ovaries, such cute babies I feel like they all look sooo different from each other!

PL I’m so glad the puppies are doing well! I feel you on the changing cycle lengths. My cycle was only just regulating when I got my first IUD, it was 29-31 days for a few months prior. On the IUD I’ve had 24-67. It’s usually between 28-38, though. I have no clue what my body is going to do off the IUD considering I’ve been on hormonal birth control for nearly a decade now. My period when I took it out was only slightly heavier than an IUD period because the lining built up with the IUD still in place.
Honestly would be kinda nice to not get pregnant just to let my cycle regulate and see what it does, but of course I wouldn’t have to deal with periods if I was pregnant in all seriousness though, no matter how much I want a baby, I’m only trying in my head, not in my actions I’d like to not puke my way through my last semester of college.

 

Flueky sorry about your busy giving your grief. So nice that we can make children, but man do they take us on a rollercoaster! Do you have a great recipe? I just did Stella Park’s but it’s a little tart for me but that could be me going ham on the lemon.
The girls are so cute! And so fun to see what traits they share but what makes each so unique. Love it!

PL yay! So glad the puppies are doing well! That’s awesome! And your little girl is that much closer to come home!

Shae I don’t think I puked once with A. Like I’d get nauseated if I had an empty stomach. Honestly, my pregnancy was kind of amazing. So you never know! You could get lucky. But yeah I won’t lie that waiting until I had a stable job, a home, and was set in life minus a partner really worked out for me.

afm nothing new. Lol second date tomorrow so I’m excited for that. Got my labs back from my life insurance and my ldl was a bit high. Hoping that the daily walking and switch to the DASH diet have helped. My bp was only 121 at the dentist so down a little bit still high for me. Also finally starting to lose weight again so now I’m back to where I was when work first started

 

Dobs I’m concerned about puking while pregnant because the estrogen in the BCPs made me puke from things that had never made me puke before (migraines, taking meds after skipping for a few days, etc). It’s not a good sign for me lol. My mom threw up like every 15 minutes AT WORK at the worst of it when she was pregnant with me. She’d puke between each patient. Major yikes. And she didn’t even puke from BCPs.

Yay for second date! Sorry about your LDL :/ is your weight loss ticker up to date or no? Also, they took your BP at the dentist? They’ve never done any vitals on me.

 

Oof yeah now that you say that I think I remember you mentioning that. I’ll still keep my fxed!

yeah it was weird but I was curious lol so I didn’t ask why she was doing it. Esp for a routine cleaning. Oh well. The dentist was also weird. He was like telling me about all the junk he wants me to do before I go in next to take care of my teeth and I was like no promises dude but I’ll try. He was like just think! If you do all these things and we get your gums healthy then we can get to know each other instead of talking about dental plans. So either he was hitting on me or he didn’t think that joke through lol

 

Ticker is old. It’s from when I first went back to work. I’m at 129.6 now. I had gone all the way back up to like 138

 

Shae yeah and like Dobby said, you never know about MS during pregnancy. I was moderately sick with V and E. With S I only did once or twice and that was when I was going to give a presentation so it was my nerves. My mom hardly puked with me or my brother. I do understand expecting it because then if you don't it's a plessant surprise when you don't. But agreed that waiting for a job, your own place is best.


Dobby yes it is fun to see similarities and differences. V and S are night and day personalities.

I didn't get to make the cheesecake, DH couldn't find the right size pan at the store. I ordered off Amazon Thursday evening but won't be here til Tuesday. So fix Wednesday or Thursday I suppose. I'll give you the link though. Instant Pot New York Cheesecake #17 | Tested by Amy + Jacky

I'm thinking because of the correlation between dental health and heart health they may have checked your BP. The eye dr does but dentist hasn't done mine though. Hope you can get your lol done. Maybe eat some pistachios to help. Congrats on the weight loss!

How did your date go??

AFM no more spotting since Thursday morning, ICs will be here Tuesday. I really think it's just wacky pp hormones though.

V is doing awesome with panties on. Still doing a pull-ups at night, she's wet half the time.

I think I'm going to make a weight loss tracker for extra motivation.

 

Oooo Flueky that makes sense and sounds like something they’ve said at some point. I had a deep cleaning right before the shutdown, so they’re happy with the progress from that but there are still some problem areas. I have a weird flossing aversion. It makes my skin crawl. So I’m trying. I told them I can commit to brushing and mouthwash and I’ll keep working on desensitizing myself to flossing.

Glad the hormones have settled! Fxed for no more odd bleeding.

That’s so great about V! Honestly A is still in diapers cuz I’m not trying to wash the bed all the time lol. He just started waking me up to pee and it sucks. Either a 2am wake up or 4am wake up (then he won’t go back to sleep). Fun times.

Def make a ticker! I track in an app, and it really helps to see what I’m losing weekly/monthly/overall.

Date is in 5 hours. I’m so nervous. Mostly because if it goes well I don’t have any days off until spring break. My brother rallied against me and said he wants both parents vaccinated before they can babysit versus just my stepdad like we had all previously agreed. He gets vaccinated with his first dose today, but my mom and I are still waiting to hear when our counties will start vaccinating teachers. Doesn’t sound like it’s happening any time soon. I don’t want to overburden my friend by asking her to watch him every weekend. So unless he agrees to lunch dates for the foreseeable future I’m up the creek

 

Dobby yeah, I hated how the floss squeezed my fingers but DH got me into the pick type flossers, I think the one we use is plackers? Hope it goes well and that you can secure childcare/get vaccinations

We keep V and S in the same room but once we get our home we will separate and I'll probably let V be able to open her door (we have a childproofed knob). It's to protect her but I think she'll be ready at almost 4 y.o. to be able to leave her room. She'll have her own bathroom too (well guests will use it too, but no sharing with sisters) so she'll probably just go on her own.

I updated my ticker but it's not showing yet. I've lost 4lbs in 2 weeks. Proud of it and looking forward to losing more.