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

[shaescott]

YESSSSSS what is that, o-2 then?? ahhhhhhh!! fingers so tightly crossed!

It’s O-2.67 if I ovulate exactly 24 hours after the positive OPK

 

[shaescott]

My LH is going extra hard this month, I took another OPK around 11:30 PM and got a T/C of 2.29. Wowie.

 

[shaescott]

Pretty sure I’m ovulating on my right side, I’ve been getting pelvic cramping that’s central to right sided. So if that’s what it is, we are indeed O-2.67

 

[autumnal]

Fingers crossed you get this one !!!
I'm supposed to O next weekend. I feel awful with this cold and we had to miss church and yesterday's Christmas banquet they were doing.
My husband hasn't seem to have caught it yet so I might be SOL for my fertile week lol

 

[shaescott]

The pelvic pain moved to localized right side, so I’m pretty sure my right ovary is pumping out that egg with all its might also ow. Had a brief dizzy/nauseous spell out of nowhere that lasted like 2 minutes, for a sec there I was like “uh oh” cuz I’m at work lol. I almost never have ovulation pain so this is interesting.

Autumnal oh no! Hopefully he just doesn’t get it at all!

 

[shaescott]

Also getting the first part of the deposit is the most important part so I say as long as you ovulate you're definitely in with a solid chance!

I had never heard of this before and asked my mom about it today, she confirmed that the first spurt has the highest concentration of sperm in it. A quick Google agrees. I asked DH and he said he’s fairly certain the first spurt was in me.

 

[shaescott]

No temp rise today but with the ovulation pain yesterday I’m pretty sure I ovulated. Hopefully it’ll be up tomorrow and the progesterone rise is just taking an extra day to get it’s crap together

 

[gigglebox]

So exciting Shae!! Keep us updated on your symptom spotting and hey if I got pregnant the way I did I think you're definitely in with a chance anyway. Not to get too TMI (who am I kidding, isn't that what this forum is for?) how was cm on the day of bd?

Oh no Autumn! Just have as romantic-less sex as you can lol. Actually I believe your chances for conception are higher when you're ill because your immune system is suppressed which makes things more hospitable for an egg to implant. Something like that.

Jules if you have a solid casserole recipe, do share!

afm....looking forward to feeling more movement so I can really bond with this guy. I'm getting thumps here and there but I'm just still a little disconnected and it bugs me. I wish I knew how to fully embrace this and be excited! This reminds me of when I was shopping for my wedding dress. I was kind of a curmudgeon about it because I was unhappy with my weight, and also my best friends at the time lived out of state so I was just shopping with my mom. Facetime wasn't a thing back the and I kept kind of focusing on what I was missing out on in the experience, and not embracing the experience. This is like that and it really bothers me. I want to be all in excited and it's hard to do because I keep going back to the hard parts of what's about to happen with my body changes, sleep challenges, and then the challenges that come along with having a newborn. Also how much work we have to do around here to get ready for a baby. Our house is not at all ready to add another human to it. Really hoping once I feel regular and proper movement, this will give me a perspective change for the better.

 

[shaescott]

Gigs it was just starting to turn fertile, it was creamy with a bit of EWCM in the mix. Not as good as I’d like, but it most certainly wasn’t dry.
Looks like last month my temp rise was a day later than I expected as well, but then my temps were nice and high, so fingers crossed on that front.

I’m sorry you’re not able to enjoy the pregnancy as much. Hopefully he’ll turn into a kickboxer ASAP

 

[Jules8]

@shaescott I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you! That was such a good positive opk! I used to always think my temp was a day later than I thought too. I was told it would happen 24-36 hours after my first positive opk. Then I started realizing that I would get a darker opk the day after the first positive and that was actually the peak so I wasn’t ovulating til 24-36 after that second day. Also, depending on the time of day you ovulated your temp might not necessarily wise the next morning. So you could have ovulated later in the evening and this morning wasn’t long enough to show the temp rise yet.
@autumnal I hope everyone feels better soon so you can catch O! I’m sorry you had to miss some things. So many things going around right now, I want to go in a bubble til Christmas. If it makes you feel better, the month I conceived I had the flu then my husband got it the day after me…we were sick during almost my entire fertile window. Somehow we both felt better and managed to bd on the very last day of my fertile window. I figured we were out and was super shocked!
@gigglebox I’m so sorry you feel that way. How many weeks are you now? It’s super hard in the first few months to bond. There’s all the fun of tiredness, nausea, and bleh…but not quite looking pregnant or feeling baby. It’s hard to focus on the good parts, but you’ll get there soon. Also, I don’t have a particular recipe. I just googled Thanksgiving broccoli casserole and made the one with the most good reviews. Lol
AFM- We traveled all weekend and I was so tired at work today. I had a phone appt with the genetics doctor at my mfm. They just had to update my history before my ultrasound on Wednesday. She also set up my genetics bloodwork for after my appt. We should get it all back in a week or so. We’re waiting on all that to tell our kids…I’m pretty shocked they haven’t figured it out yet though.

 

[shaescott]

I used to always think my temp was a day later than I thought too. I was told it would happen 24-36 hours after my first positive opk. Then I started realizing that I would get a darker opk the day after the first positive and that was actually the peak so I wasn’t ovulating til 24-36 after that second day.

Interestingly enough, it is actually supposed to be based on the first positive OPK, not the peak. Basically, LH has to hit a certain threshold to trigger the ovaries to release an egg. Once it hits that threshold, it doesn’t matter if it continues to increase, the ovaries have already received the signal and will respond accordingly. LH tests try to capture that threshold, so that they will turn positive once the threshold is reached. That said, some people don’t ovulate until more like 48 hours after the first positive From past experience, I’ve had anywhere from ~12-48 hours past first positive OPK, average being 24-36. So I’m not worried in general, I’m just annoyed because I felt what I thought was ovulation pain and then didn’t have a temp spike. But that’s okay, I’m still in the game as long as it does spike soon.

Prayers the genetics bloodwork comes back normal! How old are your kiddos? I had no idea until my mom told me, but I was just shy of 5 when my mom got pregnant with my sister. I did, however, ask my parents to give me a sibling, I just didn’t understand pregnancy and have a memory of having a dream that we would go to a store and pick a baby out from shelves of shoeboxes (containing the babies).

Oh btw I found out that if I have the genetic disorder my sister and dad have, I’ll be high risk and won’t be able to have a home birth or birth center birth. Boo. Hopefully it’ll come back negative.

 

[gigglebox]

I'll add that when I did impatiently take OPK's (mind you I typically feel ovulation so they're a bit wasted on me, but I get impatient waiting) I found that I usually ovulated within 8-9 hours after my positives. I know everyone is different but that was my norm. I never temped though so can't comment on that. Haha Jules that's funny you got pregnant with the flu. Same happened to a friend of mine who had been trying for well over a year. She didn't want to miss her opportunity so even sick with the flu she made it work and that was the month she got pregnant.

To answer your question I'm 16+4. Honestly this pregnancy is flying by! The first few weeks were slow when I was waiting for the first ultrasound but after that...holy moly it's going so, so fast. I definitely look pregnant to those who know me, but maybe just chunky to everyone else. I'm definitely subconsciously doing the thing where I will rest a hand on my belly in public just to kind of indicate hey, this is more than just chunk lol. Yeah it's been tough bonding and part of that is because of my twitches; I get them so often that I've gotten used to subtle feelings like that and have more or less been trained to ignore it. So when I DO feel that it's baby, it takes me a second to realize it (I'm trying to really acknowledge any feelings out of the norm in my lower belly); and typically by the time I tune it to what I'm feeling, he stops. I know it won't be like much longer though.

Also this baby is kind of chill in general so far. He's been so freakin' still on the ultrasounds. I remember at 8 weeks all the girls in my bump group were like, "It was so wild to see little bean wiggling away!" and I'm like....I guess it's good he has a heartbeat He must have been a dream to take pictures of at 12 weeks lol. Barely moving then, too. Hoping he's a little more active during the anatomy scan just so I can see him move. At least I can feel him moving here and there now. I think I'll feel better when it's more obvious.

Anyway are you finding out the sex of the baby? That would be so nice to have two of each but lord knows that I know we can't pick!

Shae that's so funny about the shoe box baby store. I also begged my parents for a sibling (I desperately wanted a sister) but didn't know until my late 20's that Dad got the snip after me. I remember my Mom sitting down with me and telling me that they wouldn't be having more babies, and even if they did, there was no guarantee it would be a sister. She had a point lol.

Are you being tested for the genetic issue or waiting until you're pregnant and they do a blood screening at that point? That's a bummer though I feel fortunate that we have a birthing center inside our hospital. So if things go south, you're right at the hospital anyway. That definitely came in handy with ds2 when I labored there for like over a day. The tub was nice. Hubby poured warm water over my lower back which was helpful (I was in back labor). The ball was nice too...until nothing was touching the pain anymore anyway! But yea obviously fx you come back negative!!

 

[HalfricanMa]

The hospital near us has the same thing @gigglebox. I badly wanted a water birth and was under the care of midwives until I went too long. My first baby I was running 3-4miles 4 times a week until 39 weeks and then i was at 2 mile runs with walking at the half way point. Nothing was starting labor. I was running in 110 degree heat! We tried every route to induce labor starting at 41+3. It was painful and laborious until 42 weeks they did an emergency section.
Anyways, goes to show how births can go completely opposite the plan! Hahaha
@shaescott sorry about the disappointing news regarding genetics. Doctors worried it was genetics causing my polyhydramnios my second pregnancy, but turns out our baby girl is just fine. She likes to pee a lot! Lmao but the genetics issue or physical problems like esophagus issues etc were all concerns for a few weeks until everything was checked by ultrasound and bloodwork. Do you know if having taken my first pill of progesterone and having the peak advanced opk 6 hours later will affect my ovulation? I got the peak on Tuesday last week so today is likely 7dpo or about there. I kept getting “high fertility” reading for nearly 2 weeks before that peak. I’m trying to kickstart a cycle so that i can have my first pp ovulation. Can i still be in with a shot even though im taking provera?

 

[autumnal]

@HalfricanMa I hope that this cycle is good to you!!
@gigglebox I can so relate to what you said about the house not being ready.. we are really crammed in our current place and its a temporary situation but quite annoying. And I need a new laundry solution. Lol and I can't believe you are already almost 17 weeks wow that was quick!

 

[shaescott]

Gigs I actually have the test on my counter, I just have to do it and send it off haha. I didn’t ask for more siblings after my sister, but I think my parents told me that my dad got snipped when it happened, so I knew it wasn’t a possibility. I definitely feel like it wasn’t immediately after she was born. Maybe after they saw how much attitude she had as a child hahahahaha

Halfrican the fertility monitors are different than OPKs, they give high fertility for elevated estrogen, so using those I would go off of peak fertility. That said, I’ve got no clue about the progesterone timing. I would definitely ask your doctor about that.

AFM bad news… no temp spike. I swear it’s like every time we have a legit shot of pregnancy, God nukes my ovaries it’s so weird cuz I swear I felt ovulation happen. It’s also possible it did happen but I’m having poor progesterone production, which also likely puts me out of the running unfortunately.

 

[autumnal]

Oh no shae im sorry about the lack of temp rise. That sucks but maybe it doesn't mean anything. I hope not.
My husband always says my ovaries are lazy because I take so long to ovulate lol

 

[shaescott]

Yeah I mean my temps on my oura ring had been fairly erratic during the follicular phase, so it’s possible it’s just not super accurate this cycle, but it did show a good clear rise last cycle, so idk. It’s also possible that as the outdoor temps have dropped, my finger is a little smaller, because I’ve woken up to the ring having fallen off my finger at least 3 times in the past month or so, which would make temps less accurate due to poor fit. Idk. I’ll just keep temping and check my hormone levels every few days for progesterone.

 

[shaescott]

Update: I think my cold fingers/poor ring fit theory is holding some water… I tested my progesterone level not expecting much because I’m only 2dpo, and it was 10, which is a post-ovulation level! I’m like never that high this early.

 

[Jules8]

@gigglebox Awww! That’s cute about laying your hand on your belly. I can’t believe you’re almost 17 weeks! Time goes so fast sometimes, even when you try to soak it all in. You’ll be feeling those big movements in no time. I had the same experience with my girls vs boy. My 2 girls, especially my second girl were so active. I knew my second one was gonna be wild and she is. Lol My son was so calm and chill. Sometime I had to drink cold stuff to get him moving. I also had an anterior placenta so that didn’t help. We are def finding out the sex. I had pre-e with my second so I have all my ultrasounds with mfm here on out. I had a consult with it the genetics nurse, the NIPT ultrasound tomorrow, and then after the ultrasound I’ll do the genetic testing that includes gender. I give so many props to those who can wait, I’m not one of those people. Lol
That’s great you have the option for the natural hospital births. That was my plan with my first, I was so looking forward to the tub and having a relaxing atmosphere. I ended up being induced with them all so I wasn’t allowed in water. I had an epidural with my first and 3rd, but my second came too fast to get one.
@HalfricanMa I would think you still have a shot. Some people start right at ovulation to help with implantation. I’m not sure how long you would take it for after ovulation though.
@shaescott That makes sense that the weather could throw it off. Room temps are so irregular this time of year. One minute the heater makes it too warm then it gets freezing. Hopefully that’s it and you ovulated a few days ago!

 

[gigglebox]

Yay shae!! You may just overall be colder because of the time of the year. I know I am. My hands are frigid. we've been able to use our wood stove which I love now just for the snow...ugh I am borderline depressed about the lack of snow here the past couple of years. It's been so, so cold and we are expecting rain immediately after the temps go back up into the 50's next week -.- I am not amused.
ANYWAY the progesterone rise sounds promising!! Hey I mean if I can have this baby after like none of my normal signs of ov...I wouldn't worry about the temp! I mean obviously don't get your hopes up because even when perfect, the odds aren't in our favor...but yeah a chance is definitely there, no question!

Thanks Jules, and I agree, this time is flying by. It literally feels like I found out maybe 10 weeks ago at most, but no, it's been like 14 weeks just since I found out. I can't wrap my head around that! Do you hope to have the water experience this time around?

omg Halfrican!! 41+3?! You must have been miserable by that point! The longest I went was 40+4 and I thought THAT was bad.

Autumn what's your current laundry situation? I need to sort mine too. Part of my solution is donating, like, literally half our clothes lol. We have accumulated wayyyyyy too much. I have a box filled but I know I could realistically fill another large box.