This Month Is Out November 27, 2007

Tomorrow is CD16. Negative afternoon OPK today (faint line). I have yet to have a POSITIVE OPK throughout this journey to motherhood. Ran out of tests today. I MUST pick some of those up tomorrow. I still haven’t gotten around to getting the cheapies online.

Our donor had his HIV test today – NEGATIVE. I knew it would be, but it was nice to just know it FOR SURE. His STD-panel test is Wednesday afternoon. The staff at the clinic told me we wouldn’t get results back for 7-10 days. So, this month’s insemination is out. If I ovulate this month, I’m sure it will be before we get the results back. I was hoping we could get the results in 3 days or so. It would have been late November ovulation…unless by some freak of nature I ovulated EXTREMELY late.

We definitely want to make sure he’s 100% healthy. So, after the tests results come back, and everything is clear…..we’re going for it. That will be a late-December insemination or early January maybe. Hopefully I will start ovulating more regularly. We’ve decided we’re going to do the first insemination (or several) without getting an HSG first, or any of that. If it doesn’t happen in a normal amount of time naturally, we will talk to the doctor about medications. I don’t know, we just feel better about that. We are using fresh known donor sperm, which we will be able to get on short notice as often as we need it, which is a wonderful thing for us! Question for you guys: When you get a positive OPK, should you inseminate right away?? How many times? Every day? Every other? Or should you just inseminate every day/other day when you have EWCM? Need some advice on this.

I do feel healthy……and I feel good about just doing this naturally, at home. I really don’t want to be on any medications. My only concern about my health is my weight gain, but that isn’t because I have anything wrong with me (other than my self-control: the fact that this year I’ve just been UNABLE to say no to carbs). I stepped on the digital scale today and for a brief second it flashed a scary number. A number that is 30 higher than it was in January. Ok, the numbers scare me – so I’ll just put it out there, and the fear will maybe go away. 165……Yeah. It flickered and then went to 163….where it remained the next 12 times I checked it. STILL…I was 135 in January. What in the world!? For a moment, I wanted to cry. I had to buy new jeans the other day. My size 10’s were doing up, but with GREAT EFFORT, and there’s no way I could have worn them out in public, unless I wanted people to think that denim was painted on. So, that was depressing. Not that they were 12’s. They’re cute 12’s…adorable jeans, really. I could really care less about that….It’s just weird. I mean, I sort of couldn’t believe my favourite 10 jeans just didn’t fit. I can tell I’ve gained…..but I suppose I really feel like it crept up on me. Ugh. New Years resolution. I just have to stay away from bread. It makes me balloon! Sorry, I really didn’t mean to get into that issue, I just….did.

Our anniversary is on Wednesday. 6 years. I still can’t believe that. There are so many things I love about her, and I cannot even begin to list all the ways she makes me laugh EVERY day. I’m excited. Six years is a long time – and I’m proud of us! We have grown up a lot since we got together. Been through A LOT. I really love her more now than I did then, and just can’t believe we’re going to start a family soon. Corny, Corny……….I know. I just love her. Did I say that yet? I’m just looking forward to a very amazing year. I can’t wait. Oh, and I’m having the baby dreams again. I really want to be pregnant.

Black Friday November 23, 2007

Back from morning shopping mayhem! This whole “Black Friday” thing is new to me. In Canada, the biggest shopping day is Boxing Day – the day after Christmas. It is a national holiday. Traditionally, it is the day that people “box” up their Christmas decorations and put them away until next year. Yeah….NOT SO MUCH any more. Over the years, it’s really turned into the best day of the year to find unbelievable prices at the shops. The Boxing Day shopping craziness is very similar to that of people here for Black Friday. People line up the night before to be the first ones in the store. Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever in the history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). INsane. Anyway, I got a bunch of movies for $2.96 each (as did K): The Holiday, Shawshank Redemption, The Notebook. I picked up the ALIENS trilogy for my brother for $9.98!!! Crazy. I got a few cool Christmas items to send to the fam up north. An old-school collector’s edition of CANDYLAND and CHUTES & LADDERS. A huge Marvel Universe Comic Encyclopedia for my comic-loving brother. A bought an adorable 3-ft Christmas tree for the condo and a bunch of picture frames for the bedroom. And to think, I don’t even LIKE shopping. The huge crowds actually bother me a little. People are rude, they’re in a hurry and they don’t really care who gets in the way. I definitely enjoy a less-hectic shopping day! Nevertheless, it was well worth the trip out.

I hope you guys all had a great Thanksgiving. As it was just the two of us, and K’s mom – we didn’t go all out and do a turkey with all the fixin’s. We were planning to go out for dinner somewhere, but my girl wasn’t feeling too well, so Thanksgiving dinner consisted of one broccoli & cheese lean pocket for me, and spinach pizza for K!!

I put up the small Christmas tree this afternoon. Yesterday was 75 degrees….so it hasn’t been feeling very Christmas-y. Virginia weather is nuts…..yesterday 75, today 49. And we wonder why people are getting sick. Thanksgiving is over; We can all officially start listening to Christmas music. Come on, you know you love it. Actually, completely non-Christmas related…I’ve been listening to the soundtrack to the movie musical Across The Universe. The guy who plays JUDE, Jim Sturgess, has the most amazing voice. Again, I’ve posted 2 videos at the bottom of this post. Puts a fresh spin on some classic Beatles tunes.

Completely random thought: I’m on an OVALTINE kick. I don’t know how this happened, or where it came from. OVALTINE – of all things! I picked up a can of it last time we went grocery shopping. For some reason, I had just started getting sick of my usual Swiss Miss! Wow: I just had a thought: NEWSFLASH! BORING! Seriously though, that ad is hilarious. It’s easy as pie! I’m committed to saying that to someone at least 2 times this weekend.

In TTC news, our donor is getting an HIV test on Monday morning, followed by STD tests later in the week. I am confident in his health, but it is just a precautionary measure. The only thing is, I MAY ovulate before we can get the STD test results. If so, we would have to skip out on this month’s insemination, which would delay us until the end of December. Fingers crossed for a later ovulation and quick test results for our donor!

How Could It Be Any Other Way? November 18, 2007

Nothing much to report. I’m sitting here munching on a lovely Margherita pizza from California pizza kitchen (www.cpk.com). It is seriously the best pizza ever. It TASTES like Italy. . . made with imported Italian tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheeses topped with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Mmmm. Check out the website, it will tell you of the locations in your area. Or you can pick up one of their frozen pizzas in Walmart! It does NOT taste like frozen pizza. Oh my gosh, I love it.

I’m listening to this song “Other Way” by Trevor Hall. This guy’s good. Saw the video playing in Blockbuster the other day. I love it. I’ll post it below.

K is still pretty sick with a bad cold. She’s gone to look at a house this afternoon….we need room….we’ve looked at several recently, not one we could agree on though. I’m off to a Beagle Meetup….we’re going to an outdoor mall. Starbucks + Beagles = FUN! Ha. I’m such a nerd.

The turtle is almost to the finish line …. less than a month till our first insemination. Yikes! That’s soon. I’m happy to be done with AF for this month, and will start monitoring temp and OPKing like mad. I’ve found myself looking at pregnant ladies bellies lately. I try not stare…but I just think they’re so cute. I am very excited to start the journey, whether it happens next month, or in a year…. in just a few short weeks, we’re TRYING!!!!

Future Snowboarding Queens?? November 10, 2007

I’m not an OVERLY athletic person. I like skating (or “ice skating” for my American friends), walking, jogging….that’s about it. My girl has wanted to go skiing or snowboarding with me for years. I’ve always refused. This stems from memories of my first skiing experience when I was 12.

I went with my older brother who was going to teach me. The specific details of it are a blur…probably because I have tried to block those memories for a few years! I remember riding the lift up with my brother….I remember him telling me that he wanted to go down the slope first to get the feel back (it had been a few years), and that he would come back up after that and show me the ropes.

I recall thinking “I can do this…I’ll just try it on my own….how hard can this be???“….. Yeah, I was 12. STUPID. So, he was already half-way down the hill….I was geared up and ready to go…..before thinking, I was FLYING down the hill at an incredible rate of speed….. I remember yelling “HELP, I’M GOING TOO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!” and people screaming back at me, “FALL ON YOUR BUTT, FALL ON YOUR BUTT!!!!!!!“.

So I did. That DID NOT seem to slow me down. So, now I’m SLIDING down the hill, super fast by the way, and my jacket and shirt slides up to my SHOULDERS, exposing my back to the ICE. So I’m still not slowing down, ice tearing away at my bare skin – ICE BURN – and I finally am nearing the bottom of the hill…..I don’t know HOW I was going so fast…..

I see an orange plastic fence at the bottom of the hill……I think “OF COURSE I’ll STOP BEFORE THAT…..“. Nope. RIGHT THROUGH THE FENCE…..to a painful stop. My back looked like some sort of red mixed drink………yup, THAT HURT to put it lightly. When you’re a kid you remember every traumatic event…….THAT was a traumatic thing for me……So, needless to say, I haven’t always been excited about the possibility of getting back on the slopes.

Well, I love my girlfriend and she really wants to do this. SO, last night we went to a local ski center and bought brand new boards, bindings, boots and bags (the four B’s!). I figure snowboarding is DIFFERENT then skiing….I’ll try that! I’m just staying away from the skis. We were going to go to a resort on our trip up North (when I also see the doctor) but it turns out that the slopes in Ontario have not yet opened. Everything is Mid-December opening. So, we are delaying the trip again. We’re planning on mid to late December now for our combination doctors appointments-mini vacation-ski trip deal. We’ll now be here for our anniversary, but we’ll still plan on doing something fun together that day.

Maybe I’m nuts, but I’m actually EXCITED….

A lean, mean, all-terrain snow shredding machine. For the past few seasons, The Star has remained a perennial favorite among accomplished female riders who want a durable board with a directional shape that is versatile enough to handle anything thrown its way. This dependable, all-mountain conquistador has a die-cut base and elaborate digitally-printed top graphics with an inventive colored foil logo appliqué.

 

 

So, without ANY further ado…..the 149cm Forum Star snowboard, Burton Boots & Bindings:

Karli’s sweet new K2 board (hers is yellow instead of blue):

Ovulation on CD18!!!! *No more dotted line!* November 7, 2007

 

A few days ago, Fertility Friend said that I ovulated on CD15. I was on the moon. I know it’s only ovulation….but, in the third month of charting with no O, that was a GOOD THING! Today it said based on its interpretations, I have now ovulated on CD18. I am worried with only 3 elevated temps…if tomorrow my temp drops below the coverline, will that mean I didn’t ovulate at all??? BBT feedback would be greatly appreciated. With just over 1 month till our first insemination, I am hopeful that this month I ovulated!!! How great would that be!!! Thanks girls!

*Updated chart* No more questioning it – ovulation DEFINITELY happened!!!! I am very relieved!   Thanks for all input ladies!

 

In A Manner of Speaking… November 3, 2007

I’m still waiting. Waiting to ovulate………

Waiting….

Waiting….

CD18 tomorrow. This is my 3rd month of charting. The charts aren’t showing anything…the OPK’s aren’t either. I can’t believe that I’m not ovulating. Really! I go to the doctor in 3 weeks…..I am armed with charts and a long line of negative OPK’s following me there. I hope we can get to the bottom of what’s going on with my body, so that we can get the green light for our first insemination next month. The little ticker turtle to the right is almost to the finish line! I’m really excited to start the whole process for real….I can’t wait for the insemination(s)- (hopefully there won’t be a need for the “s” there!!!)….I can’t wait for the TWW…I just want to start our family and the rest of our life together.

Just a few weeks and it will be December. Yeah, that hit me while walking through Target today – they are setting up the Christmas trees and some guy walked past me humming “Deck The Halls”…..CRAZY. I also saw EGG NOG in the food section of Target…… I was tempted to buy some tonight….but I’ve at least got to wait till Dec.1st. It’s a mental thing for me…..I basically allow myself one month, give or take, to prepare for Christmas. Not too early, not too late. I don’t really know where this comes from. I refuse to put up the Christmas tree BEFORE Nov.25th, or after Dec.1st. It’s a small window!!! Side note: I’ve been thinking about that egg nog since I got home! Screw it….I should have just gotten a carton!!! Ahhh, this year has flown by. I can’t get over that it’s November. We leave to go up north in a few short weeks. We will be up there for American Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving was in October…I sort of missed doing something for that – so it will be nice to celebrate Thanksgiving back home – even though the rest of the country won’t be celebrating that day with us! November is a BIG month for us. November 28th is our 6-YEAR anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been that long…..and at other times, it seems like we’ve been together all our lives…..I can’t imagine life without her. I’ll have to be extra sneaky to plan ANYTHING for her for the 28th…..she has hawk-eyes!!! Just kidding….well, not really…..Ha ha!

It’s funny, but we are both in a pretty good mood – despite the fact that:

1)I’m not ovulating and that’s depressing.
2)Earlier today we felt great. We were on our way to look at our possible future home….a townhouse that is absolutely adorable(more to come on that in another post)….Anyway, our brand-spanking-new 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser (purchased about 3 months ago)got smashed into by a 18-year old kid in an 11-year old Subaru. Yeah, talk about depressing. Not to mention, this came just a short FOUR months after our 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee was TOTALLED by a total JERK who had been drinking…….and just happens to be the Captain of the Fire Dept (oh, AND friends with the cop at the scene…….so, managed to avoid a breathalizer….and any sort of ticket…..hmmm…….). SO, it put a damper on the day for sure…..I felt awful for my girl. This vehicle is her baby. If you haven’t seen what they look like, go to Toyota.com and check it out….she always says it’s the perfect vehicle for a dyke!! You’ll have to see the picture. Roof racks….towing package….it looks like a mini hummer. Anyway – we both know that it is ONLY a vehicle….I’m so thankful we weren’t seriously hurt. When I was driving the Jeep a few months ago and got into that wreck….it took over an hour for the tow company to separate my vehicle and the JERK’s. I couldn’t believe I walked away from that with only whiplash and a few bruises. Now, again, we were spared any serious injuries. The most important thing to me is that she is okay. Things to be thankful for: a) Her vehicle is repairable, b)The kid is at-fault, c)She’s not seriously hurt, d)Our puppies were not in the car with us!!

We feel alright. She said her side hurts a little bit – but she’s taking some tylenol and sleeping now…and I know she’ll feel back to normal in a day or two. I have an older Jeep that we’re driving till the the FJ gets fixed at the body shop….we’re going to go look at the condo tomorrow sometime after we have brunch with our donor and a few of his friends. We are hopeful that we may have found our future place….how excited would we be?????!!!! Where we are currently, we don’t have any room for a nursery. We were talking today about how great it would be to have some more space and start working on the nursery together….we’re not sure how long it will take me to get pregnant, but we KNOW we’ll have a baby in there – so what’s the harm in starting early, right???

Wow, this has been a long post – I thought it’d just be a 2 or 3 line update!!! Yikes. Ok, remember to turn back your clocks tonight before bed. I love “fall back”…..sweet sweet sleep!!!!!!

I watched the movie “A Mighty Heart” with Angelina Jolie. For those of you who don’t know, it is about the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journalist Daniel Pearl. It was so sad and very moving. A tough film to watch, knowing that it really happened….but, regardless of it being a harder movie to see, I highly recommend it. This is a song from it that I just absolutely loved: