LIVE Pregnancy Test! (Extended edition)

So I added to my current pregnancy test video - and added in my additional 2 pregnancy tests that I took yesterday.  Here's the whole story...

Yep... still in shock after watching the video again.  Can't believe this is the beginning of our 2nd child's story.

Pregnancy 3 Weeks 4 Days

Yesterday we got our positive pregnancy test.

Well three positive pregnancy tests actually:

 

Wow was it hard to not tell anyone, or not tell the whole world actually!

My mom called not long after I took that 3rd test, and all I wanted to do was scream the good news to her over the phone.  But I have plans on how I want to pop this surprise and capture her reaction all at the same time.

We also went to family's house last night to celebrate Steve's mom's birthday.  She even asked me if we were still working on making that baby!  Again, had to keep my lips sealed and go along with the conversation as though "we were working on it."

The hardest part of all has been keeping it from our daughter.  But I know it is for the best that we not get her hopes up in case something should happen.  However, I did make her a "Big Sister" hair bow and that is how we will surprise her.  I hope to capture that on camera too!

I've already found myself holding my stomach (or lack there of) going up the stairs.  Although there isn't really a stomach to grab, I do have quite a bit of bloat and my stomach is very crampy.  So holding it seems to just ease the aches instead of it bouncing around all over.

1st official measurements for this pregnancy:

I'm starting at

126 lbs

33 in. around the belly

Maybe I'll start working out... can't believe I'm over 125 lbs.  That has already got to be the highest weight I've ever been.  (Besides when I was preggers with Alyssa)

Baby Ticker!!!!

 I can't believe I'm doing this right now...

Already creating my first pregnancy type post.  3 Weeks and 3 Days is what I'm starting with.  Only 256 Days To Go it says!  Seems so far away and yet I know, time is going to fly by.

Today is the first day of our soon to be family of 4.  Wow.

Now just praying that He gives us a sticky bean that is healthy and thrives into a beautiful baby in 9 short months.  What a blessing this has been.  

TTC: Cycle 1 - CD44 LIVE Pregnancy Test!

So just watch the video...

SO............... O.M.G. (This is what my 6 year old would say)

"Is this real?" is right.  I'm in total shock.  I haven't even said the words "I'm pregnant" out loud yet because I'm just overwhelmed at the moment.  TOTALLY overwhelmed.

I had to use my SLR camera and 10x's zoom lens to get this photo:

I also ran around the house trying to find the best lighting so you could see it.  Really thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I took a photo of my computer screen with my iPhone to send it to Steve for him to see, I couldn't wait till he got home.  And he said he could see it too, but "when will it get darker?" HA!

A lines a line ;-)

So let me run this down real fast - FIRST MONTH TRYING TO CONCEIVE AND BAM.  

Holy moly we must be fertile people, haha!

ONE and DONE

I am going to take a good First Response Early Response tomorrow morning, just to be sure, but I'm pretty sure at this point.  After the test above dried all the way, there was a very apparent line.

And onto - HOW AND WHEN are we going to start telling people...

I will have to think about that.  I know how to tell my parents, but when, I'm not sure.  And when we'll tell the world, I'm not sure about that either.  What I do know, is that a select few supportive friends will find out first, family next, and then the rest of the world.  Stay tuned for all that video goodness I hope to capture!

So today would make me

3 Weeks and 3 Days Pregnant*

*Based on my day of ovulation (not the first day of my last period)

Pregnant... pregnant... really?  Hasn't quite sunk in yet.

TTC: Cycle1 - 4DPO (Symptoms)

Cycle Day 38

So I just read yesterday, that techinquelly, pregnancy symptoms don't show up until 6-7 DPO at the earliest.  Today I am 4 DPO.  And although these may not be pregnancy symptoms they are still symptoms of some kind:

*Cramping and abdominal pressure - It's day and night.  And I notice it a lot when I'm not up rushing around, but it's been a constant thing, not just off and on

*Nausea - This only happened once and it was after I laid down to go to sleep

*Fatigue - I shouldn't even add this in there, only because this is nothing out of the norm for me

*Frequent urination - I was going about once an hour at certain points this past weekend

*Sore nipples - This was MUCH more noticeable CD 32 & 33.  Enough to where taking my bra off hurt, the shower water hurt, and wearing a shirt hurt.  CD34 -now has been much less sensitive, but still noticeable.

*Irritable - Again, not something out of the normal; however, yesterday was almost the end all of be all.  To the point where I went to bed 2 1/2 hours earlier then I normally do.

And not a symptom at all, but I wanted to share.  I actually had a dream that I got a positive pregnancy test!  I have had dreams in the past about being pregnant, but never about taking pregnancy tests.  Maybe that's a good sign?

My basal body temp has steadily increased over the last few days, reaching the highest it has been this cycle: 97.88

What I'm looking forward to this week: 

Seeing if there is a dip in my bbt which is a possibly indication of implantation.  This could happen between 6-12 dpo.  Also keeping a watch out for implantation spotting as good pregnancy indicator that could happen the end of the week.

To sum it all up - This is my first month off birth control and therefore the first time in 6 years that I've had progesterone and Lh surge happening in my body.  I honestly don't remember what it was like when I was birth control free and how my body reacted.  So all this is still very new and documenting my symptoms and info will hopefully help with next cycle, if we aren't luck to conceive this cycle.  But fingers crossed!!! 

6 Days 'Til Testing Day!

TTC: Cycle 1 - 3 or 4 DPO?

Cycle Day 37

This morning I had a really high basal body temp reading, 98.64 degrees.  That's the highest it's ever been.  I went to add the number to the Fertility Friend app I use for charting my BBT and it finally added in my red line cross hairs that is supposed to pinpoint my exact ovulation day based on my other data I've been inputting (cm, OPK results, temps, ect.).  

Based on it's estimation I ovulated on Friday, July 20th.  So it is saying I am 3 DPO today (which I thought a negative OPK = no ovulation and would put me at 4 DPO).

So I think to be safe, I'll go with their prediction and say I am 3 DPO today!  Which again, changes my calendar... but I will leave that because no one knows exactly when these things happen.  I will still probably test on Monday, July 30th for the first time which will be 10DPO and I am comfortable with taking a test that early.

Here's my full calendar from Fertility Friend:

 We did BD during my fertile window, but not after, so fingers crossed!!!

One week and counting...

Updated Calendar from Previous Post

Cycle 1 - CD35

Soooooo...

I made the mistake of glancing over at my wall calendar when I was making the calendar for my previous post, instead of using the fertility calendar app that I use on my phone.  So that is the bad news, the calendar is not correct for when these chain of events happened and what the next couple of weeks should have looked like for me.

Now the good news, the calendar was a week AHEAD, so I actually get to test an entire week before I originally thought I would!  YAY!

Here is the updated calendar

Now I hope to learn if I am pregnant in between shows that are going to be going on in those two weeks, instead of after those two shows.

Here's what I am concerned about:

Rarely do I have back to back shows.  Maybe 2-3 times a year do I do this.  So I pray that if there are any pregnancy symptoms that they maybe hold off an extra week ;)

And also my concern is, these shows are a lot of work.  Not just physical work, but also they are stressful, I don't get a lot of sleep, and my body definitely feels completely wore out when they are over.  So I have that double time the next two weeks.  So it worries me that I could very easily over do it during this fragile time in early pregnancy.  IF I AM LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE PREGNANT

However, there is nothing I can do about anything at this point.  Nothing will help me get pregnant/stay pregnant and I will be doing this shows, so I will have to just watch it as best I can.

Testing in 9 or 10 days!!  Can't wait!

If only it were this easy!

I missed this commercial one night when we were watching TV and Steve even rewound it to show it to me on the DVR.  Made us both laugh!

TTC: Cycle1 - Two Week Wait

Cycle 1 - CD34

I'm SO excited!  Today I am 1 DPO!!  

(Days Past Ovulation) 

I had two days of positive OPKs and today it was negative.  So TODAY I start my Two Week Wait, otherwise known as: "TWW" till getting a hopefully definite answer to weather or not we are pregnant.

Here is a photo of my OPK progression over the last 5 days:

Surge started Wednesday the 25th. Ovulation I believe happened Thursday the 26th.  And now today, Friday the 27th, I think ovulation is over!

So here is what the next 2-3 weeks looks like for us:

The plan is to test on 11 or 12 DPO

UPDATE 7/21: THIS CALENDAR IS WRONG!!  
See updated calendar HERE

This two week wait shouldn't go by two slow as I have back to back weekend shows that I'll have my full attention on.  

Now we hurry up and wait!

TTC: Cycle1 - CD33 - Vlog #6!

So excited to finally be doing this VLOG!

TTC: Cycle1 - CD32 *NEWS*

Meant to post this Wednesday, July 18, 2012

It's not "The Big News" but for now it is the biggest news I've gotten so far on this TTC journey.
LOOK..

 Cycle 1 - CD32

So let me over analyze this a little bit.  And I'll update later with a more detailed video.  But here's how it went.

Yesterday's OPK looked like some of the darker ones I had been getting on different days of this cycle, but they had all "pooped out."  As soon as they'd start getting dark they would start getting light again.  So no clues yesterday.  Tested OPK at 2pm(ish).


Last night I felt a little crampy, but have had that several times this cycles, so honestly didn't think twice about it.  Well I'd be lyng if the thought didn't come into my mind that maybe "this" is it.  But didn't have my hopes up at all.

This morning, temped, and got a pretty high reading (97.73).  All that's I've read has said anything over 97.7 could be ovulation time.  HOWEVER - we have had roofers reshingling our roof for 5 straight days now.  So they were up there bright and early and I just figured from the noise I had probably tossed and turned trying to stay asleep and repeatedly having to make myself go back to sleep, that my temp was up from my moving around so much.  Again, figured it was a fluke and would just have to wait and see tomorrow morning to get a better reading.

I had to help my dad this afternoon and couldn't test with my OPK at my usual time.  Once we got back I had long forgotten about it.  5pm comes and I think to myself - well it's later then I wanted, but let's see I guess.

The test started and I could see a line starting to form right away... never happened before with my others.  I'd have to go back to them and check when they were dry.  Washed my hands, put everything away and looked again and there was a definite line!  A good dark line!  I thought, this is a trick maybe it's just dark but not dark enough to be a positive dark.  I let it sit for a couple minutes, came back, and BAM!  Dark Dark, darker then the control line, dark line!

THANK GOODNESS I took the test at 5pm, just a few minutes before Steve was due to get home from work.  I showed him right away!  Well I actually called, but he was just under a mile away so I just told him I'd talk to him when he got home.

So, as far as I know, this test shows my surge.  Because there was over 24 hours in between tests, I wonder when it really started - last night? this morning? did I miss it since it was SO DARK right away? Do I still have to wait those 12-24 hours when ovulation happens?  Guess no one will know.  But what I do know - is that I have a POSITIVE OPK!!!!!!  FINALLY!

TTC: Cycle1 - CD21 #2 (Vlog #5)

Yep, 2nd update of the day....

TTC: Cycle1 - CD21 (Vlog #4)

Wrapping up this week's blogs with a short vlog

Fingers crossed for Ovulation next week!!!

TTC Cycle 1 - CD20

Three new updates!

#1) I decided to start charting my temperature today with a new app - Fertility Friend.

I used a regular thermometer this morning, but bought an actual Basal Body Thermometer at the store today.  So tomorrow it will be much more accurate.  If my OPK's aren't going to work out for me, then I hope that temping will.

#2)  I got a microphone for my laptop!

Who knew laptops with webcams didn't come with a built in microphone!?!  I actually taped an entire vlog on my laptop, only to find out that it had no sound.  It seems easier to record shorter vlogs on the laptop instead of setting up my digital camera.  So I hope to do a vlog tomorrow!

#3) Last update of CD 20, which is more from TTC, is still negative OPKs....  Very disappointing.  I'd hoped to have been in the 2 week wait of doing a pregnancy test by now, but no.  Last night I was having lots and lots of aches and pains in my abdominal area.  Almost like pre AF pains, I have no idea what it could be.  Is it my uterus just getting ready to ovulate, have I unknowingly ovulated and AF is coming early, are my NuvaRing pains back?  I have no idea, but it is a little worrisome to me.

Be back tomorrow to do a catch up vlog on all these little details I've blogged about.

Trying A New App

This is my new Pink Pad App.  Someone suggested it on the new forum I joined.  I already love it!  It is the best of both the previous apps I was using, rolled into one.

 

So this is what my month is supposed to look like in a perfect world.  I was supposed to have ovulated this past Sunday.  Well we are now 4 days past that with no luck, that I know of.  But today is still Cycle Day 19, none the less.

This app keeps track of AF, cycle days, predicted ovulation, BDing, your mood, symptoms, weight, basal body temp (which I hope to start tomorrow).

So that's all for today!  I'll be back tomorrow with more!

Ordered More OPK's

These OPK's may just be the end of my sanity...

I originally ordered 15, which would last me till next Tuesday (July 10th).  However I still have NOT gotten a positive OPK, ugh...

I've joined a forum for TTC women, and it's been a great help already.  It's nice to chat with people that are going through the same thing and are much more educated in all this then I am (even though I've had one child already).

So since it is Thursday, and my order probably won't go out till Friday/Saturday, my chances of getting more OPKs in the mail by Tuesday/Wednesday when mine run out are better today then if I wait any longer.  So I ordered 20 more OPK and hope they arrive in time.

This cycle could really be the longest wait of my life.  How come monthly bills seem like "I just paid this" even though it had been a month, and here I am trying to ovulate and it's like torture waiting and waiting for days to go by.

I have looked online at photos of positive OPKs and mine are not close to being dark enough to be positive, so at this point, there is no chance all this BDing is doing a thing. Maybe tomorrow I'll post my OPK side by side with a photo of a positive OPK to compare.  Fingers crossed I won't have to do that and will have my own positive OPK to show off!

But onward we go, in hopes of a miracle.  And that's what keeps me going.  Baby dust can start to fall now :)

4th of July

 Happy 4th of July!

We spent the day with family.  We went to a BBQ  and headed down to the bottom of the bluffs in our town to enjoy the annual fireworks display.  Thankfully they weren't cancelled due to the extreme heat and drought that is going on over here.

This is our little one trying a project out that we saw on Pinterest!  Cookie cutter watermelon.  It was cute and did turn out for us.

 

After dinner we tried out some sparklers.  Daddy helped of course

 Another Pinterest trick we tried out was putting a plastic cup at the bottom of the sparkler so her little hands wouldn't get sparked.  Worked like a charm!

Finally ready for the big event, the fireworks!  Horrible lighting I know, and my iPhone didn't want to cooperate, but it is what it is.

And last but not least here is a video of Alyssa with her sparkler - she makes me laugh so much!  Such a funny girl!

TTC Update: Currently CD 18

Nothing new to report.  OPK lines seem to be getting lighter and lighter.  I am probably going to order more OPKs tomorrow and hope that I don't have to use them.

We have kept up with our every night/every other night BDing.  So I hope that if something is happening and I just don't know it, that should at least cover it! 

If I had to pinpoint a time that I COULD have ovulated, it is looking like possibly Sat or Sun.  I'm fairly sure that those lines are negative and not dark enough to be positive; however, ever since then my lines have started to really decrease in darkness. 

I am no expert at this.  And I should probably take Steve's advice and just say - if it happens it happens...

SO ANYWAY - all in all we had a great day.  Our family always enjoys the 4th of July.  And it always seems like the first day of school comes so quickly after the 4th is over.  Here's hoping ;-)

TTC Cycle 1 - CD16 (Update #2)

Cycle Day 16 - Update Part 2

I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed today. My earlier post said today was to be my "most likely to ovulate day."  But clearly, from my OPK seen at the bottom of the photo below, that is just not the case.

As you can see there is a little bit of darkening, but no positive DARK line. 

Bottom test may not have been 100% dry at the time of this photo.  When I went back to look a couple hours later, the line even looked a little lighter then the one before :(

CD# = Cycle Day

I have a few of concerns...

First, that my body is just not going to cooperate like I had hoped it would after coming off of NuvaRing.  That my cycles will go back to the way before I got pregnant with my daughter, where I'd go 2-3 months without a period.

Second, that I may just not ovulate at all.  Which is a big fear.  Did NuvaRing do something to me or my cycles??

Third, that I'm going to run out of OPK's!!!  I purchased 15 to start.  I didn't want to go crazy.  I only test once a day = 15 days worth.  I've used nearly half already.  If my cycle continues for an extended period of time, I need to have enough OPK's on hand to not miss getting that positive OPK.  So do I order more?  Wait it out?  I'd rather not waste money, but I also want to know what is going on.  Oh the decisions.  I may give it another day or two.

TTC Cycle 1 - CD16

Cycle Day 16

Today is my estimated "Most Likely To Ovulate" day!

I have been keeping up with my OPK's and taking them each day at around 2pm.  I have them all taped to a sheet of paper so I can see the progression.  (I'll insert a photo after today's OPK).  So far, they have all been clearly negative.  But the last couple of days I have noticed them getting darker!  

Even though today is my projected most likely day to ovulate, I have a feeling it won't be.  So I'll keep taking my OPK's and just see what happens.  I did; however, wake up this morning having some abdominal twinges.  Could my body be getting ready?

My earlier twinges from going off of my NuvaRing have lessened quite a bit since I updated on that.  So I really wonder if these new twinges are the ovulation type.  Guess we'll wait and see!

Can't wait to get a positive OPK and start the 2WW and using the "DPO" term!