Stuff; in No Particular Order

CD 29, and DPO 12.

I have not taken a HPT yet. For some reason waiting is easier for me than seeing a BFN. It is almost as if the longer I wait, the longer I can hold on to hope. I did stand in front of the HPT at the store today for a about 3 minutes; debating. My DH talked me out of it since I am having AF like cramps and my temp did drop a bit this morning. He said to wait until I am late, that however, ranges from 30-35 days.

I can't believe I am actually going to say this out loud (or in print) but the other day I was sitting on the couch and a random, sudden feeling came over me. I felt warm and excited for a minute. I thought to myself "I am pregnant", then I stopped smiling and felt silly for even thinking that. I mean really, after all this trying, all these test, and all this monitoring, how could I think that I would get pregnant this easy.

During the 2WW, we (infertiles) drive ourselves crazy analyzing every symptom we experience.

It is easy to think that every thing we feel could be related to pregnancy. Maybe it is because pregnancy is something we want and crave so much. I keep thinking that I feel new symptoms, or that the symptoms I normally feel are different. I had a really weird headache that left me kinda dizzy and unable to think straight about 8 days ago and I started thinking that could have been implantation. I have been having a lot of sharp side pains and some uterus pains. When I look back at my notes, I seemed to experience the same symptoms, just maybe not as bad. I have been craving chocolate though, and that is never a good sign.

The nurse told me that my P4 level last month was so much higher because I could have dropped 5, yes FIVE, eggs. She thought that this month I could have potentially dropped 2 eggs. The elevated P4 does have some down falls. I am bloated  and have been crampy since ovulation. Not to mention that I have had low back pain now for a week. 

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On another note, I did not get the job with the ND. I am okay with that. I have been doing a lot of thinking and I think I need to buckle down and find a place I WANT to work at and that offers opportunities to advance. While the ND office may have been a great schedule, the environment was not my style, and to be honest, I want out of alternative care medicine. I am also getting tired of lots of multi taking. It has taken its toll on me; or at least this last job has. My last day at HRA is either the 15th or the 22nd. I can work til the 22nd if I want, but I am not sure I do. I am really burnt out and unmotivated since I know that I will be out of a job sooner than I would like. But, I am not going to stress about that too much. I know something will come up.

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Post Card Swap

The post card swap will take place March 25-29th. Be sure to have the postcards mailed by the 29th! I will get you your 3 addresses by the 24th, I promise. I hope this is fun and that you all get great postcards from fellow bloggers or IFers from all over the place!

Book Club

The Kitchen House was the pick of the month and I love it! I have a hard time putting it down. I even read it on my phone at the front desk the other day! I hope that you are all enjoying it  as well! One follower has already finished it! Way to go, Heather!!

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Katie, at Non Sequitur Chica sent me these awesome socks and super cute card. The card inside says "think hugs and hope". I love them. I hope she likes the ones that I sent her!

Well, I guess that is all I have for now. One day, I promise to sit down and write a meaningful, thought provoking post.



March Book Club Pick

The March Book Club Pick is....

The Kitchen House

Pick up a copy and get reading!

Post Card Swap and Book Club Updates

Well, I am finally getting around to writing about the "Postcard Swap" and the Book Club.

Post Card Swap...

Let me start off by saying I drove all over Bend looking for postcards yesterday and did not found any. I heard there are some at Rite-Aid, so I guess I will look there today. Who knew people didn't buy or send post cards anymore?

I have done some research on how to run a Postcard Swap but I am not 100% happy with the way they are ran; so I am going to make some adjustments to the rules. 

First, I will need anyone who is wanting to participate to email me with their full name and address along with a valid email address. If I don't have your email address then you can't get the 4 addresses that you will need to send postcards to. 

Each person will get 4 address and will need to mail the postcards out within the designated dates. (TBA)

We have two options.

Option #1:
I will keep track of who sent who cards and each month (if all goes well) I will assign you new addresses until we all have made our way around the world.

Option #2
I will randomly assign each of you 4 addresses. You will send those 4 people postcards and in return they will send you one. 

What are your thoughts, bloggy friends?

Don't forget that if you don't send your postcards you will let a real person down! 

Now, for the Book Club....

We have chosen some books and I think we are ready to decide on which one is the winner! 
So, please comment with your reading choice below!

I figure we can read at our leisure and toward the end of the month I will post discussion questions. People can chime in via comments as time allows. Then in April, we will pick a new book and make any adjustments to the "club" then.

Book Choices:
Time Traveler's Wife
Hotel on The Corner of Bitter and Sweet 
Kitchen House

Please, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to voice them! 

Lastly, I am going to consider myself in the vicious 2WW... I have a P4 check on Tuesday, the 5th. 

Reminders

Hello blogging friends! I just wanted to remind you all of a few things!
1. Don't forget to enter the give-a-way! It ends the 28th; the same day as ICLW.

2. "Like" "Where the Bleep is our Stork" on FB for more updates, give-a-ways, and links.

3. If you are interested in joining the book club let me know so that we can pick a book by March!

Top 3:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Time Traveler's Wife
Kitchen House
*If you have other suggestions fell free to mention them!*

P.S. Still no spike in temps. I am not 100% sure ovulation has occurred. I am having more side pains and more CM than yesterday... Fingers crossed we see a change soon! It is CD 17.

Have a great Tuesday!

Post BFN

"To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. 'I will drink the ocean,' says the persevering soul, 'at my will mountains will crumble up.' Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach your goal." ~ Swami Vivekananda, India

It has been two days since my BFN. I am not as disappointed with the result as I thought I would be. Don't get me wrong, I am bummed, and I was mad for a minute. But, like a fellow blogger pointed out in a comment she left; good things happened this cycle! Besides, I told myself early on that I would not expect a BFP, since this was our first cycle off BCP. I always have been one to assume or expect the worst. I am not sure if that is a quality or a fault.

So, it is time to plan the next cycle.  

I emailed my nurse and told her  the test was negative but that I had not started  my cycle yet. I told her that I was ready to plan the next cycle and that I was hoping we could continue with the Femara and closer motoring. I asked her if she thought we needed to add the injections; or hold off. 

This was her reply.

Hello Teresa,

So I talked with Sue Armstrong, we reviewed your chart. (Dr. Austin has been busy with patients). We noticed a few things. Over the past year we’ve done quite a few different treatments but have not really tried any one thing for awhile. The gonadotropin cycles did not go well, we are not sure how much the monitoring played into it but we are concerned about the response to the medications. However you did respond well to Femara both at 5 mg and at 7.5 mg. Usually we have pts do 3-4 cycles of one thing, as long as it’s going well, and then adjust or try something else. I’m wondering if we need to give the Femara a few tries and then if it doesn’t work in a few months try adding the Menopur?

Let me know what you think about this.

Regarding repeating an SA, we can certainly do this and if you want it could be done with an IUI, if you wanted to do IUI. In terms of necessity, he did have a normal SA so it’s not needed but can’t hurt. I reviewed your chart for the HSG information and per Dr. Carlson the tubes were patent. However this is another thing that can be repeated here if you want.

I will be out of the office on Monday but back next Tuesday. I’ll wait to hear from you.

Have a good weekend.

Sharon

So, I guess that is the plan! I will continue the next few cycles with Femara, 7.5 mg,  have closer monitoring done with and do an IUI. I figure that we can try this through May or so. Then we can try a round with the injections and if all that fails we can revisit talk of IVF again in August; when our insurance rolls over and our HRA account is reset.  

Until then. I wait. I wait for this next cycle to start. Since my progesterone level was so high it might take a little while. I really wish I had more patience! They really would come in handy right now!

Let's see, I have some other news. 

Things at work are getting interesting. I wont go into detail, because drama sucks and I am trying to refrain from it as much as possible.  But, I will say that there are some major things happening in attempts to cut out all the negativity and harassment.  An HR consultant told my boss that it could be considered a "hostile work environment". I am interested and nervous to see how this all plays out; and I am so ready for the drama to end!

Last, I have been thinking about starting an online "book club" on my blog. I love to read and have always wanted to be part of a book club, but finding the time to make a meeting has often times proven difficult. So I started thinking. I have a lot of friends that read but we don't all live close by. So, if we all agreed on a book of the month or two (depending on how fast people read) I could post up discussion questions and participants could all chime in virtually at their leisure! It would be a great on going discussion! Not to mention this would be a great way to get more followers and a great time to do GIVE-A-WAYS! People love free stuff!! Let me know what you think! Would you be interested? 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! My DH requested a "really good" chili, so now I am on the hunt for a recipe! 

Ciao for now!