[Deej]

not sure if these peeps are the smartest bunch... but this is what i have heard and read

Pee On A Stick ~ OPK's as HPT's

Using OPK's as HPT's - Conception

[kblythe]

Deej,

Sorry about the stress with your mom. Even under the best of circumstances, the mother-daughter dynamic can be complicated. So I'm sure it's particularly challenging with a broken arm and an employment relationship.

As for the FET, I think most practices put you on lupron to suppress your cycle and then the doctors can better orchestrate the timing for the transfer (e.g., not on the weekends or a holiday.) But I always felt that lupron made everything a bit wonky, so this time, they just gave me estrace early in the cycle and progesterone after the transfer, but no lupron, and I feel as though I tolerated it much better.

Ona, I finally do have some pregnancy pics and just need to figure out the uploading. The tech guy at my work baby shower gave me a cd with pictures on it.

Kathryn.

[Mindi_IUI]

Hi Ladies!

I haven't posted since last week cuz I have been sick as a dog! I had the worst weekend. I missed out on all of the July 4th festivites as well as the fun in the sun that I was going to do this 3 day weekend. I got a horrible chest infection. I laid around all weekend watching tons of HGTV, Food Network and TLC. There was a marathon of What Not To Wear on Friday that kept me entertained. Needless to say if I had $5,000 I would totally know what clothes to buy for my figure. I also could redo a kitchen a week and I know who has the best burgersin Utah after watching Diners, Drive In's and Dives. I'm also caught up on my DVR shows too. Yep, I am TV'd out. I went to the Dr. today and got a RX for Zpac. I also got a RX for Ambien so I can finally get some sleep. Since I am not preggers I can take the Ambien. I have a great Dr. who is totally rooting for me to get pregnant. She said to promise to not take the Ambien while I am ttc. I promised her I wouldn't. I just want to get one good night of sleep already.

My poor Kuma has suffered too. We haven't been going on our daily walks. I did let him chase the squirrles in the park on Saturday and then I took him for a soft serve vanilla ice cream. That made him happy. I took him to my appointment today, which got him out of the house for a bit. I just want to get better and get back to living my life again. Being sick sucks!! Luckily we are slow at work and I won't be missed today.

Well, I spoke with Mark today (Did I mention him before? he was the old bf from over 10 years ago that offered his DNA to me when I told him my plans to become a single mom) and told him I'm ready for his swimmers. He's ready to go when I am. I told him that I have to talk to my RE to figure out the protocol for getting pregnant naturally along with IUI. I don't know if I want to do an unmedicated IUI, or to do clomid only, or to do the whole med thing again. I told him that he can't "yank the chain" for a week before we do our thing. He said he can do that. LOL The only problem to the puzzle is that he lives in Florida and I live in California. I want to buy him a plane ticket in advance to make this worth the trip for me. I will have him leave a couple of vials worth of his guys just in case.....I do love my donor, but not the fact that his vials aren't available when I need them and also that fact that DS is so darn expensive and I can only afford one more vial right now. So, that is my update. I am out this month for sure, so put me down for August.

BTW, I tried to download free baby photos from Fairfax and haven't been able to do that. I tried to open an account, but there was no place to do that. Can you tell me how to view those photos? Thanks.

Anywho, I don't have time to comment on the latest posts. I have to get back to my couch. LOL But, from what I see, everyone is doing well. I'm glad to hear that.

[silverbrumby]

Aww Mindi, I'm sorry you are sick. I did smile at you taking your dog out for ice cream. I thought I was the only nut job that did that. HEHE. There's even a place near me that sells "pup cups".

Kathryn, if you have a CD of photos, uploading them should be a breeze. Just go to the yahoo group albums section and create a new album, then I think there's a button called add photos or edit or something like that and then it is easy, you just tell it the directory where to find the photos and it uploads them.

Deej, I hope things with your mother are improving. I can't be in a room with my mother for more than 5 minutes without wanting to strangle her so I happen to think you rock... then again, my mum is a total loonie. As to the POAS thing... I am skeptical. I imagine that in some RARE cases there are enough of the "twin" type hormones to cause a positive but I really don't agree that an OPK is just a cheaper version of an HPT...otherwise, they'd market the crud out of that and sell hybrid pee sticks to the masses. Those two hormones are different enough and in different concentrations that I seriously doubt what they're theorizing is true. If they sHow me a clinical study I might believe them.

Ok, so I got half of my stuff done... I scheduled my prenatal exam and I actually got a call back from a therapist and was able to schedule an appointment. On the downside, they won't take insurance so that is $105 I have to pay out of pocket. I wasn't able to talk to my doctor today but I left her a message so I am hoping she will call me tomorrow.

I'm starting to get a bit anxious about all of this as I don't want to be benched yet another month...at the very least I want to get myself checked for u/s to see if the cyst is gone on CD3.

Just REALLY hope I can get rolling and have my first IUI soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I am off to bed. Really don't want to work tomorrow, but really have to.

[peggysue]

My interview went well. I Should know either way by the end of the week.

Today is CD13 and this time last month I had my smiley face. If on Saturday my folicle was 17mm and it grows 2mm a day (am I right in thinking that?) then today it must be about 21mm. Another intersting thing is that my cervical mucus hasn't changed in the slightest which is unusual.

Mindi: Hope you feel better soon. I haven't had a cold/chest infection for 7 years and then earlier this year I had one, I'd forgotten how rough you feel with them. Hope you don't mind me asking but if your going au natural with your ex BF are you going to ask him for a sexual health check up? STDs is something that really scares me.

silverbrumby: If I was you I'd do everything possible to put yourself in the best position to have IUI this month and if it doesn't happen then you won't say "if only I'd done this".

Kathryn: How long do you have left, bet your couting the day now. Is your hospital bag packed? Have you thought of any names or are you keeping it secret until the last minute?

Deej: Have everything crossed that the witch stays away this month and for the next 9 months. I don believe that OPK do work as a pregnancy test but not in the early weeks. If I remeber correctly I think its after 12 weeks. Maybe we could test this theory and Kathryn could to pee on a OPK.

[silverbrumby]

Hooray Susan! I'm glad your interview went well. Your follie sounds big and healthy too and CM changes are a good sign. If I were you I'd POAS again today because sometimes if you POAS in the morning the surge hasn't happened yet and then it happens mid-day and you miss it.

As to me, I am doing everything in my power to get as much done as I can this month. I have no control over the cyst but my goal is to make sure I have my appt with the therapist done and go see my gyn, so I can talk to the doc and try to get out of having that letter.

Ok, off to work for me.. fun fun fun

[Deej]

mindi: ugh ugh i hope you get to feeling better soon. i did however, enjoy reading about your tv experience! amazing what one can learn... i love zpac ( is that the 5 day antibiotic?) and ambien works wonders. hopefully the combination will have you in tip top shape in no time! i had not heard of mark, how exciting! that is awesome you will have the option of donor sperm AND known sperm. the fairfax website has something about a service they offer where the man can overnight his stuff to them. i was reading it but not paying much attention. but if he could come visit you and leave his buddies at your docs office, that would be even better. from what i have read online, the 'other' ladies doing iui also include but i am not sure of when. the iui threads may mention it. i love the idea of increasing your chances!
peggysue:glad to know the interview went well, and i think you are right about how much a follicle grows...
ona: yeah on making the therapist appointment and scheduling your prenatal exam!

[silverbrumby]

Mindi, hope you're feeling better today. That's awesome news about the friend/ex who is willing to donate. I wouldn't suggest using fairfax for storage because they will put the "stuff" on a 6 month health hold and he'll have to do a bunch of tests, but I can send you info on semen shipping methods so if you guys can't meet up, he could send you a bit of stuff at the all important time. Also, like Deej's idea of talking to doc as sometimes they have ways of storing for patients, but I almost guarantee they will want a workup on him for STDs, sperm health, etc.

[peggysue]

Nothing to say, just popping on before I go home and noticed deej and silverbrumby were on line and I just wanted to say hi. So Hi

[silverbrumby]

HI Susan! hehe

[Deej]

PeggySue: that is too cool, you can look and see who is online at the same time...
have i told you ladies lately how much you all inspire me??

[kblythe]

Hello everybody.

I've spent some time today trying to figure out how to upload a pregnancy pic. I think if you check out my profile picture, you'll see a lovely side view of my gi-normous belly.

Kathryn.

[Mindi_IUI]

Well, it's day 5 on the couch. I still feel miserable, but I am starting to feel the chest cough going away. It's worked it's way up into my sinuses. I think two more day of rest and I should okay to go back to work. Thank you for all of your get well wishes.

Just to let you know more about Mark and my relationship status, it's strictly a loving a close relationship that has lasted for over 10 years. We worked together at a restaurant when I lived in Oregon. He was the kitchen manager/chef (ever heard of The Charthouse?). He was 23 and I was 33. So, needless to say he was a baby. However, he was so intelligent that his age wasn't even a factor. I actually didn't meet him at work since he worked days and I worked nights. We met at a bar with a couple of other co-workers. We ended up only dating for a couple of weeks (so, he isn't that much of an "ex" I guess) before he freaked out and became silent on me. Yes, it made for bad tension at work, but we eventually talked it out and I left the restaurant a few months later to work in the "real" world. We didn't talk for a long time, then he called one day and we just started this great friendship. He moved to NY a few months later and we didn't speak for another year or so. Since then we have kept in touch and have been great buddies ever since.

So, last year when I told him about my decision to become a single mom he jumped at the chance to be the donor without me even asking him. I was shocked. He had a gf at the time so I didn't expect that. He said that she'd have to deal with it. I was his friend first and he wanted to do this. They eventually broke up, so it's not an issue now. Anyway, I said "Really, would you really want to do that?" He said that he feels that our 10 + year relationship was proof that he was meant to do this for me. Of course he said that I'd have to do it "au natural" with him. We can with no attachement other then it being fun for the both of us as we are so comfortable with each other that there are no worries about mind games. Mark is a free spirit. He has an old soul and has taken life on as journey. He flows with the wind. He hitched hike throughout the U.S. when he was 19 and decided to leave college and follow The Grateful Dead. Dad died when he was 4 from cancer. I believe that he instantly became a little man when that happened. Just him, his mom and brother. He does have a wonderful stepdad who he think is a great guy. His education was private Catholic School, but he has never been religious. It's just his Irish Catholic mom who thought the education was the best. It was. He is the smartest guy that I ever dated. I think that was what attracted me to him the most, besides his cute Irish good looks.

We discussed the fact that he is only the "dad" in the DNA department. No financial responsibilities on his end. I would never have considered that in the first place. He did say that he would put our child down in his Will and wouldn't deny him/her their inheritence. That was such a sweet gesture, but not expected. We have to talk more about what to call him when our kid asks about his/her bio dad. And then I have to see what his mom wants too. It is more complicated then going with DS, but at 43 I have to get pregnant now and I need to have to consider that fresh sperms is probably what I need.

Well, now you know about Mark. I wanted to tell you ladies all there is to know about him so you know that he is not a bf or a potential husband, but a wonderful guy who is going to help me make a baby.

As far as keeping his spermies in storage, my clinic will do that. They have the lab that will do all the tests and prepares the IUI's. No extra cost either So, I have no worries about having to get spermies when I need them. Both of us have been tested for STD's and no problems in that department. Mark has never been the kind of guy to just F*** around (We only had sex once when we went out before he got scared about us). He either has gf's or he enjoys his porn. lol He's a guy. I'd rather him do that then go out and screw some girl.

Ok, I've got to get back to the couch.

Ona, I am so glad that your interview went well. I hope the therapist apt. happens soon and you can get going on having your first IUI next month. I want to see a photo of your new puppy. Is he on yahoo?

Susan, You and I are on the same cycle again. I am expecting O in a couple days. I am going to do an OPK tonight. Even though I am out this month I still want to keep track of O. Did you say you are out this month for sure? If so, then we will be in the 2ww together next month.

Deej, You are a star daughter. I know that you were hoping that working for your mother would make things easier for you while you are ttc, and that her breaking her arm was unexpected, but it's only a temporary thing and your life will be back to normal in no time.

Kathryn, How are you feeling? I can't believe that is it July and that we have around here for the whole pregnancy and now it's almost time to see the little guy. I can't wait for our first SMC to have a baby

Ok, now I'm really going. My nose needs blowing. TMI?

[Deej]

i saw the pic!! how exciting kathryn!
mindi - your situation sounds great! keep us posted...
sorry you are not feeling 100% yet! hang in there. thank you for the encouraging words about me and mom. last night we chatted and i felt much better afterwards.

[silverbrumby]

Hello lasses,

Kathryn, loving the big belly chica!!! Post more photos on Yahoo please!!!!!

Mindi, I am glad you are feeling a little bit better. Your friend sounds awesome and that is great that he is willing to be there to help you out... wish I could find a guy like that. My friend Jorge offered, but he and I have known each other 18 years and he is one of my best friends. plus, he is 40 and at that age where he's seriously considering marriage and babies and I feel like I'd be a bad friend if I robbed him of having that experience first with whomever he married. I dunno. He's so handsome and we'd make such pretty babies, and I do secretly still crush on him (we dated a loooooong time ago) so it is very tempting, but I think it would affect our friendship and that is more important to me.

Ok, so I have news to report. My RE called me this evening! She rang from her home which I've NEVER had a doctor do. She was so nice... I felt like her admin was getting annoyed that I kept calling and so I was worried she was mad but she was so sweet. She said it wasn't a problem at all. She spoke with the counselor I am seeing on Monday and gave her a rundown on my history and what she wanted us to discuss. Then she told me that my ultrasound "looks great" and the cyst is nothing to worry about and should go away. I mentioned that the radiologist had said it looked like there was a septal wall and she said his report indicated that it was more likely just a follicle next to the old cyst and that both looked "healthy". Then I told her about my gyn/onc and she said since I was having trouble getting an appointment, she would give her a call personally to discuss things over the phone and hopefully that would be sufficient so then I won't need a letter. I also told her I had my well woman exam and papp this week so if she needed something from the nurse-midwife I could do that as well but she said she didn't think that'd be necessary. lastly, I asked her if I should call when I get my period and she was all "well, I don't know if we'll have everything done by then" and I was all "well, my counseling appt is on the 14th and period is due to start 15/16th so I should have everything done except the letter" and I told her I was trying to get everything done as fast as possible because I didn't want things to drag out, and she said she totally understood that I wanted to get things moving right away and to go ahead and call her when AF arrives and we'll see where things are then in terms of me getting all the stuff she needs. So I guess if you want to quantify that, it sounds like a "MAYBE"... anyway, I sure do need some good luck sprinkled my way. I really don't want to be benched again this cycle.