Step away from the computer

I need to stop Googling my symptoms (or absence of symptoms).

Yesterday, while home sick, I Googled "pregnancy no morning sickness" and read all these studies about how a lack of morning sickness may suggest an increased risk of miscarriage.

Well that's just great.

I'm not Googling anything else.

Early Affects

To date, my only consistent symptom has been fatigue. I have some mild nausea around meal times, but nothing that could be considered morning sickness.

Also interesting... sweets no longer interest me. Christmas cookies actually turned my stomach earlier today. Quite odd since I've been known to eat an entire pan of brownies in one sitting.

Hello vegetables, goodbye chocolate?

Waiting Game

My doctor's office has a policy that they won't see newly-pregnant patients until they're 8 weeks along. Boo.

I have an appointment for January 4, but that seems like an eternity away.

This is especially a bummer since Ben and I were hoping to tell our families for Christmas. I don't want to tell them without medical confirmation though. Guess we're going to wait it out.

Um, Sam?!?

Holy crap. I'm pregnant.

I practically took the test with a Miller Lite in my hand. It was step one in preparation for tonight's bar crawl: make sure you're not pregnant.

Guess the bar crawl is off.

I wasn't even anxiously watching the test, since I was sure I wasn't pregnant anyway. But then Ben called my name from the bathroom: "Um, Sam?!?" And our whole world changed.

Two pregnancy tests and one panicked call to M later ("There's no such thing as a false positive, right?"), I'm adjusting to the fact that I'm growing a baby inside of me. Crazy.

I told my friends a little white lie to get me out of the bar crawl tonight, so I hope they'll forgive me. I'm just not ready to tell everyone yet.

Have one for me girls. It will be 9+ months before I touch booze again!

Ode to Birth Control

A few reasons why I miss birth control...

1) I was blissfully unaware that my body didn't want to ovulate.
2) The constant stream of hormones made my skin beautifully clear (I haven't seen blemishes like this since I was 14).

In other news, still no period. I know I'm not pregnant, but I'm going to be forced to take a pregnancy test tomorrow just to be sure. We have bridesmaid bar crawl on Saturday (a bar crawl in which you wear old bridesmaid dresses), and it seems irresponsible to drink without knowing for sure.

Just add the $5 pregnancy test to my conception tab.

Day 44

Still nothing. Boo.

Acupuncture Adventure

Turns out acupuncture isn't cheap. At $72/session (not covered by insurance), this better get me knocked up.

I had my first appointment today. It didn't hurt, and I definitely felt calmer and more relaxed after. It was actually a cool experience, but maybe not for $72/session (not covered by insurance).

The doctor started me on one session a week for 8 weeks. So every Monday at lunch, just picture me with four needles in my abdomen and one in each of my ankles.

It's a sight to behold. Don't worry, I'll take some pictures next week.

Over sharing online since 2009

It occurred to me last night that much of what I write about may be considered TMI. At this point, the blog has a whopping two readers: M and T. And as close as we are, my two currently-pregnant friends still may not care to know about my basal body temperature patterns.

Oh well. The few that know that we're trying also know how agonizing this has been for me. How frustrated I've been, and how cathartic it's been to write this all down.

That being said, I won't be offended if you just can't read about my reproductive system anymore. But if you want to keep reading, thanks for listening.

Cramps!

Never thought I'd be happy about that, but hopefully cramping and breaking out means my period is on the way. After all, every period is a fresh chance at ovulation. I'm day 37 today. Last month my cycle was 40 days.

Ben told me last night that we shouldn't expect to get pregnant until January. Why? That would put us at an October delivery, right smack-dab in the middle of his brother's two-week wedding extravaganza. That would be ironic, now wouldn't it? You can almost always expect something to happen when the timing is the worst.

At this point though, I'll take it when I can get it.

This doesn't feel normal, but thanks

I freaked out and called me doctor yesterday. She told me exactly what I expected to hear. This is normal, you're young, we need to wait it out and see if your body regulates itself.

Yeah, whatever.

It's a good thing I love my doctor. She's actually a nurse midwife, so she has a very holistic approach that I really like. If we get pregnant, I definitely want her with me along the way. But there are times (like this) that I wish she was a little more aggressive. This is normal, I'm young, I need to wait it out and see if my body regulates itself.

She did recommend acupuncture, which I think I'm going to try. It's not covered by insurance, but the treatments are done in a clinic setting. I was imagining going to some kooky woman's house with incense and cats. But treatments are at the same clinic as urgent care, so I feel like it's pretty legit.

Until then, more yoga, jogging and pre-natal vitamins. This is normal, I'm young, I need to wait it out and see if my body regulates itself.

Annoying Little Ovaries

Not a single positive ovulation test this month (we are now on day 29).

My basal body temps haven't shown any major shifts either. If anything, they've gotten more erratic as the month has progressed. I'm annoyed.

Come on ovaries... get with the plan!