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.

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.

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!

Can I just ovulate, please?

Turns out it's really hard to make a baby if you don't ovulate. I'm in day 21 of my cycle, and still no positive OPK result. WTF?!?

Sometimes I think it's harder to be ovulation testing. Whereas I used to have some hope that we were getting pregnant, now I pretty much know for a fact that it's not happening. I hate that.

I need the optimism back.

I jest, mostly

Ben: Amy says you just need to relax. Maybe you should have a margarita tomorrow night.

(Context: I've cut WAY back on alcohol since we started trying. That makes me sound like a lush, but it's true.)

Sam: Oh, I'm having a margarita. If our kid can't handle tequila, we've got bigger problems.

Say hello to my little friend

I got my period (finally). A mini-victory, but I'm pretty sure it was anovulation. This cycle was 40 days. Longer than it should be, but not unheard of given that I went off the pill only two months ago.

I've been charting my temps since I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I'm all over the board (a friend likened the pattern to five year-old's art project), but I'm trying to be diligent about it. My goal is to arm myself with data for my annual OB/GYN appointment in March. If I'm still not pregnant by then (6 months of trying), hopefully this info will help explain why and what to do next.