Tuesday 16 September 2014

Week 5 symptom watch

I've actually been feeling rough since about 7dpo, I guess that would be when implantation happened. I woke up in the night with a cold sweat, acute nausea and killer headache.

The headache and the nausea have continued all through last week, but thankfully the nausea has died down to the point where it's just sitting there in the background most of the time. The thing that convinced me I must be pregnant, before I even took a test, was the stuffy nose/sore sinuses and the horrid cold sore I developed at 11dpo.

So this week. The headache is still hanging around, so is the cold sore and the rhinitis. I am really trying not to take any painkillers, so just going with cold cloths, massage, etc. My doctor recommended a safe nasal spray, so I may also give that a go.

I'm also REALLY tired. I'm struggling to make it past 2pm without a nap, one of the luxuries of being on leave from work! I'm pretty much dead to the world again my 9pm, which is a couple of hours earlier than normal.

Unfortunately, also pretty gassy and bloaty which I hate. Makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable, even when trying to sleep. My boobs are pretty uncomfortable too, switching from just feeling heavy to being quite painful to touch.

The nausea isn't too bad. The last two nights I have been up in the middle of the night sure I was going to be sick, but so far have managed to keep it together. I find that eating small meals/snacks throughout the day helps keep it at bay. So far there aren't too many things that are putting me off, although I didn't manage to finish my banana this morning, the texture completely threw me off!

Let's see what next week brings!

Monday 15 September 2014

It's (digitally) official!

With my doctors appointment coming up this morning, I took my last hpt. I'd been saving my Clearblue digital until I was sure, and here's the result:


Sent the pic to hubby at work, then made my way to the doctor. When I told her I was pregnant again, she told me she thought that was why I had booked in as she had worked out my dates! She was super reassuring that we have nothing to worry about and that we should plan for the baby we are going to have. Still not totally convinced, and am analysing every twinge and pain, but after she said that I could feel myself start to relax a little.

She took blood for hcg and also to check my blood type as I am pretty sure I am rh negative. I'm hoping that my last miscarriage wont have an impact on this pregnancy. Asked me to come back Thursday for the results, so hubby will be able to come with me.

I guess it is finally (after 4 days) starting to feel real. Here's to the journey ahead!


Sunday 14 September 2014

I think we have a winner!

So, my resolve not to test again till Monday totally faded. I tested again yesterday morning with the last strip I had, and then this morning with the last FRER I had. Have to say, the lines are getting darker and that's making me think that this little one intends to stick around!


I've just called the doctor and made an appointment for tomorrow. No idea what comes next, I'm hoping that she'll do a blood test and ask me to come back at least once to check - mostly to put my mind at ease after last time. I have heard some ladies say that their doctor doesn't test saying that a positive hpt is the same as a positive blood test, so I guess I'll find out tomorrow what my doctor thinks.

After the surprise announcement that I planned for hubby with our first, I couldn't bring myself to do it again. So when he got home Friday and asked how I was feeling and should I be worried that I was still feeling so run down and maybe I should go to the doctor... I showed him the test. His reaction was so lovely. I thought he might be scared, and I know he's apprehensive after last time, but his first reaction was a double fist pump and a "Yes!" - about as expressive as he gets!

I keep changing between praying for this little one to hang in, and just talking to our little poppy seed telling it how much it will be loved if it will just stick around to find out =]

Friday 12 September 2014

Here we go again!

This morning, at 12 dpo I took a pregnancy test. I think it's another positive!

At the moment I am too scared to write much, but thought a quick post of the test results might make it seem a bit more permanent. I;ve included a negative shot, I read on a forum that this helps the line to show =]

After my last BFP, I am hoping to wait until Monday, when AF is due, before I worry about testing again. Not planning on telling hubby just yet either, after the stress of last time. He's just left for work, so maybe by the time he gets home tonight I will have changed my mind!



Tuesday 2 September 2014

OPKs

This is my second cycle using OPKs. The girls on the EB TTC#1 forum were super helpful with all my questions last time. I was wondering about how long I should be 'holding it in' the other day, as my bladder was screaming for release so decided to test my Dr Google theory. it wasn't good. The results ranged from 4 hours to 2 hours to don't hold it and just test whenever you need to pee. So I decided to investigate a little further - when was the best time to test?
 - My Dr says use FMU because hormones are most concentrated
 - My Dr says never use FMU because LH (the hormone measured by OPKs) is only synthesised in the day
 - Before 12 pm
 - Before 4 pm
 - Between 8 and 10pm
By far the best answer was, test when the instructions on the pack tell you to. Only problem is with buying all these cheapies off the internet, they don't always come with instructions.

I also found out thanks to the EB girls that it is possible to miss the LH surge and therefore never get a true positive. Last month I got a pretty clear positive result on CD 16, this time, not so much. For interests sake, here are my OPKs from this cycle.


From this it's clear that I never got a true positive. It's also clear that this photo is of old tests and that you're not supposed to count the results after 10 minutes. However, I would assume that CD17 shows the strongest result, very closely followed by CD18. I'm happy, for my own purposes, to count CD17 as my positive. I haven't had any tests yet to confirm that I actually ovulate and I am not prepared to start testing more than once a day as I have seen recommended by some.

With this in mind, I tried a different tack with hubby this cycle. I didn't tell him a thing. I was counting on my positive being CD16 as I think is usual for me, and we dtd on CD13 and CD16. When I saw my OPKs, I mentioned to hubby that I wasn't going to tell him anything more than to make a choice - we dtd either Saturday, Sunday or Monday, which I knew would be CD17-19. I wasn't going to say anything else, I wasn't going to pressure him. I'd already asked him to be more proactive in the whole dtd business, baby making aside.

So it got to last night and nothing. I was super calm, I had expected this. I just asked to remind him of two things, he said he'd make more of an effort, and he'd promised one of those three days. To which he said, "Tomorrow then." I said yes, for sure (I'm not passing up an opportunity!) but reminded him that I had told him those days for a reason. He told me that he didn't think it made a difference and that there was always a chance no matter what the timing! We then had to have a quick refresher on the whole Great Sperm Race and what happens to the egg after ovulation.

I'm pretty sure that tonight will be a no-go anyway, and either way I think its too late to catch the egg this cycle. But looking back I think that we got a couple in on time, so maybe some of those little buggers have worked their magic. I guess only time will tell.