We spilled the beans...

Neither Mark nor I are good at keeping secrets. Mark is worse- he typically wants to give me Christmas and birthday gifts at least a week in advance (probably around the same time he made his purchases). And, since we're living with my folks, we decided to share the news on Thanksgiving. We warned everyone that we're still very early on and asked them to keep it quiet from friends and family. Considering my brother and my brother-in-law are both parents, we figure both sides of the family understand what's going on and will respect our wishes.

Since Mark's family is in Mississippi, we had to share the news with them over the phone. It took an act of Congress to get his folks on the line together, and then I swear, it was another 5 minutes before they caught on. Donna (MIL) said that she had the same thing I did (assume she meant bronchitis, but she only complained of a sore throat- huh), so Mark asked if she was pregnant. Both his folks acted like that was a ridiculous comment until 3 minutes later when they finally realized what was happening. They were excited, of course. The next phone call was to Mark's sister. She and her husband were driving to the in laws, so we were able to tell them together. Then, Mark's younger brother (there are 5 kids total). Randy is the father of a 13 month old, so rather than congratulate us first, he decided to warn us that our lives are now over....not exactly what I was looking to hear. And, finally, we called the older brother, Tim, who I absolutely adore. He was so excited and said "Congrati-fucking-lations!" Exactly what I expected to hear. His girlfriend was there with him, and while we've never met, I could tell she was genuinely excited for us as well.

We waited ALL afternoon to tell my folks. Mark and I just kept looking at each other and giggling. Mom got onto me because I wanted her to put out the appetizers early. I don't know why she thought a cinnamon roll at 9am would hold me over until 7pm dinner....even if I wasn't pregnant and on steroids! So, we waited until everyone was there (just the folks, my brother and sister-in-law, their kids and us) and gathered to say grace before dinner. Immediately after grace, I said "Wait- before we dig in....Mark and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Not only are we back in Texas with all of you and building a house, we're expecting an addition to the family later this summer." Makenna, my five year old niece had no idea what I'd said, but since everyone else cheered, she ran over to me and gave me a big hug. Mom cried and then "yelled" at me for lying to her-- she'd been feeling so bad for us thinking the IUI had failed. Dad got a bit weepy, and the bro and sis-in-law offered congratulations and hugs. It was a lot of fun.

I still don't "feel" pregnant most of the time. I mean, it's just barely 5 weeks, so why should I? Every time I tinkle, I check the paper for spotting even though I know some spotting is normal. I have learned that I need to carry some snacks with me at all times. Mark and I went to a Christmas parade downtown and by the time it was over, I'd not eaten in about 7 hours. I got really feisty! Luckily, we found a roll of whole grain Ritz in the backseat, so I snacked on a few of those until we could get to dinner, which was the best meal I've eaten in a long time!

I get this weird pressure/feeling in my throat occasionally. I'm not really sure what it is. It doesn't necessarily burn, so I don't think it's heartburn or indigestion. Drinking water seems to help it at least temporarily. I notice I get this feeling when it's been 2-3 hours since I've eaten. Maybe there's a correlation....

Alright, enough for now. If you've read all this, kudos to you-- I'm "talkative" this morning. Mom and I are off to the grocery store, so y'all have a great day.

Y'all Rock!

It made my day to pop on here and see so many congratulations and well-wishes. Y'all are just the best!

The world's ugliest chart results...

...in a freakin' pregnancy! The past two and a half weeks have been a real roller coaster ride. The weekend before my IUI, I had some sort of 72 hour stomach bug. Had the IUI on Friday the 7th and the following Tuesday I was in the doctor's office diagnosed with bronchitis. It's not been a lot of fun. (Was back to the doctor today and she was freakin' out because I'm knocked up. She called my infertility doctor to get my meds approved- wild.)

I had several days where my temps dipped below the coverline, and I just knew that was the end of it. But, Friday (14dpo) came and went- had a negative hpt but no period. I gathered the courage to test again on Sunday. I woke up at 5am coughing and decided to go ahead and pee on a stick since I had to go. All I had was a digital and I'll be damned if that "pregnant" didn't pop up almost immediately!

I went back to the bedroom to tell my husband. I found his eye glasses and woke him up. "Here, put these on," I said. "What? What's going on," he asked in his sleep. I shoved the pee stick in his face (well, not the PEE end) and said "Read this." He squinted around a bit and then you could see the light bulb click on in his head. He was cute.

We've both been very cautious not to get too emotionally involved yet. I had my first bloodwork for Beta levels today, and it was 242. I'll go back Wednesday to check it again.

I lied to my mother the other day. As you may remember, we're living with my folks while building a house (which is coming along quite nicely). We want to be able to surprise my parents for Christmas (about 8 weeks along), so I told mom I started my period on Saturday. You could tell she felt bad for us, but it's the only way that I can share this time with my husband privately (well, and you guys!).

We're not sure how to tell Mark's family since they're in Mississippi, and we don't know when we'll be able to make it out there-- maybe MARCH? We might have to get creative and do something with a web cam or whatever. We'll see.

Thank you all for your continued support, prayers, and BFP dust. ;) We've still got a long ways to go, but at least we've made it this far.

Super Sperm at Work

Well, the IUI was this morning and all went well. I'm always a bit surprised at how quickly the doctor is in and out of my hoo-ha. Mark went in at 8:30 to provide the specimen and then went to work for a meeting he couldn't avoid. I hung out at the hospital catching up on my reading (Us Weekly and In Touch) waiting for my appointment at 9:30. I picked up Mark's junk-- in a styrofoam cup, by the way and headed down the hall to my doctor.

Mark got there right after the insemination was done, so we hung out for the 10 minutes necessary before leaving the facility. The doctor was looking for 5-10 million little swimmers, but we got close to 40! Dr. Kaufmann went on and on about how good Mark did. I wasn't sure his head would fit through the door when we tried to leave.

So, that's it for now. I start the Prometrium on Sunday night and will take that through most of the first trimester if knocked up. Exciting stuff. We go back for a blood test if I don't start my period in 14 days. Luckily/unfortunately for us, we'll be out of town at that time, so we must wait until the following Monday to schedule an appointment. By that time, I'll have a period or I won't....

Prayers, bfp dust and encouragement glady accepted.

And now we're making progress

After a long night of o pains on the left and "Trudie" (the growth) kicking on the right, I got some good news at the doctor's office this morning. Looks like I've got two follicles on the left that are progressing right along. So, now I take the ovudril injections this evening and go in for the IUI on Friday.

I'm really excited, very anxious, and highly nervous about all of this. I feel that we have a lot invested in this cycle (well, a lot more than previous cycles), so things really need to work. If this cycle doesn't work, we'll have to wait a few months before trying another IUI. There's just no way we can afford to move into our house at the end of January and continue to shell out dough for a chance.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Yes, I've been MIA again

Seriously, why can't I just log on here and blog once or twice a week? Why is that so difficult? Well, it's not, but my life has been a bit chaotic for the past three months. All is well, mind you, just busy! I used to get home from work and piddle around on the computer until Mark got home. Now, I go home to my mom's and she's always got things for us to do. I miss my computer time with all "my gals!"

Well, here's the news. Our new RE diagnosed me with PCOS. It's something I've assumed I had for a while now, but was never officially diagnosed. He did an u/s and I have a mass on my right ovary. He's not sure if it's endometriosis or just a growth, but he's fairly certain it's not cancer. He gave us the option of "watching" Gertrude the Growth for now or having a lap to check it out. He suggested watching Trudie and proceeding with IUI.

So, we've found out that Mark's got Super Sperm (anyone watch Rules of Engagement?) and I had an HSG (CIS) that revealed the tubes are clear. I'm still taking Clomid and Fortamet this cycle and started Follistim last Saturday. The shots aren't nearly as terrifying as I thought they'd be, but I've had some soreness to get through. I've had three more u/s this cycle and he's increased the dosage. Today is cd14, and I'm waiting for a call from the nurse to see what's next. I only have one follicle that's of any significant size (13mm) right now.

So, yeah, while trying to come up with the down payment for a house we've started building, we just shelled out two grand for a chance at having a child. Who knows? Maybe this will be worth it and I can spend my Spring moving into the house and preparing for baby. I guess we'll find out in about 2-3 weeks!

Now, off to read about what y'all have been getting into....