4 Weeks: Day 6

It's my 3rd level check today.  I think James is going to go with me this morning.  I swear, I'm going to be over my needle phobia after all of these blood draws!

Food Cravings

The only thing I'm craving so far is salad.  Hmmm.  It's kinda funny, but it's really all I want to eat!  I guess I shouldn't be complaining though, I could be craving junk food.  In fact, the day I found out I was pregnant, I threw out a whole bunch of junk food!

4 weeks: Day 5

Results are in!  My level was a 79 last Friday, and based on that same chart, it seems like I'm supposed to be somewhere around 1,050-2,800.  The nurse just called and told me I'm at 1,139!  Yay!!!!  I still have to go twice a week for bloodwork until my appointment, but that makes me feel SO much better!

4 weeks: Day 3

I got the results from my blood work back, and my HCG level was 79 mIU/ml.  At first the nurse had me worried that that was low, but when I looked at this chart, it shows that for 12dpo that level is just fine.  Just to be safe though, I'm going to be going in twice a week until my appt on the 7th for blood work to check my HCG levels and they're also going to put me on a progesterone supplement until then.

4 weeks: Day 2

Still no "major" pregnancy symptoms.  The only ones I've been experiencing are peeing all the time, growing cramps, and starting yesterday, the dreaded constipation!  Although it's uncomfortable, at least I don't have morning sickness!  Cross your fingers that it continues to be that way.  We are 1 week and 4 days away from our first appointment, and I'm SO excited!

Belly Pic: 3 weeks

3 weeks 6 days

Today is day 3 of knowing I'm pregnant!  I was able to go in for a blood test yesterday, but we won't get the results til Monday.  As soon as I got off work yesterday, I went to the grocery store for some pregnancy appropriate food!  I got cottage cheese, bagels and cream cheese, all of the ingredients for a really awesome salad, some pastas, some soups, and not a single bit of junk food!  I'm pretty proud of myself on that one, but honestly it's so much different shopping for food when you know you're feeding this baby.  Because everything you pick up you're thinking "do I want the baby to eat that?".  It's a really cool feeling, but kinda scary too.

Next order of business is finding a baby safe acne regimen.  I've been using Salicylic Acid up until pregnancy, but I've read that it's not safe for baby because it has the same components of aspirin.  So I'll need to find something other than Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide (I'm allergic to that stuff), which could prove difficult since those are the 2 main ingredients in almost every acne treatment.  Yikes.

Also, my first OB appt is scheduled for October 7th!  Yay!

3 weeks along!

Today I am happily announcing the end of our trying to conceive journey!  I took a pregnancy test this morning, and another this afternoon, and they were both positive!  James and I couldn't be happier and are so excited to become parents.  We're not announcing anything yet to anyone that doesn't have access to this blog, but as soon as we get a blood test and an ultrasound we will share the big news with everyone.

Right now (according to TheBump.com) our baby is the size of a poppyseed.

1 DPO

I'm 99% positive that I ovulated yesterday!  I had 2 peak days on the monitor (CD13 & CD14), full ferning, a positive OPK on CD13, and a HUGE temperature spike (8 tenths of a degree) this morning on CD15.  All of this points to ovulation occurring on CD14.  If I'm right, we timed things very well and have a very good chance of conceiving this month.  The only thing I'm a little concerned about is I didn't have a ton of EWCM on day 13 or 14, some, but not as much as I had before I was on clomid.  So, if this round doesn't work, I don't think I want to try clomid again without doing IUI.

Today is day 14 of my cycle and yesterday my fertility monitor showed a "peak" day!  I confirmed my LH surge with another OPK and I got another peak day today!  So, hopefully this is a good sign that I'm ovulating and things will work this month!

Guaifenesin: Day 1

One of the most notable side effects of Clomid, is that it can dry up your cervical mucus, or at least make it a more hostile environment for sperm and prevent you from ever getting that EWCM.  Fortunately, I didn't notice it dry up the first cycle, but I never rarely get EWCM to begin with.  Anyway, doctors recommend that if that happens while on the medication, you should take an expectorant to thin your cervical mucus to keep it a friendly environment for the sperm.

So today I start Guaifenesin (a.k.a. Mucinex).  

Also, James and I have made the decision that if this cycle does not work, we are going to ask to see a reproductive endocrinologist.  I love my OB, but OB's are not in the business of getting people pregnant, they are meant to take care of YOUR health during pregnancy.  An RE's sole purpose is to get you pregnant and keep you pregnant.  

**If you don't know what EWCM is and want to know (warning: gross), click here.

Clomid: Day 2

Today was a great day!  I had the day off and got to spend it with James, so I was a happy camper.  Then it got even better!  I have been hawking Craigslist.com for MONTHS, trying to find someone selling a fertility monitor.  I mean, come on!  It has to have worked for someone and that someone must not need it anymore!  Right?  Those things are SUPER hard to come by!  Finally, yesterday I found one!  She was selling it for $40!  Cheaper than I'd ever seen one sold.  I thought for sure someone would have contacted her already so I was hesitant to even email her.  SO GLAD I did!  I picked it up today and bought the sticks to go with it and it's all re-set and ready to go!  I'm so excited that I didn't spend a boatload on it.