Digital Confirmation!

Because I'm a Cynic...

...I tested again with another FRER as soon as I got home from work.

This is really happening.

BFP!

Holy crap - this is unfreakin' believeable!

I wasn't planning on testing until tomorrow, however, when my temp. went up again this morning at 12 DPO, I figured it couldn't hurt to try and see what happens. I had a dentist appt. this morning at 7:30 AM and didn't have time to test beforehand since I overslept. The appt. was over quickly and I still had some time to kill before going in to work so I decided to head home for a bit since it was close by. When I got there, I realized that I had to go the bathroom and figured that I would test then just for the heck of it. I was completely expecting a negative result. As it turns out, the line appeared before I could even set the test down!

While it's light, it's still pink and beautiful - the most beautiful pink line I've ever seen :)

I was shaking so bad that I immediately called DH at work and just blurted out "I'm pregnant". So much for cute and creative, huh?!

We are absolutely ecstatic right now! I still don't feel as if it's real and want to get confirmation on a digital before calling the doctor's office. I think it will make me feel less crazy. With that said, I'm going to wait until probably Saturday to take the digital to make sure that if I am indeed pregnant, that there will be enough HCG in my system to register a positive result. I don't think I could handle seeing "Not Pregnant" at the moment. I just want to enjoy this feeling a little while longer.

So in all it's glory, here is a picture of the HPT @ 12 DPO:

Feeling Anxious

T - 2 days until testing. I have no clue as to what this cycle may bring. My temps. have been all over the place, I've had two now below my coverline, and most are not 100% reliable this time around, so I can't place much faith in my chart right now. I'm actually starting to think there may be something wrong with my BBT since my temps. have been jumping around so much - we're talking over a 1 degree difference from one day to the next and the BBT was beeping to signal it was done within mere seconds of being in my mouth. I've had to temp again immediately afterwards when that's occured and even though I know those temps. aren't necessarily accurate, it's been the only way to get temperatures that even remotely make sense.

On a positive note, my temperature this morning (11 DPO) was still pretty high. Since I couldn't get an accurate temp. yesturday at 10 DPO, I didn't enter anything on my chart. However, today's temperature is only down slightly from 9 DPO and this is the highest it's been on 11 DPO out of all four cycles thus far. Without having anything entered for 10 DPO, it's difficult to know if this is a gradual decline in my temps. or if it's a good sign instead. I suppose I'll just have to wait it out and see what tomorrow brings.

Mike will be going out of town Thursday afternoon until Friday evening and FF's suggested test date is on Thursday, so at least he'll be home in the morning if and when I test for moral support either way. This cycle has been very hard on me emotionally so I'm really just hoping and praying for the best.

Temps Below Coverline?

I'm 5 DPO and today my temp. dropped below my coverline. How does that work? What the heck does that mean? How am I supposed to know what's going on with my chart when it is never even close to being the same as other months? Considering that yesturday was a high-stress day for me, I really thought that my temp. would actually spike today since that's what it typically does from extreme stress.

Regardless, here's what I was able to find on Fertility Friend. I guess you really do learn something new everyday:

"The coverline carries no physiological meaning. It is just a visual tool to help you see your ovulation pattern. Whether or not your temperature rises or falls below this line does not necessarily indicate anything significant. Individual temperatures can fluctuate at any time of the cycle, for both hormonal or non-hormonal reasons. A single dropped temperature usually doesn't mean much. You want to look at "the big picture" and see a pattern of temperatures over time. As long as you can see a biphasic pattern and a trend towards elevated temperatures after ovulation, there is no need to worry about a single dropped temperature or two. "

I guess there's no reason to worry about it just yet.

Well Hello, EWCM!

I don't know why this cycle is different from the previous two, but I've had an extreme amount of fertile CM this time around - especially EWCM. After having none last cycle, I'm a bit surprised. So while that's good news, I'm starting to get impatient as to when I'm actually going to ovulate. For the past four days now my temps. have been psyching me out - first they'd drop significantly just like they do right before ovulation, however, they've been up and down now several times (think zig-zag pattern) and there's been no ovulation yet to speak of. Uh! Why can't my temps. just cooperate?! Starting yesturday, Mike is working crazy shifts for awhile and is planning to work all weekend so that he can finish up an important project his employer needs completed. He's going to be exhausted which means no baby-making for us. I could just cry :( Here's hoping I can at least keep him awake long enough tonight for one last attempt.

As of right now, here's my chart thus far for this cycle:

Happy (late) Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

This past Sunday, Mike and I took Louis to an Easter Egg Hunt that our dog park was sponsoring. As it turned out, the weather was fantastic. It was such a beautiful day and Lou had a blast. We didn't win the scavenger/egg hunt, but Louis won a prize for a hotdog eating contest - we had to throw cut up pieces of hotdog to the dog and whenever a dog didn't catch it, then the dog was disqualified (Louis caught every piece!) - and Mike won Louis another prize in a marshmellow Peep eating contest. Go figure! When there's food involved, my boys always win!

Here are some pictures of Mike and Louis during the scavenger hunt:

Lou and the other dogs during one of the games (I'm in the white sweatshirt):



Louis just being himself (he's got a golf ball - his favorite - in his mouth in the last pic):

And last, but not least, Louis kissing the Easter Bunny:

Hopelessly & Utterly Addicted

After a very stressful Thursday at work, I decided to take Friday off as a mental-health day. Since the weather was so crappy outside and I was in such a terrible mood, I decided to do nothing but curl up on the couch with Louis and start reading the Twilight saga I had recently picked up - little did I know how addictive it would become. Not only did I read the first book, I am now about 75% into the second book, New Moon, and even managed to watch the Twilight movie as well. I just can't put the books down! The love affair between the star-crossed Edward and Bella has sucked me in.

As I am now anxiously awaiting the release of the New Moon movie in November, I'm adding this countdown clock to my blog for fun.

It's A Dog's Life

I happened to snap this picture of Louis yesturday morning and it made me smile. I wish this is how I got to spend my mornings! (I apologize for the quality, I didn't have the flash on.)

Waiting for AF

It's official....I'm not pregnant; cycle #2 was a bust. As of this morning (12 DPO), my temp. dropped below my coverline. I'm bummed, of course, but our timing was only so-so this month so I wasn't really expecting it to happen. I'm patiently just waiting on AF to show so that we can move on to cycle #3 and try all over again. It looks as if we're now trying for a January of 2010 baby!

The silver lining is that Mike and I both just recently signed up at a gym and have really been trying to eat much healthier. Not being pregnant this cycle will give me another month to whip my butt into shape and hopefully lose a few pounds in the meantime. I joined last Friday and have been there twice since and can hardly move as of this morning. I'm extremely out of shape apparantly.

Here's hoping the third time is a charm!