***WARNING*** THIS IS A LONG ONE!
Hi, ladies! DH and I have been actively TTC for 4 cycles (including this one) and NTNP for 1 cycle (for a total of 5 cycles). Just as everyone else always says, I stalked this site quite often over the last 4 months. I loved learning little TTC tricks from the seasoned veterans and reading all of the hopeful and inspiring BFP stories. I told myself that I would share my story when my time comes and..well.. this morning at 6:00am, my time came! ...so first, a brief back-story;
I am 27 years old and hubby is 37. we have a 6 year old son who was conceived after 4 months of trying and a 3-soon-to-be-4 year old daughter who was conceived on our first try! when we were discussing our family plans after our wedding back in 2008, we decided that we wanted 3 children and I wanted to do my best to have all 3 before I turned 30. Our first cycle of "trying" was around christmas time and we were NTNP. we thought that it would be fun to "play russian roulette" and just see where the ebb and flow of the universe took us. well, the universe decided to bless me with more "flo" than ebb! lol. I was mildly disappointed and with that disappointment came the full blown TTC itch. for our first cycle of actively trying, in january, i was only lightly obsessed. i tracked ovulation via CM, CP and sex drive. that cycle was a BFN. in february i decided to start temping but never saw a clear ovulation pattern. it was an unusual cycle of only 24 days (always very regular, 26-29 days), i believe it was annovulatory. obviously BFN. in march, i started prenatal vitamins and cleaned up my diet. BFN. this month, april, i decided to break out the "big guns" supplement-wise and took evening primrose oil cd1-ovulation, as well as vitamin C, fish oil, vitamin b6 & b complex, zinc and my prenatal. i also used the clearblue advanced digital OPK. that concoction, in addition to more water, less stress and more fruits and veggies did the trick for us! alrighty, onto the good stuff!
cd15-18; flashing smileys on digi OPK, indicating high fertility. lots of awesome EWCM, which i attribute to the EPO. the previous 3 cycles i had 1-2 days TOPS. i highly recommend it to any ladies who are on the fence about whether they should take it or not.
cd18 (evening); solid smiley, ovulation cramps that felt oddly similar to pre-AF cramps. they lasted for about 2 mins.
cd19; ovulation day confirmed via temp rise on cd20. CM dried up. tender nipples. pms-type cramps
-1-3dpo; very tender nipples. pms-type cramps. dry CM
-4dpo; nipples so sore i could hardly stand it. raised and swollen montgomery tubercles. pms-type cramps. dry CM
-5dpo; tender nipples typical pre-af acne. dry CM. start to feel out this month because i'm always dry leading up to AF. stronger cramping. feel like af is gonna make an early appearance.
-6dpo; strong cramps. not as bad as af but definitely noticeable. i wonder if this could be implantation? nipples only slightly tender. small amount of creamy CM.
-7dpo; nipples no longer sore. scant amount of creamy CM. very strong cramps in the evening.. so strong that i had to take tylenol! thought FOR SURE that this cycle was another bust and that AF would show any second. i thought "there's no way that this is implantation, these cramps are too strong." (i didn't notice any cramping until 8-10ish weeks with my other two pregnancies.) i actually cried, tears and all, to my DH saying "i don't know why i'm not getting pregnant!" (this should have been a major indicator though, as i'm NEVER weepy.)
-8dpo; major temp spike and no AF. how can this be? after the cramps experienced the previous night, i was certain i'd wake up to a temp dip and spotting just like previous months. now the cramps are very sporadic and not even a 1 on a scale of 1-10. boobs start to feel slightly heavy but not sore. CM is starting to pick up just a tad. had band practice and couldn't hold back the tears when playing and singing a murder ballad that i recently wrote. had to cut that song short and save it for a later practice. ok, now something has got to be up ... maybe this could be it?
-9dpo; caved and tested with FMU. i dipped a First Response and walmart cheapie blue dye into my pee and watched them for 3 minutes. nothing really. but after about 4-5 mins i began to see what looked like shadow lines, the walmart cheapie being much darker than the FR. DH couldn't see anything but we all know how blind men are when it comes to very faint lines on HPT's... only crazy TTC women can see super faint positives! lol. anyway, i decided that they were much too shadowy and faint to be positive and the FR was most likely the antibody strip being wet and the walmart cheapie was an evap cuz blue dyes are evil and break the hearts of women everywhere. duh. --went to my bff's bbq, made my famous from-scratch margaritas and felt completely drunk off of just one! my face was extremely flushed and i felt quite dizzy. my appetite was completely gone and the thought of dessert (which there were plenty of desserts there) made my stomach turn. this is very unusual for me because it's a known fact in my household that if AF is soon to be visiting, there isn't a morsel of chocolate around because mommy ATE IT! --cramps are more pinchy, warm, tingly and focused more to the left side of my pubic bone.
-10dpo (today); woke up to a temp dip but still above cover-line, full boobs, lots of creamy CM and no cramps. decide to test with my 2nd and last FR. dipped the stick and waited.... after about a minute and a half i see a very faint line appearing. after 3-4 mins, DEFINITELY PINK BFP!!!!! dipped my 2nd walmart cheapo blue dye and BFP!!! i know that blue dyes are evil and leave mean evaps but the cheapo picked up this BFP before FR and with a stronger concentration of test-line dye. this evening, CM was tinged very light pink, which i got with my other two pregnancies so i feel confident that this is it!!! cramps were very sporadic this afternoon and evening and the same as 9dpo, warm, pinchy and focused to the left. boobs are becoming noticeably tender on sides. heartburn.
i will be confirming with a digi on 14dpo, as i doubt that my hcg is high enough right now to register a positive. DH, the kiddos and i are super excited though and we'll be ringing up the ol' OB in the morning :D
things i did differently this cycle were opks, EPO, extra supplements, and baby dancing everyday cd12-18 and cd20. i stayed off of google (but not TWW, of course!) & tried to stay busy by cooking, brewing a seasonal beer with hubby and writing music.
and ladies, as you read, i cramped my ENTIRE TWW so DON'T COUNT YOURSELF OUT IF YOU START PMS'ing and aren't noticing obvious symptoms early on!! between 1-8 dpo, i would have bet my last dollar that AF was going to show based on the cramps, acne, loss of boob tenderness and lack of CM! also, my temps are lower this month than my previous two months so don't let temps dictate your sanity! (i've put away my thermometer and will not be temping anymore. ovulation was confirmed and pregnancy was achieved so it is no longer needed.) oh, and my luteal phase is only 9-10 days so don't let a short luteal phase scare you into unnecessary worry and/or hormonal supplementation. it's absolutely possible to get pregnant as i've done it twice before, now being the third time!
***loads of sticky, sparkly baby dust to all you soon-to-be mommies out there! i love you all!***