The Official TTC Thread!

[Independent Gal]

Merlin, I didn''t take any offense at all! I just thought we were all sharing different perspectives on an interesting issue.

Sorry to hear you had such a tough time, by the way.

Cute puppies everyone! GAH!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Date: 5/31/2008 11:47:57 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
And this is them sleeping with DH on the couch, they love to snuggle...

Dreamer, you better not let those dogs snuuggle up to "the boys" too much, they might get too warm!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/31/2008 10:15:21 PM
Author: tiffanytwisted

Date: 5/31/2008 11:47:57 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
And this is them sleeping with DH on the couch, they love to snuggle...

Dreamer, you better not let those dogs snuuggle up to ''the boys'' too much, they might get too warm!!

LOL!! Tiffany, you are teririble!

Indy, there''s another thing to research: Do dogs snuggling up to men''s nether regions predict infertility

?

 

[AmberWaves]

Hiya! Blen, LOVE the baby dogs! King Charles'' just make me melt! I''m sorry it was a BFN today, but I really think it could be too early, so hopefully... When is AF due?

Mela, loooove the pictures!

DD, I see your dachsies like to snuggly like that too! Woofie uses that as his special place.

Tiffany, I love the new AV!

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

So I have more house pics to share.....and of course "little monkey pics (DD)"

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Still haven't figured out how to use gallery to upload multiple pics.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Master vanity.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Master shower tile work.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Olivia''s Bathroom.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Olivia again.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

New construction window.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Kitchen detail w/ stove & subway tiles.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Sink detail.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Front of house totally Brady Bunch! New windows - single hung.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

We have a fab cat named Alley. Planning to get a doggie for the baby maybe a golden retriever?

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Last pic. of the ethereal Alley tonight.

ETA: sorry for duplicate but can't delete.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Last pic. of the ethereal Alley tonight.

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Wow Lisa, that house is totally Brady Bunch. Now I''ve got that song stuck in my head.
Seriously though, the house looks incredible. I looooove that master bath, it looks huge.
And as usual Olivia is so cute, she always looks so happy!

 

[neatfreak]

Lisa, Olivia and your house are totally gorgeous! Her bathroom is nicer than ours, lol. One random question about the dog: Do YOU want a dog, or do you just think your daughter should have one? Because only get it if you guys want it, you''ll be the one doing the work! But GR''s are great great dogs, I grew up with them. The only major downside is all the hair. Ugh. That''s why we have poodle mixes now.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

There was a story of a man named.........

Ha ha!

Tiffany, love the new av. I know there are so many doggie lovers here and I am one too but in apartment living no one
will allow dogs - how discriminatory.

The house is a great distraction from the KC.

I actually grew up there - 3 divorces for dad there and all the attendant horrors.

I never thought I'd be moving back let alone overhauling the whole thing!

I copied Restoration Hardware a lot. And looked and looked at showrooms and magazines so I can't say it's all my own orig. ideas.

However, it was fun coming up w/ all the tile design in the bathrooms and changing the floorplan.

That tile was so much work. We went to the wholesale district and haggled and shopped and haggled and got ripped off and got our money back......

3 bathrooms redone total and new kitchen (w/ appliances), new floors, door, stairs, windows, bay window, stucco, paint inside/out, redone chimney, pony wall construction.

I should become a contractor now.

The hard part is throwing/giving all the stuff inside away so we can move in.

So many memories and boogie men there.

Anyway how are u doing these days?

Do u think the "tussin" worked a little? I am very curious.

ETA: NEATFREAK!!!

My long lost twin bearin' mama! I know u are "officially/unofficially" on the preggo thread these days but I miss u.

I have to go catch up on u over there! Are u the size of Ohio yet?

U bring up a great pt. about GR. Hmmm.. I too grew up w/ a wonderful dog - mutt/poodle mix and would love Olivia to have a buddy.

She loves the dogs at the doggie park (even the huge ones that slobber all over her).

I would love any other dog advice u or anyone else is willing to share.

With that big house don't think I want to run after Olivia, Alley hair and doggie hair + DH at the same time.

 

[neatfreak]

Lisa: Not the size of Ohio yet, but getting there! Nothing really exciting to report since the u/s. I''m 9 weeks but my doctor says that I''m measuring about 3 weeks ahead and he thinks that will increase exponentially soon because I am pretty small and have a very short torso!

And don''t get me wrong about the dogs, I LOVE GR''s. But all that hair...I just couldn''t do it! I shed enough for the entire house. We ended up with 2 dogs from rescue, a goldendoodle and a labradoodle. Both are great dogs now, but took quite a bit of training to get them there. I don''t recommend this route with a young kid, but it was rewarding for us. Make sure when you are ready that you buy from a responsible breeder with good genetic testing, breeding practicies, etc. I can help you find one when you guys are ready. The right breeder will make sure the pups are socialized well, on their way to being housebroken, and will make sure that they''ve stayed with their mom and littermates long enough (really important for development!). They also won''t let you pick your own dog, but instead will match one that is tempermentally a good fit for your family, which is really important if you''re bringing it in to a house with a young kid. But you should totally get a dog! They are the best. We love our furry beasts in this house.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Thanks for the generous offer to help us find a great dog - not that u don''t have anything else to do!

I will take u up on that missy!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Okay **TMI Alert** but I am very happy and had to share with the only people who might understand my joy

.



I think I am having my first real EWCF today! This is my third cycle off the pill and the last two I *thought* I knew what EWCF was and actually recorded it a couple days. Well after getting TCOYF and seeing all the pictures I realized I had NOT had any for the last two months. The last few days, I have been trolling the TCOYF website (www.ovusoft.com) and there are some really helpful threads on there of people talking about how to really assess CF, how to tell it from semen etc etc. One thing they mentioned was that if you assess internally, you need to use 2 fingers, not 1. Well I had been using 1! Today I tried 2 and lo and behold, EWCF. I think you need 2 fingers to really "catch" the sample. I did the glass of water test and that confirmed it is CF, not anything else (EWCF forms a ball and sinks to the bottom of the glass. Tres scientific).

Anyhoo, we did the F-tastic this morning, but I am going to *force*

DH to do it again tonight when he gets back from golfing, just in case I only have this one day of fertile CF.

Man I feel so much better knowing things are getting back on track after HBC. If it doesn''t happen for us this month I feel a lot more confident that it will happen in the next few months.

 

[Independent Gal]

So, SPEAKING of TMI ... I think my mild obsession is getting out of hand. I was at a big fancy fundraiser on Friday night. I was all dolled up in Alberta Ferretti and Valentino, and got my make-up done by the Chanel lady. Tres chi-chi. So you would think I could behave like a lady. Right? Wrong.

A male friend of mine who is REALLY into women's fashion and I did our usual tour around the party to check out the best dresses and shoes. I looooove looking at totally put together women. Anyway, we found this lady in this completely fab slinky gown and my goofy pal decided we just HAD to tell her that she had the best dress at the party.

So, we go over and tell her how fabulous she looks and get to chatting and find out she's got three li'l girls at home (man, I really hope I look like that after a couple of kiddies!) and so the subject turns to pregnancy and kids. I say "Did you know we have caves, y'know, down there for the 'boys' to hang out while they wait for the ambush?" Then I launch into this long account of all the things I've learned lately about human reproduction. The lady is politely nodding and saying 'Really! How interesting!'

And suddenly I'm all "WHAT AM I DOING talking about this at a fancy par-tee!?!???!!!!" Luckily, the lady turned out to be ACTUALLY interested and told me some rather hardcore TMI things of her own. But my poor gay friend was practically gagging. Apparently, I'm no fun anymore now that I'm an old married lady.

I got like this when I was first learning about diamonds too. Obsessive information acquisition and compulsive sharing.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/1/2008 4:35:32 PM
Author: Independent Gal
So, SPEAKING of TMI ... I think my mild obsession is getting out of hand. I was at a big fancy fundraiser on Friday night. I was all dolled up in Alberta Ferretti and Valentino, and got my make-up done by the Chanel lady. Tres chi-chi. So you would think I could behave like a lady. Right? Wrong.

A male friend of mine who is REALLY into women''s fashion and I did our usual tour around the party to check out the best dresses and shoes. I looooove looking at totally put together women. Anyway, we found this lady in this completely fab slinky gown and my goofy pal decided we just HAD to tell her that she had the best dress at the party.

So, we go over and tell her how fabulous she looks and get to chatting and find out she''s got three li''l girls at home (man, I really hope I look like that after a couple of kiddies!) and so the subject turns to pregnancy and kids. I say ''Did you know we have caves, y''know, down there for the ''boys'' to hang out while they wait for the ambush?'' Then I launch into this long account of all the things I''ve learned lately about human reproduction. The lady is politely nodding and saying ''Really! How interesting!''

And suddenly I''m all ''WHAT AM I DOING talking about this at a fancy par-tee!?!???!!!!'' Luckily, the lady turned out to be ACTUALLY interested and told me some rather hardcore TMI things of her own. But my poor gay friend was practically gagging. Apparently, I''m no fun anymore now that I''m an old married lady.

I got like this when I was first learning about diamonds too. Obsessive information acquisition and compulsive sharing.

INDY LOL!! I am the same way, luckily for me I never go anywhere nice so there are no worries about being too inappropriate

! I do bore my really close friends with this at work. I have made all of them come into my office to see my FF chart in the last few months.

Oh, and BTW if you are going to wear such lovely things, you MUST post pictures so I can live vicariously through you!

 

[mela lu]

WOW! Between Lisa''s GORGEOUS reno and Indy''s fashion extravaganza - I''m DROOLING over here! How Glam, both of you!!!

Lisa - we''ve been slowly renovating our century home over the past 2.5 years, so I totally ''get'' the pains and frustrations that you have to go thru to get the results. It certainly looks like your efforts paid off in folds. REALLY great looking reno! wow.
Olivia''s blue eyes melt me everytime. What a beauty.

Indy. Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiics please?! Valentino - droool. Thats probably one of my fave designers for evening wear. you lucky gal!

Nothing new with me - just popping in to see how you gals are doing.

DD - great find with the EWCM!! Good luck!


Blein? Bueller? Anything new?

 

[Blenheim]

Indy, that''s hilarious.

Lisa, I just love your house. You did such a great job with the reno!

Not really any news here. I didn''t test today (13 dpo), because seeing negatives is such a downer. My temp dropped a bit today and my gut just says that I''m out for this cycle. But Wednesday, if I haven''t gotten my period (16 dpo), I''ll go ahead and test again. I''ve done a great job keeping myself distracted though. I replaced some damaged siding on the house and finally built a handrail for the stairs that hubby built last summer. I also planted tomatoes.

My beautiful handrail:

 

[Gemma12]

Date: 5/28/2008 8:45:56 AM
Author: blushingbride
Thank you Blenheim - can't wait to hear your news!!

Gemma thank you for sharing your story. I'm hoping my situation is similar since my progesterone was high. Do you continue to take clomid once you're pregnant? Were there any side effects to worry about? I really haven't done much research on it since I'm still waiting to hear back from my doctor.

Blushing, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you-life just got super busy here!

I do agree with DD that your situation is different from mine and I thought that you were setting up to start clomid next cycle-sorry, my mistake!

I took the clomid to stimulate ovulation early in the cycle for 3-5 days. My RE did ultrasounds to assess the size of the follicles. Some people need a trigger shot of HCG (which can give you a false positive pg test if you POAS too early) to ovulate. Once you have finished the clomid you ovulate 7-10 days later, and you don't take it if you are pg.

One reason I volunteered my story is that I did a bit of research and found lots of 'horror' stories out there about how terrible clomid was. I had no side effects from it whatsoever. I did have to take progesterone to bring on a period once and that was a bit unpleasant-I felt a bit 'hormonal'. In general I tend not to be a worrier but I definitely found first trimester more uncomfortable than clomid.

I had no problems with CM at all. The evidence is that most people don't.

Sorry again for not realising you were still in the investigation stage-I hope that it's an all clear! Good luck and lots of baby dust!!

ETA: The irregular cycles were my first three cycles off the pill -I was pretty impatient and went to see the dr early on. For me, that was the best thing because I felt more in control (I'm also a dr) and because I felt that things were too irregular. I'm definitely not saying it's the right thing to do and your cycles sound much more regular than mine, which is excellent.

 

[lisa1.01fvs1]

Date: 6/1/2008 9:35:52 PM
Author: Gemma12

Date: 5/28/2008 8:45:56 AM
Author: blushingbride
Thank you Blenheim - can''t wait to hear your news!!

Gemma thank you for sharing your story. I''m hoping my situation is similar since my progesterone was high. Do you continue to take clomid once you''re pregnant? Were there any side effects to worry about? I really haven''t done much research on it since I''m still waiting to hear back from my doctor.

Blushing, I''m sorry I didn''t get back to you-life just got super busy here!

I do agree with DD that your situation is different from mine and I thought that you were setting up to start clomid next cycle-sorry, my mistake!

I took the clomid to stimulate ovulation early in the cycle for 3-5 days. My RE did ultrasounds to assess the size of the follicles. Some people need a trigger shot of HCG (which can give you a false positive pg test if you POAS too early) to ovulate. Once you have finished the clomid you ovulate 7-10 days later, and you don''t take it if you are pg.

One reason I volunteered my story is that I did a bit of research and found lots of ''horror'' stories out there about how terrible clomid was. I had no side effects from it whatsoever. I did have to take progesterone to bring on a period once and that was a bit unpleasant-I felt a bit ''hormonal''. In general I tend not to be a worrier but I definitely found first trimester more uncomfortable than clomid.

I had no problems with CM at all. The evidence is that most people don''t.

Sorry again for not realising you were still in the investigation stage-I hope that it''s an all clear! Good luck and lots of baby dust!!

ETA: The irregular cycles were my first three cycles off the pill -I was pretty impatient and went to see the dr early on. For me, that was the best thing because I felt more in control (I''m also a dr) and because I felt that things were too irregular. I''m definitely not saying it''s the right thing to do and your cycles sound much more regular than mine, which is excellent.

Hi Gemma,

Just curious about Clomid and why your RE didn''t suggest FSH injections and HCG trigger?

This will be my regimine at the end of this 2-3WW if not pg.

Did u do IUI?

My guess is that you are under 35 and haven''t had any ovarian surgeries?

Mela - Let''s get some pics. of your house (you jerkstore!

) I know its getting old but now I''m calling my DH JS and we laugh pretty hard!
How''s the pregnancy going? I briefly checked the preggo thread are u posting there? That thread goes lightening speed!

Blen - U are really talented! Care to come to CA and finish our built-ins or bookcase or patio deck?
I need more pics. I am glad the house is keeping u busy. I haven''t tested at all (well it is only 1 dpo -haha) but I''m not gonna pick up a stick this round.
Well maybe if I skip AF. It''s a total bummer to get a neg.

 

[Blenheim]

Thanks, Lisa! We redid the kitchen and one of the bathrooms and then completely lost motivation, so I'm trying to get it back. I'll add more pictures later -- I have to go to work soon. I hear you on the early testing. I don't think that I'm going to do it next cycle.

14dpo here and I'm pretty sure that I'm out - spotting yesterday night, plus this temp drop yesterday and today: