Fit For Future Families - August 2011

Oh and Sandy, the only time my cycle was screwed up when I took anitbiotics was when I was on BC...but I'm sort of a believer that anything is possible.

OMG! So, I have completely slipped up again! Start-over # whatever, here I come. How many times can I start over!? This summer has been extremely busy and full of a lake of motivation. So, I am back again...
It's so nice to have you ladies (old and new) to turn to! Here is a little about me (love this idea!)

Name: Kim
Age: 27
Where you live: Michigan (metro-Detroit area)
Job: Dance Admin. Assistant at the Detroit Opera House
Length of time on the board: A long time! a yearish or so...
Marital Status: Married! (2nd Anniversary is on Monday!)
Length of time you've been with SO: 5 years
Do you have kids: no
Length of time TTC: 1 year 8 months... but whos counting?
Diagnosis: not ovulating
Do you chart your BBT: Yes! and I just got my first cover line!!!!
Do you use OPKs: Clear Blue Easy Monitor
Are you on any meds for TTC: 2nd cycle with clomid...still crossing our fingers to see if it worked. And multi-Vitamins plus extra folic acid.
Height: 5'4
Weight: 150
Goal Weight:139
and finally......
Weird Fact About Yourself: I can do the splits

Pantera, we are really considering it. The biggest reason that I don't want to is the health thing. I'm 4'9 and 178 lbs.... which apparently puts me in some horrific BMI category that makes me want to hide, roughly forever. Plus, I have been off hormonal BC for a year and my cycles have been ridiculously irregular (I'll go three months without a visit from AF and then have one every two weeks for 2 months, and other fun stuff like that). My doc insists that it has everything to do with my weight and refuses to even run tests until I'm in at a healthier BMI. There are no fertility problems in my family, or my husbands (in fact, quite the opposite), so I'm inclined to agree with her. I mean, considering our current method of BC is uhhh... withdrawal? - when we feel like it - and have been for a year, it's not like we are really working to hard to prevent anything. I think my body is doing that all on my own. Thankfully, I know that we could adjust our lifestyle at this point to pay for baby, so I'm not too worried about that. I'm mostly worried that if I got pregnant before I'm healthy that I would end up passing these issues on to my child and I really don't want to do that. :-/

Of course, my doc blames anything and everything on my weight. It drives me up a wall.

So, trying something new to help me remember y'all's real names. Sorry the post is so long. I've been reading all week, just haven't really made the time to respond. Sorry if I missed anyone.

Nancy (PanteraGirl), wow, you have some big possible life crossroads ahead. Ultimately, I think you will just feel what the best option is for you, but I agree with everyone else, if having a family is most important to you, don't stop TTC. You will both make it work, whatever choice you have to make. I think that's the thing about being a parent, you just learn to adapt. Life will change completely anyway when a baby arrives. Good luck & know you have a lot of ears here if you need to talk.

MadBabysMama, fingers crossed through your 2ww.

Meggan (meggamix), glad you got your OPKs. Sorry your cycle is all out of whack. I hate the feeling of waiting for AF. Hoping things start to get more normal for you.

Kimberly (KHaverstick), Great job on the exercise and eating last week, especially with company.

Luki (lukimakamai), Welcome back!

Tara (taldie01), Fingers crossed for you!!

Alisa (AlisaToth), Congrats on a good day of classes & hooray for sushi! That's definitely one of the foods I will hate to give up when pregnant. Maybe I can go and just eat the non fish rolls -- nah, it's just not the same.

Beth (newleafbeth11), Good goals this week. I gave up soda a few months ago and it's still hard. I saw I guy with a fountain Coke today while I was standing in line to pick up some lunch and just stared at for much too long. I resisted, because I was headed back to the office (where I have water), but still...

Fiona (pixieofdoom), glad you're feeling better!

EmilyRanae22, totally unrelated to any of your posts, but I just wanted to say that I love your current profile pic!

Karen (kah78), I'm so proud of how vulnerable and strong you can be at the same time! And your hammer therapy is just perfect!

Amanda (batgirlrox), I'm so sorry your nausea symptoms returned. Especially in the midst of starting to feel stressed about the process. There's really no easy advice to not get worried about it, but having been on this journey for awhile, I can say that embracing the process has worked the best for me. Not that I don't still get bummed, but I'm learning to enjoy learning more about my body and look for the positives amidst it all. The OPKs I use have a digital reader that displays a smiley face when the lutenizing hormone appears. Instead of saying, "Hey, I'm ovulating" to hubby, I say, "My pee stick smiled at me this morning, so guess that means we're having sex today!"

Jalara, can't wait to hear all about your trip when you get back!

Destiny (thedestar), fingers crossed on your 2ww!

Lisa (lmr9), We've been on this journey for almost 4 years, but here's the general timeline. I consulted my obgyn about 9 mos after we started TTC, but it just happened to coincide with my regular annual exam. We waited another 3 months or so after that before we tested hubby & did a few rounds of Clomid. That didn't work, so I had an HSG to check out my fallopian tubes (open, but a little slow on one side, probably because my uterus is tilted - this is not abnormal, apparently) and then tried on our own again. I didn't feel right on the Clomid, so when I went back to the doctor, she put me on Femara for a few cycles. Honestly I probably didn't give that enough of a chance, but was frustrated and stopped. Now, we're focused on natural trying while I work on losing weight. I want to be a healthy weight before we shell out a lot of cash for an IUI or IVF. Interspersed through all of this I've temped and used OPKs.

Pam (fitterpam), wishing you strength as you work through your friend's life changing situation. It can't be easy for either of you. *HUGS*

Dawn (godblessourhome), boo for unwelcome vacation visitors!

Kim (kcurtis05), good luck with the re-motivation. We're here for ya, girl!

Jane (9Honey16), It takes guys a little longer to come around to the process. I think the pride thing is harder for them. I suspect that it's been so driven into them to be careful not to get a girl pregnant that they take it for granted that it might not be as easy as just undoing her bra in the back of a car (hey, maybe we should try that!). If you both really want a family, he'll come around.

Welcome to Amanda (e_amanda), Neka (datxdiva), Simone (mom2pne), Kristi (klmh614), marissa0717

AFM,

Thanks all for the shoutouts on my health screening test results. I realized I am getting a lot more satisfaction out of the NSVs along this journey. Healthier, less stressed, stronger, etc. I notice it in small things, like how I stand up straighter now because of the yoga or how I can carry so much more weight with my arms.

The week has been rather uneventful (thankfully). The good news is my pee stick really did smile at me today (right after hubby returned from a work trip, perfect timing!), so today was and tomorrow will be fun!

Baby dust to you all,
Stephanie

Hello Everyone! i hope you are all having fantastic days! I finally had a chance to read all of your posts so hopefully i'm not missing anyone.

Pam- that is nuts! One of my friends was pregnant and really didn't want it and i almost offered to take the kid, she ended up having a miscarriage which is sad. Good luck with everything! Do you already have an adopted child?

Taldie- i completely understand with not wanting to hype yourself up. I keep going back and forth from "i think this is the month" and this is NOT the month. My sister said she didn't have any clue until she missed her periods. I don't know if I would have the same type of pregnancy as her, but I figure that she's the closest I have to tell what it will be like. My sister also even THINKS about having a kid and she is pregnant by the end of the month...b**** hehe Hang in there!

Megan- I get totally understand your confusion about the OPK's. that's part of why I haven't tried them, I already obcessively pee on sticks when I KNOW that even if I was pregnant it wouldn't tell me so I figure that another pee stick is a bad idea.

Kim (kcurtis)-welcom...back?

Batgirl- are you in the military? I meant to check your profile but forgot. I am in the Coast Guard and i'm having the same problem! i wanted to push the the guy overboard yesterday. I had been mostly stressfree until this week so I'm hoping it doesn't screw things up.

Beth- Don't hide. you are taking healthy steps to a better life style and that is something to be proud of!

9honey-I totally understand about feeling weird about TTC away from the support of friends and family. We are all here for you, and that's what the telephone is for.

Stephanie (Sdavisneill)- thanks for the compliments about the photo, i felt like I needed something new

AFM: I will be away at church camp with 80 children next week so, #1 I will not be on-line all week, #2 that should keep me from obcessing in my last week before AF, #3 I may come back not wanting kids! (j/k I'll just come back knowing some things I do and do not want to with my children) Work has been crazy and it's making me NUTS I had been relatively stress free, but this week i have worked 2 very long days and with mine and my hubbies scheduels being opposing it made it really hard to stay up until he gets off work at 11 (esp when I need to be up at 0530 the next day). So i #1 have not seen my man, #2 have not been able to "try", and #3 feel like a totally crappy wife because he gets up an has breakfast with me in the mornings but I can't even stay up long enough to give him a kiss when he gets home. I know that wanting to sleep after a 16hour work day doesn't make me a bad wife but I still feel bad. I am SO glad that it's friday! Weather permitting hubs and I will be going on a nice long bike ride tomorrw and I will DEFINITLY be sleeping in tomorrow! whew!

Pam- that is nuts! One of my friends was pregnant and really didn't want it and i almost offered to take the kid, she ended up having a miscarriage which is sad. Good luck with everything! Do you already have an adopted child?

Nope - we were approved adoptive parents a few years ago, but had a couple of failed attempts at adoption so we`re back on this journey with fertilty meds again...........

Luki - totally get that being passed around feeling. That was the most frustrating part of the adoption. Just keep telling yourself that the result (a child) is completely worth it!!!! I know the issues are more immigration than adoption, but it`s all pieces of the bigger whole....our social worker kept telling us that it`s a good way to learn how to advocate and navigate the new territory....in our case, we were looking at adopting a little girl that we woul dhave been doing that a lot with (severe medical issues) and it was all of those things, but that didn`t stop the frustrations.....

I found the article interesting......goes through how embryo development is negatively impacted by maternal fat: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232941.php

I know this isn't something we haven't know before (common sense) and the study was done with bovine eggs vs. humans, but it will be interesting to see what the results are. After all, isn't that why we're all on this site and in this thread? To reduce the impact on our future families? Definitely put things back into perspective for me....

Pam - That is so exciting!!! I know exactly what you mean about getting excited about day one of your cycle! I felt the same way when I started the provera last week. Like, this could be the last time I have to do this....I could have a BFP in 30-45 days. I am SO happy I'll have so much going on during my 2WW w having all my family in and out if town hopefully I won't even notice it!

LOL - I have to change my earlier statement.....TODAY was day 1....kind of a shocker, but all good, except now the clinic is closed for the day and they aren't open tomorrow, so hopefully they're still willing to start this cycle.....(since it's not an active cycle, it should all be good)