Missed Opportunity

Our insemination appointments this month were schedule May 9th through the 23rd. We have a BIG window of appointments each month, due to varying cycle lengths, but ovulation is most likely to fall during the first week. We made appointments knowing that from May 10-13th we'd be in Memphis for Ali's sisters college graduation...AKA 1400 miles away from our sperm. That made ovulation testing extra fun. On the first day we expected negative results. Then we started hoping for a negative result (which is not something people trying to conceive hope for.) We were counting down how many negative tests we needed to get before we would be excited for a positive. The magic number was 6. As we approached the 4th test we were getting hopeful. But instead, in the Memphis Airport bathroom we got a positive ovulation test. Which meant that we couldn't inseminate this month. We were disappointed because we had just spent the whole day in Boston and if the positive test had come one day sooner we could have snuck in a trip to the clinic. If the positive came 36 hours later we could have made it to our appointment late Monday after our flight landed in Maine.

The good news is this seemed to be an ordinary cycle. It's good after the last two which seemed a bit off (one very long, one with a random positive ovulation test too early.) I feel strangely ok with missing this cycle. Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed at first, I want a baby so bad that sometimes I actually physically ache for it. But the body is something that we can't really control, and I feel like this weekend we were exactly where we needed to be...it's hard to feel regret for that.

Maybe I'm guarding myself from disappointment. Or maybe I'm just going with the flow. Either way I can't help but think that this extra month means that I'll have more vacation time saved for when a baby arrives. Also, we'll have more money saved, in case we need to buy more swimmers, or lots of cute baby things.

Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking and in just 10 days we'll be making more appointments and preparing to try again.

Cloth Diapers

I bought cloth diapers last week. Yes, you read the last post correctly, we are not pregnant...but let me explain!

I've had a bit of an obsession with cloth diapers for a long time. They are so cute! Not to mention their
financial and environmental benefits. I've been reading, and researching and talking to other cloth diaper users for a while now. I knew when the time came we were going to use cloth diapers for our baby. I knew which cloth diapers we were going to use. I "liked" the cloth diaper company on facebook. I read their blog.  Last Monday (Earth Day) something happened. They marked the diaper packs on sale ($10.00 off each pack!) They offered free disposable inserts, they offered free shipping. All of this on the diapers I thought we should use. I told Ali to tell me not to buy them. She didn't. She pointed to colors she liked. So I did it! No regrets.

I'm hoping our baby will be slightly less furry...but you get the idea!

Two Rounds Are Better Than One

We are officially not pregnant. Based on the timing of when the next cycle started it seems like the first iui did not occur at the right time. It's slightly frustrating because we paid all of that money, and told them we didn't think it was the right time, and they told us to go get inseminated anyway. Oh well, we learned to be slightly more cautious of the Ovulation Predictor Kit, when not paired with all the other symptoms she usually experiences. It's also a bit of a relief that it seems likely that the timing was off. It makes us think that there was nothing really wrong, it was just that we didn't inseminate on the right day.

On to round two. It's a bit hard to get excited about round two. Last month everything was new, and we were full of hope, it's amazing how just one failed cycle can make you a little skeptical about the whole process. Though, in a way it's less stressful this way. We're not counting everyday like we were last month, we're just sort of living life knowing that in a couple weeks we'll start testing again, but it's not occupying everything we are doing.

On the plus side: this means we will not have a Christmas baby. Everyone I know who has a December birthday complains about it.....glad we dodged that one ;-)

On the not-so-plus side: We are headed to Tennessee for a few days right at the start of when we might possibly need to inseminate. I REALLY hope we don't miss the window.

In other news: In my brain, since before we even bought sperm, we would get pregnant on the second try. Sometimes my brain is right. I hope it is this time!

Pre-Baby Babymoon

Apparently all the cool kids are taking "Babymoons." I hadn't heard the phrase until a couple of months ago when several of my friends declared they were going on one. Basically the idea is to get one big hoorah in before your baby comes. I chance to relax, and be together. Sounds great to me!!

For Christmas we got a gift certificate to this incredible inn only a couple hours from our house, that we had been to before and LOVED. We planned to take our trip over Patriot's Day, because we had an extra day off of work, and it was supposed to be right before our first iui. Well, plans changed and we decided to do our iui in March (which became the start of April) which meant our adventure fell right in the middle of our (dreaded) two week wait.

Can I just say it was amazing! We have filed it away as one of the best weekends ever.

We got there just in time for afternoon tea.  They put out five different kinds of fresh baked cookies and tea.
The napped on the king sized bed with like 8000 count sheets.
Then we ate some more.
Then we put in a movie and snuggled by the fire until it was time to go back to sleep.

They had a two course breakfast everyday. (Pictured, banana cream french toast, cumin bacon and fruit, this was the second course. The first course was baked pears on lemon poppyseed bread, with lemon and raspberry sauce...yum.)
We wandered around to the shops and bought yummy cheese and veggies for lunch.
Then we had cookies, tea, and a nap.
Then we had a five course dinner which was a very delicious adventure. Seriously gourmet foods that we would probably never cook or eat. We had no choice over the menu, but it was fantastic.

On Monday after we checked out we went on a hike up Maiden's cliff. It was the perfect Spring day for a hike.

Did I mention there was a jacuzzi tub?

Everything about this adventure was amazing and relaxing. We didn't have to worry about cooking, or cleaning, or working. We just enjoyed each other's company, and got lots of sleep. Any talk of the hopeful pregnancy was not filled with anxiety but excitement that someday we'll get to share so many awesome things with a tiny human. It was magical.