U(nexpected)W(e're)P(regnant!) Announcements

Kevin's cousin M and his wife S are going to have a baby. They're due in March. Cousin M announced it on his Fac.ebook status. I showed it to Kevin who told his Mum and it was a shock to them both. Later Mum "happened" to be walking down their street and saw S and S told Mum the happy news. M wasn't suppose to say anything but after an evening at the pub a friend convinced him to put it on fa.cebook. The next day they had to scramble to get to his parent's house and tell them about it before they learned about it from someone else. Mum said that S went off the pill around Christmas so they were TTC but I don't think anyone knew about it. Back in February 2008 S said they were waiting for M's 30th b-day (which was last month) to have kids. Now they're 10 weeks along and the first thing I thought of is that if we had gotten a BFP last cycle our EDDs would have only been 2-3 weeks apart.

Busyness

Ack! How did an entire week go by without me posting? I need to get back in the habit of posting and commenting. Just as a warning, the next month or so's posts are going to be mainly soccer related. I tend to get a bit obsessive (at least that's what friends tell me) when I coach and with the break in TTC I don't really have anything else to write about.

Monday - Everything went great at practice. Except that I forgot my watch. I didn't forget it really, I just usually keep it in my car and then drove Kevin's car to practice. Wait! Crap, I did it again today. I think I need to buy another watch - one for each car. I don't normally wear a watch so I usually take it off first chance I get (in the car) and then don't usually remember about it till I'm on my way to a game/practice. So I leave it in the car. After practice I met briefly with the parents and got to meet my team manager. So far so good.

Tuesday - I use to play indoor at one place on Monday nights, but since I'm now practicing on Mondays, I had to switch to the other indoor place. They play on Tuesdays. This was the first time I was able to go and it turned out to be the last time they're doing Tuesday pick up games. Apparently not enough women are interested so they're trying to fold the girls into the co-ed league. Which is on Monday nights. But I did find out about an outdoor league that starts up next month. I might do that instead. Ooh, and I got to use my new toy - a Po.lar Hea.rt Ra.te Moni.tor (PHRM) - while playing.

Wednesday - Practice #2! It was stormy the whole drive (45 min. north of where I work!) up, but as I turned off the freeway, the storm let up. Turned into a real nice afternoon and a great practice. However I became confused when I was practicing and thought practice ended at 6:30 instead of 7. But because I'm me, I let the girls go at 6:45ish. Parents don't mind practice going 15 minutes late right? Even if it was actually 15 minutes early? I've warned most of them though that I very rarely end right at 6:30.

Thursday - I went to another game night. It was hosted by the same people as last time. We got to play a game called Last Word. It was awesome! It's like a mix of scattergories and something else but fun! You're shouting the whole time and sometimes you get caught up in arguing how an answer is not eligible and then someone else ends up with the point because you forgot to get the last word in.

Friday - I decided to play in the outdoor league but I had a few questions. Friday was the last day to register but the chick never called me back! I've also decided to actually start using my elliptical machine. I think Kevin and I are going to do a lot of walking on this cruise. When going through the excursions Kevin kept leaning towards the walking-tours-of-this-historical-city type of activities. I did a 45 minute workout and got to use my PHRM again. Also, Kevin and I have decided to do a kayak rolling class. But I can't register us till Monday!

Saturday - On Wednesday when I was finally cleaning out my soccer bag, I found a gift card to the local mall. And it was for $135! Yes! Sweet! It must have fallen out of the thank you card I got from my last team back in May 2008. However since it had been a year since it had been purchased it was only worth $127. Stupid monthly maintenance fees! Kevin and I went to DSG to pick up a few items. He got these shoes

and this bag. Of course for the cruise! :) I got some shirts and these ad.idas shorts (The new soccer club is adid.as and I've been coaching at ni.ke clubs for the past five-ish years). Plus I found this water bottle! I've been looking for this kind of water bottle for years! Anyways good shopping day. Of course we rounded it out with a trip to Targ.et and Ko.hl's.

Sunday - I had a very productive day! We watched the Form.ula 1 race and the first half of the WPS Championship game (not the second half, so no spoilers please!) while I did the weekly shopping list. Then after the shopping, we installed our rain barrel which we've had for MONTHS and never put in. But we got it in. Afterwards I did my 90 minute elliptical session (go PHRM!) while Kevin made this for dinner. Yum-O! We went to the Byrd to see Ter.minator: Salvati.on. And I got to squeeze in Tr.ueB.lood and De.sign S.tar before bed!

Today - It rained last night! RIC got 2-3" of rain! And Kevin said we'd go through a dry spell because we'd installed the rain barrel. I signed us up for the rolling class. We got the date we wanted. Also the girls soccer schedule came out. I knew I was going to miss two games because of the cruise but now they've scheduled a double header for that second weekend I'm gone! Come on! I don't know if I can reschedule (in the past they've been really rigid about rescheduling games), but I'll try.

Cycle News (finally!): I'm CD28 today and no signs of ovulation. My chart looks dismal. I'm thinking about taking some leftover Provera just so that I stay somewhat regular. Kevin and I are going to restart TTC when we get back, in October, so I might go in to see Dr. Grrr. I think I should do a u/s before taking the provera and also I want to have a game plan (and order any meds) for when we get back.

Adoption News: We have 2 references in! I talked to Chicken, Lylas and S and they all said that they were getting theirs in soon! So one of them did! We just need one more now. Also I called one local lawyer that had been referred to us, but when I called Kevin to confirm the appt he kind of freaked out about how fast everything was moving. So I cancelled the appt. Hopefully we'll talk about it soon and can get everything moving again. We also need to work on our profile book.

Well I think this post is long enough! I'll try to update sooner next time!

Oh, to answer some questions -

Beth - I'm coaching U-11 Girls.

A - I coach with a soccer club. I coach travel (select) soccer.

First Day of Practice

Tonight is my first practice with my new team. I'm really excited to be starting up with them. As well as being a new team, I'm also starting up with a new club. So far this club seems really good. The only gripe I do have is communication. Up here the modus operandi seems to be that coaches coach and the manager manages. All well and good, but when my manager finds out information before I do, it's not good. I don't like being blindsided by info coming from him. Like the club decided to run a skills clinics for the next five weeks (which is awesome) but they didn't tell me about it and they didn't tell my manager till this morning. So here's me, showing up to work 15 minutes early so that I can get out 15 minutes early and I'll be on time to my practice at 5:30. When I get to work, I get an email (from my team manager, not the club) how the skills clinic is going to start today and oh yeah, starts at 5pm. WTF! I can't get there by 5! Oh well, it doesn't look bad when the coach shows up 30 minutes late to the first practice, does it?

It's My Blogiversary

One year ago today I started my blog. When I think back to how I was one year ago, I can't believe all that we've gone through to get us to here.

So I decided to take a look at this past year by the numbers:

180 - # of posts I've done in the past year.
91 - # of posts that were TTC related.
55 - # of times I/Kevin injected me with fertility drugs.
40 - $ it costs me each time I see Dr. Grrr.
36 - # of days till our cruise!
33 - # of average days of my cycle.
27 - Latest CD that I ovulated.
22 - # of days since Chicklet was born.
21 - # of appts I've had w/ Dr. Grrr.
16 - Earliest CD that I ovulated.

10 - # of days it took to get my renewed passport.

9 - # of cycles of TTC in the past year.
8 - # of weeks since we started our homestudy.
7 - # of co-workers who are/were expecting this past year.
6 - # of cycles that I actually ovulated.
5 - # of blogs I read who are preggers.
4 - # of Catholic Infertility Support Group (CISG) meetings in the past year.
3 - # of adoption orientations we went to before choosing JFS.
2 - # of IUIs we've done
1 - # of couples (that I know IRL) whose adoption went through this past year.
0 - # of BFPs.

Thank you to everyone who regularly reads (and comments on) my blog, those who have just visited once and any lurkers out there. While I do write for myself it always makes me smile to know that you all are out there standing with me through this journey.

What could it hurt?

I'm seriously considering calling Dr. Grrr and asking for a looky-see at my ovaries. I *think* I might have something on the right ovary, but so far I haven't had any other signs of impending ovulation. It's only CD15 and even with meds, I don't usually ovulate till at least CD17. My bbts have been weird, higher than normal but not high enough for ovulation. I know I said Kevin and I were stopping TTC but I still have this need to track everything.

Cake

The first of Kevin's b-days that I was in charge of was in 2006. We had just gotten back from a wedding in England and so were in recovery mode. We went out to dinner including dessert (the norm for the Mos), he got his gifts and that was that. Then later that week while on the phone with his mother (in clear hearing distance) he happened to mention how he didn't get a cake.
One year later, in 2007, I went to Kro.ger to get him a cake. He had just gotten his car and so I got him all car themed gifts. Later that week while on the phone with his mother (in clear hearing distance again) he mentioned how he got a store-bought cake and all his gifts were for his car, not him.
In 2008 we happened to be in NYC for his birthday, with his parents. I didn't buy him a gift because he had told me that he was at an age (31) where he didn't need presents anymore when I had asked him a week earlier what he wanted. Well his parents brought him loads of gifts. When we got home, Kevin again mentioned the lack of cake.
So Birthday 2009 was looming. It happened to be the day of our 3rd Homestudy appt, but not wanting it appear more important than his birthday, I actually baked this. Along with home-made ice cream.




The cake was so dense that we actually had smaller than average pieces. It lasted about a week (which is usually unheard of here). Yes, he got presents this year, but I just wrapped the clothes we had bought the weekend before.
Dave got this for him:

About two months ago, she decided that it was a good idea to eat the one we had. I think it was a bit cheeky to wait till his birthday to replace it...

Thursday Rundown

Why is it that the 2ww seems to take forever, but the 2 weeks till ovulation just fly by? Today is CD10. I temping during our break only so that I have some kind of record for these two months. Monday or Tuesday (I can't remember when) my temp was 97.66 - higher than my normal pre-ovulation temp. Today it was 97.88. Woah! That's a post-ovulation temp. Of course now I'm super curious what it's going to be tomorrow morning. I promised Kevin I wouldn't temp on the weekends - so we could sleep in - so I guess I'll have something to look forward to on Monday. My mind keeps racing back to my theories of having another cyst and so I'm wondering if that cyst was a new follie that could rupture sometime on CD8 or CD9. A couple of days ago I did have some left ovary pain which I thought was follie growing ovary pain, but could totally be ovulating ovary pain. Then reality comes back and I know this scenario is highly unlikely. Sans med, my usual ovulation day is CD24-CD26. So again, you can see why I'm actually looking forward to temping now.

Saturday we're going here. Kevin's climbing partner, B, has been wanting to go play on their Flo.wRider. He's been trying to get Kevin to go for ages and Kev finally agreed. So they're taking a class in the morning. And somehow I agreed to do it as well. I figure it will be a good picture taking opportunity if nothing else. The only downside is that the park is about 2 hours away and the class is at 8:30am and you have to be there 15 minutes early! I've already called the sleeping spot though. Kev and B can drive us out there.

We're thinking of entering Les into an agility run-thru the last weekend of August. It's a low-key event and you pay for each run so if your dog is doing horrible you can stop early before you've paid too much money. I think Kevin would enjoy doing it and I know watching better handlers with their dogs will drive home some of the points I been trying to make.

Cousin J is now Brother J

Well I think he was always Brother J, but it's his first vows. As Father V put it:

"J has made first vows, as a Trini.tarian. The vows are vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 'First' vows are renewed each year. After three years in first vows or simple vows, he will be eligible to take solemn vows which are made 'until death.' These would be his final commitment as a Trin.itarian religious."

But I think during his novice year he was a Brother already.

We drove up to Trenton on Saturday. Traffic between RVA and DC was horrible! It took us 2 hours to travel north 80 miles. And then another hour and a half to get through Baltimore. Finally we got to Trenton around 5:30. We toured the churches and then went to dinner. Afterwards the girls came over to our hotel (they were staying in a convent!) because we thought there was a pool, but there wasn't! What kind of hotel doesn't have a pool?!? So we just hung out kinda watching Sidney White.

Sunday morning we were at the church a half hour early. But mainly so we'd get good parking. We had a reserved pew so we got seats up in the front. The mass lasted about an hour and a half and then afterwards was a reception in the hall underneath the church. There was A LOT of food! Kevin and I skipped lunch & dinner because we were still full from the reception. Anyways, after the reception we went to a parishioners home for about an hour and then we had to start the drive back to RVA.

We were able to get home by 8pm, so not too bad. The house was too quiet. We had booked the dogs into boarding for the weekend. Kevin picked them up today. It gave us a glimpse of what next month is going to be like when the dogs are down in Florida.