We decided around Christmas time that we wanted to start trying for baby #2 in June 2016. Because I had gotten pregnant so quickly with Claire, I assumed I would get pregnant right away and didn't think much about it. When June came and went, and I wasn't pregnant I felt discouraged and a little concerned that something might be wrong. It is so crazy how one month you can feel completely unprepared to get pregnant but then when you decide you are ready and do want to, you want it to happen NOW. Or maybe that's just me. :) I have felt this urgency prior to both of my pregnancies. Part of my feeling of urgency this time around is due to our plans for the next year: Sam is in the process of medical school interviews and will be starting med school next July or August (2017), and we will be moving wherever we need to be around June or July. A spring baby (March of April) would give us enough time to get settled a little before we need to move. Granted, we could make it work if the timing didn't end up being ideal, but a spring baby would make things a lot simpler and less stressful.
Going into our second month of trying (July), I researched as much as I could about how to better our chances of conceiving quickly. (Again, TMI alert, just recording this for my personal records and future pregnancies.) :) The first thing I did was order a pack of ovulation/pregnancy tests from Amazon. I used these with Claire's pregnancy as well and really liked them. They are just the cheap strips (Wondfo brand), but I like them because you can really test everyday and not feel guilty about the cost. So, I used the ovulation tests starting on day 11 of my cycle (I have a pretty regular 27-28 day cycle). I got a positive ovulation test on day 13 of my cycle, meaning I should ovulate within 12-24(ish) hours. I have had a free app on my phone for years that charts my cycles and fertility ("p tracker lite"), so using that we did our thing every day that my app said I was fertile (double-checking to make sure it was accurate with the ovulation tests). This ended up being days 11-15 of my cycle. A few other things I did to help things along was to use "preseed" and also stay lying down for 30 min. after.
We did all these things and then waited...That two-week-wait is so hard. I usually do OK the first week, and then as it gets closer to the time to test I get filled with nervous/excited energy. I know that being stressed can only hurt my chances, so I try to calm my fears, but it is so hard. My plan was to test four days before my expected period, super early, but I got a really early positive test with Claire, so I thought it was worth a try. Actually, I'm embarrassed to say I caved and took tests the two days before that as well, just convincing myself that it would be good to negative tests to compare to. I'm actually glad I did that because the test I took on Tuesday 7/19 (four days before my expected period) was SO faint, I may have missed it if I hadn't been comparing it to my previous test. I also had an extra First Response test left from the month before, so I decided to use that as well (I had peed in a cup with my first morning's urine and dipped both tests at the same time). I should add that I was super confident that these tests would be negative and had a break down to both Sam and my mom (who didn't even know I wanted to be pregnant) the day before (Monday 7/18). Maybe my extreme emotions should have been my first clue. :)
I left both tests in the bathroom on the counter and came out to sit on the couch for a few minutes. Sam was getting ready and came out a few minutes later. I said something like, "Well, what do you think. Should I go look?" And he said super casually, "Well, they're both positive so..." We (mostly me) were pretty shocked and just sat there, letting it sink in. The First Response test had a faint but obvious line, and the cheap strip test had a very, very faint line that I probably would have disregarded had it not been for the First Response test and the negative strip test from the day before to compare it to. Later that day (in the afternoon), I also took a Clear Blue Easy Digital test that came back positive.
At the risk of sounding really sappy, being in this situation again (starting the process of getting/being pregnant) reminds me of what a miracle it is to conceive and bear a healthy child. I feel a renewed gratitude for my Claire and the opportunity I have to be her mother. This process also makes my heart ache for those that struggle with fertility issues. The process of having a child is extremely nerve-wracking and emotional even if everything goes perfectly. I am so, so grateful for the relatively easy pregnancy I had with Claire and that I was able to get pregnant so quickly this time around.
I am still kind of holding my breath, just really hoping everything works out and goes smoothly. I feel like I will be able to breathe a sigh or relief when I go to my first doctor appointment at 8 weeks (August 24) and we are hopefully able to hear the heartbeat. I will also feel relieved to make it past the 1st trimester (around the beginning of October) and to find out the gender in late October/early November, granted everything goes well. I am determined to feel grateful for everyday that goes by and gets me closer to a healthy full-term baby and am praying hard and feeling optimistic. Pregnancy and motherhood is such a gift.
The best way I know how to track if things are progressing as they should be is to track the darkening of the lines on my strip pregnancy tests. So far, things are looking good. The test line is getting a little darker with each day that goes by. I plan to continue to test until the test line is very dark and won't get any darker. I also have two more Clear Blue Easy Digital tests left--these are the tests that say "pregnant" and then also estimate how many weeks you are: 3-4, 4-5, or 5+. The first one I took (on 7/19) said "pregnant 3-4 weeks." I plan to take another one on Monday, when I will be 4 weeks and one the following week. Hopefully these will give me a good indication of if things are progressing as the should. I got to go into the doctor at 6 weeks with Claire, and we heard her heartbeat. We got to do this because I had experienced a very early miscarriage/chemical pregnancy the month before. I will have to wait until 8 weeks this time, which is a little (or a lot) stressful for me--I just want to know what is going on in there! I have faith that things will work out as they should and am praying all the time that everything goes smoothly. We are so, so, so excited to have another baby join our family and have a sibling for Claire!
We did all these things and then waited...That two-week-wait is so hard. I usually do OK the first week, and then as it gets closer to the time to test I get filled with nervous/excited energy. I know that being stressed can only hurt my chances, so I try to calm my fears, but it is so hard. My plan was to test four days before my expected period, super early, but I got a really early positive test with Claire, so I thought it was worth a try. Actually, I'm embarrassed to say I caved and took tests the two days before that as well, just convincing myself that it would be good to negative tests to compare to. I'm actually glad I did that because the test I took on Tuesday 7/19 (four days before my expected period) was SO faint, I may have missed it if I hadn't been comparing it to my previous test. I also had an extra First Response test left from the month before, so I decided to use that as well (I had peed in a cup with my first morning's urine and dipped both tests at the same time). I should add that I was super confident that these tests would be negative and had a break down to both Sam and my mom (who didn't even know I wanted to be pregnant) the day before (Monday 7/18). Maybe my extreme emotions should have been my first clue. :)
I left both tests in the bathroom on the counter and came out to sit on the couch for a few minutes. Sam was getting ready and came out a few minutes later. I said something like, "Well, what do you think. Should I go look?" And he said super casually, "Well, they're both positive so..." We (mostly me) were pretty shocked and just sat there, letting it sink in. The First Response test had a faint but obvious line, and the cheap strip test had a very, very faint line that I probably would have disregarded had it not been for the First Response test and the negative strip test from the day before to compare it to. Later that day (in the afternoon), I also took a Clear Blue Easy Digital test that came back positive.
At the risk of sounding really sappy, being in this situation again (starting the process of getting/being pregnant) reminds me of what a miracle it is to conceive and bear a healthy child. I feel a renewed gratitude for my Claire and the opportunity I have to be her mother. This process also makes my heart ache for those that struggle with fertility issues. The process of having a child is extremely nerve-wracking and emotional even if everything goes perfectly. I am so, so grateful for the relatively easy pregnancy I had with Claire and that I was able to get pregnant so quickly this time around.
I am still kind of holding my breath, just really hoping everything works out and goes smoothly. I feel like I will be able to breathe a sigh or relief when I go to my first doctor appointment at 8 weeks (August 24) and we are hopefully able to hear the heartbeat. I will also feel relieved to make it past the 1st trimester (around the beginning of October) and to find out the gender in late October/early November, granted everything goes well. I am determined to feel grateful for everyday that goes by and gets me closer to a healthy full-term baby and am praying hard and feeling optimistic. Pregnancy and motherhood is such a gift.
The best way I know how to track if things are progressing as they should be is to track the darkening of the lines on my strip pregnancy tests. So far, things are looking good. The test line is getting a little darker with each day that goes by. I plan to continue to test until the test line is very dark and won't get any darker. I also have two more Clear Blue Easy Digital tests left--these are the tests that say "pregnant" and then also estimate how many weeks you are: 3-4, 4-5, or 5+. The first one I took (on 7/19) said "pregnant 3-4 weeks." I plan to take another one on Monday, when I will be 4 weeks and one the following week. Hopefully these will give me a good indication of if things are progressing as the should. I got to go into the doctor at 6 weeks with Claire, and we heard her heartbeat. We got to do this because I had experienced a very early miscarriage/chemical pregnancy the month before. I will have to wait until 8 weeks this time, which is a little (or a lot) stressful for me--I just want to know what is going on in there! I have faith that things will work out as they should and am praying all the time that everything goes smoothly. We are so, so, so excited to have another baby join our family and have a sibling for Claire!
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| These are the pregnancy strip tests I took and watched as they got darker for peace of mind :) |
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