Week 19

It's a girl! We found out on Tuesday. Somehow knowing the gender makes it more real. It's nice to be able to refer to "her" instead of "it". My mother was so excited when I told her she just whooped and cried and said "I knew it! Girls run strong in this family!"

I've been carrying the Ultrasound picture around with me, and just staring at it. In one of the pictures she's sucking her thumb. You can see the profile of her nose. I wonder already what she looks like. I wonder what color her eyes are, what color her hair is. Will she have curly hair like her daddy?

I'm starting to feel movement occasionally, and Baby Girl is always super active whenever we see her on the Ultrasound screen. I wonder if she'll be as energetic when she's born.

Now that we know to expect a Baby Girl, I can finish a few knitting projects with ribbons, buttons and ties to match. I've been working on a second baby blanket in this awesome waffle weave patern I've used for burp clothes and wash clothes already.

One of our friends, who has a little girl that's about 10 months now, just gave us a whole load of baby stuff. A bassinet, clothes, swaddling blankets, and a couple regular blankets. We haven't even set up a registry yet and we've got a room full of stuff for Baby Girl.

I had my first "I have to have it now" craving last night, I needed waffles. Just waffles with butter and syrup. I tried to ignore it, and I ended up getting really anxious and uncomfortable. So DH was amazing and made me pancakes (we don't have a waffle iron), and that did the trick. It was awful trying to ignore the craving! 

Almost done with the second TWW

I've been very good this time. I kept myself distracted and did not buy a pee stick. I'm trying really hard to wait and see if AF shows up or not before I test. I only have to hold out until Saturday, but oh man does that feel like a long time.

I'm trying to be good, I've started getting half caf instead of regular coffee, and I'm down to one 12 oz cup of that a day. I take my PNV every day, and I'm avoiding all the foods I'm supposed to avoid (although i really miss fresh motz.)

The Dojo is still the biggest hang up. I was able to go on Monday this week, because Monday Night Dinner with the Inlaws was changed to Tuesday Night Dinner with the Inlaws, although it got shuffled again (which is a whole 'nother post, and I'll get to go tomorrow night if I'm up to it, and again Saturday morning. I'll know before next Tuesday if I'm OK for sparring, or if a BFP has rendered me infinitely fragile. I'm thinking I'm going to get a BFN, but I'm trying to stay positive about it (heh, get it?)

The knitting slowed down a bunch, mostly because I just haven't had time to sit still with the needles. That and I got to a less mindless part of the pattern for the Baby jacket. I need to buy some finishing supplies at some point (ribbons and things) but I'm really hesitant to. It feels like Jinxing myself.

TWW Number Two.

So, I'm about Four days into this TWW. I have 10 days to go. AF is due on October 8th. DH's birthday is October 11th. I'm hoping to give him a BFP for his birthday. I may have jinxed us last month when I bought a couple things to give him when we get a BFP. They're boxed up and hidden in a closet so he can't find them. 

I don't know how I feel about our chances this cycle. I'm a lot less stressed about it than I was last month. I just don't feel hyped up about it right now. I think part of me is really uneasy about the possibility of getting a BFP before my SIL does. Another part of me worries about infertility, and is almost positive one of us is infertile. There's no logic to that particular panic, it's just there.

Not to say that I'm not hoping. I'm keeping myself from going out and buying pee sticks because I know if I buy them, I will want to use them. Even if it's way to early to tell. Because I want to see a BFP. I think I want it bad enough that I've decided not to think about it, because it becomes this all consuming yearning if I focus on it too much.

I'm still avoiding going to the Dojo, mostly because I really don't want to try to explain that I can't do certain things because we're TTC. Not because I got a BFP, just because were trying, and there's a chance I might be pregnant. It feels so wishy washy and excuse-y to me. So instead I'm playing hookie until I know. Or rather, I'm just avoiding those days that I know we do sparing, which unfortunately is a couple of the days I actually can fit going into my schedule. Lucky for me my schedule is shifting slightly starting next week, so I'll be able to return to the Dojo on a semi regular basis.

The baby knitting is going along well, although I really haven't been putting a ton of effort into it. The first Burp Cloth is almost done, and the Ribbed baby jacket has reached the "Shape the Sleeves" stage. I still need to decide on a button for the Hoodie, and ties for the kimono jacket.  It's a lot of finishing work, which I hate. I want to get a baby hat on the needles soon, which means I need to get the Ribbed Jacket off the needles asap.

So yeah, I haven't been posting a lot because I'm afraid of getting my mind too wrapped up in this all again. I had to work really hard not to get upset about the BFN last month, I don't want to put too much on getting a BFP this month. I'm trying really hard to have a "if it happens it happens" outlook. It's not working real well. 

The Apperance of Aunt Flo

On Sunday morning, I tested, and like I was sure it would, I got a BFN. Later that day AF showed up. A day early even. I was surprised by how much that upset me. Maybe it's the hormones, but I just felt defeated. Even though I had an idea that I'd get a BFN this month, and even though parts of me were unsure on the timing of dealing with a BFP this month and what that would mean for our time line, I still felt crushed by the result.

DH was upset as well. Not devastated, but sad. He was excited about the prospect of a BFP. He's done what he can to help the process along. He worries about the state of his swimmers.

I know this is just our first cycle, and it's nothing to be worried about. I had a feeling that this cycle didn't work when I had light cramping and spotting a few days before AF was set to appear. I wonder about the mysterious symptoms I was having. I wonder if I thought myself into having them. That I wanted it so bad I convinced myself it was happening.

I've continued my baby knitting unfazed. I figure it's better to build up a stock pile of baby knits in advance. I'll need them eventually, when we do get a BFP (thinking positive here!) So far i've finished two baby blankets, a pair of baby booties, a hoodie, and two kimono wraps. On the needles right now are a burp cloth and a baby jacket. I'm thinking I'm going to keep a burp cloth on the needles until I build up a significant stockpile of them. I've heard they're useful.