Middle-of-the-day entry today, which is a rarity! Boys are playing nicely (all 5!) together and I am trying to rest up nearby. I wanted to update while I have the chance, especially in case things change later.
Yesterday was a good day for two reasons:
1) I went to the follow-up appointment for my kidney scan, and it's not 100% resolved, but at least nothing to worry about. I have another scan to follow-up in November. My kidney hasn't fully drained after it was swollen up with fluid while my kidney stone blocked it from draining. Not sure why... that would explain why it's still aching all the time, but they said not to worry, and it should hopefully have cleared up in another couple of months. Anyway, the GOOD thing about it was that the consultant scanned my bladder just as a routine, and I immediately turned to look at the screen while she did so, because I wondered if there was any chance I might spot a flash of a pregnancy nearby! :) And I DID! :D I saw a very familiar looking black slightly-irregular looking circle amongst all the grey, and the consultant saw me smile on seeing it, so went back to show me it again. She just said, "There's the pregnancy sac!" and then immediately said she would not dwell on that, we had to get on with the bladder scan. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see it, because I was only 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant and it was a trans-abdominal scan! Usually a sac is the only thing you'll see with a MUCH more clear trans-vaginal scan at just six weeks of pregnancy, maybe a yolk san in there. Some people see a fetal pole, but not all. At 5w5d with a trans-vaginal scan, we could only see the black gestational sac with Arthur, and the slight outline of a yolk sac inside. So I was surprised to see it on a tummy scan! :)
I can feel the edge of my womb at my pubic bone, juuuust about, which seems awfully early... there was only ONE gestational sac though! ;) I usually feel it poking above my pubic bone at the 8 week mark (also early, but normal for me). Maybe it's just the fact that it's my 6th pregnancy? And maybe THAT'S the reason it was visible on a trans-abdominal scan this early - it's higher than usual?
2) Yesterday was the first day in my entire pregnancy (excluding the first 6 days after ovulating!) where my bleeding had almost completely vanished! I actually did not need to wear a pantyliner, though I did just in case. I had normal CM by the end of the day, and was SO pleased about it! :)
But, I was doing a speed-tidy of the living room in preparation to start school with the boys this morning, and suddenly I felt a leaky sensation. I immediately said to the boys that I was going to the toilet, and collected a pad on the way to the bathroom. It's funny how I don't ever need to look any more to know it's blood. From Nathan's pregnancy onwards, blood has never caught me by surprise because I somehow always know it's blood, even a little of it, before I get to the toilet to actually look. When I got there I found bright red blood, and quite a lot of it, already soaked through my clothes. There was also a good amount in the toilet after I finished. I felt a bit shaken by seeing it, but much less so than any other time. I feel so at ease about any outcome, somehow. I just trust God. He gives and He takes away, and His name is still to be praised. If this baby is leaving me, or if it is to soon, I feel absolutely sure of who the baby is. I still can not get the name Rachel out of my head. It feels like "her" name, even though I still feel ambivalent abuot it - I am not all that keen on the name! Such a weird feeling to have about a name that I KNOW is going to be used as her name, lol! I do realise there's a good chance that everything could be fine, and when we get to the gender scan, the usual, boy bits are going to be staring at us from the screen, lol! Not sure about calling the baby Rachel then, haha!
I still don't know if I am going to use the name Rachel - but given the strength of my feelings over the name now, if the baby dies then I was consider her a girl, and name her Rachel. I'll never know for sure, so I am going to go with that.
If things progress well, though, I have asked God to confirm to me if Rachel is the name HE wants the baby to have, by putting it on Neil's heart, and having Neil confirm it to me. I have told Neil that I feel God has put a name on my heart, and that it's a girl's name, but I haven't told Neil the name. I'm pretty sure Neil doesn't like the name Rachel and like I said, it's not a name I would shortlist myself. It's an odd feeling to have such a thing for it! And now I WILL look daft if the baby is a boy, lol! ;) Not that I'm feeling particularly that it ISN'T a boy, it's just the NAME that distracts me constantly, it's weird. I'm starting to fall in love with a name I don't even like all that much, like it is already attached to someone I love. Not sure how to explain it any better really...
I became crampy a few minutes after starting to bleed, and the cramping became really quite sharp and nasty right down in my groin, so I felt a bit ominous about it really, as I've had cramping with bleeding before, but just period-type crampiness, not this sharp thing. I decided to go for a BM to see if that helped, but was kind of nervous to. I think it did help, but I bled pretty heavily in the process :(
Right now it has been a few hours since it all started, and the crampiness has all but gone. I put a heavy-duty pad on, which has some red blood on it, but it seems to have slowed right down now. So, I am not sure what to think! At first, especially with the cramping, I was SO SURE this had to be it. I put a DVD on for the boys, explaining to them that I was bleeding and would rest for a bit while they watched a DVD instead of doing school like we'd planned. They understand what the bleeding is about, and seemed worried for the baby at first, but I was upbeat and reassuring (not being worried as such myself, though I guess concerned at the bleeding because obviously I want everything to go well with this pregnancy!), and reminded them that whether this baby lives or dies, God is good, and we will see the baby one day in either case. They went off happily to watch Paddington, and I lay down upstairs while Samuel finished his nap. It felt oddly like the time I had a kidney stone and lay down upstairs in the same place and position while I waited for Neil to come home before going to hospital, which wasn't a nice association! I lay feeling really crampy, and just decided to praise God, because He is worthy of praise in every circumstance of life. I sang a worship song to Him, and felt a lot better after that, and the crampiness eased somewhat.
When I came downstairs, I phoned the Early Pregnancy Unit at the hospital like my GP had told me to, and they said the earliest they could scan me would be next Tuesday (it's Friday today) at 1.30pm, so I said yes to that. Better than nothing, and still before 7 weeks so that's good. They told me to ring my GP and ask her to fax a referral letter to them, so I left a message for my GP with the fax number.
I got a phone call at lunch time (managed to make the boys' lunch, just took it slowly and sat down as much as I could) from the GP receptionist, saying that my GP had phoned the EPU herself and asked what they could do about bringing forward my scan, since she did not want me to wait until Tuesday with heavy red bleeding! :) Love my GP! :) So now I have a scan at 3.30pm on Monday (6w5d). Boy do I hope everything is okay...
Neil has informed work, and they seem okay with letting him stay home from work on Monday afternoon to watch the boys while I go to the u/s. It's an internal one so I can't take them with me, not that they allow little ones anyway, since there are people there having a miscarriage :(
The other thing of note is that I started a belly gallery yesterday (well, just posted a saved post right before this one) with my first belly picture in it. It's a 6 weeks photo for the "before" photo - please excuse my extremely yellow appearance, lol! My lovely camera has lost its charger in the house somewhere, so I've had to use my point-and-shoot camera which is rubbish with artificial light! :/ Oh well!
I am still feeling morning sick, but it's SO mild.... it makes me a little concerned given the bleeding and such. I'm grateful meanwhile! :) It's THERE but so much more manageable than any of my other pregnancies have been. I can function completely normally, and eat and drink anything I want without feeling yeurghy. I hope it's okay to feel that way (for me)...
Will update again very soon.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Belly Gallery for Baby #6!
Here's my belly gallery for my 6th baby, currently known as Sausage! :)
6 weeks pregnant (excuse the yellow face, bad camera!)
11 weeks pregnant - showing! What is with the baaaad colour though?!
I missed 14 weeks! :( At 16 weeks I saw my consultant who thinks my uterus is not as big as 16 weeks (upcoming scan therefore). I am definitely not showing as much as I usually do at 16 weeks. Here is my 16 (and a half) week belly picture:
16 weeks and 3 days
Missed 18, 20, 22 AND 24 weeks! :( But here's a quickly-taken-with-the-timer photo of my bump (now known to be Elijah!) at 25 weeks:
25 weeks, 2 days
With all my little boys at exactly 28 weeks! :)
34 weeks (and 4 days)
Two pictures from 36 weeks, taken by Arthur (7)6 weeks pregnant (excuse the yellow face, bad camera!)
11 weeks pregnant - showing! What is with the baaaad colour though?!
I missed 14 weeks! :( At 16 weeks I saw my consultant who thinks my uterus is not as big as 16 weeks (upcoming scan therefore). I am definitely not showing as much as I usually do at 16 weeks. Here is my 16 (and a half) week belly picture:
16 weeks and 3 days
Missed 18, 20, 22 AND 24 weeks! :( But here's a quickly-taken-with-the-timer photo of my bump (now known to be Elijah!) at 25 weeks:
25 weeks, 2 days
34 weeks (and 4 days)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
6 weeks pregnant! :D
Woohoo, six weeks pregnant! So exciting!
I have to be quick because it's really late and Samuel is stirring a bit, which means he could wake any moment (and I should be in bed!). Just wanted to update about my doctor's appointment today.
It went fine! Things have changed a bit apparently, and now everything goes from the GP to the hospital, which then acts as a sorting base, and gets me set up with the midwifery team, and arranges scan appointments, sends me info, etc. The GP no longer sends me for an early scan, I have to go through the hospital antenatal department for that. So, we spent a fair amount of time filling in the appropriate information! ;) This is because I have to give all the information on my previous babies (gestation, normal pregnancy/birth?, birth weight, location, gender, etc), and there are a few of them now, lol! LOVE going through all of that every time. Their stats are always right on the tip of my tongue, I never forget any of the details, and I love to review it when I book in for a new pregnancy! Especially with all of the said babies milling around me happily, playing with toys as I chat to the doctor! :)
My blood pressure was 109/68, typical low-ish blood pressure for me, nice and normal :) She did not weigh me (they never do here, but usually the doctor weighs me at book-in for a base weight for the notes). BUT I weighed myself last week when I was fully dressed, feeling annoyed with none of my jeans fitting me properly any more, and my skirts hanging off my hips and thus being a bit too long for my short legs! ;) I knew I was 9 stone something (a few lbs over 9st but can't remember exactly now) a couple of weeks before that, so I wondered if I had made it down to 9 stone or something? I don't do anything to lose weight but it does come off around this stage all the same, so it's worth keeping track of.
I seriously nearly fell off the scales when I saw 8 stone 7lbs!!!!! I haven't been as light as that since between Arthur and Matthew's pregnancies!!! I have no idea why, except that I do know the kidney stone and tummy bug both shifted a lot of weight off me in the stage where I normally do NOT lose any weight even if I try. So I guess it gave me a head start or something?! I don't know! Anyway I am pleased because it's a much better weight to start a pregnancy with (knowing I will pile on a LOT of weight pretty soon!), but also a little bit unsure about having lost this much so far, because I usually lose a fair bit more during the morning sickness stage. I was 7 stone 10lbs before having children, and my optimum weight was supposedly 8 stone 8lbs. I could NEVER make it to that, even on a dietitian-supervised high calorie diet, and after having Arthur I decided that I did not want to go back down below 8.5 stone ever again. I think I don't have the energy I need when I don't weigh enough, especially if I am parenting many small boys and breastfeeding at least one or two of them! ;) So in that sense I am a little insecure about having dropped quickly down to 8st 7lbs already. Hopefully I won't lose much more before I gain again with the pregnancy.
My GP highlighted in her report to the hospital the fact that I am bleeding. She hopes that they'll see it and arrange an early scan appointment, but if I haven't heard from them for a while (?!) then I can ring the antenatal clinic and they will put me through to the Early Pregnancy Unit where I can arrange myself a scan. I am only spotting brown, and it's definitely lighter now, but I do want to have a scan if I am allowed to, because it always brings me great peace of mind after a bleed. I am not particularly wanting to wait "a while" to see if they get in touch with me! I asked if the bleeding turns red again (it has, on and off, but not for a week maybe, now) what should I do? She said to call them and arrange a scan, not to go back to the GP like I used to be able to. So I will do that. I think I will call the hospital about it early next week, or maybe even Friday if I am impatient enough, haha! ;)
On arriving at the doctor's surgery, we met a mother pushing her baby in a pram coming out. She stopped and asked me if the boys were all mine, and I said yes (proudly!)! :) She said, "Oh well done! That's great!" So lovely! :) Once inside, we were early (I KNOW!!!!! ME!! EARLY!!! :D ) so we sat for a while near the entrance where the water cooler was, and I got the boys some water to drink. I was just organising them with their drinks when a lady with a baby sat down next to us and stared and smiled. After a minute an elderly man came in and straight off he asked me if they were all mine. I said yes. The lady gasped, haha! He asked me if they were all boys, and I said yes. The lady gasped again! ;) Then Arthur loudly proclaimed, "And number six is in her tummy!" with a huge smile, bless his heart! :) More gasps from the lady, and the sweet gentleman made the oft-mentioned comment about football teams, wished me luck, and smiled at us and went on his way.
Sitting in the waiting area at last, there were lots of people waiting, many with babies because it was a vaccination clinic at the same time. People STARED at us, but ever so kindly, with smiles and wide-eyed nods at me when I caught their looks, so it was nice :) For some reason, Arthur took off his shoes and socks while we were in with the doctor, and so we paused in the waiting area on the way out for him to put them back on. PACKED waiting room by then! Two ladies who looked like mother (elderly) and daughter (maybe 50s) sat smiling at us while he put his shoes on. Finally the younger lady suddenly said, "Excuse me, but have you got FIVE little boys?!" and I said yes (proudly again! I'm so proud of them and so happy that, yes, they're all mine!). She and her mother said, "Woowww!" and then Arthur stood up, ready to go, and in a very loud voice said again, "And number six is in her tummy!" The whole waiting room gasped, hahaha! The elderly lady said, "Ohh, shhh!" as though you shouldn't say about something like that, and her daughter said, "I see you don't have any secrets!" with a smile. ;) A lot of attention was directed towards us, and that used to make me squirm, but I am enjoying it now. I love my many small boys, and am so excited that God has chosen to bless me this way, and this MUCH! :) There's no much hiding away now, lol! So it's fun, especially when everybody is so nice about it. I know that not everybody is nice about it, but hopefully I will not meet many of them - I haven't yet, thankfully!
So it went well!
In other news, I am queasy today (a little here and there in the morning, but not much until lunchtime like the other days so far), but never really getting as far as full-on NAUSEA. I hope that's okay... In all my other pregnancies I felt pretty grim by the time I turned 6 weeks. I mean, I feel yucky, but not always, and it seems ever so mild. It does sometimes take a few days to really pick up strength, going by my pregnancy diary for my other pregnancies, but still, by 6 weeks it's usually at that point - maybe 6 weeks and a couple of days at the latest, but still it's worse than this at 6 weeks exactly all the same. Not sure what to make of that. I am eating protein in all my meals, and protein if I feel a bit yeurghy, but I don't know that I can put it all down to protein management! I mean, surely there were zillions of occasions that I ate protein when feeling grim in other pregnancies (think of all the gallons of cottage cheese I've consumed in early pregnancy, lol!) and it made no difference. I am VERY GLAD to be feeling only mildly sick. It's very manageable and the days are basically normal. I'm busier than I ever was before, but again I don't think I can put the easier nausea down to just being busy. There are many busy homeschooling mothers of many children who are still rendered horizontal for months by morning sickness, no matter how busy or distracted they may be!
I just hope it's okay. Because it's different from the other 5 times, it makes me a little bit uneasy, especially with the bleeding, but anyway. Hopefully I will get a scan and it will be good news, and reassuring. Tomorrow I am going for a scan of a different sort - a follow-up ultrasound on my kidney after the kidney stone, just to see if it's fine. I have had some aches and pains there pretty consistently since then, and it was completely obstructed for some time so I want to be sure it's okay.
Too tired to think straight now (been a really tired day today!) so I will go to bed now! :) Back soon though! Must take a "before" belly picture soon! :D
I have to be quick because it's really late and Samuel is stirring a bit, which means he could wake any moment (and I should be in bed!). Just wanted to update about my doctor's appointment today.
It went fine! Things have changed a bit apparently, and now everything goes from the GP to the hospital, which then acts as a sorting base, and gets me set up with the midwifery team, and arranges scan appointments, sends me info, etc. The GP no longer sends me for an early scan, I have to go through the hospital antenatal department for that. So, we spent a fair amount of time filling in the appropriate information! ;) This is because I have to give all the information on my previous babies (gestation, normal pregnancy/birth?, birth weight, location, gender, etc), and there are a few of them now, lol! LOVE going through all of that every time. Their stats are always right on the tip of my tongue, I never forget any of the details, and I love to review it when I book in for a new pregnancy! Especially with all of the said babies milling around me happily, playing with toys as I chat to the doctor! :)
My blood pressure was 109/68, typical low-ish blood pressure for me, nice and normal :) She did not weigh me (they never do here, but usually the doctor weighs me at book-in for a base weight for the notes). BUT I weighed myself last week when I was fully dressed, feeling annoyed with none of my jeans fitting me properly any more, and my skirts hanging off my hips and thus being a bit too long for my short legs! ;) I knew I was 9 stone something (a few lbs over 9st but can't remember exactly now) a couple of weeks before that, so I wondered if I had made it down to 9 stone or something? I don't do anything to lose weight but it does come off around this stage all the same, so it's worth keeping track of.
I seriously nearly fell off the scales when I saw 8 stone 7lbs!!!!! I haven't been as light as that since between Arthur and Matthew's pregnancies!!! I have no idea why, except that I do know the kidney stone and tummy bug both shifted a lot of weight off me in the stage where I normally do NOT lose any weight even if I try. So I guess it gave me a head start or something?! I don't know! Anyway I am pleased because it's a much better weight to start a pregnancy with (knowing I will pile on a LOT of weight pretty soon!), but also a little bit unsure about having lost this much so far, because I usually lose a fair bit more during the morning sickness stage. I was 7 stone 10lbs before having children, and my optimum weight was supposedly 8 stone 8lbs. I could NEVER make it to that, even on a dietitian-supervised high calorie diet, and after having Arthur I decided that I did not want to go back down below 8.5 stone ever again. I think I don't have the energy I need when I don't weigh enough, especially if I am parenting many small boys and breastfeeding at least one or two of them! ;) So in that sense I am a little insecure about having dropped quickly down to 8st 7lbs already. Hopefully I won't lose much more before I gain again with the pregnancy.
My GP highlighted in her report to the hospital the fact that I am bleeding. She hopes that they'll see it and arrange an early scan appointment, but if I haven't heard from them for a while (?!) then I can ring the antenatal clinic and they will put me through to the Early Pregnancy Unit where I can arrange myself a scan. I am only spotting brown, and it's definitely lighter now, but I do want to have a scan if I am allowed to, because it always brings me great peace of mind after a bleed. I am not particularly wanting to wait "a while" to see if they get in touch with me! I asked if the bleeding turns red again (it has, on and off, but not for a week maybe, now) what should I do? She said to call them and arrange a scan, not to go back to the GP like I used to be able to. So I will do that. I think I will call the hospital about it early next week, or maybe even Friday if I am impatient enough, haha! ;)
On arriving at the doctor's surgery, we met a mother pushing her baby in a pram coming out. She stopped and asked me if the boys were all mine, and I said yes (proudly!)! :) She said, "Oh well done! That's great!" So lovely! :) Once inside, we were early (I KNOW!!!!! ME!! EARLY!!! :D ) so we sat for a while near the entrance where the water cooler was, and I got the boys some water to drink. I was just organising them with their drinks when a lady with a baby sat down next to us and stared and smiled. After a minute an elderly man came in and straight off he asked me if they were all mine. I said yes. The lady gasped, haha! He asked me if they were all boys, and I said yes. The lady gasped again! ;) Then Arthur loudly proclaimed, "And number six is in her tummy!" with a huge smile, bless his heart! :) More gasps from the lady, and the sweet gentleman made the oft-mentioned comment about football teams, wished me luck, and smiled at us and went on his way.
Sitting in the waiting area at last, there were lots of people waiting, many with babies because it was a vaccination clinic at the same time. People STARED at us, but ever so kindly, with smiles and wide-eyed nods at me when I caught their looks, so it was nice :) For some reason, Arthur took off his shoes and socks while we were in with the doctor, and so we paused in the waiting area on the way out for him to put them back on. PACKED waiting room by then! Two ladies who looked like mother (elderly) and daughter (maybe 50s) sat smiling at us while he put his shoes on. Finally the younger lady suddenly said, "Excuse me, but have you got FIVE little boys?!" and I said yes (proudly again! I'm so proud of them and so happy that, yes, they're all mine!). She and her mother said, "Woowww!" and then Arthur stood up, ready to go, and in a very loud voice said again, "And number six is in her tummy!" The whole waiting room gasped, hahaha! The elderly lady said, "Ohh, shhh!" as though you shouldn't say about something like that, and her daughter said, "I see you don't have any secrets!" with a smile. ;) A lot of attention was directed towards us, and that used to make me squirm, but I am enjoying it now. I love my many small boys, and am so excited that God has chosen to bless me this way, and this MUCH! :) There's no much hiding away now, lol! So it's fun, especially when everybody is so nice about it. I know that not everybody is nice about it, but hopefully I will not meet many of them - I haven't yet, thankfully!
So it went well!
In other news, I am queasy today (a little here and there in the morning, but not much until lunchtime like the other days so far), but never really getting as far as full-on NAUSEA. I hope that's okay... In all my other pregnancies I felt pretty grim by the time I turned 6 weeks. I mean, I feel yucky, but not always, and it seems ever so mild. It does sometimes take a few days to really pick up strength, going by my pregnancy diary for my other pregnancies, but still, by 6 weeks it's usually at that point - maybe 6 weeks and a couple of days at the latest, but still it's worse than this at 6 weeks exactly all the same. Not sure what to make of that. I am eating protein in all my meals, and protein if I feel a bit yeurghy, but I don't know that I can put it all down to protein management! I mean, surely there were zillions of occasions that I ate protein when feeling grim in other pregnancies (think of all the gallons of cottage cheese I've consumed in early pregnancy, lol!) and it made no difference. I am VERY GLAD to be feeling only mildly sick. It's very manageable and the days are basically normal. I'm busier than I ever was before, but again I don't think I can put the easier nausea down to just being busy. There are many busy homeschooling mothers of many children who are still rendered horizontal for months by morning sickness, no matter how busy or distracted they may be!
I just hope it's okay. Because it's different from the other 5 times, it makes me a little bit uneasy, especially with the bleeding, but anyway. Hopefully I will get a scan and it will be good news, and reassuring. Tomorrow I am going for a scan of a different sort - a follow-up ultrasound on my kidney after the kidney stone, just to see if it's fine. I have had some aches and pains there pretty consistently since then, and it was completely obstructed for some time so I want to be sure it's okay.
Too tired to think straight now (been a really tired day today!) so I will go to bed now! :) Back soon though! Must take a "before" belly picture soon! :D
Monday, September 26, 2011
5 weeks, 5 days - nauseous!! :D
Nausea set in with hunger yesterday evening as we had to wait a bit for a late dinner! :) Not too bad, especially since it's a touch earlier than when it usually kicks in badly, but I'm still SO VERY RELIEVED!!! Today I felt fine in the morning, and as lunch time approached I began to feel a little bit yeurghy. Decided to tackle morning sickness with PROTEIN this time around, so ate a tuna/sweetcorn/mayo sandwich. I was so hungry! Felt a little better for it, but basically still queasy. And the quease has stayed ever since (as is typical for me - in a weird way the familiarity is nice! :) ) and gradually got a bit worse towards the evening, and dinner didn't really do much for it. Oh well! I just hope it doesn't get worse over the next few days (please please please please please!!) because right now this is yucky and unpleasant, but TOTALLY manageable. I made dinner without feeling too green over it, so I would be really happy to continue with this level of nausea - I have had a lot worse!
I am still spotting, just a little bit, and brown. Last BM (sorry!) did not have any red spotting afterwards, which is a first, yay!
I can also safely say that I am definitely peeing more frequently today and yesterday (much more so today than yesterday) at last! :) I am hungry about a couple of hours after a meal (SO hungry now, 3 hours after dinner with the boys, and anxiously awaiting the Tesco delivery as I type, because the hunger is making me more nauseous and we have run out of foooood!).
Neil is on the phone right now, telling all of his family that I am pregnant! :) Then I think I will wait no longer and blab on Facebook. I know I am spotting, and awaiting a scan, but I'm NAUSEOUS and so much reassured by it. The nausea last night, even though I tried not to at the time, had the immediate effect of HUGE excitement about this pregnancy - I think I have been trying to stay a little guarded, although I was excited and thrilled! Now I am able to let myself think of allll the wonderful things coming my way in May and before then - baby kicks, big glorious round tummy full of baby, fun scans, finding out the gender, naming our sweetie pie, the birth, ohhhhh the snuggles with a precious flopsy snuffly newborn! Breastfeeding afresh! New sibling relationships! All six of my children in one photo! Such joys, I just can't wait! I absolutely can not WAIT to hold a newborn again. *sigh* :D
Because I'm so very thrilled to be carrying and growing this specific tiny little person (heart beating, heart beating, how wonderful and exciting is that?!!! :D ), I just want the world to knoooow! I don't want to wait any more, even if the unthinkable happens and the pregnancy ends. I just want the world to celebrate with me, the existance and precious life of my tiny new baby, however long it may last here on earth! Oh how I pray that it will be many many decades! I already love him or her so very much!
The day after tomorrow I am 6 weeks pregnant (can't believe 6 weeks is just about HERE already!!) and I'll have my doctor's appointment. If I don't update before then, I will update on Wednesday about the appointment and how I'm doing. Thanks so much for rooting for me and being excited with me! It means such a lot to me! :)
I am still spotting, just a little bit, and brown. Last BM (sorry!) did not have any red spotting afterwards, which is a first, yay!
I can also safely say that I am definitely peeing more frequently today and yesterday (much more so today than yesterday) at last! :) I am hungry about a couple of hours after a meal (SO hungry now, 3 hours after dinner with the boys, and anxiously awaiting the Tesco delivery as I type, because the hunger is making me more nauseous and we have run out of foooood!).
Neil is on the phone right now, telling all of his family that I am pregnant! :) Then I think I will wait no longer and blab on Facebook. I know I am spotting, and awaiting a scan, but I'm NAUSEOUS and so much reassured by it. The nausea last night, even though I tried not to at the time, had the immediate effect of HUGE excitement about this pregnancy - I think I have been trying to stay a little guarded, although I was excited and thrilled! Now I am able to let myself think of allll the wonderful things coming my way in May and before then - baby kicks, big glorious round tummy full of baby, fun scans, finding out the gender, naming our sweetie pie, the birth, ohhhhh the snuggles with a precious flopsy snuffly newborn! Breastfeeding afresh! New sibling relationships! All six of my children in one photo! Such joys, I just can't wait! I absolutely can not WAIT to hold a newborn again. *sigh* :D
Because I'm so very thrilled to be carrying and growing this specific tiny little person (heart beating, heart beating, how wonderful and exciting is that?!!! :D ), I just want the world to knoooow! I don't want to wait any more, even if the unthinkable happens and the pregnancy ends. I just want the world to celebrate with me, the existance and precious life of my tiny new baby, however long it may last here on earth! Oh how I pray that it will be many many decades! I already love him or her so very much!
The day after tomorrow I am 6 weeks pregnant (can't believe 6 weeks is just about HERE already!!) and I'll have my doctor's appointment. If I don't update before then, I will update on Wednesday about the appointment and how I'm doing. Thanks so much for rooting for me and being excited with me! It means such a lot to me! :)
Saturday, September 24, 2011
5 weeks, 3 days
Sorry for a few days without an update! Just been busy, and had a little "trouble" in bloggyland. God loves us having lots of babies and submitting to Him. Satan does not! Nuff said.
Yesterday was an exhausting day. Neil had special day at work, in London, followed by a very dressed-up evening with dinner and such. He left for work at 6.30am, and did not come home until nearly midnight. I managed ever so well, and I'm so happy and proud of myself! :) I do manage the days fine with 5 little ones (which has been a learning curve! But I do now!), but the early start and then all that long time with bedtime, etc. by myself was a stretch I hadn't done before. I have sometimes done bedtime if Neil has worked late, and once or twice a friend from church has come round to help me, just randomly (thank you Lord for arranging that!), but this time I so wanted to test myself and see how I would do. I felt confident that I could manage that kind of day quite well, and I knew it would be a great feeling to do so. I did feel very very tired with the early pregnancy thing, but it was not too bad. We got all of school done, and I had to lie on the living room floor for half an hour in the afternoon while the boys listened to a story CD around me - I came over EXHAUSTED then! Everything went fine though, and bedtime was a little stressful with Samuel not sleeping and the other two littles being tired... it worked out in the end, and Nathey was asleep first by 7pm, Samuel by 7.30, Benjamin 7.45, and the big boys by 8.30. Phewee, I was so wiped out by the time I came downstairs! I needed to get some dinner for myself and I could barely see straight for a while, I just felt so tired! I rested up and actually plugged cable TV in (gasp! I never watch TV!) and flaked in front of some entertainment for most of the evening, and ate, and felt better. Samuel woke twice to feed, and Benjamin rolled off his mattress onto the floor once, but he didn't wake when I put him back. I was so happy to see my sweet hubby though, when he came wearily in! :)
Anyway, so no online time yesterday evening when I would have updated here.
I am now around the half-week mark already - 5 and a half weeks pregnant. I am still spotting brown. If I go for a BM, right afterwards the spotting becomes more red than brown, and then changes back to brown after a few hours. There's very little of it, regardless of colour, but enough to keep on wearing the pantyliners for now. I really don't like to see it change to red! Oh that did also happen yesterday at one point, not related to a BM. Late in the afternoon, I was just feeling physically tired out, and when I got Samuel up from his nap, I discovered he had brought up some milk on the sheets of the big bed, and also rubbed his hands and HEAD in it, yuck! So I needed to change the sheets, and bath the baby. Changing the sheets just about did me in! I was practically gasping - soooo breathless and exhausted, lol! That's early pregnancy for you! ;) It's a nice reminder that I *am* having pregnancy symptoms, as this one is familiar to me from early on in my pregnancies. Anyway, after that I went to run the bath, and that's when I realised I was bleeding a bit - red. So maybe it was an exertion thing?? I don't know what it's about! It's getting a bit old, to be honest (over 2 weeks straight now), but hey ho.
These next few days make me feel a bit anxious and apprehensive. In 4 days time I will be 6 weeks pregnant. By 6 weeks, I am always morning sick. Always. The first three pregnancies, it started with a bang at 5 weeks and 6 days exactly - although it might actually have been 5w5d with Nathan, I can't remember.... Anyway, then with Benjamin I was 5w3d, and it started that evening. With Samuel I started to feel somewhat queasy at exactly 5 weeks, my earliest start yet. It was full blown by a few days later. So far I am not morning sick. If I don't become so by 6 weeks, I will naturally feel very anxious about the pregnancy. I know I don't have to have morning sickness, or morning sickness starting at the same time each pregnancy, in order to have a healthy pregnancy, but with my history it seems somewhat unlikely doesn't it, for everything to be normal and okay if I am not sick by 6 weeks?
So in one way I am nervous that 4 days will pass and I will still be feeling fine, and then to deal with what that means, and what events must follow. And in another way I am nervous that within the next 4 days I will start feeling GRIMMER THAN GRIM and ohhhh how difficult a time that is!! ;) I know I will be blessed to feel sick, it will be great reassurance, but it's still makes me a bit apprehensive, in terms of dealing with the nausea whilst caring for and schooling my little boys! I know it can be done, but it will be difficult.
My temperature dipped yesterday, but I woke up out of the covers and cold, and earlier than usual given Neil's early departure! Today it was right back up again. Yesterday I took another pregnancy test with the first of my new cheapy tests, since it had been three days since the last one, and it was the same as the previous one, no darker, just the same. A strong positive, so I am just going to presume the pregnancy is going fine.
IF SO.... my baby has a heartbeat! :D It's so wonderful to be going about my day and then suddenly think of it, and lay my hand on my tummy low down and wonder at the thought of there being a teeny tiny heart beating inside. Makes me smile so much every time! :)
I wonder about this baby... I know it's waaaaaay more likely (let's face it!) for the baby to be a boy, but there's a girl's name in my head, and I did not put it there. It appeared the day before yesterday, and because it's not a name I would choose to name my baby girl, I put it out of my head. It came back a couple of hours later. Then that evening the name came up three times online - article authors, a sweet message that drew my attention by someone I don't know, with this name, etc. Every time I saw it, I got a feeling. I am not sure if I like the name or not. It's not a BAD name, but definitely not on my shortlist. I just wonder why it keeps coming back as a name that is familiar to me, as though it's already the name of one of my children. I prayed about it yesterday and asked God that if it's the name He wants me to use, that He would put it into Neil's head too. I think it's not likely that Neil would ever suggest this name, so if he does, I KNOW it's God! :) And I'm leaving it at that. Other than that I have had no thoughts on names. It did make me wonder because I remember that Samuel's name fell into our laps at 5 weeks. It popped in my head, and I LOVED it for that particular baby, even though it had been considered for other babies and not made it to the shortlist. When I called out to Neil in the kitchen to suggest the name, he loved it so much! So that's when I sort of knew it would be a boy, because there was a strong feeling that this was the baby's name, and Samuel being a boy's name... well! ;) I feel sort of like that about this girl's name, so I wonder...
[here endeth the crazy notion that I might possibly have a daughter ever, lol!]
I am not wanting a girl though. I am eager for a boy! I feel sliiiightly not-quite-at-ease now, with the whole baby girl thing, and I think it's because I feel so very rooted in growing, birthing, and raising baby boys. I know they're all just BABIES, but there's such a hype about it, isn't there?! I just feel comfortable continuing to have a baby boy each time! :) I am not really planning to think any further on the girl/boy thing, except to presume boy, unless proven otherwise at a scan. So that's that! :)
I phoned my brother this evening, to tell him I'm pregnant. He answered the phone, and after we'd said hi, he started laughing at Sarah, who was apparently making some sort of gesture in the background. She isn't the type to make rude gestures (!!) so I did not know what to think, and he didn't explain it. Then he said, "Have you got any news?!" and I said yes! He started to laugh at Sarah again, and then asked, "What's your news?!" I said, "Well, I'm going to have a baby!" His response was so lovely - what a refreshing phone call it was! He immediately congratulated me and said what wonderful news it was. Then he was able to tell me that Sarah had been making "big pregnant tummy" gestures when she heard it was me on the phone, lol! I said, "How did she know?!" and Bennie told me that she had been thinking of me only last week, and thought it was probably getting to be about the usual time for another baby, hehehe! Love that! :)
I did tell him that I've been bleeding since nearly the start of the pregnancy, and that I'm still spotting and will have a scan soonish. I'm going to update him after the scan, whenever it might be. I am getting fidgetty to get this doctor's appointment done now, just because I want to officially DO something for this pregnancy - book in for a start. And get started on a scan date to check on the baby with this bleeding. Wednesday afternoon can't come soon enough!!
Let's see, anything else? Symptom wise I am not noticing too much, but this is usually a quiet patch, right before the morning sickness usually kicks in. I did have some painful twinges in one breast today, and have also had a few moments of feeling a bit "cars-y" - you know where you sort of smell cars or petrol, and just the smell makes you feel a bit motion-queasy? Not nauseous yet, but just the first whiff of the feeling. That's how I've felt from time to time today, so mayyyybe the first inklings of morning sickness?? I think this is how it started with Samuel. I will have to double-check.
I put sweetcorn as one of the toppings on my homemade pizza this evening, and the smell of it from the can was like PETROL, honestly. Uggghhh. Tasted okay though. I've been loving me some mint imperials lately, but tonight they taste faintly of stale cigarettes, blech! I'm sooooo thirsty at the moment, and hungrier than usual as wel. Breakfast doesn't last me long, and I am shaky and hungry by the time it's time to make lunch - hard to get through making lunch for the boys and myself feeling that way. I have started to have to eat while I'm making their sandwiches. I am trying to eat high protein meals when I do feel that way, because I think that has helped the most (MUCH more than a sugar hit) in the past. The main stuff I have around is eggs and cheese right now, so I've been going for those. I have beans too, actually, so I could eat those too. I have been having issues with gassiness and constipation (oh the joys, lol!) so beans have made me nervous, haha!
I can't think of anything else right at this moment, so I think I'll finish for now, and post again soon. Tomorrow is Sunday and we'll go to church and relax in the afternoon. Today Neil took all 5 boys out to the park! Samuel was SO thrilled to go with them - he is usually napping when they go, but has been shortening his naps a bit lately. I am so grateful to Neil for doing that, because I had the chance to rest - well, make the pizza dough and set it to rise, and THEN rest! :) It was refreshing to my head to have a quiet house for an hour or two, and I just read my Above Rubies magazine and lay on the sofa. Since a few days after ovulating, I have really been hyper-sensitive to noise. Weird, and I'm sure that's not a pregnancy symptom, or one I've noticed in pregnancy before, but there it is. OH! I just suddenly remembered after Arthur... I think it was my first conception after Arthur, which ended as a chemical pregnancy, I had a BUNCH of pregnancy symptoms with that, but one of them was that Arthur was too LOUD for my ears, it was unbearable. I remember barely being able to contain my irritation one time when Neil was home from work, and having to just take a time out upstairs. My ears could not STAND it! It was almost like I needed to scratch them off my head to deal with the noise. Weird. Anyway, this time has been the same, only THIS time I have 5 small noisy children, lol! It has been very difficult at times, and I wish I had set up a regular Quiet Time in the house that they could be used to, but I haven't. It's noisy ALL. THE. TIME! Which is normal, with 5 boys under 7! ;) But hard on my sensitive pregnant ears this time around. So peace and quiet at the weekend for a couple of hours is really so therapeutic. I feel like I want to cry with the relief on my ears and brain! ;) And then ironically, I miss the noise after about 2 hours and welcome it back as they tumble out of the van and into the house, all telling me about their walk at once! :)
Okay, enough! Must get ready for bed! Will write again soon - thanks so much for the comments last entry! Still can't BELIEVE I'm having my 6th baby!!! :D xxx
Yesterday was an exhausting day. Neil had special day at work, in London, followed by a very dressed-up evening with dinner and such. He left for work at 6.30am, and did not come home until nearly midnight. I managed ever so well, and I'm so happy and proud of myself! :) I do manage the days fine with 5 little ones (which has been a learning curve! But I do now!), but the early start and then all that long time with bedtime, etc. by myself was a stretch I hadn't done before. I have sometimes done bedtime if Neil has worked late, and once or twice a friend from church has come round to help me, just randomly (thank you Lord for arranging that!), but this time I so wanted to test myself and see how I would do. I felt confident that I could manage that kind of day quite well, and I knew it would be a great feeling to do so. I did feel very very tired with the early pregnancy thing, but it was not too bad. We got all of school done, and I had to lie on the living room floor for half an hour in the afternoon while the boys listened to a story CD around me - I came over EXHAUSTED then! Everything went fine though, and bedtime was a little stressful with Samuel not sleeping and the other two littles being tired... it worked out in the end, and Nathey was asleep first by 7pm, Samuel by 7.30, Benjamin 7.45, and the big boys by 8.30. Phewee, I was so wiped out by the time I came downstairs! I needed to get some dinner for myself and I could barely see straight for a while, I just felt so tired! I rested up and actually plugged cable TV in (gasp! I never watch TV!) and flaked in front of some entertainment for most of the evening, and ate, and felt better. Samuel woke twice to feed, and Benjamin rolled off his mattress onto the floor once, but he didn't wake when I put him back. I was so happy to see my sweet hubby though, when he came wearily in! :)
Anyway, so no online time yesterday evening when I would have updated here.
I am now around the half-week mark already - 5 and a half weeks pregnant. I am still spotting brown. If I go for a BM, right afterwards the spotting becomes more red than brown, and then changes back to brown after a few hours. There's very little of it, regardless of colour, but enough to keep on wearing the pantyliners for now. I really don't like to see it change to red! Oh that did also happen yesterday at one point, not related to a BM. Late in the afternoon, I was just feeling physically tired out, and when I got Samuel up from his nap, I discovered he had brought up some milk on the sheets of the big bed, and also rubbed his hands and HEAD in it, yuck! So I needed to change the sheets, and bath the baby. Changing the sheets just about did me in! I was practically gasping - soooo breathless and exhausted, lol! That's early pregnancy for you! ;) It's a nice reminder that I *am* having pregnancy symptoms, as this one is familiar to me from early on in my pregnancies. Anyway, after that I went to run the bath, and that's when I realised I was bleeding a bit - red. So maybe it was an exertion thing?? I don't know what it's about! It's getting a bit old, to be honest (over 2 weeks straight now), but hey ho.
These next few days make me feel a bit anxious and apprehensive. In 4 days time I will be 6 weeks pregnant. By 6 weeks, I am always morning sick. Always. The first three pregnancies, it started with a bang at 5 weeks and 6 days exactly - although it might actually have been 5w5d with Nathan, I can't remember.... Anyway, then with Benjamin I was 5w3d, and it started that evening. With Samuel I started to feel somewhat queasy at exactly 5 weeks, my earliest start yet. It was full blown by a few days later. So far I am not morning sick. If I don't become so by 6 weeks, I will naturally feel very anxious about the pregnancy. I know I don't have to have morning sickness, or morning sickness starting at the same time each pregnancy, in order to have a healthy pregnancy, but with my history it seems somewhat unlikely doesn't it, for everything to be normal and okay if I am not sick by 6 weeks?
So in one way I am nervous that 4 days will pass and I will still be feeling fine, and then to deal with what that means, and what events must follow. And in another way I am nervous that within the next 4 days I will start feeling GRIMMER THAN GRIM and ohhhh how difficult a time that is!! ;) I know I will be blessed to feel sick, it will be great reassurance, but it's still makes me a bit apprehensive, in terms of dealing with the nausea whilst caring for and schooling my little boys! I know it can be done, but it will be difficult.
My temperature dipped yesterday, but I woke up out of the covers and cold, and earlier than usual given Neil's early departure! Today it was right back up again. Yesterday I took another pregnancy test with the first of my new cheapy tests, since it had been three days since the last one, and it was the same as the previous one, no darker, just the same. A strong positive, so I am just going to presume the pregnancy is going fine.
IF SO.... my baby has a heartbeat! :D It's so wonderful to be going about my day and then suddenly think of it, and lay my hand on my tummy low down and wonder at the thought of there being a teeny tiny heart beating inside. Makes me smile so much every time! :)
I wonder about this baby... I know it's waaaaaay more likely (let's face it!) for the baby to be a boy, but there's a girl's name in my head, and I did not put it there. It appeared the day before yesterday, and because it's not a name I would choose to name my baby girl, I put it out of my head. It came back a couple of hours later. Then that evening the name came up three times online - article authors, a sweet message that drew my attention by someone I don't know, with this name, etc. Every time I saw it, I got a feeling. I am not sure if I like the name or not. It's not a BAD name, but definitely not on my shortlist. I just wonder why it keeps coming back as a name that is familiar to me, as though it's already the name of one of my children. I prayed about it yesterday and asked God that if it's the name He wants me to use, that He would put it into Neil's head too. I think it's not likely that Neil would ever suggest this name, so if he does, I KNOW it's God! :) And I'm leaving it at that. Other than that I have had no thoughts on names. It did make me wonder because I remember that Samuel's name fell into our laps at 5 weeks. It popped in my head, and I LOVED it for that particular baby, even though it had been considered for other babies and not made it to the shortlist. When I called out to Neil in the kitchen to suggest the name, he loved it so much! So that's when I sort of knew it would be a boy, because there was a strong feeling that this was the baby's name, and Samuel being a boy's name... well! ;) I feel sort of like that about this girl's name, so I wonder...
[here endeth the crazy notion that I might possibly have a daughter ever, lol!]
I am not wanting a girl though. I am eager for a boy! I feel sliiiightly not-quite-at-ease now, with the whole baby girl thing, and I think it's because I feel so very rooted in growing, birthing, and raising baby boys. I know they're all just BABIES, but there's such a hype about it, isn't there?! I just feel comfortable continuing to have a baby boy each time! :) I am not really planning to think any further on the girl/boy thing, except to presume boy, unless proven otherwise at a scan. So that's that! :)
I phoned my brother this evening, to tell him I'm pregnant. He answered the phone, and after we'd said hi, he started laughing at Sarah, who was apparently making some sort of gesture in the background. She isn't the type to make rude gestures (!!) so I did not know what to think, and he didn't explain it. Then he said, "Have you got any news?!" and I said yes! He started to laugh at Sarah again, and then asked, "What's your news?!" I said, "Well, I'm going to have a baby!" His response was so lovely - what a refreshing phone call it was! He immediately congratulated me and said what wonderful news it was. Then he was able to tell me that Sarah had been making "big pregnant tummy" gestures when she heard it was me on the phone, lol! I said, "How did she know?!" and Bennie told me that she had been thinking of me only last week, and thought it was probably getting to be about the usual time for another baby, hehehe! Love that! :)
I did tell him that I've been bleeding since nearly the start of the pregnancy, and that I'm still spotting and will have a scan soonish. I'm going to update him after the scan, whenever it might be. I am getting fidgetty to get this doctor's appointment done now, just because I want to officially DO something for this pregnancy - book in for a start. And get started on a scan date to check on the baby with this bleeding. Wednesday afternoon can't come soon enough!!
Let's see, anything else? Symptom wise I am not noticing too much, but this is usually a quiet patch, right before the morning sickness usually kicks in. I did have some painful twinges in one breast today, and have also had a few moments of feeling a bit "cars-y" - you know where you sort of smell cars or petrol, and just the smell makes you feel a bit motion-queasy? Not nauseous yet, but just the first whiff of the feeling. That's how I've felt from time to time today, so mayyyybe the first inklings of morning sickness?? I think this is how it started with Samuel. I will have to double-check.
I put sweetcorn as one of the toppings on my homemade pizza this evening, and the smell of it from the can was like PETROL, honestly. Uggghhh. Tasted okay though. I've been loving me some mint imperials lately, but tonight they taste faintly of stale cigarettes, blech! I'm sooooo thirsty at the moment, and hungrier than usual as wel. Breakfast doesn't last me long, and I am shaky and hungry by the time it's time to make lunch - hard to get through making lunch for the boys and myself feeling that way. I have started to have to eat while I'm making their sandwiches. I am trying to eat high protein meals when I do feel that way, because I think that has helped the most (MUCH more than a sugar hit) in the past. The main stuff I have around is eggs and cheese right now, so I've been going for those. I have beans too, actually, so I could eat those too. I have been having issues with gassiness and constipation (oh the joys, lol!) so beans have made me nervous, haha!
I can't think of anything else right at this moment, so I think I'll finish for now, and post again soon. Tomorrow is Sunday and we'll go to church and relax in the afternoon. Today Neil took all 5 boys out to the park! Samuel was SO thrilled to go with them - he is usually napping when they go, but has been shortening his naps a bit lately. I am so grateful to Neil for doing that, because I had the chance to rest - well, make the pizza dough and set it to rise, and THEN rest! :) It was refreshing to my head to have a quiet house for an hour or two, and I just read my Above Rubies magazine and lay on the sofa. Since a few days after ovulating, I have really been hyper-sensitive to noise. Weird, and I'm sure that's not a pregnancy symptom, or one I've noticed in pregnancy before, but there it is. OH! I just suddenly remembered after Arthur... I think it was my first conception after Arthur, which ended as a chemical pregnancy, I had a BUNCH of pregnancy symptoms with that, but one of them was that Arthur was too LOUD for my ears, it was unbearable. I remember barely being able to contain my irritation one time when Neil was home from work, and having to just take a time out upstairs. My ears could not STAND it! It was almost like I needed to scratch them off my head to deal with the noise. Weird. Anyway, this time has been the same, only THIS time I have 5 small noisy children, lol! It has been very difficult at times, and I wish I had set up a regular Quiet Time in the house that they could be used to, but I haven't. It's noisy ALL. THE. TIME! Which is normal, with 5 boys under 7! ;) But hard on my sensitive pregnant ears this time around. So peace and quiet at the weekend for a couple of hours is really so therapeutic. I feel like I want to cry with the relief on my ears and brain! ;) And then ironically, I miss the noise after about 2 hours and welcome it back as they tumble out of the van and into the house, all telling me about their walk at once! :)
Okay, enough! Must get ready for bed! Will write again soon - thanks so much for the comments last entry! Still can't BELIEVE I'm having my 6th baby!!! :D xxx
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
5 weeks! :)
Well, I have arrived at 5 weeks pregnant! :) That's got to say something, right? I hope all is going well in there. Thanks for commenting, and for asking how I'm doing! So nice to check in and read things like that! :) I am doing fine right now.
This morning my temperature went up a fair bit, so that's reassuring! I also received my cheapy pregnancy tests in the post mid-morning, so I can have those to fall back on any time I want to check to see if I'm really still pregnant! Because of all the uncertainty, it's beginning to feel a bit surreal. I don't really feel all that pregnant at the moment - which actually is something I usually write in my blog around the 5 week mark, so I was reassured by reading that last night as well. I feel a bit easily irritable, a bit tired, but not EXHAUSTED like I was before... slightly yeurghy especially on getting up, as though my tummy is tired out and I am just not interested in breakfast. But I'm enjoying food today. I am, however, REALLY hungry, so that's pregnant of me at least! I don't know that I'm peeing any more frequently than usual yet, maybe a little bit. I'm not always noticing that difference this early to be honest. Things seem about normal for me at 5 weeks, which is a bit vague and surreal. By this time next week, if all is well, things should be a LOT different and I should be unable to move for how pregnant I feel! ;)
Today I had to take the boys to the doctor's for the nurse to do their vaccinations. This nurse has seen the boys a lot over the years, and seen little ones added to our family many times now. So she welcomed us, and did their jabs (Matthew had two, Benjamin was meant to get two but was so traumatised by the first one that she decided to leave the second one for next time! And Samuel had two again). Then out of curiosity I asked her what time the GP clinic opened in the afternoon (the nurse does stuff in between the GP clinics), because I thought maybe I could actually make an appointment to see a doctor RIGHT THERE AND THEN, and book my pregnancy in. Hopefully it would just be a case of waiting around a little bit, if the timing was good, and then it would be done and I wouldn't have to haul the boys back there again at all. So instead of telling me the answer, she helpfully turned to her computer and brought up the appointments for the afternoon! She asked who I wanted to see, and I knew that my GP did not work afternoons, but then she told me that she DOES do afternoons occasionally. The next one was next Wednesday, a week away. I really like to keep mornings free for homeschool. She said, "Is it for yourself?" and I said, "I need to book in a new pregnancy." I was SO not expecting her reaction! I hadn't finished the word "pregnancy", and she threw her arms up and clapped loudly above her head, and yelled out, "Yeah!" She laughed out loud and congratulated me, and said how wonderful that was! :D It was sooooo lovely! I could tell she was not expecting me to say it, and her reaction was just that - pure reaction, and I love that! Such a sweet lady! She is so nice with the boys. She knows we homeschool, and spent a good 10 minutes this afternoon letting Arthur help her sort equipment and talk about what each thing was for.
Anyway, she ended up booking an appointment for me right there in the nurse's room, for me to see my GP next Wednesday afternoon, to avoid messing with homeschool. But this evening I feel that I don't really want to wait that long. I will be 6 weeks pregnant next Wednesday, if I get that far. I asked if that would be a bit late to book in, given that they get full very quickly. But she said 6 weeks should be okay, so I went with that. But a week feels like AGES, and also I didn't mention the bleeding to the nurse. I think I would like to go to see my GP TOMORROW and tell her, "Look, I'm 5 weeks pregnant, but I've been bleeding since the start of it all, and it's not going away!" and ask for some help. That way I'll be booked in sooner, and I will have the wheels turning earlier for getting a scan. I know she will book me in for an early scan at the Early Pregnancy Unit at the hospital, and that will probably be sometime after turning 6 weeks pregnant, maybe even the end of next week? I don't know. All I know is, I increasingly WANT that scan, to know what's going on. Especially as the pregnancy still continues and the days are passing, and 4 weeks has turned into 5 weeks, and so on. In two days from now, my baby's rudimentary heart should start beating! I am feeling more and more attached to this little one and excited about his/her development inside me, and I'm beginning to want - NEED - that confirmation to know whether I can relax and be excited, or just to know that I should let it go. If I show signs of miscarriage in the next few days, I would still appreciate a scan when it's booked for in any case, to confirm complete miscarriage, since I'm no longer looking at just a late period if the pregnancy ends now.
There's a little person in there now. Over the next couple of days the tiny neural tube will be "zippered" closed. Ohhhh I pray it closes completely. I have only been taking folic acid since I knew I was pregnant, and a few times since I ovulated, given that I suddenly realised I had a chance of being pregnant. I wish I had thought to start taking it months ago! :S Anyway, I can't believe how much development has already taken place by 5 weeks. The early cells that will become the ears are already in place! The muscular tubes that will fuse to form the heart are already developed, and over the next day or two they will fuse. The moment they fuse, the S-shaped rudimentary heart will spontaneously start beating. SO. Amazing. I want to just absorb myself in the miracle that is taking place inside me, sooo much! But that will bond me with my baby, and I am cautious... I hope all these things ARE taking place.
As far as my body is concerned, the pregnancy seems to be fairly stable, in a way. I mean, I have made it to 5 weeks, and implantation is complete, so I am thinking the short luteal phase (for example) would have affected even a healthy pregnancy by now, and caused it to come to an end? I don't know what the bleeding is about, but it seems like my pregnancy is now well established, to still be going. A miscarriage that occurs most commonly between 5 and 6 weeks is nearly always due to chromosomal problems - something wrong with the baby. So that wouldn't cause this bleeding from 7DPO would it? So it doesn't necessarily mean that I would miscarry at any point? I don't know. I wish I knew!! Someone mentioned my progesterone levels, but I don't know a thing about getting that checked, or even if they do it in the UK.
Today I have had more of the dark brown spotting, not very much of it at all really, as the previous day or two. This evening I went for a BM, and noticed light red spotting/cm after that. So maybe that specific occasion could be from my cervix? I was told once when I was spotting in pregnancy that constipation can cause the cervix to be irritated and bleed a little, and I am constipated right now (the usual for me at this stage of pregnancy) so maybe... Although that can't account for the BLEEDING, or the ongoing spotting for two weeks straight now. I hope to get some answers soon, so Neil is going to arrange to go in to work 90 minutes late and make up the time, so that I can get an early doctor's appointment in the morning and go without the boys while he stays home with them. I will be so glad to get that done! :)
I will still check my temperature in the morning, although I know that temping isn't all that clear-cut in pregnancy (thanks for reminding me Valerie!) - they can bounce around a bit. I know trusting God is about letting go of it all and just leaving it to Him. I know it's all in His hands anyway! I should stop probably... maybe. It's something I'm happier doing though, for now. I know it makes no difference to the outcome of the pregnancy, whether I temp or test, or not, AND what those things say. But I like to keep check... So I will temp again in the morning. I would rather a heads-up in the morning than a shock later in the day, unhappy and unsure as that might make me in the morning. I also feel so happy to keep seeing visible evidence of this little one inside me by actually being able to see his/her little HCG staring up at me from my test stick! :) I may test tomorrow, but I know there's no need. Maybe I'll wait a bit longer. Depends on my temp, perhaps.
I'll keep updating. That is helping me too. I can't wait to be able to relax and rejoice all over the place about this baby! I WOULD right this second if I was 100% sure he/she was okay in there! I want to tell the world right now. I want to tell Facebook and everyone I bump into in the street, "God has blessed us again!! I'm pregnant!! I'm expecting a baby!! We're thrilled!! I'm due in May!" and all that fun stuff. I hope I will be able to soon! I look forward to it so much, and the thought of it keeps me going! :)
This morning my temperature went up a fair bit, so that's reassuring! I also received my cheapy pregnancy tests in the post mid-morning, so I can have those to fall back on any time I want to check to see if I'm really still pregnant! Because of all the uncertainty, it's beginning to feel a bit surreal. I don't really feel all that pregnant at the moment - which actually is something I usually write in my blog around the 5 week mark, so I was reassured by reading that last night as well. I feel a bit easily irritable, a bit tired, but not EXHAUSTED like I was before... slightly yeurghy especially on getting up, as though my tummy is tired out and I am just not interested in breakfast. But I'm enjoying food today. I am, however, REALLY hungry, so that's pregnant of me at least! I don't know that I'm peeing any more frequently than usual yet, maybe a little bit. I'm not always noticing that difference this early to be honest. Things seem about normal for me at 5 weeks, which is a bit vague and surreal. By this time next week, if all is well, things should be a LOT different and I should be unable to move for how pregnant I feel! ;)
Today I had to take the boys to the doctor's for the nurse to do their vaccinations. This nurse has seen the boys a lot over the years, and seen little ones added to our family many times now. So she welcomed us, and did their jabs (Matthew had two, Benjamin was meant to get two but was so traumatised by the first one that she decided to leave the second one for next time! And Samuel had two again). Then out of curiosity I asked her what time the GP clinic opened in the afternoon (the nurse does stuff in between the GP clinics), because I thought maybe I could actually make an appointment to see a doctor RIGHT THERE AND THEN, and book my pregnancy in. Hopefully it would just be a case of waiting around a little bit, if the timing was good, and then it would be done and I wouldn't have to haul the boys back there again at all. So instead of telling me the answer, she helpfully turned to her computer and brought up the appointments for the afternoon! She asked who I wanted to see, and I knew that my GP did not work afternoons, but then she told me that she DOES do afternoons occasionally. The next one was next Wednesday, a week away. I really like to keep mornings free for homeschool. She said, "Is it for yourself?" and I said, "I need to book in a new pregnancy." I was SO not expecting her reaction! I hadn't finished the word "pregnancy", and she threw her arms up and clapped loudly above her head, and yelled out, "Yeah!" She laughed out loud and congratulated me, and said how wonderful that was! :D It was sooooo lovely! I could tell she was not expecting me to say it, and her reaction was just that - pure reaction, and I love that! Such a sweet lady! She is so nice with the boys. She knows we homeschool, and spent a good 10 minutes this afternoon letting Arthur help her sort equipment and talk about what each thing was for.
Anyway, she ended up booking an appointment for me right there in the nurse's room, for me to see my GP next Wednesday afternoon, to avoid messing with homeschool. But this evening I feel that I don't really want to wait that long. I will be 6 weeks pregnant next Wednesday, if I get that far. I asked if that would be a bit late to book in, given that they get full very quickly. But she said 6 weeks should be okay, so I went with that. But a week feels like AGES, and also I didn't mention the bleeding to the nurse. I think I would like to go to see my GP TOMORROW and tell her, "Look, I'm 5 weeks pregnant, but I've been bleeding since the start of it all, and it's not going away!" and ask for some help. That way I'll be booked in sooner, and I will have the wheels turning earlier for getting a scan. I know she will book me in for an early scan at the Early Pregnancy Unit at the hospital, and that will probably be sometime after turning 6 weeks pregnant, maybe even the end of next week? I don't know. All I know is, I increasingly WANT that scan, to know what's going on. Especially as the pregnancy still continues and the days are passing, and 4 weeks has turned into 5 weeks, and so on. In two days from now, my baby's rudimentary heart should start beating! I am feeling more and more attached to this little one and excited about his/her development inside me, and I'm beginning to want - NEED - that confirmation to know whether I can relax and be excited, or just to know that I should let it go. If I show signs of miscarriage in the next few days, I would still appreciate a scan when it's booked for in any case, to confirm complete miscarriage, since I'm no longer looking at just a late period if the pregnancy ends now.
There's a little person in there now. Over the next couple of days the tiny neural tube will be "zippered" closed. Ohhhh I pray it closes completely. I have only been taking folic acid since I knew I was pregnant, and a few times since I ovulated, given that I suddenly realised I had a chance of being pregnant. I wish I had thought to start taking it months ago! :S Anyway, I can't believe how much development has already taken place by 5 weeks. The early cells that will become the ears are already in place! The muscular tubes that will fuse to form the heart are already developed, and over the next day or two they will fuse. The moment they fuse, the S-shaped rudimentary heart will spontaneously start beating. SO. Amazing. I want to just absorb myself in the miracle that is taking place inside me, sooo much! But that will bond me with my baby, and I am cautious... I hope all these things ARE taking place.
As far as my body is concerned, the pregnancy seems to be fairly stable, in a way. I mean, I have made it to 5 weeks, and implantation is complete, so I am thinking the short luteal phase (for example) would have affected even a healthy pregnancy by now, and caused it to come to an end? I don't know what the bleeding is about, but it seems like my pregnancy is now well established, to still be going. A miscarriage that occurs most commonly between 5 and 6 weeks is nearly always due to chromosomal problems - something wrong with the baby. So that wouldn't cause this bleeding from 7DPO would it? So it doesn't necessarily mean that I would miscarry at any point? I don't know. I wish I knew!! Someone mentioned my progesterone levels, but I don't know a thing about getting that checked, or even if they do it in the UK.
Today I have had more of the dark brown spotting, not very much of it at all really, as the previous day or two. This evening I went for a BM, and noticed light red spotting/cm after that. So maybe that specific occasion could be from my cervix? I was told once when I was spotting in pregnancy that constipation can cause the cervix to be irritated and bleed a little, and I am constipated right now (the usual for me at this stage of pregnancy) so maybe... Although that can't account for the BLEEDING, or the ongoing spotting for two weeks straight now. I hope to get some answers soon, so Neil is going to arrange to go in to work 90 minutes late and make up the time, so that I can get an early doctor's appointment in the morning and go without the boys while he stays home with them. I will be so glad to get that done! :)
I will still check my temperature in the morning, although I know that temping isn't all that clear-cut in pregnancy (thanks for reminding me Valerie!) - they can bounce around a bit. I know trusting God is about letting go of it all and just leaving it to Him. I know it's all in His hands anyway! I should stop probably... maybe. It's something I'm happier doing though, for now. I know it makes no difference to the outcome of the pregnancy, whether I temp or test, or not, AND what those things say. But I like to keep check... So I will temp again in the morning. I would rather a heads-up in the morning than a shock later in the day, unhappy and unsure as that might make me in the morning. I also feel so happy to keep seeing visible evidence of this little one inside me by actually being able to see his/her little HCG staring up at me from my test stick! :) I may test tomorrow, but I know there's no need. Maybe I'll wait a bit longer. Depends on my temp, perhaps.
I'll keep updating. That is helping me too. I can't wait to be able to relax and rejoice all over the place about this baby! I WOULD right this second if I was 100% sure he/she was okay in there! I want to tell the world right now. I want to tell Facebook and everyone I bump into in the street, "God has blessed us again!! I'm pregnant!! I'm expecting a baby!! We're thrilled!! I'm due in May!" and all that fun stuff. I hope I will be able to soon! I look forward to it so much, and the thought of it keeps me going! :)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
4 weeks, 6 days
Still here! :)
Still not sure what to make of anything. This morning started out very uncertain for me. I temped and although it's STILL triphasic, it's a touch lower yet again (that's 3 days in a row now), so it's a bit inconclusive really :S Also I used my last pregnancy test and it was almost exactly the same as the last test I took at 17DPO (I'm at 20DPO today) - the test line showed up immediately, before the control line even did, and it's nice and dark. BUT, when I let it dry out and then held it with the previous test stick, I wonder if it's slightly lighter than the older test. I wish I had a photo, but my camera battery is dead and I just haven't had a chance to find the charger today and get it charged. I ordered a pack of 10 more cheapy test sticks online today, and the place I get them from is usually really really quick with postage, so they might even arrive tomorrow morning. I don't plan on testing tomorrow though.
I have had no more red bleeding, or brown bleeding, for that matter. I am continuing to have brown spotting as before, maybe a tad more reddish because of the recent red bleeding, but still basically brown spotting. It's pretty light. I keep going to the loo to check but nothing much more is happening. I am really not sure what to make of it!!
I am quite calm about it all right now. I'm still happy to be pregnant, and anxiety isn't gnawing at me at all. I will either go on to miscarry, or go on to have some pretty obvious confirmations that I am having a healthy pregnancy, soon. What will be will be, and worrying can't change that. This, folks, is the power of God, I promise you, because I EXCEL at worrying. If something could be stressed over, I'm your girl! I would pass a test in needless anxiety with distinction! ;) To not be stressing about this is supernatural, for me. And I'm grateful.
I do have the odd bit of achiness in my lower back today, and a sort of crampy feeling low in my abdomen, but more like an achy fullness than anything else.
Homeschooling and the general pace of the daily day-ness of life is very very wonderful right now. It's keeping me so busy and occupied and grounded, and I am glad of it. The day passes quickly, and oh it's just so much better than flapping about trying to keep the boys under control. Homeschooling is so ordered (when you pull your finger out and actually GET IT DONE - which I was not doing before September), and life is so much easier and just.... better, somehow, than not homeschooling! :) Anyway, it has been helpful to me. My evenings are occupied with preparing school for an hour or so, for the next day - mainly just the maths lessons, which are fun and easy to prepare for the stages the boys are at right now.
Tomorrow then, I am 5 weeks pregnant! I don't know whether to "be" 5 weeks pregnant or wonder if the pregnancy has ended and I'm waiting for the hormones to catch up (temp will show this over the next couple of days if so). This evening I am feeling pretty WELL. Not that haven't been feeling well, but there has been such an exhaustion and an element of mild queasiness and not wanting to eat. Today I have had that too, but I'm SO HUNGRY behind that feeling. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and it wasn't difficult to make - no smells made me queasy (not sure if they should yet, from my past experience though?). This evening I have actually eaten and enjoyed chocolate (sweet food = no-no in general at this stage), and then just now before bed a bowl of cereal. I am second guessing myself, I know, but I wonder if that's normal for this stage or not? I wasn't wanting to eat much in the evenings over this past week... I feel quite alert and not too wiped out this evening, though I have felt EXHAUSTED most of today up until the evening.
Anyway I have made it to another bedtime, and so in the morning I will see what my temperature is. If it is lower then I wonder if I will start to bleed that day? If it's the same, then I guess it is inconclusive again, because it's still "up there" right now. Tomorrow I have three little boys getting vaccinations - so much fun! ;) So I need to work hard to get school done in the morning and then lunch and get the boys all ready to go to the doctor's in the afternoon. I hope I do not bleed in the process of allll that. And I wish there was a way I could see the doctor to book in my pregnancy, just in case it IS all okay! I should have done so by now if it's going to be okay. And also she would be able to book me an ultrasound in a week or so, which is something I want. Must sort that out!
I can't think what else.... My little one is hopefully working on a neural tube right now, and implantation was complete 4 days ago already. I hope that's what's happening in there.... The boys have mentioned Sausage a lot today, with happy smiles, and I have not found it easy to go along with them lightheartedly, but I have tried to make myself anyway. I hope they are not going to be let down.
Will update tomorrow - thanks so much for the comments! xx
Still not sure what to make of anything. This morning started out very uncertain for me. I temped and although it's STILL triphasic, it's a touch lower yet again (that's 3 days in a row now), so it's a bit inconclusive really :S Also I used my last pregnancy test and it was almost exactly the same as the last test I took at 17DPO (I'm at 20DPO today) - the test line showed up immediately, before the control line even did, and it's nice and dark. BUT, when I let it dry out and then held it with the previous test stick, I wonder if it's slightly lighter than the older test. I wish I had a photo, but my camera battery is dead and I just haven't had a chance to find the charger today and get it charged. I ordered a pack of 10 more cheapy test sticks online today, and the place I get them from is usually really really quick with postage, so they might even arrive tomorrow morning. I don't plan on testing tomorrow though.
I have had no more red bleeding, or brown bleeding, for that matter. I am continuing to have brown spotting as before, maybe a tad more reddish because of the recent red bleeding, but still basically brown spotting. It's pretty light. I keep going to the loo to check but nothing much more is happening. I am really not sure what to make of it!!
I am quite calm about it all right now. I'm still happy to be pregnant, and anxiety isn't gnawing at me at all. I will either go on to miscarry, or go on to have some pretty obvious confirmations that I am having a healthy pregnancy, soon. What will be will be, and worrying can't change that. This, folks, is the power of God, I promise you, because I EXCEL at worrying. If something could be stressed over, I'm your girl! I would pass a test in needless anxiety with distinction! ;) To not be stressing about this is supernatural, for me. And I'm grateful.
I do have the odd bit of achiness in my lower back today, and a sort of crampy feeling low in my abdomen, but more like an achy fullness than anything else.
Homeschooling and the general pace of the daily day-ness of life is very very wonderful right now. It's keeping me so busy and occupied and grounded, and I am glad of it. The day passes quickly, and oh it's just so much better than flapping about trying to keep the boys under control. Homeschooling is so ordered (when you pull your finger out and actually GET IT DONE - which I was not doing before September), and life is so much easier and just.... better, somehow, than not homeschooling! :) Anyway, it has been helpful to me. My evenings are occupied with preparing school for an hour or so, for the next day - mainly just the maths lessons, which are fun and easy to prepare for the stages the boys are at right now.
Tomorrow then, I am 5 weeks pregnant! I don't know whether to "be" 5 weeks pregnant or wonder if the pregnancy has ended and I'm waiting for the hormones to catch up (temp will show this over the next couple of days if so). This evening I am feeling pretty WELL. Not that haven't been feeling well, but there has been such an exhaustion and an element of mild queasiness and not wanting to eat. Today I have had that too, but I'm SO HUNGRY behind that feeling. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and it wasn't difficult to make - no smells made me queasy (not sure if they should yet, from my past experience though?). This evening I have actually eaten and enjoyed chocolate (sweet food = no-no in general at this stage), and then just now before bed a bowl of cereal. I am second guessing myself, I know, but I wonder if that's normal for this stage or not? I wasn't wanting to eat much in the evenings over this past week... I feel quite alert and not too wiped out this evening, though I have felt EXHAUSTED most of today up until the evening.
Anyway I have made it to another bedtime, and so in the morning I will see what my temperature is. If it is lower then I wonder if I will start to bleed that day? If it's the same, then I guess it is inconclusive again, because it's still "up there" right now. Tomorrow I have three little boys getting vaccinations - so much fun! ;) So I need to work hard to get school done in the morning and then lunch and get the boys all ready to go to the doctor's in the afternoon. I hope I do not bleed in the process of allll that. And I wish there was a way I could see the doctor to book in my pregnancy, just in case it IS all okay! I should have done so by now if it's going to be okay. And also she would be able to book me an ultrasound in a week or so, which is something I want. Must sort that out!
I can't think what else.... My little one is hopefully working on a neural tube right now, and implantation was complete 4 days ago already. I hope that's what's happening in there.... The boys have mentioned Sausage a lot today, with happy smiles, and I have not found it easy to go along with them lightheartedly, but I have tried to make myself anyway. I hope they are not going to be let down.
Will update tomorrow - thanks so much for the comments! xx
Monday, September 19, 2011
4 weeks, 5 days - insecurities...
I'm still here, I think! :S I have some bleeding today, but it's a bit sporadic. I'm not sure what to make of it. My temperature was down a touch on yesterday's (which was down a touch on the day before's), but triphasic all the same.
Brown spotting has continued today as yesterday. THEN around 6pm or so, I went to run the boys a bath and stopped for a wee - found dark/mid-red blood :( I know that's not good. I remember a doctor at the hospital when I was bleeding heavily (bright red) with Nathan, saying that dark red bleeding was actually more indicative of miscarriage than bright red bleeding, so at the time that was an encouragement.
I have also had a backache low down for most of the day, just mild. It was getting worse by the time I noticed the bleeding, and shortly afterwards it got a LOT worse and I became quite crampy feeling at the front low down too. Not BAD cramps, though I've charted bad to differentiate from my usual mild ones (which I've also had today, as most days I think, on and off). Neil got home shortly after this discovery and took over the boys' bath and much of bedtime prep so I didn't need to physically exert myself much. I spent the next couple of hours quite crampy (constant, not waves or peaks), and with bothersome low back ache (more bothersome than the crampiness). However 5 hours later the cramping is gone(disappeared 2 or 3 hours ago) and the back ache is minimal and not bothersome or distracting. Checked my pad and there is only some dark red spotting, nothing more.
What is going on?! I was sure I was starting a miscarriage early this evening, although I DO still feel pregnant, in terms of queasiness, hormonal moodiness (fly-off-the-handle day today), and I don't have much taste for food still (especially sweet foods) but my stomach is scrunchy hungry today, before I get to a meal time - a good pregnancy sign for me. I feel a bit weepy over children's stories - a lamb being born on a farming DVD the boys were watching choked me right up this afternoon! Still exhausted and a little dizzy today. Really bothersome headache this evening, which started around the boys' bedtime like the one I had at 6DPO (the day before my "period" started, which made me think it was a pre-period headache). I feel tired and congested (blood, not sinuses!) in my head, and HOT this evening.
I am planning to temp for confirmation (as in, whether it has dropped) tomorrow, AND test with my last pregnancy test, to see if it's getting lighter. The next day, I'll be 5 weeks pregnant and if things seem to be going okay still, I need to book my pregnancy in with the GP. Today I felt very unsure about the pregnancy while I was bleeding and cramping, so I thought I would not go to the GP (even though I'm meant to go asap) to book just yet.
Despite all of the above, I am still going with "Yay! I'm pregnant!" until proven, PROVEN, otherwise! :) There are lots of hints with the bleeding and cramping, but that's not proof for me yet, because I always have some sort of bleeding at some point! I want to read back my diary entries for this stage of Benjamin's pregnancy, because I started bleeding red with him at 5w2d and cramped like crazy, and was SURE as sure that the pregnancy was over, and then it quickly faded to spotting and all was well. I am wondering if it could be a similar thing. I really don't see why I am having all this BLEEEEDING though, from pretty much implantation time onwards! :S It has been 13 days now. I hope Sausage will be okay...
I will update tomorrow! So tired now, and need to go to bed.
Brown spotting has continued today as yesterday. THEN around 6pm or so, I went to run the boys a bath and stopped for a wee - found dark/mid-red blood :( I know that's not good. I remember a doctor at the hospital when I was bleeding heavily (bright red) with Nathan, saying that dark red bleeding was actually more indicative of miscarriage than bright red bleeding, so at the time that was an encouragement.
I have also had a backache low down for most of the day, just mild. It was getting worse by the time I noticed the bleeding, and shortly afterwards it got a LOT worse and I became quite crampy feeling at the front low down too. Not BAD cramps, though I've charted bad to differentiate from my usual mild ones (which I've also had today, as most days I think, on and off). Neil got home shortly after this discovery and took over the boys' bath and much of bedtime prep so I didn't need to physically exert myself much. I spent the next couple of hours quite crampy (constant, not waves or peaks), and with bothersome low back ache (more bothersome than the crampiness). However 5 hours later the cramping is gone(disappeared 2 or 3 hours ago) and the back ache is minimal and not bothersome or distracting. Checked my pad and there is only some dark red spotting, nothing more.
What is going on?! I was sure I was starting a miscarriage early this evening, although I DO still feel pregnant, in terms of queasiness, hormonal moodiness (fly-off-the-handle day today), and I don't have much taste for food still (especially sweet foods) but my stomach is scrunchy hungry today, before I get to a meal time - a good pregnancy sign for me. I feel a bit weepy over children's stories - a lamb being born on a farming DVD the boys were watching choked me right up this afternoon! Still exhausted and a little dizzy today. Really bothersome headache this evening, which started around the boys' bedtime like the one I had at 6DPO (the day before my "period" started, which made me think it was a pre-period headache). I feel tired and congested (blood, not sinuses!) in my head, and HOT this evening.
I am planning to temp for confirmation (as in, whether it has dropped) tomorrow, AND test with my last pregnancy test, to see if it's getting lighter. The next day, I'll be 5 weeks pregnant and if things seem to be going okay still, I need to book my pregnancy in with the GP. Today I felt very unsure about the pregnancy while I was bleeding and cramping, so I thought I would not go to the GP (even though I'm meant to go asap) to book just yet.
Despite all of the above, I am still going with "Yay! I'm pregnant!" until proven, PROVEN, otherwise! :) There are lots of hints with the bleeding and cramping, but that's not proof for me yet, because I always have some sort of bleeding at some point! I want to read back my diary entries for this stage of Benjamin's pregnancy, because I started bleeding red with him at 5w2d and cramped like crazy, and was SURE as sure that the pregnancy was over, and then it quickly faded to spotting and all was well. I am wondering if it could be a similar thing. I really don't see why I am having all this BLEEEEDING though, from pretty much implantation time onwards! :S It has been 13 days now. I hope Sausage will be okay...
I will update tomorrow! So tired now, and need to go to bed.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
4 weeks, 4 days! Yay! :D
Woohoo, I'm pregnant! I'm baaaack! I love this! :D So happy!
Thanks so much for all the sweet comments and congratulations! :)
I wanted to update as it feels like SUCH A LONG TIME since yesterday morning, when all of this started, lol! But it's so late, and Monday tomorrow and I should go to bed. I wanted to keep track of my symptoms and such though:
I am still spotting, but I think this is my lightest day so far - only a pantyliner needed today. The spotting is pretty dark brown, so I'm hopeful that it's fading off and will not come back again. With my previous pregnancy bleeds, the dark brown spotting stage always last aaaages for some reason. I'm guessing I had a pretty heavy bleed because of the amount of red bleeding, and the heaviness of the brown for so many days. I'm amazed actually that I'm still pregnant, but I do hope all is well in there. I think it seems optimistic given the strong positive test just yesterday and my temps still high? My temp dropped a touch today, but it's still up in the triphasic level (higher than all my temps before the bleeding started), so that's okay. I am going to continue temping for a while. I just have to know...
Today I am exhausted again, and dizzy like yesterday, but it's not too bad. I have pretty much no appetite, like the last few days, and I admit I'm not eating brilliantly. Nothing looks good. I do seem to want plain crisps a lot, and have eaten those twice today, and yesterday too. Today all I wanted for lunch was a bag of plain crisps with a whole load of cheddar cheese cut into little cubes and thrown in with the crisps! :)
Sweet foods are NOT tempting right now. I am still partaking in the cookies that remain from when I baked them a couple of days ago, but they are not thrilling my taste buds like they were on Friday! This morning I was nursing Samuel to sleep on my bed, and when I stood up off the bed, I suddenly could taste goats cheese and wanted some soooo badly! Never had that one before, lol! It happened again later in the day, but with a sweet food instead, which I can't even remember now (can't have been that much of a craving then!).
I am mildly crampy I think? A sort of hot discomfort in my pelvic area, a bit achy and heavy-feeling. Not like cramps but I can't think of another word to sum it up. Today I think I am juuuust starting to notice the need to wee more often. I definitely haven't had to before today. I need to drink more fluids! I do not want another kidney stone! :S
I just remembered that the night before the positive pregnancy test (16DPO) during the evening I had heartburn! I mentioned it to Neil, saying, "Wow, I haven't had heartburn for AGES!" Probably haven't had it since my last pregnancy, so now it all makes sense! ;) I still can't believe I didn't twig earlier, lol! It's the bloomin' bleeding that put me off!
I'm so sorry to everyone who missed crazy obsesso-woman this time around, hehe! I missed her too! I LOVE the surprise, but I did have a moment of, "Aww..." about the crazy fun of watching every tiny symptom like a hawk and obsessing at my blog, and oh the great great fun of testing and wondering about non-existant lines! I love that stuff, and I did miss it this time, but it doesn't matter - I'm pregnant, and that's the most wonderful part! :D
I was holding Samuel in my arms this afternoon, and Nathan was lying on the floor looking up at us. He suddenly smiled and said, "We didn't expect the two babies, did we Mummy?!" and I wondered what TWO babies he was on about! So I asked, and he said, "Baby Samuel... (not sure why he mentioned that part!)... and the girl baby." I said, "What girl baby, lovey?" and he said, "The girl baby in your tummy." :)
He also said that we should call him (bless his heart, all genders are still "him" according to Nathan, hehe!) "sausage"! I don't know where that came from, but I LOVE it! Matthew waited through alllll of Samuel's pregnancy wanting to call him "crispy" but Arthur had already chosen "cornflake", so we went with Cornflake for Samuel, before we know he was a Samuel! :) Matthew was so good about it, but he kept on mentioning his choice of name right to the end of my pregnancy, and even told a midwife that NEXT time the new baby would be "crispy" :) So I promised him that if God blessed me with another baby in my tummy, we could call it Crispy. As soon as he saw the pregnancy test yesterday, his first comment was, "This one's Crispy!!!" He was so happy and excited!
Matthew was playing with cars on the floor when Nathan said we should call "him" Sausage, and immediately clasped his hands to his chest and gasped, and said, "That's a GREAT name, Nathey! Let's call him Sausage!" He was just beaming, and I fell in love with him all over again because of how generous and kind and encouraging he is after his long wait. He still loves "crispy" but how lovely of him to give up that idea for Nathan's suggestion, because he likes that one too. I am just so proud of him for that! I talked to him about it, and asked if he was sure. He said "Yes! But it's not a girl, it's a boy, and he's Sausage!" :) Nathan hugged himself happily and immediately began to use Sausage's name in context: "Mummy, how big is Sausage right now?", "Mummy, when will Sausage come out of your tummy?", etc. So precious, and I LOVE the name for this tiny one! Arthur came downstairs at this moment, happy with the name and started using it right away to refer to the baby. We all love it, and it feels natural somehow when I talk to them to say, "Sausage is too small to see right now" instead of "the baby", which I was doing before.
When Neil came downstairs a couple of minutes later, Nathan was smiling so big when he proudly told him, "Daddy! We're going to call the baby Sausage! And he's DEFINITELY a girl." hehehe! Followed immediately by Matthew's, "No way, BOY!" So bizarre to have children old and enthusiastic enough to be arguing about the baby's gender, and fun to have a difference of opinion amongst them this time!
I told my mum. I can't help myself, lol! I spoke to her on the phone last night and had EVERY intention of not telling her for a while, but right at the end of the phone call, she suddenly said, "You don't have any NEWS, that I don't know??" in a certain tone! I was caught off guard and said, "Uhhm, ah, uh, well!... ummm, oh you've put me on the spot now!" hehe! So not good at keeping secrets! The main thing is, I CAN NOT lie to my mummy! So she said, "What news is it?" and I laughed and said, "Oh, you know.... uhhmmm...." Brilliant communicator, I am. She waited. I finally said that I didn't think I was having a period after all (she knew a couple of nights before that I was having an unsually heavy/long one), and she said, "Oh?" So I told her about the tiredness, and the high temp after feeling warm in the morning when I woke up, and talking to Neil about it, and finally getting a test out and finding a strong positive result. I told her I am still bleeding. She said, "What do you think's going on then?" and I said, "I think I am pregnant! And hopefully the bleeding is just my usual thing and it will go away and all will be fine." She seemed FINE about it - gasp! She didn't say or imply or muffle anything negative at all, I'm so happy! Maybe she felt it inside but for once kept it to herself? I don't know. But she was very supportive and sweet. She said, "I won't congratulate you yet, if that's okay... I think I will feel safer about doing that when the bleeding stops." And that's okay. She's a worrier. But then she said, "I won't count this one yet!" And I told her, "Well *I* will!" and laughed to keep it light-hearted. I said, "It's still a baby to me, even this early, and I am going to celebrate it with joy whether I miscarry or not!" She accepted that, but can't see it the same way herself apparently. Anyway, overall, a surprisingly lovely reaction from my mummy! :) Tonight she congratulated me properly when I told her my spotting is lighter :) She did not want to hear my due date yesterday, but she was happy to hear it tonight on the phone. She also said she told Daddy, and he is very happy, though he was stressed-out and under pressure over a meal going wrong in the kitchen when she told him last night, and apparently he used the "F" word :S She assures me that was entirely due to food-related pressure, and he's truly happy that I'm pregnant! ;)
Okay, I have a week to get through starting in not-too-many hours, and I need to put away my school prep stuff and go to bed. This week I have to find a time to see my GP and book in for my pregnancy - how I wish I could do it over the phone, lol! So difficult to haul all the little ones out, and the waiting rooms are getting much germier now too, ugh. We are all going to the doctor's surgery anyway on Wednesday afternoon for 3 of the boys to have vaccinations - oh yay! ;) Sadly not a time when the GP surgery is running, but oh well. I REALLY don't want to make any morning commitments because I want to keep mornings strictly for homeschool only. My GP only works mornings so I would have to see somebody else if I went in the afternoon.... lots to think about. I know I have to do it this week - they get "booked up" fast and you're supposed to go as soon as you test positive around here. Wednesday also marks 5 weeks, and that's the exact day that I started morning sickness last time around (earlier than my others at 5w6d). I have no real plan!!! Aaaargh! My mum wanted to know two things, pretty much straight away in our conversation this evening:
* Where are you going to put this one?
* How are you going to manage while you're pregnant?
So obviously I have no answers, because I don't know! The answer to #1 is pretty much going to revolve around, God will provide - either financially for a bigger home, or creatively for a space saving solution in our current tiny home. I already have an idea for fitting 5 little boys in the bigger bedroom (which currently holds 4 in two bunk-style beds) without adding any more furniture to it, but it's a bit... out there, lol!
The answer to #2 is pretty much going to revolve around, God will provide. Oh did I say that already?! ;) Well, He will! Energy, help, "a way", something. He will. I have no plan of my own to lean on, which is handy because I'm not supposed to lean on my own understanding, but to trust in the LORD with all my heart. I know He will lift me up and enable me, and I am going to watch and wait to see Him bless me and be glorified. Yes, I have my doubting moments. No, that doesn't make any difference. I wrote all my jumbled up thoughts in my latest blog entry at my main blog, which goes into more detail than I have time for here tonight. Anyway, I am trusting God. I have no idea how I will manage! But I know God is good, and I can trust Him! :)
MUST go to bed!!! Back soon though! :)
Thanks so much for all the sweet comments and congratulations! :)
I wanted to update as it feels like SUCH A LONG TIME since yesterday morning, when all of this started, lol! But it's so late, and Monday tomorrow and I should go to bed. I wanted to keep track of my symptoms and such though:
I am still spotting, but I think this is my lightest day so far - only a pantyliner needed today. The spotting is pretty dark brown, so I'm hopeful that it's fading off and will not come back again. With my previous pregnancy bleeds, the dark brown spotting stage always last aaaages for some reason. I'm guessing I had a pretty heavy bleed because of the amount of red bleeding, and the heaviness of the brown for so many days. I'm amazed actually that I'm still pregnant, but I do hope all is well in there. I think it seems optimistic given the strong positive test just yesterday and my temps still high? My temp dropped a touch today, but it's still up in the triphasic level (higher than all my temps before the bleeding started), so that's okay. I am going to continue temping for a while. I just have to know...
Today I am exhausted again, and dizzy like yesterday, but it's not too bad. I have pretty much no appetite, like the last few days, and I admit I'm not eating brilliantly. Nothing looks good. I do seem to want plain crisps a lot, and have eaten those twice today, and yesterday too. Today all I wanted for lunch was a bag of plain crisps with a whole load of cheddar cheese cut into little cubes and thrown in with the crisps! :)
Sweet foods are NOT tempting right now. I am still partaking in the cookies that remain from when I baked them a couple of days ago, but they are not thrilling my taste buds like they were on Friday! This morning I was nursing Samuel to sleep on my bed, and when I stood up off the bed, I suddenly could taste goats cheese and wanted some soooo badly! Never had that one before, lol! It happened again later in the day, but with a sweet food instead, which I can't even remember now (can't have been that much of a craving then!).
I am mildly crampy I think? A sort of hot discomfort in my pelvic area, a bit achy and heavy-feeling. Not like cramps but I can't think of another word to sum it up. Today I think I am juuuust starting to notice the need to wee more often. I definitely haven't had to before today. I need to drink more fluids! I do not want another kidney stone! :S
I just remembered that the night before the positive pregnancy test (16DPO) during the evening I had heartburn! I mentioned it to Neil, saying, "Wow, I haven't had heartburn for AGES!" Probably haven't had it since my last pregnancy, so now it all makes sense! ;) I still can't believe I didn't twig earlier, lol! It's the bloomin' bleeding that put me off!
I'm so sorry to everyone who missed crazy obsesso-woman this time around, hehe! I missed her too! I LOVE the surprise, but I did have a moment of, "Aww..." about the crazy fun of watching every tiny symptom like a hawk and obsessing at my blog, and oh the great great fun of testing and wondering about non-existant lines! I love that stuff, and I did miss it this time, but it doesn't matter - I'm pregnant, and that's the most wonderful part! :D
I was holding Samuel in my arms this afternoon, and Nathan was lying on the floor looking up at us. He suddenly smiled and said, "We didn't expect the two babies, did we Mummy?!" and I wondered what TWO babies he was on about! So I asked, and he said, "Baby Samuel... (not sure why he mentioned that part!)... and the girl baby." I said, "What girl baby, lovey?" and he said, "The girl baby in your tummy." :)
He also said that we should call him (bless his heart, all genders are still "him" according to Nathan, hehe!) "sausage"! I don't know where that came from, but I LOVE it! Matthew waited through alllll of Samuel's pregnancy wanting to call him "crispy" but Arthur had already chosen "cornflake", so we went with Cornflake for Samuel, before we know he was a Samuel! :) Matthew was so good about it, but he kept on mentioning his choice of name right to the end of my pregnancy, and even told a midwife that NEXT time the new baby would be "crispy" :) So I promised him that if God blessed me with another baby in my tummy, we could call it Crispy. As soon as he saw the pregnancy test yesterday, his first comment was, "This one's Crispy!!!" He was so happy and excited!
Matthew was playing with cars on the floor when Nathan said we should call "him" Sausage, and immediately clasped his hands to his chest and gasped, and said, "That's a GREAT name, Nathey! Let's call him Sausage!" He was just beaming, and I fell in love with him all over again because of how generous and kind and encouraging he is after his long wait. He still loves "crispy" but how lovely of him to give up that idea for Nathan's suggestion, because he likes that one too. I am just so proud of him for that! I talked to him about it, and asked if he was sure. He said "Yes! But it's not a girl, it's a boy, and he's Sausage!" :) Nathan hugged himself happily and immediately began to use Sausage's name in context: "Mummy, how big is Sausage right now?", "Mummy, when will Sausage come out of your tummy?", etc. So precious, and I LOVE the name for this tiny one! Arthur came downstairs at this moment, happy with the name and started using it right away to refer to the baby. We all love it, and it feels natural somehow when I talk to them to say, "Sausage is too small to see right now" instead of "the baby", which I was doing before.
When Neil came downstairs a couple of minutes later, Nathan was smiling so big when he proudly told him, "Daddy! We're going to call the baby Sausage! And he's DEFINITELY a girl." hehehe! Followed immediately by Matthew's, "No way, BOY!" So bizarre to have children old and enthusiastic enough to be arguing about the baby's gender, and fun to have a difference of opinion amongst them this time!
I told my mum. I can't help myself, lol! I spoke to her on the phone last night and had EVERY intention of not telling her for a while, but right at the end of the phone call, she suddenly said, "You don't have any NEWS, that I don't know??" in a certain tone! I was caught off guard and said, "Uhhm, ah, uh, well!... ummm, oh you've put me on the spot now!" hehe! So not good at keeping secrets! The main thing is, I CAN NOT lie to my mummy! So she said, "What news is it?" and I laughed and said, "Oh, you know.... uhhmmm...." Brilliant communicator, I am. She waited. I finally said that I didn't think I was having a period after all (she knew a couple of nights before that I was having an unsually heavy/long one), and she said, "Oh?" So I told her about the tiredness, and the high temp after feeling warm in the morning when I woke up, and talking to Neil about it, and finally getting a test out and finding a strong positive result. I told her I am still bleeding. She said, "What do you think's going on then?" and I said, "I think I am pregnant! And hopefully the bleeding is just my usual thing and it will go away and all will be fine." She seemed FINE about it - gasp! She didn't say or imply or muffle anything negative at all, I'm so happy! Maybe she felt it inside but for once kept it to herself? I don't know. But she was very supportive and sweet. She said, "I won't congratulate you yet, if that's okay... I think I will feel safer about doing that when the bleeding stops." And that's okay. She's a worrier. But then she said, "I won't count this one yet!" And I told her, "Well *I* will!" and laughed to keep it light-hearted. I said, "It's still a baby to me, even this early, and I am going to celebrate it with joy whether I miscarry or not!" She accepted that, but can't see it the same way herself apparently. Anyway, overall, a surprisingly lovely reaction from my mummy! :) Tonight she congratulated me properly when I told her my spotting is lighter :) She did not want to hear my due date yesterday, but she was happy to hear it tonight on the phone. She also said she told Daddy, and he is very happy, though he was stressed-out and under pressure over a meal going wrong in the kitchen when she told him last night, and apparently he used the "F" word :S She assures me that was entirely due to food-related pressure, and he's truly happy that I'm pregnant! ;)
Okay, I have a week to get through starting in not-too-many hours, and I need to put away my school prep stuff and go to bed. This week I have to find a time to see my GP and book in for my pregnancy - how I wish I could do it over the phone, lol! So difficult to haul all the little ones out, and the waiting rooms are getting much germier now too, ugh. We are all going to the doctor's surgery anyway on Wednesday afternoon for 3 of the boys to have vaccinations - oh yay! ;) Sadly not a time when the GP surgery is running, but oh well. I REALLY don't want to make any morning commitments because I want to keep mornings strictly for homeschool only. My GP only works mornings so I would have to see somebody else if I went in the afternoon.... lots to think about. I know I have to do it this week - they get "booked up" fast and you're supposed to go as soon as you test positive around here. Wednesday also marks 5 weeks, and that's the exact day that I started morning sickness last time around (earlier than my others at 5w6d). I have no real plan!!! Aaaargh! My mum wanted to know two things, pretty much straight away in our conversation this evening:
* Where are you going to put this one?
* How are you going to manage while you're pregnant?
So obviously I have no answers, because I don't know! The answer to #1 is pretty much going to revolve around, God will provide - either financially for a bigger home, or creatively for a space saving solution in our current tiny home. I already have an idea for fitting 5 little boys in the bigger bedroom (which currently holds 4 in two bunk-style beds) without adding any more furniture to it, but it's a bit... out there, lol!
The answer to #2 is pretty much going to revolve around, God will provide. Oh did I say that already?! ;) Well, He will! Energy, help, "a way", something. He will. I have no plan of my own to lean on, which is handy because I'm not supposed to lean on my own understanding, but to trust in the LORD with all my heart. I know He will lift me up and enable me, and I am going to watch and wait to see Him bless me and be glorified. Yes, I have my doubting moments. No, that doesn't make any difference. I wrote all my jumbled up thoughts in my latest blog entry at my main blog, which goes into more detail than I have time for here tonight. Anyway, I am trusting God. I have no idea how I will manage! But I know God is good, and I can trust Him! :)
MUST go to bed!!! Back soon though! :)
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Uhhmmm, seems I have some news! ;)
So I am on CD11 today. You know, after the 6 day luteal phase last cycle (same as the cycle before). I am having an unusual period. I'm STILL bleeding, although it has been more like dark brown spotting these last couple of days. I have had more days of heavier red bleeding than I ever do (usually my periods are pretty light), but without much cramping at all, thankfully.
This week is the 2nd week of full-on homeschooling, and I am TIRED. Tired enough by the end of the week to dwell on it a bit. I am just BONE bone bone tired, not sleep-deprived tired, just physically utterly knackered from like 10 inches deep under diaphragm. I felt like that in the 2 days before my period arrived as well, and told Neil about it at the time, saying that I thought my period would show up (or that I was in early pregnancy) because it was not the sleep-dep type of tiredness, but the hormonal type that I know and love so well, lol! Well, that's STILL how I feel. I figured it was the loooong period plus homeschooling, plus naughtily having late late nights every night this week. Of course it could easily be that.
Yesterday I noticed a spot next to my nose, and another on my forehead. That really caught my attention because I NEVER get hormonal spots (and these were they) unless I am getting a period or am pregnant. They clear up right after I start my period, like in the next 24 hours or so. This is an absolute dead cert for me. So I wondered why I had those spots.
I have not temped since getting my period because my temp dropped so incredibly low the day I got my period (7dpo) - I mean, it dropped a couple of degrees C! Look, here's my chart as it was when my period started 11 days ago:
and then I started bleeding heavily, so I knew not to bother temping until nearer to ovulation. But this morning when I woke, the first thing I thought as I lay on my back was that I felt warm. Post-ovulation warm - I have become pretty tuned to it over the years. Sometimes I'm wrong, but.... I can't put my finger on it exactly, or describe it to you - I just have a slightly burny feel deep inside my throat and head and chest, that makes me think my core temp is the type of high that I only get when I have ovulated. So immediately I grabbed my thermometer which was next to the bed, and temped. I got 36.84!!! VERY much a post-ovulatory temp, and a high one at that! I wondered, completely stumped, whether perhaps I was unwell in some way and that's why I had a slightly higher temp than my body should be exhibiting given that I had not ovulated yet. I thought that also might account for how WIPED I felt despite waking from a night's sleep and having been blessed with a lie-in this Saturday morning!
I went down to Neil and we talked about it. He said he had a dream that I had a proper temperature (fever) the other night. He also said that maybe I had better be thinking of girl names. I said, "WHAAAAT?!" and he said he had prayed that if I get pregnant again, that it would be twin girls! Not that he wants girls and no more boys, but just that... I don't know why! I said, "But, but... that isn't possible! I am still finishing my period, and there's NO denying it's a period." I told him about it, and agreed it didn't seem likely that I could be pregnant. How I wished I had a test in my drawer to just confirm it for me, so that I could get on without such a crazy notion in the back of my mind, lol!
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered - oh, you know what I'm like, hehe! Even in the face of NO WAY IS IT POSSIBLE, NOT EVER, NUH-UH! it's still something I wonder about if the thought strikes me, lol! So I got to thinking about the spots, and the tiredness.... and the fact earlier in the week there were two nights running where Neil and I ate late after the boys, and we had lasagne and garlic bread one night, and fish and rice and veg the other night. BOTH meals I LOVE and can always finish, but both nights I could not. I just felt too full way before I could finish the plateful, even though I was hungry before the meal. I commented at the time to Neil, who said maybe it's because I've lost weight (?! not sure of this logic!) or something - it has been really coming off me lately, without doing anything towards it. This happens after the 8 month mark PP, when I am still breastfeeding, and it doesn't make a difference whether I change my diet or do any exercise. I don't lose it before 6 months, and can't keep it ON after 8 months, lol! Anyway, I am now at the 9 stone mark, lighter than I was before I got pregnant with Samuel AND Benjamin!
I tried frantically to think if there were any other signs, or what signs I NORMALLY get in early pregnancy but hadn't experienced in the last week or two, just to try and get a better picture of it in my mind. I know I get cramping and gassiness and eventually little ligament pains as an absolute rule with my pregnancies, in the two weeks or so after ovulation. If I was counting from ovulation, I would be 17 days past ovulation today. Well past testing time! I could not remember any ligament pains, although last night in bed when I did my gentle abs exercises, my lower back was sharp and painful when I did gentle pelvic tilts, which I hadn't had all the other nights before that. I thought I must have hurt my back somehow, which is still possible maybe. I wore Samuel in my back to the park in the Ergo twice over the last week, but it's the easiest way to carry weight on the back that I've ever found, so I didn't think I had strained myself in any way, even so.
I felt dizzy most of this morning, just swingy, but I put that down to the extreme exhaustion I was feeling. I HAVE felt crampy on and off, but will have taken absolutely NO notice of it whatsoever, since I'm bleeding and apparently having a period. I HAVE been gassy, but um, that isn't necessarily unusual *blush* ;)
Suddenly I remembered the "weirdly soft skin" confirmation that I always get, and gasped out to Neil, "Is my skin soft?!!!" he put his hands to my cheeks and said with an excited tone, "Maybe!!"
As soon as Samuel had woken from his nap and the boys had finished lunch, I left Neil watching them and went to rummage through all my drawers in the hope (ohhhh the HOPE!) of finding a leftover pregnancy test. And I DID!!! And it was in date! In fact I think there were two in the box, but I didn't notice too well because of my excitement at finding one and grabbing it and running to the bathroom, lol! ;)
I heard Neil start to change a nappy in the living room for someone, and grabbed a glass from a night-time drink which I tipped out and peed in right away. I had already been for a wee that morning but I knew that I would know for sure one way or another even without first morning urine, if I was really at 17DPO. In my head it seemed daft, I could see I was obviously having my period, and everything was in the usual place for that to have happened (appropriate DPO for my period to have shown up, big temp drop to coincide, heavy-but-normal period since, etc), but I felt indescribably excited. I put that down to association! ;)
I peed in the glass, and I dipped the stick and put it on the side of the bath. As the pink swept across the window, IMMEDIATELY a pink line showed up before the pink sweep even got to the control line area. I knew I had to wait until the pink sweep faded, but already I knew I was looking at a positive pregnancy test, and the weird thing is, I did not feel that surprised! I just felt too too joyful and happy and excited to even be able to describe to you! :D I waited. The window cleared. The control line showed up pink. The test line remained almost as pink as the control line! A STRONG BFP!!!!
I said, "Um, Neil?!" and he called up, "Yeah?" and then repeated himself in a more concerned tone. I came downstairs where he was changing Samuel's nappy on the floor with all the boys sitting around listening to a story tape from my childhood collection. I held the stick out from the stairs and said, "Can you see this from there?!" He said, "Two lines?!!" and I said, "Yes! I can't believe it!" and just laughed. He looked kind of shocked, hehe, but couldn't stop smiling :) I asked him if we should show the boys, who were so engrossed in the story that they hadn't stopped to hear what we were talking about. So I called their attention and showed them the stick. They know what those are! ;) I asked Arthur and Matthew how many lines they could see. Arthur peered at it and said, "TWO!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!" They immediately knew there was a baby growing in my tummy and were so happy and excited! They were full of questions, asking how long the baby had been growing in there, and what his (it's all they know, lol!) name was going to be, and so on.
The first thing we did once we could stop them jumping and yelling, was to get everybody to sit down on the sofa or the floor, and I told them that this baby is so unexpected, and that makes it an extra special gift from God. I told them we are going to stop and pray immediately to say thank you to God for such a precious gift to us, and they closed their eyes and I prayed. My voice was shaking as I was praying, just thanking God, and asking for a healthy pregnancy - I just suddenly felt overcome with how surreal it felt and what a shock it was to suddenly realise out of NOWHERE that I am pregnant! I mean, this has never happened before! I am always right on the ball, watching my chart, keeping track minute-by-minute (you know I'm not kidding ladies, lol!) of every possible sign or symptom as I wait for the chance to test, usually way too early! It's really really strange to me to have arrived at 17DPO with NOT A CLUE that I might be pregnant all this while! I knew there was a high chance of conception, but not much chance at all of my luteal phase sustaining it.
AH! I've just realised that I had BAD cramps in my luteal phase, remember from a couple of entries back?!!! Aha, how vindicated I feel, lol! I ONLY get those during my luteal phase when pregnant, and I ended my last "cycle" saying that it was a first for me, to have had bad cramps and still got my period. Inside I wondered if I had conceived, started implantation and then got my period, and THAT was why I had bad cramps, but I did not want to say that because it looks like I ALWAYS get my period saying, "Oh I am sure I was pregnant but just got my period anyway!" and that must get annoying to keep hearing! ;)
Anyway, after the excitement, I kept the test in my hand - I just didn't want to put it down. I still haven't stopped shaking, or praising God, or smiling, and I just keep saying out loud, "I just can't BELIEVE it!" and laughing! :)
Here's the test!
I'm trying to merge my two cycles together (this one and the last one where I conceived) at Fertility Friend so that I can make them into one whole cycle. Once FF has let me do that I will be able to see my due date, but I suspect Nicola has been right on the money predicting a May 2012 baby! ;)
Okay, FF has merged my charts (I had to manually correct ovulation as it had disappeared in the merge!) and I have a due date of May 23rd 2012!!! That's a 17 month gap again between babies, how lovely! Or maybe just a bit less - Samuel will only turn 17 months old 2 days before my due date. I love the month of May to have a baby - a spring baby! I haven't had a spring baby before! :D Yay yay yay!
So I must be 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant today, with my "week change" day being a Wednesday :) I can't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't BELIEVE it! I'm so so so so happy and joyful and thankful, and oh I just can't believe it! SIX children! I'm so blessed. Thank you Lord! :)
[edited to add - just remembered, as always please do not mention my pregnancy on Facebook if you know me there! I don't want friends and family to know yet, and will announce it in due course! Thanks! :) ]
This week is the 2nd week of full-on homeschooling, and I am TIRED. Tired enough by the end of the week to dwell on it a bit. I am just BONE bone bone tired, not sleep-deprived tired, just physically utterly knackered from like 10 inches deep under diaphragm. I felt like that in the 2 days before my period arrived as well, and told Neil about it at the time, saying that I thought my period would show up (or that I was in early pregnancy) because it was not the sleep-dep type of tiredness, but the hormonal type that I know and love so well, lol! Well, that's STILL how I feel. I figured it was the loooong period plus homeschooling, plus naughtily having late late nights every night this week. Of course it could easily be that.
Yesterday I noticed a spot next to my nose, and another on my forehead. That really caught my attention because I NEVER get hormonal spots (and these were they) unless I am getting a period or am pregnant. They clear up right after I start my period, like in the next 24 hours or so. This is an absolute dead cert for me. So I wondered why I had those spots.
I have not temped since getting my period because my temp dropped so incredibly low the day I got my period (7dpo) - I mean, it dropped a couple of degrees C! Look, here's my chart as it was when my period started 11 days ago:
and then I started bleeding heavily, so I knew not to bother temping until nearer to ovulation. But this morning when I woke, the first thing I thought as I lay on my back was that I felt warm. Post-ovulation warm - I have become pretty tuned to it over the years. Sometimes I'm wrong, but.... I can't put my finger on it exactly, or describe it to you - I just have a slightly burny feel deep inside my throat and head and chest, that makes me think my core temp is the type of high that I only get when I have ovulated. So immediately I grabbed my thermometer which was next to the bed, and temped. I got 36.84!!! VERY much a post-ovulatory temp, and a high one at that! I wondered, completely stumped, whether perhaps I was unwell in some way and that's why I had a slightly higher temp than my body should be exhibiting given that I had not ovulated yet. I thought that also might account for how WIPED I felt despite waking from a night's sleep and having been blessed with a lie-in this Saturday morning!
I went down to Neil and we talked about it. He said he had a dream that I had a proper temperature (fever) the other night. He also said that maybe I had better be thinking of girl names. I said, "WHAAAAT?!" and he said he had prayed that if I get pregnant again, that it would be twin girls! Not that he wants girls and no more boys, but just that... I don't know why! I said, "But, but... that isn't possible! I am still finishing my period, and there's NO denying it's a period." I told him about it, and agreed it didn't seem likely that I could be pregnant. How I wished I had a test in my drawer to just confirm it for me, so that I could get on without such a crazy notion in the back of my mind, lol!
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered - oh, you know what I'm like, hehe! Even in the face of NO WAY IS IT POSSIBLE, NOT EVER, NUH-UH! it's still something I wonder about if the thought strikes me, lol! So I got to thinking about the spots, and the tiredness.... and the fact earlier in the week there were two nights running where Neil and I ate late after the boys, and we had lasagne and garlic bread one night, and fish and rice and veg the other night. BOTH meals I LOVE and can always finish, but both nights I could not. I just felt too full way before I could finish the plateful, even though I was hungry before the meal. I commented at the time to Neil, who said maybe it's because I've lost weight (?! not sure of this logic!) or something - it has been really coming off me lately, without doing anything towards it. This happens after the 8 month mark PP, when I am still breastfeeding, and it doesn't make a difference whether I change my diet or do any exercise. I don't lose it before 6 months, and can't keep it ON after 8 months, lol! Anyway, I am now at the 9 stone mark, lighter than I was before I got pregnant with Samuel AND Benjamin!
I tried frantically to think if there were any other signs, or what signs I NORMALLY get in early pregnancy but hadn't experienced in the last week or two, just to try and get a better picture of it in my mind. I know I get cramping and gassiness and eventually little ligament pains as an absolute rule with my pregnancies, in the two weeks or so after ovulation. If I was counting from ovulation, I would be 17 days past ovulation today. Well past testing time! I could not remember any ligament pains, although last night in bed when I did my gentle abs exercises, my lower back was sharp and painful when I did gentle pelvic tilts, which I hadn't had all the other nights before that. I thought I must have hurt my back somehow, which is still possible maybe. I wore Samuel in my back to the park in the Ergo twice over the last week, but it's the easiest way to carry weight on the back that I've ever found, so I didn't think I had strained myself in any way, even so.
I felt dizzy most of this morning, just swingy, but I put that down to the extreme exhaustion I was feeling. I HAVE felt crampy on and off, but will have taken absolutely NO notice of it whatsoever, since I'm bleeding and apparently having a period. I HAVE been gassy, but um, that isn't necessarily unusual *blush* ;)
Suddenly I remembered the "weirdly soft skin" confirmation that I always get, and gasped out to Neil, "Is my skin soft?!!!" he put his hands to my cheeks and said with an excited tone, "Maybe!!"
As soon as Samuel had woken from his nap and the boys had finished lunch, I left Neil watching them and went to rummage through all my drawers in the hope (ohhhh the HOPE!) of finding a leftover pregnancy test. And I DID!!! And it was in date! In fact I think there were two in the box, but I didn't notice too well because of my excitement at finding one and grabbing it and running to the bathroom, lol! ;)
I heard Neil start to change a nappy in the living room for someone, and grabbed a glass from a night-time drink which I tipped out and peed in right away. I had already been for a wee that morning but I knew that I would know for sure one way or another even without first morning urine, if I was really at 17DPO. In my head it seemed daft, I could see I was obviously having my period, and everything was in the usual place for that to have happened (appropriate DPO for my period to have shown up, big temp drop to coincide, heavy-but-normal period since, etc), but I felt indescribably excited. I put that down to association! ;)
I peed in the glass, and I dipped the stick and put it on the side of the bath. As the pink swept across the window, IMMEDIATELY a pink line showed up before the pink sweep even got to the control line area. I knew I had to wait until the pink sweep faded, but already I knew I was looking at a positive pregnancy test, and the weird thing is, I did not feel that surprised! I just felt too too joyful and happy and excited to even be able to describe to you! :D I waited. The window cleared. The control line showed up pink. The test line remained almost as pink as the control line! A STRONG BFP!!!!
I said, "Um, Neil?!" and he called up, "Yeah?" and then repeated himself in a more concerned tone. I came downstairs where he was changing Samuel's nappy on the floor with all the boys sitting around listening to a story tape from my childhood collection. I held the stick out from the stairs and said, "Can you see this from there?!" He said, "Two lines?!!" and I said, "Yes! I can't believe it!" and just laughed. He looked kind of shocked, hehe, but couldn't stop smiling :) I asked him if we should show the boys, who were so engrossed in the story that they hadn't stopped to hear what we were talking about. So I called their attention and showed them the stick. They know what those are! ;) I asked Arthur and Matthew how many lines they could see. Arthur peered at it and said, "TWO!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!" They immediately knew there was a baby growing in my tummy and were so happy and excited! They were full of questions, asking how long the baby had been growing in there, and what his (it's all they know, lol!) name was going to be, and so on.
The first thing we did once we could stop them jumping and yelling, was to get everybody to sit down on the sofa or the floor, and I told them that this baby is so unexpected, and that makes it an extra special gift from God. I told them we are going to stop and pray immediately to say thank you to God for such a precious gift to us, and they closed their eyes and I prayed. My voice was shaking as I was praying, just thanking God, and asking for a healthy pregnancy - I just suddenly felt overcome with how surreal it felt and what a shock it was to suddenly realise out of NOWHERE that I am pregnant! I mean, this has never happened before! I am always right on the ball, watching my chart, keeping track minute-by-minute (you know I'm not kidding ladies, lol!) of every possible sign or symptom as I wait for the chance to test, usually way too early! It's really really strange to me to have arrived at 17DPO with NOT A CLUE that I might be pregnant all this while! I knew there was a high chance of conception, but not much chance at all of my luteal phase sustaining it.
AH! I've just realised that I had BAD cramps in my luteal phase, remember from a couple of entries back?!!! Aha, how vindicated I feel, lol! I ONLY get those during my luteal phase when pregnant, and I ended my last "cycle" saying that it was a first for me, to have had bad cramps and still got my period. Inside I wondered if I had conceived, started implantation and then got my period, and THAT was why I had bad cramps, but I did not want to say that because it looks like I ALWAYS get my period saying, "Oh I am sure I was pregnant but just got my period anyway!" and that must get annoying to keep hearing! ;)
Anyway, after the excitement, I kept the test in my hand - I just didn't want to put it down. I still haven't stopped shaking, or praising God, or smiling, and I just keep saying out loud, "I just can't BELIEVE it!" and laughing! :)
Here's the test!
I'm trying to merge my two cycles together (this one and the last one where I conceived) at Fertility Friend so that I can make them into one whole cycle. Once FF has let me do that I will be able to see my due date, but I suspect Nicola has been right on the money predicting a May 2012 baby! ;)
Okay, FF has merged my charts (I had to manually correct ovulation as it had disappeared in the merge!) and I have a due date of May 23rd 2012!!! That's a 17 month gap again between babies, how lovely! Or maybe just a bit less - Samuel will only turn 17 months old 2 days before my due date. I love the month of May to have a baby - a spring baby! I haven't had a spring baby before! :D Yay yay yay!
So I must be 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant today, with my "week change" day being a Wednesday :) I can't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't BELIEVE it! I'm so so so so happy and joyful and thankful, and oh I just can't believe it! SIX children! I'm so blessed. Thank you Lord! :)
[edited to add - just remembered, as always please do not mention my pregnancy on Facebook if you know me there! I don't want friends and family to know yet, and will announce it in due course! Thanks! :) ]
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Short luteal phase!
This morning my temperature dropped like a STONE, so I knew I would definitely be getting my period! I felt soooo nauseous last night, ugh, and dizzy/headachy. This morning when I woke up I started to feel nauseous literally the moment I opened my eyes, and then when I temped I was quite nervous about the day ahead, mid-way through the first full week of properly homeschooling this term! :S
I have continued to feel dizzy and kind of delicate through the day, and because I knew my period would show up, I determined to take the day by the horns and try to get all the important stuff done as early as possible so as to have breathing room if I felt hideous later in the day. So proud of myself because everyone was dressed and fed by 8am, and we had finished all of school by lunchtime! :) I had time to bake brownies with Matthew, and make dinner on time for the boys. They were dressed for bed with teeth cleaned when Neil arrived home from work, and STILL my period had not arrived.
By that time I was feeling queasy again, which quickly progressed to really yucky nausea once the boys were in bed, and I couldn't eat any dinner. I just feel exhausted, physically, to my absolute BONE today. So very different to any level of overtiredness, this hormonal tiredness. I couldn't remember if that was normal for me before a period, and since it was so extreme I wondered if there was still a chance it could be maaayyyybe pregnancy related?
Anyway, eventually this evening I took a left-over anti-sickness pill that I was prescribed when I had my kidney stone, and felt better enough for some cereal an hour or so later. Right after which, my period turned up! :) So, another cycle begins, and I'm quite surprised at the bad cramping I've had - that's the first time I've ever had bad cramps that went away again in my luteal phase, outside of being pregnant. It does lead me to wonder that I probably conceived, but I guess there's no point thinking about that. I'm also surprised that my luteal phase is STILL only 6 days long - same as last cycle.
Still, God's timing, God's timing... and I'm happy when I think of it like that! Perfectly happy! :) Thanks for the sweet comments last entry! So nice to have people cheering me on, hehe! I will be back in a few weeks! :)
I have continued to feel dizzy and kind of delicate through the day, and because I knew my period would show up, I determined to take the day by the horns and try to get all the important stuff done as early as possible so as to have breathing room if I felt hideous later in the day. So proud of myself because everyone was dressed and fed by 8am, and we had finished all of school by lunchtime! :) I had time to bake brownies with Matthew, and make dinner on time for the boys. They were dressed for bed with teeth cleaned when Neil arrived home from work, and STILL my period had not arrived.
By that time I was feeling queasy again, which quickly progressed to really yucky nausea once the boys were in bed, and I couldn't eat any dinner. I just feel exhausted, physically, to my absolute BONE today. So very different to any level of overtiredness, this hormonal tiredness. I couldn't remember if that was normal for me before a period, and since it was so extreme I wondered if there was still a chance it could be maaayyyybe pregnancy related?
Anyway, eventually this evening I took a left-over anti-sickness pill that I was prescribed when I had my kidney stone, and felt better enough for some cereal an hour or so later. Right after which, my period turned up! :) So, another cycle begins, and I'm quite surprised at the bad cramping I've had - that's the first time I've ever had bad cramps that went away again in my luteal phase, outside of being pregnant. It does lead me to wonder that I probably conceived, but I guess there's no point thinking about that. I'm also surprised that my luteal phase is STILL only 6 days long - same as last cycle.
Still, God's timing, God's timing... and I'm happy when I think of it like that! Perfectly happy! :) Thanks for the sweet comments last entry! So nice to have people cheering me on, hehe! I will be back in a few weeks! :)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
6DPO
My temp did go up again this morning after yesterday's dip. I was dreaming that I was trying to figure out which thermometer to use to temp with, when Neil woke me this morning, haha! ;)
I have had about 30 mins of bad cramps for a burst this morning, and then again just after lunch time, but nothing else. Over the rest of that time, I had no cramping whatsoever.
However! It's evening now, and I am now feeling like I am going to get my period sometime soon. I feel very very tired, and mildly crampy (not the bad cramps that I had earlier in the day and yesterday - they were worse yesterday than today actually). Right around 6.30pm I SUDDENLY out of the blue became really irritable and impatient, and after about 10 minutes of being unnecessarily snappy with my children, I started to ask myself what on earth was going on! It does seem rather PMS-like to me. Then I came down from putting little ones to bed and started to read Arthur a story, and realised I was getting a headache. Within a few minutes I had to stop reading to go and take some painkillers, just because it was a weird sort of heavy headache that did not feel nice at all. It's still here anyway, which is something I remember from the 24 or so hours before a period starts sometimes. I can't remember if the pre-period headaches have a specific feel, or if this is it, but anyway. It's not an "it's been a long day" headache, so I think it's probably hormonal, and thus indicative of my period on its way. I feel pretty nauseous this evening as well - maybe headache-related? I don't know. And I felt a bit dizzy around the boys' bedtime.
Those are the only things of note! Oh and I did feel weepy over a couple of different story books for really little ones that I was reading to Nathan and Benjamin this afternoon. DEFINITELY hormones, that one! ;)
So if my temperature drops in the morning then maybe I will get my period the same day? I do know that my pre-period headaches tended to last quite a while - at least 8 hours and painkillers don't work whatsoever. I often wake up with them still there if they only just start before bed, which I do not relish with the day ahead of me! It's our first week of really knuckling down again with school ("back" to school, though we haven't really stopped over the summer, just did a bit here and a bit there depending on organisation and so on) and a dizzying, painful period would throw a spanner in the works a bit! Hopefully it will be perfectly manageable! I think my last period was, but then I was on strong painkillers around the clock for my kidney stone, so who knows! ;) If I do get my period tomorrow then my luteal phase will not have lengthened at all from last time, which is a bit unusual for me at this stage postpartum. By now, my luteal phase is usually lengthening by a day or two days every cycle - each cycle always has a luteal phase longer than the previous one, and at 8 months PP I am never still on a luteal phase as short as just 6 days... But timing isn't important - except for God's! :)
I will update tomorrow!
I have had about 30 mins of bad cramps for a burst this morning, and then again just after lunch time, but nothing else. Over the rest of that time, I had no cramping whatsoever.
However! It's evening now, and I am now feeling like I am going to get my period sometime soon. I feel very very tired, and mildly crampy (not the bad cramps that I had earlier in the day and yesterday - they were worse yesterday than today actually). Right around 6.30pm I SUDDENLY out of the blue became really irritable and impatient, and after about 10 minutes of being unnecessarily snappy with my children, I started to ask myself what on earth was going on! It does seem rather PMS-like to me. Then I came down from putting little ones to bed and started to read Arthur a story, and realised I was getting a headache. Within a few minutes I had to stop reading to go and take some painkillers, just because it was a weird sort of heavy headache that did not feel nice at all. It's still here anyway, which is something I remember from the 24 or so hours before a period starts sometimes. I can't remember if the pre-period headaches have a specific feel, or if this is it, but anyway. It's not an "it's been a long day" headache, so I think it's probably hormonal, and thus indicative of my period on its way. I feel pretty nauseous this evening as well - maybe headache-related? I don't know. And I felt a bit dizzy around the boys' bedtime.
Those are the only things of note! Oh and I did feel weepy over a couple of different story books for really little ones that I was reading to Nathan and Benjamin this afternoon. DEFINITELY hormones, that one! ;)
So if my temperature drops in the morning then maybe I will get my period the same day? I do know that my pre-period headaches tended to last quite a while - at least 8 hours and painkillers don't work whatsoever. I often wake up with them still there if they only just start before bed, which I do not relish with the day ahead of me! It's our first week of really knuckling down again with school ("back" to school, though we haven't really stopped over the summer, just did a bit here and a bit there depending on organisation and so on) and a dizzying, painful period would throw a spanner in the works a bit! Hopefully it will be perfectly manageable! I think my last period was, but then I was on strong painkillers around the clock for my kidney stone, so who knows! ;) If I do get my period tomorrow then my luteal phase will not have lengthened at all from last time, which is a bit unusual for me at this stage postpartum. By now, my luteal phase is usually lengthening by a day or two days every cycle - each cycle always has a luteal phase longer than the previous one, and at 8 months PP I am never still on a luteal phase as short as just 6 days... But timing isn't important - except for God's! :)
I will update tomorrow!
Monday, September 5, 2011
5DPO
Bonjour again, Blogger! :) So, me rambling about my luteal phase, far too late at night - familiar times?! ;)
Well, I'm 5DPO today. This morning my temp dipped quite a bit, and looking at last cycle the same exact thing happened at 5DPO, followed by a MUCH bigger dip the next day at 6DPO, and then my period the day after. My chart looks very much like last cycle's chart as far as temps go! I will wait and see about tomorrow's. I do sort of hope my LP will be longer this time - I like getting back to normal.
I am totally NOT looking out for pregnancy symptoms, because I am fully expecting a short luteal phase. I want to make note of some stuff about today though, for future reference. I had some mild crampiness this morning, sort of like I might in the run up to ovulating or getting my period maybe. At around 3 or 3.30pm, I started to feel much more crampy. It seemed to come on over maybe a 5 minute period, that's all. At the time I was in the kitchen getting snacks and I remember wondering if the distracting crampiness meant that I should chart mild cramps or bad cramps. I was VERY hesitant to call them bad cramps because historically I have only ever had bad cramps when I have been pregnant during my luteal phase, but that does include chemical pregnancies too. I don't want to go out there yelling, "BAD CRAMPS, WOOHOO!!!" every time I'm X-DPO and Neil and I have so much as looked at each other in the run-up to ovulation! ;) But, me and bad cramps in the luteal phase.... they have only happened so far due to pregnancy. So I was hesitant, and also not even sure they were bad enough.
I got the snacks and went into the living room. The crampiness continued just steady, and it wasn't that bad, just distracting. After they ate snacks, we set about building a massive Duplo house (to go with our Letter H activity today) with alllll the Duplo bricks the boys have. It took us over an hour, while Samuel was napping! So much fun! :) About half an hour into that time, I was in absolutely no doubt whatsoever that I was having BAD cramps. It felt like my period had started, and I was beginning to feel queasy with it too. The crampiness stayed exactly the same for the next few hours, until maybe 8pm-ish. During that time I was nauseous most of the time, but it was like when I have period cramps sometimes, I feel queasy with them. The cramps didn't come in waves, they just felt vice-like and hot. I also felt crampy through the small of my back on my right side.
After 8pm-ish I realised I had ZERO crampiness - after putting the boys to bed, I think... I can't remember exactly when it must have eased off, but it was gone! :) I also didn't feel yucky any more in my tummy, just hungry for dinner. I had been really bloated before so maybe it made me feel queasy? Sometimes that happens. Anyway, all evening I have had no cramps, not even if I think about it REALLY hard, lol! Until about 15 minutes ago (just after midnight - I know I'm naughty staying up so late!), when the bad (definitely bad) cramps started up again. I feel queasy with them again, but not too bad. I am just going to go to bed now, but I wanted to post about the cramps.
Nothing else of note though, I don't think... I have been kind of sensitive to noise again today, for whatever reason, but it has been okay. I have the odd spot that I only ever get with hormones (usually pre-period, but once or twice in early pregnancy - these are just plain HORMONES though, whichever way!). I will see what my temp is tomorrow. If it's down then I suppose I will get my period with a similar length luteal phase to last cycle, and set a new thing with bad cramps in the run-up to a period. I will update tomorrow! :)
Well, I'm 5DPO today. This morning my temp dipped quite a bit, and looking at last cycle the same exact thing happened at 5DPO, followed by a MUCH bigger dip the next day at 6DPO, and then my period the day after. My chart looks very much like last cycle's chart as far as temps go! I will wait and see about tomorrow's. I do sort of hope my LP will be longer this time - I like getting back to normal.
I am totally NOT looking out for pregnancy symptoms, because I am fully expecting a short luteal phase. I want to make note of some stuff about today though, for future reference. I had some mild crampiness this morning, sort of like I might in the run up to ovulating or getting my period maybe. At around 3 or 3.30pm, I started to feel much more crampy. It seemed to come on over maybe a 5 minute period, that's all. At the time I was in the kitchen getting snacks and I remember wondering if the distracting crampiness meant that I should chart mild cramps or bad cramps. I was VERY hesitant to call them bad cramps because historically I have only ever had bad cramps when I have been pregnant during my luteal phase, but that does include chemical pregnancies too. I don't want to go out there yelling, "BAD CRAMPS, WOOHOO!!!" every time I'm X-DPO and Neil and I have so much as looked at each other in the run-up to ovulation! ;) But, me and bad cramps in the luteal phase.... they have only happened so far due to pregnancy. So I was hesitant, and also not even sure they were bad enough.
I got the snacks and went into the living room. The crampiness continued just steady, and it wasn't that bad, just distracting. After they ate snacks, we set about building a massive Duplo house (to go with our Letter H activity today) with alllll the Duplo bricks the boys have. It took us over an hour, while Samuel was napping! So much fun! :) About half an hour into that time, I was in absolutely no doubt whatsoever that I was having BAD cramps. It felt like my period had started, and I was beginning to feel queasy with it too. The crampiness stayed exactly the same for the next few hours, until maybe 8pm-ish. During that time I was nauseous most of the time, but it was like when I have period cramps sometimes, I feel queasy with them. The cramps didn't come in waves, they just felt vice-like and hot. I also felt crampy through the small of my back on my right side.
After 8pm-ish I realised I had ZERO crampiness - after putting the boys to bed, I think... I can't remember exactly when it must have eased off, but it was gone! :) I also didn't feel yucky any more in my tummy, just hungry for dinner. I had been really bloated before so maybe it made me feel queasy? Sometimes that happens. Anyway, all evening I have had no cramps, not even if I think about it REALLY hard, lol! Until about 15 minutes ago (just after midnight - I know I'm naughty staying up so late!), when the bad (definitely bad) cramps started up again. I feel queasy with them again, but not too bad. I am just going to go to bed now, but I wanted to post about the cramps.
Nothing else of note though, I don't think... I have been kind of sensitive to noise again today, for whatever reason, but it has been okay. I have the odd spot that I only ever get with hormones (usually pre-period, but once or twice in early pregnancy - these are just plain HORMONES though, whichever way!). I will see what my temp is tomorrow. If it's down then I suppose I will get my period with a similar length luteal phase to last cycle, and set a new thing with bad cramps in the run-up to a period. I will update tomorrow! :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Quick 4DPO note...
Just to update and say that NOW I have ovulated! Of course FF has changed their completely wrong date to an appropriate one, and I'm now 4 days past ovulation. I didn't ovulate this cycle until Cycle Day FORTY!!! Yikers!
My last cycle had a luteal phase of 6 days, so I would maybe expect to improve that by a couple of days at best this cycle? I can't remember how quickly it lengthened after previous babies, and should just go and check my charts, but it's late and I must go to bed! We have a very good chance of conception this cycle (parsnips 2 days before ovulation), and I tend to presume that conception has occurred (as in, sperm meets egg) if there's a good chance, going by our history. The only thing is that it's unlikely that my body is ready to sustain it because of my short luteal phase, as usual when my cycles are returning to normal.
Right now my temps are climbing nicely. I am unusually tired and weepy over things like noise from the kiddies, but that doesn't mean much. Nothing else of note, and I am just waiting to see how long my luteal phase will be this time. I so HOPE it would be long enough to sustain what might have begun, but I know it's very unlikely! Ah well! It's good to have more time, and I know God's timing is perfect anyway!
That is all for now! Wow, a GENUINELY quick post (gasp!)! ;) I will be back soon though!
My last cycle had a luteal phase of 6 days, so I would maybe expect to improve that by a couple of days at best this cycle? I can't remember how quickly it lengthened after previous babies, and should just go and check my charts, but it's late and I must go to bed! We have a very good chance of conception this cycle (parsnips 2 days before ovulation), and I tend to presume that conception has occurred (as in, sperm meets egg) if there's a good chance, going by our history. The only thing is that it's unlikely that my body is ready to sustain it because of my short luteal phase, as usual when my cycles are returning to normal.
Right now my temps are climbing nicely. I am unusually tired and weepy over things like noise from the kiddies, but that doesn't mean much. Nothing else of note, and I am just waiting to see how long my luteal phase will be this time. I so HOPE it would be long enough to sustain what might have begun, but I know it's very unlikely! Ah well! It's good to have more time, and I know God's timing is perfect anyway!
That is all for now! Wow, a GENUINELY quick post (gasp!)! ;) I will be back soon though!
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