TTC thread

[Sewfie]

Anyone else ttc-ing? We just started by not preventing pregnancy (just started my 3rd cycle).
Based on recommendations of some sweet glitterati, I'm going to get an OPK. And then I guess we'll start officially trying.

*****
I'm a bit worried about a few things.
Like, what if I am infertile? Of course, it's too early to think that, but it would be weird to have been happily & purposely childfree for a decade, change my mind, and then learn that.
What if the cats get pissed? I mean, there's no way I could give up the kitties, but I'm afraid of it (a baby) changing the dynamics. They're all really cuddly in general. My favorite cat has spent every night and every morning for the last 2 weeks cuddling with me in bed, like a little teddy bear. And she has to be in the bathroom when I take a shower, wants to be held almost every time I'm in that room. I've thought/joked about getting a moby wrap for her so I can straighten my hair in peace.
Community support- we don't have any family in the area. We have some friends, but not that close at this point. My parents could visit. My dad likes kids, adn he's good with them, but I don't know if I trust him (or my mom) to take care of our child the way we would, or even relatively close to how we would.

I check out the board on the b*ump website, but IDK- it's not really my kind of place.
I don't know, it seems so weird for me.
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Eh, f*ck it
My new blog:http://brainsveinsandgrains.blogspot.com/

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy. -Marie Curie

[town hall]

You're probably not infertile, but it wouldn't do any harm to think about what you'll do if you are still trying after a longer time. Like, how long would you be willing to leave it before going to the dr, for example. And just to generally examine your feelings/ talk to your partner about the available options if there does turn out to be a problem on either side. 2 cycles in is not the time to start worrying, though!

If you're looking to other sites/ forums, you might try alt dot life. It's a bit.. ginormous and intimidating, but the people in the ttc forums are generally very welcoming.

Good luck!
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kittens are cute, but a full-grown cat can be cuter

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twidder!

[ruggedchick]

When I was TTC, I was afraid that I was infertile too. I had an ectopic pregnancy 8 years before my "real" pregnancy...so I was worried that the ectopic ruined my reproductive system. It took me 8 months to get pregnant...so, I mean, it might take up to a year. Try not to worry about it, (I know easier said than done) unless it's been over a year.
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beefy and confused.

[happyhats]

I can't really talk about the infertility aspect much, but I thought I would touch on your other fears...

In our case whe cat, she has favored my husband since she was a kitten, but I do think she might have resented me for a short while when I was pregnant/brought our first child home. Now she's starting to really come out and visit though, and lets the kids pet her and stuff. I don't think it would ever really be an issue of letting them go, barring a rare huge allergy in the baby, etc.

Also, I think you make your own community support over time, or at least most of the time. I have also realized that short bursts of time with people that aren't like me are actually good for my children, and the time away is good for me. So I wouldn't worry about things like grandparent spoiling unless it was an issue of safety, etc.

Parenthood is defenitely something you learn and conti.nue to grow in. YOu can't know everything now, and thats okay
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keep it simple

[Redapple]

I think that if you've never been pregnant and you start to try - it's only natural to think that you may be infertile. Try and put that in the back of your mind and enjoy this time. It could take a while, it may not.

Good luck and have fun!!!!

[cake]

The advice to wait a year is definitely sound, but my one caveat would be if you notice something obviously weird about your cycle, you might want to go in and talk to someone sooner. Of course, if you are recently coming off of hormonal birth control, your cycle can take awhile to regulate (sometimes up to a year).

Re: cats, we have had some cat weirdness in our house over the past 10 months. But our dog died right after S was born, so it could have been that, too. They seem to be having more power struggles/territory issues but it doesn't necessarily seem to be baby-focused. I don't know, cats are weird. Yours will probably be offended that there's a new tiny thing that everyone's making a fuss over, but I feel like cats would be happiest if our whole lives revolved around them 24/7, which is clearly unrealistic, so what are you going to do, you know?
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What can't that centaur woman do?

[browneyedgirl]

Try to not put too much energy into the "am I infertile" thoughts. I never wanted babies, so I didn't care when I lost an ovary. Until I wanted babies.

Then I became near obsessed with how hard it was going to be*. I started putting out into the Universe that I was going to get pregnant, and just overall happy thoughts. It was "when" not "if". It didn't take us long, but we were trying. Like charting, have sex with me RIGHT now I'm ovulating soon trying.

And considering I kept saying River would be born early, then Feb 13, and he was, well, I put some stock into putting things out there. I also don't consider myself very woo woo.

*I know one ovary doesn't mean I couldn't get pregnant, but technically that's half your eggs, and there's no true studies on your chances being EXACTLY the same, which is what I was told.
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I pray to be like the ocean, with soft currents, maybe waves at times. More and more, I want the consistency rather than the highs and the lows.
- Drew Barrymore

[Sewfie]

I'm not particularly woo-woo either, but I'm generally pretty optimistic, and I think that it helps. I think the main reason that I'm thinking about infertility is b/c we've been strictly withdrawal method for well over a year. But then, he's really good at timing it. And we haven't timed the sexin' to match the ovulatin', so I'm just over-thinking it for now.
Logically, I understand that it doesn't generally just happen right when you start, even when you're really trying. But then, both my brother and I were accidents of different bc failures (my parents say happy surprises, but same difference haha), so it seems like it should be easy peasy. :)

I love g* so much. I feel really lonely w/ these feelings. I don't really have any close lady friends I can talk to. I mean, I have a couple, but one is going through some stuff w/ her mr, so it seems weird to be all like "we're so happy, gonna make behbehs." And the other is cool, but I just don't want to seem all baby-crazy. Other than that, I haven't emotionally invested in other people, which is my own fault. I'm slowly getting there, but it's weird. And I kind of don't want anyone to know that I want a child. Is that weird?

I did get an opk, took it yesterday (neg) and then this morning (light line, but not positive technically). I guess I'll take another later and have a go at it, lol. I wanna add to the glitter mama roll call. :) And *when* I get the positive in 2 wks, it will be around the mr's birthday, so that'll be cool. (See what I did there, browneyedgirl? :) )
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Eh, f*ck it
My new blog:http://brainsveinsandgrains.blogspot.com/

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy. -Marie Curie

[cake]

Try taking the OPKs in the afternoon; apparently the LH (lutenizing hormone) surge that the OPK detects typically happens then versus in the morning. So it's possible to get a negative test in the morning and a positive one in the afternoon. It's just a PITA to not drink water all afternoon to concentrate your urine.

/took way too many OPKs

I'm not super woo-woo either, but I think you can't go wrong with putting positive thoughts out there in the universe. I was pretty pessimistic about the whole process but Mr. Cake totally did the positive thinking for both of us. I think we spend so much time preventing pregnancy that it seems like it should be instantaneous the second we stop taking BC, when in reality there's only like a 15% chance of it working per cycle even with perfect timing. (Which could either be reassuring or make you feel worse, haha.)
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What can't that centaur woman do?