So I'm tired of driving myself nuts over this. It is what it is.
Tonight I went to the bathroom and found a light brown discharge.
Either this is implantation bleeding or the start to my period. As I said in my previous post, my cycle has been starting a few days before it's expected my last few cycles.
I've been looking online and nothing seem consistent. I guess I just have to wait and see.
Sunday is the day!
Wednesday, March 30
Monday, March 28
Playing the Waiting Game
So... now I wait.
Since I've been off my birth control, my menstrual cycle has been very regular, with one exception; I have been having about 3 days of spotting before my period seems to "arrive". This never happened when I was on the pill. I'm anxiously waiting to see if things are the same or different this month. For me, this could be my early clue.
One thing that has been different this month is the cramping I'm feeling in my lower abdomen. Cramps are a normal occurrence for me during my monthly cycle. They never occur before my period comes though, always on day two or three of my period. I can't remember a time that I experienced cramps prior to getting my period. Is this a sign? Am I just driving myself crazy thinking everything is a sign? Is this what women do?
This was the first month that my husband and I actively tried to get pregnant. Since then I feel like everything is about baby. What I eat and drink, how much sleep I get, how much exercise I get, thinking positive thoughts when it comes to baby. I know that this is generally a good thing, but how do couples who have been trying for months or even years keep this up?
I'm happy to be at a place in my life where I am actively trying to prepare my entire self for this pregnancy, but this waiting month to month could be rather crazy.
I don't want to be that woman that says she just "knows" she was pregnant - but I do know that I just "feel" different. Maybe this "different" isn't associated with baby, but something is different.
Since I've been off my birth control, my menstrual cycle has been very regular, with one exception; I have been having about 3 days of spotting before my period seems to "arrive". This never happened when I was on the pill. I'm anxiously waiting to see if things are the same or different this month. For me, this could be my early clue.
One thing that has been different this month is the cramping I'm feeling in my lower abdomen. Cramps are a normal occurrence for me during my monthly cycle. They never occur before my period comes though, always on day two or three of my period. I can't remember a time that I experienced cramps prior to getting my period. Is this a sign? Am I just driving myself crazy thinking everything is a sign? Is this what women do?
This was the first month that my husband and I actively tried to get pregnant. Since then I feel like everything is about baby. What I eat and drink, how much sleep I get, how much exercise I get, thinking positive thoughts when it comes to baby. I know that this is generally a good thing, but how do couples who have been trying for months or even years keep this up?
I'm happy to be at a place in my life where I am actively trying to prepare my entire self for this pregnancy, but this waiting month to month could be rather crazy.
I don't want to be that woman that says she just "knows" she was pregnant - but I do know that I just "feel" different. Maybe this "different" isn't associated with baby, but something is different.
Thursday, March 24
To Tell or Not To Tell...
So I've been thinking a lot about when I will tell people that I am pregnant and who those people will be.
I realize that the only time that it is right to tell people you are pregnant is when it is the right time for you and your partner.
I love my husband, but I have been thinking when I will even tell him. Please don't get me wrong! I can't even imagine not having him there holding my hand as we wait for that pregnancy test to change colours (or whatever those things do). My only concern is really him telling a bunch of people, but really what is the problem with that?
I guess that's the big question.
Do you share this momentous, life-changing celebration with everyone you love? Do you cherish this moment with your partner until later weeks and share it with everyone else in a fun way? Do you tell only a select group of people (I'm thinking parents and siblings)? Is it fair to expect those people close to you keep your special secret? Oh my!
I'm still completely undecided what I'll do when the time comes.
What would you do?
I realize that the only time that it is right to tell people you are pregnant is when it is the right time for you and your partner.
I love my husband, but I have been thinking when I will even tell him. Please don't get me wrong! I can't even imagine not having him there holding my hand as we wait for that pregnancy test to change colours (or whatever those things do). My only concern is really him telling a bunch of people, but really what is the problem with that?
I guess that's the big question.
Do you share this momentous, life-changing celebration with everyone you love? Do you cherish this moment with your partner until later weeks and share it with everyone else in a fun way? Do you tell only a select group of people (I'm thinking parents and siblings)? Is it fair to expect those people close to you keep your special secret? Oh my!
I'm still completely undecided what I'll do when the time comes.
What would you do?
Tuesday, March 22
Possible Pregnancy Symptoms or Faux?
So I don't know if I'm just experiencing symptoms from the aforementioned quasi-UTI or if this is all in my head or if these could be very early signs of pregnancy, but I just want to put it out there...
I have lower back pain. I also have a dull throb in my abdomen/ pelvic area.
In my mind, I feel that it's much too early to be experiencing any pregnancy symptoms, being that I would barely be but a few days pregnant, but I have heard and read that a few women feel the "change" immediately.
I guess I just wanted to put this out there to see, regardless of how I dumb I might come across. I could be one of those women who experience the "change" immediately or I could just be weird. Time will tell.
One thing that I am curious about is whether my breasts will get sensitive when I'm pregnant. I never have experienced that... not before puberty, not during that time of the month, never really. Women that I've talked to say this was their sure sign before the pregnancy test turned positive. Again, only time will tell!
I have lower back pain. I also have a dull throb in my abdomen/ pelvic area.
In my mind, I feel that it's much too early to be experiencing any pregnancy symptoms, being that I would barely be but a few days pregnant, but I have heard and read that a few women feel the "change" immediately.
I guess I just wanted to put this out there to see, regardless of how I dumb I might come across. I could be one of those women who experience the "change" immediately or I could just be weird. Time will tell.
One thing that I am curious about is whether my breasts will get sensitive when I'm pregnant. I never have experienced that... not before puberty, not during that time of the month, never really. Women that I've talked to say this was their sure sign before the pregnancy test turned positive. Again, only time will tell!
Monday, March 21
Getting a Little Personal
So, let me catch you up to speed...
The start of my last menstrual period (LMP) was Sunday, March 6th.
I've been off an oral contraceptive for 4 cycles now.
My cycles have been approximately 28 days long since being off any contraceptive.
With the literature I've read*, it's my understanding that the average woman ovulates approximately 14 days before the first day of her next menstrual period. So if my next period is expected (although I really don't want it to come for obvious reasons) April 3rd, then I should have ovulated yesterday.
So did I do the baby dance (aka - have sex) yesterday?
Nope!
Why?!?
Last night, after we got back from Jasper, and after I decided to start this blog, I went to the bathroom. After I wiped I noticed there were a few drops of bright pink blood. This was a little confusing to me, as I'm not one to regularly spot, and when I do it's more of a light brown colour.
So I searched around online.
Honestly, I thought that maybe this was the famous "Implantation Spotting", but apparently that doesn't happen until 5-10 days after conception - so I quickly ruled that out. Sigh!
Before I could even look into other causes for this bleeding, I was heading back to the bathroom. This time when I went pee it was really uncomfortable and it felt like I was forcefully (but uncontrollably) bearing down. Again a little more blood.
Back to the internet.
My searching didn't last long... Five minutes later I was back in the bathroom again. Again, I had an uncomfortable urination experience.
Back to the internet.
In my searches I found that many of my symptoms were matching up with a urinary tract infection (UTI). Frequent need to urinate, pain during urination, and blood in urine. Oh my! I've never had a UTI before so I was a little freaked out and because we've been trying to conceive, my first thought was Is this safe for me and the baby?
Through my searches I found that women are much more prone to UTIs, even pregnant women can get UTIs, and that they can become dangerous if not treated.
Back to the bathroom. Ouch! This wasn't getting any better.
At this point in the evening, no walk-in Medicentre would be opened, so again I returned back to the internet to see if there was anything I could do.
Fluids, fluids, and more fluids. Specifically cranberry juice. Not the cocktail. Not sweetened. 100% cranberry juice. I checked to make sure that cranberry juice was considered "safe" for pregnant or women who are trying to conceive. Passed! Of course we didn't have any in the apartment so my Dear Husband (DH) went to the corner store.
I also found a home remedy of 1 tsp of baking soda in a glass of water. Gross, right? I figured that there would be no harm in try. So I did. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Then I continued to drink about 1 L of water before DH got home (combined with many, many bathroom breaks).
There was also discussions about antibiotics online. This made me nervous. I really want my body to be in the most natural, healthy state during conception and pregnancy. I'm not necessarily saying that I think antibiotics are unnecessary or unhealthy, again, I'm just really thinking about the effects of things on my body. Again, make your own choices. Apparently there are antibiotics available to pregnant women who have a UTI.
I put on a movie, trying to distract myself and focus on something else in the mean time. But the DH delivered! Within 15 minutes I had drank 1 L of cranberry juice. Whew!
The movie did help distract me a little, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the water would filter it's way through my body and I'd be back in the bathroom. I also soothed my tight abdomen by placing a hot water bottle on it.
I probably drank another 2 cups of water before I went to bed that night.
Now I did notice some relief before I went to bed. Each time that I used the bathroom seemed a little easier than the last. I don't know if it actually was easier, or if I was just getting used to the pain.
I only woke up once in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and when I did, I didn't feel like I was bearing down as hard (keep in mind this was an uncontrollable urge) at this point, but my abdomen remained quite tight.
The next morning I woke up and drank another litre of the cranberry juice. My symptoms had almost completely disappeared besides the dull pain in my lower abdomen.
At this point, I was relieved that I wasn't as uncomfortable as I had been the night before (and that I was able to get a decent sleep), but I was also nervous because I read online last night that cranberry juice can just mask the symptoms of a UTI, but not cure it. I also read about the damaging effects of an untreated UTI.
I was unsure what to do. My symptoms this morning seemed to almost have entirely passed, but I worried that maybe I had only masked the symptoms and that I could have greater problems.
I called by doctor's office. Luckily, they were able to get me in.
I went in, provided a urine sample, and tested negative.
Yay!
So what was it?
Who knows? The doctor said that I may have caught it early enough that the infection didn't progress into a full blown infection. He also said that I had done a good thing drinking all those fluids, especially the cranberry juice. I didn't tell him about the baking soda and water (I felt a little silly about it).
He did warn me to watch my symptoms and as long as I didn't get a fever, wasn't getting worse, or didn't have back pain then I should be fine as long as I continue with fluids.
He also mentioned that my symptoms could have been from trauma of intercourse. He explained that UTIs often develop in overly, sexually active women - especially women on their honeymoon or women trying to conceive.
...
Blush.
Anyhow, I thought this was a good way to introduce myself to you. To share with you my experience. Who knows? This could be you right now.
*I am not an expert. Please do your own research or consult someone who is a qualified expert.
The start of my last menstrual period (LMP) was Sunday, March 6th.
I've been off an oral contraceptive for 4 cycles now.
My cycles have been approximately 28 days long since being off any contraceptive.
With the literature I've read*, it's my understanding that the average woman ovulates approximately 14 days before the first day of her next menstrual period. So if my next period is expected (although I really don't want it to come for obvious reasons) April 3rd, then I should have ovulated yesterday.
So did I do the baby dance (aka - have sex) yesterday?
Nope!
Why?!?
Last night, after we got back from Jasper, and after I decided to start this blog, I went to the bathroom. After I wiped I noticed there were a few drops of bright pink blood. This was a little confusing to me, as I'm not one to regularly spot, and when I do it's more of a light brown colour.
So I searched around online.
Honestly, I thought that maybe this was the famous "Implantation Spotting", but apparently that doesn't happen until 5-10 days after conception - so I quickly ruled that out. Sigh!
Before I could even look into other causes for this bleeding, I was heading back to the bathroom. This time when I went pee it was really uncomfortable and it felt like I was forcefully (but uncontrollably) bearing down. Again a little more blood.
Back to the internet.
My searching didn't last long... Five minutes later I was back in the bathroom again. Again, I had an uncomfortable urination experience.
Back to the internet.
In my searches I found that many of my symptoms were matching up with a urinary tract infection (UTI). Frequent need to urinate, pain during urination, and blood in urine. Oh my! I've never had a UTI before so I was a little freaked out and because we've been trying to conceive, my first thought was Is this safe for me and the baby?
Through my searches I found that women are much more prone to UTIs, even pregnant women can get UTIs, and that they can become dangerous if not treated.
Back to the bathroom. Ouch! This wasn't getting any better.
At this point in the evening, no walk-in Medicentre would be opened, so again I returned back to the internet to see if there was anything I could do.
Fluids, fluids, and more fluids. Specifically cranberry juice. Not the cocktail. Not sweetened. 100% cranberry juice. I checked to make sure that cranberry juice was considered "safe" for pregnant or women who are trying to conceive. Passed! Of course we didn't have any in the apartment so my Dear Husband (DH) went to the corner store.
I also found a home remedy of 1 tsp of baking soda in a glass of water. Gross, right? I figured that there would be no harm in try. So I did. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Then I continued to drink about 1 L of water before DH got home (combined with many, many bathroom breaks).
There was also discussions about antibiotics online. This made me nervous. I really want my body to be in the most natural, healthy state during conception and pregnancy. I'm not necessarily saying that I think antibiotics are unnecessary or unhealthy, again, I'm just really thinking about the effects of things on my body. Again, make your own choices. Apparently there are antibiotics available to pregnant women who have a UTI.
I put on a movie, trying to distract myself and focus on something else in the mean time. But the DH delivered! Within 15 minutes I had drank 1 L of cranberry juice. Whew!
The movie did help distract me a little, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the water would filter it's way through my body and I'd be back in the bathroom. I also soothed my tight abdomen by placing a hot water bottle on it.
I probably drank another 2 cups of water before I went to bed that night.
Now I did notice some relief before I went to bed. Each time that I used the bathroom seemed a little easier than the last. I don't know if it actually was easier, or if I was just getting used to the pain.
I only woke up once in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and when I did, I didn't feel like I was bearing down as hard (keep in mind this was an uncontrollable urge) at this point, but my abdomen remained quite tight.
The next morning I woke up and drank another litre of the cranberry juice. My symptoms had almost completely disappeared besides the dull pain in my lower abdomen.
At this point, I was relieved that I wasn't as uncomfortable as I had been the night before (and that I was able to get a decent sleep), but I was also nervous because I read online last night that cranberry juice can just mask the symptoms of a UTI, but not cure it. I also read about the damaging effects of an untreated UTI.
I was unsure what to do. My symptoms this morning seemed to almost have entirely passed, but I worried that maybe I had only masked the symptoms and that I could have greater problems.
I called by doctor's office. Luckily, they were able to get me in.
I went in, provided a urine sample, and tested negative.
Yay!
So what was it?
Who knows? The doctor said that I may have caught it early enough that the infection didn't progress into a full blown infection. He also said that I had done a good thing drinking all those fluids, especially the cranberry juice. I didn't tell him about the baking soda and water (I felt a little silly about it).
He did warn me to watch my symptoms and as long as I didn't get a fever, wasn't getting worse, or didn't have back pain then I should be fine as long as I continue with fluids.
He also mentioned that my symptoms could have been from trauma of intercourse. He explained that UTIs often develop in overly, sexually active women - especially women on their honeymoon or women trying to conceive.
...
Blush.
Anyhow, I thought this was a good way to introduce myself to you. To share with you my experience. Who knows? This could be you right now.
*I am not an expert. Please do your own research or consult someone who is a qualified expert.
Sunday, March 20
Twenty Six and Pregnant*
* This is an asterisk.
An asterisk is commonly used to direct to a footnote - but I feel this is something that needs to be cleared up right away and deserves a little more attention than it usually receives.
The point:
Note that there is an asterisk at the end this blog post title.
It's there for a reason.
It's not there because I don't know if I am Twenty-Six. I am most definitely 26.
It's there because, right now, I don't know if I am Pregnant (more on this later).
I felt that it was important to tell you this right away, as not to mislead you with the title of my blog.
Although I do not know if I am currently Pregnant, I do hope to become pregnant this year.
A little about me...
Tomorrow will be my second wedding anniversary with my husband. This past weekend we celebrated our anniversary in Jasper, Alberta, Canada. We indulged in delicious foods, enjoyed the crisp, spring air, and spoiled ourselves with a relaxing spa massage. Now, I know this sounds luxurious, and it truly was, but this was truly a special treat for us, something we rarely do. Something I'm really glad we did.
The reason why this trip was so rare for us is that for the past three years we've been extremely focused on getting ourselves out of debt. Debt that included university degrees and living expenses, a new car, and a few non-necessities too. And now we're debt-free... at least for the time being. Right now we're in the process of saving for all those grown-up things that we've been dreaming of. We're really hoping to become homeowners in the next year-something I've really been looking forward to especially.
But the big change that we're most looking forward to is to start our own little family. We've decided that we're going to try to get pregnant!
I'm really anxious, nervous, and so completely excited!
I've decided to start this blog to share my experiences with other "To-Be" Moms and also use this as a reflection journal of my own experiences-something that someday my Family and child might enjoy.
* As a side note, an asterisk was used as a symbol to indicate a date of birth... interesting!
An asterisk is commonly used to direct to a footnote - but I feel this is something that needs to be cleared up right away and deserves a little more attention than it usually receives.
The point:
Note that there is an asterisk at the end this blog post title.
It's there for a reason.
It's not there because I don't know if I am Twenty-Six. I am most definitely 26.
It's there because, right now, I don't know if I am Pregnant (more on this later).
I felt that it was important to tell you this right away, as not to mislead you with the title of my blog.
Although I do not know if I am currently Pregnant, I do hope to become pregnant this year.
A little about me...
Tomorrow will be my second wedding anniversary with my husband. This past weekend we celebrated our anniversary in Jasper, Alberta, Canada. We indulged in delicious foods, enjoyed the crisp, spring air, and spoiled ourselves with a relaxing spa massage. Now, I know this sounds luxurious, and it truly was, but this was truly a special treat for us, something we rarely do. Something I'm really glad we did.
The reason why this trip was so rare for us is that for the past three years we've been extremely focused on getting ourselves out of debt. Debt that included university degrees and living expenses, a new car, and a few non-necessities too. And now we're debt-free... at least for the time being. Right now we're in the process of saving for all those grown-up things that we've been dreaming of. We're really hoping to become homeowners in the next year-something I've really been looking forward to especially.
But the big change that we're most looking forward to is to start our own little family. We've decided that we're going to try to get pregnant!
I'm really anxious, nervous, and so completely excited!
I've decided to start this blog to share my experiences with other "To-Be" Moms and also use this as a reflection journal of my own experiences-something that someday my Family and child might enjoy.
* As a side note, an asterisk was used as a symbol to indicate a date of birth... interesting!
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