Third time's a charm???

Well, folks, here we are again.  Certainly pregnant, but not feeling so certain.

I'm 5 weeks today.  On my last "date" with my hubby, I just knew it happened.  I tried not to obsess, mostly successfully.  A week and a day after ovulation, I left for New York with my mom and sis.  Trying to keep things under wraps, I discreetly peed on a stick every morning before my shower.  Four days straight.  Negative.  Negative.  Negative.  Negative.

How could it be?  I was SO sure.  Granted it was still a little early...Aunt Flo wasn't due to arrive for another couple days.  But those pee-on-a-sticks are supposed to be accurate up to 6 days before your missed period.  Liars.

Since things have been running right on schedule since Paleo entered my life, I found it odd when I was a day late.  I know.  It's only a day.  I've been off of Paleo for a while because, let's face it, I missed carbs.  And sugar.  And popcorn.  And...well, you get the idea.  Could I have stopped ovulating again???

What the heck, I'll take one more test to confirm.  The day after returning from New York -- and the day before moving into our new home (yay!) -- there it was.  That wonderful, wonderful word spelled out in digital letters: PREGNANT.

Playing catch-up

What a difference a diet makes*.

After our last IUI, we decided to take some time off and enjoy the holidays.  And that we did!  Since our little niece entered the world in October, the whole Lattimore fam ventured out to California for Christmas.  It was so nice to see everyone and spend some time with Kaitlyn Joy.  We had a fantastic end to 2012, but were looking forward to bigger and better things in the year to come.

*So on to the new diet...I decided that in the meantime between fertility treatments I would do whatever I could to help my cause.  The easiest place to start: nutrition.  Anyone that has seen me through my WeightWatchers journey/struggle/obsession knows that when I get serious, I get serious.  And as much as I L-O-V-E food, I somehow find it easy to manage when I put my mind to it.  Chalk it up to the control freak in me on a power trip when it feels like everything in my life is on a rampage.  Keep in mind, it had been 10 months since I had ovulated without medical intervention.

I kept coming across stories of women with PCOS who were seeing pretty immediate results on the Paleo (caveman) diet.  It's the easiest set of rules I've ever had to follow: Seeds, nuts, fruit, veggies, lean meats; avoid carbs, grains, sugar, dairy, and anything that comes pre-packaged.  My favorite part: red wine is A-OK!  I'm in!!  (By the way, PaleOMG is the place to go for recipes!)

Two weeks later, voila!  My little seedlings were back in action!

My first thought: We just spent thousands of dollars on fertility treatments and all I had to do was eat a salad instead of a sandwich?!

My second thought: HALLELUJAH!!

Five months later, not only am I still droppin' eggs, but they're right on time for the first time in my entire life as a "woman." 

1 week, 6 days

Well, the two week wait will be over tomorrow.  Although, to be honest, the "wait" part really ended a day or two ago.  For anyone who's been through the dreaded 2WW, you know that there's no way to get through 14 days without an arsenal of at-home pee-on-a-sticks.  So, of course, I started testing on Monday.

I had a feeling in my gut.  I already knew the answer.  5 days and 6 big fat negatives later, I think it's safe to say we will not be welcoming a new baby next July.

We had no idea when we made our plan to start a family that God had a totally different idea in mind.  Who knows what it is, but maybe someday we'll be gifted with the blessing of a little one.

Until then, you probably won't hear much (if anything) from me here.  We've decided to enjoy the end-of-the-year holidays sans hormones and doctor appointments.

If, by some miracle, tomorrow's blood test proves otherwise, you'll be the first to know. 

-- Until next time

And the Two Week Wait begins

**Hint Hint**

If you don't have any plans tomorrow at 9:20am and Friday at 9:00am, maybe you can send out a little prayer and lots of baby dust! ;-)

God is good!

We're not quite there yet, but we had some major growth in the last few days!  We had a 14, 15, and two 16's!!  More tears were shed, but finally for joy!  Will wait for lab results this afternoon and hopefully get a date on the calendar before the weekend.

GOD IS GOOD!

Praying for a miracle

Yesterday we attended our church to be prayed for and anointed with oil, according to the Bible.

James 5:14-16

¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

My visit with the doc today provided a little bit of optimism.  We still don't have any follicles that are ready to go, but there was some improvement.  One follicle was about 14mm.  What I'm hoping for next visit is that one or two will join in and grow between now and then.  Last cycle we only had one follicle and we learned that one is all it takes.  Unfortunately, it didn't hang on.  If we can get two or three in there, one of them may just stick around for a while.

My estrogen level jumped from 36 to 115, which is a great improvement over last week's 27 to 36.  Endometrium looks ready to go.  Two days till my next U/S. 

Please join us in praying for a miracle!