Big Fat Negative

Negative pregnancy test today and my BBT nosedived from 98.22 all the way down to 97.45! must be on the way.

I’m actually happy about the Big Fat Negative (BFN). Being pregnant now would have meant having the baby earlier next year than I had hoped, and I really did want to try the Shettles method of gender swaying.

So, hurry up and get here, ! And tonight, I’m having a Mike’s Hard Limeade.

Questions for the first prenatal visit

Happy 12/12/12! This is probably the last time in your life that you will ever see all three of those dates match like that, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Temperature went up again slightly this morning, and this time I got a full night’s sleep. Still no sign of . Four days overdue.

Brainstorming questions to ask my doctor at my first prenatal visit…

1. What is your philosophy on pregnancy and parturition? In particular, how do you envision your role as my prenatal care provider?
2. You are a resident here. Will there be another doctor overseeing my baby’s delivery? Will we know who it is beforehand, and will I have the chance to meet him/her? To what extent will you be making the recommendations and decisions about my treatment?
3. How many deliveries have you assisted with? (Follow-up question depending on number) How many were c-sections?
4. What hospitals do you deliver out of?
5. What happens if I’m pregnant with multiples?
6. What happens if my baby is breech?
7. What happens if my pregnancy moves to another high-risk category? Will my care be transferred?
8. I asked you before about “natural childbirth,” but that term can be rather nebulous, so I thought I’d clarify. Ideally—and this is an ideal; I recognize that circumstances could change this—but ideally, when I deliver, I would like to stay off of anything that is a drug or anything that will require me to stay in a bed. That means no Pitocin, no pain medicine, no continuous fetal monitoring. Does that still sound like something that you could support?
9. Will I be able to have a doula?

I hope he likes questions…

Witch is still AWOL, daughter is sick

Three days overdue and still no . My temperature went up again this morning, but that may have been because I barely got three hours of sleep. Stayed up late writing a paper and went to bed at 3:30 AM, waking up to take my temperature at 6:30 AM:

If it drops again, I’m going to discard today’s temperature.

The bad news is that the lymph node behind my daughter’s right ear is infected, and she needs to take antibiotics for 10 days to fix it. The good news is, the follow-up appointment is with Dr. Sark! I’ll get to see him again without having to wait to get pregnant or break a leg or get the flu! 

Waiting on the witch

Well, the  hasn’t caught me yet, and she’s officially 1 day overdue. Mild cramps have continued for two weeks straight since removing the Mirena on November 26th (ugh). However, I do not believe I’m pregnant, especially not since my BBT has seen a drop over the past three days:

Nevertheless, I will patiently wait until Friday, and if still no sign of , then, I will do a pregnancy test.

My finals are this week, and I still have plenty of writing to do. Gonna be a hectic week.

On a happier note, I ran hospitality for my church today and everyone loved the stuff I baked (key lime mini-pies, banana cream mini-pies, chocolate chip cookies). I also made a nice meal for my family and the three of us actually sat down to dinner together tonight. So that was good.

And we still have the second Sunday of Advent to celebrate tonight!

A Baby Names Rant

So, let’s talk baby names.

My husband says that I am a “baby names elitist,” and it’s probably true. I am very opinionated about what makes a good name vs. a bad name. I seldom share these opinions with expectant parents though, because my philosophy is, their baby, their choice.

That said, this blog is my own personal soapbox, so these are my likes and dislikes when it comes to baby names:

Delivery gowns

I know this is looking way ahead, but how insane is it that I totally want one of these for the next time I deliver?

I hate hospital gowns with a passion, but I don’t believe homebirth is as safe as hospital birth, so as I see it, the best I can do is to wear a gown in the hospital that doesn’t make me feel like I’m in the hospital.

Pregnant already? I hope not…

I am beginning to worry that I may have gotten pregnant on that night of unprotected sex. I haven’t had any signs other than the daily, mild cramps (which may have been caused by Mirena removal and may be premenstrual at this point) and a slight craving for citrus. However, my period is due December 7th or 8th, and I haven’t seen a drop in my BBT yet:

So that’s what’s worrying me. (Note that the temperature that was taken on November 26th was my temperature in the doctor’s office, and not a true BBT.)

Obviously I wasn’t tracking ovulation last month, but according to the WebMD ovulation calculator, if my period was on November 8, then my fertile window was from November 22-November 26, and I had unprotected sex on the evening of the 23rd. I didn’t have any CM and didn’t “feel like” I was ovulating (if that makes any sense), but anything is possible.

The Mirena was still technically in that night, but since implantation takes 7-14 days, it would have been removed prior to implantation.

I’m not going to test unless my period is a week late. I just wish that the cramps would stop. Being pregnant now would mean being pregnant somewhat earlier than desired, but I can deal with it.

Screwed-up post-Mirena fertility chart

Been feeling better lately. I don’t think I’ve seen any bleeding or spotting since Thursday or Friday, but mild cramps have continued. The cran-apple turnovers and crab quiche that I made this weekend both went very well. Haven’t touched my schoolwork.

Been learning to chart my BBT. Here is my screwed-up post-Mirena chart so far:

I have a problem in that I’ve woken in the middle of the night every night since I started doing this, and haven’t always gotten 3 hours of rest before temping at 6:30 AM. But FF says that if you have to choose between temping after night waking and temping at wake-up time, you should choose the latter.

I really like the VIP features at FF, btw. I think I might actually sign up for a VIP membership in January (I get one for a few more weeks as part of my trial).