Weird little glimpse into my marriage

Aw. Aren't we cute?

Before I get started on Stupid Stork's proposition to provide a weird little glimpse into my marriage, I decided I need a new name for Hubs on the blog. Hubs is fine, and I actually do call him Hubs in real life on a semi-regular basis, but it's too common in the blog world.

So we're calling him Champ from now on. It makes sense as "Bum Ovaries" that he would be "Champion Swimmers" so he'll be Champ for short.

I feel like I've been teasing this "little glimpse" forever now so I better get on with it.

I've never been attracted to guys who aren't nice. I never saw the "bad boy" appeal. If a guy didn't treat me with respect and kindness, I dropped him like a hot tamale. I didn't want to change somebody or wait for somebody to change for me, and so by and large, I dated nice guys who treated me well.

Champ makes "nice guys" look like child pornographers (to borrow a phrase from Saturday Night Live's "Inside the Actor's Studio" with James Lipton and Charles Nelson Reilly, played by Will Ferrell and Alec Baldwin... in a word, hilarious!). He takes nice to a whole new level. He's so genuinely kind-hearted and selfless, I have given up the idea of ever feeling like I deserve to be with him. I will happily admit that I hit the husband jackpot. Because I really did.

We met in college. We had the same freshman Honors English Rhetoric class. He remembers me more than I remember him. He liked my sweaters and high pony tails and he asked for my number (my four digit dorm phone number, pre-cell phone era) and called one day for me to "review his paper." He left a message on my answering machine and I blew him off.

Three and a half years later, I met him again at a bar near campus. I was drunk, fresh off a breakup, and out to make friends. I was wearing one of those silky lingerie looking tops that was all the rage back in '05 and he asked me if I was wearing a real shirt. Ha! I ran into him again a couple days later on campus and asked him if he would be at the bar that night... he seemed surprised and said, "the bar?! It's Sunday!" I was a bit of a lush back then and explained that yes, my girlfriends and I were going to the bar every night until graduation. Guess who showed up at the bar that night?

We never looked back.

Besides being generally wonderful:

• Champ is a boobs man. And thank goodness for that, because my butt and legs are nothing to write home about. Every time I get out of the shower and am bare-chested for a second before I get a bra or t-shirt on, Champ is sneaking a peek or trying to cop a feel. I act annoyed but I'm secretly glad he's a fan. I keep wondering if it will get old, but it's like he's seeing the girls for the first time, every time. 
• He laughs hysterically during movies and shows at stuff that no one else catches. You won't see him laughing when the crowd laughs, but he'll die at a funny look in the background or a quiet side comment. When he's feeling down, he watches Boom Goes the Dynamite to the 22 second mark and completely erupts into giggles. 
• We have a policy of not turning down invitations unless we have to. We never want to be the kind of couple that people don't bother asking to hang out. My brother and his wife have become that couple. We rarely ask them to hang because they are always too tired or my brother is busy playing video games. Lame. And if we're stuck being infertile, dammit we're still gonna be a fun couple while we wait!

I could say a lot more but I want to hold back a bit if this will be a weekly thing. Thanks to Stupid Stork for the inspiration! Stop by her blog and let her know if you'd like to participate!

Late blooming shift? ???

Before I provide a glimpse into my marriage (per Stupid Stork's request), I am having a freak out moment and need your help.

It's about my chart.

I've been temping since CD1. All temps have hovered around 97.2 - 97.5. Including the day before, the day of, and the two days after my IUI on Tuesday. I got a shift today to 98.1.

I'm sure the shift today has something to do with the 200 mg. of progesterone I'm shoving up my vagina twice a day and probably not indicative of ovulating in the past 24 hours. BUT - did I not get a temperature shift for ovulation this time? Does the Ovidrel preclude a shift? Did I not ovulate? Was the IUI a huge waste of time and money and a torturous two week wait?

So I need to know - other charters who have used Ovidrel... is there supposed to be a shift? Should I lower my expectations about this IUI? Does the "temperature shift" credibility fly out the window when fertility meds enter the picture? HELP!

Pill Popping Vagina

Let's talk about vaginal progesterone. 

After two capsules, I can definitely say I am not a fan of the vag pills (aside from the instructions on the bottle. "Take one capsule twice daily per vagina." HAHAHAHA!!!! I couldn't stop laughing about that last night.). 

I will say first I was quite impressed with my vagina's ability to... swallow the pill. Is that too much information? I was kind of nervous about sticking the pill up there because I definitely need an applicator for tampons. I could never figure out the non-applicator kind. But that pill went right up there and I swear I almost heard some lip smacking and a swallow! I don't think I could get it out even if I tried! Which I didn't. Obviously.  

But after my initial "'Atta Girl"s, I changed my tune pretty quick. 

Are they suppose to leak so much? And be so ... yellow?  And make me feel so gross? And force me to type in italics excessively? 

Gross! Not to mention, how much progesterone am I losing with said leakage? Is that even okay? Don't I need that stuff to stay up in there? I am not excited for another 58 times of vagina-popping those suckers. Although I will happily pill pop 58 times over getting cut off with a very unwelcome period in two weeks. 

Has it really only been two days since my IUI? Ya'll aren't kidding about the two week wait. This blows. Today I looked at the time at work and when it only said "1:15" I was sure it meant AM and not PM. Time doesn't normally go this slow, right? 

After conferring with Belle's post today and taking into consideration your input from my last post, I am going to pee on the 15th instead of the 18th. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll pee on a pretty regular basis between now and then, but I meant pee on a stick. Of the pregnancy test variety. That will be 11 days post IUI. Otherwise known as one eternity from now. 

Distractions are good. Has everyone signed up for DogMom's Pinterest Challenge? I'm so excited about this and it's just the kick in the rear I need to actually make something from Pinterest besides made cake batter truffles and cake batter brownies (oh. my. god.). The first "official" month category is ART. And I've chosen my inspiration piece! And it's amazing!

Image from here, which seems to be a really cool blog that I think I'm going to add to my reader.

I'm in the process of deciding which of my own photos I'm going to use. Stay tuned!

Check back tomorrow or Saturday for a post spurred by Stupid Stork's request for a weird little glimpse into my marriage (and all marriages). I'm going to work something up tonight or tomorrow. 

Also, I'm serious about the vagina pill popping. Are those things normal? 

An IUI for the nerd

The IUI went well this morning. 

Hubs went in at 7:30 am to "do his business" in the porno room (requiring him to wake up at 6 am). He was a real trooper to do this, because he usually doesn't like to open his eyes / talk to people until at least 8:30 am. My husband is many things, but a morning person is not one of them. 

I came in an hour later to pick up the "specimen," which was neatly tucked into a green gift bag, complete with tissue paper. I wrote down his numbers because I figured I would never remember them. The doctor said everything looked great.

Volume: 9.2 ML

Count post wash: 213 mil

Motility: 60%

Grade: 2

I think the only thing that isn't stellar is the Grade, but it's by no means problematic. 

You all were right about how the IUI would feel - just a little uncomfortable with some "period-like" cramping for a few minutes. I relaxed for an easy 15 minutes, then I was out of there.

I went ahead and took the day off, just to try and keep a "zen" feeling for as long as possible and work has been super stressing me out lately. I remained horizontal all day. I caught up on Bachelor Pad from last night, took a nap, played Scrambled and Words with Friends, and practiced the Rubik's Cube. 

Yes. The Rubik's Cube. In a supreme indication of my nerdiness, I have been diligently learning how to complete the old "magic cube" from the 70s. I'm to the point that I can get the bottom white face, and the bottom two rows of each side with no help from the instructions. 

But to complete the cube, I have to cheat and look it up. But not for long! I will master that cube and impress all the cool people at parties with my mad skillz.

Right. 

Anyway. The doc said that everything looked perfect and that I shouldn't get my hopes up too high because it's never a guarantee, but that everything has gone about as well as it could have with this cycle. 

They said I could test two weeks from today (the 18th) and not before because the Ovidrel can sometimes cause a false positive. Thoughts? I want to test as soon as humanly possible, but Hubs wants to wait two weeks. How early can I get away with it? Should I just suck it up and wait? 

Follie Update

First of all, thanks everyone SO MUCH for all of the support and positive thoughts over the past week. You guys are the best cheerleaders for my little follicle!

This weekend I was trying very hard to keep my expectations about the follicle growth low. Nothing seems to ever go our way when it comes to fertility, but it's tough not to get my hopes up anyway. So I went back to the doctor this morning thinking I'd really be at least "okay" if this cycle busted.

The ultrasound showed a lining of 7.8 (they wanted it above 7)
And follie went from 13.3 to 19 mm!!!!

We talked with the doctor about our options of IUI vs. timed intercourse and we decided to move forward with an IUI on Tuesday! I'm triggering tonight with the Ovidrel I never got to use from my previous failed cycles.

!!

I know the odds are still not "in our favor" because of likely egg quality issues, but even to get this far, to be in a position where I have an active, perfectly sized follicle with a perfectly lined uterine wall... I mean, this is huge for us. I really thought we'd never get to even try!

My question for any of you who have had IUIs - um... what's it feel like? Is it like the wand or different? Any advice for the next few days or the day of the IUI?

* * * 

Also, now that the really important update is out of the way, I also ran another half-marathon yesterday! And if you'll remember, I had not trained adequately for this one. As in, my longest run was 8 miles on the treadmill 5 weeks ago.  And since then, I haven't run more than 5 or 6 miles at once. So I expected to have to walk-run this thing (which I was fine with) at the very least. Also it was 91% humidity and a hot morning. However, I totally stuck with my friend and we ran the whole thing in 10:15 mins/mile splits! It's almost a full minute per mile slower than my half marathon in April, but it's also way faster and better than I expected or trained for!

The medal

It's been a good weekend. Let's hope the good luck continues!