Riding the Big Red Wave today...

So, Saturday the spotting turned into full flow. I'm so tired of maxi pads, etc. Plus they are bad for the environment. I had previously looked into cloth pads, but the idea of washing them so often wasn't appealing.

I checked out a thread on TMP that gave a lot of good examples to durable alternatives to disposable pads/tampons. After looking at all the options, I decided to order The Keeper (I actually ordered the Moon Cup made of medical grade silicone). This is a menstrual cup made of either natural gum rubber (latex)--The Keeper or medical grade silicone--The Moon Cup.

The way this works is that the cup is inserted in the vagina to catch the menstrual flow. I'm excited for it to come in for the next cycle.

However, I do have a cardiac MRI on Feb 3. My doctor is going to analyze it to see if there is any real difference and decide what to do. If there is a decrease in function as one of the ECHO's showed, he will call me in for an appt. Otherwise I'll see him in September!

I'm really hoping that I'll be able to actively TTC this cycle! I'm even going to break out my monitor to see if I can start tracking my cycle again. I wasn't before because the test sticks are so expensive, but it is quite accurate.
 
That's the plan for now. Fingers crossed I'll be given the go ahead to TTC!

1st Positive Word Challenge Post--AF arrived

Of course the day I post my positive word challenge I forget to post. For three days. Ah well. This is why each of the next 30 posts will start with the above title. "Nth Positive Word Challenge Post" until we reach 30th.

So, Thursday morning, around 1AM....still awake watching a movie with SIL and her husband.  Cramps began really strong. I had been spotting for 5 or more days. This time go to the bathroom and FULL flow.  My cramps were so bad I was nauseous and after the movie was over I broke down in tears.

DH was sooo sweet. I asked for a heating pad, but SIL was without one. So he offered to "massage" until the pain was gone. I was a bit skeptical, but his hands were as warm as a heating pad! That felt a little better.

The strange thing is that when I have the 5 days of spotting before full flow, my actual period flow looks like this: Heavy --> Light --> Light --> Spotting.  Sometimes there is a Medium instead of the Light . But this was how my flow went this time. I actually thought I was on a spotting day today but went to pee and lots on the TP. So to be safe I put in a pad.

Well, enough yucky period talk. I had such positive pregnancy symptoms this cycle it caused me to hope against hope despite my BD schedule lacking. I had these Extra-Sensitive (10 mIU) HPTs that I was using. I kept getting one line each day. I had more success with SMU as you will see in this 11 DPO pic and invert:





I am pretty sure they're evaps. But they give hope, and it's horrible. This was my concern with the 10 mIU tests, that they would lead to more evaps. I kept telling myself to accept a DEFINITE line as a positive and to ignore the evaps. I am out of tests because I started POAS at 7DPO. That is insanely early!!

I have ONE FRER, but I can hold out on that one until just before my period. So, my goal is to avoid buying any HPTs until O is confirmed (at 3DPO or so). Early-pregnancy-tests.com has a very quick delivery, so if I order around 5-6 DPO, then the tests will arrive around 10-12 DPO.

The hard part is this: I am a POAS-aholic (Peeing-on-a-Stick). I worry that my need to POAS will be so great that I will run out and buy any test I can get my hands on (even evil blue-dye!). I am hopeful that not having any peesticks in the house will keep me from this.

Hopefully.