Another late update

OK so last time I wrote was almost 2 weeks ago. Oops.

March 3rd was my baby shower - it went very well, and a good time was had by all. We didn't have any cheesy games, either! :) There was a onesie decorating station, and people had fun with that. Since pretty much all the people at the shower are pug people, we got quite a few onesies decorated with pug things. One that stands out: "My sisters are hairy bitches". LMAO!

We were very lucky with all the amazing gifts people gave us. The big ticket items were the baby monitor and travel system. We didn't expect anyone to buy those! We got lots of very useful things, including a baby/toddler bath, loads of bath accessories, a baby grooming kit, books, lots of cute clothes (and in bigger sizes, too) and toys. We have a huge stash of washcloths and towels, too! Everybody was so generous and we were really touched by that. It was great to see everyone and celebrate our new arrival! :)

The onesie decorating station

Lots of gifts

Gifts again

The decorated onesies

Here are some of the 3D ultrasound pics we got at our second scan; baby boy was still not particularly cooperative but he was better the second time around than the first!

Rubbing his eye

Looks like he's sleeping (he wasn't!)

Resting his chin on his hand. This one was from the first 3D scan I think.

My mom and stepdad had a good vacation here. It actually went by pretty quickly - unlike when my dad was last here, LOL. They had a rental car so they were off doing things a lot of the time, which made it much easier to have houseguests. I really don't like it when people come and expect to be constantly entertained!!

They left very early Saturday morning, and we had our childbirth class and hospital tour that day. The class was much better than I'd expected it to be. It was a lot of information (a 10 hour class condensed into 5 hours), but it was presented really well and we both got a lot out of it. Birth partners and their roles were discussed, and techniques for helping during labor and delivery were taught. I know my hubby found that very helpful, because he didn't really know beforehand what he could do when the time comes.

The hospital tour was good, too. It was nice to see the L&D rooms and all that stuff. The hospital seems as nice as it can be, and the staff seem lovely too. I'm glad we chose that one to deliver at! :)

I'm 31 weeks pregnant tomorrow - time is really flying! Baby is still very active, which I love. He should weigh around 3 pounds now. In about 5 weeks I'll be having another ultrasound to check his growth and position. Hopefully he'll be head down by that point. I think he might be lying across my tummy now (transverse). I guess that's a little better than being breech - as long as he turns head down before delivery!

My hubby found out a couple of days ago that his manager wants him to go a couple of thousand miles away for almost a month of training - starting in 2 weeks. Um, no. First of all, I'm heavily pregnant and he doesn't want to leave me (and honestly, the thought of him being gone for that long at this point in our lives scares the crap out of me). Secondly, we have friends coming from England at the end of this month, for 2 weeks. If he went on this trip he wouldn't even see them once. Their trip has been planned for absolutely ages, too. He told his co-workers that the dates don't work at all for him, and I'm hoping they're going to accept that. I don't want him being in trouble with work or anything, but it just won't work. If it was for one week it would be OK, but almost a month? He'd have to leave March 24th (a day we have volunteer commitments) and he wouldn't be back until at least April 17th. I'm scared that if he were to go, I'd get put on bed rest and be totally screwed as far as having any help. I know it's probably unlikely that the baby will be born early, but you just never know. Things can happen. I feel pretty stressed over this whole thing, honestly. Ugh. Hopefully this will be the end of it, and that will be that.

Why do I do this?!

I woke up feeling quite nauseous this morning, and since I was already planning to test today it kind of spurred me on. Well, it was a BFN of course! Damn. I know nausea doesn't automatically equal pregnancy, it's likely a side-effect of progesterone. I knew it was probably too early to test but I did it anyway.

I'm having some very light spotting, too. I'm thinking that's not a good sign - I always spot before my period, it usually starts at 11 dpo but has started at 10 dpo and 12 dpo before. I'm still hopeful that this might be our cycle though. Who knows, the spotting could clear up soon. It could be a "good" sign - it could be implantation bleeding, possibly. See, I'm trying to be positive!!

Here's my chart, which I think looks pretty good so far [of course that could change any day, so I don't want to get too carried away yet.]

My hubby just got his travel dates for his business trip to Mississippi: it's only going to be for one week now, not two (yay!!), and the week he's going definitely shouldn't interfere with TTC. That's such a relief! We're still hoping that this will be my BFP cycle and we won't have to TTC anymore, but we're realistic about it and know that things like this don't seem to work out the way we plan (if they did, we wouldn't have been TTC for 13 months, it would've happened in the first 6 months or so of trying!). His boss didn't ask him why he's unavailable for most of the proposed dates, but if she had asked he was just going to tell her the truth: that we've been TTC without success for 13 months, and that I recently had a medical procedure done which might increase our chances for the next few months.

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Today I'm going out for lunch with some of the other ladies I volunteer with. It was my friend's birthday yesterday so we're celebrating that! I honestly had no idea what to get her - I thought about nice candles, nice toiletries... I looked for something pug-related... In the end, I settled on something completely different. I bought her a nice cookie tin and baked her a batch of cookies last night. I know this sounds like a really lame gift but she absolutely loves my baking, so I think she'll be pleased. I also have a cute pug picture that I bought from the boutique pet store a while ago, and never did anything with (it's still in its packaging and everything). I'm debating giving her that as well - maybe she'll have more use for it than we do. I realize I probably sound really cheap here, but I've been spending my money on things to donate for the pug rescue silent auction, our pugs, and stuff I need for the adoption event I'm running. Oh, and voting in their cutest pug contest! I did buy myself a nice pair of sandals as well, but I really needed those!

Anyway, fingers crossed that she likes the gift. I think she will  :)

Willpower...

Something I generally lack! Not today, however.

This morning (9 dpo) I woke up and took my temp (98.2), went back to sleep, woke up again and then lay in bed debating the pros and cons of testing today. Now clearly 9 dpo is most likely too early to test, but that's never stopped me in the past. I used to be really crazy and test at 8 dpo routinely. Anyway, I managed to talk myself out of testing today because if I got a BFN it would make me sad. I know a BFN at this stage doesn't mean you're out, but despite knowing that, actually getting a BFN depresses me! If I thought I might actually get a BFP then I guess it'd be different, but I don't really feel any different. I always feel tired, bloated, gassy and a little crampy after I ovulate. I do feel a little nauseous but that's happened before too, so I'm not getting excited yet.

Testing today would most likely have been a big disappointment. Testing tomorrow, though... Well, I probably will. Even though one extra day probably won't make that much of a difference, it somehow sounds better to test at 10 dpo than 9 dpo. Or maybe it's just me. I'm still clinging to the small hope that the HSG will end up being all we needed to get that elusive BFP... If not this cycle, then maybe next cycle or the one after that. As long as my hubby isn't out of state, that is! If we didn't have the dogs then I guess I could go with him, but it would be about $300-400 to board the dogs Sunday through Friday (assuming we'd be back in time to pick them up on Friday), and we'd have to find a vacation foster home for our two fosters. Plus, I really don't want to go to Mississippi. I've actually been 3 times before, believe it or not. I had family there who we visited when I was a kid, as part of our US vacations. It's so humid there and I'd rather have the crazy (dry) heat we get here - even though it was 93 at 7.30 this morning, and it's been up to 116 the past couple of days... Plus, all things considered it would be pretty expensive for me to join my hubby out there - flights, dog boarding etc. So I'm hoping that either I get my BFP this cycle, or he'll be home during my fertile times for the next couple of cycles at least.

In other 'news' I'm preparing for my new pug rescue adoption event on Sunday. I think I have everything I need now, except for a couple of chairs which we'll probably get today. We bought a table which folds down really small and has a carrying handle. I got a donation jar, big water bowl, extra leashes... I need to print out all the paperwork I'll be needing, but I think we're pretty much set. I'm excited and a little apprehensive; I'm sure it'll go fine, but it'll be my first time "in charge" and I want to make sure it goes well and that I do a good job! So far we have 11 pugs and 6 or 7 volunteers, so it should be a good event. Hopefully we'll get some adoptions! :)

Mississippi? Really? =/

My husband found out yesterday that he's going to have to go away on business, to Mississippi of all places. Ugh! He had a list of proposed dates, he has to go for 2 separate weeks and it'd be one week there, a week home and then another week there. We looked at my ovulation calendars and it turns out he could go for one combination out of the three given, without interfering with our chances. Normally I'd just say we could have a break for a cycle - in fact I was about to say that, but it seems like a silly thing to do at the moment because the potential benefits from having the HSG should last for the next 2-3 months. It would be horrible to not be able to try one of those cycles in which (theoretically at least) I have increased fertility.

Hopefully the dates that work for us will also work for his boss. My husband is only really supposed to do one business trip a year, to Wisconsin (he did that in February). These extra trips are kind of inconvenient, especially given our situation. I guess if he absolutely has to go during ovulation time, then he has to go  :(  We'd be really disappointed though, and I'd feel very cheated out of trying during a cycle where we might be more successful than under normal circumstances.

His boss does understand that he has a life where we live, so hopefully it'll be OK. He's had to say no to trips previously for other reasons (like last summer, when we were buying our house and he had to be here to sign the paperwork and everything). I hope that his boss doesn't pry about why he needs to be in town for those particular weeks, but he's prepared to tell her a condensed version of the truth if necessary.

I'm 8 dpo today, and who knows, maybe I'll get my BFP this time and the business trips won't be an issue. I wish I could truly believe that, I really do. I'm trying to be positive without getting my hopes up too much. My chart looks OK, but it's obviously too early to test. I'm tempted to test on Wednesday (10 dpo) but that's probably still too early. It hasn't stopped me in the past, though!

I ovulated! Woo-hoo!

Yep, that's right! I ovulated on CD21 (the earliest since I began charting!). I'm very happy; if we're not successful this month then at least my O day seems to be heading in the right direction. I'm hoping that as time goes on, I'll O closer to CD14. I guess it doesn't really matter, but it would be nice to have shorter cycles!

This means AF is due on 2/4. I'm hoping to get my BFP instead, of course.

We just got the news today that my hubby has to go on a week-long business trip in the middle of February. My first thought, after "That sucks!" was, "Oh good, it won't coincide with ovulation!". LOL. I guess it's a good thing that we don't buy into Valentine's Day, because he'll be almost 1800 miles away. I'll miss him but we've been apart for much longer before, when we were in a long-distance relationship. We'd go 3-4 months without seeing each other and that was hell, so this will be fine. He'll only be gone Monday through Friday, too. I just hope the dogs behave for me while he's gone...

About half an hour ago, some idiot rang our doorbell twice in quick succession and then proceeded to bang on the door. The dogs went crazy of course (they hate the doorbell) and in the process of me trying to crate them they started fighting. I got bitten by Suzie pretty badly on my index finger - she broke the skin on either side of my knuckle. I don't think she meant to bite me (she was trying to get to Gracie), but still. The best of it is, whoever the idiot was who caused the frenzy didn't even wait for me to answer the door. If it was important enough to ring the bell twice and bang on the door, with no gap between any those things, then they could've waited the 45 seconds it took me to get to the door. I mean, they would've heard me shouting at the dogs, for goodness sake - they knew someone was home. Ugh, I hate some people!!!

Speaking of which, over the weekend someone stole my debit card number and emptied my bank account. Well, they actually put me in the red. Wonderful, right? I was woken on Sunday morning by a call from the card company asking me to verify a transaction at a gas station in Michigan. Um, nope, it wasn't me. Never been there in my life. Anyway, it turns out there were 4 transactions before they called to ask me if I wanted to block the card. We went to the bank yesterday to sort it out and now I'm waiting to get my money back. The lady at the bank said we were the fifth customers she'd seen yesterday with the same problem. Isn't it a sad reflection on society that this kind of thing is so common? I had the same thing happen to me years ago in the UK. Anyway, hopefully the people who do that kind of thing will get what's coming to them. Karma is a bitch!