How did we get here?

Holy crap!
We are just about a month away from our first insemination.
A MONTH?!?!?
What?
How the heck did that happen?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm wicked excited about getting this party started.
I am.
It's just… S and I have been talking about this for years. Even when she started charting and going through the whole medical clearance process, it still seemed like something that was happening in some far off land we hadn't discovered yet.
But thats no longer the case. It's practically happening now!
We're disembarking the vessel and heading out onto the shores of some strange foreign territory.

It's weird.
It's exciting.
And admittedly, it's a little scary.
I have NO IDEA what to expect. None.
I know what other couples have gone though. I've read about the good, the bad and the ugly. The only constant I can find is there is no constant. Everyone is so different.
Will it take us 100 tries before our little Sea-Monkey hatches? Or will we get a big fat positive first time around?
How will S's mood change?
How will mine?
Do I have to strictly abide by the three golden rules:
1. Keep S away from water.
2. S hates bright light.
3. The most important rule. No matter how much she cries, no matter how much she begs, never, never feed S after midnight.
Can we keep level headed and relatively stress free?
Is this process going to consume us and turn us into pod people?
And when the day finally comes and we get that positive, will we be able to keep it under wraps for as long as we plan to? Or will I buy a billboard on 95 and advertise it to the entire state?

Wait… some of those may be gremlin rules, not TTC rules… never mind.

None the less. We're here.
Now who do I see about getting my passport stamped??

Bah!

Looks like the test wasn't done. The earliest I can get into the lab is Thursday.

Annoyed that I need to go through this extra step. But we have plenty of time.

Also not pleased that my CBEFM gave me a high reading today?! Way too early. Like super way too early. It's not time for my body to go pulling any surprises on me.

Off to enjoy my glass of wine and finish watching Bride Wars. Totally not my kind of movie, but sucking me in nonetheless.

Waiting

Finished up our final counseling and medical evaluation yesterday! Except one test was missing from my records, so I am currently awaiting a call back from a nurse to find out if the test was done and just omitted from the records or if I have to go back in and get more blood drawn. Once I get that to the Nurse we are cleared to order sperm!

Which now means we need to narrow down our donor list and place our order. Our final decision will be deciding on timing for insemination. Perhaps some of our readers can give us some advice.

Based on my charting I generally get a positive OPK, the next day a normal temp and the day after a spike. Between that and my other fertility signs it seems that I am O'ing the day after my positive OPK.

Since we plan on doing one home insemination and one IUI, both with frozen sperm, we are trying to get our timing right. Originally my plan was to do the home insemination the evening i get the positive OPK and the IUI the following morning (my potential O day).

A woman at the clinic recommended doing the IUI in the morning after my positive OPK and then the home insemination around 12 hours later.

Sooo.....any thoughts?

Another great 2010 weekend

So far 2010 has been exactly what I imagined. This weekend was no exception, amazing weather, delicious food, and plenty of time with J.! Yesterday we hit up the farmers' market and picked up some delicious local food. Today we signed up for a gym membership and did chores around the house. Now I'm enjoying a glass of wine while J. whips up some eggplant parm. Does it get any better?

On Wednesday we have our final appointment at the clinic before we get our medical clearance to order our swimmers. We have picked out a few potential choices only to find out our top 2 have had no reported pregnancies, which kind of grosses me out. We have another list to check out and luckily we can look at long profiles for free at the clinic, which we plan to do on Wednesday.

The last decision to make is when do we do our first insemination? Initially the plan was April since I was going to be out of town around ovulation time in March. It seems now that I will be home still during ovulation. Do we start early? I haven't been terribly good about not drinking alcohol and caffeine this month, but the idea of starting a month early is really exciting. Although J. thinks we should stick to our original plan. I think maybe we'll see how it goes on Wednesday and if we are able to pick a donor right away perhaps we will order and see how it goes! Of course that means no drinks during my business trip, but I'll live. :)

Off to watch more Baby Story and finish my wine! Enjoy the upcoming week! It's supposed to be beautiful here!