Sur{reality}

Have you noticed my cute little cracked egg icon? I did. And it made me smile. Yesterday, I found out that I am pregnant. Knocked up. In a family way. A bun in the oven. It hasn't even begun to sink in at all. I feel like I have dreamt it all up. Seeing those two pink lines....did I really? I did.

By the way, Mr. Divasaur is hilarious...I moved the positive FRER off his nightstand to avoid any curiosity on the part of our puppy and he freaked. "Where's the stick?" he asked. It was too funny. I've stored it away in our bathroom for now. We plan to purchase a digital today that I will use tomorrow when I am 15DPO, my originally slated test date. I also called my doctor's office and have a blood test scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

It was weird when I spoke to the receptionist. I told her I had POAS twice and had positive results and wanted to schedule an appointment. She said, "We don't recognize urine tests. You'll have to come into our lab for blood work first. If you are pregnant, we'll schedule you to meet with the doctor and she'll go over everything with you like getting started on prenatals." I just found all of her comments very odd, but was like whatever, I have an appointment for a blood test to confirm my pregnancy.

To celebrate DH's birthday we caught a movie and had a nice dinner. Figuring out what to order was interesting. Caesar salad? No...it has raw eggs. House salad? Nope, blue cheese. Okay, spinach salad. Lots of spinach which is great for vitamins including folate and a hard boiled egg for protein. Perfect! Until it arrived and DH pointed out that it had bacon on it, which is a no-no, right? I have no idea. So I ate it and figured I'd get a book and find out all of the do's and don'ts of being knocked up. Some are obvious, like don't smoke or drink alcohol. Others are a little more elusive...like sushi...obviously pregnant Japanese women have eaten it for centuries, right?

So, after dinner, we headed to the bookstore to purchase some sort of pregnancy guide. I thought for sure I knew what I wanted, but then, standing there in front of all of my options, I felt very overwhelmed. I finally decided upon "What To Expect When You're Expecting" since they had the most copies (it's only section, really) and I know that my friends all swear by it. I do, however, want to get a copy of the Mayo Clinic's Guide to Pregnancy at some point. I also bought the companion journal to WTEWYE since I am a sentimental type that wants to record everything! Kind of ironic considering this is my BFP cycle and I didn't chart the 2WW. Last cycle I noted every twinge or feeling. This time, not so much.

Looking back over my chart and symptoms, here's what sticks out in my mind:

1-5DPO : Ate pineapple core (1/5 of a whole one) each morning, 30 minutes before breakfast I also was thirty, gassy and had heartburn all 5 days.
1DPO: I also had some slight cramping on the lower right side. I was a little weepy all day long as well.
2DPO: I had a dull backache and slight cramps on the lower left side. Still weepy.
3 DPO: Still very emotional. Cried several times throughout the day. Also added constipation, tender breasts and increased appetite to the mix. I am thinking that all of this is stress (preparing to fly overseas for work) + PMS. I also had bizarre dreams that night.
4DPO: This was the first day I thought, "hm, could I be pregnant?" I was majorly bloated in a way that I never get bloated. Up high. And it hurt. Or at least my pants did.
5DPO: More bizarre dreams. Bloat continued and I was majorly gassy!
6DPO: Huge temp drop (this was the last morning I temped before departing on my trip). I wondered if it could be the implantation dip.
7DPO-11DPO: Traveling overseas. I didn't chart, but I did pay attention to CM and CP. My CM was really creamy and yellow and my CP was still fairly high, medium-soft and medium-open. I was gassy, thirty, and tired, all of which I chalked up to jet lag. My breasts were increasingly tender and my appetite was voracious. Again, I was thinking PMS + stress. I was pretty sure that my temps were up because despite keeping the room at a constant temperature all night I awoke in the mornings hot and sweaty and without wearing my pjs.
9DPO: Stands out in my mind since I awoke to faint, pale pink spotting only when I wiped and only for about 2 hours. I cried actually. I thought my period my coming really early. Only hours later did I begin to wonder if I was perhaps having the elusive implantation spotting. My CM was really watery for the rest of the day.
10-11DPO: Still increased appetite, bloating, gassy, constipation, skin breakout, fatigued and thirty. I did feel a little queasy/dizzy at the airport and on the plane. All of this I essentially attributed to jet lag, traveling and PMS.
12DPO: PIAC and dipped two sticks...BFPs! Lines came up pretty quickly although they were not as dark as the control lines.
13DPO: Bloat is gone, skin has cleared up, but I am still thirsty and my boobs are killing me! Tender does not describe it. They are sore. All day yesterday while in the car I literally held onto them so they wouldn't jiggle while riding down the road. And I have been sleeping with a shelf-bra tank to help support them. They're not bigger (yet) but they feel heavy and sore, especially on the sides near my underarms. My nipples are tingly too.

image source

So...there you have it. My "symptoms." If I had to pinpoint two that fall into the "never had that before..." category it would be the bloat way up high and the implantation spotting. Overall this was just one wacky cycle from start to finish! And to think we initially considered TTA this cycle. Boy! Am I glad we just went for it...got it on like bunnies and ended up with a BFP! I do think going doggy style and using the Instead soft cups afterwards really helped, especially since I have a tilted cervix. I also don't discount the pineapple core...it certainly didn't hurt. And of course charting and using my CBEFM were essential to discovering how late I O'd this cycle. Finally, from a mental/emotional perspective, using guided meditation and not charting the 2WW really helped my stress levels. A complete turn around from my last cycle when I was just a wreck!

Now begins the next phase. I will journal daily and hopefully not worry to much about all of the "what ifs" that are ahead of me. For today, I am pregnant and I love my baby. Baby?! OMG! I am pregnant and we're having a baby! I am not sure when this will sink in, actually.