Hmm... not really anything to report today.

Today is dress up day at work - I'm not going to dress up. I tried to think of a joke I could come up with as a response whenever someone said, "What are you?" but I couldn't think of one. One guy at the office said he was going to go as the invisible man. (Meaning, he wouldn't be around, ha!). Anyway, talk to you later!

Firstly, good news! The doctor said I can go ahead and try to get pregnant this month. =) So this will be the first month TTC without all my allergy medications that were causing lack of cervical mucus. I'm VERY excited about that! =) I started my period yesterday, so will will probably start TTC in about 10 days.

The allergy test (where they inject allergens under your skin) wasn't bad at all! It was just as uncomfortable as the other less-feared scratch test. Basically, the only thing that is uncomfortable is if you actually are allergic to something, then you get a welt and a rash which itches like crazy. This test shows that in addition to ragweed, russian thistle, cockroaches I am also allergic to "grasses" and, yes, "cats." There were two tests for cats and I was only allergic to one of them, and it only BARELY set off their positive alarm (meaning, it was barely red with no welt). So, either I am only slightly allergic to cats, or I am slightly immune to them because I've been living with them.

So, grasses and weeds are the main things I need to watch for. Both of which have a summertime season (meaning that last month was a REALLY bad time to go off medication!).

She also checked my throat and had me say, "Ahhhhh." And when I did that she asked me if I was a singer because my Ahhh sounded really nice. Haha, isn't that funny?

Hooray for this month! Hooray! I want to be pregnant by the time we move into the new house. =)

Today is my doctor's appointment with the allergy specialist. They're going to do the allergy test where they actually inject allergens under your skin, to see how horribly you react, heh. It is supposed to be pretty painful (I should probably say, extremely uncomfortable... it's not painful like a broken arm, it's just a bunch of really bad needle shots!) so I'm not really looking forward to it. But, it will be nice to have it all over. I'm praying that I'm not allergic to cats. =)

Also, today the doctor should tell me what my "plan" is for the next few weeks. Is she going to let me try to get pregnant? Will she try to get me to take some more medication for just a few weeks and then let my get pregnant in 2 weeks when it is time to ovulate? Or, perhaps the likely scenerio, will she have me take another CT scan and see how my sinuses are? If they're not good, I might have to have surgery. Then, not only do I have to have surgery on my HEAD, but pregnancy is delayed by another month. =(

The thing is, if my sinuses are so bad, why can't I tell? I don't feel any sinus pain or pressure. I feel no symptoms of having a horrible sinus infection. Should you really have surgery on something that doesn't bother you at all?

So, I am going to put on my healthiest face and try to convince her that everything is perfect and her treatment was successful. =)

You see, originally I had chosen to have a black-colored roof on the house. I went into the roofing company and signed a paper with my color choices. However, later on, when I saw the garage door color (which was different than I had anticipated) I changed the roof and soffit colors. But, they never asked me to go back in and "approve" these changes.

The problem is, at the time they changed my colors, someone changed the "3-tab" shingles to "architect" shingles (the expensive ones). I have no idea why they would have done this. The only thing I can think of is that the color I chose only comes in architect shingles? Who knows.

Luckily, I still have the paper that shows where I signed for the cheap shingles, and it is obvious someone crossed it off later on. So, it looks like I won't have to pay.

Out of the kindness of our hearts, we said we would allow them to leave the expensive shingles on the house so they didn't have to remove them. =)

Nothing else going on... talk to you tomorrow!

No period yet, probably today or tomorrow. Today was also my last antibiotics (hopefully she doesn't make me start over again!).

So it was fun seeing the house yesterday. We now have shingles on our roof. Fortunately or unfortunately, the roofer put this extra-expensive "archetectural" shingles on our roof, that we didn't order. I'm assuming we don't have to pay for it, since we didn't order it. They can take it off it they want, or they can leave it. Whatever. =)

They also put all the venting system and at least some plumbing in this week, so that was nice to see. There is a bath in the lower-level bathroom, but it was supposed to be a shower only. I don't really care about that one, but we are going to make sure that they know it is a mistake, so we get some extra points in case he makes a mistake we really don't like in the future (like the trey ceiling!).

Speaking of the trey ceiling, he said it would cost us $400. So, we're not doing it. But you know, if it is basically gluing some wood to the ceiling of our master bedroom, we can always do that later, right? It can be a little home improvement project for Kevin next summer. =)

I took a lot of pictures, which I should have in a few days (just got to develop it).

I'll probably start my period tomorrow. Then, I basically have two weeks to convince the doctor my sinus problems are over. ;) I meet with the doctor next Wednesday though, hopefully she doesn't have me continue medication.

I really want to try again this month because I feel I'll have much better luck when I'm off of Zyrtec (since I have egg white CM). Just think, by this time next month I could be pregnant! Please, please, please, please! =)

I'm visiting the house today, and meeting with the builder. He's going to give us some options about how to have a trey ceiling in our bedroom (a feature we thought came standard with the house, but really doesn't). I'm sure he'll ask us for some money for it, and I don't think we can really afford to spend any more. We've already spent like $1700 in post-contract upgrades (which means we have to pay that in cash, it isn't included in our mortgage) and considering closing costs, down payment and appliances - we will have to shell out a LOT of money all at once.

Well anyway, talk to you later!

My period will start in a few days. Hopefully my doctor will let my TTC next month. This month was so boring without all the excitement of tracking my temperatures and making guesses.

I think in the end the month off will be helpful though. Getting this allergy stuff figured out before I get pregnant is a good idea. And also, last month was the first month I ovulated without having taken Zyrtec in a long time, and I DID have egg white CM. That will really help the little spermies get to their goal!

Next week I go to the doctors again, and hopefully she'll let me TTC.

Talk to you later!

Not much going on. I've been without Zyrtec or prednisone for about a week now, and though I still have a little bit of congestion (hopfully drainage from my sinuses) I feel pretty good. I've been taking the antibiotics as well, and they are causing me some other problems, but hopefully they are going to clear things up.

More importantly, I've posted some new pictures of the house. Check them out here. If you want to start from the front page, click on the house progress link on the right.

Still not much going on. The house is progressng... I try to have some new pictures up by tomorrow. Talk to you later!

Sorry I haven't posted for so long! I was kinda waiting for my doctor's appointment yesterday, but really that's no excuse. =)

So, I ovulated yesterday, that's the first thing. I actually followed the doctor's advice and didn't BD, so there's no chance of pregnancy this month.

So, my doctor had me have a chest X-ray and a CT scan of my sinuses. Really, the results are just about as bad as they can be - except for finding something unexpected like cancer. But when I saw her she said, "Your CT scan looks REALLY bad. We have to talk about it." She says I have acute, chronic, pan-sinisitis. Basically, that's means I have a bad sinus infection. She's going to give me some antibiotics to see if they help (and I think they will) but the worst case situation is that perhaps I have a defect that causes my sinuses not to drain properly, and that can be corrected with surgery. Obviously I don't want surgery! My plan is to take the antibiotics and get rid of this thing in the next 3 weeks - then it is time to start trying to conceive again.

I also took a skin allergy test. I'm not allergic to cats (at least, this first test didn't show that - they will do another in depth one though) and I am allergic to ragweed and russian thistle (which is very common). So, basically my allergies act up during August through October. Makes sense to me! I'm also allergic to common cocklebur and/or cockroaches. I thought the common cocklebur had something to do with cockroaches, but a quick search online didn't show any connection, so now I'm confused. Anyway, she said I had a really bad allergy to ragweed - in fact, the tiny spot where she did the test still itches! But as soon as she put the tiny drop of ragweed on me, the whole area broke out in a rash and hives and started itching like crazy. Imagine if I had to roll around in a pool of that stuff! Luckily, I doubt no such pool exists.

The predisone really helped me though... I'm still slightly congested but no more asthma problems. I have one more day of predisone left, so hopefully I don't start feeling bad again. She has me on Singulair instead of Zyrtec because Zyrtec will influence my allergy tests and Singulair won't. But, I don't feel Singulair works as well for me. When I take Zyrtec, I just dry up like a fish out of water (that reminds me of a time when my pet fish jumped out of the tank, and when I finally found him three days later, he looked like a little orange potato chip).

My temperature dipped today, but that is because I'm not taking prednisone. So, my temp chart may be a little strange this month. I'm still having an internal debate on whether I way to try to get pregnant this month. Hmmm...

Saw the doctor yesterday. She was really mad at me for being so sick - I was really wheezing bad when I saw her. She wants me to have a chest xray and a sinus MRI (read = $$$). She also wants me to wait a month to fix everything before getting pregnant.

I really want to be irresponsible and try anyway though. How bad is that? People get pregnant accidentally all the time. Is that really bad of me?

Asthma was really bad last night. I usually wheeze, and then I have kind of a coughing attack because I'm trying to cough out the fluid making me wheeze. But last night, I was wheezing only a tiny bit, but my chest was so tight that it actually hurt to breathe. Luckily, a couple puffs of my albuterol inhaler helped that out. But it came back again every few hours while I was sleeping. I remember when I was on swim team when I was a kid, back in smoggy Riverside, California, and after swimming a long time then getting out of the pool, my chest would be tight and it hurt to breathe, very similar to this.

Luckily, we don't have that much smog from cars in Northwest Indiana.

Instead, we have chemically polluted air from industrial plants. It's much more difficult to see, but just as dangerous.

Anyway, I have an appointment with an allergy and immunology specialist tomorrow. I'm hoping to accomplish three things:

1. Get some treatment for my current problems. (Probably a nebulizer treatment.)
2. Talk to her about long-term treatment during TTC, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Taking antihistamines is not recommended during any of those phases, especially breastfeeding. So that's like 2 or 3 years of having no treatment for my allergies - so I need to figure out something.
3. Get my allergy skin test. Basically, they scratch you with numerous allergens, and see which you react to. Afterwards, I will know (hopefully) exactly what I'm allergic to.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!

The house didn't quite have a roof yet, but it should really soon. You could see where they were putting together big triangles that they will soon hoist up and make the roof with them. Kevin was a little disappointed though, it hasn't seemed like there has been much progress the last two weeks. I guess sometimes it is hard to see what they're actually doing though.

My asthma was really bad last night, I kept waking up wheezing. I am trying to go this cycle with no medication, and it has been OK so far - until the last few days. I'm going to make an appointment for a specialist again (I did last month, but I got too sick and had to go to urgent care, and was put on medication, so I had to cancel). Hopefully it will get better, somehow, soon.

Not much to report today. We're going to see the house later, and then Kevin has a bunch of work to do.

Yesteray I bought several things at the garage sales. I got a big stair step for aerobics for $1.50, and two "What to expect" books for 10 cents each (What to expect when you're expecting and what to expect the first year). I also bought a giant "nursing" book for 50 cents, but it ended up being a book about NURSING (as in medicine and doctors and whatnot) and not feeding babies. Haha. I guess I have babies on the brain.

I also saw a bunch of baby items for really cheap. This one lady was selling a stroller, light stroller, high chair, activity center, activity walker, jogging stroller, two different cars seats, playpen and some other things - all for $3 - $10 each. They were in pretty good condition too - some wear, but nothing bad. When I'm finally pregnant, I'm going to buy almost everything at garage sales! I want a good stroller and car seat, so I want a particular brand (Peg Perego) so I won't get those unless I see them at a sale, which is doubtful. I did find this used baby store nearby that sells "gently used" strollers, and they have Peg Perego, and they were like half price. (Normally they are $150 - $300 or so).

Talk to you later!

Period is definitely here! =(

I posted something on Fertility Friend about my analysis (below) and the response I got was basically "You need to relax! You're only on your second cycle!" Haha, I guess I am overly obsessive. I just like thinking about having babies! I'm rarely sad about it, and even if I am, it is kind of a healthy sad. Meaning, I don't think it is a problem. I'm still a happy and cheerful person. I just get sad for a minute, and then I start getting excited about next month. =)

I'm going to some more garage sales today. Hopefully I can find some stuff for the house! I've been going to sales for three weekends now, and so far I've only spent like $2.50. Bought some candle holders and two baby shirts. I have neither candles nor babies. Although, I can buy candles!

I had some brownish spotting yesterday, enough that I had to wear something, but then it stopped (this is typical for me to spot a day before or the day of my period). Now, this morning my temperature dropped below the coverline, which is a big sign of my impending period, as if the spotting wasn't enough. So, I might have more spotting more today, and then tomorrow will be the first day of my new cycle, most likely.

I am disappointed. I thought this would be easier! Kevin mentioned to me the other day that if we had gotten pregnant the first cycle (the cycle where we didn't get the green light until after I ovulated) I would be 12 weeks pregnant today! I'd be starting to get over morning sickness. Hoping to get an ultrasound to know the sex of the baby. Listening to heartbeats. Buying little baby things at garage sales (well, I guess I'm doing that already, but there was a lot more I would have bought, were I pregnant). I was hoping I'd be pregnant when we moved into the new house. Now, if I do get pregnant next cycle, I will probably find out a week before we move.

I think the whole house thing will be great though. Luckly, I'm not a really stressed out person, so the whole building and moving process probably won't affect my ovulation. I really only get stressed out when I launch a new web site at work, or if a family member is sick. I don't stress about much else though! So I'm not worried about that.

I've been trying to analyze any potential fertility problems we may have, so I can try to use little tricks to correct for it next cycle. Here are some things that I know AREN'T wrong:

- I am ovulating VERY regularly (ovulation on the same day every cycle, and each cycle so far is exactly the same length).
- I have good progesterone levels (which I can tell from my temperature spikes).
- I don't have a luteal phase defect (luteal phase for me is 12 days).
- I have a short cycle, but nothing out of the ordinary.
- My HSG was normal, no blockages, no obscructions, no fibroids or anythhing else big enough to change the morphology of my uterus.
- My fallopian tubes are not blocked, and I have free spillage from the tubes into the body cavity.
- I have very strong periods, so the lining of my uterus should be thick enough to support a pregnancy.
- I don't have a retrograde uterus as previously suspected, so that is fine.

Here are some things that COULD be a problem:

- We could have male infertility problems, though I doubt it.
- I could have egg quality problems. I'm not sure if there are any signs that would clue me into that, but I seem to ovulate strong and fast, which makes me feel like that whole system is fine.
- I DO have fibroids, but they should only affect pregnancy if they're big enough, and supposedly they're not. It is possible they affect impantation though, and that could be a problem.
- I don't have good cervical mucus, so the spermies may have traveling issues. This is the most obvious problem I can see. I am always using allergy medications, which dries up my fluids, though I stop a few days before ovulation time.

What other fertility problems have I not accounted for?

So, a few things I can do to help with the potential problems I've identified:

- Take baby asprin. It slightly thins the blood and makes implantation easier.
- I will not start taking my allergy medications this month (which I've been starting to take each time I get my period, to help with these awful asthma and allergy symptoms), even though I'm not pregnant. So that may increase cervical fluid.
- I think I've convinced Kevin to try using real egg whites to give the spermies a medium through which they can travel, since I don't have much cervical mucus.

I think that's it. Anyone have any other ideas? :)

Temp is down today. It is even lower than it was last month on this day. That's a bad sign. I'm 95% sure I'm not pregnant this month. This month sucks!

Here's hoping for that 5% chance... :)

Temp up slightly, not enough to improve my chart though. No symptoms to report.

Two more days until my period. And, if my chart is going to go like last month, I will get a telltale pre-menstral temperature drop as soon as tomorrow.

I'm already thinking ahead to next month...