Duck & Cover...

Hi Hi. So, some of you know that i was originally planning to start TTC in June. Then, due to circumstances beyond my control at my sperm bank (my top choice donor's stuff was in quarantine until August), I decided to pump the brakes and wait until August to start. THEN, more recently, due to some other circumstances at the sperm bank over which I once again had zero amount of control (my top choice donor - whom I often refer to as Bachelor No. 1 - is officially off the catalogue. this means that I can still have the three vials that I pre-purchased when he comes out of quarantine in August, but I can't have any more. Everything they have left in deep freeze from him is reserved for families that have already conceived a baby with Bachelor No. 1 so that they can have siblings if they want), I had to pre-purchase some Bachelor No. 2 for back-up, in case my first round of ICI with Bachelor No. 1 didn't stick. THEN, even more recently, due to some completely other circumstances in which I did have some degree of control, I had to un-pump the brakes and bang a U-turn to start TTC in June again. (If you really want to know the details of all these circumstances, message me or leave a comment and I'll put it all in its own post) Of course, my top choice donor Bachelor No. 1 is still in quarantine until August. This means that, even though I have technically pre-purchased three vials of Bachelor No. 1 and can fully have those three when August comes around, I can't wait around for Bachelor No. 1 until August; so I had to make my peace with that and go full steam ahead with Bachelor No. 2. And I really, really had to let go of Bachelor No. 1 because it just didn't make sense for me to hang on to those three vials and spend another $1500 on three of Bachelor No. 2. I traded my No. 1's for three vials of Bachelor No. 2 instead. And this is where today's story begins...

!!!!OVERSHARE ALERT!!!!

(if you don't want all the details about how babies are made the almost-but-not-quite-old-fashioned-way, then don't read this. this isn't for you...)

Aunt Flo came over Memorial Day weekend while I was visiting family in Boston. I called and left a message at The Bank that I started my period and I wanted to schedule shipment for some of my vials to go ahead with my first ICI. After the holiday weekend passed, I called again instead of waiting for someone to get back to me. I was forecasting ovulation for CD13 (My uterus is like Swiss precision. I almost always ovulate on the 13th day of my cycle - very occasionally on CD12), so of course I wanted to receive my vials on CD11 to give myself some wiggle room just in case i did pop on CD12. Unfortunately, CD11 fell on a Tuesday, and The Bank only ships 2nd Day Air with FedEx Monday through Thursday (unless you pay extra for overnight service and/or Saturday delivery). Ballin' on a budget like I am, I didn't want to pay the extra for overnight service on Monday to receive it by Tuesday. So, I decided to do the standard 2nd Day Air with delivery on Wednesday (CD12). My plan was to do three ICI's based around an ovulation day on CD13: 1st ICI on CD12 evening (most likely when I got home from work); 2nd ICI on CD13 early morning before going in to work; 3rd ICI on CD13 evening after work. I'm never home during the day (who is? I gotta work to afford all this baby making!), so I arranged to have my cryotank of vials held at the FedEx location across the street from where I work. That way, I'd leave work, pick it up, and take a taxi home to do the ICI. I figured no time would really be lost on that plan if I received the tank on CD12 instead of CD11.

Of course, I generally start doing mid-stream OPK's (pee-on-a-stick ovulation predictor kits) on CD11. Usually, it's not positive, but I do an OPK twice per day, and from the morning one to the night one, I can usually see if the T-line is getting any darker which would indicate that ovulation is coming, but not here this minute. So why was my CD11 OPK negative but with a darker T-line than usual, and my nighttime OPK positive with an equal C-line and T-line?!! You know I freaked out a bit to myself, right? No tears. I held it together, but I was mad nervous that I'd fucked it all up my being cheap and not overnighting the tank to receive it on CD11. At this point though, there was nothing to be done about it. The cryotank was already shipped out on CD10, so I would just have to wait until after work on CD12 to see what was really gonna go down anyway. Naturally, my BBT when I woke up on CD12 was a BIG dip in temp, which for me generally indicated ovulation (the next day is usually a high temp spike letting me know that i did in fact ovulate the day before). I took a deep breath, got out of bed, and started my day as usual. I did an OPK at 10am and it was super positive (very dark T-line). Still, I'm at work and there's nothing to do but wait it out and stick to the plan.

Left work more on-timely than I have in the last year. Rushed over to FedEx and flashed my ID. Got my box full of cryotank, and hailed a taxi to Brooklyn. Got home, opened the box, read through the instructions, looked over Bachelor No. 2's sperm stats and STI/genetic test results...then I did the dishes and put in a load of laundry. Then I ordered some Thai food because after I did the deed, I was gonna have to stay in bed, so getting up to cook was out of the question. Then I took a shower, and put together my clothes, filled my water bottle from the Brita pitcher in the fridge, and sorted out my vitamins and put them in my bag.

Okay, I know it's all suspenseful and whatnot, so I'm gonna stop here and continue with the actual insemination in another post...

...Stay tuned!