Well, I got the temperature drop this morning that I was hoping not to see, plus I was feeling emotional and irritated over nothing last night. Almost 100% certain I’ll start spotting tonight or tomorrow morning 
Good news is that I can probably pound the caffeine during my 6-day ice carving competition event next month without worrying too much!
ETA: yep, spotting before bed tonight.
I am currently having what I hope is my last period with my (copper) IUD. Our plan is for me to get it out next month and then just take a not trying/not preventing approach for a few months. This will be our first time <3
6-day ice carving competition??? I am intrigued.
I didn’t test this week because my close friends who know we’re trying (they don’t get the details, just an occasional update) all said that they thought it was ‘unhealthy’ and ‘making me think about it too much’. One friend - notably the only one with kids - said I may as well since I’ll be thinking about it anyway. But DH felt that maybe I shouldn’t check weekly as well. And I swear it’s now taking up way more brain space because something didn’t quite taste right or I’m feeling a little nauseas and usually I’d be able to write it off because I’d have tested… Sigh. If I test now I’ll throw off my testing pattern though and my brain doesn’t like to mess with patterns, so I guess I’ll wait until my next planned test day. But then I might go back to testing weekly until I get a period or a positive.
Your friend with kids gets it lol. That testing itch gets in your brain sometimes. There’s been plenty of times I’ve tested at times that would likely guarantee a negative (not with first morning urine, etc) but still just “had to” test 
Heads up: Amazon sells boxes of test strips for pretty cheap. [name_u]Perfect[/name_u] for guilt-free testing in times like these lol
@Maerad https://icealaska.com/
I’ve been carving since I was a young teen, but I haven’t carved competitively since before kids. I’m so so looking forward to it, as well as being a bit freaked by the fact that we’re doing the Multi Block event–nine big blocks in six days 
I’ll be on a team with my dad and two brothers.
I second what @namergirl3 [name_f]Alyssa[/name_f] said! Buy a 50 pack of Wondfo tests or something and test to your hearts content. [name_m]Just[/name_m] like, be aware that sometimes too early is too early! That being said, I think the Wondfo are more sensitive than first response tests honestly. I’ve never had a false positive and have seen a positive incredibly early! (I’d rather not say how early, as the hcg levels in that pregnancy were abnormally high, I do not recommend testing before 10dpo to save your heart some grief of negatives etc)
Also! In my pregnancy history, FMU gave me the lightest results! I’d see the brightest positives at 5pm after not drinking water all day 
(I definitely need to focus on hydration!)
Well! I might be in my first official TWW in awhile! I’m honestly not sure, we may have caught the timing but I don’t quite know. I was temping but my temps got wonky the day he got home and introduced body heat into my usually empty bed haha so I kind of gave up on it. I’m CD 14 in who knows what cycle of TTC, I should ovulate by day 16 as per my usual temp history so we might be able to give it another shot. In previous pregnancies though, it’s often been a cycle where we only had one chance in the right timing! You never know!!
I gave in to my nagging thoughts and tested - BFN anyway. Sigh. Going to need to see if I can find other reasons why I keep feeling so sick. I’m almost at 8 weeks without any sign of a cycle, so probably time to start getting some medical folks involved.
TTC for Beginners!
Just thought I’d make a post for all the TTC newbies that are just starting their journeys with some things I’ve learned over the years! Some of this advice may not “ring true” to your personal beliefs, but consider that it applies to the larger population.
1 - Get on prenatal vitamins right now. It’s strongly recommended you take them for 3 months before conceiving. Gummy vitamins aren’t the cheapest option but a lot of capsule types will make you feel sick. Along with this, start balancing your diet to include fibre and a good variety of nutrients!
2 - Start tracking your cycle. Cycle Day 1 (CD1) is the first day of actual flow, not spotting. My fertility clinic once told me that if you start bleeding after 6pm count the NEXT day as CD1.
3 - Start a healthy exercise routine now. Pregnancy and TTC is hard on your body and your mental health. Going for a jog, walk, dancing, anything to get yourself moving now will help manage these things in the long run.
4 - Start reducing your alcohol consumption. No amount of alcohol is considered safe during pregnancy. If reducing your alcohol consumption is difficult, please consider delaying pregnancy until you’ve got your habits under control. There’s no shame in asking for help.
5 - My fertility doctor strongly recommends not partaking in any recreational drugs while TTC. Some of these can cause birth defects and pregnancy loss. Cannabis only has anecdotal evidence that it is “safe” as it’s not ethical to run a study.
6 - Work on quitting cigarettes/nicotine vapes. The effects of these on a pregnancy are well documented.
7 - Get your vaccination records checked. Most adults are due for a Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) booster. This one is incredibly important as the birth defects are awful. You cannot get this vaccine while pregnant but should be vaccinated before pregnancy.
8 - Consider Temping to get a good grasp on how your body performs in a cycle. This often does not apply to those with PCOS unfortunately. Highly recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility.
9 - See your doctor/gynaecologist for a preconception check up! Get some blood work and a Pap smear/STI test done. Even if you are in a monogamous relationship, a regular STI is important. Undiscovered STIs can cause pregnancy loss.This way you can be aware of anything you should take care of. Pap smears are recommended once every 3 years at minimum.
10 - Be wary of pregnancy supplements. There are a lot of shifty companies out there looking to make a buck off of desperate women looking to conceive. A healthy couple has a 20% chance of conceiving in the first year. If after a year you’ve not conceived, and are under 30, contact your doctor. If you are over 30, contact your doctor after 6 months.
11- DO NOT PANIC if it doesn’t happen the first cycle. This is hard. Trust me, I know. The emotions are difficult, TTC will get in your head, give yourself grace and try to enjoy the experience.
12 - Consider your approach to childbirth. Would you like a midwife or doctor? Where I am from there is stiff competition to get a midwife especially, you need to apply for one the day you get a positive test and then cross your fingers and hope to be selected.
13 - Unless your sperm providing partner has quality issues, there’s zero reason to lay on your back for an hour after sex. They swim fast. The gush after sex has no sperm that stood a chance at fertilizing, they are mostly dead or ineffective, it’s primarily seminal fluid. Get up, go pee, a UTI will throw off your TTC plans otherwise.
14 - Get your sperm providing partner on a good multivitamin, it’s just as important for their quality. My partner often takes my prenatal gummies haha, if they aren’t big on remembering vitamins, they’ll happily eat a gummy candy usually. If you partner is a fan of hot tubs, hot baths and hot showers, they’ll need to dial these back a bit. Sperm usually replenish within 48 hours, but heat can cause quality issues if it’s too much or too often. Along with this, unless there’s quality issues, your partner does not need to abstain from masturbation. As I said, sperm replenishes, if it’s held for too long, it can actually cause quality issues.
15 - Sperm is pretty amazing stuff, it can actually survive in the seminal pool waiting for egg release for 5+ days! It’s more common for it to last 3-4 days, so do not wait for ovulation day to try! I’ve been pregnant 5 times, some of the cycles we have conceived, we had sex once, days before ovulation. We start trying on CD10 when possible for ovulation on CD15 usually.
16 - Enjoy your pre pregnancy life! If this your first, babies and pregnancy DO change how you live your life in a lot of ways. Be sure that you are ready, financially, emotionally, physically, and that you have a good support system. If you haven’t yet, it’s never too early to discuss parenting styles and your expectations of life as a parent with your partner if you have one. (Pursuing pregnancy as a single person is a valid choice!)
17 - Symptom Spotting. You will drive yourself crazy with watching every little thing in the two week wait (TWW), suddenly everything could mean pregnancy. But often PMS and pregnancy symptoms are the same. Usually morning sickness doesn’t kick in til week 6, but some women do experience it sooner. (My poor SIL had severe sickness and didn’t even need a test to know my nephew was on his way, her second pregnancy.) Again, give yourself some grace on this but try to remain level headed to avoid disappointment! Every time I have been pregnant it has felt different in the early days!
18 - Ovulation predictor kits! OPKs, if you are going to use them, it’s super important to understand how they work. If you have a regular typical 28ish day cycle, I’d recommend starting with OPK strips on CD10. Start with one a day, and as the test line gets darker, I recommend doing one in the morning and one at night. It will make the peak line much more obvious. It is possible to miss the peak on a test if you only test once per day as you near ovulation. OPKs are not there to tell you that you are ovulating right in that moment. They track the LH surge that accompanies the egg maturing for release. Your tests will peak 24-48 hours BEFORE the egg is released, and once the egg is released it will stay alive in the fallopian tube waiting for fertilizer for 12-24 hours. Once you get an idea of your ovulation day if your cycle is consistent, you can honestly stop buying these tests and save the money. However, there’s a catch, you can have an LH surge but not ovulate effectively. And in addition to this, some women do not have a strong enough LH surge to trigger a peak test result but still ovulate! Try to not drive yourself crazy peeing on sticks. Cheap Wondfo OPKs work just as well as the expensive sets.
———-
Edited to add a few things, might keep doing so!
I could go on, I’ve got a lot of info in my brain after years of TTC! There’s so much misinformation out there, please do your research and make the right choices for yourself. There’s a lot of judgment in the TTC/Parent world, often it’s best to keep your head down and do the best you can for yourself and your pregnancy!
I’d definitely go in for a blood test and a chat at this point. [name_m]Just[/name_m] to be sure. If you aren’t pregnant your doctor can help induce your cycle with some medication.
I often experience nausea due to prenatal vitamins and various food allergies that I have, I’m still crossing my fingers that you are just happily pregnant and the tests just aren’t cooperating!!
[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband just had a vasectomy reversal 2 weeks ago. We have 3 kids ages 13, almost 10, and 7. We decided we weren’t done a couple of months ago (I knew I wasn’t done years ago) and here we are. He’s on the mend and feeling great. I’ve seen anything from conceiving 2 weeks post surgery to 3.5 years after surgery or never conceiving at all, so we’ll see. Fingers crossed!
I’m not TTC anymore but occasionally lurk in case there’s something I can help with. [name_f]My[/name_f] dad had a vasectomy reversal in 1991 and here I am now 
Hoping you two are also successful 
I am in TWW with a few days to go. CD28 is [name_f]Sunday[/name_f], and my average cycle is 30 days. We are away at the moment, so at least I can’t obsessively test! 
It would be pretty cute if I got a BFP this cycle, because I’d be able to tell hubby on our wedding anniversary AND my overthinking brain worked out my EDD would be hubby’s birthday (how adorable! 
)
@benton_s_mama [name_u]Welcome[/name_u] to the group! Good luck with your journey post-reversal. I know people that are reversal babies, so it seems to have a reasonable success rate. [name_u]Baby[/name_u] dust to you!!
@_thelittlefairywren and @Elle1 thank you! It makes my heart happy to hear success stories!
I don’t know anyone that’s had a reversal, but do they do sperm tests afterwards? To see if there’s a chance to conceive and such, or are you just kind of left to try blindly??
Three months post op it is an option to test. We’re on the fence whether we will or not. We feel like we put back to right what [name_m]God[/name_m] intended and now we’ll probably just leave it in His hands. Some people go on to do IVF after a reversal or have a 2nd reversal and that’s where testing is definitely needed. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve just decided not to pursue those options if this doesn’t work.
I love that, honestly I think it’s so important to know where you draw your lines when baby making crosses into being more complicated. I hope it goes smoothly for you though!!
Forgot how much I hate the TWW. Can’t distract myself enoughhhh.
Pulled out the biiiiig baby name book (Llewellyns Complete Book of Names) and trying to think constructively about names, I don’t have any set in stone after so long. Any know for sure what they’ll use yet?
So true. TWW is painful! How does two weeks (ish) take soooo damn loooooong!!
Our top two girl’s options are pretty set in stone, and then we have maybe half a dozen other combos that we mull over. Boys names are harder, so we just have a list, but no confirmed combos - only one confirmed first name that we both love.
The TWW is terrible!!
Names, no clue. I can’t even remember the last boy name we talked about. I have one girl combo I really want to use and there’s a handful of names that we both like. No clue what we’d actually use but I feel like we’d talk about it more seriously when/if I get pregnant. I mean, obviously lol but we’re kind of burnt out on talking about it beforehand.
No luck again this month. Started spotting a few days ago and just waiting for my period after a negative test. I have a consult with OB in a couple weeks, and I am going to dig in and see if they’ll give me any answers if this spotting is actually a problem or not. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband has an appointment scheduled with urology but it isn’t until mid-April, although he is on the cancellation list and so maybe he can get in before then. I’m struggling with just feelings of hopelessness over this whole situation, and just feeling really disillusioned that this is our reality now. We have also already spent hundreds of dollars on testing (mostly him), and haven’t gotten anywhere at all.
TWW is awful, I agree! Especially since I ovulate so early, everything happens right away and then I spend so long waiting for my next period.
I am pretty set on [name_u]Alma[/name_u] for a girl, and I think that is one my husband would agree to. For boys we both have a handful of favorites, but no crossover so that would be a lot harder I think.