A blog about babies: the babies I lost, the babies I never had, the baby who made me a Mama.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Waiting; or, X dpIUI

This will be a quick post. Not much to report here. The waiting continues, but fortunately, the writing continues, too. The studying doesn't continue quite as swimmingly, but I aim to change that today.

Lawyer Guy and I kept busy this weekend. On Friday, I had dinner and drinks at Eataly (Mario Batali's awesome new food hall near the Flatiron Building) with a friend. A few too many drinks, if I'm being honest, but we all have our little lapses. On Saturday LG and I saw The King's Speech, which we loved. On Sunday we met the BIL and SIL and their kids for brunch in New Jersey and then came home and cooked dinner together and watched the Golden Globes.

And throughout, I've been peeing on sticks, which is definitely not how I usually spend the two-week-wait. But the four (now two) hpts remaining from the stash I ordered back in March '09 are set to expire next month. I hate wastefulness. I also hate seeing BFNs. Testing the trigger out seemed like the perfect solution to this problem. I've been taking a test every two days and the line is fading steadily. I've got two tests left and I imagine it will have disappeared by the time I take the last one. Conversely, LG might take the last test for us to use as a control in the future.

Perhaps some of my more experienced pee-sticking friends can offer some advice. In the past, I have always PIAC before testing, as that seemed to allow for the highest level of control and accuracy. But now that the results really don't matter, I've just been holding the stick directly in the urine stream for a count of three. And it is getting SOAKED. The entire testing window is suffused with liquid, though when it dries the test looks normal. Am I doing this wrong? Holding it too long? At the wrong angle? I'll go back to P-ing IAC if I ever take another test with a legitimate shot at being a BFP, but I'd still like to know what I'm doing wrong here.

I'm not tracking how many days post-IUI we are. I haven't tried to calculate an EDD. Sometimes I feel certain that I'm pregnant (that I just have to be pregnant), and most of the time I'm certain that I'm not. I feel content when I consider either possibility until the thought of moving on to injects or IVF intrudes. I'm not sure that I'm ready for next steps yet. I've just gotten used to this one. But I'm also sure that whatever happens this month, I'm equipped to deal with it.

14 comments:

  1. Um, are you going to have LG POAS for a control? That could be entertaining...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad you're not tracking the DPIUI and had a good weekend ~ the restaurant sounds awesome

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe you should stick to PIAC just to be safe. I don't even know what you're talking about with the peeing directly on the stick problem.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would have the same pee-all-over-the-place problem with both HPTs and OPKs. I don't think it affected the results, or that you're doing anything wrong. I think it has something to do with the angle of the pee stream, something you can't always control (from the person who couldn't even fill up even a little bit of a cup at the OBs office due to severe misfiring).

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know I'm a POAS-aholic. I started exlusively using the PIAC method because there's so much more control. When you stream it, you may end up getting pee in the control window, or you may not have enough force, or your urine may not be concentrated enough. There's just way more control with a cup.

    Anyway, congrats on staying calm about this cycle and not looking too far ahead. That's something I admire so much about you--the self-control!

    Your weekend sounds like it was a blast.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like a good weekend. :)

    Your POAS experience sounds normal to me. If you're using the small dipsticks (and not, say, a FRER or something with a plastic handle), then yes, definitely, that little thing is gonna get soaked.

    But typically even my FRERs get soaked and the urine goes shooting up the stick.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You sound nice and centered, Sloper. I'm glad. And I'm glad that you're getting work done on your writing, and hopefully the studying will follow suit.

    Don't worry about the soakage. As long as you get the line/s, it's working.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I always pee right onto the stick, splashing the display screen, etc. It hasn't f-ed with my results.

    I had to chuckle about having LG POAS for a control. :) Way to cover your bases!!

    The dinner sounded great and you are trucking right along. Hang in sweet friend. Zen zen zen zen. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. I always peed in a cup. I don't have the coordination to pee consistently in the same place. I use dixi.e cup, anything disposable and fairly sterile.

    The test which proved positive with Peanut? Peed in a dixi.e cup, then drove 1/4-mile with it in hand to doll.ar store, left on dashboard while I bought el cheapo test, and then tested in lot and freaked out. Oh, and snapped a photo with my camera because I knew I wouldn't believe it later.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is why I pee in a cup too!! I always feel I got too much or too little in the wrong spot!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Coming from a POAS-obsessed person, you're not doing anything wrong. I always pee directly on the stick, sometimes getting the window and everything else totally soaked. It's never affected the results, so keep doing what you're doing.

    Enjoy the rest of your zen, non-counting 2ww!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It sounds like a nice weekend, and I'm glad you are feeling ok with whatever happens here-- peeing out the trigger sounds like an excellent hobby for the wait. It gives you a sense of knowing what is going on, but there is no anxiety involved, since it is predictable and doesn't affect the pregnancy outcome. I hope you stay calm, and good luck studying! Is this for your qualifying exam? When is that and what does it entail? I had 2 exams-- one that was a broad test of knowledge and ability, and one that was where my particular dissertation project details were examined...

    ReplyDelete
  13. hi.
    good luck :) your weekend sounds nice!
    i am going through similar things, can i ask who r you seeing at cornell? we are there too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am all about the cup. But, what others have said is absolutely true. The manufacturers have planned around our pee-straight challenges.

    Your weekend sounds lovely and I like that you are a bit adrift in this wait. The fact that you are rolling with it makes me feel like you are in such a good place. I hope that your resolve to face what comes next is met with surprises of the very best kind.

    ReplyDelete