Another update

The last few weeks have been interesting ... I headed home to New Zealand on December 22 to spend christmas with my family, and 6 weeks later I am still here. A bit of a family situation arose, and to cut a long story short, I have to decided it's important for me to stay on this side of the world for at least the foreseeable future.

So ... where does that leave me in terms of my sperm donor?? Well, obviously, the whole being-on-the-other-side-of-the-world thing unfortunately means I cannot continue artificially inseminating with him. It is very unfortunate to find someone who can help and who fits my criteria, to then not be able to use them. Sigh.

But - when I searched the net for U.S. based donors several months ago, I did happen to come across ONE (yes ... one) New Zealand based donor, so I kept his details. Unfortunately he lives in the totally opposite end of the country to me (typical, huh!) but we have been in touch, and we finally met for coffee this weekend when he was visiting my hometown.

He was nice, appeared relatively normal (haha) and spent a good two hours chatting about the whole thing. He already has one successful donation under his belt (so to speak) and is organising fresh blood tests to be performed this week. Because of the location issue, we are going to attempt to ship the sperm. I have no idea just yet where I will get the shipping equipment required over on this side of the world(?!) but if nothing else, I will order some packages from the States.

There are a few things I need to get sorted over here first ... such as setting up a new place to live, a new job etc ... but he has said we can start simply whenever I feel ready and comfortable to go ahead.

So, all is not doomed. :-)

Long awaited update

Well, I didn't get pregnant last month. I was hoping, but of course, even in the best of circumstances it can still take time.

I didn't find out for certain until December 10th, but then I was off to Canada for a bit, and now I am sitting on the other side of the world catching up with family at a mid-summer's christmas! :-)

Needless to say I tried to fit in another round of inseminations this month, but what will the holiday season madness and the pre-arranged travel plans, we are waiting out this month until everything calms down.

Maybe a successful 2006 will be on its way for me...? :-)

What to do...

I don't know what to do with myself. I am feeling kind of glum because I stupidly decided to take a pregnancy test today - being the "earliest possible day" for testing.

The box says it can detect pregnancy hormone 5 days before the date your period is due, so I figured that if I was pregnant, it would be detectable NOW. It categorically, without a doubt, said negative.

I KNOW it is early ... and I KNOW it is "not over until it's over", but it has definitely bummed me out. I even found myself trying to figure out how I would fit in the next round of inseminations amidst the madness of Christmas! Ugh.

Waiting...

I am starting to wish I could just sleep through the rest of this two week wait. How is it, that under any other circumstances two weeks would speed by in a flash? When you are waiting to pee on a stick, however, it all but takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!!!

Today I found myself thinking: "That's it!! I mustn't be pregnant!" It might feel like it all happened a lifetime ago, but hell, it is only 5 days since I last inseminated!! How crazy is my brain right now...

But on a positive note, my temps have been rising exactly as they should be, so at least I can say I definitely ovulated this month, woohoo! Small victories. :-)

Now for the Two Week Wait...

Well, I guess I am officially in "two week wait" territory now. It has been less than one day and it is already driving me crazy! Sigh.

I inseminated again yesterday and today, so that is it for this cycle. Hopefully I ovulated. My basal body temperature has been doing very weird things, so I'm not really sure. Or maybe I am just doubting my biochemistry because I want it to have happened so much! Doubting whether my body actually did what it has probably been doing like clockwork every month for years ... I've just never bothered to observe it so closely before! :-D

So. It is all up to the gods now. I do have my fingers crossed, but I'm not sure that they have much of an influence on the actions of my fallopian tubes and uterus. ;-)

Inseminations one and two...

Well, inseminations 1 and 2 are done. I made the 2 hour drive up north early yesterday and got back late today. They were possibly a little early, because the lovely OvaCue finally informed me this morning that my "most fertile day" this month will be next Tuesday. But live sperm can live an inordinate length of time inside - under the right circumstances - and there's no loss because I will be inseminating again come Monday and Tuesday anyway.

It was also quite good to actually practise my insemination techniques a little. I don't think yesterday's one was all that successful because even after taking a nap for an HOUR post-insem., as soon as I stood up and went to the bathroom, what appeared to be the WHOLE LOT flew into the toilet bowl!! I don't think it really was the whole lot, but it was enough to make me think "Dang!"

This afternoon, however, I got up after 30 minutes and ... nothing. No trickle-down effect whatsoever! :-) I did alter my technique ever so slightly today, so I will stick to version two next week.

Stats and Supplies

Ok, so the OvaCue is proving to be a fascinating little purchase. :-) As a result, another insemination date revision has been made. I am now going to make the 2 hour drive up north on Thursday, inseminate Thursday afternoon, then again on Friday. I may also still do a Monday and Tuesday insemination next week, but we will play that one by ear for now.

I went to the local pharmacy today and picked up four simple little oral syringes. I then got a cup out of the cupboard and sterilized it with an alcohol swab. Such simple pieces of equipment, but equipment that could nevertheless become significant players in one of the greatest changes of my life.

(I also walked through the cute and adorable baby clothes section of the store, but resisted the urge to buy anything. :-)

I read somewhere recently that expectorant (the stuff that thins out flu-induced mucus on your chest) also does the same thing to cervical mucus. Of course, loose cervical mucus makes each little sperm cell's journey a LOT easier than goopy plug-like mucus. The "suggestion" is to take a dose of expectorant both before and after you inseminate. Very interesting! So I add a packet of that to my shopping cart as well. Who knows ... it might all help in some little way.