This blog will primarily be about my ttc (trying to conceive) journey. We are ttc in our 30's as full-time working professionals, and trying for our second baby. We have been blessed with one wonderful child.

I decided to start this blog to record my experiences and express myself, to give information and support to others, and to receive information and support from others. Please understand that although this blog is public, my husband and I plan to keep it anonymous. Please feel free to leave comments or ask any questions. I hope you will share this journey with us!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Thinking about #2

 Hello everyone, I'm back!  So happy that I have more followers with whom to share this journey.  I hope everyone gets their BFPs soon!

We plan to start trying for #2 soon.  Our daughter recently turned 2 (she is awesome!).  Now that the production of her birthday party is past, I can hopefully turn my focus more to ttc. 

Let me catch you up, in a nutshell:
  • I loved being pregnant (and I miss it).
  • had the best possible labor and delivery (6 hours of labor and no epidural).
  • breastfeeding was harder than childbirth and didn't work out, I realized too late that I was not drinking enough water- DUH!  I have a lot of regrets with this and yearn to get another chance to get it right. 
  • Returning to work and juggling work with motherhood has probably been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, still struggling.  In my experience, there is no way to be a full-time working parent of a young child, and "have it all" - something is always getting shortchanged, and you just constantly juggle what you focus on and what you drop.  The opportunities for guilt are endless.  There is truly not enough time in the day.  I've already dropped the ball in multiple areas of my life and I am not healthy like I was prior to having a child.  How does TTC and a pregnancy possibly fit into my life now?  This has been a barrier to trying for #2- lack of time, lack of energy, and poorer health. As you can imagine, I won't be blogging as much or as involved this time around, because there is just not the time for it- wish there was.  
  • I started hinting at wanting #2 around the time my daughter was turning 1, and it took my husband until just recently (the better part of a year, after having called for a moratorium on the subject) to agree to try for #2.  And it took a lot of convincing!
  • I am now in my mid-30's.
Also this time around, I'll be approaching TTC differently(1)  No longer vegetarian and no clomid.  One thing that has happened is I haven't been vegetarian since getting pregnant with my daughter.  And eating meat has shortened my cycles from an average of 36+ days down to 32 days.  I am also ovulating mid-cycle, this is much improved from the last time we TTC'd.  So, I am hoping to get pregnant without clomid, and willing to try it without clomid.  By the way, clomid did get us pregnant with twins, or at least two gestational sacs.  We found out at 5 months there was a second sac with nothing in it or it was a cyst, and by the end of the pregnancy it had reabsorbed and was gone, thus confirming it had been a sac.  So we don't want to get pregnant with twins (again) if we can help it.  (2)  No OPKs necessary.   I learned so much during the last TTC, I can tell when I ovulate based on body signs, and will not need to use OPKs.  I think I might still temp because I enjoyed it, it is so easy, and it does give helpful info.   (3)  I need daily stress management during TTC AND pregnancy.  Coincidence that I got pregnant the month I did stress management/relaxation every day?  During pregnancy I ended up having an "irritable uterus" and going into preterm labor (fortunately we stopped it and I went full-term), but in retrospect, I believe this was all stress-related.  So, I plan to do daily relaxation during TTC and pregnancy.  I am nervous about going into preterm labor again, and will still need to talk to my obgyn to see if she has any suggestions.  When I was pregnant, I needed a fair amount of bed rest because whenever I stood up from around 25 weeks on, I had contractions.  We have an active toddler who demands all my time and attention, plus she constantly wants me to pick her up, and she uses my body like a jungle gym.  So, I worry about being pregnant with a toddler. 

You can see we will still have challenges, and challenges unique to #2.  Please wish us luck.  Let me know if you have any questions or any requests for blog post topics to consider, thanks!