The Second Go Around

I thought my cycle was getting pretty predictable. That seemed to be true, until my ovulation decided to come a few days later than expected. My temperatures were confusing me and staying low, my fertile mucus was decidedly un-fertile, but my cervix seemed to be getting softer. What did all of this mean? Then I woke last Saturday feeling strange and maybe...nauseous? After some debate with Michelle about what it could mean, after taking the LH surge test and having it be negative yet again, I decided I would take a pregnancy test again. Just in case I was one of those women who happened to have a period even after conceiving. The test came back negative. Grr...waiting on my own body is not nearly as easy as trusting and waiting on some other woman's body while supporting her as her doula. Maybe yet another way I can learn and grow, becoming more patient with myself. Giving myself the same kind of love and nurturing I extend to my clients. What a novel idea! 

There was more waiting and patience building in my future. As well as the 10,000 other people who are connected to this pregnancy. (That reference is for you, Lisa.) And apparently, once I realized this lesson my body kicked into fertile gear, so to speak. I realize too, that this blog may be TMI for some people, so if you haven't already been offended by my graphic descriptions of "lady-stuff", keep reading...you've been forewarned. So as I was saying...patience is a virtue and all that, and Sunday morning I awoke to extreme wetness. Almost as if I had wet the bed (I feel for you guys getting wet dreams). Apparently, ladies get wet dreams too. Although I have no idea what I was dreaming of. But I was dripping wet, feeling very frisky, and low and behold, the smiley face on the LH surge test strip had finally arrived! Hello smiley face! It's so good to see you. You've made me smile too. Becoming fertile once a month IS an exciting thing! At least it felt like it was in that moment.

Monday and Tuesday were insemination days. Tuesday morning my lovely friend Sarah, accompanied me to the IUI appointment. It went alright, beside the strange sensation of having a small straw slide up my cervix and into my uterus. Also, the rest of that day was spent feeling crampy. Like period cramps in my cervix and lower uterus. Probably because it's not everyday I have a straw with sperm inside of it, inserted into my nether regions, and my body was saying "What's going on here?". I also experienced some light spotting because the straw had broken some capillaries in my cervix. Not that uncommon, but also not helping the cramping feelings, I'm sure. 

The second day we did an evening insemination, because at our morning scheduled time the midwife was at a birth. Births always take priority for midwives (and doulas). I get this concept, so it wasn't a big deal to schedule it for 6:30 in the evening instead. Michelle decided to join me for this insemination since she didn't have to work at that time and she was a good support. I was nervous that this insemination would hurt or have more side effects than the day before since my cervix seemed to be less open and harder to me. The midwife said it looked beautiful though and she was able to insert it without me feeling it. The procedure was probably the fastest yet and I had no cramping afterward. This made me quite happy.

And now, we wait. Last night I asked Michelle to go on a nice long hilly bike ride with me. We rode about 18 miles past a lake, up in the hills, and then back down next to the bay. What a beautiful ride! I've decided that for as long as physically possible, I will keep riding my bike during pregnancy. It just makes me feel so centered, happy, and healthy. It really clears my head and make me feel more present and alive. It gives me that "I'm in my body right now" feeling. I'm also thinking I'll be training for the Tour de Whatcom http://tourdewhatcom.com/index.html at the end of next month. If I have a ride I'm training for then I'm much more disciplined about riding more and getting the exercise my body needs. I learned this from last years experience training for the Seattle to Portland ride. What an amazing adventure that was! I'll be taking it much easier on myself this year though, by doing the 50 mile one day ride, instead of  the 204 miles in two days I completed last summer. 50 miles seems doable (and not too crazy) for a newly pregnant or newly inseminated woman to do. It probably depends on who you ask though, as with anything else.