We're still in.

Well I finally got a surge on Sat night. A full-on LH surge with a smiley face and everything (I don't always get smiley's, even when all other signs after the fact indicate ovulation happened). Tons and tons of EWM. On CD26. Which is late, even for me. We went with it anyway as we'd decided we would try even this late if I got a super convincing positive. I felt so damn proud of that smiley. IUI yesterday at 10:00am and today at 8:00am, with the nice back-up nurse at the clinic. At least we don't have to worry about the 3 month storage fee.

Other than that, our weekend was primarily filled with a sick kid who wasn't sleeping, just in case we forgot what we're in for if this works...

About ready go call it.

CD24. Sensitive OPKs are still stuck in the same "almost positive" spot. I'm getting nothing on the cheapos. No smiley faces. Had EWM but not really anymore. Still no temp spike but it's looking like a no go.

Our clinic charges a storage fee if you miss three cycles. I already missed August due to work travel and now this one due to a stupid cycle. Like we need more pressure next cycle. I know they're going to offer Clomid but I'm not there yet. I know my body does this in response to travel and I also know that I am capable of ovulating on my own (OK, if you define "on my own" as 3+ acupuncture visits prior to ovulation).

The only good news is that I'm not making everyone else in my house miserable. I'm not even miserable. I just feel kind of apathetic and hopeless. This was our last shot at spacing less than 3 years. I used to really think we'd have kids closer than three years.

I was home with Leigh yesterday and she was taking her baby doll everywhere and keeping me appraised of it's state. It needed lots of naps. It had a bath. It "pooped in the tub" which she "cleaned up" and then put the baby on the potty. I was sitting with her on the couch and she ran off to get the baby, brought it back and said "baby sleep on your lap now" after which she tucked it in carefully (not very SIDS friendly, face down, blanket over head...) and instructed me "No wake a baby up...shhhhh."

Her baby kick came out of nowhere. Maybe she's picking up on what's going on, or maybe it is the arrival of younger kids in her day care class, but I couldn't help thinking about her as a big sister, and really really hoping she gets to be one...though we'll probably need to supervise her "tucking in" techniques.

Leigh and Pee Follies

Just so it's not all doom-and-gloom, I thought I'd make a post about our two-year-old daughter Leigh (plus we're still waiting on those pee sticks). Leigh is as cute and aggravating as any toddler, and these days she's talking about everything. Our favorite Leigh-ism is "whobody," as in "Whobody outside, Ima?" or "Whobody in a car?"

She has to do everything herself. If you pull up her panties, she screams, pulls them back down and then does it herself. Actually, she's taken to doing her whole potty ritual herself. First, she pulls her pants and underpants down. Then she has to get her potty seat, so she shuffles over (her pants are around her ankles), gets the potty seat, puts it in backward and laughs. Turns it around. Shuffles over to get the stool and bring it over to the toilet. Scrambles up the stool. Plops down. Commands her helper to sit and perhaps read a book. Then she keeps you informed (in graphic detail) of exactly how things are going.

Speaking of pee, last night we had a big pee incident in our house, and it wasn't Leigh's fault. Lyn was doing her usual after-work ritual of peeing in a cup while Leigh was "helping" me with dinner. Lyn shuffles into the bedroom, pee cup in hand, to do her dipping on a larger flat surface than the back of the toilet, when suddenly there's a loud exclamation of dismay. Lyn has spilled the pee. Chaos ensues as Lyn tries to clean up and Leigh frantically tries to get into the bedroom to see what is going on and "help." Leigh is instructed that she can't help right now which results in a huge tantrum. Leigh has a time out as Lyn scrapes pee off the top of our dresser to collect enough to dip one stick. As I said to Lyn later in the evening, something strange has happened to your life if you find yourself trying desperately to scrape as much pee off the top of your dresser as possible. Leigh has since been going on at length and laughing loudly about how "Mama spilled a pee." We'll see what they think about that at day care...