The dreaded two week wait

I've just been for my morning run - very warm this morning (21 degs) and it really feels like summer is on its way. I had a lovely weekend, despite husband not being around. I had a really nice 3 hour walk along the cliff tops of the northern beaches on Saturday and yesterday I spent the day with an old friend who was visiting from Melb.

I am feeling a bit less 'up' about my cycle today than I was on the weekend. No reason really, just the usual frustration of waiting for things to happen. I gave myself my third Lucrin injection this morning and it was fine. I'm not suffering any side effects that I can tell so far, apart from feeling quite bloated and I had gained about 2 kg in weight. That usually only happens just before I am due to get my period. I haven't had any headaches either.

I am on Day 29 of my cycle. According to my calculations, if I ovulated last Monday as the blood test seemed to indicate was going to happen, then I am 7 days post-o and probably due to get my period on Saturday. The nurse did tell me that Lucrin can slow things down so we will see.

So I am now technically in the middle of another 'two week wait'. When I first started TTC with regular temping and using OPKs etc, the two week wait didn't overly bother me. But as time wears on, it does get harder and harder. I've found loads of websites full of strories of the two week wait. Some of them are hilarious and really, sometimes you do need to laugh, otherwise you'll cry. One of my favourites is http://www.twoweekwait.com/web/.

As far as I can gather, you can't really 'feel' pregnant and have any symptoms until the embryo actually implants around at least Day 7 post-o or later. hCG starts to be produced and it seems to cause most of the symptoms. The main ones are sore breasts and/or nipples, slight tugging or cramping sensations around the uterus area, and then as it gets closer to the due date, nausea. But some women don't feel any of these symptoms at all. But I think for long-time TTCers, we are so acutely aware of our bodies and cycles that we pick up on even the slightest twinges in the hope that they might signal pregnancy. It is amazing how many little twinges you can feel in the breasts and uterus when you are in the two week wait period. And any kind of stomach rumblings can be imagined as nausea!

One of my friends talked about the breast pain and said it was really painful just to lean forward so I think if I experience that, I will know about it.

The other temptation in the 'TWW' is to do pregnancy tests. There are some super sensitive tests that you can buy that can detect hCG on about Day 8 post-o. I've been pretty good about resisting the urge to test too early, mainly because the length of my periods is a bit erratic - anywhere from 29-35 days. Doing tests too early is just setting up for a fall, so I try to avoid it if I can.

So as I am Day 7 post-o, I wouldn't really expect any early pregnancy symptoms but we will see what happens in the next few days. Of course it will be complicated by the Lucrin, but I've taken my last Provera tablet this morning, so if the corpus luteum is still producing progesterone, my period will stay away for a while yet. I've started temping again as well just so I can see if my temperature starts to drop and when I can expect the end of the cycle. I'm not doing it anywhere near as rigidly as I did earlier on. I used to temp religiously at 6.30 am every morning and was always careful not to have moved or got out of bed beforehand. I have a beautiful set of temperature charts detailing every temp rise and fall for 7 months - scary!!

Lovely husband appears to be oblivious to all of this obsessive behaviour. What I mean is that he is aware of me doing it but he doesn't obsess about it himself. He tries to tell me 'not to dwell on things' but its almost impossible really. He seems to deal with this TTC journey by distracting himself with work. Wish I could do that more too. We both have to deal with this in our own way I guess. I suppose it is inevitable that the woman is going to be more aware of all the tiny nuances of every cycle because it is happening to her body. I always ask husband if he is coping with it all ok and he seems to be fine.

Now must actually do some work today!