Two week wait

The 2ww (two week wait) has officially begun. I am hoping we find out if we are pregnant around St. Patrick's day in honor of my Papa's birthday. (According to the nurse I just spoke to, it will probably be on the 19th). It may be after that though. It sucks! I can't take a home pregnancy test because I am getting hcg shots and that is the hormone that the tests detect. So, I would get a false positive. The only way the doc can tell is by doing two consecutive tests I think - if the hcg levels go up, then you are pregnant. But, you have to wait 3 weeks for the hcg to be out of your system completely or something.

So, now would be a good time to introduce you to some of the terminology of the infertility set. This is a whole subculture that you probably never knew existed! This is terminology used by people ttc (trying to conceive) everywhere, but as you struggle with infertility you become more obsessed and use these abbreviations and terms more and more. If you ever visit any message boards (tcoyf.com is one) regarding fertility, you will see these all over the place. Here are a few to get you started.

• TTC - Trying to conceive - as you saw above, it is used alot! Pretty self explanatory
• CM - cervical mucus - one of the indicators of your fertile days - it must be clear and stretchy, like egg whites. I know what you are thinking, ewwww gross!!
• DH - dear husband. This is your partner in babymaking, duhhh!
• HPT - home pregnancy test. I don't get to take these because of the hcg shots, whaaa!
  
• IUI - intra-uterine insemination. I had this on Sat. AKA AI: artificial insemination.
• IVF - in-vitro fertilization. This is where they harvest eggs, mix with sperm in a petri dish, then put them back in. This is our next step if IUI fails after 4-8 months of trying that.
• LP - Luteal Phase - The second half of your cycle from ovulation to the day before your period starts.
• LPD - Luteal Phase Defect. This is when your LP is too short for implantation to happen. I think this is part of our problem. My LP is sometimes 10 days which is borderline too short. This can be corrected by taking clomid (i am), hcg and progesterone (I am , I am).
• O - Ovulation. This is when the egg is released from the ovary and is available for the next 12 - 24 hours to be fertilized. You better get some sperm in there during this time!
• OPT - Ovulation Predictor Test. Use this to predict when ovulation is going to occur. Not a very reliable test for me unfortunately.
• PG - Pregnant! I hope I get to use this one very very soon!
• RE - Reproductive Endocrinologist. This is the fancy name for your fertility doc.
• SA - Sperm Analysis. All the ones Rudy has had are normal to above average. Way to go dh!!

That is enough for now!! God I feel nauseous this morning, ugh. Too bad I can't attribute it to pregnancy because of all the fertility drugs and hormones I am taking. So, I will be in the dark if this worked or not until the 19th - 2 weeks from today!! Hence, the 2ww.