5dpiui Update and Christmas, Jewish-Style

Despite the IUI going smoothly and easily, initially I somehow didn't really have much hope for this one. I'm not sure why. I think maybe at least partly because I didn't have the twinges and crampiness the first couple of days that I've had before, but that also could be because the IUI went smoothly and easily. I also just didn't "feel it", didn't "feel" pregnant, didn't feel any different than usual. And that's at least partly because I've been working a ton, have been incredibly busy at work, and I honestly just didn't have time to think about it or notice if anything was different (I worked 8 of the last 9 days - and the IUI miraculously fell on the one day I wasn't working).

But now, I'm starting to maybe have a little hope. I could swear my body is like clockwork. Day 5 post IUI, and the symptoms are starting to pick up, just like with every other IUI. I have slight breast soreness, not a ton, but a little. I guess little enough that it COULD be in my head, but we'll see what happens in that department over the next couple of days. And I've been feeling some crampiness in my uterus area - again, not a ton, but it's noticeable. And tonight I just feel kind of... off. Not sure how to describe it, but just "off" is the best way I can put it. And tired, but then again, I did work 8 of the last 9 days, and we had a busy (but fun!) day today. It will definitely be interesting to see if the symptoms pick up in the next few days, and if they do, hopefully they won't disappear as quickly as they appeared, yet again. I most certainly won't be getting my hopes up, at least not until I see a positive HPT!

Oh, and lastly, I got my progesterone level checked yesterday. The midwife had said to have my blood drawn 4-5 days after the IUI, which of course put it on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I had to work yesterday, and the office (which is very close to my house) wasn't open until 9am, so I had a lab slip faxed to the hospital, which is on my way to work, and they could draw my blood there as early as 8:00. Thankfully, I was in and out in 15 minutes, and since there was very little traffic due it being Christmas Eve, I got to work on time. In the afternoon, I called the lab to see if the results were in, which they were, so then I had to have the midwife on-call paged through the answering service to get the results, and then she had to call me back again with more information. A little complicated, and all done in the car, but the results were 13.89, which is normal. The midwife on-call talked to another midwife who said it was "double digits, that's good!", but that she was also willing to write me a script for a progesterone supplement if I wanted, since it's benign and wouldn't hurt. I decided against it, since I think given a good progesterone level, the issue is much more likely old eggs. I don't want to deal with the suppositories, which is what I'm assuming they'd prescribe, if I don't need to, and I wouldn't want the progesterone to keep a pregnancy going that would otherwise miscarry (does that happen? I could be way off here).

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And now... Christmas, Jewish-style:

Jordyn and I seem to have a tradition of having a playdate with another Jewish family every year on Christmas. Two years ago we went to their house, last year they came to ours, and this year we went to theirs earlier in the day, and they came to ours for dinner. R and J have two boys, E - 5.5, and M - 3.

We started off at their house around 10:00am, but it was weird because when we got there, no one was home. I even tried the door, which was unlocked, and went in and called their names. Turns out, the mom was driving their neighbors to the airport, last-minute, and the dad had taken the kids to the playground around the corner. We met them at the playground and played for a while, then went back to their house. Jordyn may have gotten a bit of an education when she went upstairs with the boys and one of them was changing clothes, and I heard him say, "this is my penis!". Ha!

After lunch, we all went ice skating. I haven't been in years, and it was Jordyn's first time. The rink we were trying to go to, which supposedly said on the website would be open today, wasn't. But there's another rink right next door, that's usually only for practice and doesn't rent skates, and it was open. We're not sure if anyone in charge was there or knew it was unlocked and people were using it. The main door was locked, but one of the side doors was open. Very weird. R and I don't have skates of our own, so we just went on the ice in our sneakers and helped the kids. It's a good thing R and J had a pair of hand-me-down skates for Jordyn, or she wouldn't have been able to skate, either. The rink has these cool red things for kids to hold onto and push on the ice when they're beginners, kind of like a walker for ice skating.

Jordyn started off not even knowing what an ice skating rink WAS. I showed her, we watched some people skate for a few minutes, and she seemed interested, but then when it came down to it, she resisted. I pushed it a little, and it wasn't long before she deemed it fun! At first, I stood behind her, leaning over and holding on to the red thing with her, and also holding on to her. For a while she wouldn't let me let go, but then she eventually TOLD me to let go! She couldn't really control her direction and was all over the place, but she totally did it by herself! I was so proud. :) We played on a playground next to the rink for a while before heading home.

Jordyn fell asleep on the way home, and stayed asleep when I transferred her to her bed. I woke her up a little over an hour and a half later. We cuddled on the couch for a little while and watched part of "Finding Nemo", and then R, J, E, and M picked up Chinese food (of course) and brought it over. Dinner and playtime, and she was exhausted again. But E and J started coloring together at the easel, and he showed her how to write a "J". As a result, tonight she started writing J's for the first time!