The children, from left to right, are: Benjamin (5), Arthur (10), Samuel (4), Lydia (17 months), Nathan (7), Matthew (8), Elijah (2). My precious gifts from God! :)
I actually wrote this entry last night, at 5DPO, but I was so tired and had interruptions with Lydia waking and such. So I ended up having to go to bed before I could post anything, and I'm finishing it tonight at 6DPO.
I am now 6 days past ovulation, and really feeling pregnant. I had a weird craving at just 2DPO - obviously the whole world would say that's WAY too early for symptoms, I mean, there's no implantation yet. I know people who have symptoms right from ovulation. I don't think I have ever had symptoms right from ovulation, but I FOR SURE have had symptoms which, for me, are indicative of something going on, from 2/3 days after ovulation, most of the cycles that I've been pregnant. Actually true. And I have had enough experience/conceptions to back it up (including chemical pregnancies, about 20 - though I haven't counted them up as such. Probably more than 20. Which is a bit mind-blowing in itself!). I haven't had those symptoms when not pregnant, after ovulation. I definitely do get "pregnancy" symptoms early so I don't discount anything unusual (or familiar from other pregnancies, including chemical pregnancies) in the first week after ovulating. I write extensive notes (!!) in my private log at my chart, with definite TMI for sharing here! ;) But I am glad that I do because in the past I have been able to copy and paste a few days or a week later, to confirm what I then know. :)
So, at 2DPO (4 days ago) I wrote, simply: "Noticably increased appetite. Flash craving this morning for authentic French restaurant poulet and frites (chicken and chips/fries), like when I was a little girl. Pregnant." ;)
By flash craving (my own term), I mean a sudden, out-of-the-blue, intense sensation of a specific food actually as though it's IN my mouth at that moment. It isn't the same thing as a craving in terms of something I WANT so badly that I must have it. I often don't want it at all, I'm just taken by surprise at the intensity and realistic sensation - that can end up making me crave that food sometimes though, but never at the start. I can taste it completely, or sometimes the flash craving is of a texture as I am biting down on it. Those are 100% undeniably pregnancy symptoms for me. I had that with the texture and taste of a raw mushroom with Matthew at 9DPO (I thought it was earlier, but I checked my blog and it was 9DPO). I know I had it with one of the others, earlier than 9DPO, but I can't remember which pregnancy. I can't find it in my blog for any of my babies, so maybe it was one of my chemical pregnancies - I haven't checked the blog for those yet.
I know it's "too early" at 2DPO, but it's SUCH a pregnant thing, for me.
Not much to report at 3DPO, but at 4DPO I had a huge appetite again, and some hormonal spots on my face. Also have had my "pregnant" CM for a few days now. I was suddenly ridiculously irritable and moody at 4DPO - waaay out of the ordinary sleep-deprived (or even normal hormonal) irritable... I'm less tolerant of noise or trouble (disobeying, lying, talking back especially), and am suddenly flipping out angry, which I really dislike! :/ Having read back all my 2WW blog entries from my other pregnancies, it seems like that's totally normal for me if I'm pregnant! ;) Even though it's not normal for me otherwise. I don't think I had it with Arthur, and one of my other pregnancies. All the rest though, I was commenting on how AWFUL my PMS was, and if I was pregnant, I was worried that I'd continue to be this moody! ;) It didn't last, every time, which is reassuring!
The main thing that made me connect my recent moodiness with pregnancy wasn't my blog, it was Neil. I have been snappy with the children, and on Friday when Neil came home from work, I was so irritable over some tiny minor thing, and he was cheerfully suggesting I calm down, and I shouted at him to "SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!!!!" which I NEVER EVER do (I was inwardly actually quite shocked to hear it come out of my mouth, lol!). There was a pause, and he said, "When can you test?" hahaaa! He knows - the man has experience! ;) :P That was the first moment of realisation that my mood was BAD, and that the BAD mood was very pregnant of me! ;) I apologised, but it was really hard to rein in the snappiness (and I failed a lot) after that, even having been made aware of it. The next day (5DPO) was just as bad! Twice I was grumpy with Neil, and the first time when I went back to apologise, he said, "This is pregnancy - exactly what you've been like before." The second time, he just grinned and said, "You are SO pregnant!" :) He's a good man!
5DPO, when I wrote most of this entry above, I was watching my temps because after that spike the day after I ovulated, I did have a fallback to 36.5ish, and then all the subsequent temps were 36.5-something or just below, so pretty much flat temps. Before I used a fertility thermometer, I didn't get to chart temps with the second decimal place, so flat temps were just the same temp every day in a line. For me, flat temps are most often in my pregnancy charts, not my non-pregnant cycles. Years ago, with my first few babies, I was excited to see flat temps at this stage because I wrote that it was "very pregnant of me"! If I was using a normal thermometer like I used to back then, I would have probably had flat temps - the same temperature each day - for the past 4 days, which is very encouraging! :) You can see on my chart that the temp line is a bit wiggly but otherwise very stable from 2-5DPO. I was going to write last night that I was interested to see my temp in the morning. This morning I had a temp jump! :) Up to 36.75, highest temp yet this cycle!
I was mostly curious about today's temp, because late yesterday afternoon, having had no twinges or implantation type pains, or bad cramping or anything (just the odd mild crampiness here and there), I had a sudden "boring" pain just off-centre to my left, about an inch above my pubic bone. I pressed on it to try and relieve the sensation (didn't work), and remarked to Neil about it, because it was so distinct and distracting. I wondered straight away about implantation, because of how it felt. It went away after a bit, but then during the evening I felt some cramping again, quite bad for me in my luteal phase, but in one spot on one side - same exact place as the sudden boring pain from earlier. For the rest of the evening, I had pain of some sort - most of the time still that "boring" pain, but it radiated through to my lower back (which was really quite painful in general, when I walked about and went on with normal activities), and later even radiated to my front thigh on that side. Definitely charting bad cramps at 5DPO, and I had a lot of backache yesterday too.
I was up so late (eating chocolate eclairs, lol! Haven't had them in YEARS, but told Neil when he went to the supermarket to pick up some things, that I needed some eclairs and chocolate! He's so patient and sweet with me!). Anyway, I wrote on my FF chart notes before I went to bed, that I had been "curled up in a ball on the sofa - proper bad cramps across my lower abdomen, like a period, but a bit sharper... almost feels like maybe something is up with my bladder/bowel but neither of those locations seems right. It's burny, searing, boring, bruisey, all at once. Also, if I touch or lightly press on my pubic bone slightly right of centre, it feels like I am pressing a bruise. Pregnant. :P"
The bruised pubic bone sensation is aaaaabsolutely a pregnancy symptom, nothing else, ever. I feel 100% sure I'm pregnant. I am just hoping to keep this little one. Enjoying the experience of each day though, as it comes. :)
I was excited to see my temp jump this morning because it would seem appropriate for it to jump up if implantation started yesterday. Implantation, for me, is always 4-7DPO somewhere, so this is right on time. I am excited to see now if my temps stay up at a triphasic level, or drop back down. I love a pretty triphasic chart, and I haven't had one for a few babies, so I would love to see one again! :)
A couple of other things worth noting are the typical pregnant extreme gassiness *blush* :) And I have been aware of the physical sensation of reflux (nice!) every day since 4DPO. No actual heartburn with it, which I rarely get now, unless I'm pregnant, but it's not all that often I feel reflux happening, and it happened late at night at 4DPO and again at 5DPO so it was worth nothing as unusual. Today I had actual heartburn at a very random time of day (mid-morning! Unusual!), and have reflux and heartburn this evening.
So that brings me to today, 6DPO! :) My throat is gritty/scratchy and *almost* a sore throat, but not quite. It has been like that since 3 or 4DPO, and I haven't been anywhere to catch a cold, and nobody has one here. I do have hayfever, so I put it down to that at first. My throat feels so dry and tickly, and I am super thirsty all the time. My eyes are dry and stingy too, and I am drinking more than usual these past few days. I thought nothing of that until I was looking through my previous pregnancies for the moody thing, and saw lots of mention of "is it/isn't it a sore throat" as a symptom - it's common enough to be a search option on the chart gallery at Fertility Friend! I have had it before several pregnancies, as a definite pregnancy symptom, and I forgot that, so maybe the scratchy throat is nothing to do with central heating or the time of year! :)
I am still irritable today, but I have managed myself better with my family, I think! :) I have had mild-to-bad cramping on and off today. Always through to lower back, and at one point through to my left buttock when I was sitting with my knees drawn up - same as last night really. I could even chart bad cramps probably, but I cant' remember the day well enough now to be sure (11pm and I fell asleep putting Lydia to bed, so groggy and tired!). Really tired today. Which is suspicious in itself! ;) Sore when nursing a bit today, for the first time this cycle, especially after breastfeeding for a long time (little two nursing a LOT today - they actually have been for a few days, which is another thing I read a lot of in my blog about previous pregnancies... hmmm!). I have had a bit of a headache today, but that might be sinusy because of a bit of hayfever, I guess.
So, I am going to fall into bed now - so tired! Monday tomorrow, and a new week begins. I feel tired just thinking about it! Hopefully I'll get enough sleep, and not wake up with the covers off and my mouth open, lol! I hate when I wake up to temp and there are factors that skew my temperature accuracy going on! I have 3 days until my period would be "due" - at 9DPO, since that's when my period has started the last 3 cycles, so FF has me due that day. I would so hope that I might get a day more in my luteal phase this cycle though... I would like it to lengthen a bit!
I will update tomorrow hopefully! Depending on being able to stay awake to update! :)