TFAS w/o March 24

britters314

**If you are having a hard day re TTC or TTCAL, please note that this thread will discuss living children and/or issues specifically dealing with parenting and/or babies. Previous pregnancy experiences may also be mentioned. Please lurk at your own discretion.**

What number are you trying for?

Month/Cycle?

WTO/TWW?

Ages of other child(ren)?

Any thoughts about this cycle?

Any questions?

Rant/Rave?

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning?

britters314

What number are you trying for? 3

Month/Cycle? Stopped counting (anyone else think we should just take this question out?)

WTO/TWW? TWW

Ages of other child(ren)? 7.5 and 6.5

Any thoughts about this cycle? Technically we had timing of -3, but I never even had EWCM so unlikely it’ll be a successful cycle

Any questions? Nope

Rant/Rave? I took the kids with me on some errands yesterday and they were being so difficult, touching everything on the shelves, running around the store. I feel like they should be able to behave in public at this age.

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning?
I went through all my kids’ summer clothes from last year to see what still fits them and organized it all. I haven’t gotten started on any actual cleaning yet though.

aloha_mama

@britters314 I’m okay just getting rid of the month/cycle question, after a while it just gets a little depressing to count it all up. So frustrating when kids don’t behave in the store, especially when you know they know how to act better. I’ve started doing a lot of curbside pickup orders for this reason, I just don’t want to go through the rigmarole of taking them shopping. 

What number are you trying for? #3

Month/Cycle? 3/3

WTO/TWW? WTO

Ages of other child(ren)? 9 and 2

Any thoughts about this cycle? I’m hopeful, it appears that I had an O day last month based on my charts so I know it’s possible. I’ve been taking OPKs daily since CD5 to have another data point. 

Any questions? Not really

Rant/Rave? We are going camping this weekend on the beach! We are huge beach bums and can’t wait to see the ocean again. 

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning? Quarterly, I polish our wood floors. The previous owners of our house didn’t care for the floors at all so it’s been a labor of love, but it is so satisfying. Hoping to put screens on the windows soon so I can open them all and not worry about my 2yo BASE jumping out of them. 

emeraldcity603

@aloha_mama my kids push the screens out and even my cat tries to escape the house via the screens. It’s annoying. My windows are also low and easily accessible for the littles. I hate it and keep them all locked. We have no AC too so mid June is rough. We really need a breeze that travels through the house. 

@britters314 I don’t mind whatever you want to do with the questions. I also do a lot of pickup but I try to take my kids shopping enough that they know how to behave. My pandemic babies didn’t ever go to grocery stores and the first time they ever went in it was a nightmare. 

WTO/TWW? WTO 

Ages of other child(ren)? They range from 22-19 months 

Any thoughts about this cycle? I’m hoping this one is the one! My timing has been off due to DH’s work schedule. Of course this cycle is the same. Mid shifts right at ovulation. We are going to just try to do EOD even on the days he works. I’m wondering if my uterine lining has needed time to build back up. How affected can it be by a chemical? The length of this last period has made me think of it. 

Any questions? See above. 

Rant/Rave? We had a book club party with our homeschool/hiking group. They are usually held outside except for the coldest months of the year. So we went to the lake and the sand pit had so much mud. The kids were basically bathing in it. I put them in their rain gear so I just peeled off the suits and tucked their boots and gloves in and there wasn’t any mess in the car. Mid season is so hard for me. I want to let them play but at some point I draw a line with the mud. Especially spring time mud. Summer mud is different from spring mud. 

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning? I need to clean out my schoolroom. I have a curriculum hoarding problem. 😅🤦🏻‍♀️ I have 2 piles I need to get rid of. Some I’m dropping off at our charter and the other I’m going to sell. Once I get the schoolroom in order I need to clean the garage. It’s a horrendous mess. 

britters314

I used to do curbside pickup too, but pretty much every store near me has stopped offering that by now. One in particular really annoys me that they stopped because I always bike there and they don’t have any bike racks nearby.

@emeraldcity603 Are your windows able to open from the top? I put the screens in the top part and open that section instead of the bottom and then I don’t have to worry about the kids pushing the screens out.

emeraldcity603

@britters314 You have got to be kidding me! They stopped grocery pickup?! My world would come crashing down. I have my groceries delivered regularly. That was the best thing that came from the pandemic. My windows slide open for the entire right side to be open. I have a bar I wedge in the window to keep the kids from opening it further but if they close the window the bar falls and then they can open it as far as they want. We only get 1 really hot week a summer but boy do we suffer during that week. I sleep with an ice pack on my back. It’s awful. 

peppyj9

@britters314 I'm fine taking that question out. And that sucks about the curbside pickup. Definitely the best thing that can't out of the pandemic. I still use it for basically everything now unless I want to browse but I rarely have time to do that. 

@aloha_mama ooh, a beach camping trip sounds lovely! You're making me feel guilty about my floors lol. We moved in here 5 years ago and beyond keeping them clean and doing a steam mop once a month we don't do much. Should I be polishing them?

@emeraldcity603 hope this is your cycle!! 🙏🏻 agree that mud is especially yucky. But it sounds like everyone had fun!

What number are you trying for? 2

Month/Cycle? I dunno, over a year now

WTO/TWW? WTO

Ages of other child(ren)? 5

Any thoughts about this cycle? I'm just hoping I get lucky! 

Any questions? No

Rant/Rave? My son has just a couple months left of preschool and then this Fall he starts Kindergarten 🥹 he's just getting so big and it makes the growing age gap between him and the next one feel palpable. On the plus side, I like the idea that he'll be in school by the time I have a newborn (🙏🏻) so in that regard having a 2nd won't feel as crazy as I know it did for my friends who did the 2 under 2 thing. 

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning? I have! I'm actually on an ongoing declutter journey as I'm a bit of a hoarder 🫣 I've actually hired an organizer who specializes in hoarding to come help me. I've made a lot of progress and I'm really proud! To be clear, I wouldn't qualify for the show Hoarders or anything, nothing unsanitary going on here and my house is fully useable as intended, but it's definitely more than I can manage. Garage full of boxes full of stuff that I don't even know what's in it anymore. Cupboards and drawers filled to the brim, stuff on every table and counter because there's nowhere else for it to go. That kind of thing. Maybe that is an overshare, but it's something I've been working on for a long time and I've finally decided it's worth the investment to get professional help to get my home in order. 

ferret22

@britters314 I'm fine removing the question too, it just bums me out lol. 

Hope everyone has a good cycle. 

@peppyj9 Congrats on tackling it with help, I don't think that's an overshare. What's the point of an anonymous Internet forum if we can't share some deeper things? 🫂 Have you talked to a therapist about it at all? I had the tendency to hoard but I figured out that it tied to feeling insecure about my housing instability / parents throwing my stuff out without asking as a kid. I've worked with a therapist on it and have had a lot more success letting things go with less anxiety. I know it's cheesy but I liked Marie Kondo's book too. Something about thanking things when I need to get rid of them resonated with me. 

What number are you trying for? 2

WTO/TWW? TWW

Ages of other child(ren)? 2

Any thoughts about this cycle? Our timing was good but I didn't have much EWCM, we'll see what happens

Any questions? None

Rant/Rave? I'm still very excited that spring has arrived. My bluebells are popping up and some of the phlox is already blooming. 

GTKY: Have you started any spring cleaning? I need to, my closets are so full ugh

emeraldcity603

@peppyj9 I have trouble cleaning off counters. My kids drop everything on the kitchen island. Plus, we end up doing school at the kitchen table and my schoolroom is in the basement. So we move a huge amount of books daily throughout the house. They pile up and we can’t even see the counters. DH made me mad a few weeks back and called me a hoarder and I rage cleaned/purged and got rid of 10 large black bags of stuff. It was mostly the kids stuff. He says it’s my stuff but it’s all the kids stuff. We managed to downsize a good bit. 

@ferret22 hopefully this cycle is the one. Have you ever tried preseed? It is supposed to to mimic your fertile mucus. A little goes a long way though. May be worth a shot. 

peppyj9

@ferret22 thank you for that ❤️ yes, I've been in therapy for about a year now regarding my hoarding tendencies and have uncovered similar traumas with financial instability growing up and a mom who threw away my stuff constantly as a kid without my permission, so I have a "scarcity mindset" and therapy has definitely helped making letting go of things easier. It's still hard some days, but I've made a lot of progress. As for your EWCM, I 2nd trying preseed. It's a little pricey but supposed to help the sperm on their journey.

@emeraldcity603 I'm glad you were able to get rid of so much stuff!  Having a kid definitely adds to the pile, but for me a big factor is getting rid of stuff which I struggle with, but I'm getting better!

aloha_mama

@peppyj9 Don’t feel bad, I am a voracious over-thinker and probably don’t need to polish my floors as much as I do lol Our house has these beautiful oak floors that I fell in love with at first sight, but the sellers must have worn heels a lot or something because it is pockmarked all over the first floor and the sealant is coming off in some places. We asked a friend who refinishes wood floors and he recommended polishing them a couple times a year to fill in the scratches and make them less dull. It’s super satisfying and I don’t really mind it too much, I just put on an audiobook and get to work, but I do have to move all the furniture out of the room for 24 hours and block the girls from running in there for a bit. I heard you’re not supposed to steam mop wood floors because it’s too much moisture and can warp the wood? 

emeraldcity603

Speaking of floors, I sweep mine daily and there is always so much dirt and debris. I can’t seem to keep up. It’s only going to get worse as the weather warms up. My kids are outside 10-12 hours a day and they just bring in a ton of dirt. 

aloha_mama

@emeraldcity603 Oh man. Same! And we are in the throes of pollen season so I’m seeing little puddles of pollen inside my doors 😭