With people still joining and all the due dates clustered in the first half of the month anyway, I hope it's okay if I just start a big board wide check in for this week

I just made up the check in really fast so if you want to add anything else please do!
Weeks/Days:
Rants/Raves:
Symptoms:
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!)
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
Re: ALL Due Date Groups Checkin!
Rants/Raves: Happy to still be pregnant; making an appt for confirmation of pregnancy today.
Symptoms: Starting earlier this time
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? Yes! C turned 4 last week and A is 2 in March.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! Nothing spectacular. It took 10 cycles of perfectly timed sex to get a bfp (including on disappointing but unconfirmed by blood test chemical pregnancy) and I didn't get my first squinter bfp until 13dpo...the day I'd normally get my period. I know others have gone through a lot longer wait, but I was starting to wonder if our family was complete and feeling sad about it because it didn't feel like it should be. I'm 33, so it was silly, but you know the heart doesn't always listen to the head.
Rants/Raves: no rants. Raves: I'm still pregnant. And every day I make it is one more day closer to my appointment, where we will hopefully finally see everything is going ok!
Symptoms: everything is pretty mild so far. Mildly tired, mildly sore boobs, peeing more frequently, and last night I fainted in the shower. 😳 I hope that was a one-time deal!!
Questions: what can I expect at an 8w appointment, given that it's the first one? Bloodwork? Ultrasound?
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!)
Just one fur baby, our 4 year old dog. She's a high energy breed and demands a LOT of exercise/attention, so I am nervous how she will handle suddenly not being the center of attention.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
We have been married about 4 years, and had a series of goals we wanted to accomplish before having kids: buy a house, travel extensively, pay off all non-mortgage debt, etc. We had done all that by this summer, and so started TTC (tracking with opks and having well-timed HIO). I had a CP at Thanksgiving, which really gutted us both and made for a rough holiday season. During my last cycle, I started symptom-spotting early. I tested for the first time on 9dpo (in the evening!) and got a very obvious, dark positive. Now I wish I had started testing at 7 or 8dpo to see when I would have first turned a test! 😉
Rants/Raves: it’s monday.
Symptoms: nausea, insomnia/exhaustion
Questions: nada
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!)
2 bigger brothers- ages 4 and almost 2. No pets; we’re not animal people
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
Started trying late September. BFP cycle 4, resulting in a CP. This was cycle 1 AL and a bit of a shock
when I turned a test at 7dpo. MWs had given the all clear to try again,
but imagine their surprise when I called two weeks later after my negative betas from the CP 🤦🏼♀️
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Rants/Raves: none atm
Symptoms: mine are still fairly mild and occasional - fatigue, increased libido (not complaing about that! My anti-depressants usually leave me feeling chemically castrated!) and hot flashes.
Questions:
Gtky #1: 2 year old brother and 9 year old cat siblings
Gtky #2: TW previous losses mentioned.
TTC DS was an extremely traumatic experience for me. I had two losses before conceiving DS. I also don’t ovulate regularly (PCOS) so I have to be obnoxiously intentional to track fertility. I nearly drove myself insane with my obsession to time BD well. This time around I decided to give the Ava bracelet a try to make it easier on me. I tracked 2 cycles before getting my copper IUD taken out. I had the craziest cycle (didn’t get a clear temp shift until cd27) and was incredibly surprised to get a positive test.
BFP1 12/24/14 - EDD 09/07/15 (D/C 8w1d)
BFP2 6/12/15 - EDD 2/22/16 (D/C 10w3d)
———
Diagnoses and Treatments
PCOS (myo-inositol, excercize)
Indeterminant levels of APS IgM antibodies (baby aspirin)
Sub-septate uterus (hysteroscopic septoplasty 12/18/15)
———
BFP3 05/02/16 EDD 01/09/17 DS born 01/05/17
BFP4 01/28/19 EDD 10/?/19 🤞🙏
@galentine OMG are you okay?! That's super scary. I'm a fainter too (usually only with needles).
@ceclarlinetlo I almost looked into the Ava bracelet.
Weeks/Days: 5+2 (LMP) or 5 weeks (O)
Rants/Raves: Ugh that it's Monday. The countdown to my first appointment is killing me... you would think it's easier the 2nd time around, but nope, just as anxious.
Symptoms: Boob tenderness, sense of smell, bile in throat, tired
Questions: nope
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) Yes, I have one DS who is 4. We also have a German shepherd-chow mix who is almost 9 and about 100lbs.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! We wanted to start TTC #2 a little earlier but my ILS paid for the entire family to go to Hawaii last May and we all wanted to have a good time... then my friend asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding in November, so we held off so I could go to the bachelorette party in Las Vegas. Finally decided to start in October, and was kind of expecting things to take at least six months (though each month with a BFN was brutal). This last month when I dedicated myself not to stress out in the TWW was our cycle!!
TTC #2: October 2018, BFP 02/02/19, EDD 10/14/19
Rants/Raves: Loving how supportive, open, and positive this group is! You ladies make me smile
Symptoms: Just everything
Siblings: 2 girls ages 10&4. 2 dogs, 1 old and perfect in every way, the other is 2 & finally not as annoying 😉. My 10 year old also has a chameleon and until a couple days ago my 4 yr old had a goldfish.
My journey to get here: *****TW**** losses
We’ve been trying to bring home a healthy baby for over 2 years. I’m lucky in that I get pregnant quickly and that blessing is not lost on us! We’re just part of the unlucky few that lose our babies later in pregnancy. I was very surprised to get a BFP at 9dpo! I’ve never gotten a positive before AF was due. So here we are giving it one last shot.
@galentine So glad you didn’t hit your head! How scary!
BFP1 12/24/14 - EDD 09/07/15 (D/C 8w1d)
BFP2 6/12/15 - EDD 2/22/16 (D/C 10w3d)
———
Diagnoses and Treatments
PCOS (myo-inositol, excercize)
Indeterminant levels of APS IgM antibodies (baby aspirin)
Sub-septate uterus (hysteroscopic septoplasty 12/18/15)
———
BFP3 05/02/16 EDD 01/09/17 DS born 01/05/17
BFP4 01/28/19 EDD 10/?/19 🤞🙏
Rants/Raves: my husbands car is in the shop which means he took mine to work today and now Im stuck home all dAy with my 18 mth old- how do people survive without cars all the time? However I am feeling energetic today
Symptoms: nothing but occasional fatigue
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? Yes 18 month old Jackson and an old grumpy cat named Lily 😆
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! We bought our first home back in September so once we were settled we started trying in October and I swear I was so neurotic about everything TTC related that it didn’t work until January when I threw out the OPK’s, drank more wine , laughed more with my hubby and just went off my body cues for ovulation. So grateful to have this wonderful community to share this fun ride with!
Rants/Raves: Mondays are dumb
Symptoms: just exhaustion so far.
Questions: nada.
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) DD is 19months. And then we have two big-ish dogs (~100 and ~50lbs)
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! We got pregnant really easy with DD (she was conceived the second cycle we tried), which is extremely common in my family. So when we started trying for #2, we expected a similar experience, but that wasn't the case. We ended up seeing an RE after about 8 cycles. Went through all the fertility testing. Everything came back normal except my hormones being low, which was causing my lining to be thin. I was put on progesterone to lengthen my cycles and hopefully thicken my lining. After a few cycles of that without success, we had planned to start letrozole to boost my ovulation next cycle, but got our positive on our 12th cycle trying! Most likely a product of the HSG test (apparently makes you 'more fertile' for a few months?) and the progesterone that did the trick.
Rants/Raves: busy day today and my cold is not getting any better 😫
Symptoms: just tired, and not much of an appetite, although I’m not sure if that’s more from being sick than anything else.
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) My daughter is 19m
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
We started trying in June, which I know is not long compared to some but I certainly was starting to get discouraged. And I definitely didn’t expect anything out of this cycle because I wasn’t really tracking since I was tired of temping and OPKs and all that. The only reason I tested was because I almost threw up eating garlic chicken spring rolls (that usually I love) but I still didn’t really expect anything, so I was pleasantly surprised the next morning!
Married: Oct 2015
Baby G born June 2017
TTC#2: July 2018
BFP #2: 2/6/19 MC 3/14/19
BFP#3 from IUI #2: 6/30/20 EDD 3/9/21
Rants/Raves: So far so good. Thankful I’m still pregnant.
Symptoms: fatigue, insomnia (the irony of those two) and just started with the sore boobs.
Questions: Nah
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? Two brothers, 5 and 3.
Gtky #2: My second son is a wild animal so we wanted a bigger gap between kid #2 and #3. We started trying this past summer and conceived on our first month using an ovulation kit. I was starting to get discouraged because we conceived our first three immediately and this one took 8 months. 🤷🏻♀️ I know that’s nothing compared to others but it is hard to keep perspective when you are anxiously waiting for a positive.
It’s honestly one of the worst things to say to a grieving mom (grieving over a loss or infertility)! Obviously we’re grateful and love our kids more than anything. Why else would we want more?!? We’re still allowed to be sad!
Baby size/interesting fact/milestone
Team (pink/blue/green/finding out)
FTM/STM/TTM+
Might just be me, but I think these would be interesting fields in the weekly check-ins 😊
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP1 12/24/14 - EDD 09/07/15 (D/C 8w1d)
BFP2 6/12/15 - EDD 2/22/16 (D/C 10w3d)
———
Diagnoses and Treatments
PCOS (myo-inositol, excercize)
Indeterminant levels of APS IgM antibodies (baby aspirin)
Sub-septate uterus (hysteroscopic septoplasty 12/18/15)
———
BFP3 05/02/16 EDD 01/09/17 DS born 01/05/17
BFP4 01/28/19 EDD 10/?/19 🤞🙏
Rants/Raves: We saw the heartbeat today! It was the most amazing thing and I can’t stop crying/smiling like a fool since.
Symptoms: Exhaustion, sore boobs, and an extreme craving for eggs. I mean extreme - I had an entire plateful of scrambled eggs today, like five times as much as a normal human would eat in one sitting. Also a ton of dizziness but doc thinks that was the progesterone suppliments so we are stopping those.
Questions: Not yet!
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) Just fur babies - both cats. One is the OG that H had before we met, other is a wild child two year old that we got from the shelter.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! Started “casually” trying about two and a half years ago. Not one positive test in over a year, so I went to my endo (I have a pituitary tumor so we assumed that was the cause.) He changed up my meds and we tried the OPK method for 10 cycles. After that he sent me to a RE since I had just turned 36. Turns out H has male factor so RE suggested we go straight to IUI then IVF after a few cycles. The winning cycle was our second IUI and it was honestly shocking - H’s numbers were so low that our RE called us the day after the IUI to say he wanted to go straight to IVF instead of the two more rounds of IUI we had planned. Anyway, we obviously got soooo lucky that it worked for us, and each day that I wake up pregnant is a blessing!!
Rants/raves: I miss highly caffeinated drinks.
Symptoms: exhaustion. I took a nap yesterday and could have done the same today if my 3 year old would leave me alone. No other symptoms so far. With my first I had very few symptoms (sore boobs early on, indigestion, and back pain) the whole time so fingers crossed I get lucky again this time.
Questions: nope
GTKY #1: Baby has a three year old brother and an almost 16 year old half sister. And two furkitty siblings that'll be 7 in May.
GTKY#2: I never wanted my kids to be very far apart in age but life got in the way so we started trying last April when DS was 2 years and 4 months. We miscarried at 6 weeks in December, and now here we are.
@galentine I'm totally jealous of you and hubby completing your goal so quickly. And I certainly hope your faint was a one time thing. That's scary!
@cmbt2 no pets? Are you a monster? 😜
@ceclarlinetlo I'm sorry about your losses. I remember being overly intentional in TTC DS and it took all the fun and enjoyment out of doing the dance. Glad that's over for you.
@grapeskittles4lyfe, 4 pythons? That's sooooo cool! And I have to say I'm rooting for another girl for you.
@stephanie123456 it's funny how right "they" can be sometimes when it comes to the stopping stressing or thinking about TTC is like magic for getting pregnant (well of course, except when it's not). And 100 lb dog? Oh boy!
@c.gardner37 a chameleon is a really cool pet, but eek, sorry about your little's goldfish. I have every hope for you to have a peaceful boring 9 months this pregnancy. I'm sorry you've had to struggle through so much.
@jessie072817 being without car is torture! Glad it was only for the day.
@longhairdntcare another 100 lb dog, I don't know how you guys can do it!
@manillabar hope your cold clears up soon. No fun alongside pregnancy symptoms.
@brownbarista I hear ya on the insomnia/ fatigue. What a mind trip it is!
eta- kuddos to you to responding to everyone! I always think it’s cool when someone has the patience to deal with forum codes and glitches to respond to everyone!
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
5 weeks today (based on LMP)
Rants/Raves:
Rant - my first doctor appointment is tomorrow. We're supposed to get 6-8" snow starting from 7 am. It's just the confirmation, but I just don't a delay in the scheduling of the US. Despite not wanting to cancel, I guess I'm hoping they do, since otherwise that's like an hour and a half white knuckle drive home.
Symptoms:
Everything off and on. Mainly fatigue, headaches, BIG sore boobs, insomnia (so annoying) vivid dreams (MIL was a rotten bitch, so out of character, in last night's dream), vertigo, bouts of rage or crying.
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!)
DS is just over 15 months. We also have one dog who will be three when the baby is born, he also has an October birthday, and two cats, four and five years old.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
Long! I'm very AMA to begin with. We tried for DS for over a year before seeking help from an RE, who ended up being no help after all. Still took another year to conceive the little man. We did have one MMC and one CP before he came. Knowing all this, we started trying for #2 very shortly after DS was born. I had some magic help both times though. Successful conception happened both times after only 2 months taking vitex or chaste berry supplements. Instead of taking hormones, vitex helps the pituitary re-regulate itself for natural hormone production. It doesn't work for everyone, but for me it was the answer to my non-specific, non-diagnosed hormonal imbalance.
Rants/Raves: none at the moment
Symptoms: none really 😕 Having something would be reassuring! I might be having a few but I downplay them in my mind or assume it’s not pregnancy related
Questions: none. Sorry I’m boring today!
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings?: Our fur baby is Penny, a 5 year old pup. E is 3 1/2 and we have an angel baby as well
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! *TW loss* I miscarried at 11 1/2 weeks in November 2017. It took me awhile to be mentally/emotionally ready to try again as we got pregnant right away with the first 2 pregnancies. I then had a lot of GI issues I was trying to get resolved. I’ve had to eliminate dairy and tomato-based foods from my diet 😫 We have been trying, off and on as DH had a few work trips in the fall, since July.
Rants/Raves: Rant, still have 8 days till my next ultrasound. Rave, 8 days till my next ultrasound.
Symptoms: slight fatigue, bloat, cramps on and off, first touch of nausea today, and I was extremely irritable this evening.
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!)
We have 3 wonderful pups! Buddy, Grace and Nolan Ryan.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here!
Married: Oct 2015
Baby G born June 2017
TTC#2: July 2018
BFP #2: 2/6/19 MC 3/14/19
BFP#3 from IUI #2: 6/30/20 EDD 3/9/21
@emily1052, you have my condolences for the irritability. I may be dealing with a bit of that myself 😉😂
Rants/Raves: DD was home sick from daycare today. I WAH Mondays so it shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but she was being very needy. It was rough. I miss coffee.
Symptoms: Exhaustion, sore boobs, and increased sense of smell.
Questions: None.
Gtky #1: Yep. DD is 2.
*TW loss mentioned
Gtky #2: We were originally planning on TTC last summer, but I wasn't ready. I have done a lot of mental and emotional work around my loss with my therapist in recent months. I went off my OCP in September due to having 18-21 day cycles for 6 months while on it. I was able to get a good few months of tracking in and we officially TTC starting this year. I feel so, so lucky that we are pregnant now, but I'm also sort of in disbelief about it.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Symptoms: Kind of none right now, which makes me slightly nervous.
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) Two bros. DS1, age 3.5 and DS2, age 19 months.
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! Decided to start trying for #3 in September 2018 and without much effort got pregnant on the first try. Sadly, I had a MC, which really shook me. I had two pretty text-book pregnancies before and never really struggled to conceive, so I kind of had a "it's easy for us" outlook. My OB said I could try again right away, but I wasn't ready emotionally for a couple of months. Over the holidays it felt like every woman I looked at told me she was expecting (including my sister, SIL, and other SIL was due the day after Christmas). It was an emotional season. But with the new year I felt ready move forward and (with a lot of effort this time) tried hard in January. Feeling optimistic, but some anxiety creeps in every now and then.
Rants/Raves: Right now my rant would be that my 2.5 year old is sick. I hate when he is sick it just breaks my heart and he is all congested. That's not the worst part my DH complains so much about DS being sick and acts like its my fault that he is sick. Overall it's just annoying and it all falls on me to take care of him. Rave is that Valentine's Day is this week and I love all holidays!
Symptoms: I am so bloated, mostly in the evening and I have also experienced nausea on the daily.
Questions:
Gtky #1: Does your babe have siblings? (ETA: including furry ones!) Only child right now, but he desperately needs a sibling!
Gtky #2: Tell us about your journey to get here! This journey has been so long and emotional for my DH and I. We started trying in October of 2017. After trying for a few months on our own we were then referred to an infertility clinic in January of 2018. We proceeded with testing and decided to continue with an IUI. After 4 failed IUI, where my body did not respond well to the medication we decided to move forward with IVF. Had my egg retrieval in October and ended up with 12 embryos. My first FET was December 24th, when that failed we decided to go right into another FET on January 24th. Finally we got the good new that we were expecting!