Best Coast

Thank god for roller derby practise last night!!!

I know contact-sports and TTC don't seem like the best of matches but you all don't have to worry, I promise--I'm a total newbie and so I'm not going to pass my level 1 skill-testing and be permitted by Coachie to participate in any actual scrimmages anytime soon, I'm still way more concerned with keeping my balance on my skates (actually I haven't had a fall in over a month, come to think of it) and trying to learn how to manoeuvre around in the various ways I'll need to if I'm ever in an actual bout. I'm not all that into hitting or taking hits either, I just want to be fast or really good at blocking.  My former salon manager & friend Kitty Glitter (that's her derby name, obviously) and I got interested in joining the team in late-spring of last year, before my wedding, and she got all her gear and joined in October. I'm still borrowing Coachie's extra gear (mostly compiled of everything her two kids have outgrown) and started in November, and I'm nowhere near as derby-obsessed as Kitty even though she's been TTC for years (though she's not all in with the OPKs, charting, forums, books, etc, etc...she's more like "if it happens it happens"). So I guess we're kind of mirroring each other in an opposite/switched-around way, if that makes sense, regarding derby and babies...?

Anyway, Coachie brought her personal trainer to our practise last night, and our butts got kicked to the curb! Our practises are two hours and within the first 20 minutes of the off-skate boot-camp with the personal trainer I thought I was going to puke. Or just drop dead from lack of oxygen. Either or. But I have this crazy love-hate for off-skates, I guess because I've got so much more experience doing crunches and jogging (actually, I really dig interval running a lot, when I can manage to get myself off the door and motivated to run regularly) or bicep curls and squats than I do doing T-stops or flying around the flat track like the more advanced girls on our team. But, even though I'm so sore today, our super intense practise basically saved me from this suffocating anxiety I had all yesterday. And for that alone I am so thankful.

I was just so freaked out about how I knew today I needed to go from my orthodontist appointment to the lab by our house for my tests. I was getting so worried that they were going to find something wrong right off the bat with me that I could barely think about anything but all the various hardships that we might have to face in our TTC journey. But I got up this morning and I just accepted that unless our test got started we wouldn't be able to get the ball really rolling, and maybe our doctors would think that we weren't seriously invested.

G did great, actually. He was just as nervous and felt really awkward about having to do a SA in general but he took a Viagra (which his Dr prescribed him in November--and, ladies, those little blue pills aren't cheap--not because he can't get it up but in hopes that maybe he'd feel more inspired to BD after coming home from a tiring day at work) because he was worried about getting it done and performance pressure. He'd set his mind to it though and wanted to give it his best shot (no pun intended).

So we met up at the little hospital that's about 5 blocks from our house, with our lab orders and Care Cards in hand (yay for Medicare!), and went down to the lab in the bottom floor. Only the lab technician informed us that my Dr had been wrong when he'd said that G could do his SA there, with the possibility of being able to produce the sample in our cosy little house and just drive it the couple of minutes there to drop it off at the lab for testing. Not the case. He actually has to go to the big hospital in our neighbouring city (which we commute to for work anyway) which is about a 25 minute drive away...he will have to face the "spank tank," unfortunately. Because he had a faculty meeting at noon it wasn't an option for him to do his SA today, so he's thinking he'll go in and get it done on Monday. He was disappointed that we couldn't just get it done and out of the way, and also that I probably won't be able to go with him on Monday because of my own work schedule. And the Viagra has given him a horrible headache...booo.

I was able to get my tests done on the spot though (no appointment needed), which is good because I'm now on CD19/4DPO and I had to get it done in that small 3 day window. The tech took 3 vials of blood while I asked her to explain exactly what the "CBC Ferritin TSH" was. The progesterone test I get, but I had forgotten about the rest. She said they'll test to see what my iron levels are, and also my thyroid (won't my mother be happy about that!), that kind of stuff. I asked how long it'll likely be before the results are in, and she said for the two tests it'll probably be tomorrow morning, but the progesterone testing gets done in Victoria, about a 2 hour drive away, so the sample has to get sent down there and and it'll take about 3 or 4 days to hear back about that. I hate needles, and I really hate having blood taken, but this lab tech was pretty good. I've had techs who did things like accidentally move the needle around while it's still in me, and that was dreadful! This all went pretty smoothly today, well, for me anyway.

So the first big milestone has been crossed and we are on our way to finding out if there's anything going on that might be standing in the way of our baby-dreams. I think we're going to have an early dinner and then maybe go see a movie tonight, as a way of kind of mellowing out after all the pre-test anxiety. Zoe-dog is already mellow, apparently, she's curled up on a pillow behind my chair right now--she's a sweetie.

I feel like I could go have a nap, and it's only 4:10pm.