I am an addict.  There is no meeting for my addiction (unless you count my trying to conceive groups) but I can't seem to resist the urge to pee on things.  Unfortunately peeing on things can become an expensive habit so I am always sure to have some cheep but sensitive test strips on hand.   And, you can pee on them two at a time if you want when you have 20 of them!

The tests did not expire in 07.  This image is from Amazon.com

  All you need to do to enter to win these tests is to answer this poll.  It takes about 3 seconds!  Ironically the same amount of time it takes to dip one of these tests!  Good luck!

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Urine For Some Fun





I hope this has inspired you to write a song about fertility! Link up your posts or comment below with your lyrics!



<a href="http://lifelossandotherthings.blogspot.com/2011/12/while-i-wait.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZ76ooSi-ja7OezdPG_d3IzLa_mswnVF0_5WnO1bpV7-z2MsIoqKbzRSdZCh9Nt2S3-Lhxs-C5jFJw1_1yzwTy4iEce2me9Udjv1_REn4Uw7Li5M7iXsV0oCswySWAe2nenzroYXEiEn8/s320/sunrise%252520006.JPG" width="320" /></a>

I was hopeful this cycle.  I really was.  Then as the important and exciting days approached are are almost behind us, that hope is growing smaller and smaller.  Yesterday's test was almost impossible to see.  Some real squinter pros might be able to make it out but almost non-existent.  Then, I felt like peeing on a 5 dollar bill but since I didn't have any of those in the house, I decided to pee on a First Response test.  I got a light but clearly visibly line.  With nothing to compare it to, I realized it meant next to nothing. 

Last night as I was warming up under my covers, I started to get achy and uncomfortable.  It was about that time that I realized that if I was pregnant, I would have been asleep by then.  At about 4:00 am, our cute adorable and chronologically challenged dogs decided to want to go out.  Doug let them out but I decided to take my temperature, just because I was awake.  It was dismally low.  I knew that the temperature wasn't really valid but, it didn't look good.  Then, as I thought about how ugly my chart was going to look when I put that temperature in it, I felt something familiar.  That first cramp.  The first cramp that clearly signaled that my period wouldn't be all that far behind it. 

When I woke up, I temped again and the temp wasn't AS ugly but it was low and barely above my coverline.  Later in the morning, I had that urge to pee on another 5 dollar bill but again, hadn't been to an ATM so I peed on another First Response.  While the line was there, it is what I like to call a ghost squinter.  In fact, I'll be impressed if anyone can even see it on the picture.  It is so ghostly that it only can be seen in the right light and the camera seems to wash out any teeny bit of color there is. Plus, even if you can see it, I am feeling pretty confident that it is just that teeny bit of trigger shot left. 

I am feeling crampy, tired, and pretty much watching out my window for the evil AF (Aunt Flo) to crash my Hope Party.  Well.... There is always next month and I have to feel confident in at least one thing.  God is in control of this. 

Few things make me as happy as pregnancy tests! The runner up is ovulation tests! So when I was given the opportunity to review and wait for it... wait for it... giveaway ovulation and pregnancy tests, you would have thought that I had been looking at the winning lottery ticket! Sometimes, it is the little things! UsMoms has been more than wonderful when it comes to customer service. All of my emails have been responded to promptly, all of my questions answered, and all with sincerity. They really care about their customers and making sure they are happy! I was sent a variety of ovulation tests to use this cycle and share my experiences. Not that I am bashful about everyone knowing that I am a test-a-holic, but it was nice that my yellow envelope of tests showed up very discretely. Since I usually order my tests in large batches, it will be nice to know that the postman isn't going to think that there must be 12 women hiding in my basement all trying to get pregnant.

Since my ovulation is usually pretty predictable (CD 13 or 14) I had stopped charting. But, for the purposes of reviewing these tests I dusted off my thermometer and put it back in it's former home on my nightstand. I was sent several types of OPKs to experiment with including the test strip, the midstream, and the cassette variety. They were all easy to use with very detailed instructions and easy to determine results. My favorite was the test strips since I am one to pee in the cup to test anyway and it was just more my "style" if one can claim a pee stick style.
It was so easy to tell when it was positive! In fact, my chart corroborated this nice positive test with a temp rise the following morning! And just for fun, this is another brand (name brand) opk used in the same urine at the exact same time. The UsMoms ovulation test is so much easier to read!
After being most certain on my ovulation date, I buckled up for my two week wait. Well... not really. I have never been able to wait two weeks before I test. First of all, my luteal phase since having Joey has never been more than 12 days. Second, if I make it to 8 days past ovulation (DPO) before I pee in a cup, that is an accomplishment. Plus, UsMoms send me an "Earliest Pregnancy Test" that reads 10mlU/ml. I couldn't wait to give that a try! At 9 DPO (4-5 days before my expected period) I used the Earliest Pregnancy Test. While I certainly was hoping for an nice squinter or something, alas... 'twas not meant to be. Then I tried again on 10 dpo with an Early Pregnancy Test. Nope. Maybe something on 11 dpo? Sigh.

The good news is this. The pregnancy tests from UsMoms didn't make me go through the roller coaster of hope due to the "maybe there" mystery shadow lines that other "internet" test strips seem to do. It was negative. It stayed negative. Even after hours of sitting around it was still completely negative. This is a slide show of about 20 photos taken periodically starting with as soon as I took the test, a few waiting for it to dry, some at the time limit for reading the test, and then a couple way after the time limit and one from hours after the time limit. Notice that there is never a squinter, shadow line, or evaporation line. Even after hours of sitting on the counter! If you want to stop on a picture to examine it better you can hover over it and it will pause the show.

I am not joking when I say that these are my new favorite internet tests! It was so nice to have a clear answer. No guessing. No running to the store to buy an expensive test to verify that the test was in fact just playing games with my mind. I recommend these tests to anyone who is trying to conceive especially if you like to test early and often! They are inexpensive and reliable!

*Disclaimer* I was sent the tests at no cost. I am not being compensated for this post. All of my opinions are 100% my own. I really like these tests!


If you would like to buy some tests, visit UsMoms and start shopping now!

If you would like to win a gift package of 25 ovulation test strips, 10 pregnancy test strips, and 2 FSH tests compliments of UsMoms, enter below!!!

For those of you who are following my TTC journey, we decided to go for it despite the nurse's statement about Doug's meds. We both figured that if God wanted us to get pregnant than He would see to it that it happened. If I miscarry or have a child with an issue, that won't make that baby any less wanted, loved, or gifted to me from God. So while we technically have a shot at being pregnant, I am not feeling hopeful. One would think that given that information, I wouldn't be excited to start testing, right? Oh, how excited I am!

A very awesome company has sent me a variety of pregnancy tests (and ovulations tests) to use and review! The only thing more exciting than free pee sticks is being able to host a giveaway of free pee sticks for YOU! So, in the next few days, I will start busting out my pee cup, dipping like mad, and sharing all of my thoughts with all of you! I hope very much to share a positive test with you but, if not, that doesn't mean you guys shouldn't get a shot to turn both lines pink!!! Be watching in the coming days for this amazing pee fest and opportunity for you to join in the fun! If you don't follow me on facebook and twitter, you should! You will get the earliest updates for this and upcoming giveaways!

I have to admit something. I am so excited! I am seriously sitting here with my laptop with two windows open. One is this one and the other is Random.org. I have the numbers entered into the little random number generator and I am so excited to press the "generate" button. So... here it goes!

The winner is... Entry #11 which is.... Karine B! I will also send Karine and e-mail but in the mean time...


Thank you to everyone for participating and for the kind words. I look forward to getting to know all of my new followers and "likers". I am planning to have more opportunities to win some very cool items so keep coming back to see what is going on at Life, Loss, and Other Things Worth Mentioning.



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Today, Gavin, Joey and I decided to get out of the house for a play date with some same age cousins. It is actually a beautiful day today with blue skies and a crisp yet warm spring air. As I was driving and enjoying the scenery with periodic interruptions of a fuss from Joey or Gavin pointing out a digger or tow truck, I was amazed at the number of birds that seemed to be flying directly into the path of the truck. I certainly didn't want to hit them but swerving to avoid a 45 mile and hour dive bomb from a bird... well... that just isn't rational. So, much like I imagine other drivers do, I would hold my breath and squint my eyes in an effort to minimize my exposure to what would be certain death of a bird. In between squinting and coaching a bird to speed up or slow down to avoid vehicular manslaughter, I was daydreaming about taking another pregnancy test when I came home. It was then that those two thoughts merged and brought back this vivid memory from a couple of years ago.

On a day much like today, I was standing staring at a positive pregnancy test. I was looking at it in every light analyzing the undeniable pink line. I was hesitant to fall in love with any two lined test given my history. I had called the RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) to inform them of the pregnancy and start confirming with blood tests and start the heparin injections. I was feeling better about the pregnancy since I had not tried the injections of blood thinners and had read about how they were the secret to many many others who had suffered from recurrent losses. I allowed myself to dream. Just a little. Then, a couple of weeks later I noticed that my symptoms seemed to have decreased over the previous couple of days and to ease my mind I decided to take another pregnancy test. I was sure that seeing two dark pink lines would enable me to relax and enjoy the few days I had left before my viability ultrasound.

The test results threw me into a tailspin. The line was light. Really light. I know that so many people will assure you that it doesn't matter how dark the line is and that a line is a line is a line. Well, the squinty pink line in conjunction with my loss of pregnancy symptoms, was cause for a panic. I decided that I need to step away since Gavin was watching me look at a stick I had peed on, and cry, and look at the test, poke myself in the boob to confirm that they weren't sore, and cry again. So I turned on an episode of Little Einsteins, and stepped out the back door to compose myself.

I was standing out on the back steps, now looking at my squinty pink line in the direct sun light when something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Before I could even identify what it was, a bird had flown about 6 inches from my shoulder and directly into a window about 3 feet from me. It hit the window so hard that the window actually sounded like a deep church bell. The window was still quietly ringing as I watched the bird fall in front of my feet. I watched it's little chest rise and fall once. Then twice. Then it stopped. It died right there in front of me.
With as sad as that is, I actually chuckled as I said, "THAT can not be a good sign for me!" My miscarriage was confirmed the next day.

I managed to make it to our play date and home without killing a single bird. Now if only I could get a positive pregnancy test I would be feeling pretty good. Today is 10 days past ovulation and I have one pink line staring back at me. I am going to look at that as being halfway there. Maybe the other line will join the party tomorrow.



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Especially when you can pee on a stick! Or a cup if you are like me and worry about aim. I think it was all of 24 hours ago that I posted about what I wasn't going to do during my two week wait. I lasted less than 8 hours.

Stay away from websites that sell any trying to conceive paraphernalia (even if it is dirt cheap tests).

I promise that my intention was not to purchase tests for myself. My current stash of things to pee on are pictured to the right. I won't even begin to tell you how many are in the big orange envelope. I was looking for a company that might be interested in working with me on an upcoming project. Well, I happened upon a pregnancy test brand that I have never heard of and I have peed on my share of pregnancy tests over the years. So, if I choose to ask them to join me on my project, I have to have experience with their product, right? Is that justification enough to add 11 new tests to my stash? I hope that in a few days I can write a post that hopefully tells of this new test's accuracy. Preferably that it gave me a nice dark line very early. But, should I not get a nice dark line I will hope that it is a clear negative that doesn't make me hopeful for no reason. I promise to let you know how my experiment goes.

In other potty news... I am going to share the highlight of my day. Okay. That intro doesn't sound quite right but stick with me for a minute. We live in an old farm house. When I was pregnant with Gavin, we decided that we needed a first floor bathroom. We had a small room that was at one time used as a bedroom that we converted into a laundry room/pantry/bathroom. I know. Kinda gross to go potty where you keep your food but the food is in a different section of the room. I digress.

For some reason, babies love going in this room. Probably because we usually keep the door locked. Joey is quite skilled in navigating in his walker and should I happen to leave the door open for even a minute he looks over his shoulder and makes a break for it. Sometimes he will park his walker in front of the door and just watch the door. I think he is waiting for his opportunity.
This morning I hear Joey's walker banging into the bathroom door. I continue to hear his walker wheels scooting and more banging follows. After not hearing anything for about 35 seconds I decide I need to make visual contact. I can't find him. I panic for a second as I peek around corners, look in every possible place he could be hiding (which isn't many) and then I look at the bathroom door. It is closed but unlocked. I push on the door and I feel resistence as Joey's walker is directly in front of the door. I push with a little more force and scoot him back enough so that I can open the door. I am greeted with a powerful whiff of dirty diaper. I seriously think he went into the bathroom, closed the door, and then pooped. So all this time I have been thinking that he wants to get into all of the canned goods and the truth is, he just wanted some privacy to poop.

In my years of trying to create my family, I have come across my share of women who have had what I believe to be bogus pregnancies. They fall into one of two categories. The innocent wishful thinkers and the attention seeking fakers.

The wishful thinkers are the one who are usually very new to the trying to conceive scene. They have never payed any attention to their cycles because the only part that ever mattered was when their period showed up. They worried that it would fall on the day of their much anticipated first date, or threaten to ruin a much needed vacation to the beach. If at any point in their cycle they got a headache, they took a Tylenol. If they had cramps, they took a Women's Tylenol. If their period was especially heavy they complained to their co workers about PMS and feeling lousy but, like most normal people, didn't inspect the contents of the toilet or the toilet paper.

As soon as they have unprotected sex for the first time they begin the frenzy of over analyzing every possible symptom of early pregnancy. Dr. Google tells them that some women have implantation cramping. Then, like they have never had before, they have some cramping! Then Dr. Google tells them that some women get headaches early in pregnancy due to the fluctuation in hormone levels. Then, oh my goodness! They have had a headache for the past few days, right? Then Dr. Google seals the pregnancy deal by saying that some women who miscarry very early will go on to have a normal period with cramps and possibly some clotting.

Sadly, a lot of women then, for some unknown reason, want to believe that they were pregnant. Even if it was just for a moment because all of those symptoms couldn't have been just a regular period showing up right on time. They must have been pregnant. Despite having taken pregnancy tests nearly every day and never getting a positive test, they are still convinced that they were pregnant.

It shouldn't bother me. I know. It isn't a contest but somehow I feel like my really early losses are regarded as me just being crazy and thinking I was pregnant. I totally understand the desire to be pregnant as much as the next girl but without at least a positive pregnancy test, there is no pregnancy. Otherwise, every month of trying could be interpreted as a miscarriage by someone who just really wants that baby but gets Aunt Flo instead.

Now the second category of fakers really gets my blood boiling. These are the women who knowingly never got a positive pregnancy test but claim they have. They may have really really wanted to see a line on a test. They may have even thought that maybe they could imagine a line on a test at one point. Granted, the cheap internet pregnancy tests that often will show a line where the positive line should be but it will never show up in the time limit when there is no real pregnancy. It can't be called a positive pregnancy test and anyone who uses those tests knows this.These women seem to just want people to feel bad for them and they think that accumulating miscarriages is the way to do it. Again, not a contest. But when I see this happen, I fear that people will think that I am doing this. I do not want a trophy for the most losses. I hope my number of losses stays right where it is. But, if I do have another loss along the way, I want people to know that I am being authentic. I will need support. I will not make up a miscarriage. It isn't fair to women who are going through the real thing every single day.

I am officially done venting. At least about this. For now.

I think it is funny how whenever I am trying to get pregnant my mind plays these crazy games. There is a website, www.countdowntopregnancy.com, that enables women to track their pregnancy (or possible pregnancy symptoms) from ovulation to their positive test. While this is a great deal of obsessive style fun, I have to think it is pretty comical. Some of the funnier ones are diarrhea, gas, and fatigue. Don't get me wrong. I am always tuned into my body waiting for any sign or symptom that I might get the two pink lines at the end of the month but, really? Gas, the runs, and being tired? Isn't this symptoms of eating really greasy pizza and chasing after a 3 year old and a 7 month old?

With Gavin the only symptom I has was that I had one teeny spot of blood when I wiped. I was not due for my period for at least 5 more days and history told me that when my period came, she showed up in full force. Spotting had not been a part of my vocabulary. So, at that moment, I knew that it was likely implantation spotting. Then the next night I was laying in bed and all of the sudden I realized that I could smell the air freshener in the bathroom. I couldn't just smell it, I could almost taste it.

When I was trying for my second child I payed a lot of attention to every twinge, pull, cramp, ache, pain, well.. you get the point. I was obsessed. I would check the site to see if it was a good sign. I would see how many other women reported the "symptom" and either become just a bit more hopeful or swear that I was just noticing something that most women wouldn't notice. The truth is, it is all just ridiculous. I had restless leg syndrome a few nights before my positive home pregnancy test. I had extreme thirst before another. I had cramping before, yet another. While this sounds like I had pregnancy symptoms, I failed to mention all of the pregnancy symptoms I had only to be greeted by my period knocking down my door. I had cramps, extreme thirst for nothing but water, gas, diarrhea, back pain, cramps, metallic taste in my mouth, again, you get the point.

Better yet, these are some of the symptoms on the list of "Most Common Early Pregnancy symptoms."

Acne breakout....................................Decrease in Acne
Dry mouth...........................................Increase in saliva
Fatigue.................................................Restlessness

With these being symptoms, it is no wonder I swear I am pregnant every month! Even right this minute I am thinking about how thirsty I am but noticing how I have a lot of saliva. I am exhausted but probably couldn't sleep. Is that a zit? Maybe. Don't I usually have more zits that that?

I would love to hold an unscientific experiment. I would like to ask women who haven't ovulated yet and tell them that there is a possibility that they are pregnant. Then, give them a list of the 60 most common symptoms of pregnancy and have them record which ones they feel for two weeks. Something tells me that most of these women will write down about 20 symptoms. Even before they have ovulated. Of course, I will never be able to run this experiment but I challenge myself each month to do just this so that I can recognize how silly I am being when I think I must be pregnant because I farted 3 times on a Tuesday while thinking about salt and vinegar potato chips.

I really hope that I can get pregnant (and stay pregnant) so that I don't have to go through this waiting and wondering torture for very long. I must admit that since I have started this blog, I have managed to be much less obsessed with trying to get pregnant and staring at my chart waiting for it to telling me the future. But with that all said, I am going to go to countdown to pregnancy and see what symptoms are the most reported for 4 days past ovulation. Oh... the games my mind likes to play.

If someone want to make millions of dollars almost overnight, they should invest their time and money into discovering a pregnancy test that can tell a woman almost instantaneously if they are pregnant. From my own experience and spending time on message boards, women spend a ton of money on pregnancy tests when they are trying to conceive. Some, including me, although I am a bit ashamed of my habits, will start taking pregnancy tests well before it is even reasonable to believe that one could get a positive pregnancy test. Even though we are all bright enough to realize that it is impossible to know if you are pregnant 2 days after ovulation, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Before I ever happened upon message boards dedicated to family and family building I had never heard of "IC" tests. IC stands for Internet Cheapy test. From the internet, you can purchase pregnancy tests that are less than a dollar a piece. I have only ever ordered tests from one site but while having cheap test to use may help quell the insatiable urge to pee on something, the results tend to be, at best, inconclusive. This is, unless, you are one of the strong ones who can actually wait for a full 12- 14 days after expected conception.

So if you are of the variety that wants to know if you are expecting faster, sooner, with less guess work then you have to get ready to pay for the quality tests. First Response Early Results are good tests that often give you clear answers. It is worth the money if you don't want to spend the better part of your day deciding if what you see is a true positive, true negative, a figment of your imagination, or just wishful thinking. Then there is always the sure thing, the digital test. It is great to get the answer spelled out for you, unless of course it has a NOT on it. That part stinks.

So back to my idea of getting rich quick... If a woman will spend up to 40-50 dollars a month to test repeatedly to find out if she is pregnant, then imagine how much she would spend to know, for sure, immediately after intercourse. I am willing to guess that 75 dollars would fall out of my hand in an instant. Maybe more.

Doug asked me today why I was feeling so anxious. I couldn't find the words to explain how I just wanted to know... NOW... if we were pregnant. I used IC tests over the last few days (much too early) just so I could satiate my urge to test. Then, today, when I felt like I had waited long enough, I spent the big bucks on a name brand test. And, after watching the test dry and staring at it in every light possible, I see nothing. I know it is still early but if only someone out there would come up with the miracle of all pregnancy tests I would be in a much happier place. I would either know to start taking my Welcome Womb or get geared up to try again next month. Could someone reading this who knows people in high places please put this on a suggestion card. It would save me, and tons of other couples, a lot of headaches for two weeks out of the month.