Period before pregnancy and planning a family | Being Pregnant

I don?t know if it?s because of the Lupron or if the universe just knows how excited Sara and I are to start a family, but my June period came 5 days early ? which means we get to start our first IVF cycle this week! It?s pretty amazing how sentimental things can become when so much planning goes into a pregnancy. Of course, nothing is guaranteed and I?m well aware of that, but I can?t help but think that this very well could be my last period for a good long time. Under any other circumstances, I wouldn?t even be thinking about my period. But tonight? Tonight, we celebrate its potential departure!

First, I should tell you that I do believe my period came early because of the Lupron, though I have zero scientific evidence to back that up. I?ve been a regular bleeder since I began menstruating at the ripe-old age of 13, and my monthly ?friend? (whoever decided to call it that?) has been showing up every 29 days since, like clockwork, and in the same fashion: a slight spotting two days prior to let me know it?s on its way, and slight cramping two hours before its arrival and never again. So when I woke up yesterday with the worst cramps of my life, I was thrown off guard and concerned. It seemed as though my friend would be showing up early and with a vengeance.

And she did.

We were at my wife?s CrossFit Regional Competition just outside of Boston (she did AWESOME, by the way!), and it was the third and final day. For about an hour that morning, I thought I was going to have to miss the last day of the competition because of the pain I was in. But my wife convinced me to take three Advil ? you know how hard it is for me to take anything! ? and within 30 minutes, my cramps became manageable and eventually subsided. But very shortly after they began, my period arrived.

We (my wife, my period, and I) made it through the day just fine and we?re home now with our much-missed pooch, Darla. As we prepare to go for our Day 3 ultrasound tomorrow ? not with Darla, of course ? I can?t help but get super excited that this could be my last period for possibly a year or more. Hey, when you?re preparing for IVF and the 9,000,000 stresses, what-if factors, and planning, planning, planning like never before that go along with it, you really do begin to celebrate all the little and seemingly simple things. Everything becomes a big deal, a milestone. Everything becomes about baby. After all, that is our goal. Our dream.

And, of course, I recognize the irony. Most women trying to get pregnant are disappointed with the arrival of their period, as it means ?no baby? this go-round. But for us, for two women having a baby through IVF, it means a beginning. It means we can start our very first attempt at getting pregnant within a week or so.

So tonight, my wife and I celebrate that we?re that much closer to motherhood.

Photo: 123RF Stock Photos

Read more of Aela?s writing at Two Moms Make A Right

And don?t miss a post!
Follow Aela?s Baby-blog Board on Pinterest
Follow Two Moms Make a Right on Twitter and Facebook

More of Aela on Babble!
Poem for Baby-to-Be
25 Unknowns of Aela
10 Common Chemicals Linked to Autism and ADHD

reggie wayne taylor allderdice vincent jackson vicki gunvalson pierre garcon brown recluse spider wiz khalifa taylor allderdice