Aidan thinks it's important for everyone to know that this is not a picture of Glasgow - but of Wales. I already used up all of my nice pictures of Glasgow.
So we live in Glasgow now. I’ve been really enjoying it. Our bed is bigger. Our suppers get cooked for us. There are friends to meet and hang out with, which I can tell you beats a sunny day anytime – though the weather has been surprisingly nice too, at least lately.*
Wedding season is in fully swing. I have four weddings this month and all of them have the potential to be the most lovely weddings I have ever photographed so I’m feeling excited. My last wedding in September is in London, and Aidan & I will go down together and have a evening and a day to ourselves there before the wedding. I booked us a place off of Airbnb after hearing about it on Tamera’s blog. We have a whole flat to ourselves for a four night stay in central London for £226. Pretty darn good I’d say. If all goes well I plan on using this service every time I travel for certain.
I still have some fertility related posts in mind, I actually even wrote one and showed it to Aidan and he vetoed it based on the fact that it was too personal for a business blog. I showed it to Kirsty for a second opinion, and she offered to run my posts on her blog instead so I think I’ll be doing that. Just as soon as I get around to writing them all, as well as a post I’m writing with one of my librarian friends, which will happen after I’m all caught up with my weddings… So maybe in October? I’m writing this as I’m downloading some giant wedding files off of my hard drive.
In the meantime for anyone wanting to know the nuts and bolts of what we did RIGHT AWAY here it is.
I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility which if you haven’t read it yet go out and buy it right now and read it. It’s all the stuff they forgot to tell you in sex ed and biology class because they were too busy trying to scare some sense into you.
After our second brief journey into the land of pregnancy went horribly wrong, I finally bit the bullet and started charting. I used this website, and this thermometer as the digital ones are completely unreliable in my experience.
We both quit all alcohol and caffeine. This was hard and made us grumpy.
After one round of charting I discovered that I had a short luteal phase which would account for the troubles I was having, and so I started taking a very high dose of vitamin b6, vitex, and worked very hard to lose weight. By my next cycle my luteal phase was up to fourteen days (where it should be), and we decided to take the plunge and give it another go. Two cycles later I was staring at a positive pregnancy test with what could only be described as equal parts relief and extreme anxiety, and yet here I am at the beginning of my third trimester – so something seems to have gone right this time.
I did all of this in consultation with my very smart ND friend back in Texas. I don’t think we’d be here if not for her.
There are lots of other crazy things that both of us did, and lots that we went through but I’m saving that all for those other posts that I’m writing for Kirsty’s blog. I will say is that while this is probably in the top three of hardest things I’ve ever gone through, that I know at the same time that we were really lucky and had it relatively easy. My mind boggles to think that there are couples who go through years and years of this. It isn’t fair.
But because we were so lucky, I’m now in my third trimester. I feel ginormous. People still like to say annoying things about how huge I am. Anything involving bending, squatting, or walking up stairs is hard. My hips hurt, and feel like I’m doing some crazy yoga position all of the time. We can both feel and see the baby moving, and it’s really cute like a tiny creature is poking my stomach out from the inside – which when you think about it is exactly what’s happening. Aidan really likes to feel it move, and he never seems to get tired of it, which I find incredibly endearing. In four weeks we’ll finally get to find out if it’s a boy or a girl. Meanwhile we’ve started getting baby things from some of my state side blogger friends, and also from the grandmas. I strongly suspect that my mother is way more baby obsessed than I am, but thank goodness for that. Some of my local blogger friends are throwing me what is apparently Scotland’s first baby shower. Which is ridiculously sweet considering such an event apparently goes against everything that it means to be British. It’s really extremely nice to have people excited and showing us their support.
I shot my first roll of personal film since I’ve been pregnant. I should get that back next week and be able to throw it up on the blog. Personal work is something I’ve really missed and yet not been able to find the time or the energy for. I keep telling myself that after the baby comes I’ll get back into it because I’ll hopefully have more energy back AND a new adorable subject that doesn’t get a say in whether or not I take its picture all of the freaking time. Bwaaahahahahahaha. I promise to still take non-baby pictures too. I think.
Anyhow that sums it up really. Hopefully I’ll go back to being more regular with the personal posts. I like doing them and I miss them, and I miss hearing from all of you. So tell me what’s new?
* Of course by the time I finished writing this post it started raining.
17 Comments
Hooray! I know I shouldn’t be surprised by the vast cultural differences between GB and the US, but no baby showers? That a shower is the exception to the rule? Kind of crazy.
I’m glad that you’re as shocked by this as I was. Like: what? No $300 diaper pail? WHAT IS THE WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY???
“I’m so mad I can’t even type straight!”
I’m so sad that we left Glasgow just when you moved there… I would have loved to get together more often! I just finished the PhD and am now working in Cardiff… I sympathise with the American-ness and differences, and now I have to get used to the differences in Wales v Scotland! Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and I can’t wait to hear more. xx
Hopefully it will at least be warmer? Get in touch if your ever back in town or in Edinburgh. Once this baby is out we can FINALLY go for a pint! Hope you’re enjoying Cardiff.
That’s so awesome that you could get information and use it so quickly!! Hooray for problem solving-baby making.
In my case my cycles are perfect – crazy regular, I ovulate on CD 11 (proven over and over again by tests and ultrasounds) & have been charting since 2002 – and still, nothing. I’m just an old lady with old lady eggs. So frustrating!
I quit caffeine for 3 months and when nothing happened was like “AUGH WHATEVER” – it’s my big achilles heel that I KNOW will help. That and way more exercise. I’ve gained 15 lbs since we started trying (!!) so ummm yeah, not good!
Anyway, yammering with my story. I’m so glad you’re getting a little get-away & hope it’s wonderful!
You’re the one who finally inspired me to start writing about this. I’ve kept you in my wishes lady. I’m hoping so hard for a verhext baby soon.
I’m SO glad so many women are talking about it now. When I read the comments on my first post, I was just in tears from how ashamed and hidden women thought they needed to be about it. It’s not fair & I hope it can just become part of our conversation when we talk about motherhood / being a woman!
P.S. I should say this post IS inspiring me to stop with the caffeine and to try to get exercising. It’s so hard here!
Jumping in here to say that I feel like struggling to conceive/infertility are such emotionaly road-blocks that they *do* become part of who we are, and thus (I would assume) part of a parental psychological…state of being. Maybe not integral to parenting itself, but just part of Parenthood? (I saw a book the other day called Parenting After Infertility — I wonder if it talks about this more.)
That getaway sounds fabulous!
Ugh re: charting. It’s such a beast because it forces everything to be whittled down into the tiniest thing. You wake up and your first thought HAS to be about your cycle which leads to thoughts of conception. I’m actually kind of thankful that I’ve started Clomid with ovulation trigger shots because I have stopped charting in the first part of my cycle and it gives me a breaaaak (I’ve been charting for a little over a year now).
I for one am looking forward to your adorable upcoming photo subject who can’t run away haha.
I efffing hated charting and it made me a completely anxious mental sad person – but it did give me the information that I needed, and for some people it can make the whole trying to conceive process go MUCH quicker. For some people its worth the anxiety/obsession I guess, and for other people it certainly isn’t. I will probably do it again when we try for a 2nd, just to see where my cycle is at and what I need to be doing and so I can try to squeeze conception into the few months when it’s actually reasonable for me as a wedding photographer to get pregnant – but man: I do not look forward to it.
Yay, I love your personal posts. I can’t wait to read more on Kirsty’s site!
I did the whole chartiung thing too and it both gave me the control but also made me the anxious person too. Fling in 3 early losses and that makes you a paranoid mama.
I always recommend charting if its been a while with no success, its not for everyone BUT sometimes it gets to the point you will do anything.
Having endemetriosis I was incredibly blessed with my kids, both concieved following laser treatment for above condition.
Leo was extra hard and took good bit longer BUT what I found great along with all the vits/charting described above was Preseed. Its a sperm friendly lube that I have seen help me and so many of my trying friends.
Tamera – good luck to you, I hope you are blessed soon
Lauren – thanks for sharing
Awww Alison, I’m sorry you had such a hard time of it too. ugh.
Ditto the Preseed.
I’m glad you are enjoying your time in Glasgow, it’s not all that bad really!
Thank you for posting about this. I also have PCOS and even though we aren’t really ready for kids, I’m terrified that we may struggle. I’ve got that book on my wishlist now and if I ever get a job, I’ll definitely buy it!
I love your personal posts. That is all xx