Illness and AI against all odds!

Things were quiet here for a while. We had a challenging week or so. BB was sick, I still don't think he is quite 100%. It started with vomiting a couple of Friday's ago, then high temperatures on the Saturday, seemingly improved on Sunday, worse than ever on Monday, then the development of a cold. He didn't eat much at all for a week and has lost a kilo, which is a lot for some one his size. Luckily he is a good weight so this isn't much of a concern yet, but he has changed.

On Thursday he ate dinner for the first time in a week. About 20 mins later it was like someone had flicked a switch and he was back and playful. It didn't last long before he was tired but it was good to see. He is still tired and sleeping more than usual, but I think he's on the mend.

He could still look cute though, even when he was ill.

His sleep pattern changed and he needed me with him to sleep, so he spent a lot of time in my bed. If I put him back in his cot he would sleep for maybe 40 mins if I was lucky, and then wake up. As you might imagine we had some long nights. I don't think I've ever felt so tired. I was more than happy to have him in my bed, and when he was really poorly that was fine as he was still, but generally he moves around a lot in bed so I was constantly on the alert to grabbing him as he neared the edge. Finally when DD came on Friday, he fetched the bed rail from the loft so that BB could safely sleep in my bed. We both had one night of solid sleep - it was amazing! I have since had a couple of nights encouraging him back into his cot, and tonight it seems we cracked it. Hopefully that will be good from here.


His eating habits have also changed. He is still not eating properly, and actually wants you to spoon feed him a lot of the time. Foods that he used to love he now wont touch. It is interesting though, that when I sought advice on what to give him the general consensus was let him choose and it will stay down. This absolutely worked. On the day he vomited he wanted banana and dry biscuit, then he moved on to yoghurt, and since he had his cold he has eaten so many oranges. It all makes sense with what science tells us that we need, and I have always believed that the body knows, but it is amazing to see it so obviously in child who has not been taught any of these things yet.

He has also been breastfeeding heaps. The night before he was ill, he wanted each breast three times. I started to think that perhaps my supply was down and that maybe I should be giving him other milk at night. In fact I did fetch him a cup of milk that night, but he wasn't interested. I am guessing now that something within him knew he needed all the help he could get with what lay ahead. During his illness he had days where he was almost exclusively breast fed.  I was encouraging that too as he was in danger of dehydrating for a while. I even woke him to feed him at night a few times on one of his worst days when he had only one wet nappy in 24 hours. As a result, he seems to have gotten a taste for it again. He is still feeding a lot - at least six times a day I would say - we were down to two or three.

BB's new favourite activity - walking mummy's slippers!

With all of this going, you would hardly think it would be a good time to try and get pregnant. I was feeling sick and exhausted, had not been eating the best that I could, and I am aware that high frequency breastfeeding can prevent ovulation and shorten luteal phases so as to prevent implantation. I haven't been able to find anything out about wether a sudden episode of more frequent breastfeeding would have that effect, or if the point in the cycle that this occurs makes any difference, but the timing was possibly the worst it could be as it is O day today. Well, I think it's O day. I forgot to mention that I too have had the bugs, my temperature peaked on CD8 with the stomach bug, and I now have the cold. As a result of this and the wakeful nights, charting my temperatures is likely a redundant activity, but I continue to do it, just in case. Luckily we are also using a monitor, and I know from past cycles that I usually O on the first peak day, which is today.

Still, despite everything, we went ahead anyway, with inseminations on Friday and Sunday.  I'm not holding out much hope, but I couldn't give up the small chance we may have. So, now, once again, here I am in the 2WW!

To continue with the 'against all odds' theme that surrounds this particular attempt at TTC, DD got stranded on his way home. Having stayed here until after BB was in bed last night to give us the closest possible time to O day, he headed home on his motorcycle. Although the weather was fine here, just down the road it began to snow. He made it half way before the conditions got so bad he had to stop and check into a hotel over night. If we do get lucky, it will be a really determined child I think!

Of course I'll keep you posted, though I am going to try not to think about it too much. It's always hard thought isn't it, not to see every little thing as a 'sign'.