HotmailTrying to conceive? Nancy O’Dell has advice
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Abby had become my pregnancy partner in crime. The funny thing is that when I learned I was pregnant, I sat down at the computer to e-mail her my good news, only to discover an e-mail from her: she was pregnant, too! So, you see, the buddy system can work. Find a friend and partner up. Just be sure to pick someone with whom you can be open and honest. And if you don’t have a buddy in your circle of friends who is trying to get pregnant, there are many pregnancy websites with forums where women can share their experiences.
The sex-a-thon
While we were trying to conceive, I spoke to another one of my childhood friends, Jan. I was telling her about how Keith and I had been trying and it wasn’t working, and she stopped me midsentence and said, “I’ll totally tell you how to get pregnant.” And there, sitting on the beach in our hometown of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with both of our husbands next to us, Jan shared her method. She leaned in and said, “So here’s what you have to do: have sex ten days in a row.” Keith nodded with a big grin. Jan continued. “You have to have sex five days before your suspected ovulation date and five days after. And you have to do it at approximately the same time every day.” Basically, it’s like a sex-a-thon. The key, Jan explained, was committing to the rules. Keith and I looked at each other. We were in. So we followed the “ten days in a row” method. It didn’t always result in our most romantic nights, but we stuck to the schedule. And you know what? It worked!
Just relax
Looking back — and this is an important note — even though we followed the ten-day method, at the time I really didn’t think I was going to get pregnant. I had started to believe we’d have to turn to science, which somehow took the pressure off and helped me to relax. The next thing I knew ... BOOM! I was pregnant. We ended up conceiving 100 percent naturally. (Thank you, sex-a-thon!) I really believe it’s because we were finally able to relax. So, try to relax! I know it’s not easy, but I think it truly helps.
Hey, lady! Turn down those headlights
I knew that nausea, tender boobs, and exhaustion were possible signs of pregnancy. But I had never heard anything about hard nipples. It wasn’t in any of my books, and none of my friends had mentioned they’d experienced it, which left me to discover this one on my own. Apparently, the elevation of the tiny glands around the nipple is one indication of pregnancy. However, I didn’t know this when Keith and I were keeping our fingers crossed that we’d gotten pregnant. So, basically, I spent an entire week with my headlights on high.
The first time I noticed my extroverted nipples was in the shower. Why were they hard? I wondered. The water wasn’t cold. And I certainly wasn’t aroused at 6:00 A.M. Then I noticed them again when I was getting dressed for Access. I walked into Wardrobe, convinced they’d given me the wrong bra. “Where’s the thicker bra? You know, the one I usually wear?” Of course, everyone thought I was crazy. “Nancy, this is the bra you always wear.” And when I got home, my husband took one look at my high beams and figured his wife was in the mood. Little did we know that I had a bun cooking in the oven.
Are you positive?
Home pregnancy tests have become so advanced that you can pee on a stick five days before you get your period and learn if you’re with child. Which is exactly what I did. I couldn’t wait until the first day of my missed period — I needed to know as soon as possible.
So I peed on the stick and waited for the results. I tried to be Zen about it, but I swear, three minutes have never felt longer. When the time was up, I took a deep breath, turned the stick over, and there, smack dab in the middle of my EPT stick, was a very faint line. I called Keith in and said, “Am I crazy or is there a line there?” Keith thought he saw something, but he wasn’t sure. I took two more tests — same faint line results, but we both agreed that it looked like something was there. What it meant, if anything, was another story. I had to go to work, so I stuffed the remains of my various home pregnancy tests in my purse and ran out the door.
I was so excited I called my sister, Karen, and my mom with the “Guess what? I think I might be pregnant” news. My sister was cautiously optimistic and said, “I think maybe that’s good news that you think you might be pregnant.” I quizzed her on whether she thought the faint line meant I was pregnant, but she didn’t know. Finally, I called my doctor for him to weigh in on what an almost-maybe-possibly line on a pregnancy test meant. He explained that the way the tests work is by detecting the presence of the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the urine. So even though the line was faint, there was a good darn chance it meant I was pregnant! My doctor then told me to take the test again in the morning, when the presence of the pregnancy hormone would be even stronger. Turns out that that hormone (the one that produces a positive result) doubles itself every twenty-four hours. He suspected I would have a much darker line the next day.
I woke up at 5:00 A.M. to pee on a stick. My doctor was right. There was no question — the line was dark. I was definitely pregnant!
Excerpted from "Full of Life" by Nancy O’Dell. Copyright (C) 2009, reprinted with permission from Simon and Schuster.
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