Well, I triggered on Weds. Pretty big deal for me since I’ve been sitting out cycles since December. Punching that little needle into my pinched belly fat was never more sweet! I had to AGAIN mention how much I friggin’ LOVE Ovidrel. It’s like a little piece of heaven all wrapped up in one refrigerated pre-filled syringe with the tiniest needle you’ve seen, or more importantly, felt. After 5 cycles of Novarel horrification earlier this year, fumbling in front of the computer (where the injection direction cd-ROM was playing), trying to do all the steps perfectly (which I never actually did), mustering up my wits to poke that waaaaay long needle in….well, Ovidrel is a snap compared to that. I’m not sure what the difference in effectiveness is between the two meds, but I’m hoping my protocols always choose my little O. Heck, I might just inject myself now and then with Ovidrel for the fun of it. Ovidrel, you complete me.
I’m getting side-tracked here, sorry. By the way, the manufacturers of Ovidrel are not giving me any sort of kick-backs for my devotion. Novarel, on the other hand, is suing me for defamation. Just kidding, I don’t even know what defamation is. I just know there’s some type of ‘anti-defamation league’ out there somewhere in legal land, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to have them knocking on my blog door any time soon. So, just to appease my legal team: Novarel and Ovidrel are both wonderful triggers, equally effective at making my ovaries feel as if they’ve just been beaten to a pulp with baseball bats. And that’s the way I like it.
Man, more side-tracking. What I meant to discuss when I told you I was triggering is the result of that extra HSG surge running through my body: BLOATING! Not just, ‘oh my pants feel a little tight maybe I need to unbutton them’ bloating, but more like ‘oh my pants just popped a button due to the girth of my belly’ type bloating. So that meant only one thing: yesterday, was a fat pants day.
We all have fat pants, right? The pants you keep at the back of your closet with a little extra room in the hips area after too many brownies, extra room in the butt area after too little exercise, and extra room in the waist when you’ve had too much Ovidrel (or Novarel, or Clomid, or Follistim, or Gonal-F, or any other IF med that makes you bloat up like a a pretzel that fell into the punchbowl). I can’t even imagine all you ladies that have had to suffer through an IVF cycle getting so overstimulated, I can only fathom the need for an ample supply of fat pants…or mu-mus. Or (dare I say it?) maternity pants.
Why is it that pregnant women are the only ones who get to enjoy pants with comfortable waistbands? Isn’t that some sort of discrimination? Like, what about my husband after Thanksgiving dinner (or a visit to Cracker Barrel)? Does he deserve stretchy waists any less? Now, I know there ARE other pants with stretchy waists besides maternity pants, but most of them involve some sort of sweat pant/track pant formulation. Yesterday, I had to work. So any type of clothes that signaled ’I'm going for a run’ was pretty much out. What I really needed yesterday was to get into my blue bin in the basement which stores my maternity clothes and get a pair of my old maternity pants with the gloriously stretchy wasteband masquerading as a pair of nice khakis. Man, those are some sweet pants.
But I don’t want to get into that bin. Seems sort of like I’d be jinxing myself or something. What if that would be the last time I wore those pants? Not because I was preggo, just fat? Plus that bin resides in the ‘used baby stuff’ area of the basement, and I don’t like to visit that area. It breaks my ‘I don’t look at baby stuff ever’ rule. I mentioned before, but denial is my BFF on this TTC journey.
I actually bought my first pair of maternity pants BEFORE I was preggo. Talk about jinxing myself. I did it in the weeks following my lap surgery. I had some SERIOUS bloating/swelling after that surgery which left me looking a good 5 months preggo for weeks. I had my gallbladder out the same time I had my exploratory pelvic lap…so I guess all that surgery was too much for one belly to take, and it popped out like a…like a big pregnant belly without the bonus baby part. So I got myself a pair of khaki maternity clam-diggers. They were so yummy and comfortable, but I always felt like I was going to be exposed for a fraud or something…
“Eve, those pants are so cute, the way the fit, slim in the legs but roomy in the stoma….what a minute! Are those maternity pants? Security! Call the Mommy Patrol! We have a NON-pregnant woman wearing our mommy-exclusive clothes!”
Yeah pregnant women think they are the only ones who have the right to have a big belly that comfortably rests in stretchy knit waste-bands. The rest of us have to suck it in and suffer. What if there were pants made SPECIFICALLY for IFers bloating up like Macy’s parade balloons? And, they were merchandised far, far away from the maternity/baby stuff in stores. Maybe near the Automotive Department or something. And, they wouldn’t be called some cutesy ‘baby’ name like “Pea in the Pod” or “Mimi” or whatever, they would be called…um…”BLOAT-EAZE” pants. What do you think? Would you buy a pair or two?
I would. I need some today, too…bigtime. Well, with no Bloat-eaze available on the market, I guess it’s a track pants kind of day for me. Yay.
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Question of the day to my bloggerific readers: Do you have the same weird jinxing worries when it comes to maternity/baby stuff? Or are you busy accruing baby/mat things that you could use in the future? Or maybe somewhere in the middle?
15 comments
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February 27, 2009 at 10:17 am
babysmiling
I’ve never been pregnant long enough to buy maternity clothes, but early on when I was sure I’d be pregnant imminently, I bought some clothes that were forgiving like flowing dresses.
I got nothing but bad reactions. One of DH’s little sisters, who was a young kid at the time, asked me why I was wearing a nightgown.
Plus, those are totally out of style because it was almost 7 years ago. Since then, I just buy clothes that fit me now, and I can buy bigger clothes when I actually need them.
Out of the house, I’m all about tailored clothes. In the house, pajamas or track pants.
February 27, 2009 at 11:28 am
Erin C.
Is this where I place my order for BLOAT-EAZE pants? I’ll take 2 pair.
I do get caught up in the jinxing worries. When we bought our Subaru Outback Sport Wagon (aka station wagon) before we had kids, I said “I hope we are not jinxing ourselves by getting this car”. Well, we did get pregnant a few months later, but then our daughter died shortly after she was born. Now, I’m certainly not blaming that on the car, but the whole idea of being jinxed is still kind of there. And of course now we have been ttc for over a year and nothing is happening. Soooo, I’ve been driving around this “mom car” for almost three years with no children inside.
I don’t buy any baby related items, and I never dive into MY plastic blue bin of maternity clothes (what a coincidence). It doesn’t seem to be helping my cause, but I will continue to try not to jinx the situation futher.
I hope your belly goes back to normal soon!
February 27, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Tkeys
I’m afraid of the jinx – I didn’t buy ANYTHING baby-related . . . until after I was 36 weeks pregnant! we didn’t decorate the nursery until after Micah came home, and I refused to buy any maternity clothes until I was pregnant. I then waited until the 6 week ultrasound, and then went to town on maternity stuff. I still like wearing my maternity stuff it is SOOO comfy. They should make more pants like that for non-maternity wear! I’m at the point where I should pack up my stuff and put it away . . . but I think I’m going to miss it.
February 27, 2009 at 4:01 pm
KimboSue
I also am under the assumption that pre-buying baby/maternity stuff is a jinx. I didn’t buy any maternity clothes until the 12 week mark, and no baby stuff until the 20 week mark.
February 27, 2009 at 4:11 pm
bubbledragon
I totally need some of those pants. I’ve got two pair of man jeans that I bought that mysteriously fit better than women’s. Both are sized 33, both are the same “cut” – Levi’s 527. But one is just bigger than the other for some unknown reason. I definitely have needed them this week.
Aside from that, I have some black yoga pants that stretch nicely and are suitable for leaving the house, so long as I don’t linger around my white-furred dog too much. And I love skirts, because if you’re having a bloaty day, they sit just a little higher on your waist, and they’re still good! Now what I need is a knit skirt of some type.
As far as jinxing, meh. I’m not the superstitious type, but I do avoid, say, going out and oogling the crib-sheets. I do admit to maybe knitting some booties and little hats, but those are nice to keep around as gifts anyway. Of course, I probably already jinxed myself when we painted one of the smaller spare bedrooms green, so it’s probably too late to do much more damage now.
February 27, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Kellie
Eve – Our secret is out now..thanks! Once I discovered those fabulous maternity pants with the soft waistband…ahh, like heaven – there was no turning back!!! Dont even get me started on the maternity t-shirts that don’t hug my “I just had a kid 13 months ago and am too tired to lose the rest of the weight” tummy rolls. Love those!!!! These should be mandatory once youve had a kid. Once you’ve worn maternity you can spot it on all non-pregnant woman toting a kid.
I didnt let myself look at maternity clothes or baby stuff while I was ttc. But I could shop for MY FRIENDS, that was ok. All the while buying them things making notes in the back of my head about what I liked, didnt like…etc, etc!!
February 27, 2009 at 9:47 pm
onepinkline
I caved once. And bought a book – the cutest baby book I’d ever seen. I made it sound like it was a Christmas gift when any one asked but I knew it was the first book I’d read when I finally had a little listener of my own. Still waiting.
February 28, 2009 at 11:46 am
cyberrblue
I have a pair of the maternity khaki pants, love them! And I still wear them all the time. I think they are the nicest looking pants I own. That reminds me: I need to go buy some other clothes…
I didn’t buy anything before, not a single onesie (well, I actually bought a pack of onesies to tell DH that I was pg but that was with the ectopic so the package got stuffed away in a corner and forgotten until about a month before Derek was born), not a shirt or a pair of pants. I was afraid that they would sit there in my closet, or where ever they would end up, and mock me, saying to me the whole time “why did you buy me? It’s not like you need me.” And while I was pg with Derek I didn’t buy any maternity clothes until I couldn’t wear my normal clothes anymore, around 4 months pg and even then I bought stuff that didn’t look maternity-like. I didn’t buy Derek anything until I was past halfway and had 2 great u/s done, both showed a healthy thriving baby but still I was worried that buying a crib or any clothes would jinx him and I would lose him. That didn’t happen but I still was worried.
For now, since I’m at home 90% of the time, I live in yoga pants. The stretchy cotton ones that have the stripe down the leg. Or cotton pajama pants. I can’t live without those.
February 28, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Liv
After reading what you said about the other trigger Rx, man am I thankful I’ve only had the Ovidrel thus far. Little bitty needle, no biggie I can do that in my sleep.
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll. I’ve decided I’m definitely keeping you around. You have me in stiches, the kind that when you laugh out loud so much you almost wonder if neigbors can here and are about [ ] close to calling the madhouse.
As far as baby things… Many years ago, probably 2002, I bought a ton of baby things to have on hand for gifts…as they were just coming out of the woodworks! I gifted them all except for about three outfits. I just couldn’t bring myself to ever wrap them up and send them away from my house. So, I didn’t exactly buy them with the purpose of keeping them, but I guess I did!
February 28, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Eve
I’m right there with you guys, I didn’t get any baby stuff when I was pregnant until I was almost 6 months pregnant. But I DID get maternity pants around 10 weeks because I carried really low and NONE of my pants fit even that early on. The jinx fear isn’t because I think I would be ticking off some higher power somewhere, more just the fear of staring at a managerie of baby stuff without the baby.
Liv, thanks for the compliment! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, like a margarita!
March 1, 2009 at 6:53 am
decemberbaby
As an apple-shaped woman, I’ve been wearing maternity clothes ever since I discovered that they’re more flattering to my figure than regular women’s clothing. Seriously. And FYI, apparently lots of non-pregnant women buy maternity clothes. I like to call them “the smart ones”.
March 1, 2009 at 7:24 am
Eve
Maybe I’ll join the ’smart’ community next cycle around bloat-time! Unfortunately, I’m a pear…and I’m pretty sure there aren’t pants with stetchy panels just in the hips and butt. I guess there ARE pants like that, but I’m not sure the bicycle shorts are quite the style I’m looking for these days.
March 6, 2009 at 8:04 am
Kristin
Love the idea of bloat-eze pants…too funny.
March 6, 2009 at 11:49 am
emily
Cute post! We have all been there – wishing we had our own pair of Bloat-Eaze!
I am totally superstitous. Once when we were 1st trying, I bought my mom a pair of crystal baby booties for her menagrie – they are still wrapped sitting in my closet 5 years later. When we bought them, we totally had the “Are we jinxing this?” convo. Since then, we have not purchased one thing baby or pg related.
Wishing you luck and wishing I didn’t have to use Novarel for all my cycles
March 6, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Amanda
I just started reading your blog and I saw this post on Mel’s blog round up. Hilarious stuff. So glad I’ve stumbled upon you.
Ok, but I too am getting my gallbladder removed and a diagnostic lab next Friday and would be really interested if you have any tips or “questions I should have asked ahead of time” you could share with me. I really hope I don’t have the pregnancy belly for months post like you did. Did one of your drs. ever explain what happened there, bloating, swelling, bad luck?