So I bought 3 new books on Amazon.com a couple of weekends ago... All are relating to pre-pregnancy type issues. Right about now marks the 5 1/2 month point till Thanksgiving, which most regular readers of this know, is the point after which Jeff and I plan to start trying to have a family. So that gives me 6 weeks to get through the books and then the recommended 4 months to make the necessary diet/exercise/lifestyle changes prior to conceiving. Now, I know that billions of people have gotten pregnant since the beginning of humanity without any sort of preparation and things have come out just fine. I'm sure the same would be true of me, regardless of research. However, I like doing this since it makes me feel like I'm doing something now even though I don't plan to get pregnant until later. So anyway, I'm really into all of this reading and I especially love the one book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It thoroughly explains the FAM or "Fertility Awareness Method" of birth control and/or achieving conception (NOT to be confused with the 'rhythm method' which is not scientific or precise at all). I'm not going to go into very much detail as not to make anyone squeamish talking about various biological things involved with fertility (I was never very good at judging what constitutes a "sharing penalty" and what people are comfortable hearing about).

Anyway, it's all very, very fascinating to me and I've already begun (well, starting today, at least) charting my basal body temperature--which, much to my delight, can be taken orally and the "special" thermometer only cost me $9 at Target. The only difference is that basal thermometers read to the tenth of a degree, where most fever thermometers are only accurate to 2/10's of a degree. AND... since my BBT thermometer is digital AND oral, we can use it as a fever thermometer too, as needed (if you get a glass basal thermometer, it only goes up to 100 degrees, I guess, so it's not practical to use it for a fever and if it wasn't an oral thermometer... well, 'nuff said, I think). The only minor inconvenience is that I chose 6 AM as my daily time to take my temperature--I had to pick a time that I could keep consistent no matter whether I had to go in for first shift on random days or get up early for a dentist appointment or any other reason. So I'm really excited about that. It all seems very scientific and very, very useful in learning about one's own body, so it's right up my alley. ...er... No pun intended.

So as I am deeply engrossed in my books and very excited about all of this I'm trying to get Jeff involved. He's kind of interested, but only mildly. He doesn't really see much of a point in all the reading or getting all in an uproar so long as "there's no bun in the oven yet." Well, yeah... that's why I bought PRE-conception reading. We're supposedto be reading it now. If we wait till after I'm pregnant, all the information will be irrelevant. So anyway, he's got one ear focused at me and both eyes focused on the TV, watching the Reagan funeral. Then, randomly, I asked him a question about what Gen. Powell did in the Reagan Administration. Suddenly, he became very interested in what I was saying. His face lit up and it was my turn to be only mildly interested. I laughed at us... saying it's obvious whose priorities are where.

We've also been making it to church these past three weeks, which I hope... It seems.... will become a habit, at least for a while as both our Sunday schedules are free. It's made me kind of wonder if this Thanksgiving goal we've set is really the best way to go. I wonder if maybe we shouldn't leave it in the hands of Someone who knows better than we do. Granted, it's always been in His hands, ultimately. If we were intended to have a family a year or more ago, it would've come to be somehow and there'd have been nothing for us to say about it. I just kind of wonder if we should stop relying so much on ourselves and OUR efforts to stick to OUR plans and let things just happen sooner or later or not at all as they are supposed to... In the end, everything happens in it's own time and for it's own reason anyway, and God has been good to us since we've come back to Him.

Au revoir.

Before And After

Would I get a discount if I birthed the baby in the store? - 5/16/05
The end is near? - 5/13/05
The progession of me - 5/10/05
Cleaning update - 5/7/05
Pre-nesting - 5/7/05