The Cup is Half...

...empty? Full? Who knows at this point, so let's just say it's halfway. The past few days, my cup was so empty that there wasn't a trace of a droplet in there. But today, CD 25 and 11 dpIUI, the cup has been restored to halfway.

I don't really know what to think of the outcome of this cycle. To be honest, I'm not a good judge when it comes to reading the signs. I have a moment of nausea and I think, "This could be pregnancy related... or it could be PMS... or I could be hungry..." It really can be anything. The human body is complex and mysterious.

Let's take a minute to analyze the situation, shall we? My "symptoms" and the "facts" of this cycle include:

1. 11 DPO.
2. No flow, so far AF is a no show.
3. Brief spotting at 6 DPO. Literally a single spot and a few wipes with the TP. Then it vanished like a fart in the wind.
4. My BBT is still above the cover line.
5. On paper, this IUI is going extremely well. I had two follies of a great size at my mid-cycle monitoring, and maybe one more who could've caught up by the time of the IUI. John's numbers were outstanding at 41 million moving sperm. 
6. I am experiencing these phantom symptoms: nausea, headache, mild cramping, copious CM (I mean A LOT. It is downright grossing me out). All of these symptoms could be signs of early pregnancy or PMS.

Now let's pretend for a moment that the cup is half full. Here's what I'd say to all of the above:

1. My LP is an average of 11 days, minimum of 9 days, and maximum of 13 days. I have a good chance of making it to my testing day (CD 27, 13 dpIUI)... !
2. You're not out till that bitch, Aunt Flo, shows her ugly face. She's not here. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant... !
3. That spotting 6 DPO just might have been the elusive implantation bleeding... !
4. As long as my BBT stays above that cover line, then I have a real shot of being pregnant... !
5. This one is harder, because the last cycle was perfect on paper too. Buuuuuut, maybe we had bad luck last time, and maybe #2 is our lucky cycle... !
6. The phantom symptoms could really be early pregnancy symptoms. How could I possibly know the difference since I've never been pregnant before? Maybe this is the real thing... !

And to be fair, here's the half empty version:

1. The last cycle saw me all the way through 11 DPO, and it was on the 12th day that AF showed up and CD 1 was declared.
2. She could be coming any minute...
3. Maybe I ran too hard. Maybe it was residual from the IUI. Maybe it was just random spotting. It happens.
4. Tomorrow could be the day my BBT plummets... 
5. IUI#1 was perfect on paper. It did not work.
6. All of the above phantom symptoms happen every.damn.cycle. 

I feel like I have to leave things on a positive note, so the final sentence of this post must be positive. Therefore, I will say this: the cup may be half full, or it may be half empty. The results of this cycle have already been determined by a higher authority. The results will be revealed very soon. I just need to be patient. Wait. And hope.

My Lucky Charm - the necklace given to me by my Grandmother