Sheela's In Da House; Swimmers Are Swimming

In the first two cycles pursuing a second child, we have employed a variety of fertility tools and a small amount of medical intervention: charting, OPKs (standard and digital), fertility monitor, ultrasound, and (home) IUI. The inseminations themselves are a far cry from our first ever attempt 3 1/2 years ago, in which it was only Cait, me, a syringe, and a hulking cryopreservation tank. However, that attempt didn't succeed, and by the time we did get pregnant with Natalie we had ramped up to almost the same level of technology and intervention we're using today (back in the dark ages of '05, they hadn't invented the smiley-face OPKs yet). But there was one key difference between Natalie's cycle and the two unsuccessful attempts this year: the touchy-feely, the spiritual, the intangible... hell, the voodoo. In our first two years of trying, we had a fertility altar, and each cycle we added a little something more. This year, the altar is still there, but we've all but forgotten about it.

Just before the cycle we conceived Natalie, we received a package from our good friends at NTM. It contained the aforementioned fertility monitor, but perhaps more importantly, it contained Sheela Na Gig. They in turn had acquired Sheela immediately prior to conceiving Sanna. Sheela took a place of honor on our altar and oversaw Natalie's conception, growth, and birth. Since then, she moved on to the fertility altar that J&E set up before their successful IVF. She was passed back to us this week, and has assumed the position, just as I did tonight.

Oh yes, despite the panic, we got another positive OPK and Peak on the monitor virtually out of nowhere. My cycles are very different postpartum, and it is freaking me out a little bit, but we'll hope that Sheela does her magic and I won't have to worry about it anymore.

Sheela has also been joined by Mary, who helped bring Natalie's buddy Quinn into this world, and also by a fertility necklace from another member of our due date gang. These items also came to us by way of J&E's fertility altar. The combined power of all that fertility mojo hopefully will bring us a little luck. Especially since this is our third third try. (No, that's not a typo. Coqui was conceived on the third attempt in the first round. Natalie was the third attempt of the second round. We're now on round three, try three.)

Maybe we should go check our horoscopes....