For people who are trying to become pregnant, the two week wait is the worst of times. Here’s how it works: there are generally 2 weeks between ovulation and the time when you may be able to find out that you are pregnant. This translates into roughly 14 days that you can obsess about being pregnant/not being pregnant and swing from disappointment to elation to hope to relief.  The pendulum can swing either way and you have no control over it and you can’t force time to pass any more quickly than it is already moving.

With my first, for whom we underwent fertility treatment, I experienced a great number of disappointing two week waits. I am not a patient person, and I spent hours Google-ing any and all symptoms to see whether they could “correlate” with pregnancy. Slight abdominal twinge? Metallic taste in mouth? More sleepy than usual? Hair slightly curlier? Seriously – there was no such thing as low-hanging fruit. I can’t even tell you how much money I spent on ovulation strips and pregnancy tests! Sometime in March of 2014, a week and change after I ovulated, I experienced terrible cramps and was certain that I was out for that cycle (my fifth of oral ovulation induction). Then, a few days later – a positive urine home pregnancy test! Finally! It was the best of times.

With my second, I wasn’t sure when I ovulated (not a medicated cycle), so I took a slew of pregnancy tests around the 28-30 day mark until I was sure that I was not pregnant. However, because I was still late, I took another test a week later and, lo and behold, it was positive.

I am ruminating on this because we’d like to have a third. The situation is different now: with my first, I didn’t know if we would ever be able to have a child, so each two week wait was a truly emotional rollercoaster (would I ever be a mother? what was wrong with me?). With my second, it was more of a surprise (although not unintended). There was less stress and more joy. Now, I am torn between wanting to BE pregnant/closing this chapter of my life, and sticking with the familiar – two kids under three, a known chaos.