Introducing...Magnolia Bud!

Hello! I'm Magnolia Bud, and I'm excited to be sharing my/our journey with you.

I’ll start with why I chose my Bud name—I think it will help introduce myself. I’ve lived in the southeast for almost six years now, and have been visiting regularly for more than ten years. Magnolias bloom about the time spring turns to summer, which is the part of the year I look forward to most—the days are long, the temperature’s high, there’s always a new hiking trail to explore or a new festival to experience, the grill has been dusted off, and everyone is in good spirits. Their scent is intoxicating, and the fact that each bloom only lasts a few days before it starts to brown makes me look forward to seeing the first bloom on my runs every spring. And when I do, I find myself running a lot further (and every day) during magnolia season so I can enjoy the blooms for as long as they’re around.

With that said, here are my essentials: I’m 29, and I’ve been married to Mr. Magnolia Bud for three years. We are parents to two cats, who we’ve had since they were teeny babies. I’m an attorney working in the nonprofit world, and Mr. Magnolia Bud works in biochem. For fun, I run, read, cook, scrapbook, spend time outdoors, and spend time with Mr. MB and our friends. I say “I run for fun” in a way that actually means I’m quite preoccupied with it--I’m training for my seventh(!) marathon right now, and will be running my fourth Goofy Challenge in January. (The Goofy is when you show up to run a half marathon one day, and a full marathon the next. Through all four parks at Disney World. Yes, I realize that qualifies me as somewhat maniacal.)

Now, the important part. I have many ‘charming’ hobbies, but only Mr. Magnolia Bud knows that my true hobby has become obsessing over babies, baby stuff, and getting pregnant. And I do mean seriously obsessing. Charting, chart stalking, looking up prospective due dates, looking into parenting styles that might work for us, investigating the world of cloth diapers, picking the brain of all possible co-workers with children (and it does NOT help that one has a pair of 5-month old twins!). All of the other hobbies have become mere distractions until it’s our turn to TTC.

So where are we? We’re on CD13 of our last cycle TTA. I’ve been charting since May, and we’ve been TTA to get into a better place financially as well as making sure we’re both done with school and started in our careers. Because we both have post-graduate degrees, all of these needed to be important to us to give future Baby Magnolia Bud a great start.

My charting has shown me that I have a short luteal phase (consistently 8-9 days). I had a LEEP in April, and I worry about potential cervical length issues (among other things). I've started seeing a nurse-midwife at the birth center we plan to use, and we’re going for a tour of the birth center at the end of the month. I’ve started prenatals, and am taking B6 (200mg/day), red raspberry leaf/nettles/oat straw/green teas (most days), and have read TCOYF and What to Expect multiple times. I’ve bought a CBEFM, and ordered my first HPT’s from Amazon.

I hope you’ll enjoy following my journey. Until we TTC, I’ll be talking about getting my body in baby-ready shape, my struggle with a short luteal phase, and my challenges and successes in TTA.

Lots of Love (and baby dust),

Magnolia Bud