I vote “Rugger” for a middle name if it’s a boy. It’s tough, like rugged, and I’ll even send the kid a size 3 rugby ball for his first birthday.
Hmm, Rugger eh? It might be a hard sell to my wife, but the free swag that comes with it might be worth it. I will let you know.
We were going to go with Danger as Max’s middle name (no seriously) but then decided that it might give the kid a complex, and did we really want to be those parents?
She took a test this morning and it was negative, but we figured it probably would be. We talked about when we thought she likely concieved, and she thinks it was a day or two after I thought it was. So it would only be 8 days since conception as of this morning, maybe only seven (she is going by when she first started seeing signs and how long it takes them to show up according to what she has read and when she was ovulating)
We know that it doesn’t mean anything…but it was still a bit sad to not see the test turn positive.
Dude! I will definitely have my fingers crossed for you! I was thinking about planning an LA 'fest sometime next month. I hope to be buying a congratulatory beer/waffle/sushi roll/whatever when that time rolls around. 
I hope so too!
We were both a bit crestfallen this morning after the test. We know it doesn’t necessrily mean anything, but it’s still tough to not see that second little line show up.
Hang in there. The good news is, trying is loads of fun.
Chin up. I’m currently knocked up and I had several negative sticks the month I got my positive one. It could very well be that it’s just too early.
On the other hand, as mentioned, if this isn’t your month, well I guess you’ll just have to keep trying. 
Ditto this. In July when I found out I was pregnant with this one, I was two weeks past conception and I still had three line tests come up negative. I then took a digital that turned up positive. When I went to the doctor to confirm, she said it was the most faint positive, she could barely tell at first.
I’m due next month.
If your wife really wants to be in top physical form, get her on prenatal vitamins right away. You can take them pre- and post-conception and they’re chock full of the goodies that a growing baby needs. We’re not even pregnant yet, but they have the added bonus of staving off all the nasty colds everyone else around me contracting.
Interesting. So there is no downside to starting them even if she isn’t pregnant? Sounds good to me.
Oh, you might pick up some folic acid for your good self, too – some relatively recent studies have suggested that it might make for better swimmers.
Me, I took 'em just so I could feel like it wasn’t just her having to swallow supplements every day. (I doubt it made much difference either way, it was actually quicker than we expected, by a long shot.)
Heck no, she should definitely be on a vitamin that boosts her folic acid. The people we spoke to and the publications we read prior to starting the process all recommended it.
I don’t mean to sound like Captain Bringdown, and it’s great that you and your wife are so excited to be starting your family, but . . . it’s really easy for all that excited attention to turn to stress if it ends up that the Replication Project takes longer than you think or hoped. For most people, getting pregnant takes time, and one of the downsides to people finding out they are pregnant the minute it happens, is having to mourn pregnancies that are lost before women in former times would have even known they were pregnant.
Don’t put too much pressure on your wife, is all I’m saying. Or yourself, for that matter. It’s fun to wait for Santa to come, but take a moment to consider how you will feel if Santa doesn’t come right away, or almost shows up but then takes off again. Maybe repeatedly. In the meantime, remember: The way to accomplish almost any goal is practice, practice, practice.
Good luck Naf, and congratulations on your attempts towards creating your own Masonry.
And Congrats on the quitting smoking- that’s not an easy thing to do, but if you can stick with it- it really is a good deal for any future kids.
And what’s wrong with Roosh as a Middle name?
This is a good point and one of the big reasons I started this thread. This way I can vent and get advice, but I don’t have to involve anyone my wife might talk to and I can let out some of my nerves while still supporting her and not having my excitement/fear/frustration feed into what she is already feeling. Because I know that whatever I am feeling she is feeling it double since it’s her body.
You know, I built it up to be a lot harder than it turned out to be. I won’t get into that here, but I really found Allen Carr’s books to be fantastically helpfull, and fully endorse it if there is anyone else out there trying to quit. I went from a pack+ a day smoker to nothing instantly and haven’t looked back.
Does this offer come with swag?
No downside - in fact, they recommend you start taking prenatal vitamins before you start trying. I also second the recommendation to take folic acid supplements - my friend lost a baby to Anencephaly, a defect that causes the brain and top of the skull to fail to form. Folic acid is linked to a reduced incidence of Anencephaly.
Got my fingers crossed for you!
Hopeful congradulations Naf. Having kids was the best decision I ever made. They made my life so much richer I can’t even begin to describe it.
As far as names go I’m still pushing for Ada for a girl or Adan for a boy. Come on those names have it all. You’ve got the Byron connection (literature), you’ve got the computer thing (nerd), you’ve got the incest thing (porn) and you’ve got the whole Victorian thing (history and repressed porn). Add Danger as a middle name and it’s totally the name of the future ruler of the Empire.
Well, I just got a phone call that her period just started, which is a huge blow.
She is freaking out because she doesn’t know why she was having all these pregnancy symptoms for the last 3 weeks if she isn’t actually preganant and she is really very upset in general. It feels a bit to her like she lost the baby, and I don’t know…
It is a bit crushing. We tried so hard not to get our hopes up, but we had both become so sure…
Anyway, I figured that you all might want the update.
Guess you’ll just have to keep trying. 
(Seriously – I know you’re both disappointed, but it’s early days yet.)
I’m sorry to hear that 
But from her symptoms, perhaps it’s the stress of trying so hard to get pregnant? When I saw you mentioned her breasts were bigger, I began to wonder because that doesn’t happen till well into pregnancy. Don’t let her start thinking that this period is an early miscarriage because that’s not going to do anyone any good.
Just like it’s been mentioned, relax. Enjoy yourselves. Don’t make this into a chore or even start making expectations about pregnancy. Just fool around and hope for the best.