TTC and living overseas?

[MummyAbroad]

Hola!

Anyone fancy keeping me company while I while away the rainy season afternoons hanging out on MN, peeing on foreign sticks and dreaming of the coveted BFP?


I'll even start a list...

MummyAbroad Costa Rica TTC #2

[NoMoreChocBiscuits]

NoMoreChocBiscuits TTC #2 Scotland (from NZ)
MummyAbroad Costa Rica TTC #2

Vowed not to stray from my regular thread as the pain of having to tell about an early miscarriage on lots of threads was a bit much to handle, but I'm a long way from home and it's hard to explain how that feels to someone who isn't.

Have been trying for 2 months and have already had 2 early miscarriages. If I suffer another one I'll be back down to the Docs demanding my progesterone levels get checked.

What's Costa Rica like MummyAbroad?

[MummyAbroad]

Hello! (or should that be Och Ay!)

I think I have seen you about on some other threads. I have suffered MC (mmc) too. I know what you mean about going over the story everytime, I will give you the short version of mine...

Discovered at 14 weeks (baby measured 8) and then medically (mis)managed. 7 rounds of pessaries to expel products didnt work, but everybody thought it did. Told I had PCOS, then told I didnt. Then they found placental cells had regrown, told it was molar, had an ERPC (4 months after first finding out that there was no heartbeat) lab results showed it wasnt molar, still waiting for AF after ERPC (been 10 weeks now) have started TTC because I just cant wait any longer! (Sorry its not that short is it?)

I think part of my distress is and always has been never really knowing if I am getting good medical care or not(reading the above it doesnt sound like it, does it? ). Part of me always thinks, maybe if I was back home things wouldnt have turned out this way.

Costa Rica is lovely, sunny and friendly. Medical care is rubbish though so I have to spend all my savings on going private. Private hospitals are very fancy (lots of medical tourism here) but seeing lots of independent doctors is not very reassuring, I would rather be part of the NHS "system" IYKWIM

I am very sorry for your losses. Cant imagine what it would be like to go through this twice. How long have you been in Scotland? Do you get to go back to NZ much?

Got to go POAS now, am 10-12 days DPO

Do you chart? Have you checked your luteal phase is OK that way?

take care xxx

[MummyAbroad]

bump

[NoMoreChocBiscuits]

Sorry MA haven't abandoned you, just haven't been online much.

To answer your question. I don't both charting. Just keep a note of when my period is. I feel ovulation most months, so am able to work it all out from that. I seem to have a 9 day luteal phase. No idea what it was when I got pg with DS as we weren't actually trying

Sounds like you've had a nightmare time trying to get sorted out after your MC!

Been back in Scotland for a year and a half. Was here for about that long before, then went back to NZ at 5 months pg, for a year. Am hoping to get back to NZ in 2 years, but we will see. Money is an issue for us at the moment.

Ohh how did your POAS go? I'm currently in the post AF pre ov wait. Bored!! Away off on holiday with my parents tomorrow though, so that should keep my mind off of everything.

[MummyAbroad]

Hi NoMoreChoc

Wish I had your calm relaxed approach! I am going totally slightly nuts at the moment, 11-13 DPO (wish i knew which) and still BFN. Cant keep off MN for 5 mins! This is my first real TTC effort after the mc, but as that was 5 months ago it all seems so urgent and important!

I conceived DS without trying too, and didnt bother doing a HPT until I was about 3 weeks late. What a difference this time!

Have you tried B6 for the luteal phase?

have a lovely holiday xxx

[NoMoreChocBiscuits]

I'm trying licorice, which sounds a bit odd, but i've read it can help rebalance hormones, so can't hurt I figure. Am trying to bump up the B vitamins too.

Hehe how funny you think I'm calm and relaxed! I think if this TTC lark goes on for much longer I'll need a straight jacket!
Still being on holiday with my parents and no DH means I can't do anyting about it til next week, so realx and eat to much it is

How you holding up?

[MummyAbroad]

Yep, you are making me look madder and madder,

I am on:

(pre ov)
evening prim oil
red clover blossom

(all cycle) B6
multivit
Omega 3
Folic Acid

and the odd bit of bee pollen (tastes more like bee poo , so not that often)

I am also taking temps, checking CM and CP and using OPK's (twice a day around ov) plugging it all into fertilityfriend.com whilst cross checking agains TCOYF.




and after all that I am still BFN and no AF today! Gaaahh!

I was going to ask if there are anymore overseas TTCers lurking out there, but I think I will have scared them off

Where are you on hols? Have something with an umbrella in it for me! xxx

[milanomum]

Hello! me too!


I'm (as you may have guessed) in Italy and have been since '99. I have a DD who is 2 and she was conceived the first month we decided to 'see what happens' but have been TTCing no.2 for about 5 months

I was of course, all calm and collected for the first 3 months thinking it would happen immediately, but now I'm starting to panic just a little...it's all Google's fault.
I'm not temping or using opks because I suffer a bit when I ovulate but this is my first cycle with Pre-seed and pollen (not together obviously) and I'm on the usual multi-vits and follic acid.
I'm trying to avoid caffine (but failing) and drinking a wee bit less than i used to.

The ante-natal care over here is fab and childbirth is treated really naturally. So much so that there is no G&A and epidurals are only random! ho hum...

[MummyAbroad]

Hello Milanomum, welcome!

NoMoreChocBiscuits TTC #2 Scotland (from NZ)
MummyAbroad Costa Rica TTC #2
Milanomum Italy TTC #2

My DD is two too. Both my pregnancies were "one hit wonders" as it were, which is making my expectations to conceive first month of trying ridiculously high.

Italy sounds like a fantastic place to give birth. Its total opposite over here, everything is doctor centric, there are no midwives except a few freelance ones (foreigners) and it is ILLEGAL to give birth at home (!) My first was a natural birth in the UK in a midwife led birth centre and I would love a home birth this time round (if I get there!) Its going to be a big challenge finding the kind of care I want.

One advantage of being here is that private healthcare is pretty cheap, so today I am going to go pay 15 quid for a same day quantitive blood test. Sick of waiting now... I am 14 or 16 DPO and still no AF. Today is the day to find out!

hasta leugo,

xxxxxxxxxxxx

[MummyAbroad]

did my blood test and it was negative. Back to the drawing board!

[justmee]

hello all yay more people over seas to share our experiances!! :D

3 mc and now struggling to get pregnant again living in Turkey and finding going private is eating a biggg whole in my pocket and confussing as i dont understand what most is being said or done!! What would i do without mumsnet!! i had a very bad experiance with my first mc and changed my doctor after sleepless nights im now liking my current doctor but of corse its not the same as the uk..:(

hope you are all ok :D xxx

[MummyAbroad]

Hello Justmee, glad you found us

I still havent got AF, its been 14 weeks since my ERPC in July so I am really going bonkers now.
I am going to see a new gynecologist on Thursday to get another opinion, this will be my fourth I am also spending a ton of money, but I wouldnt mind if someone could actually fix things!!

I saw on the other thread LadyBee's suggestion that you take someone with you to appointments? Is this possible for you?
I try and take DH with me to important appointments, even though I speak fluent Spanish, there are so many medical terms and I am normally so stressed about it that I forget everything, him being there really helps.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[NoMoreChocBiscuits]

For some reason I lost this thread althogher! Came back from holiday and couldn't find it for love of trying.

(Waves back to Milano, Wondered when you'd join us!)

Good luck tomorrow MA what a nightmare for you it's been.

Hello Justmee. Nice to have a new friend to play with .

I got me a quiet BFP on Friday, a whole day before ERTD was due. Not getting to excited yet though. If I still have it this time next week I'll start to relax and get excited. Have been back to the Drs and nagged at them to help me not lose this one and while there isn't any real paln of action I feel supported and like I'm not just some over anxious mess.

[MummyAbroad]

congrats nomorechoc
Right, will be checking in regularly and expecting full updates! Sending lots of sticky thoughts your way

[abeautifulbutterfly]

Hello,

I am TTC no. 3 (2 DDs, 5 and 7). Live in Poland, near Krakow.
I do occasionally peep at the TTC board but the sheer volume of abbreviations that are incomprehensible to me always makes me run away.
I am rather half-hearted about the TTC business this time round - am not doing anything. CAn't bring myself to over-medicalise something that - if it succeeds - will always be over-medicalised anyway. I also have private gynae treatment and I love my gynae (platonically, of course) but pregnancy and birth here is sooo doctor-centric that for now I just want to keep it low key (=throwing away condoms).
With the result that for the fourth month running I have spectacularly failed to get pregnant...
I also had a MMC, about 18 months ago now - sod's law - that one was unplanned, and now I have finally got DH's agreement to no. 3, nothing is happening.

NMCB hope you are still seeing good things in the window and good luck to all of us.

[MummyAbroad]

Welcome abeautifulbutterfly! Nice to meet you or should that be [hsmile]

I've been knocking around those boards for ages now, and learned to talk the lingo eventually. I must say I found learning Spanish easier though!

I admire your efforts to keep TTC low key, especially after an mc, I am so sorry to hear about that. I never would have thought that I would own of a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, take my temperature everyday and all the other knicker checking shenanigans that I do, but I think its a direct result of the mc and desperate-to-be-pregnant aftermath that followed.

Well in my news, I have had to put TTC on hold for a while. I dont seem to have recovered well from the mc (no periods) and now I am going to have an HSG test to see if everything is alright structurally. (I've already had lots of blood tests to see if there is a hormonal problem) So I've been told to go on the pill for a month/pending results. boo.

Justmee how are you getting on with the OPK's?

Thought I would update our list then:

NoMoreChocBiscuits TTC #2 Scotland (from NZ)
MummyAbroad Costa Rica TTC #2
Milanomum Italy TTC #2
Justmee Turkey #1
abeautifubutterfly TTC #3

[MummyBellsAllTheWay]

Anyone still here? How are you all doing?

[MissFlick]

Helloooo, If you are reinstating this thread I'd like to join! I'm so missing the snow and festive build up in England :( I'm in Hong Kong and just not feeling Christmassy at all. Perhaps when I put my Christmas tree up tomorrow :)

[MummyBellsAllTheWay]

Hello and welcome MissFlick

I have just popped over to England for medical care. It's just started snowing, looks really pretty but I'Ve seen enough now and can't wait to get back to sunny Costa Rica! So are you trying for baby number 1 MissFlick? What's Hong kong like? Easy to get OPK 's?

[escapeartist]

Hello everyone!

I am in Greece at the moment! Have been ttc #1 since last Jan, though have missed several months due to two missed cycles after my father died, and 3 missed cycles as DH was working away for 2.5 months. So officially it's been about 6 months. Does not stop me worrying though...

Medical care here is v hit and miss. Feel we have to go private, not that private docs are better, it's just that it is so hard to get an appointment on Greek NHS - 6 weeks later just doesn't cut it when you need to see someone. I have felt very nervous about med care here in general, esp emergency care. Also, as we are living on one small salary at the moment, things are a bit tight and I will often not go to the doctor, when I would have in the UK...

Feel v jealous when people talk about seeing their GP and getting referrals on here - it kind of feels like a different world here. Although DH and I have decided if there ever was a reason we needed to get fertility treatment we would go back to the UK.

MissFlick I kow how you feel - I can't get myself to feel Xmassy with 23 degrees heat here either. Was looking for advent calendar high and low last week and have not found one :( but will be making my own tomorrow (in class, I am a primary teacher)

MummyBells had to laugh at your comment about getting OPK's abroad, as had to smuggle a load into Greece last time I visited. They are massively expensive here (about 50 euros for 7!!!) so I found it preferable to just got to Tesco's and get a load of cheapies. Then threw away the box and could not remember how to use...

Currently waiting for amazon delivery with Clearblue ones :)

[MissFlick]

Morning all,

It's nice to have some TTC abroad friends!
I'll give you a brief history. Came off my pill last November with a view to ttcing around June so thought I was giving my cycle plenty of time to regulate. However periods are still irregular so I decided to get some tests done. Had all the blood tests for pcos, thyroid, prolactin, FSH, LH etc and all were normal. Internal scans also showed no pcos or other problems. My doctor diagnoised irregular ovulation and I have just done my first cycle of clomid which hasnt worked although it did show I'd ovulated. I'm wondering whether I should request a HSG?

mummy opks are quite easy to get here but I have long, irregular cycles so have never stuck with them! I am trying to conceive my first baby, how about you? When are you heading back to Costa Rica?


escapeartist I know how you feel about foreign healthcare! I don't even understand how the system works out here! My dh and I took out private insurance and I have been seeing a lovely gynae so have actually been receiving great care that I know I wouldn't have got in the UK.

[MummyBellsAllTheWay]

Hello and welcome escape artist (love the name)

I have all the same problems as you in CR, shoddy public healthcare system and expensive OPK's... amazon helps enourmously though. I use the cheapie ones wheRe you get 25 for 5 pounds! I also have to pay private, but luckily it's much cheaper over there anyway. recently though my problems got so out of hand I had to come back to the UK. (and pay private here. Eeeeeek! )

However things are looking up as I now have been diagnosed and treated, I am on high dose hrt and have a coil fitted but it will be out in a month and I can start TTC again.

miss flick I am supposed to be going back on friday, snow permitting! HSG is useful to see if you have any structural problems, polyps, fibroids, cysts or in my case scar tissue. Many women report that they get pregnant after and hag, it seems to 'flush out your tubes" I am thinking about having one to see how successful my surgery was and give myself a bit of extra piece of mind. If you do it be sure to request antibiotics starting one day before the procedure to reduce risk of infection.

[escapeartist]

Do you guys find you just go to the doctor less? I would def go see my GP a lot more often than I venture to the doctor here. Also, it is difficult to see a GP, you get to see specialists more and sometimes you will go to the gynae, who will refer you to the endo, who will send you for a scan... which ends up costing almost 200 euros before you have even had any results.

Still, have private insurance through my work, but they do not cover for anything pregnancy related :(

[silkenladder]

Hi everyone. May I join you?

I live in Germany where the healthcare system is pretty good (they charge me a ridiculous amount for insurance because I work freelance, but the drs are great). I would like to be ttc-ing no. 2, but I'm still bfing DD (18m) and had an ill-advised shot of depo in the meantime, so am still waiting to start ovulating again.

MummyAbroad I have seen quite a few of your posts on my lurks around MN. I'm glad to hear that you've been treated and things are going in the right direction.

[MummyBellsAllTheWay]

Thanks silkenladder it's been quite a journey! I credit all my prolific posting helping me to get a diagnosis in the end too, thank you MN!

come in and make yourself comfy I will wait with you, how long does it take for depo to wear off?

I am thinking I really need to get some private healthcare insurance now.. It's a bit hard in CR as there is only one state run insurance company... I could end up paying more in premiums than I currently do on treatment.

2 more days till I get to swap the snow for sunshine!