Fireworks, bonfires and long winters' eves will herald the Rat Smacketeers' BFPs this month and we are Brooking No Argument!

I think it would be worth mentioning the spotting anyway on Monday Geek and yes I had also read (when they first saw my cyst) about the fact that leaving it shouldn't cause any issues if going through ivf, but i'm not sure if that was if it was a simple cyst (which is what they thought it was at the time) or any type of cyst?? Hence the reason we thought we would see a endo specialist and get their opinion and a make a more informed decision. I think it just makes sense in my simple head that having a clear out would probably give things a better chance considering not a hint of a bfp so far anyway How are doing with the waiting around? Will they give you an idea of when your op may be on Monday? Claws in your norks you say? that sounds painful, ouchy!!

cup I'm so sorry AF arrived for you. Well done you for being able to carry on organising your DH's birthday though! Prague sounds wonderful, I've never been but it was on MrGeek's and my list to visit back in the day when we had cash to spare for things like planning long weekends away. sparks' prague wishes sound fab too, I love coincidences like that, they make such lovely memories as does snow

solars wow, your review sounds really positive! Lots of good things, and all knowledge is power. I completely understand your dilemma about the endometrioma, I have one on my left ovary but have decided not to have it operated on as I read research on how it doesn't bring much benefit from an IVF perspective, and my left ovary is such poor quality anyway. They can do so much these days that even a diagnosis of endo isn't the end of the world - brooking that yours gets fully resolved with a lap (if you decide to go with that) and looking forward to your BFP announcement

Well, my spotting got worse, yesterday it was like a full-blown AF - light flow, but really heavy clotting. Today it's much lighter, no clotting, so I think it was just my body having a really good clear out. I didn't bother with a GP appointment as I've got my consultant's appt on Monday, but thinking about it we'll only be talking about the op, not my cycles in general. POAOPK this morning as usual and got a positive so I really don't know whether to consider this as AF or whether my cycle is continuing. Somehow I don't think MrGeek will be wanting to take advantage right now if it is a genuine positive!

sparks yes, I was thinking of ditching the CBFM but I paid full whack for it so want to get my money's worth skinflint I also like the reassurance of the peaks, as my OPKs can be a bit varied to say the least!

In other news, a moderately amusing story for you. Our largest cat decided he wanted an early morning cuddle, and crept into bed with us, stretching out between me and the edge of the bed, partly under the duvet. The next thing I knew, the full weight (3.5kg) of terrified feline was hanging by two claws buried deep in my nork - the stoopid thing had somehow managed to fall out of bed and dug deep into the nearest thing to save himself

Cups I'm so sorry about AF, but your week of celebrations sounds fabulous! I loved Prague too, I went with a cousin and we had such a great time! I don't blame you for starting now to organise! In fact I think you've left it too late (joking of course) I was organising DH's 40th at least 9 months before hand but that's because i'm a bit dithery sometimes By the way that surely is a sign about your work colleague, I'm brooking like anything for you!

Biscuits firstly i'm impressed with your cartwheels and secondly I could just come over to you and hug you, you lovely, lovely lady, I love the fact you still hang around here and give us all such support, that goes for Boo & Sparkes too and anyone else popping their heads in here! Your post brought several a tear to my eye!

Keep I hope the smacking is going well! Yes my SIL and folks know about the ivf so I'm not looking forward to this weekend at all, no sir-ee not one bit. I'm still feeling quite down & raw about stuff but I know i'm just going to have to put a brave face and excuse myself out the room or house if things start to get to me! Unfortunately SIL is one of those 'head to the side pitying' types and I hate that as well. In a sense I almost wished I'd never mentioned the ivf to them and I was umming and ahhing about it beforehand for other reasons but sister said I ought to and I only told bro and sil because they were badgering me incessantly about my birthday plans.

Geek how are you doing, lovely? has the spotting stopped? I was going to suggest a trip to the GP too, hope you're ok and good luck with your pre-op appointment on Monday x

Beedle there's no need to be scared about ivf, we're all here to keep your head in check and will be with you every step of the way! The emotional side I think is far worse then any of the injections/pessaries etc. One step at a time is my advice and the first step is your bfp anyway!

wowza, what a week I loved Prague, we went for my birthday (It was only like my 24th or something) but we had such a fabulous time.

We went to visit the castle, acutally on my birthday and as we were walking to towards it, I wistfully sighed "I wish it would snow" and with that the heavens opened and a lovely white flurry started, I then jokingly said "god now I wish I had an umbrella" and a lady selling umbrellas came around the corner!! I wished for money, but it didnt happen!! True story

I also loved the food, eek, their onion soup is generally out of this world, and boy do they do hot chocolate well

Well we are going to prague the weekend before with some friends to visit another friend who has just moved there. On the way back we are going to stay with PILs for a few days and then on DH's actual birthday we are having a party at a local cricket club. Basically it's a full week of celebrations

oh cup flipping AF!!!!

But on a brighter note what are you planning for the party?!!

Hey brookers just popping in to say that AF came yesterday. I was very fed up, am feeling a bit better today. I'm keeping myself busy organising my DH's 30th (it's in feb so am getting a bit ahead of myself I think )

Face Im not sure about the fish cakes (rather anti fish here) but the beef and pudding sound amazing!!! I look forward to my invite in the post.

For ours we had caramalised onion and goats cheese tartlet, Chicken wrapped in parma ham with chateau (?) potatoes and savoy cabbage and then a baileys chocolate cheese cake! it was to die for, although I was so swept away by it all that I only managed to get about a spoonful of each!!
For our evening meal we had pork baps and hot dogs with curly fries and potatoes wedges, and the pudding with jam doughnuts and chocolate eclairs!! obviously our evening do with a classy affair!!!

I'm shocked too at just how much spewing I'm having to do, but I ent complaining!!!! 8+5 today, and all the books promise me that I'll magically feel better in 3 weeks time, if not Im suing the authors!!!!

now then ladies....

what do we want?
POSITIVE PEE STICKS

When do we want them?
NOW!!!!!!

could actually cry was almost done with my longest post ever then it dissapeared!!!
wow theres a lot of letters and appointments being made/had around here so thats good news everyone.
noticed a bit of upset over preggo annoucements, i had one too. a friend but not a close one. luckily it was over text and before i saw it on fb so i was just about able to congratulate her not sure i couldve coped face to face. i must admit i had assumed it was an accident, wrongly another friend who is closer to her told me they had been trying so i felt a bit better!

not much wedding news actually. ive picked purple organza rather than sain for the chair sashes and we have picked the menu after a taster last fri.
haddock fishcaks, roast beef with all the trimmings and pannacotta with strawberry and champagne thingy bob, umm posh word for sauce!

am currently having my second to last period before my pregnancy. i seem to have had 2 28 day cycles in a row so i must be a 28 dayer now. fine as long as i know! not long now before the obessesive weeing on sticks begins again yay!
think thats it!
sparks am slightly gobsmacked by the amount of vomit u have going on!
love to all boo booby beedle keep geek biscuits solars cups ummm twinkle was it sparks love it! and of course anyone whos name ive missed x

New home for the post grads

Come visit us :)

Beedle Yes yes it was at home Id never heard of that being done before. She could don as many pairs of white gloves at she liked, me and mrsparks both finished work early so we could scrub the house before she arrived.... well actually mrsparks scrubbed the house, and I mostly vommitted!!! She did comment on how ideal our sofas are for doing paper work, they have lovely wide flat arms

hi sparks did you have your booking-in at home? Is that so the midwife can be a bit nosey about your home situation? Did she put some white gloves on to check when you last dusted the top of the door frame :o

I'm not scared that they will refuse us IVF, I'm just a bit scared about going through everything [wimp] I'll start nagging reminding MrB about booking a date with a jar next week :o

Right here goes a proper mammoth post!! I?m writing it on word and then copying and pasting on to MN so that the bugger of a site doesn?t swallow up my post mid way through!!!

Geek Would you consider dropping the use of the CBFM? I think it might just be confusing matters? It?s not really telling you anything that your OPKs aren?t and the variation in colour could be caused by anything, varying hormone levels or slightly more diluted urine etc. I think if you?ve been spotting for a while you should probably head down to the GP, I guess there isn?t much they can do for you but at least they could put your mind at ease!!!

Solars what awful timing!! Pregnancy announcements are hard at any point during your TTC journey, they must be especially hard after an IVF cycle, especially with 2 kids already!! I cried bitterly when I was told my cousin was pregnant with twins, then felt horrendously guilty because she had been trying for a while (but not really long because her DD was only about 2, but she?d also had two miscarriages, one of which was on Christmas day, by no means an easy process for her to get to that point BUT it didn?t seem to make me any less bitter!! I hope you managed to have a good Diwali, like geek I used to work with a lady who would bring in samosas and pakoras as treats for us (she?d always snaffle the largest portion of mince pies so it was only fair). And try and enjoy spending some time with your family, it will be hard (family gathering always are), if it gets too much then make your excuses (norovirus tends to work well, less questions ) and leave!!!

Biscuits speaks the truth!!! Over 12 months ago, I came on to MN looking for some support and joined a ?bus? thread. And it was great to begin with, but slowly one by one they all got pregnant (actually most of them did it rather quickly) obviously I was super chuffed for them but also a tad jealous. The problem was because a large portion of them conceived without any problems they couldn?t possibly understand what we were going through, and as their tummies grew and they had a new set of problems to worry about the thread became rather useless for me. So I went of MN. Then I came back, and I peered in to the wonderful world of brooking!! I?m pretty convinced you guys are the main reason I?m still mildly clinging to my sanity!!! Mush over!!!

Keep hope the smacking went well last night that was rather well timed!!

Beedle any luck on the jar front? Why do you think they have will refuse you IVF, do they not know you are a brooker? And as such allowed any medical treatment the group deems necessary!!!

Sorry to not name check everyone else but I?m pretty sure this is the longest post in history!!!

My booking in appt went swimmingly, my midwife is so very nice!! Even one of my kitties took a bit of a shine to her!! She explained everything to me, when I?ll have tests etc (she didnt take any bloods etc, as these wills be taken at my first scan) she had bought a stupid amount of leaflets and information for me, talked about places to give birth etc and then pronounced that I had a fairly healthy diet (even though mrsparks tried to get me in to trouble by saying how much junk food Im eating at the moment) and finally told me that I was consider low risk (although I forgot to mention that my sister was born with a form of spina bifada). I honestly don?t know what I was worried about.

Right must get on with work, need to clear out my office in the next two weeks ready for my new job, so thats three years of accumulated crap to shift!!!

awww biscuits that was lovely, just what we needed. I'm pretty certain that the conversation with your DH could be repeated in our house. And you're right there will be positive pee-sticks for all of us. Oh and I've made you a cup of just for being so lovely.

yeah keep get smacking :o

keep great timing, go get smacking for baby Calcutta

solars hope you managed to have a lovely diwali despite everything. One of my work colleagues brought in samosas to celebrate diwali with the office. Everyone was enjoying them so much, and they smelt so good (I love samosas as long as they are not too spicy). A friend offered for me to try a tiny bit of the filling and three seconds later the chilli kicked in. I literally ran out of the office to find water!

I just thought I'd pop in to give you lovely ladies a bit of a hug and a squeeze

Things have been tough going in here for a lot of you but I am still brooking no argument that each and every one of you will be graduating very very soon. In fact, (looks sternly at the universe) I've ordered some tumbleweed for this thread as it will be required once you're all over on the grad thread.

Solars what horrible timing for your SIL's news . Hope you managed to have a nice enough evening regardless. And you know of course that we're still brooking on your behalf even if you're only lurking. The same goes for all other lurkers . We've got your back on the brooking.

Geek your chart looks, erm, mountainous! And the spotting sounds odd. Is your thermometer working? Do you think you might go to the doctors to ask about it? Or just see what happens? Could be an anovulatory cycle maybe?

I know some of you brookers probably weren't here when I joined the brookers and might be a bit at me keep poking my nose in. However, I owe a huge debt to the brookers for helping me in my hour of need when we were ttc. In fact, 'a huge debt' doesn't even begin to describe it. Arguably this will sound over dramatic but brooking literally changed my life . Between you lovely ladies here, the grads and post grads, you got me through what was probably the hardest thing I've had to do. (I warned you this might sound over dramatic). Hence my wanting to pop in and hug you all frequently.

Until you've struggled ttc you can't know how all-consuming it can be and every day I come here hoping that there will be good news for you ladies. And there will be .

I remember DH saying to me when we were ttc, 'how often do you think about trying to get pg? most days?' Most bloody days? Try a thousand million times each bloody day. Given he was going through the same thing and wanted a baby just as much, it made me realise how different our experiences were of it. Finding the lovely lovely brookers who really got how I felt was amazing and I owe such a lot to you all.

Anyway, that's enough garjng. I just nipped in to say I am brooking for each and every one of you.

What do we want?
positive pee sticks

When do we want them?
NOW!

Quick message, will post properly from work in a bit!!

geek I'm confused by your chart, is your monitor actually giving you several peaks? Or are you going by the sticks?

Hi all, just popping in to say
solars what crappy timing. Did your sil know about ivf, and do your folks? Urgh it's so unfair.

sweetie how exciting about donor eggs! Do you have to pay extra, do women get paid or is it mostly people doing ivf for male factor? Am brooking you can start asap!

And beedle, no reason why it won't be you this weekend. Brook brook!

All good here, peak yesterday on cbfm, so will log off now to get smacking.

It is quieter. Those of us left are having hard times finding a decent pee stick, but we'll be all the happier when we get there. It's OK those of us taking a break, we are here when you want us.

PS well done sparks and twinks!

Geek I'm afraid I don't understand charting so can't help there I'm afraid. I think Imps & Maybe are good at charts. What an annoying cycle? I hate it when you don't know what's going on. Excellent work by you & MrGeek on rat smacking. Consecutive days is almost unheard of in this house

Evening All,

Happy Diwali Solars hope you have managed to enjoy the evening. Am so sorry about the bad timing of you SIL's news. No wonder you are upset, is so close to your IVF cycle. Sending you lots of hugs.

Sweetie hope got all the notes/test results you need from the GP. Did DH have a nice birthday? I didn't realise you lived so close to me! I live in north manchester close to bury. I'm just off the m62 so it really doesn't feel far from Yorkshire.

Beedle can't wait for your BFP!!! One of us old timers must be way overdue a BFP.

Sparks yay to becoming a MWEPP! We are very proud

Boo hope you and Boobylicious are well.

Well I've been busy making a million 4 batches of chutney. My house reeks . I sent off our IVF forms this morning. At work today I met a lovely couple with IVF twins. They had unexplained infertility and got pg on first cycle. They had it at the hospital I'm going to, they had the same consultant, & had been trying the same amount of time as us. I'm brooking no arguement ladies that this is a sign

Sorry Geek I can't see any sign of ovulation there, though with all those random +OPKs it does at least sound like your body is trying to release an egg. Oh and can you form an orderly queue outside my bathroom, I don't want to be tripping over you when I get up for a wee in the night :o

Well, that worked - not! Trying again...

chart

ooh I can never resist a good group hug

solars you poor thing, what awful timing. Did she know you had just had your IVF though? If not that's an awful coincidence. ((hugs)) Take all the time you need, we'll be here for you.

beedle You know the law of boob!

Very busy day at work today, but just nipping in to brook for you all and give those that want one a big hug. I'm looking at Solars, Sweetie, Beedle and Geek. And anyone else really!

Would a large wheelbarrow full of chocolate help?

solars what awful timing ((hugs)) when I hear stories liek that it makes me so thankful that my bro had completed his family (and had the snip!) before we started ttc. I suppose you can at least be thankful that they didn't do a big announcement in front of the whole family at the weekend. Though of course now everyone knows they will presumably want to talk about it. As you say what a shame she couldn't wait until next week.

But don't feel bad about feeling low, we're not only here for the good news you know ((hugs)) Do you say Happy Diwali? Hope you have a good day anyway.