The Elderberry Pavlovas, sausage bouquets, one giant sofa and the Gü pots of destiny! (thread 9)

Yes, but Peaches nearly died of Hg, so I can be jealous of her but never hate her...

Oh, and Peaches Instadiffa Geldof has just had her second baby since we started trying. And called it Phaedra.

Thanks Peaches.

Hi Berries!

Wimwom sorry to hear your results weren't great, must have been hard to hear. Great that you're on course for IVF asap but so sad that you can't get any help on the NHS. Hooray for your sensible finances (wishing I had done that. If it gets to that stage for us, we're screwed). Hoping you're a first-rounder and you get those promised twinnies (did you see the article on the IVF quads? 2xidenticals - maybe that'll be you!)

Tally hugs and LOADS of ginger wine. I will share it with you, am in ?maybe? shag week (or maybe it won't be for another month yet, who the hell knows?) and DH is doing his best but we didn't manage it last night or this morning, and I'm now working today and tomorrow nights so probably no go there either . So we can chow down on comfort chocolate and booze together.

Goosey show us the bling! (And here is my tip for engagement rings: take them off before swimming in the sea )

Bunny where are you going on holiday? If it's UK the doc could arrange for your bloods to be taken elsewhere??

DH came into the kitchen this morning while I was taking my 'get-me-pregnant' supplements and laughed at me. To be fair, I had a ridiculous number of pills and potions lined up on the side, it looked like a pharmacy. Problem is, I can't bear to stop taking any of them just in CASE one of them is the magic pill!

I'll join you on the sofa Tally but please kick me off when I get back from the tip as I have a lot of work to do so I can have a weekend free from lesson planning.....

It's my day off and I'm queuing for the tip. The queue goes all the way out along the road down to the entrance and along the main road. I thought everyone else would be at work and it would be a quick job!!! Thank god for smartphones!!!

Thunder it was Chinese, and there was a lot of food. I took a box full home for the dog . Had ice cream for dessert but it wasn't great .

Hi all. wimwom you are such a strong person (and clever to have put some money aside!!). I am in awe of ladies like you who can just get on with things. In your place I think I would have crumbled.
Like I am today. I have no idea what's going on with me today. I'm all hormonal and angry and teary. Oh hang on, just checked my dates and green week starts today. hmm, I think I have my answer. not been following it that closely this month. I also did circuit training for the first time on Tuesday and I still hurt. Can I snuggle on the sofa please? I also need chocolate and ginger wine there as I can't have either IRL.

wim I don't know what the rules are where I live but that sounds really harsh. It's good that you have got that cushion tho if needs be.

Hi bunny how are you feeling today? Are you going to ring dic and explain the May situation?

Oo what did you have barking? Tell me it was a big chocolately ice cream feast!

Meal last night was lovely thanks thunder :).

WW surely they have to refer you to a fc before being able to say whether you are unexplained or not?! Or does the GP send you for hsg and ultrasound? I feel bad for whinging about waiting now, at least I can actually be seen at the fc without paying. Not sure what the rules are on IVF round here, the nurse at the fc said they didn't generally talk about IVF until they'd tried everything else as hopefully we wouldn't get that far.

Awww thanks berries for understanding, I will take any wine that's on offer. Have had a good cry and now on with the next steps. Where we are nhs rules are you have to have been trying for 3 yrs, be under 35 and have a known reason for being sub fertile. You then get one round of IVF. DH is 35, I will be 35 just as we tick over 3 years and the gp says we're unknown (despite thyroid issues) so no choice but to cough up. Luckily in my youth I was a good girl and paid into an ISA which I can now cash out to pay for first round at least. Anymore than that we will have to think hard where to get cash from.... Rob a bank?!
Tfi Friday. Anyone any exciting weekend plans?

Note: being a complete incompetent with this forum (showing my age??) I thought Bunny's post of last night was last one on here - anyway, wrote this then realised most of it had been said already... but am now late for work so here goes...

Bunny are you charting and using OPKs or fertility monitor? I guess one or the other anyway! So you know day 21 is the right time of month to do the test? What day of your cycle are you back/leave for holiday and how does that relate to your O day?
From your catch-up, sounds like end of May apt is a GP apt and they haven't referred you to hospital yet? You unfort probably have plenty of time to do more tests before you see a consultant. So (I'm no expert but) I would aim to go on hol, have doc apt, get booked in for hospital and do your next progesterone in June. The big BUT being - the GP will only refer you once they have all the basic tests back that they've sent you for, so I would call your doctor (or make an apt if they won't let you speak to him/her on phone) and check this plan with them - they should have a heart and realise you need to go on holiday but can't afford to delay referral. I'm assuming this is the last test you're waiting for?
Not sure if would be relevant but, I asked my horrible and completely ununderstanding 50 something male doctor to give me three progesterone tests in one month as my cycles are irregular. Also I've read that progesterone can fluctuate depending on how much you've had to eat and just in general, which is I suppose why your doctor is saying go for another month? (As an aside, advice on TCOYF (mainly US posters i think) was that I should use the tests for a pooled progesterone test ie consecutive or alternate days throughout end of cycle, ideally more than three, which they take an average from, however docs here said they don't do pooling and I'm not sure whether you can just take an average yourself or whether interpreting the results is a mite more complicated than that.)

wim really sorry to hear about your results. Would be great to crack on and take action but I can totally understand how shitty it must be to have that kind of news.

blind, I agree, you could talk to your friend about it? not that I would be brave enough to do that sort of thing

barking how was the meal?

And do we get to see a pic of goose's ring or wot?

bunny I'd go with boodle's advice, do it earlier or later, whichever you think might show ovulation.
boodle are you thinking of cherry?

bunny are you temping? Did you previously think you weren't ovulating or is it just these tests? Is day 21 the right day for you to be testing? Do you know when you have ovulated on previous cycles? I told them it was unlikely day 21 would show anything and I was told to do day 21 anyway but then come back on day 28 if AF hadn't shown, which I did. My day 21 as predicted didn't show anything but my day 28 did.

Just checking in quickly from phone! WimWom, sorry to hear your not so great news, but at least you know the deal and you can get with operation IVF twins...urk! I'm bring forgetful now...who's the other Berry with low ovarian reserve?

Bunny, how long are you on holiday for? How close could you get to day 21? If you can get within 2-3 days, just get it done then and get to the docs.

...and now I'll catch up...

ww no nhs funding even to see the fc?! That's awful . Does that mean you'll have to pay for IVF as well? . We wouldn't be able to afford it if that was the case for us. Sorry to hear you had bad news, but best to get it now and know to speed up I suppose , or , which would you like?

kitty is it a lane you can only use at certain times if you have two or more people in the car?
And on the fb thing, does your friend know you're trying? I'd be tempted to be honest and tell her that while you're pleased she's pg it's difficult to see bumps so you've filtered down on fb and she might not see as much of you posting on her wall.

This reminds me of something I saw on This Morning last year. They had a woman in who'd been ttc for years and she was talking about how difficult it was to see pg women everywhere, and how it affected every area of your life when you were struggling tc and they also had a woman who'd recently had twins and she had lots of friends who were ttc and they found her pg too difficult and she ended up feeling deserted by all her friends when she most needed their support during a high risk pg. Interesting to see both sides. I'd like to think I could still be there for a close friend, but I still wouldn't need it in my face everyday on fb!!

goose The gp wasn't really interested in anything other than filling in the forms and getting me out of her hair.

bajas glad you've come to see the light!!!

I'm now waaaay behind as I started typing the above at 7.30 then had to stop as we were off out for a meal with DP's colleagues (last Thursday of the month tradition) so I haven't read the thread since then but am going to post anyway....

kitty why do they just not get it? My DH just seems completely oblivious to why I might not be wanting to hear all about everyone elses bumps. Now some are fine - we have a couple of friends who are struggling TTC too - but for those who are on for one every year for two or three years in a row....

bunny thanks for the wine, top up? Are you sure blds on right day of cycle? If you are then I think you need to step up the investigations. Although it's cost an arm and a leg to see the FC (apparently no NhS funding in our area for anything!) we have learnt a lot about why things aren't working. AMH has told me my ovarian reserve is low - DH was all for waiting quite a bit longer before going for IVF but now he knows time is of the essence has been doing a time line tonight of when we can do what - scary!

Referring to my little meltdown on sun when my friend posted a picture of her bump, I took the berries advice and 'hid' all her posts! She actually thought I'd already gone on holiday as I haven't been on fb! Haven't got the heart to tell her she hasn't seen me because I'm a horrible jealous witch incapable of seeing anyone else happy haha.

Oh and she actually tagged me in a post earlier so I obviously opened it, only to find that she's changed her profile pic to the bump....

Hi Guys!

How are you all today? Nothing to do with anything but if you saw +2 lane on a road, would you know what it meant? Went a different way home tonight and didn't have a scooby doo what it meant! Do know now but curious to know if anyone else knows???

Winwom TOTALLY understand! I just wish he'd join in when I need to be bitchy about the instadiffers / fb shower-offers haha thank god I've got the berries for that!

bunny shove over on the sofa as i'm joining you on the pity sofa. Had my AMH back today - not good, ovaries are running out of time and so as soon as thyroid ok we're straight in for IVF. Mixed feelings - at least we now know and can get on with it. Sad coz several of my other tests are borderline - so at 33 sounds like I'm not too far from the end of my natural fertility. Good news is the consultant on the phone said it means he'd try to give us twins
So lots of wine here tonight.
goose what's the ring like?

Evening all.

pip hope you're all moved in and christening the new house in style.

Congrats goose on your engagement. V impressed he picked the ring himself. I shudder to think what dh would have picked in the same circumstances!

frog we're in a similar boat. Temping for first time this month has shown me I have ovulated but don't think we dtd at the right time. Although I'm unlikely to be successful this month I'm still feeling positive that things seem to work despite crazy cycles so there is some hope. Thanks to all those who advised me that I should temp and how to do it properly