Positive OPK today need a buddy 38-40s

Show yourself indeed, witch!

CD 26 and she's not shown here yet either. Could this be the inositol I've been necking to try and lengthen my luteal phase? Maybe, but I am officially bored now.

It's tedious here too. CD27, no AF yet but I know she's on the way so just keep thinking BORED NOW, SHOW YOURSELF WITCH. Have a night out with friends Saturday so it will be all the way then. Bad luck flourishing and everyone else in the disappointment zone.

Sorry to hear that. Bring on the booze cruise.

Day 24 here, almost 25.

Just went through my Ovia app to see when AF starts and it's always 25, 26 or 27.

Oh, the tedium.

(We really need a yawn emoticon.)

Cd3. Boring. Waiting for af to leave town, then for ovulation.

Preparing my pitch to her! Will let you know what she says

Re. surrogacy for my sister....funny you should say that. I'm seeing mine tomorrow for the first time in a year (she lives abroad). She's 42 though and thus far shows zilch sign of a maternal instinct. I can't imagine her wanting to babysit for 9 months for me .

Reni and Flourishing I'm sorry about AF! There needs to be a witch emoticon.

Flourishing you're right - I'd rather be trying for DH's baby than any of my previous partners (especially the one who was so messy you couldn't actually see his floor).

Interesting thoughts on IVF too, people. DH has an irrational fear of hospitals anyway so the less contact he has to have with medical science and big buildings with long white corridors the better, probably although presumably he'd have to get over this for the actual birth.

Very wise words, fridge. My no to IVF and adoption is a no for me and for now. I might have thought differently about it if childless, but maybe not. I might again feel different 2 or 5 years from now..

Everyone has to find their own path and set their own boundaries. For some people adoption is the right route, for example, and others say they know they just couldn't do it. The problem comes when people don't recognise others' limits and valid choices. I read a thread where someone's mum had told them she didn't see her IVF-conceived grandchildren as 'real' grandchildren and I felt both sad and angry on that poster's behalf.

Agree clomid would be worth a pop if no ov. AF is here, bloody witch.

Thank you both for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

I have to say I liked this thread because it's for older mums/mums-to-be but seemed to be free of all the IVF chat on the other threads.

I think I might consider Clomid if it turned out I wasn't ovulating (haven't tried temping yet to find out Reni - must buy a thermometer!). But I just can't see myself going down the IVF route and it's good to hear others in a similar boat!

I ended up raiding the cupboard for chocolate biscuits after my 'moment' but your posts were much more comforting than the biccies.

Sorry about your cramps Fridge. That's like me with my sore nipples. Bloody early warning systems!

Really It can be hard to stay optimistic when you read about stuff going wrong. I can empathise with how you feel, although I am lucky in having DS already. I will say that I have had a chequered medical history and had been told that it would be difficult for me to get pregnant and that pregnancy itself would be risky, yet it did eventually happen and DS arrived safely. So it does happen against the odds. Fingers firmly crossed for us all, even if it doesn't happen this month (it won't for me now as I have definite cramps now. AF in 4-5 days I reckon. Grr!)

reni Same here. We were set to try IVF first time, then I conceived, but it wouldn't be an option now. No way we could afford it apart from anything else. Mother Nature it is!

I have just seen too many couples going through IVF, the strain it puts on their relationship, the health impacts during (artificial menopause anyone- followed by re-starting cycles hormonally?), not to mention the costs and the enormous emotional stress, and all of this for a slim chance of success even for young couples. It is easy to forget that more couples walk out of these clinics without a baby than with. I really wanted a baby back then and I want another one now, but I could always imagine a life without them, so it wasn't for me. If a baby had been the only thing to make my life complete it might have been different.

Thanks Reni that made me feel a bit better .

Could you tell me why it is you decided not to pursue IVF?

The reason I ask is that I'm not that keen on the idea myself, either. I can't put my finger on why, and I've never researched it, so I don't really understand what it entails. I've seen threads on IVF and all their talk of blastocysts and stimming(?) is all Greek to me.

I'm not sure what it is that I'm not keen on. I don't know if it's the drugs, or the low success rate, and potential disappointments - I just can't put my finger on it.

DH is also not that keen on the idea. In fact, after six months we got referred to the fertility clinic for tests so I've had the ultrasound, am getting blood test results in August, DH is doing his sperm analysis next week etc. So we will do all the tests we can have done, but DH actually said 'they're not going to hurry us into IVF are they?'

In his job they write strategies on things to do with ex-looked after children, so he's very aware of kids out there who need homes, and I think we're both inclined to the adoption route (if it came to it, and understanding all the difficulties that it entails).

So just wondering what your thoughts were on IVF as someone who probably knows a lot more about it than I do.

(NB. Sorry for the essays this morning )

Really, your story doesn't sound too dissimilar to mine, but I am older and ttc 2. I frequently get the "we have left it too late panic", I find it passes. I see myself as ttc rather than infertile. Temperatures say I do ovulate, af is regular and I am not prepared to do IVF so no point investigating further for me personally. 38 is not old, there is time and trying for a year or two is not unusual even for much younger women.

PS. Sorry for being Debbie Downer on what is generally a lighthearted thread! Having a now, which always helps .

Oh dear. That was a mistake.

I was feeling a bit despondent this morning and wandered over to the infertility board and had a read of some posts over there.

I tend to over-empathise anyway about most things, but I guess I just started to feel really sad, and then I started to feel sad thinking about my own situation. I've only been TTC for 8 months, but I've never had a baby and I'm scared I never will.

I've never cried over TTC before but I did this morning. After reading those boards it all just kind of came flooding out. I've still got tears streaming as I write this post

I guess I just needed to write something down. I think this is why I've never POASed, it's like I daren't even hope it might happen. I just assume it will be a struggle. It sounds very negative I know, and I'm not a negative person. I think I just think if I hope too hard, I'll get disappointed.

I really wish I'd got my act together when I was younger. Reni do you remember me saying I'm an academic too? I took ages over my PhD (5 years) but it did involve a lot of fieldwork abroad. But anyway - between the age of 28 and 33 I had boyfriends but they weren't right and I never worried about it. I thought I'm too busy with my PhD and I'll worry about sorting the rest of my life out when I finish.

Well - I didn't meet my DH till I was 35, and being the sensible type, I didn't think having a baby the millisecond I met him was a good idea. So I waited till we were together a few years and I was 37 before thinking about TTC. Was that stupid or did I have no choice really?

Now I'm 38 and just scared. I'm so sorry for this long post. I just wish I could go back in time. I'm like one of those 'career women' that the media likes to warn you about. The irony is though I'm not even paid very much for what I do (that's my field for you). So all those years of hard work were for nothing. And we could never afford IVF once I go past the free IVF cut off (which I think is soon, for my area.)

I'm sorry for this post. I know we're all going through a tough time. I promise to chin up now.

Good Morning all.

Sorry, I meant CD 21 - not 21 DPO!

I am now CD 22 and I have nipple soreness (sorry TMI) already. This is usually my sure fire sign that AF is coming in about 4 days. Dammit

Temps can't quite decide, sort of slowly drifting downwards, not far yet. Expecting drop this morning. Have you tested, flourishing? Did AF come as you thought, fridge?