Over 40 TTC - lots of baby dust for us...3!

LittleMimosa- thank you for asking. I didn't want to go on about it too much here but I had a scan today at 10 and a half weeks and it was spot on my estimated date with a heartbeat. After a MMC, the next pregnancy's scans are terrifying and even after the good news I still feel unsettled but I'm feeling very lucky. Next step is the result of the NIPT test then the 12 week scan.

Critter- what lovely babies. Thank you for sharing the photos.

Not peak...high. Geez I need a nap.

Congratulations critter they are gorgeous!

Still no ovulation this cycle. Starting to worry it’s stopping. I’ve tested this month and on day 6 peak. I don’t know why.

critter your babies are absolutely beautiful. Hope your recovery goes quickly and you are feeling back to full strength soon x

Gorgeous photos critter!
So pleased for you!

Afm I'm 10/11 dpo af due tomorrow but not getting sore boobs like normal. Still getting cranky cramps feeling though

Aw Critter they are gorgeous. So perfect. I’m sorry you’re feeling fragile. Giving birth is so weird emotionally at the best of times but when something goes wrong and causes trauma it’s very hard to process. I had similar with my first. But you do slowly heal and the emotional scars fade with time. Just take as much help as you can and get as much rest as possible. Lots of love 💕

Oh @CritterTamer - they are so gorgeous!
I hope you are ok - glad they are looking after you well & hope you can recover soon. I can well imagine that it's hard to get out your head - sounds like a terrifying thing to go through. A relatively straightforward birth can be quite a shock imo - I took a few weeks to process fully what happened when my DS was born, and in the scale of things it was pretty standard. I found talking it through with my DH a number of times helped - I didn't remember some stuff madly, and was helpful for him to fill in the blanks!
Given that, I can totally see how an experience like yours is something you will take some time to recover from. I hope you are getting the chance to ask any questions you want to. The 'what ifs' are so terrifying, but thankfully that is all they are: 'ifs'... you are all here and those gorgeous babies are doing well and you will be soon too. Lots of love x

Oh critter, they're gorgeous, you must be so made up. I bet you just can't believe it!

(For what it's worth I had a traumatic birth with my first, didnt meet baby for hours after deliver as straight into theatre for me, but you do heal and you do move on...)

AF arrived on Friday. No surprise and I think cycle has settled down to 28 days. I'd like to start trying again now but I'm not sure DHs heart is in it anymore. We need to have a good honest chat.

He's 50 next year and is terrified of going through our experience again. Maybe we should accept that we were only ever meant to have one. She's so brilliant I shouldn't be so greedy!!!

Beautiful pics @CritterTamer. Take all the help offered and then ask for more!! Gorgeous babies xxx

Ooh my goodness sooooooo scrummy @CritterTamer sending lots of love.. xxx

Hi ladies, thank you so much for all your best wishes and lovely messages 😊 for those that requested pictures, see attached. Finley has the extra wire attached as he's a little behind his sister in terms of his lung development, and Erin is the one with just the feeding tube. Both are doing great and better each day!

I'm on the mend but in a lot of pain and unfortunately suffering some PTSD type issues related to what happened before my surgery in Tuesday morning. The hospital are doing their best to look after me though and I'm hoping to go home this weekend!

Congrats to all those with new BFPs, and good luck to those currently pregnant (I hope you have an easier time of it than me!) and those still trying for their BFP xxx

Btw, could anyone help with this question... I’m planning to start progesterone cream this cycle (it’s only 20mg dose per day, so fairly small dose) after ovulation but when exactly do I start? I don’t temp or do opks but am pretty sure when I ovulate (as in I can pinpoint fertile days and also when they end). I don’t want to start too soon or too late so do we think about 2/3dpo?? So say 2-3 days after ewcm dries up? And also how do you know when to stop? Presume after a negative hpt? I’m not expecting any miracles at all but I’m hoping it just helps to balance my hormones generally. I’ll post the link to the website that inspired me to get it on a post re hormones in your 40s.

Cleo - google Femara. It’s used like Clomid only less side effects apparently. This cycle is going well! Amazingly no hot flashes, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got ewcm and v mild ovulation pains on CD15! Full moon too Chat 😆 we dtd on Wed evening and hoping to get one in tomorrow morning. So strange to go from a completely f*** up cycle to a healthy normal one. The only things I can think of that totally messed me up are either stress or DHEA. I took it over Xmas and into January then had one bleed then the super long 93 day cycle. So I’m wondering if my hormones are just too fragile for it. It was pretty strong stuff. I got loads of spots, my hair fell out (& is now quite thin as a result but the actual shedding stopped when I stopped taking it) and I felt quite short tempered on it. Never again. Grow back quickly hair!!

Booseys - so good to see you here. We never want you to leave for good😍 hope you’re ok.

Petra - hope the pregnancy is going well?

Bea - I’m sorry AF arrived but I have to say 4 months is no time at all. Please don’t lose heart after such a short space of time. I appreciate you feel the pressure of time due to your age but really you’ve got it all going for you.

Sparrow - thanks for commenting on Femara. I’m tempted by it but now I’m ovulating by myself again who knows. How are things with you?

Good luck to all trying and congratulations on the recent BFPs.
Happy to hear your babies arrived safely Critter. Sorry it wasn't the easiest experience- it really sounds frightening. Enjoy new motherhood! So pleased for you.

Atm... due to ov in next few days.. always at the full moon.. but this month not too many symptoms and not loads of cm... slightly concerned but hey when had fabbo symptoms it hasn't lead to a bfp so maybe I should chill a little... you do just symptom what don't you.. 🤦‍♀️

Hi everyone, I was here a couple of weeks ago and just came back to read everyone's updates. Wow, congratulations to Critter! And to everyone with the tentative good news also. Keeping fingers crossed or you!

I got my AF today unfortunately, so that's 4 months down trying for first baby. Am sad, but still trying to stay calm and mindful and focus on things I have to feel grateful for, and the opportunity to enjoy child-free married life with new DH. Onwards and upwards.

Wow..so much has happened lately! Congratulations@karryk and @turquoiseturtle
@sheshootssheimplores.. welcome and so sorry to hear of your experiences..wishing you the success you deserve x
@Constance1234..tentative congrats ..fingers crossed for this! x
@CritterTamer.. I was going to leave this thread once for all for about the 3rd or 4th time but something made me hang around and I'm glad I did as I have now got the chance to hear about your twins' birth! Wow, what an entrance! So glad you and your beautiful twins are ok now after your ordeal. Gorgeous names! Huge congratulations and a big hug xx

Mimosa - I've not heard of famara, is it prescribed or can we just buy it online (you know me, I'd try anything🤣)

The clomid cycle was a bit crap for me, ovulation was delayed and a bit odd (temp rise came ages after peak opk) I suspect the prepared follicle turned into a cyst, which apparently can happen with clomid.
This current cycle has been good so far. Ovulation looks to have possibly happened yesterday, cd14 and 3 days after 2 strong days of +opk's, so thats better than my recent cycles.
I think ovulation can be weak, I've been reading up on it recently, it usually means you are releasing crap eggs so the corpus luteum can't be arsed to support it properly, resulting in short LP. My opk's have also been weak. So even though I have been ovulating, my overies are struggling and the eggs are crap.
I wonder if famara could help? Will look into it!
How is your current cycle going?

Critter - congratulations! Glad to hear everything is fine despite a very dramatic birth. Lovely names too.

Constance - tentative congratulations to you. I know how worrying it is but those symptoms you describe were all normal pregnancy symptoms for me so I wouldn’t presume that they signal a miscarriage.

Cleo- I’ve not got any results yet. I’m going for a scan next week so I’m going to make an appointment with my gp after that to get the results of both. How are you? How are things after clomid? I’ve been looking at ovulation induction drugs online, have you heard of Letrozole(aka Femara)? Apparently it’s similar to clomid but has less side effects and works better. I’ve been wondering if I need something like this. I know you’d talked about ‘weak ovulation’ and I wonder about this too. What exactly IS weak ovulation? Don’t you either ovulate or not?

@CritterTamer congratulations and blimey that was quite an entrance into the world for you little ones.. but rest up and try to take it easy... sending lots of love lovely lady 💕 beautiful names and pics soon
@Constance1234congratulations xxx

Gosh sorry I don’t know why that posted again! Is there a way to remove a double post?

@CritterTamer, many congratulations and thank goodness you were in hospital when that happened. What a wild ride! Wishing you all the best.

@cleozeta no cysts found on that initial scan just a small follicle and no corpus luteum.

@hmmm123 The chap I am seeing was recommended to me by a friend. I can message you his details if you are near London? It cost £400 for the initial appointment and scan, and £150 for follow up appointments. So it’s not cheap, but I’m 41 so running out of time and just put it all on a credit card! He told me that you can get positive opks and not ovulate because your body is gearing up to ovulate so you get the surge but then for whatever reason it doesn’t actually happen. And the bbt rise could be because you are producing more progesterone than in the first half of your cycle but not enough to cause ovulation. Like I said if I hadn’t had the scan I really would have had no idea that things weren’t quite right! x