7 months ttc (cont of 6 months ttc)

Has anyone tried having sex every other day throughout cycle (between periods)? I feel like maybe I need to give this a go.

Ooooh interesting!

I've also just read a study that suggests "indeed a scientific paper has cited 77 clinical studies and articles arguing that male fertility can be effectively boosted by specific male fertility yoga poses"
Apparently some yoga poses affect blood flow in a way that can stimulate sperm production and improve sperm count! Get OH involved too!!

Thanks @Swifty2 I like yoga so Im going to look into some fertility yoga! Worth a shot!

Im also going to order some fertility lube today, it's expensive but I thought well I need some lube in anyway so? Might as well just go for it!

Very interesting @swifty2, I also second the downdog app. It's great.

@seafrontsky after you mentioned yoga this morning I have just done a lovely restorative yoga practice that had lots of cat/cow in it. I thought I'd do some googling of yoga for fertility and just found this:
"In 2000 Dr Domar created a fertility program at the Benson-Henry institute for mind body medicine at Massachusetts general hospital and then researched the women who participated, which was published in the study 'Impact of group psychological interventions on pregnancy rates in infertile women'. She found that 55% of infertility patients became pregnant (and had a baby) within 1 year of participating in her 10-session program compared to a control group of 20%. This and many other studies indicate a positive relationship between yoga and other mind-body activities and fertility health"

Thought that might be interesting to some of you! I'm certainly going to do yoga more often!! I'd recommend an app called Down Dog which I have used before and it's currently available for free because of COVID-19!

@notyetamumbuttrying it was totally crazy. It makes me wonder how many of these symptoms I'd spot each month if I wasn't actively looking for them. Plus, I was on the pill for so long, I don't really know what normal af symptoms are for me.

Sorry, I don't think the link worked. It was a website called: five fertility secrets I wish I had known sooner.

@twinkletoes85 it's just supposed to help blood flow etc. I had been really good at doing them but got a bit lazy so they're back on my list of things for next month.
There's lots of articles on the internet like this one: raisedgood.com/five-fertility-secrets-wish-id-known-sooner/
I use the pukka castor oil.

I read that thread @Hoping41 "something moved in my stomach", I've heard of so many stories like that as well! Madness! My sister got pregnant whilst on the pill and she had diarrhoea so it didn't work...

@Seafrontsky ahhh thanks! I do have a tilted uterus- they told me when I had my ultrasound for pcos. I didn't know that that could cause anything! I'll give some yoga a go!

@Hoping41 I use castor packs, I really like them but never sure if they are doing anything and they can be messy!

@Swifty2 I've had a month or two like you describe. I have a tilted uterus and apparently you need to do lots of yoga (cat and cow poses are best) and moving generally to help the blood flow straight out and not pool in the tilt. Any brown blood is blood from months before so it's good to get it out. Maybe try that and see if it changes?

@Hoping41 you're so right about symptom spotting! Af came for me yesterday but now I'm super confused because (sorry if tmi) but it's a really dark colour and sortof sticky and it's very light which isn't something I've seen before, it's completely out of the ordinary for me! But then with the weird late ov maybe this cycle is just a complete freak!
Because this cycle has been different I can't stop worrying about it! Has anyone had any experiences with dark periods? What does it mean?

Hi ladies, you all seem to be doing absolutely everything you can do, fingers crossed everything goes well for this getting tests done and those waiting on af hope she stays away!!
I just moved house and started a (really) stressful job at the beginning of the year, just when we decided to start trying. So I can imagine that those things combined haven't helped my stress levels much, even if I don't see them physically I know mentally, im super stressed. Now there added guilt that I haven't been able to conceive which is.putting yet more stress/pressure on myself. Goodness this road is not an easy one!!

I got my tests after 6 months because of my age.

And I know we're all massive symptom spotters, right from 1dpo for me actually! Has anyone read the thread 'something moved in my stomach . . .'? It has to be the complete opposite story from us!!

I think we've managed to create a group of people who are all in exactly the same mindset. It's so nice to hear the same thoughts from everyone. My OH and I started the journey with a 'let's see what happens' approach and the more it doesn't, the more stressed I become. I'd really like to go to the fertility clinic to see if there is a reason but OH isn't even keen for that.
My acupuncturist also told me to do castor oil packs for the first half of the cycle. I'm terrible at remembering and I now have an oily stain on the sofa but it is really relaxing. Is anyone else doing that?
Fingers crossed for us all this month 🤞
And I do know 2 people who conceived as soon as they 'gave up' so the relaxing thing must be something to do with it. Just blooming hard! 1 was told by drs she'd never conceive naturally and then got pregnant next month. Other tried for 2 years, gave up and changed career and got pregnant first month. No help to us but also hope that it can happen when you really don't think it will!

They were strict with me @Fifol! I have to wait 3 more months and I'm 34!
I'm on my 9th month @jessmcg. Are you over 35? Is that why you were able to get tests done already?

@notyetamumbuttrying I’m a bit of an over thinker and planner, so from around 6/7 months I started reading up on stuff as I started to panic (and watch all my friends get pregnant around me, usually first time!). I’m on my 10th month this month... you?

Good luck to you all expecting af I hope she doesn't show.

I haven't thought about ivf at all yet. Maybe I'm being naive but I have to believe it will happen naturally and that it's totally normally for it to take a year.

@jessmcg @Tilly1403 I think it was you who mentioned blood tests and semen analysis, how did they come about it you're trying less than a year? Sorry for asking straight out just wondering as I thought the year thing with docs was pretty strict!

Ahh it's so tough isn't it @Twinkletoes85! Hope she doesn't come for you tomorrow! Thank you, will keep you posted on mine.
@jessmcg thank you, I have everything crossed for you too! Sounds like you really are prepared then. I still need to read about iui as I only know what ivf is. I never thought I'd be getting to this kind of point but I need to be realistic as I don't think I can go through this for another 12 plus months. I'll see what the next 3 months bring first and try and take it month by month. How long have you been ttc again?

@notyetamumbuttrying I’m crossing all my fingers and toes for you that this is your month! I know exactly where you’re at. It’s getting worse and more crushing as the months go on.
I’ve absolutely thought that far ahead! I spend my days reading about IUI and IVF but am yet to make a plan on when I pull that trigger. I think this week’s results will mean my OH and I sit down and make a plan on how we want to tackle this. In my mind I think I’m willing to give it June, July & maybe August but then I need to do something different. Depending on what the results say we might give IUI a go and then if that doesn’t work, IVF. I always said I wanted to try naturally for as long as possible but frankly it’s so crushing for me mentally I don’t think I can cope for another year of trying.

Oh I feel exactly the same tbf @jessmcg!! If my period comes on Friday I'm gonna be pretty crushed! I feel like it will as I have my usual pms symptoms. I know they're the same as pregnancy ones but I can't get my hopes up again, it's too crushing every month. Ttc is really taking its toll now! I don't know how ppl do it for years?! I think I'll only go as far as 18 months and then try ivf. Have you thought that far ahead yet?