7 months ttc (cont of 6 months ttc)

@jessmcg it strangely does feel a bit better to not be the only one going through this. Having spent the last 17 years trying to avoid getting pregnant it feels insane to have spent the last 10 months trying but not succeeding. I'm pleased your bloods have come back ok. I understand that frustration though as you kind of want something to 'blame'. I had bloods done a while back to look at my hormones (before TTC) so I asked my GP to look at those and tell me if anything then might be impacting things now. He also said it all looked fine, sufficient progesterone to support pregnancy etc. I asked for the figures themselves but they said the tend to just give out the interpretation otherwise people can get bogged down with things. I had an ultrasound a few years back which showed a couple of cysts on one ovary but I got a wooly explanation about that and how it's fairly regular and shouldn't effect anything but they know I haven't got PCOS. I guess having to trust the GPs interpretation is what is making me a bit anxious, I'm a control freak so would rather know it all and do my own research! I think a mopey day is in order but I do like your attitude of giving yourself space for that today and then back to motivated from tomorrow! What day of the month do you usually ovulate? Now AF has arrived I just want to fast forward the next two weeks to get on with it!
I have been temping, for the first week or so my sleep was disturbed and I was worrying about timings and waking up early etc but now I just do it when i wake up and if it's an hour out then so be it. It hasn't effected much with my readings as you're just looking for an overall pattern, low half the month and higher half the month. I use temping along with opks so it's kind of just an indicator so I know what might be going on. I think those of you that are finding it stressful are where I was at the beginning of temping but it does get a bit easier if you're going to persist with it

I did tempting last cycle I didnt take it exactly the same time every morning it might be an hour either way but I found it didnt change my reading at all! I experimented with it to see as well!

@Annny27 it's awful isn't it! I set an alarm to wake me up at 6am every day so I can read my bbt but if I wake up at 3am to go to the loo I worry that it will ruin my reading! I started not drinking anything for an hour before bed so I wouldn't need to get up in the night which is so ridiculous!

@Annny27 @Swifty2 I found that with temping but I got a Femometer which I find good as it can take your temp and load it into the app directly, meaning you can’t read the temp as it comes up on the thermometer. I don’t know why, but it means I haven’t fretted as much this month! Maybe worth trying if you can be bothered!

@Swifty2 I also found temping way to stressful! I would lie awake worrying about getting enough sleep for my records to be good and then worrying about what my temp would be haha

@jessmcg love that it's a supportive group! Just what I need! 

@Posy1 I'm not on metformin, my GP told me to try for 12 months without any help and if not pregnant in that time to go back and they will start suggesting things to try!

@Fez148 if you don't feel the need to temp then definitely don't, it just increases anxiety for me but now that I've started I find that I can't stop!! Whichever day you choose to test I have my fingers crossed for you! I'd always pick the later day because I have constant anxiety about testing too early!!

@Tilly1403 Thanks so much for your note and I’m so sorry for AF has arrived for you! I’m also going into month 10 so please know you’re not alone. I just never thought that this would be my situation and I have to say it’s a really hard nut swallow / crack! I’ve decided I’m having a mopey day today and then pick myself up tomorrow & move on. I took EPO and I had a bad reaction to it, but my bff says it has worked well for her in increasing CM. I’ve found something recommended by Taking Charge of your fertility called FertileCM which I’ve ordered online and is arriving on Tuesday. Here’s hoping.

Got my bloods back and everything normal (she actually said excellent!) except im slightly low for iron, but not in a concerning window. I’m almost disappointed that I don’t have something to work with! Totally the wrong attitude I know but I’m finding it hard not to have an ‘answer’.

@Swifty2 welcome to the group! It’s so supportive that we had to start a new thread from 6 months TTC 🤣

@Tilly1403 so sorry AF has arrived. I'm taking Evening Primrose oil, I take 1000mg with breakfast and 1000mg with dinner until ovulation. I can't say I've noticed too much difference yet though. Maybe this month will be different though

@swifty2 welcome. That sounds really frustrating. Hopefully this month was just a random longer cycle for you. 🤞 Are you on metformin to induce ovulation?

@Swifty2 up to after my mcs I always had irregular cycles - and I have never ever had a positive ovulation test. I've never tried temping either! But each cycle is still different for me, different symptoms. At the moment I'm trying to decide whether to test (for preg) on Sat or Sun - I believe af is due Wed or Thurs.

Hi All!

Please can I join?

This is our 7th month TTC. I have PCOS and my body confuses me every day! I usually have a 33 day cycle and O around CD 20.

This month I was super vigilant with dtd regularly between CD 14-25 but didn't get a bbt temp spike or a +opk at all...until CD 29!! I was expecting AF so we weren't being as vigilant dtd but we did it 5 and 3 days before O. Now I'm 4DPO and I have no idea what's going on I hate the waiting and the confusion!

Has anyone got any experience of big changes to O date? Any advice welcome!

@jessmcg I'm sorry AF arrived for you. She came for me this morning too my LP is usually around 10 days so I actually thought I was late when I got to 12dpo, did a test got BFN and then AF arrived today. The silver lining is that I think my LP has extended to around 13 days which is longer than it has been in the whole 9 months of trying but I'm gutted to be going into month 10. My best friend is texting me every morning about her morning sickness and how wretched she feels, and I'm struggling with my responses to this at the moment. We all definitely need to try and take care of ourselves through the disappointment stages and all of the waiting.
Have any of you taken evening primrose oil to increase cervical mucus? If so what dose did you take?

@Fifol @jessmcg so sorry that AF has arrived for you both. I think allowing yourself to cry and feel shit for a few days helps release some stress in a way. This TTC is an emotional headwreck, its difficult to try and just get on with it each month. Sending hugs.

@PinkFlamingoGirl what does the ava bracelet do? Sometimes when I hear of things that worked for others I think it's some sort of placebo effect but I'm open to that I don't mind tricking myself!!

I do the exact same I would like a break from tracking but then I know if I dont do it I might not know when i ovulated and i like knowing when af is due to manage my expectations!! I think I'm going to track this cycle but I'm going to try not to rely on the sticks and just use my body signals and then maybe take an opk break next cycle. I don't even want to talk like that as I never want there to be a next cycle!

It's so much effort this whole thing. Would love to just have regular sex and say when it happens it happens but I'm way too much of a control freak

@PinkFlamingoGirl yeah I was telling my OH to keep on taking them but he kept getting a bad stomach and just not feeling great. He is now taking some called Bud (it says to take 2 but I’ve told him to just take 1 as figure better than nothing) and they seem to be fine.

@Fifol @jessmcg sorry to hear AF has arrived. It doesn’t get any easier, if anything I find it gets harder! I really like the analogy of saying you are couple number 90 though, it’s a good way of thinking about it.

I also think I’d like a break from tracking. I’ve decided I’ll track up until cycle 12 so I’ve got solid info on my cycles before I see my GP, then sod it, I’m giving myself a break.

Morning all. Thanks for the messages and @Fifol whilst it’s crap I’m glad that we can commiserate together today! I started the day off with another BFN, AF starting about 10 mins later and then I’ve had two nice big crys to DH which is definitely the most I’ve ever had. I’m seeing family this weekend and one of my family members is pregnant with her third child - by the time she gives birth she will have 3 under 4. I’m so envious that she has it so easy and think I’ll struggle with having that around me this weekend to be perfectly honestly. She fell pregnant first month of trying each time and there’d been this nice joke that I’d have my first when she’d have her third. She’s due in a month now.

Anyway, blood tests should come back today and clinic on Monday and consult on Thursday and naturopath next weekend. I’ve got to pick myself up and try to keep going.

Morning:) 2dpo here and feeling hopefull!

@Fifol @jessmcg sorry that AF arrived:( I always have a good cry to my DH and then prepare my self for another. Bloody. Month 😪

@PinkFlamingoGirl I am very up and down too. Sometimes like "this month will be the month" and then other times like omg what if its years. I personally think that you can't do much more than have regular sex and I don't think an expensive ava bracket is going to help much more than opks so I'd save your money if I were you :)

@DSC1 my DH started taking wellman a month ago

@DSC1 out of curiosity what side affects did he get? My DH has been very reluctant taking them as he says they don't agree with him but he hasn't elaborated and I thought he was just talking rubbish because he couldn't be bothered to take them lol. Oops.

Morning ladies

@fifol and @jessmcg I'm sorry AF has reared her ugly head ☹️. One step closer to that BFP (sorry I know it's just so shit and nothing can help that disappointment). In terms of coffee @fifol I think you'll be fine as you are well under the 200mg. Obviously if it's something you want to try then go for it but like you say, it's something you enjoy that you're giving up which is deemed safe.

@Kitttycatt I hope you get your answer soon and I really hope it's a positive one. Limbo is torture. The things you have described seem like positive signs but the BFN are such a head f*CK.

I swear I am so up and down on this journey. From being super positive this is my month to googling things I can try for next month as I'm starting to doubt myself. It's awful!! I'm thinking of splashing some cash and getting an Ava bracelet for the next cycle. I'm like why the hell not. £250 is a lot of money but if it helps, it's worth it...awww and then the other half of me is like just stop doing everything and have a break from tracking. Why is TTC turning me into a crazy person 🙈😂. I mean can you get any polar opposite? Buy an AVA or just don't track lol. Also...I don't even know if I'm out or not!!

@Fifol and @jessmcg sorry to hear about AF, look after yourselves xx

@Kitttycatt being in limbo is the worst. One of my best friends tested negative with both her kids after AF was due and took a good few day’s to get a positive. Hopefully you will get an answer either way in the next day or so, it just feel so cruel when it’s like this.

I’ve asked my DH to start taking some supplements this month just to try and help, they are supposed to be gentler than Pregnacare for men (gave him bad side effects) so we will see if that helps at all.

Thanks girls. I dont even know how I feel I'm really trying to stay positive. I follow this fertility nurse on instagram and she always says assume you're couple no 90. So if about 90 out of 100 conceive within a year, assume you're couple number 90 and it should take the pressure off. So I'm going with that!

Doing a little more research into the caffeine thing, so I only drink one coffee a day and the pods I use have have 85 to 92 mg caffeine and one tea which has 11mg so overall I should be below the 200 mg per day that's allowed. If I thought it would definitely increase my chances I would do it but then I'm like I love that one coffee a day should I really cut it out if it's still within the recommended guideline of how much you can have! Dont get me wrong I want to be pregnant so so much but i also dont want to make myself miserable by denying myself a small pleasure!!

@jessmcg I'm right there with you! Hopefully this cycle is our one! Remind me what cycle this is for you? Its number 8 for me

@Kitttycatt hope you get an answer soon either way thats so frustrating

Sorry AF had arrived @Fifol and @jessmcg, look after yourselves this weekend. My body is planning tricks on me. My AF was due yesterday, didn't arrive, so this morning my temp spiked to the highest this cycle so I took another two tests to be sure and still BFN! I don't have the sore boobs that I usually get before AF, my nipples feel tender and I keep getting twinges on my left side but I've had them since ovulation. I just want to be able to move on and not stuck in limbo!

Morning All, AF is here so I’m now officially out. That cycle was a weird one though and yesterday has never happened to me before. Beginning to make me worry that something is wrong - glad I’m kicking off tests now. Xx

@fifol sorry af has arrived. But yes, Bfn is one step closer to bfp - hopefully once giant leap.
I have been trying to temp the past 2 days as I thought it might be useful but it's totally ruining my sleep. I keep waking up in the middle of the night (always less than 5 hours apart) thinking it's time to do it so the results address skewed and I'm exhausted. Does everyone else manage it successfully?

I was also reading about maca and thinking of buying some for oh if there is no bfp this month. Has anyone else heard of it/ tried it?