TTC Thread #2

@Dogscanlookup oh no I'm so sorry AF arrived!

You could say I've tried clear blue 😂 I've spent at least £50 on this cycle using them as I ended up having to buy 3 boxes due to abnormal really long cycle! We were planning on doing the SMEP method so I bought the pink ones where you don't get a flashing, just a static. But then I read you're more likely to miss the surge with those so you have to test morning and evening, which is why I went through 40 in one cycle 😱 not making that mistake again!

Anyway, I'm babbling again. In my experience the blue advance ones which you have are really good. I wouldn't use anything else because I like how clear it is, you don't have to try and work it out. However lots of ladies on this thread prefer the test sticks which are a lot cheaper, so if you don't get on with CB its worth giving those a try.

Unfortunately I am well seasoned in this world, so ask me anything and I'll do my best!

@Dogscanlookup it's so hard not to 'symptom spot'. Most months I think I notice a couple of 'symptoms' and then every time AF arrives. Then I feel like such an idiot! I think it's because we're super aware when TTC!

@JTB123 how did you get on this morning?? 🤞

@Dogscanlookup sorry I should have added mine was pink last month too. Just brown this month though

Hi @Dogscanlookup an evap line is when a faint line is there but it doesn't have any colour. This type of line can't be classed as a positive result

I have also seen mixed reviews for FRERs too - most people on here seem to swear by them but there also seems to be a lot of anxiety around them because they are so sensitive.

I'd be mindful about getting too excited about implantation bleeding too - I was caught out by that last month because I was spotting at 9DPO. Again this month I currently have a little brown blood (Sorry tmi) on 9/10 DPO. If you google this the first thing that comes up is implantation bleeding, but I know it's not because it happened like this last month, then AF arrived.

Sorry I don't mean to be pessimistic! I really hope for you it is implantation bleeding, its just really easy to get carried away and then be so disappointed when AF arrives!

@JTB123 oh no, hopefully just a faulty test! I love how you didn't end up waiting until the morning to test... I would have been exactly the same if I thought there was a possibility I was late!

I suppose test again tomorrow if no AF?

@JTB123 I'm on CD47 which is longer than usual, but I was expecting AF on Friday because of the OPK smiley. On to the next month I suppose

How long have you been tracking for?

So AF is on its way already, at 9DPO. But on a much longer cycle than usual, so no idea what's going on.

@Bramleyapples13 that must be stressful, I'm sorry you're having to deal with that. I'm glad the docs will refer you after a year though.

I suppose the wait is to save money - there's no reason on paper why we aren't conceiving, and we've shown that we can conceive, so compared to lots of others we're not a priority case

Hi @Bramleyapples13

Sorry, this is a very long post...

We have recently moved from England to Scotland, and I have to Scotland has been much better.

Basically we had been TTC for nearly a year in England (I may have gone slightly sooner and told them it was a year 😳). They did blood tests which came back clear except high levels of prolactin. So they booked me in for a scan. I then got pregnant, which didn't last, and they wouldn't go back to my tests in England because I 'could conceive'. My husband also had sperm analysis which started in England, and they came back with low morphology.

Then we moved to Scotland in January, and they started all tests again from scratch, even mine which the docs in England weren't going to bother doing after I conceived. They retested my DH and his tests again came back low morphology, so that's what got us the referral to the fertility clinic (referral was a few weeks before lockdown).

We had a video consultation during lockdown, where they just asked us general health questions and talked it all through with us. The consultant wasn't concerned with low morphology results, and said we would not be receiving any treatment until it has either been 2 years of TTC (it has for us) OR 2 years since a pregnancy. So because we have had losses, they won't even consider ivf until next september. Had we not have had them, we would be getting on the waiting list now. So just because you get a referral, it does not mean you get treatment.

Having said that, they have been very good in their checks for both of us. I had a scan and further bloods yesterday, I'll have more bloods next cycle and that completes all their checks.

It seems the fertility clinics are picking up again now. They were only allowed one patient in at a time, so you wait in your car until they call you in. I wasn't allowed my partner in, but that didn't really matter.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get you an overview of our experience so you can have an idea of what to expect! What's your situation, if you don't mind me asking?