Preconception planning - anyone want to join?

@Lollipop87 the lady rescheduled for next Friday but I think I'll call her in the morning and see if she can fit me in tomorrow. She wanted us to abstain if AF didn't show just incase my cycle was all over the place and I got pregnant now 🙄

Sounds like a lovely evening. My brother's girlfriend is having a baby in November...I can't wait to meet my first neice... already got 4 nephews from older siblings.

@butterfly5291 hooray! Did your MRI get rescheduled because it was late?

Glad I’m not the only one that’s had a bad week food-wise, I had a fairly healthy dinner (chicken, new potatoes & salad) but I’m now having a G&T and a few squares of dairy milk!

@JamesZebra that’s a good attitude to have, I always just say to myself that I can’t change what’s done and tomorrow will be a better day...and you know what, it usually is! Xx

p.s. just fed my 13 month-old niece her dinner, gave her a bath and put her to bed while my sister meets her friend for a drink and it made me soooo broody! Can’t wait to give her a little cousin 🥰

Woohoo AF just turned up! Bring on the next cycle! And I can now have a drink this weekend!

@CookieMonster3001 and @Lollipop87 I had a day like that yesterday - once I started eating I couldn't stop. I was like the hungry Caterpillar

I ate ALOT of Cheetos, a chicken bake from gregs then a choc caramel shortbread, more cheatos.......then a waffle with Biscoff spread on it and another with Nutella on it and a bowl of pasta with loads of cheese on for dinner Needless to say I HAVE to behave myself today that was about a weeks worth of calories haha!
Felt really fed up after my binge and then went into a spiral of self pity because I get worried this is never going to happen. We have been NTNP for ages and nothing has happened so I think I am just freaking out that something is wrong. However I think its probably natural to have days like that and I am feeling much more positive today.

@Lollipop87 if it makes you feel better, I've just eaten 3 lindt balls (the caramel ones pop in your mouth and are AMAZING) along with an entire giant bag of prawn crackers... LOL

Aww that sounds like a good book to read. I can't imagine how hard it must have been back in the day. My mum always tells me stories about having 4 miscarriages and no one in her family understanding what they were or why they happened. Her mother in law thought she was cursed because of it and because she kept getting pregnant with girls.

Great charts ladies! @CookieMonster3001 that’s exactly how my energy patterns have been going, glad I’m not just going crazy! I’ve already had 3 slices of bread today, think this week is a write-off and I should just start again next week 😂

I’ve been reading a book (fiction this time) called Inconceivable that’s about a couple trying to get pregnant, it’s so funny as it’s based on diaries from her perspective and his perspective and you get the typical male/female views of things. It’s fairly old (from the late 90s I think) so I feel sorry for the woman that she doesn’t have a lovely group to chat to online and has to write to a made-up imaginary friend! I’m hoping it has a happy ending and that they do have a baby, in it the couple have been trying for 5 years without seeking medical help which is just madness!!

@CookieMonster3001 @queenatom your charts are so good! I literally wish I was organised enough for this lol!

@queenatom your chart is looking good! Hopefully it will lengthen out, but at least you can clearly see ovulation is occurring!

I cant stop eating today. Someone please cut my hands off!

Lovely chart, @CookieMonster3001 and very impressed with your timing skills! Mine attached in case anyone is interested - it's very satisfying being able to see the biphasic pattern as you say. Less satisfying staring at that short luteal phase ...

@CookieMonster3001 ah sorry I think I read @queenatom post about NTNP and thought it was you as you were tagged in it my bad completely. Makes total sense with the plan re the bridesmaid dress. Loving the graphs and organisation :) super impressed with the amount of research and shows it works :) x

@mackjm20 I'm excited for you about NTNP! I wish my OH was into that, I wish I was more into that but part of me thinks oh crap what if I get pregnant sooner and then I don't fit in my bridesmaid dress (stupid thought I know!!) although we may do this in October just to see what happens.

@Nate1 I think I would want to try and wait until after my period is late before testing but I know these things are easier said than done! I said I was going to wait till Aug/Sept to do OPKs and here I am a month later and already knee deep in it haha

@butterfly5291 I am so sorry to hear about your cycle, fingers crossed they regulate soon and that AF comes quickly so you can get your MRI done! Must be frustrating being in limbo.

@Lollipop87 lol your OH sounds like mine!! I have heard that the week before you ovulate/after your period and the week before your period/after you ovulate you are the most energetic and the week of your period and ovulation is when your energy dips. I have defo found this to be true. Yesterday I was struggling so hard! Me and OH went for a walk in the evening and I was huffing and puffing after 10 minutes!

My AF showed up in the middle of the night (usual for me, I never start during the day, always at night!) and bang on time for when I predicted ovulation this month. Decided to override the function on my FF app, and glad I did!

As promised, I have attached a pic of my temping graph from a full month of accurate tracking (setting an alarm and everything!) and its good to see a nice biphasic trend going on, you can clearly see 2 sets of temperatures with a corpus luteum dip at 6DPO and then a slow decline in temperature leading to my period.

Next months project will be to do a full batch of OPK tracking starting from CD8 or 9 until the LH surge has tapered off and I can see clear ovulation on my graph.

Can you tell I have been spending a lot of time researching!

@butterfly5291 I'm in the same boat as you with not really knowing what my cycles doing. I had my coil out on 14th of July and I've had 2 lots of 2 days worth of period but not had proper AF since. I have found it quite stressful not knowing. I feel like I don't even know how long I need to wait for AF to arrive.

@Nate1 that's really good that they've been so clear about it with the staff at your school. I'd feel awful if I webt back and then had to leave my class straight away but I'm not really sure that I want to have the conversation with my headteacher before there is an actual pregnancy and not just the hope of one.
Sorry to hear that you're worrying about PCOS. Hope you get some answers soon either in the form of AF or a positive test.

@butterfly5291 ah ok, just annoying then that no AF! Fingers crossed it comes soon.

Now I’ve had 3 cycles of 27 days my Clue app has re-calculated my future cycles which is good because now I can look ahead and my fertile windows and AFs are accurate. Just told DH “good news, my cycles are nice and regular” and he was like “oh good, how do you know that all of a sudden?” so I said my period had started and he went “FFS, cry me a river that’s not good news!” He did try and come onto me in his sleep so maybe he’s a bit horny 😂

Some of you were saying you’d either not felt motivated with exercise or found it harder in the days leading up to AF, do you think that’s a hormone thing? I was super on it last week doing a workout most mornings but this week I’ve not done a single one as I just can’t get motivated to do it! I’ve also been hungrier. So interesting learning about our bodies off hormonal contraception isn’t it!

@butterfly5291 so sorry that it sounds abit Of a worrying wait. I hope you get the answers you are looking for soon :) and are able to get your mri sorted :)

@Lollipop87 that is good news :) and with an early September af not long to wait now :) hope the phone call with the dr goes well :) so good that your cycle has really settled as that will help so much :) my last 2 have been 29 days hoping this one is the same to show a proper pattern :)

@butterfly5291 I would be over the moon, but I'm not pregnant...I've used the first response early response tests and absolutely zero. I also have no symptoms at all. My temp isn't steadily climbing...it's fluctuating....just above the cover line.

@olderthanyouthink good luck for your blood test! If it’s any consolation the lady who did mine was so good I hardly felt it going in! I guess when all you do all day is stick needles in people’s arms you get pretty good at it!

@mackjm20 yeah it was annoying but just glad it’s done. Thanks for asking, he’s just waiting for a phone appointment with the docs to confirm. So according to my cycle I would have an early September AF and then we would start TTC. The good news is my cycle seems to be a regular 27 days now as 27 days from last AF would be today and my last one came on as soon as I woke up - same thing happened today which is great as one less thing to worry about.

@butterfly5291 sorry to hear about your cycle, fingers crossed it regulates soon. If you are pregnant would that worry you in terms of the MRI and not being able to have it or would you still be over the moon?

Good Morning :)

@Pebbleinthesand yes I thought about that too :( I feel like normally it would bother me because I would actually like to keep it to myself and hubby for a while but under COVID circumstances I think I might tell close family (mum and dad/maybe brothers) very soon anyway because I don’t want to lie to them about going to work and other stuff that comes up and I‘m not able to do because I should keep some extra distance if there is a second wave.. We were told that we must tell our headmaster as soon as we know (not even to wait for the doctors appointment) so there’s no wrigle room for me.

@olderthanyouthink I feel you with getting some more calories in. I find it helpful to try to build some muscles (low key :D) and eat lots of plant based fats like avocado etc. Muscles have helped me gain on or two pounds I guess or maybe that’s just wishful thinking haha :D

Hi everyone,
I'm in a different position to most of you and actually jealous that you were all patient enough to let your cycle settle before you start trying.
Quick recap on my situation...coil out 4th July...no idea what my cycle is. I started tracking using OPKs and BBT and moved to app fertility friend.
According to my bbt I ovulated on 21st July...my temp dipped before then increased and dipped around 8dpo which could be an implantation sign and since then my temp has increased and stayed above the cover line. This bbt trend could be a sign of pregnancy so I have been taking tests past 5 days..since 11 dpo...all negative and still no sign of AF. So I'm in no man's land if not pregnant but no AF and 16 dpo.
I shouldn't be letting myself worry but I am as long luteal phase can be a sign of PCOS which my Dr think I have a touch of.
I can't have my MRI until I have a period either... apparently negative pregnancy test isn't enough to prove I'm not pregnant.
Anyway my point for you ladies is definitely start tracking your cycle as soon as you can and stop using hormonal contraception a few months before you TTC to let your body settle so you don't go crazy like me.

@Lollipop87 I thought your plan was after August af? Has your dh had the all clear from the docs yet? Fingers crossed like you said that the idea of taking the pressure off might help :) Omgosh so rubbish that you had to wait so long!

@olderthanyouthink Omgosh I am not telling dh that he will ban all dairy hahaha! Hope your blood test goes okay xxx

Well done @CookieMonster3001 getting out there is the part I fall down on 

@mackjm20 I read some thing about if you eat lots of dairy you're more likely to have twins (also if breastfeeding), half our fridge is dairy (and DD is glued to my boobs) so DP panicked when I told him

For testing early I tested 2 weeks after the contraceptive failure and because my periods were so wonky I think that was "early" as when I went for my 12 week scan booked from my last period DD was still too small. I can't remember but might have been a week out, the internet cheapies were very strongly positive.

I spoke to a GP today, being sent for a blood test but as I'm so needle phobic I need DP to come and basically hold me down and he's only available one day a week and I can't do next week so I have to wait a week and a half. She wasn't impressed with putting it off till then but has also prescribed numbing cream. No idea what we're going to do with DD as she won't like to see my freak out but there's no one to look after her.

I looked at meal shakes to help add in extra calories buuut would get expensive, an extra £45-60 per month for a few months and then would probably need to keep on it but a lower amount to keep the weight on

@Nate1 I might have to look into that. I imagine it might be mentioned in the inset days at the beginning of term but I may have to speak to my head if I'm already pregnant by then. How do you feel about everyone at work knowing straight away if you weren't able to be in school? This does bother me a bit but at the end of the day I don't think it'd bother me too much, maybe just that some work acquaintances would know before close family.

Also with regards to testing early I think I tested one or two days before my period was due with DD

@wrensandrobins totally know what you mean about not being able to focus on any other part of your life, I think if DH could see inside my head he’d freak!! 😂

@Nate1 that’s good about your school, @Pebbleinthesand maybe yours will bring in a similar thing for pregnant women, or have they already said otherwise?

Lots of you doing NTNP now/soon which is exciting! I really want to try and talk DH into doing that straight after August AF but I’m not sure he’ll be up for it. Maybe I’ll go with the line about taking the pressure off as that might sound good to him. I went for my blood test today for the rubella immunity, I think the results get sent from my GP’s surgery by text or maybe they’ll ring me. It was at my local hospital but I it was a walk-in system where you take a ticket, had to wait for an hour and a half! Regarding testing early, although I too am an “impatient woman” I think I’d try to wait until around my period was due because it can often be negative only to be positive a few days later so at least you save yourself some disappointment and some money!

@Nate1 I think you can test up to 6 days before with first response? I would try not to but know I would lol!

It’s so exciting isn’t it! He thinks I’m mad when I tell him the bits I read but I have found it so good! Glad that he has been listening even if it’s to take the piss of me haha!

Heyho:) sooooo keeping my mind off off babys obviously doesn‘t work for me..every other evening I find myself peeking in here to see what you‘re talking about. Anyway healthier than googeling pregnancy tests I guess:D btw what do you think about testing before expected period? I won’t do it I guess but wondering what you ladies think :)

@Pebbleinthesand My school just told everyone that pregnant staff isn‘t allowed to teach/work in school which does calm me in regards to a second wave and 1st triemester symptoms..

@mackjm20 Love it that you had a good laugh with your husband about the bible:D

I totally feel you all with the baby fever but seems like a lot of us are „ttc“ earlier as expected so yay for us!!

@Lollipop87 all being well think I will be joining you with August now being my last ‘non trying’ AF fingers crossed. DH and I sat down this afternoon and have agreed to “not try but not prevent” from 1 September :) @CookieMonster3001 similar to you in that I will obviously know when I will be roughly ovulating so I will class as tcc although DH has said he would rather not know to reduce the pressure.

We laughed about all the ‘crazy’ I’ve been spouting from the bible and he said he doesn’t want to know what temperature I am (although I haven’t personally been doing any monitoring). Also said their better not be a way to plan twins in the bible lol!

In my head as original plan was sept then maybe dec this gives us a good 4 month window to give it a go. If nothing happens by Jan I’m defo going to take a break for my 30th and then maybe actively ttc after March.

But eeek excited to start “not trying not preventing” next month!