TTC 35+ Thread 8

@geriatric1234 @marvellouslymadmum thank you! It's been bloody horrendous! I don't feel any fitter at all than I did at the start, every km has been utterly vile! Which I guess makes it worth the £1800 I've raised! That's really great about the walking, MMM, keep it up! So much more civilised than sweaty breathless jogging. Do you live somewhere with nice places to go?

Sorry too busy to keep up atm. But now 6dpo and no symptom checking yet! Tho tbh I'm praying I get a tiny one implantation spot in 4 days or so and no symptoms before then! This I know such a tiny, tiny percentage of women get an implantation bleed

Ovia says period expected Fri but due to late ov that's crap, prenom thinks 8th, which makes more sense

Hope everyone else is hanging in ok!

Missed a few posts there while I was rambling!

@Noodella18 wow 100k is an amazing achievement, I'm sure your sister is very proud! We've just started taking big walks each day we've done 5.5k Monday and 6.9k yesterday so I'm pretty pleased with that. Just got to keep it up now!

@Twelvestars thank you, I do find that when reading messages we can take them a totally different way to they were ent too without the social queues etc it's so easy to misinterpret online!!

@Geriatric1234 I have had a look at my little
Stickies from the all Powerful cb ov thingamajig and they always seem to be way more feint than the cheapies - I actually did an internet cheaply on my second peak day this month just out if interest and it actually came up with a really dark strong peak which is very unusual but was way darker than the cb so I think because can measures two hormones it's more accurate but the lines won't necessarily show us mere mortals a lot, unfortunately.

@Kitekat81 that's a very positive little meme for the day, love it!

@KG1145 my dr google phd has been put on hold! So far in the car this morning I had a sniffly nose - brain 🧠 said - hmm, pregnant?
Then a woman selection to go in a million £ draw and I welled up - brain 🧠 said - hmm, pregnant?

IVE ONLY 5DPO!!! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
I've gone passed all these stages and usually pretty good at trying not to symptom spot and don't test unless late, however I seem to have developed new hope around the fact that my iron levels are now where they should be and my fsh levels appear to be that of a younger woman than myself 🙄 I need help 😂😂

Correction - started testing 2 days late LAST month. Not this one. Typing and walking not possible with my attention span 🤣

@Noodella18 Thank you - great intel! I did wonder if I messed it up by starting base testing two days late, so possibly this is actually the first proper month. If I peak tomorrow it’s probably just an errant early month.

Bummer you’re out this month but DAY-UMM GURRRL - 100k?!? That’s amazing! Well done! I’m just proud if I hit 10k steps...! And sending love and positive vibes to your sister! Xxx

@Loladoodle Apologies - I assume that was autocorrect: “tequila MAKES eggs”. continues pouring tequila on her shreddies

@sickofthisyear Ohhhhh good point! I’m using cb digital advanced where you get an O/flashing smiley/static smiley. I assumed it would just get progressively darker. Last month I got flashing smiley CD 12 and static CD 13, so as I’m in CD 9 it felt v early. But I guess it depends how many flashing days (lol) I get before static. But I wasn’t expecting flashing for a couple of days, so I guess it could just be a different pattern this month. Thank you!

@Kitekat81 ❤️

@KG1145 please keep giving us updates! It’s so exciting!! 🥂🥰

@geriatric1234 if it's just flashy it's not yet a surge right? I take flashy to mean that some lh is showing up but not loads (hence why some people will have flashy smileys for days on end. Even my static smiley wasn't that dark on the test strip, but the easy@home one did get much darker at the same time and the next 12hours so I think CB was right. Personally I do wonder if CB just has a lower threshold for a surge, and will give a static smiley at a certain % which doesn't necessarily mean a darker line than the control.

Agree with you that bodies take the piss whilst ttc. My cycle has been 30 days max since i got them back after having my daughter, but this month ovulation was late so looks like it will be 35 days! Have tested BFN on a FRER today (day 33 and 12dpo) so looks like i won't be successful this month :(

I've run 100km this month as a fundraising effort for Leukaemia UK (my sister is undergoing treatment at the moment) so I'm putting the late ovulation down to the shock to the system, as I'd only run 10km total over Jan and Feb and not much last year at all!!

@Misty84 I've booked treatment consultations with two clinics, one next week with a 'normal IVF' clinic in Glasgow which is geographically closer to me so would be a lot more convenient in that respect, and then one the following week with Create in Manchester, which is a pain in the bum geographically but might be a better treatment option for me and my good old low AMH. I'm going to keep an open mind and see what they both say, and then go with the one that is most positive about our chances.

@Kitekat81 Ah I like that photo 🙂
Just what I needed to see!
What are the details of your ivf appointments next month? Did you choose Create in the end?

Thanks @kitekat81 😊 I've joined a couple of other mn groups but not really posted. I'm rooting for you all on here so much I keep checking back!

It amazes me that there are so many warrior women out there quietly battling huge things each day including ttc struggles and we all just get on with it and mostly keep it to ourselves as its not spoken about so much. Also how we've taken control, had to resort to our our research and there's not much support from Drs and we're making changes. Its fab to have a group like this where there are like minded people also getting their PhD in googling weird and wonderful tips and tricks.

Morning ladies, hope everyone is feeling good today. I'm 10/11dpo today, had a slight temp drop this morning, not enough to rule me out completely but enough to mentally prepare me that I'm on my way out for this cycle. Oh well, glad I've got my ivf appointments lined up for next month.

I saw this meme on Facebook, bit cheesy but it reminded me of you ladies and our conversations so I thought I'd share it.

@KG1145 glad things are progressing well with your pregnancy so far! 😊

[quote Geriatric1234]@M4v3r1ck 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry!! 🦄 But also: DOOOO IIIIT 🤣

@Feanorous I swear our bodies take the pishh when TTC. Last month my clockwork period was 2 days late (I resisted testing because I prefer plausibly deniability rather than thinking it’s a CP) and I had SO MANY classic pg symptoms. Then AF appeared and was an absolute beeatch.

Now, i have Qs Oh Wise Women: I’m back to opk testing now and last month I got a flashing smiley on CD 11, today I got it on CD 9. I decided to take pics of the tests so I can use cheap sticks moving forward. Pics attached. Anyone got a clue how these are a) different and b) how this can be a surge??

The ones with wooden bg were taken today, the other one was yesterday. I think today looks fainter than yesterday tbh.[/quote]
Hi @Geriatric1234 - are you using the advanced ones with dual hormones? If so, i don't think that line corresponds to oestrogen (which is what flashing smiley picks up). That's the line for LH and should only get darker for static smiley.
I've looked at mine for a few months now (sorry my pics won't help as they're dry now) and that line got darker this month when I got static smiley on CD14 and confirmed with cheap OPK.
If you're using the the other ones then I'm less sure! I'd get DTD anyway if possible- any idea when you'd expect to ovulate?

@Geriatric1234 sorry I can’t help with the opks as I am generally just winging it (especially this month more so than ever!) but just wanted to say your attitude is amazing and I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying re ttc/motherhood! Can tell you are an author- you should have your own Column as an agony aunt also! Brilliant 👏

Ps tequila will ruin egg quality? puts tequila down

@M4v3r1ck 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry!! 🦄 But also: DOOOO IIIIT 🤣

@Feanorous I swear our bodies take the pishh when TTC. Last month my clockwork period was 2 days late (I resisted testing because I prefer plausibly deniability rather than thinking it’s a CP) and I had SO MANY classic pg symptoms. Then AF appeared and was an absolute beeatch.

Now, i have Qs Oh Wise Women: I’m back to opk testing now and last month I got a flashing smiley on CD 11, today I got it on CD 9. I decided to take pics of the tests so I can use cheap sticks moving forward. Pics attached. Anyone got a clue how these are a) different and b) how this can be a surge??

The ones with wooden bg were taken today, the other one was yesterday. I think today looks fainter than yesterday tbh.

Just wanted to say that you ladies are wonderful. @geriatric1234 your post made me smile! Such words of wisdom.

There are definitely pros and cons to conceiving later. I had moments or regret and anger too that we didn't start sooner. Having my first later than all my friends/family meant I had time to get a career established and pay off students debts first. We love to travel and took him on a few short backpacking trips when he was a baby which meant he'd travelled to 11 different countries by the time he was 2.5. There's no way I would have been able to do that if I'd had him in my mid 20s. Definitely pros and cons to each approach!

Keeping fingers and toes crossed for you all this month xx

@Marvellouslymadmum No you did not come across grumpy at all or anything. Thanks for sharing a bit about your story with your son. I really respect everything you’ve gone through.

I definitely did not mean it “like that”! I know better. But as I was typing out a response I had a hundred things happening in tandem and wasn’t fully focused plus the website is clumsy, so yeah...

Oh yes if ttc doesn’t eventually work out, I’m back to travelling and enjoying life with my husband without the pressures of ttc and ovulation tests and SA results as you humorously put it @thislittlebird this whole ttc planning is overwhelming on its own 😅 so one step at a time!

@Geriatric1234 well your DH needs to be less resistant like that! See at home we’ve finally managed to reach an agreement that suits both DH and I: “Happy wife, happy life” 😂

@M4v3r1ck I really agree that this place has been a godsend. It’s just such a privilege to be here with likeminded women, each with her own story, and sharing together this journey with its ups and downs! The urge is always greater to test, even when it doesn’t make sense to! 😂 Well I’m 3 days away from AF and I’m gonna hold off till then. The longest and toughest 3 days await me. When’s your AF due?

It's been an emotional week for me. But glad I let it all out. To the strong women here and to my ever so loving family - from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And if I do win the lotto tonight, I shall fund all our fertility treatments

@M4v3r1ck Don't worry, I was rediculous and did a test at 6dpo in the middle of the afternoon haha I don't know what I was thinking.

8dpo tomorrow and contemplating testing with FMU - still rediculous. I have no self control!

I honestly can’t think too far ahead or I will worry about all the things at once (as Geriatric said, there will always be something to worry about in future if this works out). One stage at a time and all that, so I try not to think too far ahead. My focus for now is on if I’m ovulating/how I can ovulate successfully in future/how his next SA is. Beyond that is a little overwhelming, but I know I’m possibly getting help in May. And if that doesn’t work, hopefully ivf later this year.

@Geriatric1234 I do love your positivity and pep talks they always make me smile! And I agree completely about autism, my son can be absolutely challenging and difficult but he is also an amazing young man.

@wj82 it's a very hard journey and we've all had times where we spiral and feel so very low but it's the ability to pick ourselves up and carry on that makes us the warrior women we are! We've all been there, for me I've been ttc for three years and I've had these moments a couple of times but I've managed to push through. Counselling may well be a good idea for you, it can certainly help and I don't think you would specifically need a fertility councillor I'm sure any one would do or maybe try the acupuncture a lot of people have recommended. Just try and remember that only a small percent of couples actually fall pregnant in the first year of ttc and that's at any age then a greater amount in the second year etc. Just because it hasn't happened yet it doesn't mean it won't. I completely understand the anxiety too, my partner and his son suffer badly and my son a little too and ttc can totally make it worse, definitely talk to someone.

On the autism side, I know Many many parents of autistic children and although we go through tough times (most parents do, ours are just usually more frequent 😂) those little things that they do that a Neurotypical child finds completely natural mean so much more and there's so much love to give and receive - it's mega challenging but mega rewarding

@Twelvestars no you're fine, I knew you probably didn't mean it 'like that' I'm sorry if my message came across a bit grumpy, I do tend to get on my high horse with autism. I completely agree about the pros and cons of ttc and having children at any age too! Well done you for talking yourself out of some of your anxieties too, that's a great achievement!! 👏🏻

And yes we would all be far better off money wise without the children. We have said that if we don't get anywhere with ttc we will take our time together and travel and live a lovely life

@Twelvestars As are yours! Though I’m pretty sure my DH would tell you to stop encouraging me (because I’m ALWAYS right and he’s resistant to that theory 🤣). Brilliant to hear how you’ve overcome that anxiety and liberated yourself as a result. Xx

@Kitekat81 Planning it as I type!!!! Though I don’t believe for a second we’ll still be here, it’s good to have plans! 🍹🥂🍻

@JessWi Mate! Yessss! 😉😉😉

@Geriatric1234 can we be friends?!?....my kinda woman!! Legend x