TTC #2

@LemonBitter I can really relate to the feeling of wishing your life away, and I find it really tough planning anything in the future and thinking ‘well what if I can’t do that because I’m pregnant’ or ‘we might have a newborn then so we better wait and see’

@NattyPeer seems like our cycles are matched up haha, I'm the same so desperate for a sibling now and feeling guilty they don't have one yet 😔

@Mummio92 it feels like it's really dragging and it's hard not to wish your life away wanting to get to the next fertile window!!

@NattyPeer ewcm comes in the lead up to Ov so it’s a good sign that you are fertile and should get down to business! Unfortunately I don’t seem to get much of it so have started taking evening primrose oil this month which supposedly helps 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yeah in order to officially confirm Ov has happened you’d be looking for 3 temps that are higher than the previous 6 by about 0.2 degrees or so so for e.g. if you’re usual BBT is around 36.45 then once Ov happens it might jump to 36.65 or higher. Usually the apps will let you know though.

@LemonBitter Hey! It’s really tough when it doesn’t happen as fast as you’d like isn’t it. I expected it to take a while since we were about 8 cycles first time round but even still I’m getting impatient. And yep I feel like everyone I know is pregnant!
I’m sure you haven’t left it too late though, will just be a matter of time.

Hey all glad to see this thread. TTC #2 and just had AF arrive so that's me out this cycle. Struggling a bit mentally with this one as we were lucky enough to conceive straight away with our first (who is now 5) but we are on cycle 7 now and nothing seems to be happening.

I'm 36 and worried I've left it too late, we always said we would wait til our little one was at school before we tried again due to money / jobs / life but now we've decided we want another one I'm struggling with how long it's taking and thinking it might not happen. Doesn't help that our 5 year old is constantly asking for a sibling and I keep seeing pregnant people everywhere.

Anyway rant over - how's everyone doing?

@Blue2020 @Sevillegarden Welcome! Great to have more of us in the same boat.

@NattyPeer As Blue mentioned, BBT only confirms that you have ov’ed so once you get the temperature rise you wouldn’t be fertile anymore, that’s why it’s useful to use OPKs as well (or monitoring CM).
The month just gone I had a sickness bug right when I was about to Ov and it must’ve delayed it happening, but fortunately the lack of temperature rise clued me in so we continued dtd until I actually Ov’ed a week later than expected. Without temping, we’d have likely timed things wrong and also I would’ve mistakenly thought my period was late and gotten hopes up ( I personally prefer period arriving than seeing the blank white preg tests!)
I think the probably the best thing to make sure you hit the fertile window is to dtd every other day between end of period and temp rise.

@NattyPeer yes the mmc was hard. It was my first pregnancy so I had a false sense of security thinking getting pregnant = baby. I was in for a shock. I didn’t enjoy my second pregnancy until after 20 weeks because I was convinced I would just lose it again. The only positive I take from it all is that I wouldn’t have ds (as he is) if I didn’t have the mmc because I conceived him three months later.

@Xxfifixx89 congratulations, I hope it all goes well for you. It’s great to hear it has happened quickly for you.

@NattyPeer I used easy@home lh tests and also bbt. I knew I usually ovulated around day 18 so from day 12 I did the lh tests twice a day. Then bbt was mostly to confirm I had ovulated, I found bbt easier and less time consuming than the ovulation tests because it was just checking at 6am each morning. Also I enjoyed seeing the graphs in the fertility friend app.

I am really glad I did the lh tests though because the month I conceived I didn’t ovulate until day 24. I don’t usually ovulate late but I had a sore throat at the start of my cycle so maybe that delayed it? I don’t know, but if I had not have used the lh tests I wouldn’t have ds now. We usually dtd until I see ewcm and then just assume ovulation occurs (which also happens around day 17/18) and then we don’t dtd after that. That cycle when I was late the ewcm was at the right time, and then I didn’t ovulate until 6 days after that.

Hey 👋 I'll hop on if you'll have me! I'm 36, have a 19 month old and hoping to have another. Haven't been actively TTC until this cycle but also haven't been preventing pregnancy for a good few months.

I'm breastfeeding and had my first postpartum period in January and have had 3 since then - although they're looking more regularish as time goes on. Last cycle was 33 days and I'm now on CD18. No idea if I've ovulated but I'm feeling a heaviness in my lower abdomen/pelvic area which feels familiar now I come to think of it!

Tried using easy@home OPKs but haven't had my peak yet. Have somehow managed to make the most of this fertile window although I'm sure my enthusiasm will wane at some point 🫣

Good luck to us all ✨

Aww good luck. I stopped my mini pill 11/12 weeks ago after 10 years on it and found out yesterday tgat I am pregnant so shocked so soon and and at my age. Good luck and I wish you lots of baby dust xx

We have just started ttc2, only just stopped the mini pill a few weeks ago though. So taking the relaxed approach for a few cycles to get used to them again. Last time I tracked my cycles after a mmc so I might do that in a few cycles time.

@NattyPeer Are the clearblue OPKs the smiley face ones? If so, I haven’t used those, I use the easy@home ones with the lines. On those, once the test line becomes as dark or darker than the control line then that’s the ‘peak’ (equivalent to a static smiley on CBs) and you should Ov something like 12-48hrs later. Exactly how soon after will be different for everyone but you can confirm by temping, so for me I will usually Ov the day after a peak OPK.
As I understand it, 2 days before and 1 day before ovulation are the most fertile but best to keep dtd until Ov is confirmed by the temp rise.
I’ve recently read the book ‘taking charge of your fertility’ that’s often recommend on mumsnet and that suggests that the most significant factor in determining whether you’re fertile is cervical mucus so when it’s egg-white consistency or thin, clear & very wet then you should dtd as much as poss!

Hope that’s not information overload lol- if you can’t tell I’m pretttty desperate for another baby 😅
How old is your first child?

@NattyPeer Yes sounds like you won’t be far behind me

I use the premom app and have an easy@home thermometer which auto logs the temperatures and OPKs that can be read by the app too so that makes it all straightforward.
I usually take a reading around 6:30am as it has to be as soon as you wake up and before you move or do anything (and the same time each day).

Do you do anything at the moment to track cycles?

@NattyPeer
Yeah always nice to be able to talk to other people going through it at the same time.

I’m right at the start of a new cycle so I guess in about two weeks time I’ll be back at 2ww but could be more like 3 weeks- temping has been invaluable for knowing when I’m actually ovulating so I don’t miss the fertile window but I’ve only started in the last two cycles.

Are you still waiting to see if af comes?

Thank you. Very early days so afraid to get excited yet. Fingers crossed for you xxx