TTC#1 - Looking for Others in the Same Boat PART TWO THE SEQUEL WHERE WE ALL GET OUR BABIES???!

@MocktailMe I know it must be so nerve wracking and hard to keep the faith when you’ve been burned so many times. What is your “test date” for your clinic (as if you could wait until then 🤣 I certainly did not).

All is well with her thank you 🩷 exhausted but so happy xx

Oh @MocktailMe this is just the best news to read!! My postpartum self is genuinely in tears having seen this. I couldn’t be happier for you. Keeping everything crossed that this is your rainbow 🌈 💛 please keep us posted!!

@lavafield @CharLdn @Tater05 thank you so much for your well wishes. I hope all is well with you all?

@Waitingformiracle Huge congratulations on a safe arrival of your miracle baby girl!! Excellent news! I have also been thinking about you! wishing you a smooth recovery, take it easy - it does get better every single day!

@MocktailMe
How was your transfer?! How are you feeling? I am glad to hear you were in a top form for the transfer! Yay!

@Waitingformiracle huge congratulations ❤️ what beautiful news. Hope recovery improves be kind to yourself ❤️

@MocktailMe good luck for the next transfer and glad you’re feeling in good shape! Hope the exercise is helping you mentally too ❤️

Congratulations @Waitingformiracle ! I was thinking about you, so glad to hear she's arrived safely and I hope you're getting on ok in these early days, especially with a more difficult recovery. Listen to your body, it'll tell you if you've over done it 😅

@MocktailMe I'll be thinking of you on the 21st and have my fingers crossed! You're doing amazingly keeping such good care of yourself through everything, your mind and body will thank you for it xx

Hi ladies, I just wanted to let you know that our miracle baby girl arrived safely this day two weeks ago 🩷 I had an induction turned c section and the recovery has been more difficult than I expected but we are just so happy she is here and safe. I hope you are all keeping well! @MocktailMe I am thinking of you and hope that preparations for your next transfer are going well!

@MocktailMe Good to get your updates! I am in awe how resilient and strong you are, keep going! Adding blood thinners might be the thing you needed!? I know someone who failed to get pregnant for many years until she started taking blood thinners early. Wishing you all the best for your next transfer! ❤️

@WaitingformiracleYes, that was also a factor for my decision, inductions can escalate to emergency sections. And recovery from an emergency section is much more difficult as the body has already gone through the stresses of the induction

Thanks so much for sharing that @lavafield it’s really good to hear from someone who has been through it! I’ll certainly see if the consultant will give me his opinion even though I know they’re not allowed away us either way. I feel like there are such pros and cons for both. I also know that inductions can often end in sections and I’ve heard that recovery from an emergency section can be even worse than recovery from a planned section so it’s really hard to know what to do but I’ll try get a good steer today. I have heard that too about babies often not being as large as they estimated!

@Waitingformiracle good luck with your appointment! I remember having to decide at 36 weeks which method of delivery to choose. Consultants were all lovely and kept telling me either induction or a c-section but that natural birth was still possible if I wished so. It was very hard to decide so we just pushed and asked the consultants to just give me their honest opinion, and they said if they were me they would go for a section. They are not allowed to really say that and to influence such decisions, especially as sections put a financial burden on the NHS. But I am glad they did, and that sealed my decision. I wanted to take most risks upon myself instead of my baby taking any risks. BUT! Everyone I know including myself were told baby is growing big on scans, and then they were all born smaller than projected. Because of that part of me still wonders if I should have gone for a natural birth but on the whole I was very pleased with the predictability of the elective section and how calm and smooth all went. It feels really rough in the first week, I won’t lie, then after two weeks it was pretty much back to normal for me! Since this is probably my only child the wait period of at least one year until next pregnancy is not very relevant for me.

thank you such for the advice! I’m definitely taking it on board! 💖 I’ve supported a few friends through their TTC journey and now it’s my time, they’re all a little too busy with their children to pick up the phone as often as I did.
(on top of a very pushy mother who’s so desperate for grandkids she’s been harassing me since before I even met my husband, so no way am I discussing it with her!)

@MocktailMehope you’re doing okay and I’m genuinely hoping for the best for you. I’ve read some of the thread but not all of it as it’s quite long.

@charLdnand @Waitingformiraclecongratulations on your pregnancies! I’m so happy for you both! 💖 they really are a blessing.

I’ve got the clear blue ovulation tests, and am testing daily at the moment to try and build up a picture, I figured that it would take a few months to build up a proper baseline (I’ve always been a bit of a nerd so I’m kind of trying to treat it like a science experiment and control the variables I can! 😅) and I’ll definitely be checking out that podcast.

thanks again so much, you ladies are lovely, and deserve the absolute world 💖

Thanks so much @lavafield that is very good advice. I am wondering about possibly electing for a section too as baby is also apparently huge and I’m worried about the shoulders getting stuck. I have an appointment this evening with a growth scan so I’ll see what they say!

Welcome @B242 I think the others have given you lots of solid advice above. I think the most important thing for you to do now is to start tracking ovulation properly. Even though you have been ‘not preventing’ for a while now there really is such a short window of time each month where you are fertile. Learn to get to know your fertile signs like your cervical mucus and buy the ovulation strips (and learn how to use them, as they can be confusing at the start). You might not be ovulating when you think you are. It can be a long slog for some people as the others have said. I was trying for two years with an 18 week loss in the middle before finally turning to IVF and having a miracle with our one and only embryo, and I am due any day now. That doesn’t mean it will be that way for you, the women in this group have all had a bit of a rough ride but that’s why we found each other on here. A lot of my friends had no issues so it really can go either way. Best of luck!

@MocktailMe how are you doing? Thinking of you 🤍

@B242 I also like to control things so TTC has been a massive rollercoaster!

For context I did 22 cycles of TTC - 18 months trying, diagnosed with unexplained infertility - then got a hycosy which showed I had a blocked tube.

I then had a miscarriage the next cycle and conceived 5 cycles later and am currently 24 weeks pregnant.

my tips for someone beginning would be:

• Treat it like a marathon not a sprint - this could take ages
• Do not put your life on hold -book the holidays etc.
• Look after your health but don’t get obsessive - you want to be your healthiest version of yourself but don’t cut out all joy. It’s ok to drink in moderation - it’s binge drinking that’s harmful
• get fertility tested (both of you) if you want more information to start
• its very normal for TTC to take 6-12 months
• don’t just use an app for tracking ovulation - I found BBT and cervical mucus most accurate for me if I started again I’d probably get an oura ring
• Plan fun things which are with friends - do not put life on hold
• its ok to have sex every other day during your fertile window
• it’s OK to take breaks for months if you need them mentally
• if you need support get a therapist or counsellor - I found I needed this at times
• Dr Natalie Crawford podcast told me a lot of useful info - don’t get too obsessive with researching
• don’t stress about stress - it makes less impact than you think
• have a few people you talk to but keep the circle small as otherwise everyone will just tell you to relax

Good luck!!!!

@Tater05 omg congratulations this is so exciting ❤️ good luck with everything sending you lots of love for the newborn phase!!!!

@lavafieldthankyou so much! I’m keeping all my fingers crossed, for us and for everyone else in this thread that needs it 💖

Congrats on the arrival of your baby girl @Tater05!! Hope you are recovering well and enjoying those sweet newborn days!
@Waitingformiracle good luck with your induction but hope your girl makes its appearance before any interventions. If not, don’t worry, many inductions are very straightforward, even if for myself I chose a planned C-section over induction (combo of factors : advanced maternal age, some medical history in the background, such as pregnancy induced hypertension and gestational diabetes, which showed on scans that baby would be on the 80th-90tb percentile (was born a very average 50 percentile!) with a risk of shoulders being stuck.

@B242welcome! It is a long journey and many lovely ladies in this group would say a rocky and turbulent one too.
I got pregnant after nine months trying but I was also in early 40s, just kept going ! The month we conceived was the least likely for success!

Hoping it’s not too late for me to join this thread. My husband and I are trying for our first and the whole thing is already terrifying! I’m such a control freak so having something feel this out of my hands is a real struggle!
We’re officially TTC from this cycle but have been “not preventing” since we got married in August in the hope it would come as a nice surprise, but nothing yet, which is making me worry a little, but trying to remind myself that it can take a while when it’s all timed out and structured.
any tips or advice for handling all of this?

Congratulations @Tater05 I am so thrilled to hear she is here safely 🩷🩷 I hope you are both doing well and the recovery isn’t too rough. Hoping to follow you into the girl mom club very shortly as I will be induced this day two weeks if nothing has happened by then!

Hi ladies, I hope everyone's doing ok!

Just wanted to share that my baby girl arrived into the world yesterday morning 🥰 currently curled up on my chest fast asleep and I'm so in love already

Sorry @MocktailMe, do whatever you need to protect yourself. This really does feel so unfair on you. Sending a big hug xx