Month fucking 15 ttc. Can I have some positive stories please?

[sparkle2020]

Hi. Month 15 ttc and i just need Some positive stories to hear about ttc naturally when it’s been over a year :( trying to avoid fertility treatments for now because my health isn’t great to start with and I am already back and forwards to hospital so I just don’t want to make ttc another chore really?? But I’m on month 15 now and have been doing OPKs since 26th November, which was the last day of my period (always done it that way cause my ovulation can be quite early at times so I just do it everyday until I ovulate), and have done them twice a day and NOTHING!! Aaaafgh I’m so frustrated. I had visions last year of announcing a baby at Christmas and the same this year and it’s still not happened, I just feel so sick of it 😢😢😢 I switched over to Poundland opks this month, can someone please just tell me they’re shit and faulty? I have ewcm atm but still been negative everyday

I'd recommend the book Taking Charge of your fertility

I went to a fertility clinic after coming off contraception since March 2017. I was told that I had a very low chance of becoming pregnant and would need egg donation and likely IVF.

That was 8 weeks ago and I found out last week that I’m now 5 weeks pregnant, naturally. Miracles do happen (and I wrote a very similar post to yours!) x

I bought some special lubrication from amazon called conceive plus. Instantly fell pregnant. It has a lot of positive reviews too, so I know I’m not the only one! It’s worth a try for £15. Good luck.

NormaSnickers is right - there are two of you involved here and nobody is going to start doing any uncomfortable or intrusive investigations of you until they have done a very simple low tech investigation of your DH. Luckily all men can wank. 😉

Start there, is my advice.

And my other tip is to fib when you do go and stretch the 15 months to 24. There is a 'wait and see' tendency out there, but nobody will ignore 2 years of trying.

Seven disastrous and heart-breaking years for us, but it took the first three to be taken seriously and get a diagnosis. It was endometriosis but it was very treatable. Luckily DH was super-sperm-man with counts off the chart. After 3 babies he got the snip!

Thank you all! Sorry for not replying sooner or individually, I started work not long after posting.

Will definitely contact my gp then and try to get investigations, I just don’t want to make it seem like a ‘problem’ because I have a feeling my partner will get intimidated and start having his own issues about performing if you know what I mean 🥴 but worth asking

Also totally forgot to mention I also have a bicornuate uterus. But was diagnosed about 5 years ago and have had scans since where they didn’t even mention it so I think it must be very subtle?

Some really nice stories here, thank you all so much. ❤️❤️

Oh, finally, ignore the 'just relax' brigade. Our old GP, near retirement then and probably long dead now, said, "I wish I could convince you to just go away and enjoy a bottle of wine with your husband. You would conceive easily if you stopped thinking about it!" Turned out that my ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes were welded into one solid lump by endometriosis scar tissue all that time. I could have drunk myself insensible in bed every night for a year and not conceived.

I switched GPs immediately. Stress does not cause infertility: infertility causes stress. Medical professionals easily get cause and effect muddled up.

Good luck!

Took us over 12yrs. Sorry OP. Sometimes it takes as long as it takes.

You say your health is not great. Are you having that looked into and is there likely to be an improvement?

I know the feeling. We tried for 20 years. Yes, 20 years. Last month we came to acceptance that it’s not meant to be for us. We are still hopeful but we are not actively TTC, if that makes sense. We are 45 and 53 and childless. It’s miserable, for sure.

8 years here.and i also had regular periods but wasnt ovulating. Gave up when I turned 40 - fell pregnant 6 weeks later naturally and gave birth 6 months later!

I put it down to YouTube- honestly!! I started listening to this meditation talkdown stuff most nights to help me sleep because I was so unhappy at being childless and I swear it relaxed me so much I ovulated!

DS has been a dream child and absolutely worth the wait!

We were trying 18 months for DC1. Went to the doctor after a year and it turned out to be a very simple and treatable problem with me - a few months of treatment and it was sorted and we conceived straight away on the next try. So please do go to the doctor and get checked out!

It was 18 months for us. I had very irregular light periods so had gone to the GP. We had one appointment at the fertility clinic. My bloods were negative for PCOS despite the lack of periods and other symptoms. DH was waiting for his investigation. While he was waiting I got pregnant. We were away on holiday, a rather grueling and adventurous road trip rather than sitting by the pool with cocktails. I don't say it in real life as it winds people up but I do wonder whether the complete distraction from TTC helped. But I didn't have health issues.

DC2 was first month of trying.

I feel your pain. We have been trying for four years next May. We are seeing a fertility clinic who so far in 2.5 years have offered no treatment and we are saving to go private.

17 years for us. 15 actively ttc and then 2 when we had accepted we weren't going to be parents. Then I had two children (without help) in 2 years. I'm not sure how positively you would view that though. I was diagnosed early on with pcos. As far as I know I'm pretty sure that if you haven't conceived after a year your GP will begin to start looking at why.

I wanted to add another vote to seeing your GP - I also have Endo (Stage II) and tried for 3 years without success before being offered IVF. The Endo is to blame in my case; it's done a lot of damage. They did surgery (Laparoscopy) before the IVF was offered, so be prepared for that too.

No positive outcome for me sadly but get yourself started on the tests to start the ball rolling, best of luck!

It took us almost 3 years to conceive DS. I may have had blood tests to check I was ovulating (I was), although this may have been when we were trying to conceive a second time. You could see your GP though. On and off I tracked ovulation. Some months I thought about timing loads, other months less so. Sometimes it just takes time. I had worked out when to tell people and when my maternity leave might be. By the time I got pregnant I had stopped with all of that. I wasn’t over worried (most of the time) and just hoped it would happen naturally. Wishing you all the luck in the world.

I see you are going to your GP, which is what I was going to suggest.

My DD has POCS and has had horrendous bleeds since around 13. I call them bleeds because when she went for tests she wasn't ovulating, just bleeding.

So don't let your GP fob you off because your periods are regular. We know from pre menopausal women that you can be fertile and not have periods.

My DD also has a tilted cervix. She had a coil fitted, which regulated her hormones, but it moved and she got pregnant.

I had secondary infertility and it took a big change in lifestyle to get pregnant again. I was part of a body of research in the 90's.

Help with infertility doesn't always mean heavy drugs.

So sorry to hear to those who do not have positive stories to share :(

To those saying to go to the gp, is there anything I could say that might make them listen more as my gps are notoriously good at ignoring people’s problems!

We tried for 2 years, then MIL passed away suddenly and we stopped consciously trying, with everything else that was going on - still didn't use protection but just didn't have the mindset of trying, so there was less pressure I suppose. 3 months later I was pregnant. I hope everything works out for you OP, I completely understand how you feel

I’d start with basic health, which you say isn’t great. Without knowing what it is it’s hard to suggest things. But how’s your exercise, diet, weight, sleep etc? But, yes, go to the GP for help.

Just wanted to say that a bicornuate uterus, especially if it's mild enough that it's not mentioned at all scans, should not affect conception or pregnancy. Googling it will only produce the worst-case stories. I have a mild bicornuate uterus (possibly called arctuate uterus, though there's even less info on that) and had a healthy pregnancy with no complications. I believe it's only a problem if the uterus is actually split into two distinct "horns" or if there's a septum dividing the womb, though even in those cases women have had successful pregnancies.

2 years for us with ds2. Get your self some reflexology it helped me relax if nothing else and was my last attempt before we went for medical intervention. I feel your pain and I know how horrible that wait is.

I agree with just getting some tests done, see what the score is. 2 years trying, tests on egg reserve and sperm ok but an internal scan showed potential endo signs. Was about to go for a laparoscopy and had an ectopic pregnancy. Thankfully caught very early so no tube removal needed, just an injection. Anyway, once recovered from that I had the laparoscopy and they found stage 3 endo, I'd been on long term anti inflammatories for arthritis which is why I think I was never in huge amounts of pain with it so had no idea.

The endo was removed at the same time, and a couple of months later we conceived the month we did the sperm meet egg plan to the letter, (and an extra one in the fertile window for luck) along with using cheapo opk sticks and not so cheap clear blue digital ones you put in the machine as well.

How we did it was to pay for the tests privately, but our consultant also did NHS work so we had the laparoscopy under his referral and did choose and book to select him as our surgeon at the same hospital, he was very good. I was 38 when we had DD, and since my arthritis has flared up very bad and I dread to think what I'd be like without the anti inflammatories now so she will most likely be an only.

for you, it's a shit time.

I have PCOS but didnt find out until my 4th pregnancy!

It took me 27 months to conceive DS1, 13 months after he was born i conceived DD2 ( had 2 miscarriges inbetween DS and DD )

13 months after DD i fell pregnant with DS2

Ive been trying for DC4 for 22 months now and nothing has happened yet,

When i do fall pregnant again i am going to try and conceive straight away because i cant keep waiting years like this, im getting older

Good luck op. Next time i try im going to try baby asprin although im not sure what the reason for it is. Also i heard royal jelly supplements are really good.