Clearblue Fertility Monitor Support Group Buddies Vol 5!!

[boba82]

Ladies from Vol4 - welcome to our new home.

IloveKitty - how are you doing?

Welcome to emski - people here are very supportive, so much so that even though after 30mths+ ttc naturally and needing IVF I am allowed to stay here as this is my "home"!!

KC - wow, Venice - that is great! And continuing my pragmatic vein (much harder on self!!) having 2 more months to naturally ttc might well be in your favour, as the HSG can aid fertility. If not work you have time to prepare for your possible IUI etc. Strangely if I had been able to cycle in Jan I didn't "feel prepared" whereas for this month I do. Also allowed me time to improve diet, relaxation etc.

Hey kezia and kc, good to hear from you.

im not bad; having spent the past week or so unable to stand the smell of food i spent the entire day today cooking. oh and then i started panicking because i didnt feel terrible. however, i now feel reasonably awful again LOL.

i had a dildocam scan at 6 weeks or so. have the fateful nuchal scan on 23 feb; weirdly im not so worried about the possiblity of trisomies more about the baby having stopped developing or something. i guess i have this thing that the same type of lightning wont strike twice but a different type might; nothing like a bit of positive thinking LOL!

venice will be wonderful have a fab time when do you go?

kezia when does your IVF start? how are you feeling about it? i know several ladies who have had successful IVF i have everything crossed for you

Liz xxx

Liz - start in 10 days!! - am pragmatic about it, but it is such a relief to be allowed to have treatment... and one benefit is no natural ttc during the time, which I am thankful for as everything just got too much after 30 cycles of solid ttc! Plus the time before that.

Glad your 6wk scan goes ok, let us know how the one on the 23rd goes.x

Yes Liz, I second Keziah. Do let us know how it does on 23rd. Glad to hear that dildoscan went well and you are over the first hurdle x

Off to Venice in a couple of weeks' time so not long to go. Getting quite excited. Have realised that I'll be on 2ww and know that I'll be naughty and drink. Can't possibly go to Venice without sampling the vino, especially the Prosecco that's made in the Veneto.

So I admit I WILL be drinking during my 2ww.

KC enjoy venice you lucky devil and have lots of !!!

kitty my scan is 23rd as well.

Ooh - 2 scans to hear all about

KC - enjoy the - ignore the 2ww and enjoy!! Perhaps rebelling is the missing key

Yes, good luck Boba How many weeks will you be then? Liz How many will you be on 23rd?

Thanks Keziah You may well be right about rebelling! Didn't Choccie say she got her BFP the month she only SWI twice on her peak days and that she'd been drinking that month too? Maybe relaxation is the key. Everything in moderation but nothing to excess?

KC & the holiday will be a chance for r&r which is very much needed during TTC. It'll b good to take your mind of things and just enjoy time with you and DH. We had a weeks holiday n Sep & it really helped to get away from all the pressures I was feeling at home. I'll be 11+ 1-4 at the scan so hopefully get a more exact date.

thanks keziah , 9 days & counting for you!

No offence, ladies but I am starting my second cycle of medicated IUI and I am fully aware that success rates are low but all the talk of it having no benefit for unexplained subfertility [which is where DH and I find ourselves] etc is not doing wonders for my emotional state. For that reason, I am taking my leave for now to try to stay positive.

Hi Lychees I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to upset you.

However, you are on stimulated / medicate IUI, no?

The lack of evidence is for unstimulated. Sorry the posts are a bit long and the differentiation has probably got lost. Please don't go.

Also, as Keziah has pointed out there is a benefit of trying the medication with IUI before IVF / ICSI.

I am really really sorry Certainly didn't mean to hurt you.

Just in case you missed the evidence in favour of medicated IUI, I've requoted from my early post:

"Stimulated IUI is in conjunction with fertility drugs to hyperstimulate the ovaries. Natural IUI is with no stimulation, but timed to coincide with natural ovulation. Have had a quick look at the Battacharya study that you (Choccie) linked, and the authors have randomised against unstimulated IUI. As stimulation hasn't been used, the effectiveness of stimulated IUI can't be deduced from this study. What we do know is that Clomid or unstimulated IUI are no more effective than the "keep trying" approach where infertility is unexplained."

Hope that alleviates you concerns somewhat. Again I'm really sorry for upsetting you.

"KC" have a fab time in Venice, hoping a BFP will arrive for you on your return!

DH and I are off skiing at the weekend so will have a few while I'm there before the CBFM tells me i'm peaking the following week (I hope).

Just wondered, I am on day 12 and have had Highs since day 9. These Highs carry on until day 23/34 when I get peak. I know the CBFM takes a while to adjust but I have used it for 5 cycles now and I always get 10-12 days of High before two days of peak..... Could too much oestregen be possible and/or a problem?? Really grateful for any advice.

Baby dust to all x

Loup I'm not as far down the line of using it as you, but I have been poas since day 7 this month and gives high since day 8, am now day 18 and still on highs - hoping to get a peak some time soon, but maybe I won't get one - hope I am ovulating this month as have been seriously SWI!!

Thanks SBC, glad I'm not the only one - I'm just concerned as the CBFM suggests that the average high days will be 4-6. I cannot believe I have high chances for 10-14 days! Hope your "peak" comes soon!

Loup am trying not to obsess too much - stress is bad for the process - but maybe the CBFM is not as sensitive at picking up the LH and mine (and yours) are maybe not to their levels.

I haven't found anywhere what levels it does pick up, so I'm hoping it has just missed me!

My bloods have always come back as perfectly fine, just a high prolactin level repeatedly which is being investigated, hoping that the reflexology will help with this (and everything else!!)

Hey ho, I'm gonna give it as long as I can until I start IUI

SBC - I had a high prolactin, was told if it was over 1000 I would need to see an endocrinologist to have medication/possible investigations to reduce it. As it was mine is about 800, so too high, but not needing any action.

All the best Lychees xx

Keziah mine ranges from 600-800 on all the bloods I've had done. Had an MRI at Christmas, seeing Endorcrinologist in April, but have appt with fertility clinic before then so maybe they have the results already - who knows!

Only a month away from appt, so not too long to wait now.

Glad yor are getting the treatment at last - they seem to be getting on with things pretty rapidly now too - FX!

loup and sbc You need to allow the monitor the first few months to learn your cycle wrt the 'highs' - its very normal to get a lot of highs first 2-3 cycles. The peaks should still be accurate though. You could always back it up with charting if you don't get peaks and are concerned about whether you are ovulating or not.

lychees I must apologise too for my part in upsetting you. But wanted to echo kc that the study compared three scenarios: doing nothing, or clomid, or unstimulated IUI. What you're going through was not covered by the study - i.e. a combo of IUI and clomid so the study is irrelevant to your experience. Having said that, the study wasn't showing that these three methods were not successful, it just demonstrated that neither was more successful than the other (my lesbian cousin got a BFP turkey-baster method so unstimulated IUI does work too). If I remember correctly, someone on this thread gets 6 NHS funded goes of IUI before one funded go at IVF. If I were younger and given that option, I'd jump at it. I am sorry that the chat upset you.

kc enjoy your holiday. But have a proper break. i.e. Do NOT go there thinking 'I'm on holiday, I'm relaxing, I'll get that BFP'.... because that's not relaxing. You need a break - and what will be will be. And yes, I did only SWI twice that month and I was enjoying the hooch (in moderation). So go, and enjoy the .

keziah Very excited for you. I have a IVF relaxation hypnosis CD which I have never used. Even if my PG fails, it'll be at least three months before I need it again. Do you want to borrow it? You listen to it during IVF. If so, let me know and I'll try to work out how to set up private messaging so you can send me your address.

Ilovekitty I've had no symptoms at all, apart from needing a new bra.

As for me, I have a private scan tomorrow which I'm not feeling very positive about (see above to love).

Hope everyone else is well.

SBC - wow you are getting to see an endocrinologist!! I was told "no" by 2 Gp's and the NHS fertility consultant and that it was not an issue. I would be really interested to find out what they say to you and any treatment they offer in case I need to go down that route here! Gosh, everywhere does things differently, so confusing.

Choccie - you can send me a message without doing anything to set it up, or at least that is what I found out. I will try to send you one now and you should see at the top of the page next to login an envelope with word inbox next to it - if it has a red blob on it you have mail. If not you click on it to send mail. About the only thing I have learnt, still can't do links, oops! Sounds interesting - very kind of you. Hope your scan goes well.

morning ladies, am now on cycle 3 and am trying robitussin plus just bought some pre seed to try, hope it's not too off putting for me dh lol, he's also on vitamins as am i so not much else I can do apart from cross my fingers

have an appointment with the Dr next week to discuss next steps having had successful blood tests

good luck to all

Tina x

Lychees and luck to you. Please let us know how you get on hun. x

choccie best of luck for your scan today. x

choccie hope it all goes well at the scan FX.

lychees hope everything goes well for you too.

Thanks for the response re the number of highs, I am getting peaks so I guess that's the main thing. I'm also charting aswell, just wondered why I would have so much oestregen for so many days (whilst me and DH have only been trying this year, I had been using CBFM just to get an idea of a pattern) I thought 6 months in it should not be giving me 10+days of high.....Oh well, will try not to stress and wait for the peak...

SBC hope your peak arrives soon!

Good luck to all x

Now horribly confused. Cbfm low all last month- but stcks v different on inspection- thought had faulty batch and rang clear blue- new box sent for free. Was also temping- got rise day 21, had big dip in temps 9-10 dpo, lots of v af like cramping- was sure was starting, but still nothing, temps back up and bfn!!!! Nomally have v sore bbs for 7 days before af- this month nothing- feel v tired and crotchety, but otherwise normal- think either didnt ovulate at all or.....
Advice?

fr00tbat I think most of us have been there - best to try and take mind off all the possibilities (impossible I know) - maybe go for a walk, watch a movie blah blah.

Then test again in a couple of days if still no AF - FX for you though!

Thank you ladies, the scan went well today so we're now readying ourselves for the next scan at 9 weeks, which will hopefully carry us past this scary patch.

froot If you chart showed a sustained rise of a few days then you ovulated. I used to get spectacular temp dips around 10DPO and they never turned into BFPs, so don't torture yourself by looking at your chart too closely. The key thing is you get a bi-phasic pattern every month and NOTHING more (and this was confirmed for cynical old me by a consultant). Also, if AF doesn't come, test again. The absence of AF is a bigger clue than your temps, which could be slightly elevated if you're fretting and maybe not sleeping as well as you usually do. My boob soreness also varied hugely from month to month - so much so that I ignored them.

That is great Choccie.

Oh if anyone is pregnant and thinking of a holiday abroad, or likes interesting posts I recommend looking in pregnancy - for the two threads - waters broken at 28 weeks and in USA on holiday! and the 2nd follow up thread. I am hooked on it - and really recommend reading it. It is massive post, so by 20 pages I just read the OP's comments, but even so - phew!! Oh, one day someone will tell me how to post a link, but I haven't managed to locate or understand instructions on here - sorry!