Charters Anonymous Volume 6. Charting and shagging our way to victory!

[MrsArchchancellorRidcully]

Volume 6 ladies. Come join us, new and old, and worship at the temple of EWCM, TCOYF, +ve OPKs and BBTs!

Hello, can I join you? Potted history: tried for first baby for 8 months, charted for 6 of those, got BFP and then miscarried at 16 weeks  Found out as a result that I had a medical condition (blood clotting disorder) got pg 10 weeks later with DS and due to successful management, he was born at 40plus9 (he´s now 3yrs3m) exclusively BF for 8m and then he pushed me away  two weeks later got pg with DD (now 22m, born at home in one hour at 40plus6) we were delighted and thought we´d have the same gap again (we are both 37yrs) but DD has barely slept a night through since she was born and I only managed to stop BFing about 6 weeks ago. Am on cycle 4 since she was born but don´t think I am actually ovulating. Am on CD28 which is normally the end of a cycle for me but Ovusoft (software I use) says ovulation was probably only 6 days ago. I temp and watch CF but I just know I´m not back to working order yet! Would love a 3rd but know my body probably also needs a bit of time to find itself again! Thought I needed to be amongst people going through the whole temping thing!

Sorry about the funny numbers, smileys gone wrong

Ifatfirstyoudon´tsucceed ? I know you don´t know me yet but I just wanted to say how amazed I am at how patient you have been and to say to you that it must be so hard. It was because of Mumsnet that I bought a few books and thought about my family history a bit, did a bit of questioning and was then able to ask my GP to test me for a particular prothrombin disorder and low and behold that is what I had. I was very lucky that I didn´t have to lose two more babies to know that but as a result 4 of my mother´s siblings are permanently medicated to protect them against strokes and all my sisters and cousins are off the pill and wary of risk factors. I am still so sad that I had to lose my baby to discover this but it has saved a lot of loved ones along the way.

Welcome mrsmcjnr ! Sorry to hear about your loss! But I'm really encouraged about your story and that you have found out about such crucial info about your family health through TTC.

weimy I'm glad to see you back and feeling more positive! Good luck with the SWI.

ifat And bossy Phew about your charts having sorted themselves out. Like you need that added stress when TTC!

newgold it seems to be an exception to have a GP take you seriously. I take it you will opt to have your bloods done?

jaggy Glad to hear you're feeling better now, but was sorry to see AF turn up again.

auntied was there no EWCM? That's not normal for you, is it?

I fear I'm down and out this month! Had the first day of spotting yesterday and light bleed today (accompanied by all the usual AF symptoms) but temp hasn't dropped yet. I'm guessing it would be lower had i taken it at usual time, but still, a bit strange not to see a drop at all t this stage. I'm sure it will drop tomorrow though. Managed only a 24 day cycle, shortest ever. Unfortunately that means my fertile days this new cycle (8) are exactly when I'm away on business, so will have to ensure I've got some reserves with me when I go [cwink]

Hello, can I join too? I have been lurking for a couple of weeks now gathering information (somewhat like a spy!) as this is all new to me.

OH and I have talked about TTC #1 but not really taken any action, so to speak. As I am 38 I know that it would make sense if I'm a bit more organised as if things don't go the way we hope we need to make decisions fairly quickly. One of the things that freaks me out a bit about the whole TTC and pg process is not being in control so I have decided I need to learn as much as I can. I have been pretty amazed at what I didn't know - why does no one teach this stuff???

So, I now have TCOYF, a pack of OPK strips, and a thermometer (as well as a collection of conception multivitamins for me and OH). I am planning to chart for a couple of cycles to see what is what and get to know myself better.

We are both also trying to lose weight to get into the healthy range, and I suppose at the back of my mind is that if things don't work naturally it will remove one of the hurdles at a later date - so far OH has lost 1st and I've lost 1/2. My biggest problem at the moment it getting OH to quit smoking :(

Nope. Didn't see any obvious EWCM, although I never have very much. Have been taking EPO and grapefruit juice and it seems to increase the amount I had last month, but not this month.

This cycle is unbelievably strange!!!!

Welcome chanting! Fell free to ask any questions you may have, we'll try our best to answer . Good luck with your journey. Let's hope it's a short one!

Have just placed another order on amazon for ov strips, books (Zita West), robitussin (I'm challenged on the EWCM too auntied ) and pre-seed. Sigh!

Welcome chanting and mrsmcjnr they are a fab bunch here and will answer any questions.

sorry about AF scrummy :(

Hello!!!

Welcome mrsmc and chanting :) You've found a lively thread of support and friendship.

scrummy - sorry for AF. Good luck for your new cycle - sounds Luke you've got your determined face on

Sorry to just say a quick hello to everyone else - Jaggy, AuntieD, weimy, NewGold, IfAt, bossy
Am on phone and not scrolling v easily.

I am 12dpo and refusing to test yet. Chart looking good but the last couple cycles it has stayed up and not dropped til about 14dpo. I did wake up this morning in the middle of a dream about temping! To the extent where it took me a few minutes to work out that I actually still needed to take my temp this morning!

chart here

LoL about your dream hotcross! I've got my FX for you! I'm putting a brave face on it, as I'm determined that it won't get me down, but I've got to admit to few tears on the first day of spotting and feeling a bit low still this morning (yesterday I was just too hangover to notice anything but my head!). I know a lot of it is just hormones. So, I'm planning the next holiday and making sure my social diary is full of things to look forward to and tell myself to keep going. it would be easier if it didn't feel like my body had been run over by a train.

Temp is down this morning, as expected.

Thanks weimy

FX SES!

Scrummy I was luckily working with my friend when AF turned up the other day - I just about burst out greeting at work and nearly had her going too! She's the only one in RL who knows in detail what's happening, we have a lot of TMI conversations

Hi Chanting and Mrs McJnr :) This thread is indeed v nice!

Morning all! I'm really sorry about AF Scrummy

Sorry, I haven't been on here for a while - DP and I have started househunting, and have put an offer in on a really beautiful place. We'll find out on Tuesday whether it's been accepted, so I'm keeping everything crossed until then.

So, I'm on CD32 of a normally 32-day cycle. Am 14DPO, which is the day that my temperature plummets and spotting begins. But this morning my temperature's still high -chart here. Did a test, which I'm pretty sure was BFN - but there might have been the faintest faintest line in the background. Will just have to see what my temperature does tomorrow....

FX for you too Molly!

Sorry scrummy

Good chart hotcross, FX Molly, hope it's still high tomorrow!

Welcome to the newbies! My temp is back up after a dip but had a few drinks last night but never mind makes my chart look better. Didn't have too many though, had a great time but not hungover today. Having a nice before washing my hair and getting dressed.

Hello, can I join too? I am on my second cycle of temping and cycle 5 of "concerted efforts" (we abandoned contraception some time before that).

Here is my chart:

www.fertilityfriend.com/home/343af6

I have a question for all you experienced charters. I have been sleeping v badly for the last few days. My usual temping time is 7.30am. This morning I woke up and took my temp at 7am as I wasn't sure I'd get back to sleep. I had been v restless for a while before that. Temp was 36.67, quite similar to yesterday's. I managed to get back to sleep and slept quite well until 9 and temped again. It was 36.90. That is quite a difference. Which would you use?

I have opted for 36.90 as I was feeling more rested when I took that one.

I am at 7 dpo so my temp should be climbing. What do you all reckon?

Oh noooo - a bit gross, I know, but I pee-ed in a mug earlier to do pg test - and because no-one had emptied the dishwasher I left the mug by the sink. And now DP is drinking coffee out of it! Oops.....

molly you naughty girl! fx for tomorrow xxx

Thanks for all the welcomes! Molly that really made me laugh :)

I have spent the last 2 days reading TCOYF, and my head is spinning with all the info. I started temping yesterday so feel that at least I'm doing something purposeful.

OH is totally up for having kids but I don't think he has thought much about the details - like my age and his smoking. I think I'm going to have to have a long chat with him tonight.

FX Molly and Hotcross.

Welcome MrsMc and thank you for your kind words. It has been tough, but we are persevering, I think we'll try and see the docs again after the summer and be a bit more assertive.

The thing that keeps us going is that fact that some poor other soul is having a much worse time, and it puts things in to perspective a bit. For example, my best friend, who I briefly mentioned in on of my earlier posts has found out today that her 4th attempt at IVF has failed again! :(

Molly your poor DH

Thank you Scrummybomb  Sorry to hear that you think it is game over for you for a January baby. Sending you strong vibes, it is a hard game this TTC lark. Before things went wacky with me I found that my temp didn´t drop to pre ov temps until the day of proper AF, which is mean as it makes you think spotting might be implantation  Sorry to hear about the business trip! What a pain! Have you tried AccessDiagnostics for your TTC goodies? Always found them very reliable and cheap and they often have good deals on too. When I was trying for DS we used to share the discount codes on our MN temping thread.

ChantingasIspeak ? sounds like you have a great package to start you off  Hope you enjoy the learning curve and that it happens soon for you. I think TCOYF is fascinating. I recently lent it to my SIL who is a Biology teacher and she was totally amazed by all the info in there (she is TTC using AI). Try not to think of your age as an issue, we have it drummed into us that late 30s means the clock is ticking but I keep meeting girls who´ve had babies at 43, 44 and the other day 47!

Auntiedoris ? EWCM increasing - it does really work doesn´t it? I think I need to get back on the EPO.

Thank you Weimy  and Bossyoop  for the welcome

HotcrossSES ? fingers crossed for you, chart looks great!! The last few days are the most exciting/agonising aren´t they?

Jaggy ? thank you for the welcome  sorry to hear you are feeling low 

Molly ? life sounds pretty exciting for you at the mo, everything crossed! LOL about the cup!

Eurochick ? go with the first one hon, even if you like the second temp better

Hang in there Ifatfirstyoudon´t succeed 

Now CD30. My old cycles were always 28 days but at the moment there is no proper pattern to cycle length or anything. Had a bit of spotting over the last couple of days but it hasn´t amounted to anything yet. Temps are still high but my gut feeling is that the spotting is the womb lining breaking down due to the length of the cycle (I have PCOS so progestrone becomes an issue) and that this cycle was annovulatory. Hey ho!

thanks MrsMc, just got a bit emotional when af arrived last week, guess the hormones got the better of me!

ok now :)

OMG:

BFP!!! very faint, on a first response, but definitely there. Whooaaaaahhhhh.

Well I gave in and tested this morning..... BFP !!!!!
Really pleased but also very nervous as I've been pg 3 times and lost 2 through mmc before DS. Hope I don't have to go through all that again.

MrsMc - I believe we were both on the old temping thread when ttc before but just missed eachother. Good luck this time round!

Molly - I had to laugh at your story but I have a similar one.... The cup that I used to pee on when testing when ttc DS, I know use to wash his hair each night in the bath! Obviously it has been washed many a time and so not quite the same maybe as your poor DH!

IfAt - oh your poor friend :( You're right, there is always someone else worse off :(

eurochick - I also would use the first temp I'm afraid but don't worry about the individual temps, it's the pattern that's important :)

Hello jaggy, scrummy, bossy, weimy, chanting and anyone else I've missed!