TTC for 10+ months, part 3

[joycep]

The other thread was just about to fill up and so here we are again with a slightly different name now as many of us have been trying for well over 12 cycles now. We had a few great successes on Part 2, with a couple of people getting bfp's on their 17th and 19th month of trying. So let's hope for more successes on Part 3. (Moaning, crying, sadness, anxiety & bitterness is certainly allowed on here!)

Thanks euro, it just felt like it came round quickly!

wine, I hate to say this, but another thread I was on had someone who had a 1 day period. 9 months later her baby arrived . I should clarify she did POAS soon after, it wasn't a surprise baby. But, well, just saying

Aw thanks Nelly but there was a lot of bleeding and cramps on Sunday and temps are lower but there's always that wonder isn't there?! Implantation bleeding should be banned!!! no answer from hycosy ringing. Pah.

wine I would quite like to have a month off so I can see if I do actually feel different in the months we are trying. I am pretty sure that I am getting symptoms most months but I am obviously looking out for them more than I was before we were trying and it has been so long it is difficult to remember! And there is no way at this point I would "waste" a cycle just for the sake of curiosity. But you get a chance to study yourself!

Interestingly (well I think so!) on the subject of symptoms, I am still getting them most cycles but they seem to be lessening each time.

The first time I noticed any symptoms (before we were properly trying but just taking a casual approach to contraception) I felt dizzy and spacey and got pink watery bleeding.
The first month of proper trying I got the spaciness, some nausea, etc.
And then each cycle since then the symptoms have lessened. The last two cycles all I have had is big hurty boobs and mild cramping from around 3-8 dpo.
Has anyone else noticed something similar?

Hycosy booked for 6th October. I need to go at 7am for pregnancy test (there's a joke) and 11 for prodding. It's on day 19. Thought I may as well just get it done and have a month off rather than keep trying to time it right. I'm actually on a pretty tough training course away from home in the end of this months cycle and I could do without the headfuckery. Also, it's in shared dorms (ugh) so temping would be odd. So I'm officially using contraception again. Clean after sex but also it feels rather wrong. And pointless.

The nurse stressed that extra strong painkillers were very important which worries me a bit but taking comfort from others here who've said it's not too bad.

Euro, last November on my honeymoon we started trying. I'd been temping for ages so knew roughly the right time using my iPhone app. That month I had no spotting, ridiculously sore boobs and could smell everything, frequent weeing. My period was 4 days late and I then bled for two weeks with no period for 6. I'd lost my thermometer at the time but that is the most pregnant I've felt, with this last cycle coming a close second. I've not felt that different other cycles. It didn't occur to me to test early because at that point I didn't know you didn't have to wait 2 weeks (mum advice!) after that, I googled everything I now know. So yes, it will be interesting to see what 'symptoms' pop up. Or maybe I'll get a positive pregnancy test at the hospital and I'll be one of 'those' people who had an implantation bleed that looked like a period and low temps and was pregnant after all. Or maybe pigs will fly!

Seriously tho, I do cling on to a hope that there have been some near misses. It offers possibility rather than barreness.

I posted about my HSG. I took 2 nurofen beforehand but other than feeling the speculum going in (yuk - I hate the feeling of being "cranked open" but it hurt less than some smears I have had) I didn't feel a thing. And I had early ov pains when I had mine done and I could still feel those so I don't think the nurofen wiped out all pain, I just don't think it hurt that much. Hopefully you will have a similar experience to me.

PS - leave your dignity in the waiting room. I consider that bit good practice for childbirth.

evening all! sorry to hear about AF Nelly, and welcome back Mrsden, glad you had a good hols.
am still periodless here, no pmt, no spotting, mucus still cream, ect ect. my usual cycle is spotting from CD29/30 and period on day 32.. I'm on day 33 now. Am focusing on not getting hopes up but also not being too negitive, (as the brooking thread is so successfull there must be something in this positivity lark) quite a mental work out

Oooh skelly would cheerleading be of interest? Or too much?

Well done for getting the test booked wine, as you say in one way it will be nice to avoid the headfuckery. I agree about a maybe month being so much better than the barren feeling. I now picture my womb of looking desert-like, tumbleweed drifting through with a chill wind.

So today's post included a wedding invite to an overseas wedding a year from now. I guess really a "save the date" type thing. You get ooh exactly 1 guess as to what my absolutely first thought was .

ohhhhh skeleton sounding hopeful. I've got everything crossed. Do you temp? If so are they still high? Do you think you might poas soon?

wine well done on booking the hycosy, is that the same as a hsg?

munki wow, what fantastic news about the sperm :) Do you think the first result was a rogue one or do you think there has been a massive improvement?

ladygee I feel the same as you. I had got my head around the fact that DH had the problem and then got told I had PCOS and probably don't ovulate every cycle. It sometimes feels like everything is stacked against us. We will get there though. I don't know why I'm feeling positive at the moment. I think I must still be in holiday mode. And also probable because I'm in the middle of my cycle and I always feel good then. I go rapidly downhill from 5dpo.

joycep I am wishing you all the luck in the world for the IUI. I know the stats aren't great but it does work for some. I've seen plenty of people on here who say it worked for them. How many rounds will you do?

pout have you moved?

euro I've had a few months where I've had strong symptoms. I think it's been in my head though because they were in the early days of ttc and since I've known about DH's sperm I've known it's pretty hopeless and unlikely and I haven't really symptom spotted.

It was interesting to read about immune stuff and how many people on here have raynaud's. I don't but then it seems that our problems are male factor and pcos. I don't have IBS either but I do sometimes get migraines (only about 2 a year though). I have a friend who has Raynaud's. Her fingers go scarily white and blue in the slightest cold. She has a DS and he was conceived by accident so obviously not a problem with fertility for her.

I've been all over today trying to find manuka honey but no luck so far. There is a health food place I might try tomorrow. I can't believe what ttc is doing to me, I don't even like honey. I wonder if it works on men? I'm going to make DH try it too, just in case.

Welcome back mrsd - so glad you had a lovely time and are feeling positive.

My Manuka Honey has just arrived today (I wonder just how many people have been out and bought it this week?!?). It contains zinc, which is good for DH so I'll certainly be making him join me on the honey eating mission!

skeleton - this is sounding very good indeed, fingers and everything else crossed for you.

Hey mrsden nice to have you back, the gang didn't quite feel complete :-) hycosy is like hsg but ultrasound instead of x ray. I think it's to avoid the radiation or something. It's nice to hear you're positive, a holiday is probably exactly what you needed.

skeleton I'm hoping on hope that this is it for you! Do keep us posted.

I need to get a grip of my anxieties. I'm scared of the hycosy. Not so much of it hurting, I'm not very brave but can rise to the occasion. It's more of what will be found. I can't stop thinking about it because if it is my tubes, I'll be devastated. I'm also very worried about how short my periods are getting. I've only had one full day of bleeding this month, surely nothing could grow there? But ultrasound said the lining was excellent. I wondered today if I had an inexperienced ultrasound lady. I'm officially going insane!

And nelly the tumblewomb comment made me smile. So glad of this thread.

I think it's normal to be anxious before they check the tubes. I was.

I did a lot of internet research and found something that said that if you have not had any pelvic infections or chlamydia it is fairly unlikely that your tubes will be blocked (and even if you have had those problems in the past it only makes it a bit more likely that something will be found, not that there will be a problem). This helped me a bit because I had never had an infection down there but I was still quite worried and relieved to see the dye shoot out the end of the tubes. I am sure you will be fine too.

I thought you could have chlamydia without knowing you've had it.

I have my honey, how much are you taking everyday?

Hi All.
I love the tumbleweed analogy Nelly! It brought a smile to my face!

So I've opted for the law of sod! I've applied for a full time 2 year postgrad nurse training course - something I've 'put off' just in case. I've started an evening class to work towards getting a better job in case plan A doesn't work, and then out of the blue I got a job offer today (head hunted for the first time in my life!). I know I should just feel really positive as all of this really has distracted me from constantly thinking about the prospets of TTC, but it's hard going to push that little hope to the back of my head and get on with life. And I can't be doing that good a job as I keep thinking that surely I could be pregnant and still do all these things if I was truly determined, so actually not a distraction at all (I fooled myself for a while though!).

Anyway after all this turns out I may actually ovulate afterall this month - with the aid of Clomid & HCG and endless lovely 'dildo' scans. So what do you bet tomorrow morning we find out the potential egg has truly grown into a potential rather than just dwindling away and I'll be well and truly stumped with what to do about the jobs courses and stuff. Law of sod indeed. So I'm pretty much a mush of confusion.

Sorry to not post for a while and then blurt, but I only get the chance to come on the board once a week and after reading everyones additions I get ready to pop with stuff I've stupidly tried to hang on to for a week.

Oh and DH has decided he's not coming with me tomorrow because he's too tired. Well you can imagine how I feel about that, swore silently (but very loudly to myself!) and thought that maybe artificial insemination would be the thing to spite him, - very evil thought! :). Hey ho.

Skeleton - really hope it's all going ok - cross your legs, breath in and don't breath out again for a long time and try and squeeze it all in. Lots of hope going out there to you :)

wine My gynae told me that nearly all tube problems are actually suspected before the HSG by the Dr because of the history of the woman. She told me this because she said that it was very, very unlikely that I would have a tube problem but she had to send me for HSG before IUI because that's what the guidelines say. I asked what she meant by history and she said women with tube problems have either had a previous pregnancy or a pelvic infection. She said if a woman hasn't had the following then it is very unlikely there is a tube issue: previous pregnancy, ectopic, miscarriage, abortion, c-section, pelvic infection (which you would know about if it got to the stage where it could damage tubes) or severe endo.

Even knowing all this, I am still worried that the hsg will show something up so I understand your anxiety.

But even if there is a tube issue it is not the end of the world. It might only be one tube affected, or it is possible to unblock them. And if not then it is IVF which bypasses the tubes anyway. But those of us with male factor and even some of us with unexplained will probably end up down the IVF route anyway.

hillbille congrats on the job offer. And on your little egg. I hope sod's law works and this is your month. I would be so if DH refused to come with me.

karbea you can have chlamydia without external symptoms but before I got married I always had a general STD screen every couple of years as I am paranoid about these things and they had always been clear.

I must say i didn't worry that they would find my tubes blocked as i thought that would provide an answer to what was going on although i thought it would be highly unlikely. My friend's cousin couldn't conceive for 3 years. She had an HSG and they found her tubes were blocked. They cleared them out and bingo, that had been the problem all along. I was hping that was the case with me!

Mrsd - i'm going to set myself 3 rounds i think and then call it a day. If it doesn't work that means IVF probably next summer after DH gets back from abroad. I feel I would like to take my time a bit more but I'm very conscious that my ovarian reserve has probably slipt down in to the 'low' category after last year's results. I feel really cross that I have never smoked or been a heavy drinker and People keep saying I look young for my age, yet still my ovaries are older than me and older than most 32yr olds. grrr. When do you think you will start with the IUI?

Wine - are you not allowed to have sex when you do an HSG?? I wasn't told any of this. Also, I don't know whether there is any significance of how long yuo bleed for. My friend has a 2 day period and she got pregnant straight away. I always thought heavier the better as it showed a good lining but i think that must be rubbish. Also, I have just had a 2 day period as well when normally it is 5.5days.

I can't believe i@m religiously taking manuka honey now especially after I said that no vitamins or foods are going to make any difference to getting pregnant. But here I am eating a honey that I expect is more expensive than caviar and truffle mushrooms. For all we know that thread could have been started by someone in Manuka's Marketing team!!

Hi hillbillie.

Good luck skeleton!

joycep I think the sexban only applies if you have the HSG/hyscosy done post-ov (because it could wash away any embryo or lead to it implanting in the wrong place). I was given a sexban from the start of the cycle until after it had been done to make completely sure that I was not pregnant when it was carried out but as that was one day after my period that was not really a problem.

Has anyone else had a nightmare booking an HSG? I have tried for the past few months and as they only do it on a Mon or Fri fitting it in with your cycle and before day 10 is a nightmare but they're also always booked up! Just phoned up and said I was spotting but they won't book till you've fully started by when they will be booked up!!! AAAhhh

joycep hopefully I can have the HSG at the start of my next cycle and then start IUI the next cycle so probably will be November. I'm not sure how many rounds we'll do, I need to find out how many the insurance will fund. I think I read somewhere that if IUI is going to work it will happen within 3 cycles so not much point having more than 3. Being realistic I think it will be August before we start IVF because we have to save up and then I don't know what sort of waiting list the clinic will have. It's frustrating because in lots of ways I'd like to get on with it. But by August we'll have been ttc for over 2 years so by then I can be fairly certain that it won't happen naturally so won't feel like IVF is unnecessary.

I am going to try and find some manuka honey after work. Does it taste like normal honey? How do you take it, on its own or in something? and how much are you supposed to have each day?

whenwill time for a white lie? You can always cancel if your period doesn't start as expected so someone else can have the appointment.

mrsd - i think you're right about the 3 cycles. I think on the nhs they don't do more than 6. I'm not enjoying pumping my body with stuff at the moment so was in tears again last night (before dh got home!!) and thinking i won't do more than one medicated cycle but will see what happens at the scan next week. I hate that thought of by the time we start ivf , we would be tyring for over 2 yrs - most people can squeeze two kids out in that time!.

I've been putting manuka in my cold porridge. i'm a bit weird in that i normally have cold porridge anyway. Also putting in natural yoghurt and having it for pudding. 2 teaspoons a day. I think you can suck it off the spoon as well> it's similar to normal honey but a bit more sweet and sickly and I find it really smells like a beehive...not that i know what that is like but i imagine it's smell like opening a pot of this stuff. I also bought a manuka honey foot and heel cream from H&B and my feet have never been so soft, so hoping it does the same to my uterus!

I've been all over and I can't find any manuka honey so now I'll have to see if I can order some online because I've got it into my head that if only I had some I would of course get upduffed . I have bought some cinnamon though because I read that was good too. I wonder how the manuka stuff is different to normal honey. I'm not sure I like the sound of a beehive smell. I'm really not that keen on bees. The foot cream sounds nice though joycep.

Did you manage to do the injection yourself then last night? Is it the same stuff we'd use if we have ivf? Has it caused any side effects?

Having a sneeky peek at work :)

Hey Joycep thanks for making me smile - think I'm going to go in search of the Manuka foot cream on Saturday - where did you get it from!!!!

17mm egg this morning. Whoop whoop. So had the HCG injection to stimulate ovulation. hmmmm fingers crossed - feel like I need to run home and pin DH to the bed as I know that it will happen in the next 36 hours. (No pressure then!). We were going to invite friends round for dinner tonight, but now I'm thinking maybe not. Still haven't forgiven him for not coming though!

MrsD I appreciate your frustration we've been trying for 2.5 months now :( and in that space of time some of my friends have had the cheek of having two!

Joycep I know what you mean about deciding only to do one more cycle on drugs I keep saying that! This was going to definately be my last one, but now that it seems to be working I'm not sure - so wish I could just do it all on my own!

Anyway best go in case someones looking over my shoulder. Love to all :)

joycep - at your lurvely uterus after consuming the magical Manuka! I've been eating it with yoghurt or just straight from the spoon - I've read you shouldn't have it warm/hot as it destroys the enzymes (or something along those lines!)

euro - that is one sounds piece of advice. I would never have thought of this - mainly because I still turn into a gibbering wreck when it comes to dealing with anyone vaguely medical.

whenwill - I've unfortunately just experienced exactly what you describe. The lovely radiographer told me it could be at least 3 months , she was apologetic. Cue more waiting... why is it like this every single step of the way?

hillbillie - that sounds great, I'd definitely be cancelling the friends.

Hi to everyone else!