TTC for 10+ months, part 4

[eurochick]

Time for a new thread as the other one is just about full.

Fingers crossed for lots of patiently-awaited BFPs on this one!

Your messages have helped me a lot - thank you. I'm no doubt doing in the head of Mr Wine with my mentalling, so it is good to have an outlet here.

kitty thanks for your rational words, they were very soothing indeed to me last night. I'm terrible for imagining the worst case scenario. I've been obsessed with hunting out tales of bfps after myomectomy. There are some out on the web, but not many. But, mostly it's the 'can I get pregnant after surgery' style with no answers. I guess people go off and get pregnant and forget to come back and share what happened? I will make a point of posting everywhere I can find, when I get that elusive bfp! Are you in the tww now?

euro it's so annoying about the late ovulating. I bet it's feeling so frustrating. Maybe your body is adjusting? I hope you get some progress soon. It's funny that we both got a rash! I think I had one after my last GA but it was a long time ago. I've no idea why my scar is such a whopper. Maybe they needed to get the camera in lower or something. It goes from the very inside of my belly button straight down vertically. I'm sure it will fade. I've had lump put of my boob (I think I'm just lumpy) and my appendix out, so I'm building up a nice map now.

Thanks Stasi for your bio oil advice, I went and got some today! I was wondering what to use on it. I know what you mean about wanting the alien invader out ASAP. I felt the same about my boob lump, but we weren't sure what that was til it was removed and biopsied. I'm very grateful that is isn't anything sinister and have to keep reminding myself that even though all of this is sad and hard, it isn't life threatening, your story often makes me think that.

izzy grr for you and your naughty cycles. I hope they start to settle soon.

Well attempts to race ahead with appointment failed. I can't see a private scanner because he wants his team to do it because it got missed last time (I was outsourced to the local private scanning place, not sure why). Also, I need to have had my period before the scan. I've no idea when that will be because I was due to ovulate the day of the lap and my temps are annoyingly in a cusp that is sometimes pre and post ov. But it isn't til around the 12th Jan so ill have to wait til Feb. His nurse was lovely though and said that in any case, he always leaves 8 weeks between surgeries so the body is all mended. This would mean the op will be in early March. The nurse said 6 weeks to 3 months before we could try after that no baby for me at 35 then. At least I get to get some gym and yoga in and get everything sorted at work I guess. We might try and get a weekend in Spain before then too.

Waves at everyone else. pout are you wedding planning?

I know not to POAS until a few days after AF is due and thus have only tested once in 2011 :-( but seems even packing one for possible use in a few days jinxes it all. Pah. Seems I am out again too.

I hope wedding planning, health kicks and positive thinking are all going well. May 2012 be a better year...

Somehow today went past so fast it's now tomorrow! DH and I have just been settling back into life without visitors, so spending a bit of quality quiet time together. This has meant no time on the computer though. So once again I'm on my phone in bed.

I'm looking forward to the consultant appointment, though when I think about it I realize that's a silly thing to be doing. He can't fix anything while we're there, or make sure we'll get a bfp soon. I just want to feel like we're on the way to getting there. Felt a little sad today thinking that we should have a baby by now. If things had worked the way it seems to for "normal" people I'd have had a real live screaming baby by now. Oh well, 2012 will be our year instead.

Sleep time now, sorry I've still not caught up with people. Will make time tomorrow.

Hi ladies. Hope you all had lovely Christmases! Am just catching up.. I was thrilled to see a Xmas BFP on here - congrats purple, what a lovely Christmas pressie for you.

Stasi I totally know what you mean about feeling excited about the consultant appt but sad at the same time, as by now we should all have our own babies. Try to keep hold of that optimistic mood - you are progressing in the journey to getting your v own bundle of joy. And I was so pleased to hear that your scan was all fine.

wine I hope you are feeling a little better. I have been thinking of you. It must have been tough over Xmas, but I guess at least mr wine has been around to keep you company?! Sorry to hear you can't get an appt any sooner, but it sounds like they're taking good care of you. Big hugs.

euro hope the egg has arrived and all is still going ok with the drugs.

kitty I'm with you on the Jan health kick. Well done on persuading your other half! My DH has decided to give up booze in jan. He doesn't yet know about all the veg and weird supliments that I'm gonna pump him full of.. Think it's worth a shot. The urologist advised no more than 1 glass of wine an evening and said no booze might slightly improve things. I'm going to try to join DH in the health kick thing. Seems only fair & I could do with loosing a few Xmas pounds!

nelly you deserve a special gold, ttc 10 months chat board medal for putting up with your sil! I'd have gone nuts. Hope Ertd hasn't shown up...And great news bout the sperms!

izzy sorry the period turned up. It's always such a disappointment. cakes hope yours sorted itself out too.

Fatima so sorry to hear your other half is finding it hard. Mine won't really talk about things, other than apologising for not being able to give me kids at inappropriate times (ie just before sex..) hope things are a little better in your household.

Waves at everyone else and sorry for humungous (sp?!) post! Have you all got plans for new years? We're going to a party to make the most of our last booze filled night. Must NOT get drunk and cry about ttc. Not sure how I feel about 2012... On the one hand we're finally dealing with our ttc problems but on the other it's all a bit scary with ivf looming. Anyway hope you all have good weekends xx

Hi ladies, apologies for being absent over the last few days, Christmas has been rather busy in the pops household what with all of the presents and festive trips to relatives .

I was thrilled to see a BFP, and Christmas one at that! Congratulations Purple, we really needed some positive news on this thread. Fingers crossed for a happy & healthy pregnancy.

I suspect AF is looming & that my first month of Clomid hasn't quite done the trick. I'm on cd 28 today. Assuming AF turns up, I'll have 3 more Clomid cycles before IVF. I have my next appointment booked for March so if Father Christmas could get me a belated BFP before then, that'd be grand

Hope everyone else is doing ok. Here's hoping for a BFP packed 2012 x

Just posting a positive story.

Ds was conceived very quickly. So thought the same would happen again. Except it didn't. It took about 16 months and more than that in cycles to conceive dd. It was the month we went to the fertility clinic for our first meeting that we were lucky. We didn't do anything different apart from going on holiday but that wasn't when I was fertile. So sometimes its just a matter of time. Crap I know. I went totally mental so have been there done that.

Sorry if inappropriate but just wanted to add my 2p worth.

Thanks ILOU, positive stories after months & months & months of ttc are always welcome here!

Glad to be of assistance and good luck to you all.

BTW DD is 7 months old and fast asleep as I type.

Just a quick one to say hi to everyone, hope you are all having a fun New Year! ERTD arrived yesterday, so I'm hoping 2012 will be better for all of us. :)

Been trying to keep off the computer while I am off work but will try to catch up properly soon. Thanks again for your company this year xxx

Happy New Year to all. I hope 2012 will be luckier for us than 2011 was.

This is a bit of an emotional time for us as we started trying properly last NYE so it has been a full year of perfectly-timed swi with nothing to show for it. And as I am now on day 22 of my first assisted cycle with no ovulation, I am quite pissed off. An anovulatory cycle was not the start to the year that I wanted!

Happy new year everyone.

euro I am sorry to hear of your anovulatory cycle. So, so frustrating. Have you had any signs of ovulation at all or nothing? Grrr

nelly booo for ERTD. I too am hoping 2012 will be a much happier year for all of us. I guess that with lots of us embarking on some form of assistance, we will be more likely to get more BFPs, and hopefully some natural ones too. Fingers crossed.

ILOU thanks for posting your story. It?s always so good to hear that people got there in the end after a long time trying.

pixie glad you had a lovely Christmas. Has AF shown up yet? Hope not. I hope you get a Clomid BFP soon. Four cycles of it sounds like a good amount, enough to know that you?ve given it a good shot anyway.

gin how was your NYE in the end? We spent ours in a very relaxed fashion with non child-rearing/pregnant friends, which was a blessing. I didn?t get too drunk or talk about TTC that much. It makes me realise that my AF-induced meltdowns are very much due to hormones. At other times in my cycle I quite often feel fairly pragmatic about it all (not all the time though).

stasi I hope your consultant appointment goes well. It is annoying we have to go through all this medical stuff to get a baby isn?t it. I think it?s why I want to try and improve our chances of a natural conception. A few months ago I wanted to rush into IVF, but now I?m wondering if it would even work for us, and thinking a lot about how tough he process will be. I?d so like to conceive naturally.

citysnow I?m sorry about your disappointing POAS incident. Has AF shown up now?

wine how are you doing lady? Glad to hear you and Mr Wine have been planning some other stuff to focus on, it?s the way forward. I always want to go on a holiday booking spree at this time of year. Also thank you for recommending those websites. You are very good at finding interesting things. I LOVE the 101 cookbooks blog, it is fab. I particularly love the way that she makes healthy food that is also very tasty and a bit decadent. I love her style. I?ve done one of her lentil soups with saffron yoghurt and it was delicious, even mr kitty admitted it was yummy! We?ve been having lots of fruit, smoothies, salads and soups. Lots of antioxidants flying around :) and first class with new Iyengar yoga instructor this week.

Well this is the first time in a very long time I?ve lost track of my cycle. I?m on CD 18, thought I ov?d on CD 13 or 14 as had EWCM and then it dried up. But then it reappeared on CD 16 . Haven?t temped or used OPK?s. So don?t really know when to expect ERTD but no doubt it will arrive at some point

euro I too remember this time last year. I?d just got AF and it was the second time I?d done properly timed SWI. I remember being really disappointed and even though we?d only been trying a few months, I had a definite inkling that something was wrong. TBH though, I always expected to have problems for some reason. I remember one of DH?s relatives wrote something like ?can?t wait to meet your children? in the guest book at our wedding and when I read it I just got this weird bad feeling

Anyway, another monster post from me so I?ll just finish with a quick wave to everyone. Lots of love x

kitty I got my usual pre-ov twinges, some quite strong, but not my usual bloated popping ov feeling. I think the Letrozole just made too many follicles for my aging ovaries to be able to pop them all out so it didn't manage to push any out. This is the first time I am willing AF to come so I can get on with the next cycle!

AF arrived this morning Kitty. Bah, but never mind. At least having cd1 on the first of the month makes it easier to keep track.

Sorry to hear about your anovulatory cycle Euro, I was afraid that the same might happen with Clomid, though fortunately OPKs indicated that I did ovulate. Hope AF arrives soon for you.

I feel slightly strange posting this after my stress on Thursday night... On thursday I had trouble getting to sleep because of AF-like cramps so took test out of my bag (obviously never gonna need it), um.... only to not actually get AF. Cue private hope for 2 days which got confirmed with a BFP this afternoon once we were home again!
I can't believe it. 16 months trying, full 12 months using OPK.
Obviously very early days and really hope I don't regret posting this so early.
I also feel weird as I am not sure that other people's progress always made me feel any better...
This thread definately made me feel better though (thanks, even though I was more of a lurker than poster). My fingers are crossed for more BFPs and subsequent smooth sailing. X

That's really super news City - congratulations . Do I recall correctly that you were imminently about to start IUI?

citysnow YAY!!!!! Fabulous news-congratulations another Christmas miracle.

How was your 2ww this time? Did you feel any different ?

That's excellent news, snow!

Yep IUI due to start Jan but we were going to be away at critical time so couldn't start til feb. No real difference at all during 2ww but was tired over Xmas. But who isn't after a busy Dec? Boobs feel a little different but could be imagining it.
Kept drinks down to about 4 over NYE which I think was as good as I could do in the unknowing circumstances...

Congratulations Citysnow, it's lovely to hear your news.

Evening all, and Happy New Year.

I too will be going on have started a health kick for 2012. I want to feel like I'm doing something positive, and also just generally want to be fitter and healthier.

Kitty I don't really know what I want from this appointment, I feel happy I'll have someone to talk to who hopefully knows what they're talking about. I've never really discussed TTC with a doctor, so have never had any advice or anything. I just hope I don't come out of it all feeling like it was a waste of time.

What does ERTD stand for? I've been trying to guess. I think I know it means AF, but what do the letters stand for?

Citysnow congratulations! I do honestly find news of successes very uplifting. Makes me feel like one day I will get there too.

Euro sorry your cycle appears to be anovulatory. I hope things get sorted for you soon.

Not much to report here. I'm somewhere in the 2ww, but didn't temp this month, so don't know where. I hope AF will be due before my consultant appointment, so I'll either be pg or at the start of a cycle for whatever he wants to plan. Kind of hoping for an ironic bfp, but not expecting one, so hoping that it'll happen anyway. Does that make sense?

I need to get DH to do another SA this week so we can have some clear results for the consultant. I'm going to get him to phone the doctor and see if they have anything more useful than the vague and confusing letter we received. Ideally they'll tell him the actual numbers, even if it is a contaminated sample somehow (which the letter suggested).

ERTD=evil red tide of doom!

citysnow just wanted to say a big congratulations. That's really fabulous news and you must both be thrilled. What a great way to start the new year!

Hangovers are being nursed in the gin household today. We certainly made the most of our final alcohol allowed night! Tbh I never want to drink again at the moment... Hope you all had good evenings and wishing you all happy new years.

I did a t-total NY, as I was the designated driver. I don't mind not drinking though, I never learned to like the taste of alcohol, so don't really enjoy it unless I can't taste it.

Bed time for me now, was a late night last night, and not a very restful one. DH was tossing and turning (he was less than sober).

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe I'm away for a short while and there are two BFPs to return to. Massive congrats purple and citysnow. What a perfect way to start the new year. Do tell us all your symptoms, did you know before you tested?

There is always so much to catch up on when I don't read this thread for a while. I have read everything I missed but I'm hopeless and I forget it all now so I hope you'll forgive me if I just talk about myself in this post in a very me, me, me way.

Overall Christmas was lovely and it was nice to be back in the UK and catch up with family and friends. It was obvious though that I'm a bit of an outsider in my family now as the only one without children. I lost count of the amount of times someone (usually one of my sisters) made a comment about how I wouldn't understand because I didn't have kids or something like that. It hasn't occurred to any of them that we might be having problems ttc so they assume that I'm enjoying being without responsibility and we're not trying yet.

MIL managed to really upset me although I know she didn't mean it. I overheard her moaning to her best friend that she is the only one among her friends that isn't a grandmother. I was upset by this because it's so typical of her to turn it into something about her. She doesn't know I heard her so I haven't said anything, I think she thinks we're being selfish in not having children yet. She also showed me all the knitting she has been doing for her "grandchildren" and she made some snide comment about having to donate them to a children's charity if we didn't get on with it. After this I wanted to tell her about it all but DH persuaded me not to, because he pointed out and is quite right that she she would tell everyone and would also hassle us constantly wanting an update. Also, she doesn't understand anything vaguely scientific and I know the ivf process would totally baffle her. Anyway she may get a grandchild soon enough because my SIL moves into her new, bigger house in March and is already talking about having a baby. This really annoyed me when she was going on about it because I feel it's not her turn yet. I know this is irrational but she's several years younger and hasn't been with her partner very long and they're not even talking about marriage yet so I don't know why they want a baby so soon. But I know it only bothers me because she will get their first and it feels unfair when we've been trying for so long.

I have also had it confirmed that the UK is a very fertile place, every old friend I bumped into was pregnant or had children. I bumped into one friend I hadn't seen in years. The last time we met was at a wedding where I remember we were drunkenly talking about when we'd have kids and she said she wanted to have her first by the age of 30. Anyway, she has a six month old now so missed the cut off by a couple of months but still made me realise that others can do it to order.

And then on NYE my SIL (brother's wife) announced (in a big way, in the pub) that she was 5 weeks pregnant. She'd miscarried 2 months ago so I was totally caught off guard because I can't believe it could happen again so quick. The strange thing is she isn't in the slightest bit worried about this pregnancy, she is so sure everything will be fine. This news hit me in that gut wrenching way and I had a fairly miserable NYE. But I'm back home now and it's a new year and I've got ivf to look forward to. I am so determined to get pregnant this year.

I'm on CD25 so nothing much to report. We've only SWI 3 times this month so it really would be a miracle. I had my own sludgegate saga though. A blob of brown mucus at 3dpo and then a brown sludge when I wiped for the next two days and nothing since. This is a new thing for me.

Sorry, this really has been a me post. I hope everyone else is doing ok. Stasi great news about your scan.

Happy new year everyone!

Congratulations on the long awaited BFPs City and Purple I love hearing these stories. Not that I wish the journey on anyone but it really does give me hope that it will happen someday.

Wine I was really sorry to hear your news. It must have been such a shock. I'm very glad for you that the problem has been identified at last and now you can focus on getting it sorted. 2012 will be your year .

I'm sorry to hear AF/ERTD turned up for some of you. Unfortunately I'm also now on cd4, but at least ill be ready to start the SWI soon

Sorry to hear you had a bit of a rough time with pregnancy announcements over Xmas Mrsden We had a few announcements that we had to endure, they were all expected though so it was slightly easier to bear. It must have been very difficult for you with your MILs comments.

Strangely for the first time ever we had no comments from family about when we are going to have a baby. I assume they have guessed we must be ttc or are having problems.

Sorry if I've missed anything but am on a phone so can't look back