TTC 10 plus months, part 6

[mrsden]

A friendly, supportive thread for those of us who are taking a bloody long little longer time than average to conceive.

just popping in quickly to say so sorry gin that it has not worked this time. it sounds like you are dealing with it fantastically well.

I am really keeping my fingers crossed for you all.

joyce will be glad when its mid June and all the preggy women at work will have gone, hopefully there won't be any new announcements

pout i'm sure there is a man in a white coat with a big butterfly net looking for me I can't remember the last time if ever I felt normal the lists I make, the supplements, the different sticks to pee on........

beck I know what you mean, DH came home and said he saw a little boy at the train station with his mum and the little boy was so excited to see the train, it just made me cry, I can't bare the thought that I might never give him a baby of his own :(

critter I remember feeling like that at yoga, the whole room would be calm and silent other than my non existent asthma attack oh and someone farting

mrsd at potential ovulation

lemon sorry yesterday wasn't that great, glad you are feeling better and fingers crossed for you

princess how is the diet going secretly needs to loose the weight I have gained I blame the steroids for my gain

gin how are you

Waves to everyone else

Can't believe I've done it again- great big post lost. Grrrrr!

In a nutshell:

pout Thanks for explaining the PCO/PCOS thing- that was exactly what I was told. Sorry that she's here- the evil witch. Hope all is done by Tuesday and that you don't have a long one like nelly and I did. Nelly is yours all done now?

lemon glad that you are feeling better after a shit time yesterday. Sounds like you had a nice reassuring nurse. FX for a busy 2ww including a lovely hol and job interview!

mrsd cluck cluck- hope that was an egg and that you get lots more high temps to follow.

becks sorry you've been sad. Nieces and nephews are a blessing but they bring it home. It will be you soon.

joyce I'd had blood tests and a previous scan which didn't show PCO(S?) Nurse casually slipped it into conversation at iui!

Could do with a bit of advice re Clomid please. Wasn't keen to take before as success rates are low for normal ov (which I thought I had). Do you think the PCO diagnosis makes a difference? Could it bring ov forward? Not the scenario I tend to hear!

Sorry for typos but have already written before and need me bed!

Thinking of gin and Mrgin- hope you are ok- lots of love x

Just a quick catch up. Yes frannie it finally fucked off on Sunday I think - day10 though had very little on saturday. Straight onto ovulation signs. We managed a shag last night and hopefully one today then I think I'm straight into the 2ww....

gin I'm so sorry this cycle didn't work for you, but you sound like you are being remarkably calm. Good idea to have the summer off.

pout princess and others you have made me really laugh with all the various tales of diets, housing crises, new cars, TTC = eventual pregnancy bumps and all manner of other stuff!

lemon glad you at least got through the outsourcing, fingers crossed for you.

Shame I can't make the meet up. But I have to say as I'll be somewhere hot and sunny, visiting my sister, and my amazingly gorgeous nephew, I hope you'll forgive me . I am so so so excited about seeing my nephew - I hear you all on the broodiness when you see cute family moments. I can't wait to see him!

Just realised my first hospital appointment is next week, eek. I'm a bit nervous as never really had to be in hospital and have no idea what to expect at the first one. Will I likely have my legs in stirrups, or will the first one be a totally pointless banal chat that teaches all of us precisely nothing

New cars - we bought a shiny new one a while ago. I am saddened to realise they don't stay that way and you actually have to clean them. Boo.

Been doing lots of secret hobbling recently which is still totally distracting on the TTC front. Mainly because she's either being great and I'm doing this or she is being an extra speshul cowbag and I'm doing this . No time to dwell on lack of babies here....Actually that's a lie, I just manage to quickly distract myself so that you'd never know it happened if you weren't watching carefully. I did just check my app though, and realised that my period will be due when we are on holiday - 2 cycles away. It never occurred to me that it WON'T arrive, this cycle or the next. Boo.

Anyway if I am to have a chance of a shag I better go and tuck the beasts/breasts/hobbles up for the night then get to bed and woo OH with my eau de cheval and slightly mucky finger nails.*

*disclaimer. I will wash before I go to bed. Maybe.

oh thank you for all your sweet comments! . I did tell my BF that if she was ever to have problems trying to conceive, she would also talk about it all the time.

critter - where are you in the States? just ignore the question if you wish to keep it secret.

lemons - i am glad the cramps have gone. I seem to remember having them and was told it was all good signs. Crossing fingers for you.

pout - goodness is the big day on Tuesday already?? sorry about AF but i know you were wanting it to come. Blloody roofs...and thank you for your very sweet comment

frannie - has clomid been offered to you? I think it is worth giving it a shot. It is suppose to help with short LPs and ovulatory problems. And there are plenty of success stories with people using it. You just never know it could be exactly the thing you need and it is very straightforward to take with fairly limited side effects.

nelly - glad you have been somewhat distracted. My first hospital appt is in a few weeks and i was wondering what to expect. I was thinking it would just be a matter of going through all the paperwork with the consultant...

waves to everyone else. hope everybody is ok. I looked up what chinese year i was born in and I'm only a bloody goat. The next year of the goat is 2015...does that mean i will get a baby then?!

joycep I'm in Washington DC - moved here about a year and a half ago. In my paranoid moments I wonder whether the more lax rules about hormones/chemicals in the food here and general homesickness have contributed to my lack of periods. Also, I can commiserate with a friendly horn butt (is that right? sounds rather rude) as I too am a goat! Typical. I remember being totally jealous of the other kids in my class at primary school who were born in the year of the monkey, when we learnt about the Chinese calendar. Clearly the goat was a crapper animal than the monkey, that much was clear to my eight-year-old self.

nelly good luck tonight! Glad that AF has said sayonara at last.

frannie I have PCO I think, rather than PCOS (although I do get the hormonal jaw/chin acne, lovely) and they prescribed Clomid for me. I think it's pretty standard in that its job is to make your ovaries work harder - but I am not an expert.

lemon sorry about the painful IUI. I hope that it has done its job, at the least. Poor you. It sounds like the nurse was reassuring which is great.

lisa about the yoga farting. I live in mortal terror of that happening to me in a class. The horror.

pout sorry to hear about the return of AF just after shelling out for the meds, that is very annoying indeed. It is sods law.

mrsden fingers crossed for ovulation! Really hope it has worked, surely one egg isn't too much to ask for!

becks sorry to hear you're feeling blue. You will get there in the end!

euro I am rooting for the outsourced swimmers to have done their job. Hope the rest of the 2ww goes quickly for you.

My temp was 36.8 this morning, so fingers crossed it looks like I have ovulated.

frannie and critter I thought pcos was confirmation of cysts on ovaries plus one other symptom, or cysts plus hormones tests showing LH and FSH in wrong proportions.

Fingers crossed mrsden that you've laid a golden egg

critter I've posted on here before about a British friend living in the US who was advised by her ob-gyn to eat organic as she wasn't used to the hormones in the food. She'd had multiple cysts. Haha she took me to my first Whole Foods, about 10 years ago now. Love Whole Pay-check. Though as I was living on an expensive Caribbean island at the time, I thought it was cheap! Mr Nelly zonked last night so no luck, which is a shame as I'm sure that was my egg laying day. The long period really buggered my cycle as I've barely had time to squeeze in any sex .

Hello ladies, sorry I haven't posted for a long time- I have been stalking you all and rooting for you, gin i'm so sorry this cycle didn't work for you.
Things have moved quickly for me- currently lying in bed having had egg collection from icsi 'go' number one (for some inexplicable reason DH's motility has worsened since last year- he's overjoyed about that given the £20 a jar vitamins I've been force feeding him) and hoping to keep OHSS at bay before ET on Thurs or fingers crossed blasto transfer on Sat.
I caused a bit of pandemonium at the ACU as I was on a short protocol with a low dose of stims and ended up growing 37 follicles, from which emerged 30 eggs, 26 of them mature. At 5 foot 4 and a size 8 you can imagine it was a bit 'crowded' in there! 19 fertilised normally so just keeping everything crossed that they carry on growing.
At 5.30 this morning I was convinced ohss had got me- the cramps were hideous, my abdomen was like a football and I felt really sick. Had DH running round like a blue arsed fly calling the out of hours clinic number, mopping my brow etc, then realised I needed a poo. Did a MASSIVE poo, went back to bed for half an hour feeling a bit better, then got up to do an even more MASSIVE one. Now I feel relatively normal apart from a bit of bloating still! Needless to say when DH turned up for work an hour late this morning I banned him from saying that this was down to his wife needing a poo.
X

Heh! MrsHY I think all the hormones can back you up a bit. I guess it has to come out at some point!

Critter I travel to DC a fair amount for work. I'm next out there in June for a couple of days I think.

mrsd I think that is right. PCO=the presence of multiple cysts on the ovaries. PCOS = PCO plus hair/acne/insulin resistence/weight gain, etc.

nelly I am glad the hobbling is providing a good distraction for you.

I'm at 9dpo here and feeling very PMS-y, so I don't think the outsourcing has done the job this time around. But I suppose I am not out yet.

Lisa - thanks for the info re your meds. It all helps to know this stuff. I'm desperate for a baby too if that's any consolation. Although I would be having big stroppy words if someone used that sort of language in any official documentation. Definitely. Not. On!! Diet is going well thanks. Officially day 5 of no dairy and feeling quite a lot better for it. Maybe it's just placebo effect. But we are both feeling oddly healthy and happy. Also helped that we made a healthy cake (no dairy, no sugar and low GI) last night. Yes you heard it! Healthy cake that tastes and looks like cake. We used olive oil instead of butter, whole grain flour instead of white flour, agave syrup instead of sugar, loads of ginger, dates, raisins and lemon juice. It tasted really bloody lovely! I'm sold!

Purple Oooooooooo black forest gateaux and a big glass of red wine. Two of my favourites . I'm off to see the nutritionist tomorrow. She may not be as draconian as Marilyn. I'll update you all tomorrow

Critterpants - no worries. Do they have good whole food places out in DC? I went there years ago for a few days and found everything in the centre very, very shiny and clean. We drink Clipper decaf. The bags are not bleached and they use a CO2 process to remove the caffeine rather than solvents. Some peeps are not bothered, but there is a body of thought that says the decaffing solvents are worse than the caffeine itself. Twinnings also use the C02 process but do bleach their bags. We're a little bit paranoid anal about things like this and are trying to be non toxic where possible (including beds, sofas, paints, limecrete floors etc etc). Oh and you can mail order Twinnings and Clipper, not sure about to the US tho.

Lemons - sorry your outsourcing wasn't very romantic. Thinks to self, why don't they do this with mood lighting, scented candles and Marvin Gaye?. Good luck with the job application and really hope you have the best time away on hols. V.

MrsD - ooooo ovulation, that finger is hovering, fingers crossed!!

Becks - little people have that effect don't they. I don't have any nephews or nieces but plenty of friends with cute little people. It will be you soon enough :)

Nelly good luck! Boo hiss to rubbish cycles at 10 days. As if 5 weren't enough. I'm gearing up for another midcycle period / bleed. Maybe it will, maybe it won't?! And you got a shag in. Not too bad eh? It seems weird to think about biology lessons and being told all those years back that "it only takes one tiny sperm to get you pregnant, remember that when you are 'heavy petting' , even if you are not having full sex you can still get pregnant" . Yeah, whatever!

Joycep I'm sure you will get a baby before the year of the goat. I'm dismissing your logic, purely because the next year of the rooster is 2017!!! I cannot wait another 5 years for a baby!!!

MrsHY hello, I don't think I've spoken to you before. But your poo story did make me . Hope you are feeling better and as euro says what goes in must come out. Maybe the hormones are like miracle grow for the gut?! Reminded me of the time the OH thought he was dieing in the middle of the night and woke me up in complete panic. I was readying to take him the A&E but thought best to check with NHS direct first and they reassured him he had indigestion.

Euro still got my fingers crossed for you. Don't write off this cycle just yet. Hang in there lady :)

Waves to everyone I've missed. Panic tidying for next viewing at 2. These are form Abu Dhabi. Send us some lucky flat selling vibes ladies, we totally need it!!

Afternoon lovely ladies,

I have just diagnosed myself with "S" as I have the odd dark chin hair and cyclical spots, but the ovaries are just fine maybe that is why I don't get diffed.

Flat selling vibes to you princess and intrigued about the healthy cake (although I have everything for unhealthy cakes in the house and none of your ingredients, except unsurprisingly lemons).

Good that this cycle was ovulatory after all, mrsd, fingers crossed for high temps tomorrow as well.

MrsHY aren't you mrsfritatta? In any case welcome back. You made me smile about the poo story - but I can let you know that both trigger-shots and progesteron have distinct stopping capabilities in my experience. Keeping everything crossed for no OHSS and nice healthy embryos to be transferred back soon.

Wow pout the L&D is soon, did you see the thread about it? I really hope it will make a difference!!

Nelly don't worry about the first appointment at the hospital - I had two, because I switched, and both involved and awful lot of questions (history of TTC, family history, etc) and blood taking but both were near the beginning of my cycle. With the current hospital it also involved a fanny cam to check womb and ovaries, and a smear (because I was not up-to-date ). And DH had to do SAs, not there and then, I hasten to add.

Well done on telling the friend joycep. And I am expecting a few more last chance saloon dragons from this thread, followed by a large number of snakes. No goats. At least not unless second children!

Sorry your nephew made you feel blue, becks and about the story your DH told you about the small boy lisa. I know just what you mean, they can pull the heart strings, can't they. But it is a blessing to have little ones in your life, while you're waiting for your own. My youngest nephew conceived and born while we have been trying, has had the odd salty drop fall on his head, but he does not hold it against me.

at the idea that the American diet/life could have something to do with it all critter. And I liked the apt summary of Whole Paycheck.

Waves for all, and a special hi to mini. How are you doing?

Nelly that is very interesting about your friend. Hmm, maybe I need to change my somewhat laissez-faire attitude about organic stuff. I've always bought organic milk here but have been a bit slack on the organic fruit and veg/meat/fish . But I really think it may have something to do with it. Also, general stress from missing my family. I've noticed that I'm more prone to eczema since moving here, which I usually get when I'm fretting about something. I feel a bit like pout's dog with the chafed tail.

princess really good luck with the flat viewing! And thanks for the Clipper tea tips, and the info on decaff... I had a sneaking suspicion that my soy decaf latte from Starbucks wasn't quite as fertility-kosher as I hoped. I can always buy some Clipper next time I'm home, which is in about three weeks. And I bet there is something similar at Whole Paycheck, I'll have a nose about for it. Do you have a recipe for the healthy cake? I'm intrigued!

euro if you are out here in June and have a spare evening, let me know! I'd love to meet you.

mrsden thanks for the clearest explanation I have heard yet about the difference between pco and pcos. Sounds like I am a fully-paid up member of the pcos club, in that case, thanks to my spots.

mrsHY1 loved the tale of the poos! hope you're feeling ok and not too battered and bruised.

lemon glad you're feeling better, and best of luck for the 2ww.

Waves all round!

critter my fellow goat! My cousins live in DC. I went there when I was young. I remember it well. My brother lives in the States now. I?m sorry you are missing your family so much. Is your other half American or have you just been posted there? I would love to live abroad for a year and rather envious of hearing about nelly?s expensive Caribbean island but I can imagine it?s never as glamourous as I imagine. Stress can be a huge factor in not getting pregnant as can diet. I think the hormones and chemicals in the food in the states is worse than here and someone was telling me about the radiation they put in the spuds out there so I guess it makes sense to try and go organic. But again like all these things there will be people out there who will be eating gsm filled takeaways everyday swigged down with gasoline whilst holding down some high powered job and they won?t have issues. And the vast majority won?t have issues on the same diet so it?s very confusing. I am so convinced that once you ovulate you will get pregnant though.

mrsd - congrats on ovulation. It?s always very pleasing to see the temps rise isn?t it.

mrshy - oh wow things have moved forward for you. Wishing you the best of luck with ET and here?s hping you don?t get OHSS> You sound like you are an egg making machine though

eruo- the show isn?t over until the fat lady sings. PMS/pregnancy symptoms they are all the same. Good luck.

princess - ooh what is this cake you made? It sounds great. I?m dismissing my goat logic as well now after investigating what my parents are...and in fact none of my siblings or me share a Chinese year with my parents. Over the last few years, I have come up with many wacky ideas and beliefs as to why i haven?t got pregnant and I have found myself looking to the moon and the stars and thinking that perhaps they all need to be lined up with my birthday. There were a few months last year where i removed my engagement ring because i got it into my head that it was bringing me bad luck. Weird indeed!

lemon - what is S? Is that Syphilus (sp)? Yes please let?s all produce snakes and dragons...goats, roosters and monkeys can be our 2nd and 3rd babies.

Ok, so the recipe was a OH creation (clever OH). I was a bit teary about some baby or other, so he decided to make me a cake seen as he couldn't console me with icecream or cheese.
He used this recipe as a basis for the cake mix quantities and cooking time - www.completelydelicious.com/2011/03/lemon-olive-oil-cake.html - we used a special wholemeal flour in place of white flour, agave syrup instead of sugar. To this he added a fruity mix made up of fresh ginger (about an inch), large handful of dates, half a handful of raisins, a cardamon pod, half a handful of almonds, rind of a lemon (no pith) and half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Whizzed together with the juice of half a lemon and some water.
The trick seems for the cake texture seems to have been separating the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks and agave to make a sort of hollandaise / mayo style substance on a fast setting and then mix in the olive on a slow setting. The egg whites need to be whisked until really fluffy and then gently fold them in at the very end. When the cake was cooked and cooled he poked some holes in the top and poured in a lemon juice and agave syrup (juice of half a lemon, agave syrup and a pinch of nutmeg) and then served with a decaf Clipper tea with oat milk He's not a chef btw just very clever in the kitchen.

Today I have way more CM than usual (not egg white, only CD9, but definitely CM noted). Just thinking that I only ever seem to have got preggers at this time of year. Princesschick is wondering if she is actually a princesspanda

Hi ladies. Just a quick one from me - will catch up properly tomorrow! Am feeling ok today but had a massive crying fit/pity party last night, sparked by the totally reasonable fact mr gin said he would be going out Thursday evening Decided that I was fed up with being sensible about the failed cycle and wanted a good old sob! Tbh I also felt v hormonal - coming off the daily 800mg of progesterone must affect things... Felt much better afterwards & slept all the way through the night for the first time in ages! AF now appears to be starting (in a gross, clotty way), which is actually a kind of relief.

Thanks so much for all your kind words. You are such a super bunch of ladies and always say the right things! Will catch up properly when Mr Gin is on his bloody night out...

euro preggy symptoms are very similar to PMS :)

mrsh well done on the egg numbers and I loved the poo story

princess this time last year (27th) I found out I was preggers now I have nothing to show for it, , very impressed that your OH baked for you, that was very sweet of him. I too have had a bit of cm on CD 6?? think its the SO drugs

critter we never worked out who was culprit but we had a good laugh, DH and often talk about going to Washington DC, depends on jobs and getting updiffed

lemon thank you, its just so hard sometimes we've talked so much about 'when junior gets here' and all the things we'll do with him, for some reason we both feel we are having a boy although DH heard two ladies talking on the train and they said if you crave sweet things you're having a girl so he was sure the second time it was a girl as I had a thing for honey puff

nelly feel free to send the last 3 days of your AF to me, I'm sure your appointment will be fine, they will just discuss your options and treatment, plus take some bloods as they are always keen on that

frannie i'm on tamoxifen for my super ovulation treatment and last time it brought my ovulation early by 2 days, I can tell you more next week :) can't advise on the PCO

well I've felt pretty crap today, sickness and pains around my ovaries, putting it all down to the Tamoxifen, although work is a nightmare at the moment don't mind as long as it works. Was going to send DH for a SA this weekend but I will now keep his swimmers for me just in case I ovulate early again. My blood tests came back normal so now I have to wait and see what happens at my scan next week but i'm not getting my hopes up.

big waves to everyone :)

Yum, that cake sounds great princess- lucky you with your cheffie OH! Good luck with the flat selling.

mrshy wow what an amazing number of eggs- good luck with the rest of the treatment. Your poo story was pretty hilarious although I'm sure it wasn't at the time! I remember reading something about the frittata when I first found this thread- had no idea what it meant but hoped it was nothing to do with EW!

Great news on the ovulation mrsd. Hopefully you have broken that unlucky run. GL for the good old 2ww.

critter really interesting about the whole food hormone thing. It might be worth doing a 3 month trial to see if it makes a difference with the cycles. What are US fertility rates like in comparison to UK?

nelly blimey that was a long one! But a bit that you are already nearing ov. I've got at least another 10 days. Hope you can sneak a bit more SWI before.

euro everyone I know that has got pregnant recently says that they have had either a total lack of symptoms or feel AFy. Fingers crossed they're good cramps. We need some IUI successes on here!

mrsden thanks for explaining the PCOS/PCO thing- that does make sense. I do think self-diagnosis alert I could have PCOS as the nurse said that I have enlarged cysty ovaries; I had high fasting blood sugar results last year and on a recent home test; I really struggle to lose weight even when dieting and exercising regularly and I do get quite a lot of downy fair hair on my face, which I don't think is too bad, but clearly enough for my mother to tell others about! I also have oily skin and suffer with fairly bad cyclical outbreaks. Don't I sound like a beaut! Maybe I'm just fat and spotty! My FSH was 4 and my LH was 2.3- last apt they said that didn't indicate PCOS . joy I have been offered Clomid with IUI but have said I will try at a later cycle mainly because I thought it was pretty useless unless you had PCOS or weren't ovulating. Might see if I can next time round. I learn so much more on here than anywhere else- thank you ladies!

gin its totally normal to feel like that and its good to have a cry and get things out, I get fed up with feeling I have to put on a brave face and keep my emotions in check, fuck it I can't be arsed anymore!!

Anyway big hugs x

xp gin- not surprised that you need a bloody good cry. You're doing brilliantly. Hope all the bruises and wounds are healing well. x

Thanks lisa will def take you up on that! Ouch to painful ovaries- how can such tiny things rule our lives?!

princess - that does sound delicious, although perhaps a little complicated for my pitiful culinary skills...i mean separating eggs?!!

gin - you are going through so much and have been pumped with so many hormonal products that a good cry is certainly allowed and necessary , i hope it helped. Look after yourself.

lisa - I am sorry you have felt like crap today. I am glad your bloods are ok though.

frannie - clomid can be useless, it certainly was for me. However, i just think it is worth a go especially if you ovulate late and have a shortish lp. It's not going to do any harm...well apart from potentially producing twins or triplets .

having been getting impatient waiting for my appointment with the ivf clinic it has now come through....only to be on the same bloody day as my appointment with the nhs consultant in a few weeks. NO NO NO. I thought they would call me so i could book it in for July as I thought there was a 3 month waiting list. Damn. I don't know whether it is just a simple matter of calling up and rebooking, I suspect not. grrr.

Oh bugger joyce. Are the times close or can you make both?

joyce you should be able to change one of them, you might have to wait a couple more weeks longer for the nhs appt. Typical though isn't it

Wow how did I get so behind already?!

gin sorry you've had a bad day but I think you are fully within your rights to have a good old wail. Hugs.

euro I hope hope hope it isn't pms.

critter I am a dragon and proud at this rate I'll be lucky to get pig.

pout ha ha that you have fanny patches too. Why won't paint cover them why!? I've no op date yet, waiting waiting. One day we can compare scars! My mums friend had Manu laps (shudder) and decided to have her belly button pierced to disguise it.

princess liking the sound of the cake. You NEED the chocoolate heartbreak book that was suggested on here, it is ace. Mr wine did smell sweet potato and maca but to his surprise he found them delicious. We have since made a chocolate cake which was very good. Well done for 5 dairy free days!

lemon glad the IUI #2 is done. Go swimmers go.

frannie clomid is a mystery to me. The consultants nurse told me it would help me make a stronger egg. Wen I asked the consultant if I would have clomid later year, he said no, younare already ovulating as if I was stupid. But then said I could if I wanted to, with a bit of a shrug. I'm not sure it I'd good for fibroid ladies though so I'm a bit dubious. Ivf drugs can't be good in that respect either. Oh the joys.

nelly glad af pissed off. I had a mega long one that lasted a month must after we started ttc. I still wonder what it was all about. Jealous of your trip. I don't think there will be stirrups on the first visit just questions and writing of notes.

joycep I don't know about the meet up yet with no date, so do keep me posted.I so want to be able to meet you all.

frittata! good luck, so many many eggs, it has to come good. And not a microwave or egg white is sight.

Lisa at yoga fanny fart.

10 dpo here on the last chance saloon cycle. My boobs are the sorest they have ever been and even mr w commented that they look considerably bigger. And I can taste metal. Fish slap me now. Hard.

Sorry about typos, not wearing glasses,