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.

X post with Pout. Sorry your appointment didn't give you the answers you wanted. Glad the lounge pants (still sounding v.grown up and glam) are comfy. Hopefully the removal of the 'broid will help with all the other stuff and maybe, just maybe you will have a miraculous and beautiful pregnancy and can be one of those amazing TTC stories. Loads of hugs. As Euro says take good care of yourself and make sure Mr Pout gives you loads of loves, attentions and treats. for you.

V quick post to give love to pout - we have broid friends! Seems suspect to me we both have them and are having probs. I did a myomectomy thread on health and there is a lady on there who had a subserosal fibroid and got pregnant two months after having it out, even though they said it wasn't the reason My wee dribbled out for the first 24 hours then got better. Huge huge hug.

I got a cancellation...broid will be out before two weeks are up terrified!

Yay for cancellations!

Wine brilliant, brilliant news! Soon your womble will be free and baby success will be yours! Hooray! xx

Thanks euro almost turned it down in fear. Shitting a brick now! But making a list of hospital things to buy (surely cashmere socks are an essential, and jo malone smellies ) and pondering on how to tell work.

Hmm, I suspect you will be made to wear "glamorous" circulation stockings so the cashmere socks might be superfluous. Flipflops for the showers though!

wine thats great news about the broid removal. I'd be bricking it too but atleast it'll soon be all over. Hopefully it'll be the answer to your TTC problems.

princess thankyou for the crossed fingers, I've got everything but my legs crossed

euro thanks for more info on the cough medicine. I'll give it a try! Is evening primrose meant to help too? I might try that too. In for a penny, in for a pound!!!

Ah flip flops - good plan!

becks EPO is meant to help produce more CM. I've been trying low levels for the past few months and haven't noticed a difference. I am trying a higher level now! You are not supposed to take it after ov though.

wine I'd also be tempted to take some dettol wipes or something. The last time my mum was in hospital the toilets were pretty disgusting and there is no way you can hover over a mucky seat if you have just had abdo surgery! Of course, the hospital should clean it but it might just be easier to DIY...

euro and becks, I have been on EPO for 3 cycles, to no observable change.
I don't know if I have a thickness or ph problem (I have a more, not much around problem).
Cough meds are for thinning mucus, the ONLY active ingredient must be gueifenesin, some ingredients will do the inverse. The brand in the UK is Robitussin, I believe. The idea is that this ingredient thins mucus in the lungs but in the process other mucus. When your period is over take it as if you have a cough until ov. note that this is a drug that you are using for 'the wrong reason', but then again, it's not crack right?

pout* - well done on having the lap! I?m sorry it hasn?t brought up clear answers , however, i bet you that this fibroid is causing problems. I have heard several stories about people who have had fibroids out and they then went on to get pregnant. They weren?t suppose to the problem either. Coincidence? I don?t think so. Also you have had suspect months haven?t you where things have been happening so getting yourself cleaned up in there is probably exactly what you need. Are you in pain? What?s it like being put to sleep?

wine - yippeeee at getting the date brought forward. That is fab news. Scary but at least you don?t have to hang around for 3 months.

becks - i did the whole Robitusson cough syrup thing...3 teaspoons a day, it was so gross that it would make me shudder! Anyway it didn?t work for me but it seems to be recommended all over the place. And yes clomid dried me out completely and i didn?t spot any ewcm whilst on it but again not every one has this problem. Did they not recommend pre-seed or something?

princess - your wedding you are going to sounds bizarre yet hilarious!! I?ve never heard of a fancy dress wedding before

This is so confusing.... No recommendation of peer-seed, what is this? I don't know if it's coz in thinking about it more but I feel like I have more mucus TMI but it's really wet!

Wet is great, and not thick! I know what you mean though, difficult to work out if more is just down to more attention paid. Pre-seed is a sperm-friendly lube, there are basically two schools of thought on this, some say that it actually aides conception and acts like CM; others would say if you need lube, use this one because others can kill sperm (some people find it helpful with a lot of timed sex) but that it can't help as such.

Hello everyone - for those who asked about my cousin's baby, apparently 24 weeks is right on the cusp of when a premature baby can survive. He was the youngest ever to be born in the hospital - but not the smallest, even though he weighed less than 800g. It is amazing, the wonders of modern science. They are the kindest, loveliest couple ever, and I am so thrilled for them. His eyes are open now (they were fused shut) and he's now over a kilo and doing brilliantly.

gin A big hug to you. I can definitely imagine that what you've been through feels like an early miscarriage, your poor little beans. A bottle of wine over three days is well-deserved I reckon! I'm also sorry about the family drama. I hope you're healing, and if you're feeling more spry at the weekend, get a chance for some gentle fun with Mr G.

joyce my mum probably had pcos, although it wasn't diagnosed, by the sounds of her periods. She had a miscarriage, then a stillbirth (the baby died at 38 weeks and she didn't see him after he was born because she couldn't bear it at the time - she says it's one of her biggest regrets) then another miscarriage (which she said was the worst moment) before finally having my sister. Lots of waiting, charting, and timing swi in between. She said she remembered ttc 'eating her up', there being pregnant women everywhere she looked. It has been nice to talk to her about it, because she understands what it's like.

frannie good luck today! Hope it goes well.

lisa I hear good things about success rates with injectibles. If the Tamoxifen isn't working, then it can only be progress. Although it sucks that things are escalating drug-wise, if it works, it'll be worth it. Sounds like you have lovely colleagues, I'm glad they are looking after you!

pout glad your lap went ok, and great that they will be removing the fibroid. I bet it is throwing things out of whack, bodies are such sensitive things. Sorry to hear about the peeing problems, and hope you're feeling a little better in your glamorous lounge trews.

wine what amazing news about the cancellation and closer appointment - whoo hoo! I am cheering for you. That is just fantastic. Spring-cleaned womble here you come!

princess wow - a real life chicken outfit? Brilliant. I love it! You really will be shaking your tail feather! Great work on the lotiony CM. Sounds like the diet is doing the trick! My copy of Dr G's book arrived last night and I avidly read through it. It makes a lot of sense. She also said something about the Pill making PCOS symptoms worse in some cases, and that in some cases, because it shuts down the ovaries, i"there could be some groups of women who are so sensitive to the ovarian suppression from the Pill that their ovaries remain inactive when the chemical contraception is removed." That sounds totally like me. My PCOS symptoms have definitely got worse since being on, then coming off the pill - I used to have fairly regular (if wide spaced) periods before, and I never had the crazy hormonal chin and jaw spots that I get now.

Waves to euro, purple, becks, mrshy, mrsden and artemis, and everyone else I am sure I've forgotten.

My doctor has referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist, and told me to take another round of prometrium to bring on a period, get a lap and dye and take an AMH blood test. He also said I should take a painkiller before the lap. This being the US, the RE works in an IVF clinic, so it all feels very full-on. Mr Critter has to have an SA, which he is understandably not overjoyed about - given that I'm not ovulating at all, there's no reason to suspect anything is up with his swimmers. So far he's been shielded from all the medical crap that goes along with this kind of intense TTC. I feel bad about it because even though we are 32 and 33, in his mind we are still young to be having kids and none of his close friends have them yet. We talked about how no-one dreams of going through all this crap when they set out to 'not try not to' have nippers. I just keep kicking myself that I didn't come off the Pill earlier, well before TTC, to give my body time to sort itself out.

Anyway, sorry for the moan and groan, onwards and upwards! We will get there, ladies!

Thanks joycep def no meet up for me now tho boo hoo. Please make sure they become a regular thing, I do want to meet you all! I think you should take a group photo and send me one to cheer me up (tail feathers essential!)

critter are you just waiting for periods to come back after the pill? It took me 11 months to get a brown spotty period after coming off the pill after 10 years. I then had a couple more super light ones before normality resumed. That was when I was 26. Foolishly I then later decide to have the depo jab = 4 months of constant heavy bleeding. At 31 I had another 6 months on the pill when I met mr wine but that didn't mess things up. I now wish I'd just used a thermometer my whole life. Or nothing!

wine that's right - I came off the pill just over a year ago, but no periods have turned up (apart from prometrium-induced ones). The last time I came off it, in 2005, they came back after a few months complete with gargantuan chin spots, so I started went back on it again to improve my skin. I wish I'd read more about how to rebalance my hormones then instead of racing back to hormonal bc.

Stick with it critter I also had bad chin spots. The depo made them awful! I'm sure they will come back, I got quite worried and I wasn't even thinking of ttc back then!

(your periods, not my spots!)

Thanks wine, that's reassuring to hear about your experience. Hopefully I will eventually banish the volcanic chin eruptions and get back my periods, with the help of Dr G's 'brown diet'! From what I've heard about Depo it is incredibly strong stuff, I don't think they should still be prescribing it.

So pleased about your closer appointment. Broid, be gone!

Hey critter glad you're finding the book useful, sorry if you are now aware of the 'brown' diet. I was very impressed by her book, I think it's one of the best non fiction books I've read in a while. Just to let you know, we've managed to find replacements for nearly everything in our old diet. Please give me a shout if you want any tips. I'm not sure how much she talks about it in the book but one of the things my nutritionist has said is that I must eat every 3 - 4 hours to keep my blood sugars stable and this is just as, if not more important than cutting out all of the dairy etc etc Snacks can include vegetable juices, smoothies, handful of nuts and seeds, houmous and crudites etc etc. My nutritionist is making me have 2 juices and a smoothie every day. I can't say that I've been sticking to this as it's so much effort and tonnes of bloody washing up ! I'm probably averaging 2 of the 3. This morning I had broccoli and apple juice - sounds disgusting but surprisingly not too bad. And I have just had my post work snack, smoothie made of bananas, strawberries, a handful of almonds and hazelnuts, manuka honey, spoonful of cold pressed omega 3 oil and almond milk. The smoothies are my favourite snack as they are a little bit like ice-cream or thick yoghurt without any of the 'fobidden' dairy or other things and taste really nice (plus a good way of hiding other stuff like the oil, which is gross on its own). We are often having them later in the evening as a sort of dessert. I will probably try and have a beetroot, carrot and ginger juice later. Maybe in a martini glass with a cocktail umbrella? Anyway, The key to the smoothies is that they have to include protein or complex carbs such as oats or nuts. The key to the juices is no more than 1 or 2 carrots, apples and pears but unlimited leafy greens, beetroots etc etc.
I'm sure all of your symptoms will even out. And Dr G sounds like she knows what she's talking about. I'm sorry that you're going through at the mo tho. I try blind optimism and humour about all this stuff and get the impression that I'm not taken seriously by lots of people because we are young too. Lots of withering, it will happen you just have to keep trying, your only a youngling (30 is not that bloody young in this lark, I wish I'd met DH when we were teens and been hopeless with contraceptives) Hopefully your doctor will shed more light on your situation. Are they more thorough in the US? And I hope Mr C's SA goes ok. We had quite a lot of fussing and moaning, plus the doctor issued hysterical instructions from 1985, which said he had to abstain for 5 days!! Then there was the swearing and giggles, especially when it came to driving it to the hospital with the sample down the front of his already too skinny jeans (and when he found out that he could have only abstained for 2 - 3 days - his face Such fun!

wine i think cashmere socks over your TED stockings will look great also take something to occupy you as its bloody boring and something to eat as well, food is usually crap in hospitals. When I was last in we all just swapped magazines and chatted as non of us were prepared to be robbed blind to watch the TV.

pout you never know what will happen when they remove the broid :) Its annoying they didn't do it there and then. Did they check you could pee before you were discharged, hope Mr P is taking good care of you. Also a friend of mine clams that she became quite fertile after her laps twice!!

frannie hope you are ok

princess at your feeling your cervix, its a bit of an art isn't it, it took me a couple of attempts to realise I was just touching my insides and that I was no where near my cervix, also can't help but use two fingers and lift my leg when explaining to others the joys of cervix molestation, well done for sticking to the diet

critter Glad your GP has got the ball rolling. I don't mind the big guns accept the bloody price especially if it works, mr nickers is hopefully doing a SA this weekend, there have been the odd look but I told him not sure if its true that if he didn't do it into the jar then they would have to stick a big needle into his balls to get the sample not heard a word about it since. I'm glad you have your mum to talk to, she has certainly been through the mill!!! That is what is so comforting about my colleague at work. It really does help to talk to someone with real life experience not just specialists who might deal with this kind of thing on a regular basis but have no actual experience themselves

Well i'm 39 and always had spots bloody hormones I get them round my jaw line and under my chin, have a lovely matching pair right now. Well the big guns have been ordered, they arrive on Friday along with the new flooring and the plumber. Think I have had a slight temp rise but will check tomorrow.

waves to everyone else x

Evening

Newby / long term stalker here.
Decided to come out of the shadows and say a big hello!

I'm Sarlat - 32, TTC for 2 years. Pregnant after cycle 1 TTC but miscarried at 6 weeks. Nothing since. Diagnosed with right sided hydrosalpinx on HSG Jan 2012 and possible dodgy other tube. Neither totally blocked, no history of pelvic infection. DH - 47 (no children) SA - normal / bordeline / variable. Having regular reflexology for wellbeing and fertility for over a year.

Currently going through 1st cycle of IVF. Starting stimming drugs on Friday! Trying to stay hopeful - hoping hydrosalpinx doesn't interfere with implantation.

Feel like I know you guys so well - I honestly don't know what I would have done without this thread - tears and laughter which have both helped me.

Waves to Joyce and Wine for encouraging me to join the thread.

All the discussions about IVF lately around feeling it is 'last chance saloon' etc really resonate with me. I have gone through lots of upset / self examining before I decided to go for it. But now I'm in it, I can honestly say that so far it's been fine and I feel positive that it's an option I just have to explore. Now I see it more like a different treatment and a new way of trying.

Sorry for long drawn out intro - will need handholding over next few weeks. Would love to offer some of that in return too.

Sarlat. x

Welcome sarlat.

Princess the diet sounds like an extreme version of low GI eating - the protein with carbs, avoiding too many carrots etc (carrots are one of the highest GI vegetables), eating regularly to stop your blood sugar dropping leading to egg damaging insulin production.

princess - thank you SO much for the blood sugar/no dairy/brown diet tips. Really helpful. I am actually super, super grateful to you for giving me the heads up about the book - I feel like at least now there is something I have control over. And I love the idea of the juices and the smoothies sound delicious - it'll give me an excuse to get a juicer, which I've had my beady eye on for ages. Loved the story about your DH's SA sample and skinny jeans near-malfunction. I don't know if they are more thorough in the US, but there's a lot more of a 'customer is always right' attitude, which could be good or bad I suppose. Thank goodness that I have health insurance that covers fertility stuff, otherwise I'd be up the creek without a paddle.

lisa that is absolutely great news about the fertility big guns and the plumber both being on their way, and sorry that you're suffering from the dreaded chin spots too. [sympathetically spotty emoticon] Temp rise sounds promising.

sarlat welcome! Really good luck with the IVF... these lovely women have been absolutely wonderful support to me and I am sure they will be to you too. I lurked for a long time before plucking up the courage to jump in as well.

Worried about being a thread hog so will hop off now!

starlat welcome, good luck with the IVF, I might be needing to ask you and the other ladies on here about IVF soon. Right now i'm keeping that way at the back of my mind

critter I still feel like some greasy teenager