TTC for 10+ months, part 8

[eurochick]

A friendly, supportive thread for those taking a blooming long time to conceive!

Sarlat - yes you are right, will give it a go.
Euro - good luck at Dr G. He was the one who told Chantelle she was infertile and it then seemed to take her 5 mins to get pregnant. And yes a combination of things is obviously not good. Figuring the problems out though is the tricky part. Although a combo of stds, drug taking and alcohol doesnt seem to have stopped one person I know!
Mrsd- I have noticed most professional cyclists have kids. Lance Armstrong had cancer and is a cyclist and probed for drug taking and he had kids naturally. SIGH.
Princess - urgh you don't want to be good at maths. You are good at writing , you can't be good at everything
Eggs can last up to 24 hours but really the window is 6hrs after ovulation. Sperm take about 5 hours to get up there unless you do IuI and then the fastest ones take just a few mins. I suspect my eggs are dead when they are released though as mrjoy I noticed produced 500million sperm in one SA - so sth is seriously wrong at my end!! Oh the joys.

Hi everyone

Loving the talk of anthropology Purple and Princess. I'm at an airport at the moment which offers unlimited potential for that. I love anything anthropological, it was related to my studies but i can't say in what way for fear of outing myself (because obviously everyone I know in RL reads this thread, right?) Flight is delayed, of course, so it won't be long before we crack into the three-for-a-fiver miniature bottles of sanity. Start the holiday as you mean to go in is what I say.

I was thoroughly fed up this morning for several reasons: 1) woke with sore throat and streaming cold; 2) big temp drop; 3) spotting. It's only CD24 for god's sake, this spotting gets earlier and earlier. I just need ERTD to wait a few days so I stand a chance of booking the HSG.

Right I must be off. I will be thinking of you lot - my ability to be elsewhere when important things happen is well documented so I am hoping to get back to news of a BFP or several. Hear that, fertility gods?

See you all (metaphorically) in a fortnight xx

Hello hello everyone. Hope you are all feeling reasonably cheerful.

artemis have a great vacay and sorry to hear about the spotting. I hope the fortnight is full of fun distractions!

purple being an anthropologist is super cool. I am majorly impressed! I used to read Redmond O' Hanlon's books when I was in my teens and dream of hanging out with tribes in the Amazon.

joy very interesting about the no point in shagging past ovulation.

mrsden very interesting article. Poor things.

Back from my blood test and CD14 dildo camming and apparently my lining is still thin and I haven't got any follicles ready yet, so they're going to call me to come in again later this week to check whether I'm ready to trigger then. Humph. I'm fretting because I go on holiday back home for two and a half weeks next Thursday, so that's going to mess with the drugs and testing schedule the clinic have me on. Ergh.

Sorry not to namecheck everyone. Thinking of you all.

purple you don't want too much Vitamin A but in a supplement you'll be alright

medusa at guest over lap, Mr b only did his SA a month ago so he'll do another one in a couple of weeks, then we'll see if it has made any difference, if not then we'll give iui ago, Good luck with your appointment

princess I too was just pregnant when they got married, I'll be seriously pissed if she has a bloody baby before me :)

lemon I read somewhere that the sperm need some time (a few hours) to 'adjust' to their new environment eggs are 12-24 hours, the problem is different places give you different info

euro hope all goes well with Dr G, my friend is just waiting for her results from him so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say

artemis enjoy your hols

critter sorry were you on any medication this cycle?? Mr S has given me progynova to thicken my lining so will let you know if it makes any difference, i'm only on it due to the confusion with my last cycle, my lining had been 7.4 but then went down to 6.7 obviously I was blissfully unaware that AF was about to start and that I hadn't managed to delay my cycle , what was your lining thickness, Mr S likes anything over 7mm

Well I emailed Louise the nurse who said to have the scan on Friday so they can get some idea of what is going on (bugger all I should imagine) Still only 1 bar but had a bit of twinging on left the lazy side and quite a bit of EWCM I think shag week will start tomorrow CD9 Mr B seems keen for it better get the boots out ready
My mum didn't really care what I studied as long as it wasn't a B Com as that was not acceptable, she just thought and i'm not making this up that if I had a degree I would be better marriage material she was quite surprised when I graduated and got a job.
I knew before I left primary school what I wanted to study, although when I was 9 we went to this old settlement town (old by NZ standards) which is anything around 100 years, and we got to the court house and we put the teacher in the dock, and we decided that he should swing for his crime (stealing bread) and so I very excitingly told my dad that I was going to be a juror when I grew up, he had the delightful task of telling me that it wasn't a job :( I was heart broken and I have never done jury duty either

Well I better get on with the cleaning, sadly the hoover doesn't move itself

buzzy I'm just on Clomid (with an hcg shot to trigger ovulation). Nurse has told me to come back on Saturday morning to see whether my ovaries and lining have progressed! Good that you're going back in on Friday - better to know what is going on. Love the jury story - you sound like you were a very funny little kid, 'swing for his crime' - awesome!

euro how was your visit to the Dr today?

Hello all, woke with a stinking cold yesterday so in your boat Atremis. Couldn't even do my opk as I haven't had a wee since this morning and nothing coming lol.
Feel like my body is back to normal and I am back on for normal ovlation.
We are looking at vitamins too

critter I take it its the same dose as last month, fingers crossed for Saturday, I'm having a few more twinges but just can't trust my body

carrie I take the usual pregnacare stuff or which ever one is on special, I also take co enzyme q10 as that is supposedly good for improving the eggs, I also take alot of omega 3 - friend said that in the States they give a higher dose to women who have nk cells, Mr Shehata said it can't hurt, his little catch phrase, he also suggests magnesium but can't remember for what,

Phew purple re: wine. I had my first since the op last night (clearly recovery is now complet), which was lovely and made me rather merry...

Fingers crossed for good appointments with DrG, euro. I hope he can help.

Shame no action was seen on dildocam at CD14, critter. What are your cycles usually like? Oh, I see your a clomid girl. Is it the fist cycle on it?

Fingers crossed lazy ovary is slowly moving in to action buzzy.

How are the others? When are you discussing AB with your consultant joycep? I loose track of dates so badly... Sorry!

And pout when are you starting SO?

Right, my head is too tired to process this all, but it is wine rather than GA so I am happy!

Where are you all? So quiet here today :(

Morning lemons it is quiet isn't it? I've been a bit hectic and also trying to sneak in some summer hols shopping. I don't play tennis but fancy having a couple of games whilst we are away and have been browsing tennis wear. I think it might be a TKMaxx job as I don't anticipate a glistening career ahead and I've seen some lovely new sparkly things on other wesbites that will get more wear. Although I don't want to go too cheap as I reckon I might get some lessons at the local tennis club when we move. DH is pretty nifty with a bat, I mean racket. And I think that's what people in the countryside do, lunch, tennis, fine gin drinking... I don't have time to do a full name check and catch up but almost sunny morning waves from the South Coast! Glad that you enjoyed some last night. Here have a I'm off to make a minty fresh cuppa in just a minute....

Morning ladies.

My appointment with Dr G yesterday was fine. TBH, I wasn't really in the right headspace for it, wither everything else that is going on. he took a full history, looked over test results and then ran through the other tests that he could do for us. We discussed it afterwards, and I think we have decided to go ahead with the infection testing and sperm DNA fragmentation test now,and leave some of the other stuff that was offered for further down the line. That decision was partly because I have been scared off the immune suppressing stuff by my recent smear result which I am as sure as I can be was due to that,and there doesn't seem to be any point in testing for these things if I won't have treatment (even though he tried to explain that the treatment are designed to bring an over active immune system back to normal rather than leave you with low immunity, I'm just too freaked by the finding of pre-cancerous cells to contemplate more similar treatment right now).

Euro so, and pardon me if I'm being a thickie, is he looking for infection in the same way that Athens analyse periods? Would he give you ab's if he found something? And therefore treat what he considers the root of the problem. Or is he more interested in the immune system's response? Does he think it's an NK problem? I can understand why you are nervous about suppressing your immunity. Did he have anything to say about the steroids that you were taking and your recent abnormal smear result? At this level, it all gets so complicated doesn't it. I hope you are feeling ok / better at the moment. When are you off for fist shaking and wine?

I'm quiet because I feel bad not name checking everyone and moaning all the time lol. Its difficult keeping up with just being on my phone.
I am off work today with DD who has spent the entire night vomiting so today has been washing, scrubbing and snoozing. Not feeling so good myself.
Think I ovulated early off to do a opk and see what today says

I'm quiet cos I'm in a right hole. The past few days have been very busy and I've felt v poorly, like the glandular fever is back? I am reading and will post when I feel more positive.

Miss medusa - I consider myself quite an expert in sperms and those results do not look remotely like you will never conceive! So dont be and it takes a few SA to get a true picture. Do do do talk to rich on fertilichat - better info than I got off any doc.

Yep, princess, in fact he would send samples off to the same Athens lab I think. I wanted to see him rather than doing that directly to see if there are other tests that would be useful for us now (yes, the sperm dna fragmentation) and because we are both allergic to certain antibiotics, I wanted to be able to discuss what was prescribed for any infections with someone than just have an emailed prescription.

As I understand it, the infection stuff is all linked with the NK cells as they are part of your bosy's immune response, so if that is the cause, you can either treat the symptom (by trying to lower the NK cells) or the cause (by trying to rid the body of the infection). But NK cell levels can increase for other reasons too.

I went for fist shaking and wine a couple of nights ago. It was very therapeutic. :) Enjoy your summer hols shopping!

carrie that doesn't sound like a fun day at all!

I am totally confused. Last two months I have ovulated late around day 17 but I was clomid. First month off and I think I have missed it. I had EWCM on tues and quite a bit, must be body get back to normal so ran a opk test and had a fairly strong line. I thought it meant next day so checked weds and faint line today no line. So I must have ovulated mon-tues. Bugger missed my chance. DTD sat and sun. Will keep testing in case they were false and I will late again

Well you should still have had swimmers in the right place from dtd at the weekend, so don't fret!

Shuffles on wringing hands and wailing woe is me
CD1 has come. Not unexpected at all but for some reason I still feel like it is the end of the world. Is it just me or do you all get that feeling when your period comes that this is all hopeless and you'll never get pregnant? I know that SWI was perfectly timed owing to scans and OPK sticks....what more can we bloody well do.........
I'm also hacked off that I have already had 3 days of period cramps before anything even started and I've run out of Solpadeine wails some more
My prescription for Clomid isn't ready at the docs either. AND MrP wants to come to the first Clomid scan thingy but can't do Monday. So I duly (and quite amazingly) get an appointment for tomorrow and he huffs and puffs about that too?????? Does he not realise what an uber bitch I am on CD1 and I am likely to rip his head off for a lot less!
Anyway, I am a grumpy, moaning arse wipe today. Sorry.

lemons I'm glad that you feel well enough to enjoy a glass of wine. That is great! Any stitch movement?

rabbits I'm sorry that you are poorly. Do you think is definitely is Glandular Fever again? That can reoccur can't it? Maybe it's partly because you are so stressed.

princess Tennis seems like a good enough excuse to me to go shopping!

carrie I'm sorry about unexpected ovulation. If swimmers can last for a few days maybe this will be okay? It is too stressful isn't it.

Euro I can imagine that discussing fertility stuff and testing probably has been a bit eclipsed by bigger stuff at the moment. What is sperm fragmentation?

I haven't name checked...sorry. I have unloaded buckets of misery and bogged off. Will try harder next time

Oh poor pout come and hide in my ample bosom. CD1 sucks and sometime woe just comes over you. It is shit that the clomid prescription is not ready as well. Any chance you can chase it tomorrow? And it is extra disappointing after perfectly timed SWI and your fabulous progesteron result!

I can reveal that my stitches have gone :) I asked nicely and the practice nursed teased them out. That felt odd. But now it feels so much better. My lower stitch kept catching on my knickers, so it is a relief!

Shopping for tennis stuff sounds good, princess as does the holiday mood that some have on the fred. It makes me want to play as well, I used to when I was at school, but that is so long ago now.

The meeting with Gorgi (nearly wrote Corgi) sounds good euro. And treating of possible causes cannot be a bad thing. What's the DNA fragmentation thing? It sounds scary. Btw you seem to be a little happier on Fred, are you? If not moaning is allowed!!

Poor rabbit sorry to find you in a hole, although pleased I tempted you up to the surface if only briefly. I wish I could do something more than petting for you. Do take your time to recover, you do sound bad :(

That sounds okay timing wise to me carrie, not optimal, but not miles off. Much as relaxing itself won't get you diffed, stressing this much about is not helping either. So maybe give yourself some slack?

In the lemon household all is well, I panick about the next IUI cycle, the CD1 expected in a week (or so) and the lacking baby. Oh and about the shitloads of work I need to finish and conveniently avoided most of today.

Pout sorry it's cd1 again let's don our witches cloaks and brew an anti cd 1 and general happiness concoction. That tastes like wine and cake.

Well we are half way through another thread and there is still no sniff of a BFP. COME ON big pokey finger. We are getting rather tired of CD1s already.

Pout I'm so sorry that ERTD caught you like that. Not fair. And I can understand your woe. It really does feel like the end of the world. I haven't had one for a while, but I usually come back from the loo and say, "my periods here" to DH, my face crumbles and then I start sobbing deeply. You and your reaction are completely normal. I'm sorry. Bugger about the Clomid prescription. When will it be ready? And phew that you got a scan. MrP will just have to deal with. He is brave for confronting you on CD1.

Rabbit I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Glandular fever is the last thing you need right now. Can you go and get a blood test to confirm it? My uncle recently had glandular fever and he was very poorly. Oh I am shaking fists at the cruel hand the universe has dealt you of late. As I've said before, I reckon this is the trough of TTC and health crapness for you and soon things will be on the up.

Euro I am glad that you have done some fist shaking. I'm ready to get out the boxing gloves and go a few rounds with the universe and the big pointy finger right now. We need good news! I hope that Gorgy gets to the bottom of whatever it is that is stopping the Eurettes from arriving. I thought the NK cells were probably more complex than just being there to fight an infection.

Carrie FX for you. At least you got to DTD before you think you ovulated.

Critter sorry about your lining and the timing of treatment. That's sooo frustrating and bloody typical too.

Buzzy hope all of your appointments go well. I also loved your story about when you were a kid.

Lemons woohoo the stitches have gone! When is your next IUI round? I was crap at all sports at school. I was one of those music people that carried a violin case and a bag of recorders. Seriously. Geek Alert in best geek voice. However, I blame crapness at sport on crapness of eyesite and not actually being able to see balls and wotnot flying around. I wasn't allowed to wear contacts until I'd done GSCEs, which is when all sports stopped. Now I have contacts and arm strength from rock carrying, I fancy my chances with a racket. It might also be therapeutic.

Joy In this sporty vain, I haven't done nearly enough physical activity recently. I need to get back into it. I just like telly and books and internet shopping too much. I hear you on the activity front. It does help with positivity. I should get back to Yoga / Zumba / Kettlebells (and maybe kick boxing for anger) again too. When we move maybe. Yes, that's a good excuse. I will start doing some exercise when we move house. For now, I'm too tired (ha!)

Well, I've found a rather lovely Nike tennis dress. For all those who have played tennis before, what does one wear under a tennis dress. Knickers obviously. Princess hasn't gone commando for a long while (one of the last times at uni graduation ball - yes that long ago - under a slinky silk dress to avoid vpl - ended up sliding / falling down a flight of stairs - v.drunk - bottle of red wine in one hand and a glass in the other - amazingly no wine spilt and no broken glass - but a large number of the other graduates got an eyeful of trifle. Ah well 50% of us have got 'em - 100% on here - I was talking in terms of human race and university demographic) Anywho, commando under a short tennis dress would just be plain wrong. Although it may give me an advantage against OH But in all seriousness can you buy special mega sports pants? I can't find any. I think this may require a real rather than virtual shopping spree. In other news, I got a playsuit from Urban Outfitters at lunch time for a snip at £10 (from £65). Perfect for the beach and for beach side cocktails :) Oh I do love a bargain.

Well, I have electronic filing to do. I've put it off for months. And now there is little else to do around here. So I've bought a couple of new albums on iTunes and I should get to it. sighs as really hates electronic filing. I need a minion.

Thanks ladies. Drizz I am a little less mizz at the moment. I have done loads of research on the fanny verrucae and it seems that it only has a 1-3% chance of turning into cancer. So I have a plan to try to shift the abnormal cells by boosting my immune system and to have it treated if it persists, purely so I can have access to fertility treatment without lying. I like having a plan and so I feel much easier now. My research also shows that it is pretty unlikely (although possible) that pregnancy hormones would make the abnormality worsen, so on that basis I don't feel like we have to put everything on hold until this is resolved.

It's good that your stitches are out.

Boo for ERTD, pout. But at least you have a plan - moving on to Clomid. Which is progress.

The DNA fragmentation thing is as far as i can understand a sperm quality test. Gorgy thinks it will replace the traditional count/motility/morphology tests in time. But at the moment, it is fairly new (like most of this stuff). It seems that poor quality sperm can sometimes make embryos but they don't last. It's usually offered after failed IVF I think, when the embryos look ok in the lab but won't last, but we might go for it now. The poor quality can sometimes be caused by the hidden infections, so it seems to make sense to have this test alongside the infection testing.

princess NK cells play a role in fighting viruses and cancer too, so they are more complex (and this is why I think the immune suppressants specifically designed to lower my NK cell numbers are probably responsible for the abnormal cells on my cervix).

I reckon white shorts under the tennis dress. It seems to work for the Wimbledon lot.

Thank you lovely ladies...bosoms, wine/cake concoctions & deep sobbing sounds like just the ticket

lemons I'm glad that you are stitch free. Mine were bothering me at the end including the catching on the tops of knickers thing. It's weird, I am still squeamish about anything touching it now...
Will that be round 3 of IUI next? Are you doing Clomid? I was reading today that Clomid and IUI for unexplained is a good treatment combo.
My prescription will be ready tomorrow so not too much of a disaster. I just like to be prepared!

I'll be your filing minion princess Shamefully I really quite like laborious tasks. I like to go on auto pilot and retreat into my own little world
I have no idea what knickers you wear under a tennis dress. I'm guessing wind sock type ones. at flashing your trifle

Wow at your playsuit bargain. I love bargains too and get more pleasure from a bargain than I do something that cost a bomb I once cried for a half hour when I broke my 50p vase! MrP couldn't understand my upset and was saying how it cost next to nothing. He didn't get that I was upset for exactly that reason. It was irreplaceable at that price.

Euro white shorts sound very sensible. I watched the Gentleman's final this year but that's as far as my tennis experience goes. Thank you! Interesting about those cells and the sperm defraging...

Pout at 50p vase. I understand that too. We buy quite a bit for our home from flea markets because we are aspiring trendy vintage twats and some things are one offs that can't be replaced even if they cost v. little and those are the things that you always seem to love the most. I'd love you to be my electronic filing minion but sadly it's a chore that I have to do. It is happening....just in a very slow and interrupted fashion...

Ahoy me hearties!

pout sorry about CD1. I hear you on the bargain finds - they are always so much more satisfying than shelling out full price! What days are they saying you should take the Clomid? Is it 3-7,4-8, or 5-9? I hope they get their arses in gear and get it ready for you in time. What dose are you on? Will they give you a trigger shot too?

rabbit poor love. Sorry you are feeling low. Has the sunshine come back to the UK yet? I hope so, and that you can sit in the sun and take care of yourself, with a big cup of tea and a crappy magazine.

buzzy how are the twinges? You've inspired me to start taking my omega 3s again - I have gotten lazy about all the supplements as I've been taking them for ages and still no baby.

Lemon, I'm on round 5 of clomid at 100 mg (but the first three rounds on 50, 100, and then 150 mg were unmonitored, and I didn't ovulate and had to take progesterone to induce a period each time). Last month I did my first monitored round, with blood tests and scans and most importantly an HCG trigger injection, and ovulated - for the first time in 7 years. Woop woop! This is my second month with the HCG shot.

princess ay caramba at the tennis dress. It is the best sport for posing! All those cute little flippy white skirts. Big knickers, or super short hot pants style yoga/running shorts sound like a plan. Love the commando evening dress story, I bet everyone was thrilled to get a glimpse of your trifle - probably spiced up the evening a lot!

carrie sorry you are feeling blue and fingers crossed for you. You can always come on here and moan, don't worry!

euro well done on all the research and making an informed decision. Sounds like Dr G's visit was helpful, if not quite what you needed to hear right now.

Well, I'm getting twinges in my undercarriage so hoping that everything is gearing up for ovulation downtown. I'll have to skip the drugs next month, as I'll be on hols until CD6 or 7, so I will just have to see if maybe, miracle of miracles, my body remembers what it's supposed to do and starts ovulating on its own in August after this kick start. If not, my next Clomid cycle probably won't be until September. Le sigh.