Fantastic 40+ Thread - Part Eight.

[goldengirl71]

"Come on ovaries! Let's get this party started, yeah?"

Great news lotsofcheese :-)

Fantastic cheese x

Thanks ladies! The relief is almost physical. I still can't believe it. Have been in a daze since then.

Cheese, that's fab news. Wonderful [hsmile]

I'm worried about all the dental trauma tomorrow affecting my chances of pregnancy. Tooth extraction, root canal and crown. All at once. Can anyone reassure me?

Remnant, I have never had a baby and hence never breastfed, but can I offer my tuppence worth considering you're 43 and your cycles are short? Stop breastfeeding. Immediately!

Brilliant news Cheese . I had been thinking about you today, and had such a strong feeling all would be well. Enjoy the feeling and don't worry too much about the next 'set' of isues to face! You will get through those too - btw nasal bone indeed an excellent sign (if ds etc an issue of course).
Remnant I conceived dd2 when bf dd1 (6mths), although I had dropped to 2 feeds a day (morning, night). I was told by the hv that 3 or less bf a day would have no affect on reducing fertility - still good for current baby, but also not interfering with ovulation. Having said that, I was a veritable baby myself at 32!!!
Golden well well, seems like the man did good . I don't really see the dental treatment as interfering with anything going on 'down there'. If fertilised the egg won't even have implanted yet, so nothing for it to be affected by as such. Fwiw I had a root canal (my one and only), plus x-rays etc, when I didn't even realise I was pregnant with dd1. Think of all the women out there who've had dental work/botox etc etc and have been pregnant without realising it! You will be FINE (though root canals are very scary...)
Well my bleedin thermometer has gone awol - baby was playing with it a few days ago (the bleeping fascinated him) so will need to buy a new one...Any tips for where to get one cheaply?
Hope everyone is ok - how are things Gum? Calibee, sounds rough Wishing you the best of luck for your consultant appointment x

What a relief cheese ! That's really good news,you can relax a bit now.

Good luck for tomorrow golden ! I've never had an extraction but have had root canal treatment and a crown(though not together!) .It wasn't pleasant but was bearable. The only thing I'd be a bit concerned about would be if you had to have xrays because I think that would be best avoided if you are pregnant.
Were you going to mention to the dentist that you might be?

remnant before we decided to ttc again after my first miscarriage in March(which was a surprise pregnancy!) I had a blood test for Anti Mullerian Hormone.It's not offered on the NHS but I ordered a test and brought it to my GP surgery to have blood taken, sent it off and the results were sent directly to me. This gives an idea of ovarian reserve, my result was low but good for someone of my age(44).
However, even if there are eggs there it doesn't give an idea of the quality of those eggs and two more miscarriages later I'm worried that may be an issue.

My temperature plummeted today below the coverline on d7po so I don't know what's going on with my stupid cycles. I think I'm going to have to resort to an emergency Starbar for consolation.
calibee sorry to hear you're going through such a rubbish time, hope you've lots of chocolate at hand.

sorry golden, crossed posts with Diege who has first hand experience of dental work in pregnancy,listen to her,I don't want to freak you out with my xray concerns, I probably worry too much!
I just know that when I went to the dentist a couple of weeks ago before doing check xrays he asked if there was any chance I might be pregnant which of course made me cry because I should be so I sat there with my teeth clenched on xray films and tears slowly running down my cheeks! He's a family friend and knows about my miscarriages so he apologized for upsetting me but said he had to ask. I'm sure any risks must be low .

Bless you Irish, that sounds really horrible for you in the dentists .
If I remember correctly,can't they put some sort of apron type thing (lead??!!) on you if you;re pregnant? Am I making that up from an episode of Holby City?

That would make sense Diege and there probably isn't too much scatter to the abdomen from xrays directed at the jaw anyway.
I'm quite partial to a bit of Holby myself!
Did you see the episode a while back where a 47 year old found out she was pregnant? I know she was an actress and it was fiction,but a little bit of me couldn't help thinking, well if she can do it............

Thanks, ladies, for advice. Hopefully all the x-rays he did last week were sufficient and tomorrow it's down to the real business of destroying my mouth. I have a really high threshold for pain so have no fear about the 'trauma' of tomorrow - much more preferable than sitting in the hairdresser's for three hours pretending to be interested in the banal waffle of a twenty-two year-old [shudders].

Remnant, it's not so much your breastfeeding that worries me, it's your age. The two combined are not good news in my opinion. Your DC is over two years old, right? You want another baby, right? Stop breastfeeding is my advice. Sorry if that sounds abrupt but I'm thinking of Gum and her struggles now.

Calibee, stay positive about the fact that you are being at least listened to on Friday. Be sure to bombard the consultant with every question you can think of and don't leave there without a clear picture of what they are prepared to do for you and your DP. Feeling really sorry for you about Saturday, you really have my sympathies, love

The high I experienced from seeing those two big follicles at the scan and having the wonderful injection is beginning to wear off. I now feel that, if AF arrives, I will be doubly crushed knowing that not just one but two eggs failed to be fertilised. I really must not raise my hopes this month; I only completed my course of antibiotics on ovulation day and DP's efforts to quit smoking and take vitamins etc will only become evident in his semen three months from now.

I am sick of worrying and whingeing. I am sorry.

goldengirl71, you're most probably right about my best chances being post-bf if that happens soon. I want to see if reducing the feeds has any impact on cycles though. Dropping post-nap, evening and bed time feeds last month certainly didn't help, although I'm not sure I ov'd at all last month tbh. Perhaps you're right catdoctor, that sudden changes can reduce changes. We can't actually ttc this month anyway because of meds DH has to take, so I might as well give just doing a morning feed a go.

Irishmammybread, thanks for the info on Anti Mullerian Hormone test. I guess I can ask them for that. Interested to know if there's anything they can do to explain or, better still, fix my short cycles and luteal phase.

lotsofcheese, all the best for the next 2 weeks, I've been through a cvs test myself so have an some idea what you're going through. staying positive is the only thing you can do now x

btw does anyone here rate CBFM? not sure if it would be a waste of money in my situation

Remnant, it sounds to me like you are reluctant to stop breastfeeding. I guess you need to ask yourself which you want more because you don't have the luxury of time on your side. You say your DH is not convinced about another baby. Can you expand on this? Do you think he wants you to himself as you've been breastfeeding for over two years?

I've never used CBFM and so I can't advise you. What makes you think you didn't ovulate last month? Are you charting your temperatures?

remnant, just wanted to chip in, although I mentioned before that I wish I had weaned earlier to get ttc on the way sooner, I actually did conceive, when I was 44,whilst still breastfeeding my DS. I think he was about 20 months(sorry can't exactly remember). I found breastfeeding quite hard once I had conceived, my nipples hurt like hell,and I just felt highly irritable every time I fed him. Anyway, I miscarried at 10ish weeks (baby had died around 8 weeks), and managed to convince myself that breastfeeding had caused it.Of course it was just me trying to find a reason.I since found out that it was rubbish eggs and my little boy had trisomy 13, so didn't have a chance. However, I had so convinced myself, I weaned my son. In some ways I regret it,as it wasn't the cause of the miscarriage and I went on to miscarry again,twice,despite having weaned him.

What I meant, was that if I'd weaned him earlier, I could have started ovulating again sooner, as I don't ovulate til the baby is about 18months to 2 years old (as with all 5 kids), so it wasn't the breastfeeding interfering with ttc,but,rather,the fact I wasn't ovulating. If you are ovulating, you don't necessarily have to give up the breastfeeding.

Cheese, I am so,so pleased for youIt is the best news.

As for me, I have been feeling sad, and trying to get my head around going on without ttc.To be honest I think it has become a habit.That sounds silly, I know, but what I mean is, I've been doing it for so long, I thought,naturally, I'd stop when I finally had my healthy baby. The idea of stopping ttc,and everything that goes with it without the end result that I wanted,just feels too bloody hard.But continuing on, feeling this way over and over,just fucking hurts.

It almost feels like the Universe is having a laugh at my expense. When I am feeling low about all this, pull up to the supermarket, get out of my car and there are two ladies, huge bumps,laughing and smiling and discussing pregnancy. Then I walk into the supermart and a lady with a glorious baby bump almost walks into me. FFS, universe,can't you just direct me to the old wrinkled ladies, not the blooming,young,fresh-faced,bumpified type. Grr!!!I still don't have AF, but I already know there's no chance.All symptoms gone, temp down,and BFN.Says it all.

Sorry, don't want to bring anyone down.

I guess the consolation is I don't have to have "that" talk with DH and friends about our holiday in 9 months!Phew!

P.S. I was also using the CBFM when I conceived, whilst breastfeeding.I love the CBFM and kind of wish I'd kept it, but found the cost of the sticks prohibitive.

Just thought I would add a little about cbfm. I used it the first month (3 cycles ago) it was great. High readings from cd9 and peaks on cd13 and 14. Bog standard stuff. However my last 2 cycles have been 41 and 46 days and the cbfm just didnt work with it. The sticks are pricey, but if you have a fairly regular cycle you should only need to use 10 sticks (not a whole box like me and still be too soon to pick up a peak). I feel confident enough now to read my body signs a little more confidently. I tend to start with internet opk's on day 10ish and as soon as I notice ewcm I use the clearblue digital for confirmation of surge.
Thanks to all for thinking of me this week, emotions very up and down!! My 2 new tyres ended up with me waiting around at kwik fit for 4 hours as they broke the wheel nut raaaa.

Dick head fertility friend have got my ovulation date wrong. They've pinpointed it at CD14 when I only had my LH surge and injection on that day. Fucking sick of charting [hangry]

Gum, I feel your pain. The thought of ttc for the next few years and not having a baby and remaining childless for the rest of my life makes me weep. For me, however, I sometimes wonder if the lines are becoming blurred between my yearning to bring a child into the world and some perverse need to prove my body works. Sometimes it feels like all this is less about the baby and more about the failure to conceive.

Hi, just dropping in. Cheese great to hear the news about your scan.

Hugs to everyone as it sounds like a lot of you are feeling low. TBH so am I, for various reasons I am sure this won't be my month. Still having EWCM timing weirdness, this time on CD12 and then CD15 - always used to be on CD10 and then LH surge a day or so later like clockwork.

Golden - I know what you mean about needing to prove your body works as well. It is good that you got the Clomid though, I mentioned that when I last had an appointment and they said they didn't think it was necessary so wouldn't give it to me. I do think for you it's a step in the right direction though I would say try not to get your hopes up too much this first cycle, it may take time.

There certainly seems to be quite a bit of autumn doom & gloom here at the moment, hugs to everyone!

remnant - is CBFM Clear Blue Fertility Monitor? Just checking... Never used it, I've been using cheap OPK that I get from Amazon, and they are working well. But I have textbook cycles, not sure how good they are if you don't.

Fab news, cheese! So happy for you (and also rather [henvy])

Don't get impatient, golden, one step at a time! So glad you got the Clomid and that you've been going for it, but I agree with goth, it may take time. Easier said than done, I know. We all want things to happen immediately, if not yesterday.

But I think I'll join the moan a little bit (relieved that I'm the not only one!).

After feeling crampy (and therefore crappy) since the beginning of the week, it looks as if AF has now started to arrive

I'm gutted, to say the least. I know I shouldn't take it so hard, but I do, I can't help it! All rational thinking is slowly going out the window for me, I can feel myself starting to go ttc-obsessed more and more... The sensible Me says it's still early days, no reason to panic, nothing is indicating that there's anything wrong, and all my charts/temps/stats are bang-on. And then the irational/illogical me rears its head and shouts why isn't this working then?! I'm doing everything to the book, OPK was on time, we dtd at the right times, I'm healthy (well, mostly), lost 2st since July, I exercise, eat well blablabla. I've even forced DH to cut down his alcohol intake (and let me tell you ladies, that is an achievement of large magnitude in itself!).

I'm starting to feel a bit vindictive now, is that normal? Thinking that DH should give up booze completely, do more excercise, work less, and maybe even get his sperm tested?! Maybe the 'issue' (if there is one) lies with him, who knows? But maybe I'm just looking for ways to spread the pain...

Plus, we are meeting our NCT friends on Sunday, both of which are pregnant again - they are soooo lovely, but the prospect now fills me with utter dread. How will I be able to hold it together?!?

JBrd, I could have written your post. All of us could, I'm sure. Can I be brutal in the hope of taking some of the pressure off and bringing some realism to the discussion? Our. Eggs. Are. Shit. Or most of them. Probably. Most very likely. The answer? Patience. We may have a looooooooong time to wait for a decent enough egg to be released. I would definitely have your DH's sperm tested. What's there to lose? I gained a whole new insight into my DP's sperm a couple of weeks ago

I also wonder about timing of intercourse. I know some women say they got pregnant from sperm that was five days old blah, blah, but I simply don't believe them (I don't believe many, many people). Especially at our age when we have a dearth of fertile cm to nurture the sperm. I think sex as near to ovulation, plus on the day itself, is the way forward. I'm not suggesting your nookie isn't well-timed..I'm just chucking suggestions into the ring. I think the only reason teenagers get upduffed so easily is because they're always having sex. Tons of it. All the time. I think we oldies sometimes convince ourselves we're doing enough of it at the perfect time - every time

I personally cannot believe (and feel very resentful because of it) I haven't had a BFP in the seven months since my mmc (but if you minus the first three months when I believe we are fucked up down there that only leaves four months I've been ttc ).

Just got back from the dentist minus one tooth and having had root canal and a filling. I swear I love that dentist's chair, so relaxing. I love the fact that it is impossible for me to speak and no-one is asking me tedious questions about my life and pretending to be interested in my day-to-day existence, a la the hairdresser. I also find it entirely arousing having my beautiful Asian dentist staring into my mouth for an hour. I fantasise that he has an enormous erection from being in such intimate proximity and that he wants to rip my clothes off and give me a different kind of drilling