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Conception

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TTC 10 months + Part 17.

999 replies

MuddyWellyNelly · 25/09/2013 16:49

For all the lovely 10+ers, and anyone else lurking, who has been trying for long enough to start worrying. This is a great place to rest until the elusive BFP shows up.

OP posts:
MuddyWellyNelly · 16/11/2013 10:56

I haven't actually had my thyroid checked Blush

OP posts:
sarlat · 16/11/2013 15:42

Hello to all.

I have been reading and following and sheding a few tears.

rabbit - I know we have already spoken but I am so sorry for the disappointment of this cycle. A nice day out sounds good. Time is still in your side and no rush to make big decisions. Still so much hope sweetheart.

pout - how lovely to hear you have a bit of ttc emotional shit respite. I guess dont question if this is a permanent or temporary shift change and just enjoy feeling a little better and focus on more interesting things.

cos - so glad your review went ok. If you can muster the energy to try again, I dont think it will be in vain.

Nelly - so great to hear that doors are opening for you again. No rush to make decisions, just feel your way through and know that life will be kind again soon.

euro - the scratch sounds positive. Even though I never had a scratch the op before I fell pregnant may have had that effect on me.

den - I know that feeling that tells you the cycle hasn't worked. Of course we dont know for sure yet but either way there is still bags of hope. Thinking of the frosties.

eurochick · 16/11/2013 19:23

Sorry for directing you to a thread that has made you feel ragey! I think the one you have found is not the one I meant though as the OP is definitely not pregnant. This is the one I was talking about:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/1867764-Support-for-childless-women

I'm having a quite nice weekend. Fish n chips last night, from our great local chippy that we go to far to rarely. The fish and chip diet clearly agrees with me as I have finally lost a couple of pounds (been trying to get rid of my excess half stone since I got back from Paris 6 weeks ago). I picked the new car up this morning (first drive - through central London, gah!) and the MIL is here so we have been chatting and out for a stroll in Greenwich Park. My mind is really not on ttc at all. I even survived a birth announcement from a couple who seem like they are in the "next generation" (it's my bestie's lil bro and his wife) with genuinely happy feelings for them.

Mrsden · 17/11/2013 09:48

whoops, I got the wrong thread Blush I'll go and have a read of that one in a minute.

I'm 13 days past ec today. I tested and as expected got a BFN. I don't hold out any hope that it's too early. I knew from a few days ago that it hadn't worked. I don't even have any of the usual progesterone symptoms despite being on 800mg a day and even the bloating has gone down and I have a nice, flat tummy again. Every cloud and all that.

It's not really any easier this time. I have cried and cried and I'm typing this through tears now. I feel that the end of all this is getting scarily close. I don't want to be going through this for another 4 years. I feel like the last few years has been a complete waste of life and I need to know that I can move on at some point soon. I'm going to spend the day wallowing and trying to work out a plan. It feels very self indulgent to be so upset. I know I'm lucky in that I have 5 frozen embryos, although that only translates as two transfers (3 in one straw, 2 in another). They were frozen on day one so not technically embryos yet and I know that after having 4 fail to implant then the odds won't be great.

I'm meeting up with a group of friends later and have decided that I will drink my first alcohol in 3 months. Has anyone else got an exciting sunday planned?

eurochick · 17/11/2013 10:15

I'm sorry mrsd. A BFN is always hard to see, and a IVF BFN particularly so as so much emotional investment has gone into it.

I have a quiet Sunday planned - a few more hours with the MIL, then taking her to the train to the airport and popping to a couple of shops in the centre on the way back. Nothing much at all!

Buzzybee123 · 17/11/2013 10:34

mrsd Big hugs I am so sorry :(

seamermaid · 17/11/2013 10:36

Mrsd I'm really gutted for you. It's so hard and I'm just so sorry it hasn't worked for you. There is nothing fair about this at all. A big hug. I hope mrd is okay and you are taking care of one another.

Rabbit. How are you today?

I read the thread Euro posted about moving on. I shed a little tear that so many ten plussers are on there. It just all feels so incredibly unfair that what seems so "easy " and "natural" for so many people is so difficult for so many of us on here. I feel a little unqualified to be on here sometimes as I haven't even gone through an ivf even though it isn't through a lack of effort.

It's a working day for me today. I have 8 - 10k words to write for my masters. Oh joy.

Mrsden · 17/11/2013 10:47

sea going through ivf doesn't make you qualify. Trying and trying and not getting a baby at the end of it does though! Do you have a timetable for ivf yet?

Has your mil been staying with you euro? Is she supportive? How do you feel about the upcoming round?

Poutintrout · 17/11/2013 10:50

mrsd I am so sorry. I echo euro's words that an IVF BFN is so, so hard given the emotional (and physical) investment. You are scarily accurate with your comments about the wasted life during TTC. I see our time as the "lost years". Take heart that you have the frosties. It may not seem like it now but these will give you some hope and comfort when you begin to come out of the fog of this cycle. Oh, I don't know what to say but send you love and hugs.

sea You're certainly not unqualified to be here! We are all at different stages but all have the same demons. Good luck with the studies. Sticking a chicken in the oven and doing a load of washing seems like a slog for me today let alone writing 10k words!

euro The new car sounds like a lovely distraction. Does it have that new car smell?

Mrsden · 17/11/2013 10:53

pout I'm so pleased you're back with us. Roast chicken sounds lovely, what time should I come round? Will there be plenty of roasties?

lovesLemonDrizzleCake · 17/11/2013 13:05

So sorry mrsd! It is awful! Handhold and if pout's chicken doesn't stretch, we have industrial amounts of bolognese sauce on. Drinking tonight sounds fair enough. Holding out hope for you and the frosties!

Quick strokes for all of you. It's just so tough!

Ginestas · 17/11/2013 13:48

mrsd I am so so sorry about this cycle. Your first post yesterday made my cry. I can remember so clearly feeling as you described and I am so sad you (and the other ladies on here) have had to feel it too. With ivf #2 I was totally devastated the day of bfn, but felt I recovered a bit more quickly - hope it's the same for you. You responded perfectly to this protocol and I'm convinced it's a numbers game for you and about getting the right embryo, made with the tiptop quality sperm. What must be more difficult is identifying those embies, with the laws where you are not allowing you to take them to blast. Anyway big hugs and make sure you do have a big drink tonight.

rabbits I was so very sorry to read about your ET too. How incredibly unlucky and frustrating. I'm pleased to hear that they managed to do something for you in the form of iui, but I think you need to quiz them about how they timed EC.

poutster! Lovely to hear from you. That's great that you are feeling like you are in a better place. I could just never get there, no matter how hard I tried or how much treatment I had. Also fab news about big dog. I hope he's continuing to recover well.

Oh sea, you have more than earned your 10 +ers medal. All the waiting and set backs you have experienced. I really don't know how you have been so patient! Do you get your test results soon?

euro your next cycle seems to have come round quickly! Hope the timing works out for the scratch. You prob know everything there is to know about the mild cycle, but please do ask me if there's anything you want to know.

Waves to nelly, cos, joy and anyone else I've missed.

There were some moving on threads on Fertility Friends that I used to read, to try to prepare myself. They just made me feel more desperate to have a child though and I couldn't identify with those feelings of having made peace with not having kids. I too lurked on adoption boards (which is still an option for us in a few years), as I found a plan b helped, but totally understand that it's not for everyone.

Anyway I think of you all lots and am so hoping there will be some more bfps before Christmas xx

Cosmonaut1 · 17/11/2013 16:17

MrsD massive hugs, I'm so sorry for the bfn, I hate those stupid sticks and all the bad news they so often bring. I hope you're ok. I agree you seem to have responded loads better this time, and there's been a good FET success rate on this thread so I hope you're one of those, though that that doesn't stop it hurting now. I actually felt the same emotions after my mc as failed Ivf rounds so don't feel you can't grieve in the same way or that its any less valid as it absolutely is.

Sea I echo what the others have said, you're definately in the medal winners line. I hope you're results are good this time.

MuddyWellyNelly · 17/11/2013 18:50

Oh no MrsD. This is so unfair. Sad I am sending you as much love and hand holds as airmail can carry. This sucks, no denying. Fertility fuckers, c'mon and give someone a break. Well all of us need a break. It's about time.

Quick hello to everyone else just now.

OP posts:
eurochick · 17/11/2013 19:03

mrsd I hope you and the mister managed to do something nice together today. The others are absolutely right - you responded really well this time. I bet your "one" is waiting in one of those straws. The difficulty where you are is that they are not able to see how they do in the lab to identify the strongest. But every blast was a one day embie once, and I'm sure that some of your remaining 5 would have made it if they had been allowed to.

MIL was staying with us for the weekend. She's gone now though. It was actually a nice weekend. Although she did talk non-stop for about 48hours! When we got home after taking her to her train, neither of us put the telly or some music on for a good while - we just sat in silence without discussing it to give our ears a rest! It was all pleasant enough though, and it was good to see her on good form.

pout it's a new-to-us car rather than a new car, so nope. But I actually hate the new car smell. My dad got a new car every 2 years or so when I was a kid and I was very travel sick, so I associate the smell with upchucking! I've only ever bought one new car myself and that was a softtop so I could give it a good airing and get rid of the smell!

Thanks gin. Lovely photo of you on t'other place. I can't think of any questions now, but something might spring to mind after the teaching appointment on Thursday.

sea you are in your rightful place here. Your patient wait for IVF in no way disqualifies you!

We have steak tonight, from the local farmer's market. I have put in an order for copious amounts of garlic mash to accompany it. Mr euro is on the case right now. :)

rabbitonthemoon · 17/11/2013 20:46

Den - I was so sad to read about your bfn that I had a little cry whilst I was planting bulbs. And writing that has made me cry again! I am a walking hormonal ball of bloat but even if I wasn't I think I would feel the same. It is so grossly unfair. But, you responded so well this cycle, don't lose sight of how great that is. I know it won't be of much comfort now but you have your frosties. Euro makes a good point that we were all that stage once. This too will feel better. And we are all here for you.

Euro, garlic mash mmmm. You sound really happy and calm at the moment and I'm glad.

Pout. I have missed you so much on here. I am so pleased that you are in a peaceful place with all of this. I do believe that such a state can exist and that we can all find it, no matter where in the journey it falls or even if it gets a little derailed now and then - knowing you can find it is a great solace to me at the moment. I lost someone very close to me in my late twenties and I can only relate all of this to that awful time. The hardest thing with this is that there is no clear demarcation as to where the grief starts, we are suspended in it. I know, in the not too distant future I need to recognise the place where this ends and the new bit starts. The very wise Sar said to me that I will know it when I see it and that I will even feel excited by the new prospects. And I think that is very true. You are doing amazingly with your crafts and you are so very valued in ten plus land.

Sea, I echo what everyone has said. You are just waiting and that is tough. I really hope your result is good.

Gin I liked the look of where you've been and am jealous!

Cos I was thinking of you today and hope you are Ok.

I am feeling alright interspersed with rage and disbelief that this has happened to me. Out of 555 cycles at Care in the last quarter of 2012, 5 didn't make it to transfer. 5! That is one per cent! Reading this has made me feel shitetastic. Also, the donor egg success rate at my clinic is 35% and this doesn't feel very promising, especially as I have managed to be the the 5/555. I know that stats mean nothing and in reality this is a binary situation - either I will be pregnant or not and the inbetween bit is largely irrelevant in terms of me having a baby, the end destination is either on or off. (well not really in terms of future chances but you know what i mean).

I also feel I have crossed a threshold since finding out this and really since the afc in sept. Instead of this being an odd, slightly reduced fertility situation I am actually infertile, bar a miracle I am not going to conceive on my own or with ivf with my own eggs. I am so gut wrenchingly sad about that. A miracle could happen. But I can't rely on that. If I did nothing, I would not have a family and I have some tough choices to make in terms of how to proceed. I can;

do another round and hope I can get 2-3 eggs with a different approach.
take dhea and do the above and hope it might help. These options gives me closure on my eggs once and for all.
I can move straight to donor egg and hope and pray that there are no more issues beyond old eggs. But it feels hard to finalise on that, this round was such a bust I can't help but feel that a different protocol might at least give me a chance to see what the eggs are like. I really don't know and I don't know how I will ever know.

In spite of all of the above though I am functioning and sewing and yogaing and gardening and cooking.

Sorry for the mega post.

ArtemisTheHunter · 18/11/2013 04:33

Just popping in to offer huge hugs and paw squeezes to Rabbit and Mrsden. It is all just so fecking unfair and I am shaking an angry fist at the fertility gods. Den I hope you found some solace in friendship and enjoyed your drinks - a poor consolation I know but I hope it helps lift the cloud temporarily at least. Rabbit I just can't believe your appalling luck. I am so angry with Boris (and I know how weird that sounds!). It just sucks that you have been robbed of the chance to at least find out what fertilisation would have looked like for you and Hare. It does sound as though the clinic have got several things wrong regarding your protocol and you haven't got the information you should have done from this round. I hugely admire the way you have handled all this. You (and all the other ladies on this thread) are way stronger than you think.

I read the moving on thread and it made me very sad to see so many 10+ friends there. I had a big birthday this weekend which was also a year to the day since the ET that became Mini Art. It put me in a reflective mood. A year ago I was processing some of the same emotions people describe, readying myself for a negative result and the likelihood of a child free future. Some days I felt positive and excited about the options that would be open to me in a life without children. Others it seemed just devastating. I'm very aware of how different this birthday would have been if I was still on the TTC train. I hope the powers that be at MN take the request for a more inclusive online space seriously and act on it. We are all so much more than our reproductive organs. I don't feel appropriate posting here any more but I miss you guys. I would love a space to be able to talk about crafting and hobbying and travel and all the other things life brings with generous, witty, kind and supportive people irrespective of whether any of us have kids. Infertility didn't define me, and motherhood doesn't either. Womensnet woul be a step forward I think. Please someone do post a link to the site stuff thread once it's there. I will add my voice.

I'm on my phone with diminishing battery so apologies for any typos. Hugs to everyone.

eurochick · 18/11/2013 08:17

What wise words, Artemis. I hope you had a good birthday. I hear you on thinking about the options of a life without children in a positive way. I am doing that more and more. I seem to be slipping back into my old non-broody ways, where I didn't even particularly like most children, let alone ache for them. I suspect it is probably in part self-protection, but that is why I am sounding calm at the moment. I feel like I have to keep trying for a while, but it is not out of desperation, like my previous attempts at AC. I'm sure the zen will leave me once the drugs start though!

rabbit I agree with Art. You are being incredibly strong. I can't quite believe this has happened to you, so no wonder you are ragey about it! I think you've been treated incredibly shabbily what with fibroidgate and now this. I've heard good things about the DHEA option, so maybe that is one to explore.

Mrsden · 18/11/2013 11:15

I hope you had a nice birthday, art. It's lovely when you pop back here, I miss all of our graduates.

euro I understand what you mean about the urge having eased off a bit. I'm sort of the same in that I don't get all gooey over babies and I can easily see all the bad things about babies and children. I suspect it's a self preservation thing with me.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I know that you all understand how upset I was yesterday. Mrden looked after me well all day, and then I had a nice evening with friends (none of whom have kids). I still feel a little tearful today but I think it's not helped by the drugs and hormones. I'm looking forward to being able to stop taking them, it's annoying I have to wait until Wed for the blood test. Mrden was great at reminding me what we have together and showing me that our lives will be ok. I still have the two fet to try and perhaps another full round although at the moment I'm not sure I want to put myself through it all again. I find ec tough and the emotion s and hope bound up in a cycle is exhausting. I'll probably think differently once this cycle is a distant memory. We did both agree though that we want to be over the officially trying phase by the start of 2015. Until we stop the ivf then we won't be able to move on and the limbo land is a tough place to be.

rabbit will you have a debrief with the clinic? I do think it might be worth talking about changes to the protocol.

Poutintrout · 18/11/2013 11:42

mrsd I am glad that you got through yesterday. Even when you suspect in your heart that an IVF cycle hasn't worked that BFN day is still devastating. I think you are right that having treatment as an option on the table means you are in limbo. I definitely felt that it almost had to be done so that I could even begin to make peace with anything. It was always about being able to look myself in the eye when I am beyond my childbearing years and say I really tried.

rabbits I really am in awe of you getting on with things. I'm not sure I would have been so resilient and would still be doing a full on woe is me act! Planting bulbs sounds lovely but makes me panic that I did my Spring bulbs too soon Hmm Along with some Spring ones I planted some lilly bulbs which are already coming through. That can't be right and I suspect that the frost might decimate them. My sweetpeas are in the back porch in toilet roll tubes and have germinated which made me smile. They were an odd metaphor in my brain of my fertility (or lack of) and to see them shoot is kind of a two fingers at mother nature!
I can't believe you being in the 1% of unlucky sods at your clinic. That must sting. All I can say is have you bought a lottery ticket lately? Also I would advice against going onto a golf course in a thunder storm with an umbrella and certainly don't do it twice Grin

art Your post was lovely. It is amazing to think of how life can turn on a sixpence and to reflect on where you were a year ago and where you are now.

euro I did smile at the thought of you driving round with the top down airing a car. Well done for surviving the MIL visit.

It is quite striking how some of us are entering a new phase where we are less broody. I have been focussing quite a bit on the reality of having a baby. I think I have been swept along by the ideas of being pregnant and all that excitement, of buying prams and preparing nurseries, of bring baby home but not thinking of the longer term picture of no sleep for years, no time for me, a knackered pelvic floor, the horrendous combination of screaming baby and barking dogs, a baby proofed home... I think that it has helped to add a dash of realism & to stop romanticising it all. That said, while I have found a bit of peace in my own skin and in our home environment I am a bit afraid of the biological imperative kicking in when I am away from my cocoon and am faced with someone else's baby.

Mrsden · 18/11/2013 11:52

Pout, I too had previously only focused on the romantic side of babies, all snugly, new pram, nursery, watching them sleep etc. I do sometimes think that I've turned ttc into a battle that I must win but I've forgotten why. I'm worried though that whilst life would be easier without kids, it will be very boring and that I'll never truly feel happy but i will kid myself that I am. I'm not sure if that makes sense. I want the inner sadness to leave me one day.

I'm feeling a bit anxious today, it sort of feels like my heart is skipping a beat, I'm sure it's the progesterone because I remember feeling like this last time. I'm sure the upset doesn't help. I want to feel back to normal again.

Cosmonaut1 · 18/11/2013 16:46

MrsD those words really hit the mark with me, feeling like you must win but can't remember why! A massive part of me wants this just because I want it and don't want to be denied something or to 'lose'. So true. I feel similarly that im softening a bit about the whole thing. A close friend just had her first, and for the first time in ages I loved buying her present and just feel like I want to support her and found myself thinking about how tough it must be for her and not to rub in how untired I am etc. Very unlike my response for the last few years. There's got to be pros and cons for both right?

Cosmonaut1 · 18/11/2013 16:47

And Pout you're so right, we need to find peace in our own skin at home and out in the world no matter what happens.

eurochick · 18/11/2013 19:28

Cos it sounds like we are in a similar place, mentally.

I hear you and mrsd on the idea of having to win a battle when you can't remember why. If it doesn't happen for us, I am feeling more convinced that I will manage to make my peace with it.

joycep · 18/11/2013 19:45

Mrsd – i am so so sorry about the bfn. Mrden sounds utterly wonderful. And you do have two fets left and there is still much hope to be had from that. But limbo land is awful. I also only focus on the romantic side of babies and sometimes am confused by my utter preoccupation to have a baby as I have never particularly swooned after babies or kids. I don’t even consider myself as particularly mumsy or maternal. As my colleague this morning was telling me how her baby son was so annoying whilst she was on holiday, I couldn’t help but smile to myself that I have a very peaceful life. However, I fear also my life will be boring without them. I also get the anxiety thing too.

Art – I love that you still post and I think it’s perfectly appropriate that you still do! You’ve been through it too and have had to process these same thoughts as well. It’s really nice to have people post from the other side. I wish we heard from everyone a bit more.

Rabbit – i think you are being extraordinarily brave and I know you are going through one of the hardest things you ever have had to face but I really am in awe about how you are processing things and how you are thinking about what to do. You have had frightful luck and all i can say is that one day, it will be over and you will be happy again and stronger for what you have gone through. I also can’t help but feel that this last round should be just considered a bust and that you should contemplate a different protocol and different drugs.... at least to give it a proper go with your own eggs. DHEA may well be a good option to look in to. Disbelief and rage is quite understandable whilst processing your clinic’s stats. It does beggar belief. I do wonder how many of those 5/555 went on to have a child on another cycle. I often am completely dumb struck that 95% of people conceive within 2 years and that 2 year mark is now a distant memory. It’s all frigging hard.

Pout - it’s so nice to hear from you and to hear that you are feeling content right now. What is your plan B again? Great news about BigDog too. Also I hear you on fearing the ugly ttc woes and jealousies kicking in again. I really hope you have stamped them out for good.

Cos - I’m not really sure where I am at at the moment. I’m waiting for my nhs consultation in a month but it will probably be more than a year before I can get to cycle. It sounds immensely ungrateful but I think it will be pointless on the nhs. I called the UCLH today to check what I’m booked in for and it’s not an ivf consultation, it’s for a general fertility check. I was told to just keep the appointment in the calendar though and see if that doc could refer me for ivf. It doesn’t bode well really does it? I guess I was spoilt for too long . Did your meeting give you renewed hope ?

It has been interesting and incredibly sad reading everyone’s reflective thoughts recently. There are obviously huge things to process for some of us. I went and read that infertility thread and I will be honest, it made me very scared. I have this lunatic voice in my head that sometimes tells me I’ll be one of those people who will conceive naturally after 6 years of trying just when I’ve stopped thinking about it but I know the reality is that this is my imagination deterring me from having to face the big decisions. But I don’t want to face them yet and I don’t feel ready even though I’ve had my brother, BF, mother and a few other friends ask me in the last few months about whether we have started looking in to the adoption process. It would seem that everyone has given up on us having our own child which isn’t very comforting I must say. I’m always afraid of outing myself on here but I moved house on ivf test day and it has been a huge gift for my sanity and probably why I just shrugged my shoulders as they told me it was a bfn. Thinking about paint colours, leaking baths, damp issues is wonderfully distracting and fulfilling. But I know this distraction will end in December and there will be room for the dark clouds to come in again. I still get incredibly nervous going to meet friends in case they drop a pregnancy bombshell and still very much feel my mojo is all but gone. I also often feel very vulnerable when it comes to my marriage. Roy and I seem perfectly suited but I do often wonder what’s ticking in that head of his….does he ever regret ending up with someone who can’t have his children? He is so bloody good with kids, his heart must ache too. I don’t know, it’s just some of the fears that run through my head.

Sorry mega post!