thread maxed out!!

[misskgb]

The 'Um hello newbie' thread has maxed out at 1000 messages so hoping we can find the people who were on there and continue where we left of..........new people welcome too!!

[lalanic]

mrshjb such a fantastic week of sun, been sitting in the garden today after breakfast with my newly pg friend. Delighted for her as been a long time coming.

How's everyone?

8 days over now and bfn. Starting to think it's in my head!

[Thistledew]

I think I might have to take a test this week just to reassure myself I'm not pg. I have had absolutely no symptoms, apart from the fact that for about the last week I have been convinced that I am about to get AF because I have had that 'heavy' feeling in my abdomen which usually heralds its arrival. But it hasn't come. Surely I would have some other symptoms by now if I was pg?

[mrshjb]

lalanic guessing you live down south?! Wasn't quite so sunny up here! Have you been off the pill long? Seems like it's normal to have random delayed AFs though from what people say on here. I'm no pro because I was on the pill from 15 to 26!

thistledew no idea tbh. Some people say they get pregnancy symptoms, others seem to get nothing. Probably best to test to put your mind at rest?! Is AF late?

[Thistledew]

Yes, 42 days since my last period. I have been on the pill for about 12 years. I had about a 6 month gap about 7/8 years ago but went back on as I had awful acne.

As I recall, I always had a long cycle and it was never particularly regular so I have no idea of what to expect now.

[lalanic]

mrshjb from scotland but living south just now for work so you guessed right! :) Been off pill since last June and cycle settled by Oct so was pretty regular before this month. Going to wait a few days then test again, not putting life on hold though until I know either way - I'll go to doc this week if I get no joy.

thistle everyone's different - my sis in law went back to normal right away and I took three months. Same with pg symptoms - some get them some don't. welcome to the confusing world of ttc, I guess though if it was simple and not confusing we wouldn't use forums like this :D

If you're curious trying poas and see what happens.

[mrshjb]

thistle ah right. I think it's very common for your first AF off to the pill to be much later than usual. Mine was 56 days after the start of the fake AF. I was always regular when I was younger as well but you just don't know what it's going to be like when you first come off. Hopefully you'll be one of these who are regular straight after your first AF. Of course you might also be pregnant. It does seem to happen to some very lucky people!!

lalanic I heard them saying on radio one what a nice day it was in London! What were you periods like when you first came off the pill? None existent or irregular? I had late AF, then normal AF so when I was late this month I did a lot of looking into late bfps and it seems to be the later you ovulate, the later you'll get your BFP regardless of when you'd expect AF. I think it's like you can have a short luteal phase, so AF comes less than 14 days after ovulation, but that's not enough time to implant and for the HCG levels to rise, so you could well still be in with a chance. Hope that makes sense, it did in my head anyways!! Good luck :)

[Gennz]

Hello all! You're right mrshjb it is nearly my time again ... and I have already poas (all BFN, obv!) and am only 7dpo Luckily have some cheapies so it's not nearly as expensive as it was last time.

I am feeling a bit hopefult his month - last month was really a non-starter as AF came really early (24 day cycle) and I had no symptoms at all - I pretty much knew I wasn't preg.

Right now I am 7dpo, CD22 and have sore boobs (at the sides), feeling a bit queasy in the morning (v weird) and yesterday we went out for a pub lunch and there was a dirty ashtray on the other side of the table and I could smell it - usually I am not bothered by smoking at all (am fond of a cheeky ciggy occasionally myself) but this reeked! Never ever happened before. But I can't tell if I'm talking myself into it or not.

I also had an acupuncture session this morning and the acupuncturist (who is meant to be a fertility guru) felt my pulse and says my progesterone is strong which is promising (means I could possibly be preg, but at least it means my hormones are doing what they are meant to be doing).

[misskgb]

Ooooh fx gemnz

Im ok thanks Helen. Just wish april would arrive so I can c the midwife n crack on!! Sickness on n off n tiredness ever present but ploughing through! !

[lalanic]

Good luck gennz!

Af came this morning 9 days late. Sounds stupid but I'm delighted! Was fed up with limbo and pg symptoms had gone so I just knew it wasn't a bfp.

Have told my other half we're going to make concerted effort this next month. The look of joy was a sight to see!

After pill I had 3 months of nothing, then 3 normal cycles then one slightly late. This one must have been even later for ovulation. Going to do opk this time (gaaaaa I hate them!) to help.

Hope everyone has a good day!

[mrshjb]

Love it Gennz, seriously hope that you're pregnant before you go totally crazy !! Do you believe in all the alternative therapy stuff then? I've started reflexology to see if it can help my cycles to regulate. Not sure I believe that it will do anything but help me to relax but guessing it can't help. Is acupuncture relaxing?! Always wondered if it was a bit on the painful side!! Fingers crossed for you anyways!!

misskgb hopefully time will fly for you, sure it will. Can't believe it's mid march already!

lady not sure if you are still reading this but if you are, what time of the day did you do your OPKs?! I've read that it needs to be between 10 and 8 but also you're not supposed to wee or drink for the two hours before doing it which makes it a bit hard work!!! I wanted to do it first thing but then I've read that you're not supposed to use fmu, but I always get up to wee in the middle of the night so not sure if that means I can use them?! I've got ICs so they don't really come with instructions or anything!!

[mrshjb]

That's supposed to say can't hurt, not can't help!!!

[Ladymillion]

Hey Helen, hey everyone else, yep still lingering haha...

I did one test in the morning (fmu around 6-7am ish) and then one in the evening (if I was off work that could be anything from 6pm ish, if I'd been at work it'd be more like 9pm).

I am a serious POAS addict! I didn't worry about the timings as such, just made sure the urine wasn't too diluted (I hadn't been to the toilet for at least 3-4 hours and I hadn't drank lots of water). I was paranoid about missing the LH surge as for some women it can occur and then pass really quickly which means the timing of the testing can be crucial.

I would say POAS as often as poss and don't give up, it feels like you'll never get a positive but it can happen at any time in the cycle.

Fx for all you girls, every day I'm checking this thread for exciting news / updates. Lovely bunch of peeps

[lalanic]

I think anything that makes you more relaxed and feeling positive - helen reflexology is meant to be excellent for dispersing tension and helping. When I had problems with my uterus I had reflexology and the problems went away really soon afterwards! It was such a massive relief. The lady who did it said she could feel there was something not right in that area (apparently linked to my toe!). I did feel bizarre afterwards but hey, whatever works!

lady me too! The past week poas once a day - my husband thinks I'm nuts!

gennz sending positive vibes your way

[mrshjb]

Hi lady thanks for the advice. That's really useful. I wrote on another thread to a girl who said she'd not had periods for 3 months after coming off the pill and told her about me having 3 periods since october and how the dr said it was normal. Someone wrote back basically saying it wasn't normal, I probably wasn't ovulating and that the dr probably didnt know what she was on about and I need to go back!!! I've come across this person on a few different threads and she's always doing the same lecturing and scaremongering , really gets on my nerves!!! Plenty of women with irregular periods and long cycles get pregnant don't they. Anyways rant over!!

Lalanic, how weird is that! I really hope it works for me too! How often did you go?

[Ladymillion]

Haha lalanic my partner thinks I'm a POAS nut job as well!

Helen people like that annoy me so much... You come to places like this to share experiences, you don't expect to be scared to half to death in the process! I read somewhere that said it was pointless using OPKs with irregular / long cycles but obviously this is wrong info. Everyone is different and what works for one may not work for another. I do know that women with PCOS might not find OPKs useful as they can have multiple surges in a cycle but might not actually ovulate. But otherwise I think they are great (I didnt understand the whole temping thing, have you tried that?)

[mrshjb]

Lady I know yeah. I think sometimes the problem with MN is that it's a higher concentrated group of people who have had problems/ bad experiences. I presume this person has had problems with her periods and doctor in the past so she's just trying to share her experience and help other people, but she needs to realise there are far more people who it doesn't signify serious problems for and like you say, everyone is different. My final point is the way it comes across as well, it's not like it's polite and she's offering help, it's a rude, patronising lecture!!!

I'm probably being a bit touchy because this one directly relates to me, but I have been quietly seething about her since I joined MN!!!

Anyways.... nah I've never trying temping. I read about it online and it seems like it's a lot of effort seen as you have to take your temp as soon as you wake up and then record it and track it. I think I would only go down that route if I had long term problems with my cycles. I seriously hope I don't though, but only time will tell!!

[Ladymillion]

Yep I often see rude, bossy comments on here, it's just uncalled for. None directed at me (yet) but I imagine I'd feel just as peed off as you are haha!

I agree about temping, I was only going to try that after I'd tried OPKs first! Seems like such a ball ache!

[Gennz]

I am totally a POAS addict (as you all know!) but I think it's good to test at least twice a day with OPKs - maybe not every single day between periods, but definitely at the time you think it might happen. The first time I used OPKs I got the strong + line in the morning, even though they say to wait to afternoon - I checked again that afternoon & it was almost gone so if I'd waited I definietly would have missed it. Just buy a whole lot of cheapie test strips.

mrshjb I am not really into all that alternative therapy stuff (for example I will be all about drugs & giving birth in a hospital - no home birth with whale music for me!) but from what I can tell acupuncture seems to be acknowledged by doctors as being credible so I thought I'd give it a go. (Plus I've always wanted to try it so it's a good excuse!) In any case, he basically told me to chill out and is concentrating on treating my sleeping problems more than any fertility issues!

Oh and that is so rude re that person telling you there is something wrong! It took a full year for my periods to completely regulate (after 2.5 years on the pill, and 5 years on depo provera before that). I was a bit worried but my doctor said that basically my cycle had been "switched off" for so long it would need a wee while to sort itself out. And it did. 3 period since October after a while on the pill sounds totally normal to me.

[Gennz]

I am definitely not temping unless I'm still TTC this time next year! Way too lazy for that.

[Lolly84]

Hey ladies, watching one born every minute and thought I would say hello.

Nothing to update on the ttc front so been quiet. I was going to have a break in April from ttc but think this month has been a rest month. My sister and hubby are over during ov time so not sure how we will get on with that lol.

Hope you are all getting on well.xx

[mrshjb]

Gennz thanks for that it's made me feel loads better. As much as I knew she was being unreasonable I did start to feel a bit sorry for myself again last night!! Hahaha laughed at the 'whale music'! I think if the reflexology doesn't work, I'll try acupuncture. I think you're right, it's more about relaxing than anything else!! You'll have to keep us informed how you're getting on. Yeah I have just ordered 50 from eBay so think I'll try twice a day when I can. Only on cd7 at the minute so probably going to leave it until the end of the week to start testing.

Lolly good to hear from you. How are you finding watching one born every minute? I've recorded the whole series but not actually started watching it yet. I'm worried it will make me want a baby more or frighten me to death. I thought about saving it to watch when I was pregnant but DH said if there was anything on it about births going wrong etc, it would do more harm than good so I don't know what to think really!!

[mrsb87]

Hi guys! Looks I've missed a lot of chat, just been catching up.

I've heard from a few people on here that reflexology worked for them when ttc, but like gennz said it was focusing on other problems primarily and helped relax everything so conception seemed to happen more naturally. I got given a lovely holistic back, neck and shoulder massage from my bro and sister in law this weekend, they say it's for when I start getting creeky! Hehe.

Oooh I need to catch up on obem from last night, I missed it!

Aahhhh cycles are always difficult subjects, there ia always someone who thinks they are a know it all but everyone's cycles are very different especially after taking contraception for so long. My periods were never regular and I still managed it! I think I know who you're on about though girls, she used to make my blood boil!

[Hazelbrowneyes]

Hmm, I think I may have missed ovulation

I'm on CD16 and still patiently waiting for the little line on the OPK to be the same colour as the control line. Except I think it may have happened on CD12. We examined the OPK and part of the line was as dark as the control line, but the other half wasn't. we dtd anyway

Since then the OPK has been getting lighter, almost unable to see the test line at all. Now I've just noticed that my CM has gone creamy. So I'm guessing I may have ovulated on CD12.

I'll carry on using the OPKs for a few more days as I had a 34 day cycle last month but I'm expecting it to just be negative.

I thought OPKs would stop all this wondering. I was obviously wrong.

[lala5]

hazel I get the same problem! I like the ones with the smiley faces as they are so much easier to read :) I've just ordered another box of 20 (expensive!)

[Lolly84]

hazel I am with lala only problem was I knew I was ov and didn't dtd as hubby was stressed. Know my body a bit better and know I ovulate later than expected. I have a 30 day cycle normally.

helen it makes me more broody! I love obem, I think it gives you a good insight into the whole thing. I don't think it would put you off at all. There are some complications but I suppose they want to show you the real pic. I cry every time. My sis will be going through all of this very soon so excited for her.

5 or 6 days until AF... This is such a boring time.

On the cycle front it is a very hard thing to discuss as everyone is so different. I am regular as clockwork and ttc is not straightforward where my sis had coil and got pg on first attempt and she is 5 years older than me. All we can do is try all month and hope for the best. I think after 6 months I will go to doc for a chat. Let's hope I don't have to do that.

X