All aboard the Feb bus, as we finally take off

[Blue500]

New bus ladies, bring on those Bfp's!

dojo and sarky so sorry you are going through this.

CD15 here and have been dtd every other day since cd10. I have been charting on FF but not temping or doing opk but from ewcm I think I ovulate around cd9/10. If no bfp this month I will start temping and doing opk to make sure I am ovulating and check what my luteal phase is.
Bloods from last investigations I had in 2008 showed low progesterone.

Oh no, mustbemad, sorry to hear that. After 4 weeks you've had real time to start getting used to the idea of being pregnant, so that must have been really tough.

Gosh, so many girls getting bad news on this bus at the moment.

Hugs for all.

Sarky, don't let doctors patronise you because you are young. Just because you are 21 with a son already does not mean that mmc and cp are not pointing to something wrong. It would honestly advise anyone who has had a cp to go see their gp if only to have it recorded in case you suffer another and another. As far as I am concerned, a cp is as heartbreaking as any other very early miscarriage and mustn't be brushed under the carpet by any medical professional.

Sarky, please go the gp and ask him to perform day 3 and day 21 tests. Tell him you want these particularly to check your progesterone levels as you are concerned you have had a chemical on the back of a very recent mmc.

Wishing, with those kinds of cycles I would be charting my temperatures. You are one of those instances where the stress would be lessened by following your chart. I'm not overly concerned about the difference each cycle (I think the 24-day cycle was probably anovulatory - which means you didn't ovulate - but it is entirely normal for women to have two of these each year). You are clearly ovulating at different times of the month and testing with opks would reveal a lot.

Wishing, why are you currently under a gynae?

Thanks Sweets - only knew for a week (you are classed as 4 weeks pregnant on the date of your missed period) but at 43 I know time is not on my side so had hoped for a sticky one. Onwards and upwards - planning on getting back in the saddle ASAP.

Night, you really don't want to be ignoring cp's. If they are happening to you (and 1-in-4 women have at least one) you would want to do something about them.

Dojo, bless you. I am so sorry you are crushed

purdey the HV is coming on Thursday for DS 1 year check. Would it be worth speaking to her about it first? Or should I just book an appointment for my GP?

I know that if I had somebody else with me they wouldn't brush me off. Unfortunately DP is working all week and I have precisely zero friends or family members within a 200 mile radius.

I don't suppose you live near Bristol do you?

Good advice as always Purdey.

Ok thanks Purdey I guess that I wouldn't want to know so I wouldn't get upset but would probably best to know. Fx it doesn't happen. So sorry for all the sad news on here :(

A chemical pregnancy is where the fertilised egg tries to implant and succeeds to a degree - hence the HcG being released into the system - but then fails to implant properly. One of the reasons this happens is that insufficient progesterone has led to only a thin uterine wall being built up that cannot sustain a developing embryo. A cp will also result if that uterine wall has started to fall away too early (the embryo falls away with it). Uterine fibroids are another reason why someone may experience several cp's (a scan would reveal the fibroids).

Some cp's are down to a chromasomally abnormal egg or dodgy sperm, but seeing as 1-in-4 women experience at least one cp it would not be something I was worried about unless they happened again and again or, as in Sarky's case, on the back of a recent mc.

Because most women ttc are testing with more and more sensitive tests before AF is due, more women are detecting these cp's, but it has always been the case that 50-60% of first pregnancies will fail very early on.

Purdey have you been to the doc about DHEA yet and if so how did you get on if you don't mind me asking? I've done a bit of swotting up and it looks interesting re improving egg quality. I'm a bit confused as a couple of sites say that it's unlicensed and prescription only, but then I've found some sites selling it here in the UK. Do you know if it's something the GP can offer or do you have to be under a fertility clinic? Thanks in advance.

Austral, you can expect ov to have occurred within 36 hrs of your surge, so sex up until the afternoon of the 1st Feb would have been extremely well-timed (and today you would be 2dpo).

Sparkly, your cake is like a work of art and I ate it all like some feral savage

I crossed posts with mustbemad's excellent description of a chemical. Dojo, I think you can expect AF proper today. You will soon be up and at 'em and your baby is even closer around the corner. That may sound glib and saccharine but there is no reason to believe otherwise, I promise

Cookie, what was done in 2008 to remedy the progesterone deficiency? I'm not sure if you aware but ewcm can very often appear a full week (or more) before ovulation and then disappear completely. This is to ensure your fellas sperms have a healthy environment to survive in until the egg is released. Please don't rely on cm to DTD. If you did ov on CD10 and only started DTD the same day - or the day before - you really haven't utilised the best days to have sex (up to five days prior to ov).

Sweets, 4wks + 4days means someone has been aware of their pregnancy for a few days only. Pregnancy is recorded from your last period.

Can someone with more knowledge than me look at my chart and see what they think? Thank you so much - I'm getting much better info from you lot than random Google!

Oh, flipping heck! I have crossed posts with so many of you as I had to do quite a catch up and couldn't read the thread in its entirety before posting. Apologies for appearing to ride roughshod over others' supportive comments

Sarky, my darling, I would be with you like a shot if I didn't live in Lancashire. Please take courage and walk into that GP's office knowing you are not asking for anything unusual or outlandish. You want some simple yet fundamental tests to look into your hormones. Express your fear that the miscarriage operation has done some damage. If you feel your doctor is poo-pooing you, tell him/her you will be contacting the practice manager to complain about your fears not being taken seriously due to your age or that you are a woman. This will seriously make the arsewipe pull his socks/tights up.

Sarky, please remember these doctors are paid in excess of £90k a year to listen to your worries. If they won't take your concerns seriously you need to get Rambo on their ass.

Sorry it's a sad day here on the bus I remember Feb starting like this last year (who else was in the buses then?) and it seem especially hard after such a bumper crop of bfps in Jan. Hoping we have some good news soon.

I am feeling liberated at the thought of no temping or opks this cycle and appreciated my alarm not going off at 6am for temping! I am also hopeful for my EPO and b-complex to start working this cycle bring me a bfp! (And everyone else)

sparkly what a gorgeous looking cake! Well done for doing that after you have been having such a hard time (this is not meant to sound patronising, I had days last year where getting up and dressed was an amazing achievement) x

mustbemad, my lovely fellow vintage. Yes, DHEA is what we need. I have searched high and low for evidence that eggs can be improved in quality and haven't come across any really compelling evidence. What is interesting about this study is that the researchers found evidence pointing to not the oocytes (eggs) themselves degrading in quality as we age, but the follicular environment in which they sit. What I am going to iterate to my GP is that DHEA is now being routinely used by a third of IVF clinics worldwide. Why? Because it is proven to produce more eggs under IVF conditions and better quality embryos. Not only that, the mc rate drops to that of a normal ovarian reserve woman. Exciting stuff.

DHEA can be bought in micronised version over the counter but this study explicitly attests to it being ineffective in this compound. What we need is the hardcore stuff from the doctor - 75mg per day is the suggested dose in the study. Lots of GPs are refusing to prescribe as they have been convinced from earlier research that DHEA simply does not work. However, for a drug that has shown no adverse side effects in this trial of 1000 women, my GP can kiss my arse if he thinks I am leaving without it.

mustbemad, this is the excellent study kindly given to me by nomio ... a copy of which will be under my arm as I march into the GP surgery next Monday...

Heir, that chart looks good. What is your quandary, cocker?

Miss, you may not believe it from my usual cock-a-hoop attitude on these threads but I suffer greatly with panic attacks and depression (I am currently breezing along on 40mg of Seroxat, without which you would find me with my head firmly in the back of the oven). I will remain on meds for the rest of my life - and any doctor who suggested I come off them would not have both testicles remaining at the end of our conversation.

Because I was desperate to give birth in a midwife-led unit (and not a hospital) I was told I would have to come off my meds by week 36 of pregnancy. I did just that and suffered horrendous PND where the nadir was me wondering how practically I could convince my family we needed to have Nancy adopted

Thank you purdey I will do that, I promise.

You have been so insightful and helpful. Thank you so much.

purdey yes we can all put on a brave face and act 'normal' and people have no idea how low we can be at times

Hello all
I just wanted to say a couple of things...
Firstly, sorry to hear all the sad news over the past couple of days
Secondly, thank you in advance for helping me on this journey. I am only at the very start (cycle 1 TTC #1), but having been following this thread in particular, I feel much more prepared to understand and deal with any symptoms or setbacks which may come my way. It's also reassuring to know that there is always someone there to offer advice or information.

Thank you!

Miss, what do you do in your life to bring you happiness? I am genuinely curious as I am beginning to feel very 'flat' and 'numb' which I know is a a forewarning of an 'episode'. I cannot afford to slide into blackness with a little baby to look after

Sarky, be strong. You're a mum, which already places you head and shoulders in strength above some male doctor (and if your GP is a woman, her kids are being contracted out to nurseries while she sits in her office telling you that you have nowt to worry about)