We might be over 40 but we are young at heart, taking our supplements, shagging on time and waiting for the precious BFP!Over 40's TTC, join us here...

[Gumblossom]

Starting the new thread, Cloudjumper.

Anyone over 40, trying to conceive, whether it is your first or 6th (or more), we're facing the obstacles together.

I've been at it for 6 years now, but there are plenty of good news stories from these threads over the years.

Come and join us with your worries, woes,successes and milestones, we are here to support one another in our quest.

yeah Reni, the whole world only started to fall pg when they learned to pinpoint their ov! In addition, it suffices to run 5km, drink 3 espressos and post an announcement on Facebook to miscarry:-) Why ppl ever worry about unexpected pgs:-))))

Thank you, JassS, I knew you would make me feel sane again . I also forgot to eat pineapple core (bleurgh) last month, so my efforts are DOOMED.

Hi all.
It's sounding very promising for Gum, Grizzer and Cloud at the moment. Really hoping you can all get to your 12 weeks without incident!
Annie - sorry that you are not having such a great time, but I really do think that it's too early to know anything from that scan you had yesterday. Hang on in there and let's hope that the next one shows a nice strong heartbeat.

I'm on CD10 today so getting to the action part of the month!! DH is going away a week on Friday which will be CD18 for me, so he is under strict instructions that we have to dtd every other night until then!! We've done CD7 and CD9 so far, so let's hope we(he) can keep it up!! Hopefully I will have O'd by then, and if not, then nothing more can be done anyway.

Reni - I always forget about my temperature. I quite often end up doing it after I've been to the toilet, got DS up and had a cup of tea, which I know is completely wrong, but I can still definitely see when the rise takes place.

Oh yes, temping, just started this morning, took temp, fell asleep and forgot reading, luckily it came up once when I turned thermometer on again.
Does anyone know anything about progesterone suppositories? I had them in my last pregnancy for the first 12 weeks and can't remember if I took them after ovulation or on confirmation of pregnancy. Does anyone know where I can buy them from?

Annie - sorry about your poor care, it is such a stressful time and people can be very blunt. I hope that you get good news in 2 weeks.

I'm ok Reni, thanks. Ive still got AF here, probably for the rest of the week. I was temping in the cycle I fell pg, but I'm not going to do it this month. I don't want to think about it that much.

emmaline I am taking progesterone, but as far as I know, your GP needs to prescribe them, you can't buy them over the counter. Whether you take them from ovulation or from BFP depends on the protocol that you are under. I have been advised to start it when getting a BFP, but I know a lot of people who were advised to start taking it after ovulation, and then either stop when it's a BFN or continue if it's a BFP.
My progesterone levels are quite good, so I guess that might be a reason I was advised only to start from BFP - but I'm guessing.

annie Hope you are feeling a bit better xxx

I'm still spotting red blood, but only in the mornings. Then it goes brown and dies down again during the day. Wondering if it's the heparin injections that cause it (I do them in the evenings). Either way, it's really unnerving me...

Good luck with the dtd, joey

Thank you again ladies for your support yesterday. Feel much calmer today but can't help questions going round in my head. Need to keep busy and not think about what's going to happen. I probably won't happen for another week and a half anyway if I'm going to as this seems to be a pattern with me.

Jass thank you so much for your soothing post, it really helped me. Yes I am pretty sure about the dates at 6w+6d it could be a day or so out but I was using ov tests and temping and the last time we dtd was the 18th April so I'm fairly sure I ovulated on the 16th April. My periods usually last 31 or 32 days.

I agree that from the research I've done they should have been able to see a heartbeat by 6w 6d. The sonographer didn't say anything about mc he just said 'it may be too early come back in 2 weeks' and 'it all looks normal for an early pregnancy'. They also said 'we say that to everyone at this stage' whatever that means.

I'm feeling really sick and my boobs are sore again which would have been a comfort earlier in the week but that means nothing now.

I wish the sonographer / young midwife had taken longer to look during the scan. I was in and out really quickly. I also wish they'd done an internal scan to have a better look.

I'm not even thinking about old midwife and her lack of compassion anymore - I've deleted her out of my memory for my own sanity!!

Hope you are both well Gum and Grizzler. Sorry I'm not supporting everyone else very well right now xxx

oh sorry I meant to say cloud i hope you're ok and the spotting goes away soon xxx

Those symptoms are good signs Annie. Don't lose hope yet and try to avoid dr google if you can.
I think the slight bleed is likely to be the heparin Cloud. I injected clexane before flying & had some spotting a couple of days after. Nothing since so I'm sure it was that. Do you have to take it all the way through your pregnancy?
Berlin trip was good thanks Gum. I am so tired now though which I'm hoping is more than just being away for a few days & it's the exhaustion of growing a healthy baby. I have a scan booked for Thursday. I'll be 6+6 by then so I hope I get to see something.
I use progesterone cream Emmaline. You can buy it online. I'm sure it's not as strong as the suppositories but while TTC I've been using it every day since ovulation because in my last pregnancy my progesterone was very low & that resulted in early mc. Now I'm pg again & my progesterone is fine so I'm using it every other day.
Half term for me which is very much needed. I will be writing reports but at least I can relax for a few days.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend everyone

Annie, if it was nor vaginal US, I really woul dbe more hopeful if they could not detect any heart movement/fetal pole. Good abour symptoms, too!

Cloud, maybe indeed its heparin, as it cleary can cause bleeds. I am so scared of bleeds that was even forcing myself to take aspirin, part of me did not want to.... next time I have decided to man up and also do the aspirin/heparin combo, even if it would most likely mean slight bleeds. But first I need to get the ov and then bfp, of course!

Do you have your appointment coming up Gum?

Yes Grizzer, in about 11 hours (not counting them or anything). Feeling really happy that I have made it to the appointment without miscarrying and feel good because I felt so bad last night: I seem to be getting my normal pregnancy pattern where I feel a bit off most of the day, but feel really off around dinner time. So after my Drs appointment, I will have to break the news to DH (and I am scared - he will be surprised and maybe not all that positive).

I have been dropping hints about how tired I feel and that I feel "off" , but he's not once said anything like, "do you think you could be pregnant?" He's just way too male to actually notice clues

When do you have your scan Grizzer? How are you feeling?

Cloud - how are you?

annie - I hope you're feeling okay?

What's everyone else up to? Any positive opk's? Anyone close to testing?

Sorry, Grizzer, just reread your post and your scan is Thursday. I'll have everything crossed for you I am also using progesterone cream and will ask the Dr what she thinks today, as I have almost run out, she might get my levels tested. I just want to be sure I have crossed every T and dotted every i when it comes to the first trimester.

Good luck with your appointment Gum! Will the Dr do a scan?
Re telling dh, I told mine over a Drs appointment (by phone) as it was a shock and i thought it would give him some time to take it in. It will be fine ?? xxx

im totally hacked off at the never ending miscarriage.
BFP march 25th,

start spotting april 27th,

Vaginal u/s april 28th @8+4 to find the 'baby' had stopped developing at 5 weeks (blighted ovum) but as per protocol told to wait 10 days and come back for re-scan just in case

Night of 28th heavy bleeding which continues till my rescan on may 8th
may 8th, rescan confirms miscarriage....taken round to ward and had clots and manual erpc done without anaesthetic, was rescanned and told, there was nothing left.

28th april to 18th may spotting and medium bleeding

18th may start heavy bleeding and passing large clots, continue bleeding till today

today....still bleeding heavily and soaking through a pad every 1.5 - 2 hours

totally fed up of it all now...want it all to stop so I can get on with trying again. fed up of wearing sanitary towels and going through them like mad, fed up of feeling blood come out (sorry TMI) every time i move, and leaking out of my underwear and through by trousers

and breathe

sorry ladies...just needed to get that off my chest...not a lot of places I can let it all out without people fainting with shock at the mention of bodily fluids and suchlike!

send me ....ALL the

Fatty, that doesn't sound good. I bled for 3 weeks after my latest mc, but by the end it was just spotting that went on and on. Could it be that the mc bleeding has merged into your period? I know that sounds unlikely but I only had a week between ending the mc bleed and starting AF

First AF post mc is often very heavy, but even so yours sounds particularly bad and long. If it doesn't calm down today I think you should consider getting checked again by a doctor. and

Just a couple more hours till your appt Gum, hope it goes well.

I agree with Fromwest Fatty. If they scanned you and said everything was clear you shouldn't be bleeding like that. I had spotting that seemed to go on for weeks but it was just spotting. Blood that soaks through a pad so quickly needs to be checked.
Good luck Gum. Hope dh takes the news well!
I feel tired but still no other symptoms. The only weird thing that happened was dd rubbing my belly and asking when her baby sister would be born. She often seems to have a bit of a 6th sense but I put this one down to wishful thinking. Not sure why but I don't feel confident.

Fatty, if you are soaking pads at that rate for weeks, I think I would demand doctors to rescan again. It might be placental polype, i.e. placenta grows back qnd causes another bleed. it needs to be tested when removed to make sure there are no molar elements . Pls try to get care ASAP. Can you go private or anything to get good care?

Thank you cloudjumper and grizzer for the progesterone advice, I have some cream now and will start rubbing it in tonight. OPK says I am ovulating today so now need to get OH ready. Which is a task as he suffers from DE.
Fatty I hope that you are feeling better this morning and that you have managed to rest.

Thanks ladies, i will ring the BEP clinic tomorrow morning, im keeping my fluids up and taking extra folic acid in the mean time.

Hi ladies. I had a great visit with my doctor. She's a sweetheart. She was so excited about me being pregnant; I am now worried I will disappoint her. She seemed much more positive about it than I am.

She agreed that I should take the aspirin and also asked me to take folate with iodine, Vit D, a prenatal, and that the latest research (which still isn't written up, apparently) says that probiotics are extremely important, particular with recurrent miscarriage caused by autoimmune conditions. She was happy with continuing the progesterone cream, but also wants me to get my levels tested. I will organise blood tests tomorrow.

She's requested an ultrasound asap, so I will book that tomorrow. She has also written out requests for another scan if I want it around 8/9 weeks because she will be away for 4 weeks on holiday. She's also given me the request for the Harmony test. She kept telling me that "all my ducks were in a row" because up until 5 days ago the Harmony test wasn't available in my town and was double the price. Now it is available here and for about $420.

Every day is hard though: today my boobs weren't all that sore and I kept thinking the worst. I know I can't do anything but take each day as it comes, but,man,it is hard.

Still, I am pleased that the doctor is so supportive. Next step is to have the ultrasound and see where I am at. Maybe that will help

Just catching up - how lovely to see so much preggo good news!

Cloud - v excited to read about your 8 week scan, heartbeat and bang on for dates. What an excellent milestone to pass.

Gum - great to hear you've been feeling sick and you had such a positive doctor's visit - sounds super-organised. Maybe don't worry about the on/off boobs thing? I've never understood it myself. When I was pg with DD my boobs tingled for about 5 minutes sometime around my BFP (and I was never certain it wasn't just my imagination), then nothing at all until a few days after delivery when my milk came in, when two massive comedy boulders appeared seemingly overnight.

Grizzer - many congrats on your BFP and FX for your scan. Am I right in thinking you'd given yourself a couple more months TTC before giving up (sorry if I'm mixing you up with someone else)? I hope you re-find your initial "I'm having a baby" positivity soon. Listen to your little DD!

Annie - congrats on your BFP also. Are you going back for another scan in two weeks? Frankly I'd try to ignore your first scan. Sounds like you were treated as a training exercise rather than a patient. No idea why they didn't do an internal transvaginal scan? I thought that TV was the method of choice at 6 weeks, as not sure what they could expect to see abdominally pre 8 weeks? The midwife who spoke to you (without seeing the scan) sounds like she just dug herself a hole and kept going, when she'd have been wise to shut up. Maybe she's a generalist with no particular interest or experience in early pregnancy scans/issues, but she wasn't having a good day for tactfulness was she! Hang in there, sure it'll be fine.

Seewot - so glad you popped in to say all is well with your pg too.

Fatty - so sorry for your loss . I agree I maybe would've expected bleeding to have stopped by now. Hope you can ask clinic to re-scan you and check whether there's any retained tissue perhaps.

My news FWIW. A while ago I wrote a rambling rant about finding three cysts on one of my ovaries and I think a couple of you (Fireflies and Gum) were kind enough to ask after me.

So this past month I went back for an ultrasound mid-cycle and the cysts had gone. They also saw a large pre-ovulatory follicle growing which apparently was nearly ready to ovulate (CD12). So far, so good. The sonographer said we should start DTD, which we dutifully did twice; once on CD12 and again on smiley face day (CD14). I would've been pleased enough with that, but for the fact (TMI warning) that after AF (from CD1 - 5) I was bleeding like a period again from CD9 - 19. Totally gross, but presumably it was to do with the cysts (and the mega high estrogen as a result) resolving themselves.

So there's been no 2ww this cycle. Its just as well as I've spent the past 10 days on amoxycillin for a chest infection that turned into pneumonia and pleurisy! I've been so ill I've lost 7 llbs - just from the raging temperature I think.

I'm totally fed up as that's three months written off now.

• May: resolving nasty cysts,
• April (and maybe before): unknowingly having cysts so didn't ovulate,
• March: not TTC on instruction of endocrinologist, while they adjusted my thyroid meds.

It's time, I think, for next month to be more productive!

Chewy - thanks for your lovely comments. They do help

Sorry to hear you've had no luck lately. I am not surprised you are fed up. I hope you are feeling better (how awful to have pneumonia!) and that you can get right back into the ttc saddle.

I forgot to mention in my post that I told DH and his reaction was lovely. He smiled and laughed. I said,"do want the good news or the bad news?", He said, "I'll have the good news first", so I told him the good news was that I am not menopausal, he asked, then what's the bad news? I told him;I'm pregnant. He said,that's not bad news, smiled, laughed. Then he told me he's scared because he really doesn't want my heart broken again like it was with the miscarriages. We resigned to take one day at time and worry about things as they come up.

I am so relieved that he's in my corner now and we'll do this as a team.

7 weeks today Can't wait to book my scan.