ttc #1 support during the waiting game and friends needed on same boat

[beccarella]

Hi ladies! I am 33 and have been trying to get preggars 6months now :( feels like forever. my partner has two children from prev relationship (marriage) and his ex fell pregnant straight away apparently, my younger sister-by 6 yrs is pregnant with her 2nd which happened 2 months into her relationship ! I have been really positive this month but my period is due wed and now i have brown spotting-meaning am out again. I guess i am just on a downer now... this sucks. I have a regular 28 day cycle and ovulate day 13 (opk) and have sex at least every other day! eating more healthily and tried fertilcm to help. I have worked with children for years and so long for my own. I am addicted to these threads and love how everyone is so supportive of one another! Fairy dust to us all!x

Mermaid, Cinder- I too am getting quite confused with the OPKs! I've actually just started a new post to see if anyone can explain them too me!
I got my cheap OPKs from Amazon. I'm made up as they are saving me a fortune compared to clearblue! As my cycle is 43 days I'm tracking it quite a bit this month using OPKs alongside temping (for the first time) to try and understand my cycle a bit better in the hope I can provide my GP with some useful information should I need to. I'm obviously going to get through quite a few sticks!
I started using the OPKs on Saturday & got no lines appearing other than the control line. However for the past 2 days there has been a faint second line. According to the packet this still means negative as the second line has to be as strong as the first to produce a positive result. I'm just wondering why there is now a line (albeit not very strong) when there wasn't previously? What, if anything, is being detected?
It's only cd11 for me so I know I'm no where near ovulating yet (if I do at all). I'm just genuinely intrigued as to why the OPK sometimes gives you a faint line & other times nothing at all! X

Hi Shary, I think the reason there is a faint line is because there is still a small amount of the (LH?) hormone in your body at that time, just not enough to mean your due to ovulate just yet.

From my own experience they did get darker until I got my positive OPK though I'm not sure if that is the same for everyone, and then I would get a positive result 2 days in a row. But I've also seen some ladies say they had to test morning and afternoon else they were missing their positive result. Hope this helps a little. X

Thanks Sunshine, hopefully it's a good sign that I do ovulate.......? x

Hopefully though apparently you can still get a positive OPK and not actually ovulate, so it is good you are temping too. It's my first month temping too, though I've had positive OPKs in the past I just want to be sure xx

Unfortunately I understand temping even less than OPKs! I've only taken 4 reading so far which were in the 36.1-36.4 region so I'm hoping there's some sort of noticeable dramatic difference after (fingers crossed) I ovulate. I've ordered a fertility book because my GCSE in Biology isn't cutting it!! x

Welcome Lizzie!

Just a quick check-in - back today but away again until the end of next week. Did an FR Friday and an IC this morning. Both were negative. AF due tomorrow, so not getting my hopes up but also get the feeling my cycle might be longer anyway this month, so I'll hold out as long as I can to test! I'm taking some ICs and a FR away with me just in case AF stays away.

Happy baby-making, all! Catch you next week xx

I've only been doing the opks for 2 cycles now. I usually keep all the little stick things and you can see them get a little more dark each day until the positive. I've never tested after the positive so no idea what happens after!
I also started temping this cycle but stopped when I knew this month would be a wasted one. Not due AF until next week so I suppose I should start back up again so I can see the trend.

Fx it's just too early Pallas x

Hi everyone, I haven't been so good at keeping up this month as I'm 'out' due to OH being away when i ovulated. FX for everyone else though :-)

I need to come up with a better strategy for next month. I abandoned the OPKs, but I think I need to try harder with them. I also think I've buggered up my temping so I can't work out if I've already ovulated, or if it's still to come.

We've had sex six days in a row, and because I ovulated quite late last month and missed it, I feel that we need to keep going, but it's not really enjoyable and we are both quite fed up I think. We had a bit of a row about it this morning. Next month we need to try something different or it is going to suck the joy out of sex completely.

Hi Cinder, I know what you mean, its hard to stop it feeling like a chore - six days in a row though is pretty good going!! Have a look at the SMEP plan, it might help a bit.

This is my first month temping, don't think I've ovulated yet but not really sure what to expect x

Hi Cinder, I think we went for about 9 days in a row last cycle, it really does take the fun out of it. It kind of felt like an extra chore Is there any scientific evidence about sperm quantity/quality?! I mean do men need a certain number of hours to re-fuel?!

Sunshine, how many days have you been temping for? I've had a 36.4, 36.3, 36.1 & 36.2 so far....no idea what that means (if anything)! I'm hoping there's a more noticeable dramatic change after (everything crossed) ovulation!

Hi Shary, i've been temping for 11 days now since the start of this cycle. My temps are in the same range as yours with small ups and downs. I'm currently in my fertile period so will hopefully see something noticeable in the next few days - i'll let you know. What cycle day are you on? x

Cycle day 14 of 43 lol!
It's good to know your temp is a similar range

Feels like my temp is all over the place (red line on the picture)....

Hi everyone - haven't read all of the posts but hoping I can jump on board! I'm 30 and this is our fifth cycle TTC...guess I thought it would happen immediately and I'd freak out about not being ready...but that hasn't been the case! We used the clear blue opk's for the first three cycles and have now abandoned them (for now) and are just shagging every other day for about a two week period around when ovulation should be happening (and a few saturday morning extras too ) ). I'm actually really enjoying all the sex, though not sure I would enjoy it every day. My younger sister is about to have her first and she got pregnant second cycle - grrrrrr. It's nice to come on here and let off a bit of steam as I wouldn't want anyone to think I begrudge her in anyway IRL (and I don't, just want it to happen for me soon too!). Sorry for the essay!

Hi rehomedcitygirl!

I'm just checking in, today is apparently 13 days since positive OPK so my app says I should test tomorrow. As it's cycle 1 I'm not expecting anything but I'm not looking forward to my first proper AF in 14 years either

Hi everyone, can I join in? Been lurking on this thread for a while. I'm 34 (35 next week :/ ) and been ttc #1 since Christmas. After utterly convincing myself it's never going to happen, I've got more serious about it the last couple of months, googled EVERYTHING, joined mumsnet, started CB OPKs last month and temping for 2 weeks now.
Currently CD7, period just finished and going to try EOD for as long as possible and 3 days in a row over ovulation. Although it's a pain, tracking temps and opks have reassured me I am ovulating so feel much more positive. OH and I have GP appointments next week too.
mermaid, I've only just started temping so don't know lots but your temps do seem quite up and down. Might you sleep with your mouth open perchance? If so, you could take your temps, ahem, elsewhere :)
Fingers crossed for you bananamonkey you never know!
Best of luck everyone, hope it happens for us all soon!

Oh, and rehomedcitygirl I totally expected it to happen instantly and I'd be freaking out big time. Fat chance, but at least I know I definitely want it. Sounds weird, but there was a point when I thought what I wanted most was the maternity leave!

Welcome to all the newbies!!

Star, I know exactly what you mean, we started trying in the new year and I wasn't 100% sure I was ready thinking of all the changes to my life it would mean but I knew DH had wanted it for a a couple of years, now it hasn't happened yet I feel so desperate for it and realise how much I do want it, I suppose I just took for granted that it would happen x

Hi all! I've been laying low for a while but thought I would check in to see how you're all getting on and give you an update. I am on CD58 now and up until now have had nothing. I have had a bit of EWCM on an off so think my body has been trying to ovulate. Well anyway, on Monday I started taking Agnus Castus and something is definitely going on with my body. I have had AF pains for the past few days and since yesterday quite a lot of EWCM. The pains are exactly like AF - I have been running to the loos at work thinking I have come on. I had AF type pains 2 weeks before my AF last cycle so I'm hoping my body is trying (and succeeding) to ovulate now. That or AF. I would take either tbh. I can't cope with these long cycles anymore and I think it is pretty evident that I have PCOS (although I have no other visible symptoms - normal weight, no hair etc.). Something is going on down there at the moment since taking agnus castus - I just hope it's good and not like a cyst rupturing or something. I am going to go do the docs next week to see if I can get a scan. I feel so disheartened. I would take a 30, 40, 50 even 60 day cycle - I just want a cycle!!! We're still DTD every other day mostly.

Welcome newbies :)

How is everyone else doing?

Hi Babycakes - its so frustrating when your body doesn't do what it's supposed to

I had to have words with DH the other day - he said he couldn't be bothered to DTD because we were out of my fertile window so there was no point! If he thinks that attitude is sticking around, he's mistaken!
Since coming off the pill, my sex drive has gone through the roof and I think it scares him!!

Hey everyone, Although I said on Wednesday that I'm out of the running this month it turns out I was wrong. I now have a bfp! Not sure how exactly; either ovulation was different or dtd before my OH went away must have done the trick. Either way it's a positive. We've been ttc since Christmas and it's been an emotional roller-coaster. At times I didn't recognise the person I'd become but this post reassured me we were all going insane together. Good luck to all of you and FX for more BFP's this month xx

Oh Alpha that's wonderful news!! Congrats!!

Congratulations Alpha x