Over 40s TTC & success stories.

[Grizzer]

Starting a new thread for support & advice ladies. Not quite ready to graduate yet!

Fingers crossed for you here Slinki, good luck.

all crossed here for you too slinki. much love xxx

Thank you.

Everything crossed for you too slinki.

Crossing everything for you slinki I had spotting/bleeding for nearly 4 weeks during the first trimester, and my symptoms were all over the place, and it is still going strong (22+5 today). How far along are you now? Hope it all settles down again soon!

fatty I can recommend the fertility friend website, lots of useful information about temping on there, and you can use it for charting (you can get a basic account for free).
Try and take your temp at the same time every morning, first thing, before you get up or do anything else, ideally after at least 4 hours of unbroken sleep. I used to set my alarm for about 15-20min before I had to get up, take my temp, then go back to sleep. You can start any day, but you'll only start seeing a pattern once you've temped for a full cycle.

Fingers Xd Slinky

Fingers crossed for you Slinki.
How did you get on with Dr Wing FF?

Thank you lovely ladies, I'm still in shock from seeing a heartbeat! Couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. I'd totally primed myself for the worst.
By my reckoning I should be 6+4 today but CRL was 2.3mm so 5-6weeks. Guess I could have implanted later. The spotting was brown, so old blood, so again possibly implantation.
I guess I need to have a little more faith in my body and my little bean but it can be so hard to allow myself to be positive asit seems to make dealing with loss that much harder.
I just hope I get some wicked ms soon

Haven’t popped in for a while so I’ve been trying to catch up on what I’ve missed – and sorry to read some sad news on here in amongst the uplifting bits.

Slinki – congrats on your BFP and how wonderful to see a hearbeat already – what a relief!

Ababsurdum – is AF still a no show? Any BFP news???

Cloud – 22 + 5 brilliant!

Fatty - sorry to hear that your lovely nan passed away, but I hope that at least her saying of "one out, one in" will be lucky for you. As Cloud said, you'll find some great advice/charts from Fertility Friend website. Unfortunately it doesn’t take your temp for you, so I only lasted a couple of cycles

Maurice and Artioo – I can’t begin to imagine the pain of losing a child. Just horrific. for you both. Maurice - I wish you all the very best for your pregnancy, you so deserve it. Artioo - hope your BFP’s just around the corner.

Annie - if you're still around, re your post from last week (24 August), I just wanted to thank you for your honesty, because I’d guess that lots of us – me included – can identify with at least some of how you’ve been feeling. TTC can be a rough ride can’t it? Hope you’re now having some good days too? I had a few thoughts – so here goes:

1. Can I reiterate Cloud & Grizzer’s excellent suggestion of counselling? Of course, those two ladies are also providing marvellous examples of robustly healthy pregnancy at 42/43-ish, and following miscarriages too. Hope your GP can refer you.

1. If you do decide to ask your GP about anti-depressants, please be sure to make it clear you are TTC, as I don’t think all types are equally suitable to take in early pregnancy.

1. Really, 42 is not very old at all. As Flotillas said, you’ve still time to find the viable egg. Remember women have had healthy babies at 42 (and older) for millennia, way before doctors thought they were clever and had all the answers. Is your Christmas deadline putting too much, perhaps unrealistic, pressure on you? That’s only 4 cycles (even fewer if you don’t ovulate every time) which would be good going for someone in their 20’s. Could you not give it say, another year, then if sometimes it all becomes too much, you could give yourself a mini-break? Personally, I realised deadlines were unhelpful for me once I’d reached a few and found that my desire to have a child didn’t magically and conveniently evaporate. So it seemed easier to let my body decide when it’s giving up – FX it hasn’t yet.

1. I remember one of your earlier posts – sorry if I’m mistaken – that you have mammoth AMH, like an enviable 14 or thereabouts. Perhaps why I think I remember it! You also said you have some anovulatory cycles, despite positive OPKs and EWCM. Have you had thyroid function blood tests (as an imbalance can cause anovulation)? But I was wondering more whether you might have PCOS – have you investigated that? The fact that PCOS can adversely affect the quality of eggs you do ovulate might even explain your previous miscarriages? BUT it’s treatable – according to my friend who successfully battled through TTC with PCOS - with things like inofolic, metformin (restores ovulation) and ovulation induction.

1. I’d worry about taking Clomid without monitoring. If you’ve been pregnant naturally, you must have at least one patent tube and unlikely to be sperm issues – so re your comment that more IVF is unaffordable, you may well not need it. On the other hand, if you think you don’t often ovulate, you might benefit from some (cheaper) help. So if you haven’t already, maybe consider:

a. Asking GP about PCOS (and metformin etc) and/or seeing a consultant (either an Endocrinologist, or an Obs & Gynae consultant with an interest in endocrinology. £150+ if private. E.g. could look at chains like BMI Healthcare, BUPA, Spire etc – BMI Healthcare has an online function to search specialist interests of consultants at your chosen hospital). Or
b. Ovulation induction (super-ovulation treatment) with timed intercourse or IUI. Think it costs around £600 – 750 all in, loads cheaper than IVF. Or
c. If you TTC naturally, try the supplement ‘Inofolic’. You can buy it online – its myo-inositol + folic acid in a dose that’s said to restore ovulation and improve egg quality in women with PCOS.
- midlandfertility inofolic
- inofolic.org.uk
- clomid-metformin

1. Did you find out more about Coventry Implantation Clinic? I’ve been and they know their onions IMO. Re timing, you can’t TTC during the cycle that you go. You ring to schedule on positive OPK and attend approx. 7 – 10 days later, clinics are Mondays and Fridays.

Good luck for everyone x

Well here’s my TTC non-news. Really disappointing, but we didn’t even try this cycle – due to waiting for new thyroid tests, plus some anxiety inducing dental x-ray + treatment ....

However, to try and feel as though I was still doing something, I paid for two monitoring U/S scans (baseline and mid-cycle) in an attempt to settle my ever-increasing nervousness about TTC and check whether anything at all is still going on. I felt I needed to know.

For my age (46, FFS) I was massively relieved to be told I had a baseline antral follicle count of 12 (6 in each ovary). Maybe that would be devastating for some, yet I was so relieved to find ANY! Then the nearly mid-cycle scan (on CD11) was apparently ‘textbook’ with ‘beautiful' lining (9mm) and a growing follicle (17mm). Of course it was prefaced with a comment about my age (like that might be something I hadn’t noticed!) and that the scans (just like blood tests blah blah blah) ‘can’t guarantee quality’. But still, step 1 to stay in the game is to be having cycles/generating follicles, so I was marginally happier, albeit briefly.

I’m now just waiting for next AF (drums fingers impatiently). A 2 week wait with zero chance of pregnancy – and when you’ve seen a lovely, big, round and ultimately wasted, follicle on a TV screen – turns out to be even more upsetting and annoying than a regular 2ww. Who'd have thought it?

Hello, just wanted to say hi.

I'm pretty surprised to find myself ttc at 40. I had DD1 at 30, then struggled to have DD2 at 34 (2 ectopics and a cp came in the middle - a total of 4 pregnancies in 18 months!). I suppose the good thing was, at least I got pregnant relatively easily. How times have changed. Since I had DD2, we tried for a bit (without becoming obsessed - I'd been there before and was determined not to do it again), had a missed miscarriage, then had a bunch of tests (nothing wrong, except I have one tube and am knocking on) and gave up (we really did) 9 months before my 40th birthday, because that was the cut off in my head.

But then earlier this year I found myself unexpectantly pregnant. The baby had trisomy 13 and I miscarried again, but we were so pleased I was pregnant in the first place that the door has reopened for us.

Now trying like true obsessives: co-enzyme Q10, overpriced Zita West vitamins, DHA, methyl-folate, vitamin D3, low carb diet with full fat dairy (6kg lost!), occasional alpha lipoic acid (but it makes me hyper), BPA-and-other-plastics-avoiding, no booze, lower caffeine, charting, opk-ing and, as of tomorrow, acupuncture. Currently 4dpo and stupidly have decided this is the month. But then I depressed myself by looking over all my old perfectly-timed-sex charts that resulted in nothing! The doctor told us we need to decide by about, well, now if we wanted to "get help" but we have not made up our minds, so just plugging on in hope.

Any other tips for a guaranteed pregnancy welcome! (Has anyone tried DHA? My doc said he did not recommend, but...)

Chewygiraffe is 12 antral follicles bad? I think it sounds great. I had mine counted when I was 38 and they could see 15 or so which they said was good (there may have been some more hiding as not all of my left ovary was visible, but noone was at all bothered about 15).

Chewy amazingly I got a bfp yesterday morning, I can't quite believe it. Obviously is v early days, I'm anxious about the risks and not sleeping well because of it. First thing will be a scan at 7 weeks (assuming we get that far) to check it's in utero, heartbeat and how many (one of my fears is multiples!) and after that the harmony test.

Great news about your follicles! Have you decided not to do IVF this month? Hopefully your 2ww will pass quickly.

Congratulations ababs! I wish you a trouble free pregnancy. X

Thank you Slinki, you too.

oh wow abab!! just quickly logged in to find your news!! How exciting! Happy news xxx

Chewy you are so lovely and kind so write up all those points for me. i shall digest them all and respond tomorrow! thank you : )

I'm sorry to say that we lost our pregnancy this evening. I went back to hospital with heavy cramping and blood loss and was told it could go either way. I came home and the pains got worse. After taking a bath the pain just evaporated. A couple of hours later it was all over. I'm not sure if I feel anything at the moment. I have to call the hospital again tomorrow to tell them the outcome. I feel very detached and hollow.

hi spartacus and welcome

many congrats ababsurdum im so thrilled for you

slinki I am so sorry for your loss, big loves coming your way (((slinki))) xxx

Slinki I'm so sorry. Please look after yourself

Thank you Annie and Fatty, keeping everything crossed for you too.

Spartacus I'm so sorry for your losses. Best of luck to you, you seem to have all the bases covered!! All I can offer is to dtd when you have good ewcm as that ensures the sperm the best chance of survival.

Oh slinki I'm so sorry to hear that. It is just so cruel and unfair. Do look after yourself

Slinki I'm so sorry, it's just so cruel. We are all here for you. x

I'm so sorry Slinki.

I'm so sorry Slinki. Do take care of yourself. .

Thanks for the welcome, ladies. I had my first acupuncture yesterday. It made me sleepy and was in bed by 8:30! Let's hope it also makes me pregnant (or perhaps less bothered about not being).

I'm so sorry Slinki. Especially hard after a reassuring scan.