The Bumsnet Bus: It doesn't matter how long your journey, or how many twists and turns you've taken, there can only be one destination: BFP! Wipe your flaps and jump aboard!

[eskimoflo]

Thought I'd get this party started. Here's the stats: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sHG9PPsOs0yIqgR-o2UXX_fdlCQXdVNLfmPpNOePPjQ/edit

May this bus yield many BFPs! Hoorah!

Thanks lily good luck to your little furry baby today, its sorry horrible looking at their faces when you leave them there isn't it?! Nice work on getting the friends out so you could dtd! I blimmin love gin, what a test the tww will be - fx crossed it will be for a very good reason though!!!

Just heard from the Vet that he is fine and can go get him later on this afternoon

Great news! Big hugs tonight then x

Delurking to add to the ferning conversation... I had a saliva microscope which I used throughout the month, and then alongside opks when I was getting near ovulation. I found it really useful as a double check, and as you only need to buy it once (for under £20) and can use it as many times as you like, it satisfies the need to be constantly checking for changes without wasting a load of opks! Here are two pictures I managed to take down the lens of mine, one showing when I was definitely ovulating (ferning pattern) and one not (just blobs).

ThePug Hello! I'm glad it's not just me, I might have to see if I can find my old kit. I never really got the hang of it and like lily I struggled to see anything, you seem to have got some really good results with it!

Lily glad to hear the fur baby is doing well. Excellent prioritising with your friends and DTD!

I've not had anymore spotting but still negative OPKs. I'm having a great day though as my parents have just adopted a new dog and he's lovely. It's so nice to see them so happy with him and I'm looking forward to lots of long walks and dog cuddles!

Hi ladies just popping in to check you are all ok.

What are everyone's plans for the weekend? We have a bonfire party at our house. Right now it's raining here and is meant to rain nearly all day. However, it says dry for this evening. I hope so as I don't fancy standing out in it and we've spent loads on fireworks. I do love fireworks. This is one of my favourite nights of the year.

We're off to a fireworks night too beaut! Taking DP's kids. DSS used to be really scared of fireworks, but last year we pursuaded him to give it a go and he loved it! So we're going again tonight. Looking forward to hot dogs and candy floss for dinner ha ha

Otherwise, I'm meeting a friend for lunch and making a roast dinner tomorrow!

How are things with you? Any symptoms yet?

I'm tempted to give ferning a go. I find stuff like that really interesting and hopefully it's easier than trying to interpret opks. pug and magpie, so do you only have to do it once a day? How reliable is it? For me it's probably a good alternative to either using nothing at all or getting stressy about poas.

Hope everyone else is ok!

Has anyone heard from spinning recently? spinning are you lurking?

Also, I know I've said this before but I'm seriously considering using soy next cycle. Cd29 now and I still haven't ovulated. This is getting ridiculous so I've got nothing to lose by giving soy a go.

Does anyone know where is best to buy it from?

Dizzy if you read the soy threads on here lots have had there BFP from soy. It brought my ovulation forward by two days but I have regular 31 day cycles so it wasn't for me. I got mine from Tesco in fact I may have some left. Do you want me to send them to you?

Hi ladies,
Not been part of this group, but heard about you from a grad. Just popping on to say I'm (finally) clearing out my TTC cupboard and wondered if any of you would like some IC OPKs (probably about 20 of them) and soy isoflavones? They're tesco ones, in a sealed pot (I did chinese herbs in the end instead of soy, but bought them in a moment of desperation and never used), 30x40mg capsules.
Best of luck to all of you- took us 2 years, 2 mcs and lots of herbs to get pregnant, but it did happen and it will for you all!

I had a look at the tesco tablets but I was a bit clueless as I don't know what the dosage needs to be?

Ooh yeah I'll happily take them off your hands!

Hi monkerina congrats on the bfp! I'd be interested in the soy unless you've already had a taker?

Cheers! If you can PM me your address I'll get them in the post on Monday.

If anyone is considering traditional chinese medicine and wants any info, please feel free to drop me a line- really worked for me, although DH was ridiculously sceptical fool

Many congrats on your bfp monkerina. What a lovely story to share and I'm sure it'll give us all some hope. I'd love to hear about about tcm. I tried it for a month and I don't think I ovulated that cycle either but the lady I went to didn't seem clued up but I'm open to try it again if I don't get a bfp in the next couple of months.

dizzyn I've got a nearly full pack of soy - it's the stronger tablets - think 100mg from memory. It made me feel horrendous and I think i ovulate late but regularly. Happy to post them to you as they're just sitting in my drawer. Got them from just vitamins.com who have a good reputation. I get all my other potions from there haha

Oops I hadn't finished my post and pressed post! Dizzy how frustrating for you. I hope the soy works for you. Enjoy the fireworks.

How are you doing beaut?

I saw spinning on the FB page but that was a couple of months ago. Hope she comes back on here.

Cd10 and time to get the opks out. I'm actually looking forward to all this poas!!!

Hi all, how is everyone?

Flyby Sorry for AF. Will update your stats for you ASAP. Sounds like you have a plan for next cycle though!

nervous Good luck for news on your scan next week. When I had mine back in April /May time, they couldn't see anything except that my ovaries were slightly enlarged, which is quite common after coming of the pill, apparently. The waiting around is just awful, so I really sympathise Glad your pooch is ok though. One of mine is in for a scan on her pancreas this week, but she seems totally fine apart from being sporadically off her food around once every 2-3 weeks, so I'm optimistic it's nothing too serious.

Sammy I'm really glad that you have a plan. I think you do right trying to chill out now and a couple of months 'off' will probably do you the world of good.

lily How is your boy now? Are you into the 2ww again?

Hope everyone else is ok. Waves to Pug, Kir, DizzyN, DizzyM, Beaut, Magpie and everyone else

I'm on CD22 and had day 21 tests yesterday. For some reason, I've talked myself into the fact that the clomid hasn't worked this time round... Not sure why- maybe because I had sore boobs after ov last cycle and I've had nothing this time round . We stopped DTD on Sunday (CD16) and even if it did work, this may have been too early to stop. It was the end of half term and DH and I were just exhausted, so we didn't do it on Tuesday or again this week. I hate the wondering if I've ovulated or not and not knowing whether to carry on DTD or stop, so if the clomid has worked, I am going to temp for the first time ever next cycle and after reading all the ferning info, I might even try that. Can't spend all next cycle wondering whether or not I've ovulated and then getting myself in a state because I think we've finished DTD too early...

eskimo you should deffo try temping. Remember that ferning is just like doing an opk and won't tell you whether you've ovulated. I've been reading about it this morning though and it sounds like a good alternative to opks....no worrying about diluted wee or whether the test line is the right shade of pink! The pattern is either there or it's not! Apparently it's 98% effective. And it worked for pug so hopefully it'll work for us!

kir thanks for the offer, monkerina is sending me hers which are a smaller dose I think, so I'll see how I get on with those and if you still have yours available in a couple of months time I may take you up on your offer! Although I'll be preggo by then obvs . What other potions are you using?

Thanks dizzym, was that the grads FB page? I'm not on that one any more. Hope she's ok!

I just got a parking ticket .

Hello everyone! OK if I join? Was a member back in July but took a break from MN as was getting down never seeing a BFP. Now (still) TTC #1, cycle 8, still BFN and not a whiff of anything else. Currently in the process of getting referred for IVF. Several friends have just had babies and I'm feeling really low about it all (still crushingly disappointed with every AF - will that ever change?) . Feeling like it's never going to happen. Dusting myself off and hoping you'll welcome me back! No one in RL can seem to understand why a friend having a baby makes me so happy for them and yet also makes me sit in a dark room and cry for a bit.

Definitely try temping eskimo it'll take all the guesswork out. Which reminds me to pick up a thermometer up today. I put mine under my pillow and it ended up in the washing machine with my bedding!!!

Yes the grads FB dizzy. Urgh at the parking ticket. They're ever so quick to dish those out and business must be booming at this time of year. I'm extra careful and haven't had one in years now.

Welcome back leota. It will happen for you just keep going

Hello everyone!

Missed you for a couple of days eskimo hope being back at school hasn't worn you out too much. Sorry you felt too knackered to dtd for the last time or so that you'd planned. FX you did ovulate, when will you have your day 21 bloods back? With the scan I found myself reading the woman's face and convinced myself for a minute that she saw something horrendous but surely they'd say something there and then if that were the case? My GP was most interested in lining thickness but hopefully she'll be giving everything a good look over!

kir monkerina DizzyN - I don't know much about soy, what have you all read and/or experienced?

Leota welcome indeed, we're all as impatient and miserable about our ttc woes, but find solace in the humour, support and general loveliness of this group. Have you had any tests, seen many dr's to know what's going on?

dizzym your washing the thermometer reminds me of the time I washed the bedroom tv remote! Whoops!

Beaut I hope the rain stays away, have a great party!

DizzyN Enjoy your hot dog and candy floss dinner! I used to do the ferning once a day. If I remember correctly you have to wait for a couple of hours after eating (and possibly drinking). I found it quick tricky to get the right amount of saliva. Worth trying though. For me, it was something else to make me feel more proactive about TTC if that makes sense?

Monkerina congratulations on you bfp! I'd love to hear more about the Chinese medicine.

DizzyM have fun peeing on OPKs, it's one of the more exciting parts of the cycle

Eskimo fx that you ovulated and this is your cycle! I do recommend temping though, I find it very useful.

Leota Hello! TTC is such a gruelling and emotional process. I've found being on here so helpful, it's great to around people who get it. Best of luck to you!

I'm still getting negative OPKs and cramping. No more spotting. Temps still low. Why can't my ovaries just do what the clomid is telling them to?

DH had cancer and we froze some of his (then amazingly good) sperm. He's in remission so we started trying earlier this year, but his sperm count was basically nil although has slightly recovered since so hoping in the future we will conceive naurally as we would like more than 1 and ivf is expensive to fund on our own! I've been tested (bloods and dildo cam) and all clear on my part. GP has put forward our referal but needs to go through a secondary doctor for the clinic? So we are waiting for that to happen. And keeping our fingers crossed every month on the off chance we are lucky. No luck so far.

Sounds like you've both been through a lot Leota! Did they say why your referral has to go through a secondary doctor? Hope things move quickly for you.

Dizzy In theory yes, you just have to do the ferning test once a day but I probably did it about twice a day just to see if there were any changes! The only tricky thing is timing it with eating, as you need to have not eaten or drunk anything except water for 2 hours before, otherwise your saliva could be contaminated with it. I did get some random partial ferning at other times of the month but when it was full-on patterns like the pic I posted, it tallied up with opks pretty well. Certainly better than doing nothing, but still listen to what temps and cm signs etc are telling you.

Crossing my fingers eskimo that your CD21 tests show you've ovulated and maybe that you're growing a baby in there ! You know the clomid has worked once though, so even if this time it didn't it doesn't mean it won't again, and then it'll just be a case of making sure those sperm are there at the right time.

DizzyN sorry about the parking ticket. DH got a first ever speeding ticket last Sunday afternoon doing 79 on a dual carriageway on the way back from a shopping trip to Mothercare I'd made him take me on, and we hadn't even bought anything. So annoying!

DizzyM How are you doing? Oops about the thermometer!

kirj Has AF cleared off yet? Good luck for this next cycle

Big waves & pompom shaking to everyone else!