Fabulous forty + ttc and having success!

[TwinklyMusic]

Old thread just about finished. Here is a new one... Fx for lots of well earned BFPs for those ttc over forty. We also welcome stories from those who have successfully had their babies over forty and we love hearing back from our graduates.

Crikey - I should check in more often. Hanging on for an Easter Break here.

Beegee - I too have days of wondering whether I really want to go back and do the baby thing again. My only DD is 2.8 and it's adorable to have proper little conversations with her (flipside being she's an opinionated little madam, sigh). But like you, we come back to thinking we definitely (desperately) want another little human too. No experience of teenagers, but hopefully your 14yo would, given the reassurance I’m sure you'd provide, take a new addition to your family in their stride?

Pies - interesting you have Hashimoto's. Feel sheepish now for grumbling - your 200mcg Thyroxine makes my own 75mcg look like homeopathy! Do you get blood tests regularly and are they stable?

How exciting to be moving home! Hope the new flat heralds all good things for you; lovely 18month old sleeping in their own bed and a new pregnancy, obviously.

Joey - re your chat with the IVF nurse, was that your review appointment? Did she not suggest how you might modify a protocol for an own egg cycle, if you decided to try again? I do wonder if donor eggs are sometimes pushed a little too readily, just because everyone likes an easy day in the office (me included) as obviously success rates, whilst not guaranteed as you say, are massively higher. But that’s not like saying you couldn't conceive with your own eggs, if that's what you really want, is it?

Joey / Ababs / Pies / KK - on donor eggs, I feel pretty similar to what some of you guys have said, i.e. I’d probably do it if I didn’t already have a child that’s genetically mine and DP’s. As it is, I can’t help niggling worries that I’d subconsciously favour my DD over a donor child, however dreadful that sounds. (I already worry about what I’d do if I finally managed to have a baby and it was another girl, I mean, what if she didn’t ‘measure up’ to my idolised PFB! ) While these are my gut feelings, rationally I suspect they’re quite unnecessary concerns to have, especially when I compare e.g. three families I know with a mix of both genetic and adopted children, and two more families with donor conceived children (one donor eggs, one donor sperm, actually). All these parents have unquestioning, equal, boundless love for each of their kids – so maybe I'm just over-thinking it.

MattsMamma - I know v little about Prednisolone, but did hear that some people think it interferes with ovulation if taken beforehand? I guess any issues are over-ridden with super-ovulation drugs, but not if TTC totally naturally. So it sounds like a plan to take it from BFP, especially as like you say, that’s an official school of thought anyway.

I started Thyroxine due to elevated TSH and since then, my dosage has been adjusted every now and then based on TSH/Free T4, as you’d expect. I did have my antibodies tested after a while – I do have Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) antibodies, but not Thyroid Receptor (TrAb) antibodies. But my endocrinologist (who seems brilliant to me, IMHO) has never suggested I need steroids for the antibodies, just the Levothyroxine to correct hormone levels – so I’m a bit confused. Was Dr Shehata maybe suggesting the Pred for the NK cells – rather than the TPOs?

I’ll definitely ask endo about Selenium. Just looked at my Pregnacare and there’s 55 mcg Selenium in that and I've been taking it for bloody years! But maybe I should look at increasing to 200 mcg like you say. Did anyone recommend that to you BTW, or is it from research?

KKMuppet - Hmm, isn’t it scary how IVF costs creep up! But in the crazy IVF world, I think £13.5K for 3 cycles is still, relatively speaking, not too bad value. Not like we have that sort of spare cash lying around (consecutive wrecks of houses have demolished any idea of savings) but I’m sufficiently irresponsible desperate to think IVF is a noble enough reason for borrowing (on 0% interest credit card, whatever).

On your protocol: 150 iui Gonal F + Cetrotide seems not too dissimilar from the 225 iui Gonal F + Cetrotide that was proposed for me. Re the Cetrotide - as I understand it - it’s a GnRH-antagonist that prevents a natural LH surge. It’s started a few days after the FSH (Gonal F) injections (which stimulate development of follicles) and is continued until the HCG trigger shot (which primes follicles for egg collection).

Ababs - I hear you. Tell me the terrible twos will end soon, please!

Sorry to waffle on for so long. Need to try to master the succinct post go to bed / get a life

Hi all!

Had v long day and too tired for proper post - sorry!

Just wanted to say good luck to Pies with house move!

And to Beegee with smileys and dtd!

And also to those approaching end of cycle... Fx for everyone!

In awe of those on FFC! Don't know where you get the energy, but wow!

Hello all. 9 dpo here and I'm feeling no urge to test. I think that for the last few months I hoped that as I conceived so easily last year I might again / more fertile after a miscarriage etc. etc. and it seemed worth testing. By now I realise it's unlikely so there's not really any point.

I hope everyone is doing ok and has a lovely bh weekend planned. I'm looking forward to having dh around though I have some diy jobs planned for him . I'm also planning some nice Easter things for ds though, as with Christmas, I think next year it will be more interesting for him.

Thanks for the house completion luck, all! It worked, we managed to complete Thursday, though by the time we got the keys and could get in to look at the meters, we were unable to get the electricity turned back on before the long weekend. So some of our planned cleaning and decoration isn't really feasible with no power. Ah well, we are going to enjoy a more relaxing weekend than planned. We are in rented and have a month's overlap, so we have some time still.

Ababs sorry that you sound a bit down about your chances. I personally don't think there's much point in testing, but not because I think it is all so unlikely, just because it doesn't really help to settle my mind. Sure, you might get a bfp, but if it's early you're not guaranteed to get the bfp even if you are pregnant. So then you still have to test again for the next two or three or four or five days. So you have all the emotional upheaval of a negative test, without actually finding out for sure if you're pregnant. Arghh. Getting pregnant so easily just a few months ago is a really good sign. It is. Hopefully this month you catch another good egg.

Ha, Chewy re: homeopathy. I don't think the levothyroxine dose reflects how 'sick', for want of a better word, you are, but rather your body's hormone needs. I've been stable for years. I do get blood tests when my gp requires, usually once per year. Sometimes they want to lower my dose to 175mcg, and then my TSH usually goes right up to the top of the reference range. So we go back to 200 mcg. I wish they would just believe me!

I hope all of you coming to the end of the tww, ababs, rugby and the rest, sorry I can't look back on my phone, get good news.

It sounds like Beegee and I are near the same point in our cycles. I'm on cd14. I think I had ewcm today, but with the FFC continuing it's hard to tell. Sorry, major tmi! But seriously, if you're having sexy time every day, it's really hard to tell.

Hi everyone x ababs I think it's best holding out on testing anyhow (says she) fx for you this cycle and everyone who seems to be in the 2ww with you x
pies congrats on your move it will all get sorted. Yes we seem to be the closest to cycle buddies, I am cd17 today and just got my static smiley also have ewcm (totally understand your major tmi with you on the heroic FFC!). Looks like I will be heading into a short luteal phase again then, as cd 17 is when I got my peak last month too 😕 x well boys are away with their dad....I best get cracking...x

pies glad it all went through! Enjoy your unexpected easy time of it this weekend
9/10 dpo here and getting af cramps so know it's over for another month. Husband is getting really despondent as we found it so easy previously to get pregnant - just struggled to get past first trimester. Now we are not even getting that far :-( We are now talking about going to our last resort plan of trying our frozen embryo from a few years ago....

Congratulations on completing Pies! That's a really good reason to celebrate. How exciting for the next few weeks as you settle in. And don't they say 'new house, new baby'? Fx for you!

And for keeping up FFC! I'm afraid to mention the FFC to my DH in case he thinks it's such a marvellous idea we should try too! Unless we're on holidays, I'm highly unlikely to have the stamina. (And no matter what he thinks, I'm pretty sure he'd be scuttling off to do some 'urgent' work with his proverbial tale between his legs after a few consecutive days too!).

Glad you got your static Beegee. Are you taking supplements for short luteal phase? Sorry if this has just been discussed (I've a feeling it has...) but I can't scroll back. Are you taking Agnes Castus?

ababs, so sorry you're down. It's inevitable, I think, that we will feel a bit fed up, especially after what happened. I've had a lot of that too recently. If I could think of something magic to say to make you feel better, I would, but then if I could think of that, I'd probably not be wallowing so much myself either!

The only thing that keeps me going is 'maybe next month'.

Kk I'm also getting cramps. I've had them for what seems like ages though. I've had lots of 'extra' PMS-type stuff this month, which is a bit worrying.

Also been incredibly grumpy over the few couple of days - DH, who isn't exactly subtle and understanding about PMT, keeps asking if AF has started yet. When I bark at him to back off tell him it is not quite due, he just does . Understanding...not... ( yourself DH!!)

(Oooh, I really am grumpy! )

In fairness, he's shown lots of broody signs himself and I think is sad we haven't been lucky since the mc.

Twinkly - oh I know the feeling with the OH not understanding it. Maybe they just can't as its not their body? I don't think they realise how much it takes over your /my brain. The tww is so distracting... And mine has gone away for work again while I am here stewing about it! Sorry you're feeing so grumpy. I hope it will pass and you get the result you want in the next few days.

Ababs -how are you? Hope you're ok. Thinking of you.

Beegee- good luck with catching the egg this month. Pies - go for it with the FFC. Hope it works for you. As Twinkly said., I guess at least OHs enjoy it! Mine seemed to....

I'm still on tww but my luteal phase seems to be a bit longer this month so hoping this is a good sign... Now 12dpo and hoping the witch stays away. At least til OH gets back as I know I'll be really upset when she appears again and will need support (hoping he'll be offering it!). I'm visiting a close friend with a newborn at the moment so it's ok as long as AF is not here. If she was, I'd probably neglect my duties right now....

Thanks Rugby!
Good luck with no show from AF! It must be very hard to be visiting someone with a small baby. I know I'd need support for that too at the moment. When does OH get back? Fx to positive result!

Hi twinkly sorry you are feeling so rotten x yeah I am taking agnus castus for the luteal phase. Only started that, red clover and red raspberry leaf this month though. Otherwise been taking a myriad of other supplements for a while. Not long realised the luteal phase issue, so trying to sort that. Anybody managed to lengthen theirs?
ababs hope you are ok?
Happy easter everyone, enjoy the chocolate eggs...baby dust for us all to get our baby eggs x

Beegee- someone (maybe Ababs?) told me that Brazil nuts are good. Seems to have worked for me this month but could be just luck! I eat at least three Brazil nuts a day.

Hello, thanks for your good wishes all. I'm about 12 dpo today and tested bfn this morning so I expect AF in the next day or so. I'm ok, had already resigned myself to it. I'm just a bit frustrated and fed up that this isn't happening immediately! I mean, how dare it not! .

Sorry you're down too Twinkly, it's crap and it must be hard for our dh's too - they must feel even less in control than we are. What cd are you on?

Kkmuppet sorry you think you're out too.

Rugby a tough time to be around a new baby. It's great your LP has lengthened, I hope AF stays away for you this month. We must be overdue a bfp on this thread? Brazil nuts contain selenium which is good for implantation, I don't know if it also helps with a short LP.

Beegee, hopefully some of your supplements will help soon. I've not started on my chocolate yet, it's a slippery slope once the box is open...

In other news, we are getting through some of the diy we wanted to. One of us has to stay with ds so it's a bit slow going but we have made progress. Oh also, I used the Method floor cleaner again last weekend and it was fine. I wonder what that was all about?

Happy Easter ladies !

Sorry been awol, work was crazy busy last week so been reading along but not managed to post.

Ababs- sorry about the bfn, never a welcome sight, here s hoping next months your one.

Twinkly - isn t PMT fun ! Crazy really how hormones can do this to us. I think mine has got worse tho i think the added ttc stress magnifies it. Lets hope yours is actually early pregnancy rage instead !

Rubgy - good news on the LP, 12 days is very respectable, lets hope its actually a 266 day one particularly when you re having to do the friends newborn baby thing!

Begee - good luck covering your bases this month, hope the extra supplements help lengthen your LP. Have u tried acu ?

Kmuppet - sorry you think af is imminent. Have u made any further descisions on your ivf plans/frozen embies. Must be hard to know what's best, what's your gut feel ? Sometimes that's as good as all the science and rationalising.

Pies - i m in awe, moving house AND holding up the FFC while bfeeding and cosleeping an18mn old. You deserve a bfp for that alone !!

Afm - had a hycosy yesterday. Tubes all clear. Have a tiny uterine fibroid (likely to be insignificant) but also had some adhesions near it which they managed to clear with flushing. Tho not the nicest thing for a saturday morning i m glad i got it done as hopefully a spring clean might help rejuvenate the old boiler ! Oh and from the scan i also look to be on track for a bit later ov which is good as it had seemed to be creaping earlier.

Chewy i also phoned prof quenbys and think i will go for the uterine biopsy i just have to wait one clear month after hycosy. Then that s it for interventions for me, i ll have done as much as i m prepared to and the rest will have to be up to fate !

Waves to everyone else.

Hope everyone's enjoying an Easter break - Fingers crossed for lots of lovely good eggs!

So who's coming up to end of 2ww? Rugby, Ababs, KK, Twinkly? Best of luck all!

Kk, Twinkly - I've always had terrible cramps - just like AF pain but worse - before (and after) getting any BFP so hope cramps might actually be a good sign for you?

Rugby - I guess it must be tricky visiting your friend with newborn, but hope on balance its making for a happy experience. Just double FX your AF stays away. Scraping around for positives here ... When David Bowie passed away (RIP) I remember reading Christie Brinkley's tribute - including reference to a Somalian tradition that holding a newborn would help a person to get pregnant. Iman Bowie thought that holding CB's baby had done the trick for her, apparently.

Pies - that's got to be a bonus to have legitimate excuse not to clean new flat this weekend, surely!

GPs can have bizarrely entrenched ignorant ideas on Thyroid can't they. I shouldn't really need to see the endo any longer, but she won't fully discharge me back to monitoring solely by GP as notwithstanding the numerous letters she's written about the parameters she'd like them to maintain, they've still filed TSH results that've come back bang at top of ref range (and once at bottom) as 'normal' and not even told me - grrr!

Beegee/Pies - LOL at issue distinguishing EWCM from product of daily 'sexy time'. Yes how DO you do that? Sort of a rhetorical question - not in the least expecting an answer!

Hula - yay for clear Hycosy + spring clean! All good to go! Does the 'one clear month' before biopsy mean you can try next cycle? If so, hope the spring clean will work some magic and you won't need biopsy due to BFP!

Well I'm going to force myself to relax and (no forcing required) eat some chocolate in rest of Easter break - and temporarily clear mind of all TTC related clutter (yeah right).

Hope everyone else - fatty et al - are doing OK?

Ababs - sorry about your bfn. You are so good at seeming philosophical about it. I hope you're ok- onward to next month. And sorry you're out too, KK.

Hula - glad your scan showed positive things happening. Hope you can now catch an egg - where are you in your cycle?

Thanks Hula and Ababs- I know. Happy with 12dpo in itself. I will do a test when oh gets back on wed (if I still have no witch by then).

Twinkly - hope your mood has lifted.

Hello to everyone else and good luck to all of us....

Chewy - good plan on the relaxing and chocolate - long may it last !

I m on cd 10 now and ok to try for this cycle (so back on the dtd wagon from tomorrow ...) and then need to have a whole cycle before doing the biopsy the cycle after that. So at least gives two attempts post flushing before sitting out the third cycle for the biopsy.

Rugby - everything crossed you can start a roll of bfps for us on wednesday.

Hi everyone - hope your all enjoying a relaxing Easter weekend 😊

CHEWY. Re the prednisolone - Mr Shehata's advice was that I would still need to take it because of the antibodies. Bloody thyroid has caused no end of problems!! Or at least the cause of the the hashimotos has - immune problems all the way!

Re; the selenium. I take this because of my own research and not medical advice but have read of so many women who have lowered their antibodies through taking this. Selenium is also said to help with implantation too. I am a big believer in vitamin B's also and as I mentioned I have recently learned that B6 in particular is really good for fertility/luteal phase amongst many other things. It is often referred to as the workhorse vitamin as it covers so many bases. Can't tell you how much better I feel when taking them - it's just so worth it for me personally.

I also take a daily probiotic (I get mine from optibac). I was having major episodes of hives combined with extremely painful stomach cramps and severe diarrhoea and intense itching. Had to go to casualty a couple of times via ambulance. Absolutely dreadful. They seemed to be getting more frequent too. These would last approximately 40 mins or so and then back to normal. These were unexplained - after many visits to allergy consultants who could only offer antihistamines to try and control these. It wasn't an allergy as such. Random and no reasons for them. I have done much research on this myself, and once again I can only deduce that the thyroid antibodies may be again to blame or histamine intolerance. Anyway - leaky gut is something I came across many times when researching and the probiotics seem to have helped. Leaky gut can also be a cause of hypothyroidism. I am not saying they have cured the problem but the epidosodes are certainly less frequent since taking these plus the selenium so I am remaining hopeful.

Hope not rambling too much but I just want to make people aware in case they have similar problems and they might benefit from this too.

Hula glad all looks good on your tests, it must be a relief! Fx for this month so you don't need any more tests.

Rugby how goes it? Any news? Am hoping it's your month.

Mattsmama these immune issues sound so difficult, you have my sympathies. I count myself lucky that, as far as I know, I don't have any issues. Mind you, a fat lot of good it's doing me!

AF showed up for me this evening. On the plus side I seem to be getting good at knowing when I've ovulated using a combination of the opk, cervical mucus and ov pain. This month it was probably the night of cd12, quite early for me so maybe the egg wasn't mature enough? Incidentally the last two cycles I've ovulated the night that I've had a positive opk in the morning - quite quick? Anyway, onwards to the next cycle. I'm also trying to lose a few pounds (7-10) and I keep losing a couple of pounds only to gain it back in the second half of my cycle but this month I didn't so I'm pleased about that at least.

I hope you have all had a nice relaxing Easter. Ours has been busy, I'm knackered now. 'Night all.

Snap, ababs! AF arrived properly for me this evening as well!

I had been hoping a little that, as Hula suggested, it was more pregnancy rage (which I've has in the past!) than PMT. So was DH for that matter, as I was much crankier than usual.

And, confusingly, after having a 26 day cycle for months, this appears to be a 27 day cycle, which is annoying. Why can't it just decide??!!!

It was a stressful month, so I guess it would have been a long shot... But we were quite good with dtd, and this month is going to be a disaster because DH is away for nearly a week at the worst possible time...

So I'll just have to focus on getting healthier ... I also need to lose weight and my diet has been rubbish these past weeks - and exercise has been dire too. I'm going to cut back work a bit and focus on health and chilling a bit with the kids. Or at least the healthy diet will start when the Easter chocolate is all eaten!

How are you doing with your visit Rugby?

Interested in what you are saying on hypothyroidism Matts and Chewy. I've got this too. You've got me researching new supplements on top of levothyroxine. My GP is rubbish too.

Hula also v interested in what you've said about the HyCoSy. Has anyone else had this? I've started researching - I had my ovaries checked out, but I think it was a couple of years ago now and nothing since. My GP practice is really rubbish and they really haven't given a toss about helping me out but I shouldn't have left it at that - there are plenty of private clinics that will cheerfully be kind and supportive with testing as long as I cough up! So any other experiences with these procedures would be helpful. Any lurking graduates found them useful? Any recommendations for a London clinic?

Matts - I'm already a believer in the power of the probiotic. But after reading your post, even more so! Am horrified at the very thought of 'leaky gut'... Is this another thing I will now be convinced I have?!

twink and ababs sorry the witch got you - I'm expecting mine today, probably mid flight knowing my luck. I've had the worst morning so far - parking people were late, selected for random security check and so no time for a costa latte and bacon roll which is pretty much my only way of keeping moving after getting up at 5.15!!
rugby here's hoping this is your month
hula I'm hoping now you're all clean and shiny and refurbed you will get there this month - I've heard it happen before... As for me I am calling the fertility clinic as soon as I get af to get our one frozen baby transferred asap. I was thinking of it as our last resort but it's SO much cheaper than doing a whole new Ivf cycle and it's already an embryo so we are half way there.
Hope everyone else isn't too miserable if you are back at work today!

Hi everyone. Ababs and twinkly - sorry the witch got you. A new month with a new egg awaits. Ababs, interesting thought about cd12 making an immature egg. I was told by my acupuncturist that cd20 was probably a bit late for me to ovulate - well, I wonder really if there's any truth in it! We can't all be perfectly average and ovulate on day 14, can we! (No offence to those who do!!) KK - hope she stays away for you. Sorry you!'ve had a bad day so far..., sounds like a brave and bold decision you are going to take next month. Good luck.

Twinkly - sorry your GP has been unhelpful. I hope others on here will be able to provide advice on clinics... And I will be listening in to that too!

I'm on 14dpo and the witch appears to be away for now - though I've had occasionally longer LPs than this so not getting my hopes up yet. But still eating the Brazil nuts like a maniac. Thanks for all your good wishes in it though.

The visit to new born is over now. And then had to visit more children! If I hear one more complaint from these parents about how hard life is with children I swear I will have an outburst at them about ttc just one little person! I know they don't mean to but it can be upsetting....

Hula - good luck with this month. Everything crossed for you. You deserve a bfp after your tests.

rugby I hear you on the 'complainers' - they just don't think how much of a struggle it is for some people to get/keep the family they really want. It's thoughtless and every time I hear it I actually want to shout 'well at least your baby isn't dead!' - so far I have stopped myself just in time!

KK - glad it's not just me! It is thoughtless isn't it. After all, I don't go around bleating about how difficult life is without kids in their faces. We all have our struggles and we can make it easier by not assuming everyone feels the same as us and have some humility. It sounds like you have alot of that as you've only thought the thing you want to say!

Twinkly really sorry the witch got you too . I'm sorry that your dh is going to be away at the wrong time this cycle. Hopefully you can dtd in your fertile period at some point and get lucky. Healthier for the next cycle can only be good too can't it! I have a feeling that the Easter chocolate is going to have a detrimental affect on my weight loss... Oh well.

Kkmuppet did AF show? Have you tested negative? Sorry if you've already said. I hope your day got better after the awful, early start. I got selected for a random security check in Inverness airport once. It was on the way home so nice and embarrassing when they got into the dirty underwear . Did you call the clinic to talk about a FET? How exciting.

Rugby I'm sure people ovulate on cd12 or 20 and get pg all the time. I guess it depends on what's normal for you. I usually (well pre mc) ovulate on cd15 of a 27 day cycle so cd12 seems a bit early compared to that. Which cd did you ovulate on this cycle? Is AF still a no show? Are you going to test? I am wishing hard for a bfp for you. The visits must have been tough over Easter, hats off to you for going. It's a shame people can't be more sensitive, I think it's especially hard when you are ttc #1 (or if you've had a terrible loss like Kkmuppet). I hope my complaining about the terrible twos wasn't too insensitive. I will try to be more mindful in future.

Well I have ordered more opk's for this cycle, god it's a pain and an expensive business with all the supplements too isn't it? This will be my fifth cycle ttc after the mc. I think if we get to six with no success I might drop the opk's and just pay attention to cm etc. And try to dtd at least eod over the fertile period. Not exactly ntnp but less obsessive yeah, right.