#2 PMA all the way to BFP xxx

[Hippychic79]

So we've maxed out our first thread, the positivity is building up nicely and we're joyfully moving on to a brand new thread...

This thread is for anyone TTC and is bursting with positivity, love and support as we cruise towards our BFP's.

New rules instead of saying AF due we say BFP due ...
Also you do not have to add your age or what cycle number you're on if you don't want to ...

The ultimate aim is to get everyone to destination BFP ASAP...
however the bus ride may take a little longer for some of us ...
it doesn't matter if you take the scenic route ...
as long you get there.

So plug in your stats and off we go xxx

Do you mind if I join? I am 40 and ttc no 3, it will be no 2 with my current dp. We have one DD born when I was 39 - so being older does not necessarily need to be a problem Leannie. It took us five months to conceive her. Ds from my first marriage is actually 19 now, and hence the desire for a sibling for DD to grow up with. But I had a mc in January, so try to think that whatever happen happens, and I do feel very lucky to have the children I have. Right now I would like ttc to be a bit fun and exciting again, so would love to join this thread as there seems to be quite a lot of enthusiasm going on here Fx for a lot of bfps coming up!

Bella fx we’ll all be using the pregnant emoji soon! Love the spice girls and love #girlpower. Congratulations for curbing your POAS addiction, it could have got quite expensive in time and money. I think RLT is raspberry leaf tea but I’m loving your creative suggestions! I don’t get any AF signs either which is kind of annoying as it encourages you to POAS.

Salem I wish Doreen would call me more often, fw or not fw. DP is quite stressed this week and although I try very hard to hit him with my PMA, it’s very difficult to get him out of the dumps. You’re right, time is almost going backwards when ttc.

Charley 5 days of dtd in a row, wow that’s some stamina you and your DH have got! Thank you for sharing the fact that other ladies have got upduffed by only dtd once or twice, don’t get me wrong in an ideal world I would love to do SMEP but with my situation I can only aim for x1 dtd in fw, x2 if I’m lucky! I watched Corrie too… and cried. Thank you I think I will try another OPK tonight and tomorrow morning too, this will be the first cycle I’ve POAS OPK twice in one day, you ladies are a bad influence lol!

MrsB Glad to hear you have a balanced lifestyle – cake/choc and running, a great combination although quite difficult to do at the same time I’d imagine.

Rose Sorry you got another BFN, hopefully your BFP will come before you start taking any fertile assisted action. I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed for you on this, hoping you won’t need it but I guess it’s reassuring to know you’ve made those first steps. No the pineapple image is a google image, I do not have that much time on my hands lol, I still need to draw my twins!

Blondie Me too – looking forward to Spring big time. I had acupuncture last night and my acupuncture guy who is helping to boost my fertility points more or less said that the Spring equinox onwards is my time as I’m a Spring person. He’s helped a lot of women to get upduffed and he almost implied that next cycle onwards would be my optimum which would make sense as my mum conceived me and my brother in the Spring.

Helly Same here – my DP has no idea how much thought has gone into our lifestyle over the past 6 months and why I’m so desperate to dtd in fw at certain times but can take it or leave it the rest of the month. I’m surprised he hasn’t cottoned on to be honest!

Sarahb This thread is moving fast now… won’t be long till we’re onto lucky thread number 3 where we all get upduffed!

Anna How you doing today? Great to have my cycle buddy back on board – I POAS this morning and it was blank circle, gonna POAS again tonight but will dtd anyway I hope!

NannyG I would definitely look into SMEP, it’s supposed to be super effective but it seems quite intense from what some of these lovely ladies have said… you’ll need all the energy you can muster for it by the sounds of it!

Cakes At least your DP is on board with TTC – my DP is 42, I’m 38 and we’ve only been together a year, understandably he wants to progress our relationship in a steady healthy way, which I’m totally on board with in theory. Sadly I don’t feel that we’ve got as much time to play with, I’ve wanted children for a long time, and now I’ve met the right man (and I do know I have), I just want to get on with it as it is clearly taking a good few months. Although that said, I can’t help wondering if I’d be upduffed by now if he was fully on board!

Lean Age is just a number, I think as long as you’re healthy you should be fine. I’m 38 and have no DC’s yet, I want x2 so I’m in a similar boat. I think acupuncture has helped me massively with ovulation and reducing AF symptoms.

xxx

Ohb good attitude to take the relaxed approach... good PMA that ... good luck with not poas ... respect or as bella would say #respect xxx

Welcome patient xxx. Of course you can join the more the merrier ... it is a fun thread to be on although we do have our off days ... especially if the witch rocks up ... but we see it as one step closer to bfp xxx

Welcome Patient .
Yucky sleet is the worst weather Bella. Still keeping my FX for you!
OhB I agree I like the relaxed attitude. I don't have the patience to be so relaxed!

Hippy you are so sweet to your DH. I am sure he really appreciates your PMA. I agree with your post about the myth of men wanting to shag all the time - not true!!!!! Or maybe we just have insatiable sex drives .

NannyG we have been doing SMEP this cycle. It hasn't been too taxing but my DH is fully on board. We discussed it before hand. It is very scheduled, not very romantic but my DH has said it's about getting the job done!! I'm hoping there is a BFP at the end of it all.

Blondie so sorry AF arrived. I feel your pain - emotionally and physically!

I went for fertility tests when trying to conceive my son. The first ones are about taking blood on certain days of your cycle to see what your hormone levels are like and to check you ovulate etc.

FX for you. You will get your BFP, you will.

Bella you aren't out until AF arrives. Hormone levels increase a lot towards the date your period would be due to it's all still possible!

Welcome newbies. Good to have you on board.

So I mentioned SMEP to my DH and he is like 'I can't do 3 days in a row!', so we will see how we go! To be honest even doing every other day would be ok. This month I am going to make sure we dtd again a couple of days after the +opk just to cover me for longer.

PMA is back on track. Previous months' egg or sperm were obviously not the ones, so they have been let go. But this egg is going to be that pearl we are looking for!! Come and get it swimmers!!

Salem Fair point about insatiable sex drive, although thinking about it and knowing myself very well at the grand old age of 38, I'd say sex every 3 days would be my ideal... DP says his ideal is 2 times a week but he often wears himself out by taking on too many extra shifts and going to the gym too much, which leaves very little energy for yours truly! That said, when DP is in the mood, he's absolutely amazing at delivering the most earth shattering orgasms ... now here's a subject we don't talk much about ladies... now I've read a bit on orgasms in relation to TTC and apparently they very much aid the process. Like i said, my DP is very good at giving me orgasms and I usually climax first followed usually by him, however I do consciously aim for us to come together.
How's everyone else playing this?

Magpie that comment about your DH not being able to do 3 days in a row made me smile... my DP would be the same. So pleased to hear your PMA is back on track.... yes come on pearl eggs and come on strong swimmer.... just one .... all we need is one strong bad ass swimmer xxx

Let me get this straight. The positive OPKs pick up the LH surge. The LH surge tells your body to realise an egg?
Therefore,OPKs predict that the egg (ovulation) will be released within 24-36hours?
You can only get pg when an egg is released. The sperm (Doreens!!!) can only fertilise the egg when they have swam up to the Fallopian tube?

I have read so much that I have tricked myself into thinking what I am reading is not making sense .

Salem It is easy to get confused and if you think about it long enough, it does your head in .... I've googled stuff so many times I've got this information saved -

The fastest swimmers may find the egg in as little as45 minutes. It can take the slowest up to12 hours. If the sperm don't find an egg in the fallopian tubes at the time of intercourse, they can survive inside you for up toseven days. This means that if you ovulate within this time window you could still conceive.

Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test works by detecting the increase (surge) in the hormone called Luteinising Hormone (LH) in your urine. The LH surge occurs approximately 24-36 hours prior to the release of an egg from your ovaries – a process known as ovulation. You are at your most fertile on the day your LH surge is detected, and the day after. Your 2 most fertile days begin from the time that Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test detects your LH surge. Make love at any time in the next 48 hours to maximise your chances of becoming pregnant.

After ovulation, the egg lives forabout 12-24 hours. Fertilization can take place only during this time period, but the sperm needs at least 9-12 hoursinside the woman's body to get ready. That means, your chances getting pregnant are minimal if you make love more than12 hoursafter ovulation.

Once the egg has matured and is released from the ovary duringovulation, it goes into the fallopian tube where it lives for 12 to 24 hours. Conception is possible if sperm is already present in the fallopian tubes when the egg is released, or if a woman has sex while the egg is alive, causing sperm to swim up through the uterus and into the fallopian tube. Sperm can reach the egg in as little as 30 minutes. If conception is successful, the newly fertilized egg will travel out of the fallopian tube and implant into the uterus 6 to 10 days later. If the egg is not fertilized, it will simply dissolve and pass out with the menstrual flow.

Though the egg has a lifespan of less than a day, sperm can stay alive inside a woman’s uterus and fallopian tubes anywhere from 1 to 5 days. This means that sex up to 5 days prior to ovulation can actually result in pregnancy! The lifespan of the sperm is dependent on the sperm’s health, but also on the woman’s cervical fluid, which can nourish the sperm during its wait.

Wow thanks Hippy that makes more sense. I feel like a scientist knowing all of the details of this biological process 🤓.
Does your digital opk have the static smiley face for 48 hours or does it go off as soon as you remove the stick?

You're welcome Salem - this information is just taken from various internet sources so I always wonder how accurate this free information is but still, it seems to make sense I think!

Obviously as my DP doesn't know how hard I'm TTC so I need to get my head round the timing as much as possible to optimise my chances.

No my static smiley stays on the the reader for about ten minutes i think, according to the instructions, I never go back to look at it, once I've POAS and seen the result, i pull the test strip out, label it 'February DC13' and then chuck it in the box with the other 30 odd sticks that I've pee'd on :)

Oh hippy that is very very interesting - thank you! I hated science in school tbh I didn't even really know you had to dtd at a certain time during the month to get pg until we started to ttc! I had heard people saying they had fallen pg by accident as it was supposed to be their safe time and remember thinking "Safe time?! There's no safe time to have unprotected sex if you don't want to get pg!" I was so clueless!!

From reading that i think there might be hope for me this cycle!! We dtd last tue night and I think I ov between Thurs and Sat so maybe I am still in with a chance!! We also dtd Sunday night so if my positive opk was on Sat (which I don't know as I didn't do one from thurs am until late Sat evening and both times they had faint lines I think) then maybe that one counted too! Eek!! There is hope!!

Re orgasms my oh must have read the same thing as you as he makes sure I come at least twice before he does!! I thought he was making it up (but wasn't complaining!)

The clearblue narrative in your post "make love" made me laugh - doesn't feel much like making love when ttc does it! I remember a friend announcing her pg a few yrs ago and saying dtd had become a chore - I thought what are you talking about that's impossible (as back then I thought it was as simple as having unprotected sex once!) but now I see what she means!!

Great information hippy, thanks. "Now here comes the science bit..." Really interesting.

I too thought TTC would be simple. Didn't help that my mum and sister conceived so easily (mum had 3, my sister got pregnant with twins first month trying!!) so always warned me to be careful. I seemed to follow suit first time, although miscarried, but easily got pregnant again. This time I expecting the same thing but it hasn't been the case after 4 failed attempts. But they clearly weren't meant to be, on with the next! Loved your comment hippy about spring being your fertile time,lots of winter babies in my family meaning spring conceptions so maybe I'm the same? I'll take that pma anyway!

I'm so gonna text DH now to tell him I need to orgasm at least twice before he does!!! You lucky ladies!!

Moo but it's not imperative to have an orgasm, is it? I hope not because I have been sacrificing mine so that DH and I can DTD quickly without any extra fuss ! Although DH did insist that I had one last night due to peak fertility .

I can confirm I got pregnant without an orgasm! Also in the interests of just getting the deed done. There's that romance again! In a similar situation now having to squeeze it in between DDs bedtime and dinner

Phew, glad to hear it cakes!

I bought Giovanna Fletcher's "Happy Mum, Happy Baby" today not obsessive at all and she even says how obsessed she was with POAOPK & POAS!!!

Moo I hated science in school too, and in the last 6 months have found myself wishing I'd paid more attention in biology and to my friends when they were all talking about TTC...
It sounds like you are definitely in with a chance, I would be happy if I were you, seriously... I consider myself in with a good chance if i dtd once in fw, seriously :) .

Cakes Bring on the Spring BFP's yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. You take as much PMA from here as you like :)

Whoop whoop to multiple orgasms :))) although ... just to clarify this doesn't always happen, but i do usually come first ....

Salem Good on your DH for insisting you have one last night. I don't think orgasms are imperative if you look at it scientifically with Cakes being a fine example.... but I'm more up the holistic 'hippy' street... and that's where i read that orgasms are good for fertility .... I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad... so sorry if i have caused any offence here....
to be honest, I'm not sure i could orgasm every time if i was doing SMEP :)
xxx

I can second cakes in that orgasms cannot be imperative: last time I fell pregnant we dtd twice after opk shouting it's time! No orgasms and very little romance I have to say But on the science bit, I think orgasms are supposed to help the swimmers along. In which case the man should come before the woman I guess. But then again: worked fine for me without.

And thanks for welcoming me here! Love this thread

Orgasms probably really help on the pma,feeling relaxed and happy side things. I'm all for trying to keep the process stress free as I reach for my diary to schedule dtd dates

Thanks Patient - its great to have insight from ladies who already have DC's ... it all sounds a bit chicken ... who should come first lol xxx

Awwww cakes that comment made me smile... I'm all for romance and great sex, but when it comes to fertile week I'm anxious as hell ... I've got ewcm today so I'm hoping and praying dp's in the mood later ... fxls

xxx

Fxls indeed hippy!!!

No not imperative I don't think Salem (and given cakes eg above) but oh said what hippy said about it helping the swimmers along.

I can't stop thinking about the sperm (or spermatogenesis as my phone keeps autocorrecting! Although doreen is definitely a more amusing autocorrect!) quality tests someone mentioned - am I crazy to consider this since we've only been trying since Sept and probably only properly trying since Jan??

Moo Yeah I'm sure I've read that orgasms help, but I've read so much from so many different sources, it's hard to remember it all!

I don't think you're crazy to think about sperm quality. I haven't been trying long either and dp isn't even fully on board, so i'm wondering if i can class it as officially trying at all and I'm already wondering about sperm quality :) I think it is natural to worry when getting upduffed doesn't happen straight away

xxx