Long cycle / short luteal phase

[Bows85]

Hi all,
I was just wondering whether anyone might be in the same boat as me and can offer some advice/success stories?!

My DH and I have been ttc for several months now without any success.
Unfortunately my cycles have been really irregular (ranging from 31 days to 51 days) since coming off bcp last summer.

I have tracked ovulation and I do appear to be ovulating on my own but to add a big spanner into the works, it looks as though my LP is only 9/10 days.

I can find a lot of info about short cycles with a short LP, but not so much on long cycles with short LP. Anyone able to help?

Hey! How is everyone? Hope you're all good!
How was your scan @cinderrose ?
Hope the spotting stopped @CatMum87

Hi ladies! I just had my scan this morning... measuring 12+4 and baby is looking healthy :) very relieved and excited! The baby was still too small for any measurements at the last scan, can't believe how much it has grown since week 10!

How is everyone else doing? Bows85 and boatrace30 are you guys finding the second trimester easier going? I'm still struggling with nausea and tiredness but hoping I get a burst of energy soon!!

Ah, that's lovely news @cinderrose ! You must be over the moon.

I'm good with thanks! 19+2 now and had my anomaly scan on Tuesday. All ok, thankfully. Wanting a surprise so no gender reveal, just a baby who doesn't like its picture taken Starting to feel it move about which is so nice! Can't wait until they get stronger and my DH can feel them too. Trousers don't fit anymore but not sure if I look pregnant or just fat! Haha!

Great news @cinderrose and @Bows85 ! I have the same due date as @Bows85 (unbelievable!) but my anomaly scan isn’t till next Wednesday. Also going to keep the sex a surprise, just hope all okay and baby is healthy. Feeling lots of movement and I’m a couple of weeks into maternity clothes (second baby so I think the bump appears a bit sooner)!

It's mad that we have the same due date @boatrace30 Can't wait to hear about your scan!

Hi ladies, so glad to hear that you are all doing so well :) Bet feeling the little one move is amazing and so reassuring.

I continued to have the brown discharge over the weeks every few days and so the EPU had me in for another scan earlier this week. I was so worried but baby was still there, with heartbeat, and looking at around 9 weeks! I even had a little cry!!

I've just got to keep an eye on things and have my dating scan booked for the 4 Dec, which seems like ages away!!!

Oh, I'm so pleased @CatMum87 ! You must have been so worried but what a lovely feeling to see your baby, happy in there. Once you see a heartbeat at this point, I'm sure the risk of miscarriage massively reduces. I know how scary this must be for you but I'm sure everything will be ok
4th December will seem ages away, but once it arrives, time will whizz by! Let us know how it goes. Will be thinking of you.

CatMum87 you must be so relieved after the scan. Your body is really putting you on edge with this pregnancy isn't it. After my scan I was quite emotional with relief, even if I didn't think I was consciously stressing that much. Try and distract yourself between now and December (I won't say try to relax because when the hell does that ever work!!)

Bows85 great that your anomaly scan was ok, good luck with yours next week boatrace30. What a huge coincidence that you both have the same due date :) how lovely!!

We've started telling people now... seeing everyone's reaction has been so lovely

Hey ladies just reading all your success stories is giving me some hope. Congratulations.

I’m desperately trying to lengthen my luteal phase from 9 days. Last cycle I managed 11DPO 😮 with acupuncture!! Hoping for the same again.

Would any of you mind sharing your tips of things I can try please. I’m on month 15 TTC. I had a mmc at 10 weeks in February and my luteal phase has been short since.

Thank you. X

@CatMum87 - so glad all is okay! It’s so worrying isn’t it?

@MouseLove - I tried various supplements but don’t think anything had an impact. I’m the end I decided that you get lucky if the embryo implants quickly! (Its 6-12 days so a range there).
I never did acupuncture but think @CatMum87 did.

Sorry for all the bold!

Hi @MouseLove

Can't give pass on any miracle cures unfortunately. I didn't really try anything out of the ordinary and was lucky enough to fall pregnant a couple of months after an early miscarriage. Sorry you had an MMC, must have been incredibly difficult.

I had been looking at the Sperm Meets the Egg Plan and we kind of stuck to that during the successful cycle. But we'd pretty much been doing that anyway so I can't say it was definitely following that plan that made it work. Maybe worth a try if you've not looked at it before?

Good luck

Thank you for your advice. We do try to adhere to SME but it doesn’t always work out. It doesn’t help that my ov date has moved a lot the last 3 or 4 cycles. I think I ovulated Friday Which was CD14... first time that’s happened, ever! Seems acupuncture is helping so I can only keep my fingers crossed DHs swimmers were still around from Wednesday and we might have caught it with DTD at the weekend. TTC is so frustrating. 😕

Your stories have given me hope. Thank you. X

@MouseLove - it’s exhausting but because of unpredictability we used to try and dtd every 2-3 days from about CD10 until Id ovulated. Once I got a positive opk we’d dtd every day for 3days then have a nice rest!!

@Mouselove- I tried acupuncture for around 6 months, not really sure it did anything to increase my luteal phase but I don't think I was really helping myself to be honest. It was cutting way back on exercise and putting on some weight that seemed to work for me (I wasn't by any means underweight to start with either).

I also took high strength vitamin C- there was a study that found a positive link between taking it and an increase in luteal length. Although I do think you have to take it for several months to notice the impact.

I know how frustrating it can be- you just want to know what will help and having the acupuncture to me gave me a sense of control that I was at least doing something and it was rather relaxing.

Really hope our positive stories help- although my pregnancy definitely is keeping me on my toes at the minute!

Also the cycle we got pregnant was the cycle that we DTD the least!! On the day of a positive opk and two days later! I was even angry when DH went out and was too drunk to perform so to speak- but it all worked out!!!

Good point at @CatMum87 . The month I got pregnant DH was away. We dtd about 36hrs before my probable ovulation time and no more as he wasn’t there!

Hey @CatMum87 is it your scan today? Hope all goes well. Thinking of you!

How is everyone else?

Hi @bows85....i did indeed have my scan today .The little one was there wriggling away and all looked well. They dated me at 13 weeks and 4 days so a little past what my dates are. Told our friends and family now so all starting to feel very real!! How are you, when is little one due?? xx

Oh that is fantastic news @CatMum87 I’m so happy for you! So what due date does that put you at?

It’s lovely being able to tell people, isn’t it? You can breathe a sigh of relief that you don’t have to avoid slipping up and mentioning the pregnancy!

I’m 23 weeks now. Due at the start of April so less than 4 months to go - yikes! I think once Christmas has gone, it’s just going to fly by. Bump is getting bigger and I have started being able to see the baby’s movements on my tummy which is weird but so lovely!

Yay @CatMum87 ! So glad you've had your scan and all is well. It's such a nice feeling telling people

Hi all...
Just checking in to see how everyone is @boatrace30 @CatMum87 @cinderrose
Hope those babies are all doing good and your bumps are getting bigger 😍

Hi @Bows85 thanks for checking in, me and bump are doing great :) had our 20 week scan last week and baby is growing and healthy. Feeling very relieved and thankful. We didn't find out the sex and I am glad we decided to keep it as a surprise!

Now I'm trying to find maternity clothes that accommodate the growing bump and still feel like 'me'.

How are you? Do you know if you're having a boy or girl? X

Lovely to hear from you @cinderrose So pleased your scan went well. It's such a big milestone to get through. Are you feeling it move yet?

I'm ok! 27+4 today. Time is racing by now. Need to get sorted! Nope, don't know if it's a boy or a girl. We kept the sex a surprise too and pleased we did! Majority of people think it's a girl but we won't know for a while yet. So exciting.

Oh you definitely need to get some maternity clothes. It's so much nicer wearing something that fits! I popped into mothercare on Thursday and they have an additional 25% off maternity clothes in store. There wasn't much left but I managed to get a dress reduced from £18 to £3.75. The jeans I got (£35 down to £6.25) we're far too small though so they'll be going back!

New look have some good maternity clothes, but the under bump jeans I got aren't the best fit and I spend most of the day hoiking them up! So I treated myself to a pair of Topshop maternity Leigh jeans (£40 😩) with some Xmas money. And my god! They're amazing. Such a lovely fit and so comfortable. I'm told they will be worn LOADS even after the baby is here, so maybe it's worth it...

Thanks for the tips @Bows85.. You got some serious bargains! I've just ordered some topshop jeans after spending most of Christmas in elastic waistbands.

We picked up a pram in the mothercare sale, I wasn't planning on purchasing anything so soon but it was really well reduced and has great reviews so we snapped it up. Don't plan on buying anything else for a while.

I have been feeling the baby move for about a week now, movements are still quite irregular as it's quite early but really enjoying it and looking forward to the movements getting stronger :)

Time really is flying by! So glad you are keeping well and enjoying your much wanted pregnancy :)