Thread 31, TTC1 | Jam and her dodgers still riding the bonking bus for that elusive BFP

[Jamon]

Calling all OPK-ers, Temp-ers, Clomid-ers, Femara-ers, IUI-ers, IVF-ers and anyone else on the TTC #1 Bus.

We've been going a while now so the novelty has well and truly worn off and we're slightly battle scarred and bruised in the cervix area. We don't get a lot of baby dust in these here parts, we just keep it legs spread and fingers crossed (LSFX). We love a baby bomb from a prior bus-mate but if we get told to 'just relax and enjoy it' ONE MORE TIME you will get a punch in the face!

Hop on board, post your stats and prepare to be dazzled by the wealth of TTC knowledge we long-timeys have to share...

Key:
HS - have/had sex
GOS - good old shag
ELH - enthusiastic lavatory happenings
LSFX - legs spread, fingers crossed

Hello Jammie Dodgers, about time I joined you as I have been lurking for a while as I met a few of you on other threads and wanted to keep up with how you were doing.

I'm Baguette, aged 37, TTC for long enough to have had a baby and be thinking about no. 2 by now (that was the plan!), lost track of cycles. Never had a sniff of a BFP.

Have had tests, day 3, day 21 (a few times as it seems I don't always ovulate). HSG which showed one tube open, one inconclusive. I have low AMH. Also spotting for days every cycle before AF shows thinks back to early days when I thought it might be implantation.
DH has good sperm so just need to crack on and get one of them to meet an egg.

Currently on 3rd Clomid cycle, will try 1 or 2 more before moving to IVF in the autumn.

When not TTCing I like chocolate, wine and my sofa.

Hi ladies!

I'm still hanging around.
Stats:
28 (very nearly 29)
Ttc 1
Cycle 13
Ttc since Feb 2016

Had blood tests this cycle and it appears I didn't ovulate so being referred to fertility clinic but could take 4 months 🤔

Hope to see a few BFPs this thread.

Xx

Happy birthday kwick!

With you Alexia on the weighing a lot, I hope I don't look it as well! I've just always been heavy. My BMI is 30 and I'm a size 12/14 but more a 12 since I've shifted a bit of weight which is my comfortable size so I don't know what I'd have to do to get a normal BMI, probably lose a leg or something!

I did think maybe you aren't eating enough mouse. I was restricting my calories using my fitness pal as thought that was the best plan of action but I always end up getting hungry and snacking/having blow outs at the weekend. Since nutritionist appt, I've not been counting any calories, just following the plan and eating healthily and it seems to be working, plus I don't have that constant stress of worrying how many calories I've eaten, how many I'll eat at the next meal etc etc.

I felt like I couldn't bloody shake the horrible mood this time, lots of bump pics on social media and just general baby bombing shite but just done a yoga session and feel so much better. Plus I'm cuddling up with my little pooch :) thank god for him.

Lovely to see people join and re join. Agreed tommy let's hope there are some BFPs soon.

Jumping on the weight loss bandwagon too please - I've put on some chub over the last few months as just feeling so shitty been turning to food. Period has nearly finished so time to eat healthy again and eat less.

Smitten & Chlo thank you for making me feel more normal girls! I'd definitely have to lose a leg or be completely Biafran to have a normal bmi.

Chlo deactivating Facebook last Sept instantly improved my happiness. I now rarely get baby bombed and I don't waste my time feeling sad / jealous over bump and baby pics from (mostly) people I don't even care about. The way I see it is my true friends have my phone number. Your puppy is utterly gorgeous btw ❤️

Happy Birthday Kwick and massive snogs back!!!

Welcome Baguette - I think you'll fit right in here!

Tommy sorry to hear your news. Hope you can get a cancellation as 4 months is a rather long wait.

Hi McT, struggle, baguette & Tommy - welcome! Fx for some BFPs

flash really sorry about AF but some nice positives - hope it improves your chances xx

skip ditto on weight - GP warned me would need to up mine to be eligible for treatment, if it comes to that

chlo glad the mood's lifted - am going to follow the advice from previous thread and up my yoga game to replace the running (leg still not bloody recovered) this cycle...come oooooon PMA

kwick I'd forgotten your list! Going to try to remember it this TWW...

Thanks all, I may give seven seas a go once I've run through my current boxes of vits - seems a bit more affordable at least.

Happy belated birthday Kwick xx

Welcome baguette - there are quite a few of us starting IVF in the autumn so you're in good company. I've just had my last round of Clomid (though I am ovulating), needless to say it hasn't been very successful.

Quiet - out of interest, what are you eating to gain weight safely? I don't just want to go out and fill my body with processed meat. I was eating omelettes with cheese for breakfast every morning until a colleague put me right off by saying she was going vegan because of how toxic dairy products are.

Skipper on your month off clomid did you find your cycle was normal? Wondering if I should expect any change in ovulation date. I'm also hoping I get my EWCM back as had very little last month.

Noticed dairy cropping up a few times here. Could be wrong but I thought full fat milk was on the agenda for egg quality. Of the fertile human variety rather than edible lol

Welcome hallows!!!
I took the 7 seas for ages but now just take vit D, folic acid, and vit E separately so I get enough of each.

harriet it was indeed my birthday, thanks! 😘
Oh gosh that sounds awful - how did they find out about the auto-immune thing?

mouse so the no cold/raw thing comes from chinese medicine - something about keeping blood in womble area.

Thanks kathrino and chlo and alexia and skipper!!!

jamon I believe it is the Lister Clinic that actually prescribes blue milk for its IVFers. I must say I do link follicle growth to drinking copius amounts of it on lead up to ovulation but then I went back to normal levels as can Interfere with implantation.
🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛

Hi guys - Just popping on to say that I'm still following this thread and rooting for you all for your BFPs. For those that don't know me I was on this thread a while back and was lucky enough to conceive on cycle 7. I'm sure that wouldn't have been the case without the wonderful advice and support from the lovely ladies I met on here though (learnt a lot about OPKS, temping, ways to extend my LP, helping the sperm do their thang, dtd timing and techniques etc!) so I am eternally grateful Hope you are all doing well and LSFX!

Hi music! Hope you're well!

kwick I had a load of testing done privately. NHS was useless. I was referred to the RMC clinic at my local
hospital which told me they didn't need to do any testing at all and just to keep trying. WTF?! Thank goodness I could afford the tests.

That's interesting about the blue milk kwick and jamon. The fertility nurse did mention my follicles were fairly small so I might look at that, though I'm not a big blue milk fan

Hi Music! How are you doing?

Dairy seems to be one of those really divisive foods (whether TTC or not). I'm not a huge fan of milk in and of itself (prefer to get my hit through cheese) but my general view of these things is that, unless you've got a proper intolerance, there's no harm in them at all and they can only ever be helpful as part of a balanced diet.

Hi all, having said I'd keep up I'm now really behind! Last few days have been so busy.

AF is here for me, so 21st August is my next one.

Mouse - so unhelpful from your mum. Along the same lines, my sister told me a while ago that some people she knew weren't using contraception for 8 years before they went on to conceive 3 kids. I think it was supposed to make me feel better but just made me feel completely awful. My sister is lovely but doesn't get it at all - she has got pg on the first cycle both times, is currently 7 months pg with her second and complaining to me about it.

Jam - hope things with your DH are improving. The thing that really pissed me off recently with my DP has been his apparent disinterest since our GP appointment. We've not really talked about it at all. When I told him I'd got the letter for my scan appointment. He just went 'oh ok' and carried on what he was doing. The letter for his sperm analysis is still sitting on the side untouched and I'm sure I'll have to nag him to book an appointment. We've literally hs once this last month and I feel like a bit of a TTC fraudster because it feels like he's not fully on board. Urgh. I'm hoping we're just going through a rough patch with work stress etc, and that our holiday will relax us both.

We are off on holiday for two weeks on Friday and fw should be right in the middle of it, so am leaving the thermometer and opks at home and just hoping things improve and we hs lots!

Thanks for the welcomes all of you!

Kwick interesting about cold food...I say this having just had a salad. Hopefully won't be too much of a problem if I do my IVF in November/December. I've going to save your list! What do people think about exercising/running in the 2WW? Currently the only thing I won't do is have a bath - I'm even drinking alcohol normally as there have been far too many 2WW's to stop altogether (bad I know...!)

Men are a nightmare katie - my husband got a bit freaked out after our consultation appointment this week, like it finally become real for him. I had to say that if we'd got pregnant straight away we'd have a nearly one year old. I think it's just not as real for them!

Jam - I skipped a month of Clomid in the hope that my cycle would go back to normal for my wedding, and it did! So yes it certainly can work - depends on your body I guess. Mines very quick to adapt, I never had problems coming off the pill either. Must have a good liver or something.

Thanks skipper I'm hoping I find the same. It's a relief to be off it this month! Although if I'm completely nuts this cycle I've got nothing to blame it on... only got two eggs to go until the next one gets petri dished!

Sorry to hear others have useful husbands too. It does make it so much harder when you don't feel you are both pushing in the same direction. DH has a proper flea in his ear now so I hope I don't get any more flaky shit from him.

I don't want to come across as harsh, but fair enough for him to freak out a bit if I'd got pregnant very quickly but FFS we've been doing this for 21 cycles surely the freaking out should be that it's NOT happening here?!

Ah jam it's exciting that ivf is so soon for you. From what you've said about your DH it sounds like you just have to drag him along with you and he will realise everything is great and it's exactly what he wants after the event! Frustrating I know. My DH was also quite ambivalent for ages, and even after my mcs tried to "comfort" me by saying it was probably for the best as he wasn't quite ready! But only a couple of months on he's suddenly really keen - think it just clicked with him one day (like it did for me 2 years ago!) - maybe that will happen for your DH too?

7dpo today - I'm officially allowed to symptom spot right?'

I think it's definitely very different for guys, particularly at the investigations / treatment stage. I know my DH doesn't really feel that engaged in the process at the moment and I don't think it will feel real to him until we (hopefully) have a baby in our arms! I think it just doesn't occur to him to really think about it other than when I bring it up.

Struggle, I do absolutely nothing different in the TWW. Will happily exercise/ have a bath / drink a bottle of wine / whatever so I'm probably not a great example, lol.

Harriet, you can definitely start symptom spotting now! Anything to report?!

Well af will be here tomorrow obviously not unexpected but this is the second cycle on my anti thyroids and beta blockers and my period has arrived a day earlier than expected. Don't know if its linked. Tomorrow is going to be awful, horrendous cramps i can feel them coming and a teleconference/meeting in the morning with no caffeine

Are you not supposed to bathe in 2ww?!

basset sorry AF is on its way - can you take anything for the cramps? Though with other meds, imagine more pills is the last thing you feel like...

Sorry about the OHs, Katie and struggle - as others say, they can deal with things v differently; sounds so frustrating

Ooh I've been wondering about TWW. After the high-ish prolactin & something else I've forgotten, which can be related to exercise or stress, was thinking of not running. My shit leg has made that decision for me now, though...and not sure it'll make a difference. Also one for not wanting to change things much.

skip am at a bit of a loss, tbh, sort of hoping it won't reach that point. If it does, might try some exercise (muscle mass??) and protein-y meals. I'm right on the borderline, so hoping it won't need too much. Or else I'll just stick weights in some enormous boots and hope for the best.

[P.S. Should've put a health warning on previous message - am aware it must be tedious to read about weight gain when trying to lose weight, sorry!]