STILL TTC your first baby

[nomoremagnolia]

Thought someone better start a new thread as we're getting close to the 1000 mark!
Ready - what's your question?

Yes very impressed with knitting Bella.
CD21/22 so officially on 2ww but have so many spots that must be pmt.
Seriously am like a teenager.

So my question today is not so random: what steps are you taking with TTC?
Have you given up booze or caffeine? Are you trying to lose weight? (I need to but never seem to shift the last half stone)
Are you downing oysters with gusto for the added zinc? Or are you, like me, just popping a folic acid tab when you remember?

I am ultra busy at the moment, so I haven't much time for my usual waffle!!

Gilly - Congrats on your job offer, that is wonderful news!! Will you accept do you think? Let us know! Oh, and thanks for saying prayers for us all

Kensgirl - Lovely to hear from you, glad you are ok. I am ok, just very possibly going to be moving house soon, but we are limbo at the moment. I am taking a break from ttc next cycle as we will be away - but I haven't given up the perky outlook, don't worry

PinkMartini - Good question!! I am trying to lose weight, for me really, but I hope it helps ttc too. I take pregnacare daily, just to keep in the habit, and the vits are good to have anyway. I still drink caffeine, but I have found rooibos tea which is naturally caffeine free, and I alernate between that and twinings breakfast tea

Bella - Great knitting girl -

Hope everyone else is just super!! I'll pop back when I get 5 minutes to spare!!

Kensgirl, sorry I didn't respond to your April message - yes fine now. Just envious at all the activity - dh seems to have decided that its easier not to play after our scare in the Autumn.

How is the monitoring? I'm back to 6 monthly I think which is quite reassuring (am expecting that to effectively continue the rest of my life...)

Fingers crossed for everyone - not holding my breath here!

Bella- your knitting is fab!!

Hoping everyone ok.....

Pinkmartini - I tried diets, cutting back on alcohol and caffeine..... but got pregnant when I gave up on diet and also after drinking far too much alcohol . I was so convinced AF was on its way that I went out with the girls to drown my sorrows, had 4 enormous glasses of wine and rolled home..... three days later found out I was pregnant....oh the guilt . I'd even forgotten to take my folic acid for 3days and I always take it like clockwork!!

Gilly - thank you

Any news from anyone? Woodmouse, Scorpio? I am just contemplating whether to pop to Boots and buy a pregnancy test. Am almost a week late but am adamant I will be not be fooled by my body's trickery another time as was 5 days late last month and it all came to nothing.

Hi again..

Bella, your knitting is lovely...very cute indeed! I can't do anything like that, wish I had the patience to learn.

Pinkmartini - my plan of ation is to be popping the multivits (Wellwoman is my choice of the month) and dh too (wellman. .. do you sense a theme here?) and Im also on the grapefruit juice every morning, full fat ice cream in the evening daily duties from cd 7 (OMG ...) and have just sent for some preseed after mrsmc and seaside have had their success stories!! Pink elephant I'm using your 4 huge glasse of wine as another good reason too !

Ready - sorry to hear you have a lot on at the moment! I'm sure your holiday will be just the ticket! Where do you think you may be moving to? Don't stay away fromus too long will you?

Mrs Mc - your scan sounds good news, although I can truly understand how mixed your emotions must be now. Hope you can stay positive and calm- take good care! Hope to be joining you very soon... then I'll come to you for early scan nerve advice..

Seaside and Pink elephant- hello lovlies! hope you are both doing ever so well, I'm still thrilled for you both ,

Mistlethrush!! Glad to hear from you, its good that your monitoring is down to 6 monthlies, even if it is for evermore it is very reassuring. Hope your dh is ok too - maybe its just taking him a while to heal too? I sometimes forget how hard it is for men too, worrying about us as well as dealing with their own sadness too. Are you currently ttc or wanting to soon? My monitoring is reduced to fortnightly now, which I'm taking as a good sign, but I find mysef worrying madly that its gong to happen again if I'm lucky enough to get pg again, as a result of some weird and rare defect I have...logical thinking only from now on, I promise myself. Its lovely to hear from you x

OOps! Sory for the long ramble all- I've not got anything exciting to share with you ( just my new bathroom floor

If I have not mentioned anyone then a big wave to you all, anybody any news?

Helloooo! I am also taking multi vitamins, Sainsbury's version of pregnacare. That's about it. I'm also not being very careful with alcohol this month, in a big game of Tempting Fate.

Well, period due next week, and I am getting very good at seeing the signs.

How is everyone? BellaB - I am admiring your knitting. You're so talented!! I am utterly talent-less when it comes to sewing and knitting.

Hi anniemac - I am 6 PQE and ex magic circle (5 years there), but I'm now at a firm just outside the MC, but don't want to say any more!! They pay all your maternity pay while you are off, but there is some (small) back to work bonus and I'd have to come back for at least 6 months or they can make you repay the maternity leave. I don;t know of anyone that ever has had to pay it back though. Actually anniemac, you have just reminded me - with the law change in April re maternity pay, my rights may have changed. Must check that!

Gilly - fantastic news on the job offer. Congratulations!

Gangle - any news on AF or whether it is good news for you? Did you test?

Ready - hope you are feeling cheerier today, pet. We all love ya !! We don't like to think of you as sad

Pinkmartini- I am not doing anything much other than taking muti-vitamins and BD-ing! I haven't cut down on alcohol (bad woodmouse ), but my defence is that I was on my 2WW. DH is off on his travels, but I am taking advantage of the bank holiday weekend and going off to visit him and by happy chance, I am at CD8 tomorrow, so maybe I will have some news to share

Pinkelephant - forgot to say Congratulations to you!! So pleased and happy for you.

Big hello to seaside, kensgirl and everyone else

Thanks for the lovely messages for me. I love you all too - I am doing ok. Pretty happy to be honest. Just trying not to get too impatient with the ttc - perhaps I am naive but I am trying to believe that it will happen when it's meant to!!

Great news on the job Gilly - Knock 'em dead chick! I know you will. Is your DH in the civil service? As you mentioned London Weighting. All the very best.

Much love and hugs to everyone else. I am expecting a few more BFPs when I return from hols.

Hi all - happy bank holiday weekend , lets hope its productive in every sense of the word..

Congrats on th job decision Gilly! Its good that you will still be ttc, it will happen very soon! These things have a way of balancing out, and good news always comes in clusters! I'll be thinking of you on Sunday, and sending you lots of strength to get you through the day, hon. I should hve started my maternity leave today, so I've felt a bit wobbly and empty all week.

Hope everyone else is OK x

Well this rain is depressing me as is the amount of housework I should be doing. I'm also a little bit worried I'm starting to get a bit obsessive about TTC when really, it's Very Early Days.
Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend. I'm self employed so bank hols aren't as exciting as they used to be for me.

Hello all. Congrats on the job Gilly it sounds fab, you must be brill at your job! Hope you are all doing ok on this rainy bank holiday. Well am on CD2 . Making docs appointment tomorrow for DH and myself to be tested asap as we have officially been TTC for 12 months. Does anyone know if ovulating late in your cycle affects fertility? When I do ovulate its not till at least day 21. Feeling so depressed about it all today. Might be because am a bit hungover and also feeling guilty about drinking too much wine yesterday

Ermm forget that question about late ovulation as have just looked down the threads and seen the other one!!! Am definitley hungover.....

Hi grayson girl. When I see your post and see you've been trying for so long I feel awful for moaning. Sorry to hear you're down in the dumps. Am sure the weather isn't helping I've practically got SAD today.

Hi girls
just a quickie to say am thinking of you all and thanks for the good wishes gilly (am doing a fair amount of praying and candle lighting myself for me and everyone else here )

I am so sorry that it was your due date yesterday and am sending you loads of {{{hugs}}}.

It really is such wonderful news about your job and that you have decided to go for it - I won't blabber on about my closing doors opening windows theory (Ready knows all about it !) but it seems you are the prime example - life obviuosly has some big plans for you and that BFP will be in there somewhere. If you need any London advice from an ex- southwest londoner just let me know!

waves to everyone and sends lots of positive vibes

BTW - graysongirl - take heart we were onto month 14 TTC (and month 20 since stopping pill) when we got bfp - we went to docs after 12 months and got lots of support and tests and in fact had just been for our first appointment with the fertility specialist .

Thanks for your support seaside, it really does make me feel more cheery hearing positive stories like yours. Pink Martini, you shouldn't feel bad everyones feelings are valid and I was totally devasted when I didn't get BFP in the first few months. Was VERY naive and just thought it would happen straight away. In the last year I've gone through the whole range of emtions and back again. Oh the fun of TTC !
Anyway have made docs appointment for Thursday, couldn't get my usual doc so its with a locum....not sure if thats a good thing or not. However I do feel more able to be really pushy with a stranger! Have decided to prepare like its for a meeting and be all super organised!! Will keep you all posted x x

Gilly - don't worry about being a country bumpkin in London. As far as I can work out no one who lives in London is from London anyway! I joke that I am an economic migrant and I came from the middle of no-where originally! I'm in London too and i've been here 9 years, so if I can help in any way, just ask. I was sorry to read your post earlier in the thread. It sounds like through all the pain you have something wonderful to look forward to with your career and that your positive and sunny outlook on life, even when feeling so down, is brilliant. Whatever you do in the world of academia and museums it sounds very exciting and interesting!!!!

The best piece of advice that anyone gave me about moving to London is to work out what sort of area you want to live in and can afford, if it is close to friends and also check the commute, then walk down the high street of that area and go into every estate agent. That was in the days before a decent internet access, but you can do it remotely first!!

anniemac - it's great to hear about people who have achieved work life balance doing what we do! You are absolutely right about conditioning to believe that working part-time is not possible. i have seen my friends manage really well and you have to be strict and very organised. Unfortuantely, I do a lot of international work and bids, so i find I am stuck with time zone issues I can't do anything about and whatever ludicrous time scale is agreed by the client (even after my input!)...and then it all changes and has to be done NOW. Even with careful planning and strict management I never have any control and when I do put my foot down and say "no", it causes issues. It was the same in the MC, but I'm paid MC rates and do pretty niche work so there is no difference at all. This seems to be the norm in my team. This is my main complaint/worry really. I can't see a way through except to leave, but I don't want to when TTC because I'll lose the great benefits we get. My firm does give you a return to work bonus - it's not withheld pay. If anything I feel more pressure at 6PQE because there are fewer seniors and I am supposedly on the partnership trail (actually, I don't want to be a partner but won't say so to give them an excuse to pay me less/sideline me). Is your practice area similar?

Seaside - I am SO excited for you!

Hello to everyone else - anyone else with Andean prayer conceptions to report?!

I spent the weekend away with DH (he's working abroad at the moment) and it was lovely although freezing cold and raining for most of it, much like the UK by the sound of all Sunday's posts. Lots of BD-ing, although not sure we optimised timing for TTC. Bit early. Nevermind...it's fun trying

Hi ladies... just to let you all know I am going to be away, and not even lurking from MN for a few weeks... hope all is well with everyone - and I look forward to congratulating you all on your BFPs on my return! xx