40+ ttc: 2018 full of bfp's!

[Orchid222]

Ladies, the old thread has now closed so I created a new one but can't post the link, hopefully you'll find it and we can continue.

When I read about everything you guys are doing with specialists I'm in such awe of you keeping yourselves as together as you seem to be! I'm here just starting temping and OV testing and it's driving me nuts...

It's also confusing me. I thought I'd ovulated on the 3rd (OC sticks showed up quite dark (not as dark as the test line but noticably darker than any earlier or later sticks), started feeling even more nauseous than usual last Saturday so obviously started getting my hopes up. My temps had dropped for a couple of days earlier in the week but I didn't know whether that was travel stress (flight cancelled, trouble rebooking etc). Then got ill earlier this week (fever, body aches etc.). Did a pregnancy test on Wednesday (early I know but I've developed an admirable POAS habit) and it was negative. No huge surprise. To satisfy the POAS need this morning I broke open a OV test strip and it came up the darkest I've seen it. Am I ovulating now?

scratches head

Sounds as confusing as mine! Had your temps dropped consistantly below coverline? Were they consistantly above coverline before? How close should you be to af now? I think opk's can get darker before af but not sure how dark. Our bodies do like to confuse us!
I still have no idea if I ovulated or not. Dark opk's & ewcm happened indicating possible ov on 14th but lost my temp result the next day so no idea if there was a rise. Temp went to (what would be) around coverline today but it generally does that on 2dpo then goes back up again. So no idea where I'm at!

The lengths we go to for a baby! I had my 1st Chinese clinic appt tonight had about 24 needles all over my body including my neck (v different to acupuncture I've been having so far so sticking with the Chinese clinic for now). I also had a lovely massage and moxibustion where they tried to set my back on fire lol. I smell now! Need to shower when I get home else my DH will refuse to dtd 🤣 I really hope this stuff works. They do have some amazing stories of their patients so I'm optimistic. Today they said they had a man come in v happy. Last year his wife had a mc and it turned out his sperm quality was v poor. He got on the Chinese herbs and today, 6 months later, was told by the hospital his sperm is of the best quality they've ever seen. It does make you wonder....

Wow sounds promising orchid! Certainly worth a try! I heard its great for lowering fsh too and helping the 'ageing overy', so could be a good option for us folk

That sounds really promising orchid. I might have to take a look. Ugh I'm not sure what's going on with my cycle, so frustrated. So last month I had the CB peak on the Saturday but I didn't get the ovulation pain and spotting until mon night. Quite a delay really. So this week I had the peak this morning but I felt the ovulation pain last night, EWCM for the last 3 days but nothing today. DH was working away so today is first chance to DTD. I really feel like I must have ovulated last night for all EWCM to dry up and the pain was last night. I just don't understand why there was such a delay last month but this time it looks like I ovulated before the peak. I really should DTD tonight but I'm in such a bad mood now and what's the point the egg will have shrivelled away by now 😖

JoJo-soery to hear that, its really annoying! Maybe still worth dtd in hope you catch that egg? I'd give it a go just in case.
As for the Chinese herbs they are supposed to be really good for many different things so I think worth a try. Time will tell. They recommend I do it for 3 months but it is expensive so I'm giving it a go for 6 weeks and will decide later whether to continue or not. Hopefully by then I'll have my bfp lol.

Crivit - can you do another pg test as ov test could be picking up pg hormone? The temping drove me nuts too so I had to stop. And I’m not keeping it together at all. It’s really tough.

Jojo, all you can do is try this month. I also feel defeated this month because of early ov.

Morning. Quick question should I be seeing faint lines on cheapies a couple of days before ov or is it possible they'll go dark straight away without being faint first?

Ali- just looking at your earlier post about tests. The post-coital test needs to be done around ov time right?

I think as standard you would see faint lines a few days before ov, getting darker by the day. My duration of lines changes monthly though. Could be anything from 1 day of faint to a whole week of faints

Thanks Cleo. I think I still have 2 days to go so hopefully will start seeing some faints today or tomorrow

My temps seem to have gone up, so hopefuly that means ov has happened, I just didn't get a peak or +opk this cycle.

Hi again everyone, sorry a lot of you are feeling frustrated and stressed. I can really relate to that.
Karigan - I know I’ve not ovulated as I’ve had a complete absense of my usual signs. So no ewcm, no twinges, no emotional swings and definitely no sore boobs post ov. I’ve also annoyingly felt a bit dry. Ugh. I’m getting old.
Cleo - no I’ve not felt off as such. A tiny bit cranky and I’ve not been sleeping as well as usual. I read once that progesterone makes you sleepy and I can now see that it does. I’m tossing and turning at night where normally I sleep like a log. Sigh. I feel so old and dried up:( On the positive side I’m trying to picture my ovaries having a nice rest in preparation for a good egg!

I had a few oddities in my anovulatory cycle, like an itchy womb (?!) And an irritable bladder. No idea why but when my hormones are struggling that's what happens so thats how I can tell. The biggest pain in the arse with that cycle was not knowing when af will arrive, as without ovulation there is nothing to trigger it. With a long wait for af then af finally arriving and then not leaving without medication, that one cycle lasted 3 months. Really scared of that happening again, hence the use of soy now! Hope yours is quick and not too much bother

Orchid - yes PCT has to be in fertile window

Crivit did you do a pregnancy test? Or was it late ovulation?

Morning everyone. Another day of confusion for me. Opks still not showing anything, I definitely felt pain on my left side yesterday for quite a bit and my cervix seems to point towards ov but I'm super dry and the only time I had any cm which seemed to be getting towards ewcm was 2 days ago...not sure whats going on. I really need to start temping. Read about what's called ava bracelet last night which helps you predict ov and track many other things but it's not cheap and I'm not sure whether I want to throw more money on the ttc thing on top of my Chinese stuff or save it for potential scans, IUI and IVF.

What cd are you orchid? When would you normally expect ov? Are you showing up anything at all on an opk or completely blank? Maybe it's just delayed this cycle. To be honest temping will not tell you much until ov happens then its useful to confirm. I love it for that but its also mega stressful and a pain in the arse! I've read about the ava bracelet too, sounds amazing. I would totally get one of those if it were not so expensive! It's like temping without the faff. Looked on ebay to see if I could get one cheap, but alas

Cleo- it's cd16 today and normally I get positive opks on cd17. Last month it was cd19 but I assumed my flu pushed it back. Opks this morning were completely blank. And if ov was coming I wouldn't be that dry I don't think. Last month I really thought epo and greifruit juice helped my cm but that doesn't seem to be the case this month.
Yes that ava bracelet does sound great I just wish it wasn't that expensive 😞

I've never heard of these bracelets. How much and what do they do?

It does sound like you've already ovulated orchid. The OPKs can easily miss the surge I think. I tried them and they never picked up my surge. The CB are working for me and apart from the first month they've peaked every month.

JoJo- it's a fertility tracker bracelet but it's £199. As for my oh, I'm not convinced. I've also been using CB for 9 months and they've peaked each time so I'm expecting it to peak any day now.

I usually get a peak and a +opk but didn't get either this month although temps suggest I did ov. Must have been a quick overnight surge that I missed. But my lines did get dark on the lead up.
Orchid how long have you been testing? Have you had a line at all yet or all been blank. It's possible you are just delayed this month. I've not ov'd on the same cycle day for such a long time now. This month was cd13!
Have you been taking any new suppliments or doing anything different which may push it back? I wouldn't worry at this stage, just keep checking.

Jojo the bracelet is about £200 or there abouts. It tracks various tthings that can predict changes leading up to ov and can give other clues on fertility. Does sound good but its new so not sure how it is reviewed yet

Cleo-I got a v faint line yesterday afternoon but barely visible and I've been testing since cd11 or 12. My CB always goes positive on cd17 apart from last month. Now that you asked about changes, I did start taking the horribly tasting Chinese herbs so maybe that screwed up my cycle a bit though they were actually supposed to help but maybe my body needs to adjust to them.

Well ladies I tested and it was negative. I'm now not sure when I ovulated so I'm hanging onto a faint hope that it may have been a late ovulation!
(Probably not, ha!)