I yam what I yam

[Bubblegum89]

Thread 6... 😑

A safe place for those of you who have been trying to conceive for 6+ months and even yams aren’t helping. Come and have a good ol’ bitch and a moan without judgement. Please read the rules before posting!

The Yam Commandments are as follows;

• Thou shalt not arrive one day and post BFP next day

• Thou shalt not give advice to others when TTC for one month only

• Thou shalt not participate in one-up-manship and realise TTC is shit for everyone in different ways

• Thou shall allow posters to be fucked off with the world and everything in it at regular points in the month

• Thou shalt not be offended by strong language

• Thou shalt not tell everyone to eat yams

• Thou shall accept being called a muppet for testing at 7dpo at 9pm at night

And most importantly...

• Thou shalt not symptom spot during the two week wait and must be prepared for a telling off if you do so.

NEW RULE ALERT!

-Thou shalt not post pictures of positive pregnancy tests. We will be delighted to hear about it but no photos, please and thank you

Hi Bridget, welcome and sorry for shit head AF. We are here for the negative rants, having all had a fair few ourselves!

Thanks for the new thread! Last one seemed to go by very quickly!

Welcome @bridget33 - I was just thinking I maybe should've told folk because then they would maybe stop asking 'when we're going to get on with it!', sounds like it wouldn't make a difference!

@chooklass I would avoid telling people, if you can. They will just move from asking 'when are you going to get on with it' (which you can meet with a flippant eye roll or 'all in good time', 'when we're ready', etc) to 'any luck yet?'. Which either way is difficult to answer...

Having said that I have told my sister, but told her not to tell anyone. I've had a few moans to her, and it's been nice to have a sympathetic ear.

When we were trying for our first, I referred to our dog as "my baby" and my mother in law said "he's not a baby, when are you going to hurry up and give us a real baby". So tactful!

Thanks for staring the new thread @Bubblegum89 ! Love the new rule!

@Justwaitingforaline oh no, hope youre feeling better soon.

@LookingAtTheStars89 I cut out sugar for a while last year and honestly never felt better. Ruined it by going on holiday with my bestie and getting re-hooked, but I still hardly eat any now and I have a much healthier relationship woth sugar since doing that. More often than not I'll go for an orange when I start craving chocolate now. The forst few weeks off it were tough but so worth it.

Also for the dairy thing, I can highly reccomend oat milk for in hot drinks, its delicious!

I’m also massively cutting down on sugar at the moment (not completely, but I’ve definitely cut down). I already feel better for it - a bit weird that I’ve not felt all bloated after ovulation, unless I haven’t ovulated this month!!

Welcome and hello, everyone :) not very happy to see so many still here on thread 6 but at least you’re all good company.

I’m off work today with a migraine and just feeling generally crap. Spent a good portion of my non-sleeping time wondering why my period has completely vanished after 2 days. I hate being so neurotic about my damn period lol. I’ve got no brown spotting which I usually have for 2-3 days. Literally nothing. When I go for a wee (and inevitably look at the toilet roll) it’s as if I never even had a period at all.

I did google if it was normal but it just brought up a bunch of “could I be pregnant if my period only lasted 2 days” stuff. I think I need to just accept the fact that nothing my body does on a month to month basis is “normal”

@Si1ver do you mind sharing the list with me too? I've sent you a pm (hopefully!) about it. I really don't know where to start with it all!

I'm happy to share the list with anyone. Just send me an email address to forward it to as I can't attach it to a pm for some reason.

Hi @Bubblegum89, my period is often very light - only lasting two to three days. I went to the doc as I was late for seven days one month and that's when she did blood tests. Have you had any hormone testing by any chance? The tests showed my prolactin levels were slightly raised which is a hormone that basically tricks your body into thinking its pregnant. Sorry if I'm adding more stress, but just thought I'd share x

Checking into the Yam hotel.

@Bubblegum89 We're in a similar place you and I. No bleeding here, just two days of light brown cm. I was really hopeful the Agnus Castus would have sorted my cycle out as I've had sore boobs for two weeks, but that is not to be.

Hi bridget welcome to the group first of all :)

I’ve had all the fertility tests I can have. Been ttc 18 months, discharged from the fertility clinic last month with “unexplained infertility” :( since ttc my periods have been light and mostly brown, lasting 5 days. This month, I’ve had a proper period with red blood and constant flow for the first time in a year and a half but it’s very abruptly stopped after two days. I’ve always had at least 2 days worth of spotting cd3-4, sometimes I spot until cd5. So to have zero spotting at all since cd2 has baffled/annoyed me lol. Glad I had a good flow for two days, not so glad it didn’t go on for any longer than that. Stupid periods, driving me crazy

Ah wonky the period gods are the WORST. What are your periods normally like? I just don’t get why I’ve had no spotting at all. This has been a hugely different period since starting ttc in length, colour, flow, volume, consistency and non-spotting-ness. Weird.

Ahh sorry @Bubblegum89 - sorry if I'm trying to teach you to suck eggs!! Your latest period sounds much better though (if that doesn't sound too weird) and this could be your month! I have no positivity left for myself and have convinced myself I have massive fibroids and that's why no eggs are being fertilised! I am a google queen and have diagnosed myself with everything from pcos to early menopause. It doesn't help that I have anxiety so always think the worst although I have tried so hard to remain hopeful. I will hopefully know more after the ultrasound next week and then my hubby is having a semen analysis so at least we'll have more info. I just feel so meh .

@jaggy I second the oat milk from @looking! Dairy gives me all sorts of problems, although sheep and goat milks are easier to digest so I just treat myself to the occasional cheese binge (it’s one of my favourite things) and have oat milk with my muesli in the mornings. Or porridge.

I’m not sure how I’d cut out sugar but am considering it. @jaggy Did you cut it 100%? How?!

Bubble I usually get dark brown spotting then full blown AF for a few days. Lighter than when I was a (ahem) younger woman but still there. Pretty sure I had this last time, and it did turn into AF, it just does my head in because until the full AF shows I still have a little 'what if?' in my head. Plus I was really hopeful that I had had a normal cycle due to the boobs for two weeks. But now two days late if we can't count it until I bleed properly.

Haha it’s okay bridget you weren’t to know. The period I DID have was so much better so I’m taking that as a win. I’m wondering if perhaps my drawn out brown periods were due to some kind of blockage causing the blood to escape slower but the blockage is no longer there hence the slightly heavier/fresher blood and shorter period. Who knows.

Ttc is so frustrating, at least you have some tests lined up. I diagnosed myself with all sorts. Blocked tubes (they’re clear) adhesions (apparently I have none) thin lining (my lining is technically “perfect”) I wasn’t ovulating (I am, regularly) or that I had low egg reserve (I don’t). Every time a test came back normal, I’d google for what the next thing was that could be wrong lol nightmare. It’s hard to stay positive when you’re so desperate. Try not to give up hope just yet (and stop googling, take it from a fellow googler who drove herself mad!) Good luck with your US and your husband’s SA

That's good advice @Bubblegum89 but I know myself I'll never be able to stop searching for answers! I can't remember life before ttc if that makes sense. I wish I wasn't so obsessed but it's hard not to be... thank you your well wishes for the tests. My husband is a type 1 Diabetic as well so am worried that could be affecting his sperm quality although I have no evidence of this. If only I could chill the f*ck out! Arrrghhh. Good luck for this cycle

Hope you get some answers soon limp. It sounds so frustrating. My fingers are crossed for you even though I know you don’t feel positive about it.

Sorry to hear you are feeling ill

AAAAAARRGGGGGHH BASTARD PHONE.

Sorry to hear you are feeling ill bubblegum. Hope you are feeling better soon.

I’ve managed to get a cancellation appointment for the fertility clinic on Thursday morning eeeek! I hadn’t thought about DP needing to attend but we’ve managed to sort it out. What happens in the first appointment?

Yammers, I had a reply all typed out while I waited for acupuncture but then lost signal and lost it. Pfft.

Anyway, thanks for the new thread, Bubble, I think we've started the last four?! Thanks for adding the new rule too x

No news here. Was trying not to watch my acupuncturist too much as she took my pulses as I've read that sometimes they can tell if you're preggers before you do. I did notice a smile in amongst the usual thoughtfulness. And she said I smelt strongly of water which means there's an imbalance so treated that saying "the baby...if there is one, will need that balanced" and she told me at the end I should come back at six weeks for a session. She seemed excited. I don't know if she was just excited for me that it might be or if she knew something...

Sorry for the self-centred reply, just walking home and it's too hard to keep flicking back through the conversation to reply to people. Oops, that'll be bad karma, right?! Love you guys! x

@LexieJean I cut out all refined or "added" sugar and also fruit juices other than smoothies (but hardly had any of those). Did it by replacing all cravings with fruit, it was super hard at first (was a moody cow!) but it worked and I ended up feeling fantastic, never felt as good in all my life actually. My fruit consumption naturally lessened considerably once the sugar cravings went too.

I always had an awful relationship with sugar and was a bit worried I'd get diabetes. In fact its possibly why I'm here. I do remember seeing a thing once saying that too much fizzy drinks during teenage years can cause girls fertility issues later in life. I never had mich fizzy juice (well not compared to the girls on the tv show) but I would spend all my lunch money on gummy sweets, and basically lived on sweets for years haha.

I now consume less than a normal persons amount of sugar I'd say, and plan on cutting it put pretty much fully again as I wanna feel that great again.

Pro tip: mash some bananas and mix in peanut or almond nut butter, then freeze in an oce cube tray for a nice sweet snack. Or add a bit of cocoa powder and micrpwave it on high for just a few seconds to turn it into chocolate goo, or longer to male a chocolate cake (but not too long, I learnt that the hard way...)

@sooz yes some people do find that their heart rate will rise. This is one reason I wanted a fitness tracker was to track RHR. Fingers crossed for you. When are you due to test? If RHR has gone up you’d likely get a positive now.

@SparkwoodAnd21 good luck woth the appointment!

@SoozC ooh exciting! How many DPO are you? Also wow, I disnt think water had a smell! 😂

Sorry for all the typos by the way, I switched off autocorrect as it doesn't like my Scottishisms, and evidently I have forgotten how to type without it!