35+ TTC#1 Thread 3

[Blondcat]

We seem to have filled up our last thread so here is a new one.

A wonderful bunch of ladies supporting each other through the ttc journey when trying for a first baby after 35.

Goodluck to all ladies we can do it

@Kescilly

Ovulated in day 15, so 12 days post ovulation... what's hold? Wait for a wee?

Yes! For a better chance of seeing a line.

@thenewbiestep hold wee for as long as possible and try not to drink too much otherwise first wee of the day (fmu) is most accurate (if you can wait that long).

Also I find best to pee into something (plastic disposable cup) then dip test rather than risk weeing in wrong place and flooding test.

@79andnotout fingers-crossed for your AMH and a good egg reserve result this morning 🤞🏻🍀

@Kescilly, we've been trying for 6 cycles once AF turns up this week. DP used the logic that my coil had been out since March, so that's 6 months of trying and off he marched to the GP's (entirely technically incorrect, but there was no stopping him!).

Ooooh @TheNewbieStep, very excited for the FRER!! Like Kescilly says, depends on the dpo as to when I'd do it, personally. Always first morning urine (remember the HCG will be at crazy low levels before AF, so chances of false BFN is high even with a FRER if you don't use FMU) and ideally not before 12dpo 👍🏻

Thanks ladies. Tomorrow morning it is then.... (I can't see me getting much done today.... but will not google Bugaboos just yet) xxx

@TheNewbieStep, I think the first thing I'd be googling is an order for that non-alcoholic gin! 🍸😉 Looking forward to an update tomorrow morning 🤞🏻 🍀

Good luck @TheNewbieStep

I like the non alcoholic gin. Every now and then I worry about my drinking and give up for a while (I'm Irish, we definitely drink too much, although it certainly hasn't affected my parents generations fertility as I have about seventy cousins). The spice one is definitely nicer than the green one. I gave up on the non alcoholic wine, it all tasted grim.

If the results are bad this week I'll be joining you on that vineyard tour!

My cycles go all over the place when I travel @Kescilly. I don't think I ovulated last month when I was in North America, although this month I was in the antipodes and think I might have fared better, as my boobs are hurting indicating luteal phase. Happily I have no more long trips for a few months now, fingers crossed.

ARGH. Rant alert!
Just rang hospital to try & rearrange my tubal patency (hsg) test. The paperwork sent out says I must not be bleeding but be in 1st 10 days of cycle. Apparently the waiting list is "too long to do everyone at the start of their cycle," (ill be about cd20, 4dpo approx) so ive just to use contraception for the whole frikkin month. Argh.

This is just followed on fron hospital calling OH about his SA appointment tomorrow, saying that they he 'd booked the wrong type of appointment and next available SA apointment (apart from when we're away for 3 days for his 40th) is 15th October. Omg. Im so annoyed with him for not sorting it sooner, it shouldve been done before our next appointment on 8th october (which we both made together 3 months ago!!)
/Rage

I'm not surprised you're raging @CNizzle! That's a hell of a bodge to get round the back log of '1st 10 days of cycle' requirement 😧 Let's face it - contraception can fail (says she who can't get pregnant, but you know what I mean 😬). Is this NHS or private?

It's such a post code lottery about how health boards handle protocols and testing, isn't it? We're in Scotland too, but DP didn't need an appointment for his SA. Just had to rock up at the lab between 8 & 9.30am, produce his sample in one of the dedicated rooms and then hand it over for analysis. Job done 👍🏻 Why do some places manage to make it so complicated?!

Ooh, I only have the citrus one - will get hold the spicy on!

@CNizzle you poor thing! Rant away!

I've calmed down a bit.

OH is at work and all conversations are being carried out via text cos they're filming sonething outside his work, so he cant go out to talk. Very frustrating!! He's had the wrath of me via text most the morning! I have broached whether he wanted me to tell him when my FW was tho. His response was surprisingly positive! I dont think he realised the window was so small each month. When he gets in hes getting told that Ov is monday/tuesday, so when im back from los parentos at the weekend, he'd better be on fire!! Need to get my bfp this cycle cos next cycle im gonna have to avoid FW.

@BambiOnIce80 you have to take a preg test the morning of the scan & take it with you, although at 4dpo it would NEVER be positive.
(I've been thinking about ringing back & trying again to shuffle the tube scan into pre-ov days. tell them that's when I'm due on or something)

How frustrating, @CNizzle! Agreed about taking a pregnancy test at 4dpo, how useless.

@79andnotout we'll be in the States but it didn't occur to me that it could completely mess up my cycle. I also had to look up antipodes as I had never heard that before. Turns out for the US it would be in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

@BambiOnIce80 are you still planning on testing on Thursday? I hadn't considered testing before our trip because I assumed I'd have another crazy short cycle and AF would arrive before the end of the week.

Is it standard to get tests done after six months of trying? I don't know the NHS guidelines for any of it, so much seems to depend on where you live.

@kescilly it is 6 months when 35 or over. I was told no referral until a year though so they may have to repeat some tests (bloods dh sa etc). I got my bfp the month after my blood tests so fh never did his sa and I suspect as I got pregnant that they would say we have to wait a year from then before they would do anything now (other ladies on the ttc after loss thread have said that's what they have been told) so just keeping going in the meantime.

Thanks @Blondcat. I can understand why they'd feel a BFP would reset things, but when you're up against a biological clock you have to wonder if that's the best advice. I don't think I'll be going for investigations ever anyway. I know that they will just tell me to lose weight, which I'm working at anyway. Maybe my husband can get his bloods done if we can't conceive on our own.

Your quite right @CNizzle - implantation wouldn't take place before 6 dpo at the earliest, so if sperm did meet egg the poor little bugger would be flushed out with the dye and we'd be none the wiser!! Getting the appointment changed seems a sound plan 👍🏻

@Kescilly, I'm in 2 minds about whether to test on Thursday 🤔 I'll see if AF is feeling imminent by then or not (don't see the point of POAS if my body is telling me I'm going to be out anyway). But then there's the wine tasting in the evening, which probably means I should do a FRER to be able to enjoy guilt free wine 🍷... I'll probably change my mind 20 times between now and Thursday morning 🙄

Like @Blondcat says, the NICE guidelines say you should seek investigations if you've failed to conceive after 6 months after the age of 36 and/or if you have underlying fertility problems that you're aware of (like PCOS, for example). I'm over 36 and have a previous diagnosis of primary unexplained infertility (from TTC with my ex), so I tick both boxes. No idea what they'll do with me this time round, but I suspect they'll repeat most if not all tests and we'll have to wait a year for referral to the assisted conception unit. That's fine, to be fair. I'm not in a massive hurry - I've got 24 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of port to get through first! 🍾🥂😉

@Carley32 I usually go to Pilates alone, but DH is coming with me this week. We did some sessions on holiday which was lovely. I go to Zumba & dance aerobics too where I go on my own. The other ladies are good fun and we always have a giggle.

@kescilly I also read somewhere that you should get checked if you’ve been trying for 6 months over the age of 36. I think we’ve been trying for 8 months, though i’ve been tracking for just over a year.

@CNizzle I’m not surprised you’re annoyed. I’d want to change the appointment too.

Fingers crossed for your AMH @79andnotout

Good luck @BambieOnIce @TheNewbieStep and anyone else testing soon x

Just thought, we’ve actually been trying for much longer than 8 months, but more of a see what happens approach rather than targeted dtd. That feels like a depressing thought! Definitely need to dtd more often during fw - 3 times in one week this month, but probably needs to be more. Thinking of trying sperm meets egg plan 🤔

Ah if it’s 36 then I have to wait until next year anyway. I think three times in one week is good, @PixieN. I think the general advice is every other day, right?

I’m not sure what we’d end up doing if we had fertility issues. My parents already offered to fund IVF quite a while ago and I had to tell them we weren’t even TTC!

Well thanks for all the exercise advice girls. It has helped me to get some get up and go in me.... just what I needed 😊.

🤞 @ BambiOnIce @NewbieStep good luck guys.
And good luck to anyone else testing soon or waiting on important results!!
I have a feeling that some good news is on its way to this thread 😊.

@Kescilly what is a monitor? Should I invest?

I did another opk today and no line at all so does that mean the few days of a very faint line may have been ovulation? What do you all think? I’m so eager to actually ovulate!!!
Xx

I can't even imagine having the energy for the SMEP plan. Props to anyone who manages to keep that up. I'd rather watch location location location and grand designs of an eve!

It was a year of TTC over the age of 35 in my area, but as I was having weird bleeding they started investigations of that after six months (that's completely gone now so not sure what was going on) and that morphed into fertility investigations.

I paid for the SA and AMH as part of a fertility mot even before we started trying as OH was insistent that we had years before we needed to start thinking about it, and I was trying to prove that we didn't (and the fertility specialist confirmed my point). OH needed to hear it from a doctor.

Haha @79andnotout I have good intentions, but would probably prefer to watch TV in the evenings too! ‘Killing Eve’ is next on my ‘to watch’ list. Unfortunately, my libido has taken a real dive since my 30s.

That must have been an awkward conversation @kescilly - lovely of your parents to offer though.

Morning ladies. I'll cut to the Chase day 28, BFN..... will continue to obsess until AF shows up! X

@thenewbiestep sorry for the bfn. Hopefully it is just too early to detect.