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

Bless him @BambiOnIce80 sounds like he's absolutely right with you and doing everything he can to be on the journey-although frustrating it sounds like you have a good one there 😊👍🏻

If my maths is right (never my strongest subject) I'm on CD23 and 6dpo. We DTD 4 days prior to OV, the day of and the day after. I only got the OPK (right abbreviation) as I was OV otherwise I might have planned differently.

I absolutely know I need to hold on testing and the chances of success 1st cycle is laughable but can't help it!

BTW, close friend couple were TTC for 18 months before they had their first (she was diagnosed with something similar to you.."nothing wrong per say but can't get pregnant". Second child was conceived after 1st try. My Best friend was TTC for 8 months before her 1st. It does seem that for whatever reason it can take a couple a while and then bam. Let's hope for a BAM soon for you! 😊

Here's to bam indeed @AstroKate! 🥂

So, you need to either sit on your hands or get DP to hide the FRER's for about 6 more days then?! 😉

Thanks @BambiOnIce80 Not sure when I get my results back, but fingers crossed 🤞 Sounds like you’ve had a tricky time ttc - glad to hear that your DP is supportive & really hope it happens for you soon x Let us know how acupuncture goes. I quite fancy giving it a go. It’s the cost of it that’s putting me off mainly, but heard lots of good things so it’s worth a try.

Let’s hope for the bam soon about time for another bfp on this thread. It took one of my mates 12 months & also read about some women falling pregnant naturally after they start investigations or start IVF x

That was literally the only thing that was putting me off acupuncture too @PixieN! If it's twice, maybe three times a month I can just about afford it. More than that then I'm out 😕 I shall report back on Thursday after I've been used as a human pin cushion 📍Please do report back on how you get on with your results too.x

Are you seeing a Chinese or western acupuncturist Bambi? If no luck this month, which seems highly doubtful given how late I ovulated, then I’m going to look into it for sure.

Very interested to hear how the acupuncture goes. Also hooray for supportive, proactive husbands!

AF is in full force here with more pain than usual, so I could use distractions.

I'm going for a western guy @Melamine, purely because he's in a 10 minutes walking distance from my place (yep, I'm lazy!) and he was on the British acupuncturist register. There was a Chinese one 5 minutes from mine, but she wasn't on the register which made me twitchy. If someone's going to be sticking metal in various sensitive places on me, then I kind of want them to be registered with some kind of regulatory body 😬

Sorry for the AF @Kescilly 💐 I'm CD4, so a good week before I have to start the fertile week marathon again... quite enjoying the break from my inner symptom spotting psycho 😄

I’m late here. But I’m 36, TTC#1, DF has been deployed overseas with the army, so we’re just kicking off our journey this cycle.

I had the copper coil removed in Aug last year, got a fertility MOT in sept and was advised that all was looking fairly good [for my age!] and that if I was to wait much longer, I’d be wise to consider freezing eggs 😳

So... I’m kind of on my TWW....not really clear on what I can consider preg symptoms over normal monthly symptoms. While DF was away, I tracked ovulation with OPKs, a bit of basal temp charting (didn’t really get on too well with that mind), and I use ovia app to log. I’m regular, 30day cycle, bang on. No real concerns from health perspective. Just absolutely NOT very good at patience and ‘waiting’ my turn.... I imagine I’m not the only one.

Good luck to you all in your journeys xx

Welcome @Sessy19 🙂 That sounds like one hell of a fertility MOT! Sounds like you've got your cycle and tracking down to a T - you put me to shame 😄 I keep toying with temping, but I read that you need to try and do it at the same time every day and that just ain't going to happen! I love my weekend lie-ins far too much 😂

Fingers-crossed your TWW will end in a BFP🤞🍀

Hi @Sessy19 and welcome to the thread. Good luck with ttc.

Sorry to hear about AF @Kescilly x

@BambiOnIce80 - your ‘inner symptom spotting psycho’ comment made me laugh 😂

@BambiOnIce80 i temp, ive found that waking time doesnt affect it too much, but i tend to wake up about 5am for a pee, so i temp then, barely awake. The odd later one still gives you a good overall pattern. Its more making sure you've had a solid 3-4 hours prior to temping i think.
I use fertility friend to track. Its quite in depth but i do love stats and a graph.
Also started recording my resting heart rate with my fitbit. Thats quite interesting, goes up around and after ov too. Yup, bit of a nerd here!

@CNizzle, temping absolutely appeals to my innate scientist 🤓 I love getting results and interpreting them - it's my day job too 😄 But the same scientist brain knows that I mustn't introduce variables or it'll jigger my data - I get up at 6am Monday to Friday and you're unlikely to see me before 8-10am at the weekend as a result! I was really, really tempted by the ava bracelet until I saw the price 😕 Maybe I can get one if I win the lottery 😂 That said, if I won the lottery I think I'd skip this craziness and go straight to paying for IVF 🤔

@PixieN, you'll get to meet my inner symptom spotting psycho (or SSP, as I like to call her 😉) in about 2 weeks time. I try to keep her at bay, but by 8dpo there's no stopping her! 😣 Every sodding twinge must mean something, even though it's never meant something before 🙄 Oh, the joys of TTC! 😏

Welcome @Sessy19!

Re Ava, I see they sell for around £200 second hand on eBay. So I do think it’s probably worth the investment. Not taken the plunge yet though! Also not sure how long the waiting list is.

Hello, can I join please? Am on the TTC after pregnancy loss thread too but think I fit here too.

I'm 38, been TTC for 5 years, got BFP end of May but had mc 6 weeks ago - devastated and heartbroken. Now back to TTC. Had first AF since mc almost 2 weeks ago, stated CB OPKs on Saturday, got first flashing smiley this morning. Very anxious at the moment - think emotions etc from 5 years of disappointment then the mc will take a while to cope with but don't want to delay TTC again.

Hi all

@Bambi - I am also eagerly awaiting to hear how you get on with acupuncture. I've heard very positive things.

Welcome @Sessy and @Dreamland. Sorry to hear about the MC Sessy. But it is good that it sounds like your cycles are getting back to normal.

I have just received my Ava bracelet - I just love a fad and a gadget :-D And I bought it on my Amex and so got air miles which means it's pretty much free right?! It came pretty quickly - ordered it last Sunday (from the Ava site) and it arrived yesterday. Was quite excited to wake up this morning and get first batch of data (am such a loser!) Will you let know how I get on with it.

Hadn’t heard of the Ava fertility bracelet before. Just done a quick search & found this thread. Looks interesting, but pricey!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/3146704-ava-fertility-bracelet-feedback-reviews?pg=1&order=

So sorry to hear @indreamland. Anecdotally it does seem that people who have tried for years and had a MC manage to get pregnant quicker next time. I really hope it’s thst for you. ❤️

That’s brilliant @Oxted. If I’m not pregnant I’m getting one. Honestly the resale value is great so even if you need it a couple months it’s not that much more than CBOPKs. Keep us posted!

Thanks @Melamine I hope you're right. I need to believe I can and will and won't mc again but it's been a turbulent rollercoaster 5 years on this quest for a baby I'm struggling now to believe we'll ever have a family but going for counselling to hopefully help me with the mental emotional side. Must admit I've never heard of those TTC for years then mc falling quickly again. Really really hope that I can get pregnant (and keep it) quickly.

I'd read about the Ava Bracelet but decided to just go with CB OPKs this time.

@InDreamland welcome 💐 It sounds like you've had a hell of a journey so far 😔 Do you mind me asking if you fell pregnant naturally after your 5 years of trying or if you had IVF? I've heard as well that ladies tend to fall more easily after MC, so I'll be keeping everything crossed for you if that this'll be the case 🤞

@Melamine, I hadn't looked at the ava in terms of versus how much OPK's cost and its resale value 😯 Half of me is tempted, but the other half is saying "it'll give you a load of data, which is lovely, but then you'll resent the cost when you're still not pregnant" 😒 Think I'll see how acupuncture goes tomorrow before I start investing in anything else 😉 Will definitely be reporting back tomorrow @Oxted2018 📍

Incidentally, the ava website is quite fab for all TTC info (even if you don't want to spend £239 to find out how hot you are!). I'll see if I can find the link again...

Here we go - it's the blog bit that I found kind of useful:

www.avawomen.com/avaworld/category/tracking-your-cycle/

@BambiOnIce80 I fell pregnant naturally. Not keen on IVF for various reasons. It was a shock when I got the BFP I have to admit as I had pretty much given up hope of ever getting pregnant. I won't lie, it has been a horrid 5 years, don't get me wrong, we've had a great time 'enjoying ourselves' with holidays, activities etc etc but we've also been very sad not being able to have a baby. I've not been able to cope with pregnancy and birth announcements for 3 years. The mc made it even worse. Now I have a flashing smiley on the CB OPK I'm going to drink plenty of raspberry leaf tea until static smiley (hopefully I get a static smiley).

Thank you so much for sharing @InDreamland 💖 It sounds like you've really been put through it, but your story gives me hope ☺️ I've accumulatively been trying for 4 years (long and dull back story 🙄), so it's lovely to hear that it can happen naturally when (if like me) you're losing hope that it's possible...

I hear you on the pregnancy/birth announcements 😔 It's horrible feeling awful at what should be happy news.

@BambiOnIce80 sorry you've been trying for so long too. It's heartbreaking and frustrating. I feel so angry and bitter that I seem to be doing the right things in being fit and healthy and trying to just genrally be a good person but feel robbed and cheated. It's so hard seeing others getting pregnant and I admit I've unfollowed so many on Facebook now. Have you started to look at/try IVF?

I'm definitely starting to feel that I was lied to when I was a teenager @InDreamland! I've always been obsessively careful with contraception so as to not end up accidentally pregnant all the way up until I was 30 and then to find out the hard way that it's not so easy for a good 10% of us has me feeling very cheated 😔

When I was with my ex and fully investigated we'd got as far as being offered IUI before we moved and divorced. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it at all, especially as I couldn't understand how clinically inserting double doses of jis (sorry!) was going to get me pregnant when they couldn't find anything wrong with me! We couldn't have IVF without going through the IUI though on the NHS. I've noticed that the NICE guidelines have changed in 2017 though and IUI is no longer advised due to the poor outcomes for the majority of cases. If we do go through it now it'd be IVF (if they still can't find anything wrong with me, of course). DP isn't 100% convinced about IVF because he was bought up Catholic and can't help but feel that if it's not meant to be then we shouldn't interfere 🙄 That said, he's agnostic/leaning towards atheist now, so he's reading up and has got to the point that we should try 1 cycle otherwise he knows we'll always be looking back and thinking "if only we'd tried..." 🔮

Why were you not so keen on the IVF? It's always good to get different perspectives 🙂

@BambiOnIce80 I'm not keen on it, well ruled it out so far, because I am a practising Catholic - a lot of issues for the church and our belief, too much to go into here. DH understands but I think is disappointed secretly that I won't do it. It's not just that though, we know people who have had a tough time and had so many cycles and still not got pregnant, yes also know some who have had their babies. It's just not right for me.

Sounds like you have been through a lot in your TTC journey.

I wish now that DH and I had started trying before we got married though which of course didn't because of my beliefs ..........I'm far from being a good Catholic but I try.