Over 30 ttc#1 looking for other in-betweeners

[AmyinNLondon]

Hi all,

I’m 33, DP is 36 and in second month of ttc#1. (Am fairly new here so don’t know all the acronyms). I have pcos so realise that might be a challenge but have a fairly normal 28 day cycle. I have been totally taken in by all the conception gadgets and have bought a Clearblue fertility monitor and am waiting for the Ava bracelet to arrive... mental I know!!

I find the 20 somethings in other ttc threads a bit intimidatingly young, perky and fertile, but recognise those in the 35 or 40+ threads may have different experiences, so don’t want to be an under-age imposter!

Anyway, if anyone is in the same boat and wants to share their journey (fingers crossed ending up with a BFP!) then post below... xxx

Welcome @Syncope. I'm similar with my cycles. I had the mirena coil removed a couple of months ago and don't really know what's 'mormal' for me yet.

Congratulations @AmyinNLondon!!! Wonderful news!

Sorry about BFN @40cmsanta, but as you said, early days. Fingers crossed for you.

@Claudia84 Hope you enjoyed the wine! I always treat myself to stuff I avoid in TWW when AF arrives. Silver linings.

@MuddyElephant sorry about the spotting chick. Sure it's not implantation bleeding?

Hi @Syncope. Fingers crossed for you.

Hi all!
I joined this thread a few weeks ago but didn't get any notifications, just saw it pop up and thought I would come back and give my congratulations on all the BFPs since I last checked in!

I'm 32 ttc#1 And just about to O in cycle 10. It's technically only 6 cycles since I've been properly tracking ovulation, but we were trying without tracking since December which makes us cycle 10 (confusing, right?!)

Good luck to all xxx

Congrats @AmyinNLondon

@KnitKitty I suppose it could be. Trying not to drive myself batty with symptom spotting this month so need to put it to the back of my mind...only a few more days to. Fx!

Welcome @LondonKez.

Do you mind me asking how are you tracking O? If we are out this month (cycle 2) we will start tracking next month - currently just monitoring CM. Thinking about monitoring temp, but wondered what experiences others had had with different methods?

Thanks all! Really appreciate it.

@40cmsanta this is first cycle I used the Clearblue fertility monitor. It’s crazily expensive but seems to have worked for me...

@40cmsanta I was tracking CM from around April to July. December to March was just 'let's see what happens'. This is my second cycle using OPKs and Natural Cycles to track my temperature and ovulation. I've found it relatively easy to follow, but would say that if you do use ic OPKs then use them twice a day as I would have missed my peak last month if I hadn't. The temping just confirms that ovulation did actually happen and was accurate to the day when predicting AF even though it was my first cycle using the app.

@amyinNlondon yess!!! 🙌🏻

Eek I just ordered a cbfm - wow you can really go down a rabbit hole with this can’t you?! I can’t believe I’m so excited about poas!
@muddyelephant you’re right not to symptom spot but as you say it’s odd that doesn’t normally happen so keep us updated.
@londonkez what’s natural cycles?

@claudia84 it's an app to track your temperature. You can use it as a form of contraception or in ttc mode. It does charge, but I think there is a free one that's similar called fertility friend.

Congrats @AmyinNLondon

Congratulations @AmyinNLondon! Thus thread seems to be very lucky so far, fingers crossed for lots more BFPs soon.

@40cmsanta it's annoying, isn't it? I'm not temping/doing OPKs but I'm trying to keep track of symptoms etc to see if I can spot a pattern.

@londonkez @claudia84 fertility friend is good although I think you have to pay for the best bits (I didn’t!). I found Flo pretty good at helping me track cycles... but when I started properly tracking ovulation it seemed it wasn’t predicting my peak days 24 hours later. But I know others have found it worked

I've only just started using OPKs this month. Came off the pill in December and wanted to let my body get back into its own rhythm again after 15 years on the pill. I got pregnant the second month with only a rough idea of when I ovulated.
I don't think you need to use OPKs so long as you can understand your body. I've just been noting down my cycle lengths and any symptoms I get throughout the month, whether it be AF, ovulation or PMS or pregnancy symptoms as it's useful to see if you have a recurring pattern or if something is not your normal. I just started using OPKs this month because my cycles suddenly became a bit unpredictable and I wanted some control back. Before now I'd actually felt a bit averse to any type of tracking and only started with a bit of reluctance, but I actually found the OPKs quite fun this month! I'm pretty sure temping wouldn't work for me though because I always wake up in the night and don't get up at the same time every day and I hear those types of things can have a big affect on how well it works for you.

They say the best way to have a good chance of getting pregnant is to have sex every two to three days throughout your cycle.

Completely agree @KnitKitty. I was also on the pill for 15 years. I came off the December before last and had a year without hormonal bc while my cycle regulated. I was also reluctant to start temping and using OPKs because I think it can be another added stress to what already is a stressful time and can be a huge amount of money. We weren't having much luck with having sex every 2-3 days so started to worry that I wasn't ovulating or had a very short fertile window that we kept missing. This seemed like the next logical step for us before we hit the one year mark.

@Claudia84 - I'm sorry to hear AF arrived, and early at that! I have everything crossed for you next month! Enjoy the wine for the next two weeks until the 2WW rolls around.

Totally agree with OPKs not being that necessary. I do think I have a fairly good idea of when I ovulate - I track cm and also I get ovulation pains. But I actually find the science of it all quite interesting and if I can make this whole journey into a discovery one I think I’d find it all a lot more fun. I don’t think I’m going to bring Dh into it because I think it will stress him out but for me it likes one of those science experiment kits for grown ups 😂 .

I know it’s the best chance doing every 2-3 days and will carry on with that too (although I haven’t yet done that for the entire month - just first 2-3 weeks so maybe this will help).
Just the CBFM I hope will be something for my inner geek.

@claudia84 that’s exactly what I found! The cbfm is quite a fun little gadget. And interesting to see different hormone levels rise at different points in the month. Good luck with it!

Yes @LondonKez; I didn't want OPKs to get me all stressed and overly obsessive about everything (she says, writing on a TTC board... ).

But actually it was nice POAS and it not be a BFN pregnancy test for once! haha

Totally agree that it feels a bit like a science test. Well I guess it is...

5 or 6 DPO now. Managing not to symptom spot too much.

Where's everyone else in their cycle now?

11dpo-ish. Testing again tomorrow (9dpo was BFN). AF is due in Thursday, but I will be away with work by then. If we do get a BFP, it would be nice to get while I am still with DH at home.

I don't really have high hopes this month.

Thank you all for your responses on O tracking. I have been looking into OPK's. May try one more month DTD regularly before I take the plunge. My cycle is still evening out after all.

Can I join this thread? I am 33 and TTC with my DP in his 50s. I have a DC8 and came off the pill nearly a year and a half ago - it took a year for my cycles to regulate and they are now around 32 days. I am tracking BBT and other physical symptoms but still not sure when I am ovulating, hoping it'll become clear in the next couple of months (and we are DTD as much as possible in the meantime!).
Trying really hard not to symptom-spot; since coming off the pill I get painful breasts and exhaustion right before my period, it feels exactly like when I was last pregnant.
Hoping I will get some of the good luck from everyone on this thread, how wonderful to see so many BFPs!

I'm CD13, due to O tomorrow. My cycles seem to be getting shorter. Was averaging 30 days 6 months ago and now down to 27-28 days.

@knitkitty @Claudia84 @AmyinNLondon it is a bit like a science experiment and definitely a way to poas without the disappointment of a BFN!

Good luck tomorrow @40cmsanta. Fx for you!

Hi @pinktissuepaper 👋🏼

Hi @pinktissuepaper welcome and best of luck! An exciting journey.

Good luck for the morning @40cmsanta.

Welcome @pinktissuepaper! Funny you should mention painful breasts - my boobs are killing me today! Or more accurately, my nipples are. They've been very sensitive for a couple of days but today it's just ridiculous. Even clothes hurt! No idea if this is a pre-period thing or not.

Thank-you @AmyinNLondon!! I'm getting impatient already but we are going away over ovulation this month so there'll be plenty of opportunities to DTD ;)

@Syncope it's such a difficult symptom isn't it? I only had it in pregnancy when I was younger so it's been weird to experience it as part of my cycle.