35+ TTC#1 Thread 6

[BambiOnIce80]

Spring is in the air and it's time for a new thread!

Basically: a wonderful bunch of ladies supporting each other through the TTC journey when trying for a first baby after 35.

Here's hoping we get some spring BFP luck for all of us!! 🍀🐣🍀🐣

@Carley32 not sure I can claim to be an expert on this as we were very lucky to get a BFP on cycle 3 and I can totally understand if it goes on for a lot longer than that how folk could get DTD fatigue. The first two cycles we managed every day or every other day, but Cycle 3 was only three times as I got a +ve OPK earlier than I expected so as soon as that happened we covered all bases - and my DH is more keen on parenting happening than me so I've not had to deal with any reluctance from him. Can't say for sure why it worked this time though - might have been the pre-seed, or maybe three times was optimal and the other times we'd (ahem) exhausted the reserves too early so actually all the other effort was wasted?

Have any of you read Expecting Better by Emily Oster? There's a chapter in that all about the stats around conception and miscarriage I found it quite interesting - she took quite a few months for her cycles to return to normal after stopping the pill.

@Carley32 this is my chart the month I got pregnant, we definitely weren't dtd every other day!

That’s what it is... a bloody slog haha. Hope you manage to get some in before your mums on Friday🤞

Thank you @weathgirl1.

How long were you ttc again @Pinkywoo ?
I guess it wasn’t every 2/3 days haha. Makes me feel a little better at least, mind you looks like you managed 2 on the right days over fertile week.

What opks were you using again @Pinky and @Weathergirl1 ?

@CNizzle - I’m getting a drip. The tag was supposed to be in my last message!

@Carley32 One Step internet cheapies

@BambiOnIce80 I use the Dutchess. It was just the first one I found on amazon. I also use the age under 30 size (I think really it boils down to whether you've pushed a baby out or not). Total game changer.

Congratulations @Russkispy that's a great result.

My periods are also very light but they always have been. Apparently my lining is fine on ultrasound. It took about a year for my periods to settle after coming off the pill and another year for them to become completely regular bar the odd change due to flying or being ill.

Thanks for the well wishes for my friend. Unfortunately it's the worst possible outcome, stage 4. Completely out of the blue. She's otherwise healthy, vegetarian, doesn't drink, never smoked, and has a young child. Life is so unfair sometimes. We're all in shock.

Good morning ladies 🌞

@Carley32, I did what you did the other week 🤦‍♀️ Came charging through the door desperate for the loo, but was distracted by the level of chaos and destruction that DP had left behind and couldn't go past it without sorting it! 😕 Shot into the loo and totally forgot to POAS!! 🤦‍♀️ Did this morning though (CD27) & blankest of blank BFN's... If you're still thinking of going to that private consultation, then mayne bring it up there? You're paying them, so may as well get some direct answers to the things that you want to know! Might still be your cycle adjusting after BC, but I get the impression you'd feel a lot better getting an answer about your BFP OPK's late in the cycle from a doc.x

@Pinkywoo, that's a reassuring/realistic amount of DTD! How are you doing now?x

I know what you mean about work @CNizzle 😏 I did think only yesterday "I could do with some mat leave and not have to deal with this 💩 for a while" 🙄 Good luck on getting some shots in the bank before the weekend 🤞🏻🍀

@Weathergirl1, did you say your waking resting heart rate went up this cycle? If so, would you mind sharing by how much? 😬 My inner symptom spotting psycho has noticed that mine is up this cycle compared to the other 2 that I've tracked and she's driving me nuts making a really big 🤬ing deal out of it 🤪😣

Finally, could I interest any of our upduffed sorority in a little (not very!) scientific experiment?! 🤓😬 Don't know if you remember me sharing that link that suggested that some OPK's weren't very specific for LH and would pick up hCG too? I'm really curious to find out how true that is, so was wondering... if any of you have some one step IC OPK's lying around still (seems most of us use them), would you mind POAS and letting me know if it's a BFP or not?! Would love to know if it's science fact or science fiction! 🤓

Oh @79andnotout I am so, so sorry about your friend's news 💙 Such a shock. Life really is unbelievably unfair 😔

Morning lovelies...just a quick update from me (will try and respond properly later!)

Did a medichecks female hormone check-just got the results and I'm a bit confused @BambiOnIce80 @79andnotout do you mind having a little look? Pic attached. Seems my testosterone and FAI are in the low side and my SHBG is high side...read somewhere that that can interfere with red blood cell production? Which would make sense as some of my other tests (red blood cell count, haemoglobin estimation, haematocrit, platelet count) have been at the lower end of the normal range...also anyone else had the LH/FSH/estradiol tests done? It says normal range but need to do research to see what the actual numbers mean in relation to my age/fertility.

And @BambiOnIce80 I'm not pregnant now but after my last miscarriage I did a couple of opks after I stopped bleeding but before negative preg test...opks were positive...pic attached.

Will try and do a proper catch up later-work calls!

@bambionice80 sorry I didn't use opks so don't have any to poas for your experiment. My resting heart rate went up the cycle I got my bfp I think it was about 8bpm May have been 10. I stopped tracking after that so have no idea as it can fluctuate so didn't want to stress myself out after my early loss 6 months before.

I am now 28+5 and little one is doing well kicking me as I type to prove it 😂... She did give me a scare last week hadn't felt her move for about 18hrs so went in and thankfully they found her heartbeat straightway and sent me for a follow up scan a couple of days later to check all good. Monkey was just having a quiet day I think as kicked up a storm that night and the next day!

Sorry to hear some of you are having a rough time at the mo so hugs where needed.

Congrats to the recent bfp's and fingers crossed for sticky beans.

Oh go on @BambiOnIce80 - I do like a little science experiment 😀. I've just done this OPK and the test line came up before the control line - I don't think I've ever seen that even with a +ve OPK!

I don't measure my HR on waking, but I wear a Garmin that tracks it through the day. When I'm not ill my average RHR is usually down around 51/52 but it's been up nearer 60 since before the BFP. The y-axis has actually rescaled to show between 55-60 for this past week!

@Carley32 we were trying for four cycles so very lucky, and using one step internet opks and preseed.

@BambiOnIce80 I'm always happy to poas in the name of science! The test line came up immediately so your theory is correct, and I'm good thanks, booking in appointment tomorrow 😱

Oops forgot the picture!

Isn't it rather frustrating @BambiOnIce80 lol. Men just aren't made the same as us are they? Thanks for trying again though... Boo to the bfn though lol. I will have to continue to be confused for now!

We kind of put that on hold after last week. But it will definitely happen. As soon as af starts to show her ugly head, I am booking.

Would it be possible for my heavy af last month to be something more sinister? Probably not as it was around the time af would have been due. Just thinking aloud again! lol

So sorry about your friend @79andnotout I have a friend fighting cancer, It's so awful for them.

Funny you mention a rise in HR @WeatherGirl1 I have felt mine has gone up over the last few days, just because it always seems to be quite high when I look at my watch, but not very clued up on all of that, and don't really monitor it in depth as such. Ooops symptom spotter crazy lady is working her way back! lol

@Pinkywoo maybe I need some preseed, feels like the only thing I haven’t tried 🙈

Just to show what I mean!

Ok so I am Carley321 on the computer.
Carley32 on my mobile 🙄🤪.

Sorry ladies

@Carley32 I actually think we conceived both previous cycles (because I had unusual brown discharge before AF which I don't normally get) but it didn't implant properly for whatever reason - maybe a dodgy egg, apparently its quite common by later 30s. My last AF was slightly heavier than usual (I'm fairly light but the Mooncups are quite handy for tracking that). Both cycles AF turned up on time though.

Ah yes the problem with HR checking making HR go up! I do quite a bit of training so I do follow my HR normally - it's so much easier with this watch I have now which monitors it all day and spits out an average. When I used to take HR on waking, it was always a bit higher than I think it should have been as it was immediately after the alarm had gone off 🤣🤣🤣

Interesting hearing about the opk test results.

@BambiOnIce80 - when are you expecting AF? I'm CD23 (think I ovulated CD11 or CD12).

@79andnotout sorry to hear about your friend. :(

Really @Weathergirl1? That's crazy. So there's no way to actually tell I suppose?
I have always had that yucky brown stuff before af (since stopping the pill anyway) which I have found odd, but because I've been so light and irregular, just kind of accepted my weird backwardness. But last cycle was more than heavier than spotting, it was quite heavy af for 2 days which is extremely odd for me. I was hoping it was my body finally clearing out, and hoping for a more 'normal' af this month.

Lovely to hear from you @Blondcat! Sounds like your bambina has been keeping you on your toes! Glad all is well now 💖 She'll be here before you know it.x

@Laney79, less testosterone and a low FAI is a good thing rather than a bad thing in women, I thought? I'd be more worried if your SHBG was low than high, but obviously run it past your doc to be sure 👍 Your oestrodial isn't being affected by your high SHBG, so no cause for concern there either 🙂 On your red cell/Hb front, you never mentioned what your MCV was? If it's on the high side, it could be to do with your wonky MTHFR gene and utilisation of folate into red cells (just a thought). Your FSH looks optimal for conception 👍

Thanks so much for your participation ladies! ❤️🤓 Looks like it's science fact for the one step IC OPK's then! 😯 No squinting at those lines at all! I was feeling like a total 💩 getting your hopes up last cycle @Carley32, but this looks like what they say is true! 😯 I know you're not sure when AF is due, but surely won't be too long before you get your answer one way or another (hoping it's a BFP answer, obvs 🤞🏻😘).

... And the penny's just dropped that my BFN OPK this morning means I'm out, despite my good temps and higher resting HR 😏🤬 My HR is being taken automatically by my polar flow @Weathergirl1, so didn't think I was influencing it 🤷‍♀️ CD 27 today @birdbybird and AF due anytime between now and Friday... at least I have an 'all you can drink' gin festival to drown my sorrows at on Saturday - the glass will most definitely be half full at all times given I'm out! 🍸😏

@Bambi I'm sure the bfn opk doesn't put you completely out, it could still be to early to detect anything?
I love how the glass half full to a bfn is literally a glass half full haha. I ldon't think I enjoy drink more than after af arrives...… guilt free alcohol bing, just has to be done! Gin festival sounds awesome!

You didn't get my hopes up @BambiOnIce80 I did that all by myself lol. As for this month, I'm not getting my hopes up to much, we managed to dtd 1 time only! and considering the pressure the arguments and the horrid mood I was in, I'm pretty sure there is zero chance. Plus I'm not sure if I actually ovulated, because according to my IC opks I ovulate every other bloody day lol.

@BambiOnIce80 so I see that the OPKs can detect HCG, but... Before AF is due, no idea if they'd be sensitive enough? I mean, do they detect HCG at the same sensitivity as LH? 🤷

The line on mine this morning was really strong but I'm a week past AF's due date now... I feel like we need further scientific investigation on this... So the next time someone gets a BFP on an HCG one they need to do an OPK to compare it to.

I don't think we can read into it yet. If your BBT is still up then you're not out yet. 🤞 But do enjoy the gin festival - we went to one a few years ago and it was really good fun!

Just got my second HCG bloods since Monday. Massive rise! HCG is 2241! Twins? I'm freaking out! Just asked my clinic, and she said maybe! Omg! 😱😱😅

You're quite right @Weathergirl1 - we need our next BFP squinter on a FRER to go for an IC OPK too! 🤓😄 Don't think it'll be me doing it though 😏 It's like AF pricked her ears up when she heard 'I'm out'... almost imperceptible little AF signs have started kicking in this afternoon and my RHR has dropped right down too as of 5pm 🙄 Think the temp drop will follow tomorrow morning, but c'est la vie 🤷‍♀️

Congratulations @Russkispy! 😍 You'd definitely get a BFP on an OPK with that level! 😂

@Russkispy that's fab! Fingers crossed for you!

@BambiOnIce80 my MCV was 92 so middle of the range.

Ladies I'm freaking out. Sat at the GP waiting for my appt. I'm CD6, having only stopped bleeding on Monday from AF. Did an opk when I got home from work (only because I forgot to do my clearblue this morning for the first time this cycle) and it's about as positive as I've ever got, on cycle day 6?!? WTF??? Is it even poss to have a decent lining/mature egg that soon? That would make this cycle just 19 days if I ov tomorrow? I'm going to ask dr but I'm now properly scared about what's going on with my body. My last cycle was 32 days?!

Thank you ladies! We already have a DD of 21 months. I'm absolutely pooping myself but will deal with it if/when it comes to it. My clinic told me to have a scan on 17/04 and it's my birthday! So I'll shift the scan to the day after as got visitors then. Very anxious waiting time till then to find out if it's a singleton or indeed twins.