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!! 🍀🐣🍀🐣

Yeah there seem to be lots of stories of people with low AMH getting pregnant naturally. If you're still popping eggs out every month there's a chance. It's just the numbers game of IVF it's a problem for.

Thank you @BambiOnIce80 😊 I
Love that you literally offer whatever you can 🤣. But that’s more knowledge than me, so I’m a fine one to chuckle. I do love SATC though, Iv watched all episodes and films at least twice!

Not long until your appointment @QuantumGirl. I bet your mind is everywhere.
I’m the same with 💊 Iv been to frightened to try anything lol. Although my vitimin c and zinc could be helping, since starting them I’m on my second cycle of Ov before cd20. 🤞

you just never know if what you are doing is right or bloody wrong. If anything needs healing my way, it’s my bloody over-thinking brain 🤪. So you aren’t alone @Bambi I’m sure my SSP will rear soon! Keeping everything 🤞 that these symptoms are good ones 😊.

Thank you @weathergirl1 I like the sound of this Emily Oster, less rules! 😁.

I’m not exactly a runner or a fitness kind of person... But I walk the dogs on at least a 40 minute walk at least 5 times a week, spin once (but starting another) and manage to do 10000 + steps most days ( except the weekends). The course is a type of assault course, so not long periods of running anyway. But there are bouncy hoppers, mud slides, cargo nets to crawl under, and assaulty type things through out. I really want to do it, I also really want a BFP lol. But I’m liking the sound of what you’ve said so for now, il take it!

@Carley32 right, so you're not inactive and it sounds like fun so go for it and listen to how you feel 👍 .

Expecting Better by Emily Oster should be required reading for everyone IMHO. She doesn't tell you what to do, she provides balanced evidence (from scientific studies) so that people can make up their own minds based on their own aversion to risk. 🤩

Yeah another vote for Emily Oster, it's very rational!

Well I've completely missed fertile week this month. I've not really been tracking my temp or opks as there's too much going on and looks like I'm having another 21 day cycle so my ovulation day came before my app predicted my fertile period to begin. My regularity percent has dropped to 50% in fertility friend now. Looks like short cycles is a standard peri thing.

@79andnotout did you get any ewcm? Mine increased since I started Coq10 (which I forgot to take this morning 🙈).

Found this article reporting the relationship of laughter and successful ivf:

natural-fertility-info.com/research-finds-comedy-improves-ivf-success.html

I started ubiquinol this cycle on day 1 and had 10 days of ewcm @QuantumGirl! No idea if / when I ovulated. Usual cycle would be due af on Sunday.

@QuantumGirl I had hardly any this month. I had loads last month. I'm not even sure I've ovulated this month, I just got the positive OPK and temp rise after the event (my positive OPKs last for a few days usually as I get a really strong LH surge).

I find the idea of a medical clown terrifying! But yeah I can definitely see how being in a good mood and laughing lots would help. This is where my dog comes in - she makes us laugh all the time. In fact the cats do too. I bloody love my pets!

Oh and I've been taking ubiquinol for over a year. And folic acid now for about four years. Sigh.

@79andnotout I thought temperature rising was a definitely proof of ovulation. Is it not? 😲. I also don't like clowns 🤡 but I'm prepared to give it a go. I will be saving some comedies for the ivf days.

@QuantumGirl - yeah progesterone causes the temp rise so I will have released something but I'm unconvinced it's actually an egg anymore. Maybe a sac of shite!

Are there any good sitcoms around at the moment? I hate stand up, but love good sitcoms. I miss Catastrophe.

Hey ladies, I just wondered if anyone could answer a question about my blood test results. I have irregular cycles and have had cysts on my ovaries in the past. I've had two miscarriages and I'm 39. My doctor wanted to see if I have pcos which runs in my family but I've never had a firm diagnosis. I had FSH, LH and testosterone tested and they came back normal. I know I could still have pcos as my ovaries have been cystic so I'm treating it as though I do and modifying my diet etc.

I was just wondering if getting normal bloods bodes well for egg reserve? My doctor said he couldn't do AMH and didn't seem to know what it was. I had AMH tested in my early 30s and I know it was normal for my age then. I'm just interested if anyone has some insight on this. The doctor is telling me I'm likely to conceive again with time but I'm a little anxious with my 40th birthday looking next month! Should I be having AMH done privately too? Xx

@79andnotout We love Modern Family but were you thinking British sitcoms?

If you’re not sure when you ov then dtd every other day (or as much as you can) should mean you’re catching your egg as it were

Thank you for the recommendation ladies. I may give it a look. It sounds much more fun than the way my mind was heading.

I’m going to do it regardless 💪.

Sorry about the irregularity @79andnotout it’s so frustrating!

I have had very little ewcm this cycle, and I’m to scared to take anything incase it messes even more with my cycle. But pretty sure something went down, I don’t temp but had a beaming bfp OPK and then a very low discomfort and bloating in my tummy. It just felt as if something was going on 🤞. We have managed every 2/3 days so far this cycle so hopefully we are in with a chance. CD21 bloods tomoz and 23 on Friday. No idea what they are testing for though 🙈.

I’m sure @BambiOnIce80 may be able to help you @Catconfusion.

Thanks @Carley32 just grateful for any advice. Not wanting to spend the money on AMH testing if not really necessary! Xx

@Catconfusion I think your day three FSH and oestradiol can help indicate how well your body is doing - high FSH at that stage can mean your body is having to work extra hard, if your FSH is ok but oestradiol is high (like mine) it could be your oestradiol is suppressing your FSH.

Once I got my scan follicle count (5) and my AMH ( which was awful at

Thank you very much for the exercise info @Weathergirl1 - I knew you'd have it covered! 🤓 Hope everything is progressing nicely at your end.x

I'm thinking 3 cycles max too @QuantumGirl (ideally 1 fresh and 2 frozen 🤞🏻), but I'm withholding judgement until we've had our initial consultation/had AMH and follicular reserve assessed... If our "fast-tracked" referral ever actually materialises, that is 😒 If IVF doesn't work, then my next project is stealing some of the space from the spare bedroom to turn it into a Carrie style walk-in wardrobe (the one from the film, obvs, rather than the one from her apartment in the series 💃😉).

@Carley32 have you thought about trying reflexology or fertility massage to help turn off your overthinking brain? The person I mentioned with the low AMH who just got pregnant on her third IVF attempt had been going for fertility massage 💆 I in no way think it "gets you pregnant" but I think it could play a very big part in keeping us calm and relaxed to help with conception... just my thoughts, any way (and way less unnerving than a fertility clown! 🤡 😬). And congratulations on the every 2-3 days this cycle - I am in awe of you!! 🙇‍♀️

Sorry to hear about the short cycle @79andnotout 💐 I quite enjoyed Ricky Gervais' Afterlife on Netflix (even though I usually don't like Ricky Gervais 🤷‍♀️). Suits my dark/dry/sarcastic/sweary sense of humour 👍

@Catconfusion where I am is the same with AMH. Even the infertility clinic docs aren't funded to do AMH in their investigations - we only get one once we've actually been referred to start IVF. My infertility doc did explain though that you shouldn't take the AMH result in isolation and should interpret it with the follicular scan from the ultrasound to really assess egg reserve. They don't bother until the IVF stage because it is used to decide on IVF drug regimens, etc. The results also have to be within a few months of the IVF too and I read somewhere should be repeated every 6 months (at our ages, anyway 🙄). I'd maybe discuss it with a fertility doc and see if they think it's worth while for you.x

Thank you so much @Laney79 The doctor wouldn't do the oestrogen test because it's expensive and he said we'd find out all we needed from the other tests 🙄. Now I'm wondering if I should have pushed for it. DH has suggested we try until the original due date of the baby I had the mmc with in Aug and if I'm not pregnant by then have the other tests done.

So far we've fallen pregnant very easily which has shocked me as I thought I had PCOS. At least the bloods have shown I don't have the raised LH and testosterone associated with it so if I have it it's mild. I'm ovulating every cycle albeit late sometimes and have a good luteal phase of 16 days. I think we'll just stay positive and keep in the back of our minds there could be egg quality problems. I guess if they are poor we wouldn't be having IVF anyway so not the same time restraints.

I'm sorry to hear your AMH is low. That must have been a shock for you both. It's so unfair we don't have longer to grow our families. It's not nice doing it with so much pressure. It's great you're pregnant though and I hope there's no more problems from here on in. Xx

Thank you so much @BambiOnIce80 it makes sense for it to be relevant to IVF and understood in conjunction with a scan. It annoys me a little that the nhs doctor is telling me I shouldn't worry about egg quality because my FSH is normal when it sounds like it could still be a problem. I think we're best to put it out of our minds for now and carry on with supplements and ttc for a few months.

Good luck with the IVF. I am a bit of a lurker on this thread so saw you're moving forwards with it. I think your back up plan of the wine tasting holiday sounds fab but hopefully you won't need it! Xx

No worries @Catconfusion if you do decide you want to get tested you can do so privately. I've done a fair few that way. I had a day 3 check (which did LH, FSH, oestradiol, testosterone, shbg, and prolactin I think) for about £65? And you can get AMH done for around £50 if you want it.

I found it useful as I'm a research nut and could interrogate the results, but I wish I could step away from that some times. I envy those who can go with the flow!

Happy hump day all! I am ready for the weekend.

Hi @BambiOnIce80 No I don't really know much about all the things we speak of. it may be worth looking in to though. it'd have to be a miracle worker to get me to relax mind. Love the walk in wardrobe idea.

Went for bloods today and the nurse had no idea what I was being tested for..... Great, turns out going private lacks in communication as much as anything else! Either that or the letter that was sent to my surgery has just been slung! Who knows, bloody annoying though!

Dying for a wine at only 4DPO! oh dear...

@Carley321 that's frustrating about your bloods! Day 21 is usually progesterone, but it should be adjusted according to your cycle length ideally as that test is usually to confirm ovulation - your progesterone is meant to be peaking about 7 days after ovulation, and they assume a 28 day cycle. Not sure what day 23 would be...I was sent for day 3 and day 21 (but ended up doing them day 4 and day 14 as I'd ovulated on day 7 that month!)

.

Thanks @Laney79. Well I had my bfp OPK around cd 18. So maybe I’m in with a chance on them being decently timed. I am so irregular and would never get into my surgery so last minute. Hope you are well?

Thanks @Laney79 I'm a bit like you in that I just want to know what the worse case scenario is. I think our age of nearly 40 makes it more pressing so more advanced tests are really helpful. It's just the money.

The good news is DHs SA finally came back after being AWOL for the last 3 weeks. DH didn't think to ask for numbers but the doctor said his results are good. I guess only a private dna fragmentation test would show if quality is an issue considering we had two mcs.

It's so hard to assume all ok when the NHS just do basic tests. I can understand why but it's difficult to know if it's worth delving deeper. We don't have much money so keen to hold off and see what happens since we've only been trying for 7 months and I've spent four of those pregnant with my two back to back mcs. That's only one failed cycle so far and we couldn't dtd close to ovulation because of the SA test. My instincts are to stop worrying and hopefully it'll just happen.Xx

Sounds like a plan @Catconfusion - it can get expensive once you start doing the tests, I've spent a fair bit simply because everytime I got a normal result I went looking for the next test to try and find the "problem" or reason for my mcs.

Ones to ask your GP for that they can easily do are thyroid function and vitamin D. My vitamin D wasn't terrible, but wasn't optimal according to fertility consultant so I'm on a high dose of that, and my GP was more than happy to check my thyroid as it's been shown to link to MC's if it's off. The other thing my GP did for me was put me on high dose folic acid -basically her thought was it won't do harm as you pee out the excess but might do some good.

@Carley321 fingers crossed for you. I'm ok. Anxious as hell but getting through each day. Scan next weds. Counselling today. Had my booking appt through but had to change it as it's the day we are meant to go on hols. This will be the third booking appt ive had, I never made it to the last two as we discovered the mcs a few days before we were due to go. Getting a few minor symptoms but not much, but I know from before that doesn't mean a lot. I just keep hoping this little one is healthy and growing as it should. Trying to stay positive. X