35+ TTC#1 Thread 7

[PixieN]

It’s time for a new thread for a lovely bunch of ladies supporting each other through our TTC efforts, possible IVF plans, possible alternative life journeys and adventures with or without babies after the age of 35. Think that about sums it up

@BambiOnIce80 @79andnotout @CNizzle @VenusStarr @QuantumGirl @Carley321 @Wannabemum38 @Russkispy @Kescilly @Laney79 @Weathergirl1 @Pinkywoo @birdbybird

I’ve included everyone who has posted on the last four pages of the previous thread. Hope that’s o.k as I know some of you have graduated to another thread, but still like to check in and apologies if i’ve missed anyone.

Lots of luck to everyone at whatever stage we’re at 💕

Wow! That’s brilliant news @VenusStarr 🎉💕🥰 So pleased for you Great that your reflexologist was proven wrong too! X

Really glad smep worked. I really wanted to try it this month, but only managed to dtd once on CD8 before I ended up with digestive issues and a Uti which turned into a yeast infection 😫 I think it was a combination of things though and not just dtd: dehydration in the hot weather, eating lots of calorific food and drinking alcohol. So annoying though as it’s another wasted cycle and I had bought extra opks and fertility gel which I haven’t ended up using. I had a uti/yeast infection last time I thought about trying smep so i’m wondering if there’s some autoimmune problem which could be affecting my fertility (not just because i’m worried about triggering it when dtd) as I seem to be prone to it unfortunately. I’d been a lot better since I started watching my diet a bit more, taking vitamins and having B12 injections so this has felt like a real setback and i’m worried about whether it will be triggered during Ivf and affect that, not to mention the fact that women are more prone to utis and yeast infections during pregnancy. Just feel a bit fed up at the minute as it feels like my body is working against me 😢

Your kitten picture has cheered me up though @BambiOnIce80 and glad to hear that you’re o.k. He’s such a cutie 💕 I’m with @VenusStarr though - definitely couldn’t have mine in the bedroom as they’d be trying to sleep on my head 😂 Also like your idea of blaming the DHEA for everything - though I haven’t started taking it yet as I was struck down with the dreaded uti and thought it best not to add any more supplements until i’m back to normal (ish).

Very envious of your job @79andnotout that you get to go to California!

@BambiOnIce80 hope you are ok and the ecg isn’t anything to worry about?
DP has one not so long ago because of his family’s heart condition history and his often high blood pressure. All was fine 🤞.

We have thought about Scotland in the past... for some reason this mini-break has lead us to Amsterdam. We are going to make an adventure out of it and drive. The time is around FW. But who knows if that will be the case with me cycles.

Good luck at the scan @Russkispy

Good luck with the positive OPK for Sat @wannabemum38.

Another congratulations @VenusStarr 😊 remind me though. Was your cycles irregular? And what day did you start smep?

Hope you are ok @PixieN it can get you down can’t it. It really isn’t good for mental health this ttc. It’s the most reason why we booked to go away. I just can’t be sat off work obsessing about it any more. But ttw will be head work now lol.

That’s tremendous @VenusStarr! Congrats!

Thank you ladies. Had my scan this morning and I'm measured now 6w4d and consultant wasn't worried about that at this stage. We saw a heartbeat! But consultant told me I have relatively large yolk sac. I don't even know what that means?! Good, bad, ugly? I kept asking him. He said it's large than normal and he will rescan me in 2 weeks time. Despite seeing the HB I left deflated because of enlarged yolk sac as nobody really confirms good or bad news. Everything else looked absolutely fine. Has any of you experienced that? Do you know who did? What does it all mean? Walking away, thinking, bloody hell, nothing ever is straight forward! On the flip side , the brown discharge/bleed/spotting completely stopped yesterday morning.

Thank you 🥰 @79andnotout @BambiOnIce80 it was great proving her wrong, I just really wanted smep to have worked for us, so was really gutted when she said that. Was in tears for the rest of the day and a really bad mood on Thursday. I've known for a whole week! How long are you in California for @79andnotout?

Thank you @Weathergirl1 and @Kescilly ❤️ how are you both getting on? I will come over to the graduates thread at some point, hopefully when I've had a positive scan 🤞

@PixieN sorry to hear you've been suffering and feeling fed up. When are you staring ivf, if you're concerned definitely have a chat with the team x

@Carley321 hope you have a good trip and enjoy fertile week 😉

@Russkispy a heartbeat is an excellent sign! Keeping my fingers crossed all is well at your next scan ❤️

I am feeling very rough, something is definitely happening in my body with all the hormones. I didn't really get morning sickness / many symptoms last time but seem to face a lot and quite early on. Hoping this is a sign of a sticky bean 🌈 xxx

@VenusStarr everything 🤞for you that we'll see you there. I keep checking the penguin thread to see how those of you from here are doing, but completely understand that some of you feel more connected to others who've had losses. I'm doing ok, was a bit stressed in advance of my midwife appointment yesterday but finally got someone who would listen to the science (yay!!) and now have an EDD based on my ovulation date 👍 and she is going to refer me to speak to someone about options around ELCS.

I have no idea @Russkispy about the yolk sac so I really hope it's ok - you are so calm, I wish I could share some of your calmness!

😊 Thanks @Weathergirl1. Feeling quite anxious today. I'm 18dpo so 4+3 by my ovulation date. But by lmp I'm only 3+6. I've come to the GP today, I was supposed to have the hysteroscopy next week. Part of me doesn't want to lose our place in the fertility pathway if things gone wrong but clearly I need to cancel the appointment. I also want my hsg test results but they're held by the hospital. Hoping the GP is sympathetic.

Good news that you edd is by ovulation now, when are you due? If I remember rightly were you end of November / early December? Xx

@VenusStarr LMP date is baloney if you know ovulation, so try not to worry about that. Good luck with the GP 🍀🍀🍀🍀

26th November!!! Although NC tells me 27th as they use 281 days not 280 days when calculating it (NHS uses 280 - me quoting that to the midwife probably helped to reinforce that I knew what I was talking about!)

Hi everyone hope you don't mind me hopping onto this board. Will have a proper read later but already recognise a few names from other boards. I'm 35 (36 in a couple of months) and I've been TTC for 15 months. Back in April I was referred to the fertility clinic however on the day I sent back my forms I had a somewhat unexpected BFP - prior to then I'd never seen a positive ovulation test and we'd stopped actively 'trying' once we knew we'd been referred so it was an exciting surprise. Unfortunately I miscarried at around 7 weeks which was devastating. 11 weeks down the line and based on opks (I've had two positive ones since the miscarriage) I think I'm 8 or 9 DPO, though not feeling optimistic as I've started temping and things don't seem to be stacking up, and I had no obvious EWCM either. I'm going to see my GP tomorrow to see if we can back into the system, I feel like mentally I'm really suffering as i think about TTC pretty much every hour of every day. I hope this board brings lots of happy BFPs and healthy bouncing babies!

Hey all lots of activity it seems. Great you heard a heartbeat @Russkrispy very positive sign. Never heard about a large yolk sack before but it's annoying that they haven't explained what it means. Just don't Google it maybe speak to a midwife? When I had a MC at 9 weeks many years ago the yolk sack was all that was left but they never explained why.
So I've been checking my fertile phase this week first photo is Tuesday and second photo is today. Never thought I'd talk to my DP about such things but he asked today if I had tested bless him and I sent him the photos he thinks it's getting darker as do I but worried I'm seeing things as I know that ovulating can take a while after coming off pill. Our minds can play tricks on us too.

Urgh I write a reply and it disappeared! @Wannabemum38 that line is definitely getting stronger - keep testing so you don't miss the surge - I sometimes tested several times a day when the line for darker. Good to hear your DP is showing an interest too 👍

@wannabemum38 defo getting darker 😁. Keep testing.

Hello @Avocuddles. Sorry to hear that. But keep hope that you will get a bfp soon.
It’s hard to feel optimistic when you’ve been trying for so long isn’t it. But we have to try and stay positive for some sort of sanity!
Said me.... the lady who stresses over stress before there’s anything to even stress about! 😳

@Weathergirl1 @Carley321 thanks ladies good to know I'm not seeing things

@Weathergirl1 the GP was really kind and reassuring. I'm not sure I fully understand the 280 days? Is that from period start or ovulation? From ovulation it puts me at the same edd as from my lmp? I think I'm due 13 April but lmp is 17 April. Just hoping all is well at the scan and it's within those 4 days 🤞

@wannabemum38 definitely on the way there :)

@VenusStarr 280 from 'LMP' so if you're using ovulation as the data point (which is more accurate!) you assume that was 'day 14' of those 280. NC uses 281 - apparently there is evidence to suggest this is more likely but I can't remember where I saw the paper. Rooting for you so much here!!

Just manually counted @Weathergirl1 and my date of 13 April is exactly 280 days🤞 🙏 will keep you posted :)

Hey everyone, I had my coils removed in March didn’t get an af until June and been irregular since. Just started using clear blue ovulation sticks for the first time last month and haven’t had a static smiley face yet, should I be worried or am I just missing it? I was doing them in the morning but have since read that afternoon is better. I will be 39 in October 🙄 x

@VenusStarr 👍👍

@Lf803 welcome to the group 👋

I can't advise on the Clearblue ones as I used the cheap One Step ones myself, but yes LH is supposed to be higher in the afternoon rather than morning. I'm sure someone else who has used the CB ones will be along to share their experience!

Good morning ladies and welcome @Avocuddles and @Lf803 👋

Driving to Amsterdam definitely sounds like an adventure @Carley321! 🤩 Excellent mini-break for FW choice 😊

I feel your pain on the yeast infection front @PixieN 💐 I've been prone to them on and off through the years, but mostly when I was on the CP or when I had the mirena coil in. As you say, we need to DTD to get up-duffed, but then we dread the yeast infection we're risking by DingTD! 😩 I wouldn't worry about the IVF/pregnancy increased risk of infections though - they might balance out your system and knock the infections on the head 🍀🤞🏻

Continuing to keep everything crossed for you @Russkispy 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Pretty sure I'm 8dpo today @Avocuddles, so we're pretty much cycle buddies 😉 I hope your GP is a good'un and gets you back in the system ASAP. I go through cycles of TTC obsessing, so I very much know what you mean - it's a total head 🤬 My recent kitten-shaped distraction has been really bloody helpful for my mental health! 😺

As the other lovely ladies have said @wannabemum38, your OPK's are definitely getting there 👍🏻 Excellent timing for your week away! 🍀

On the clear blue OPK front @Lf803, I'd go back and read the instructions that came with them in the first instance. I'm not a user myself (I've been TTC for a lonnng time and they're crazy expensive! 💸), bit I did think you were supposed to use that brand in the morning? 🤔 The Internet cheapies that I use are to be pee'd on between 10am and 8pm, so that might be where the confusion comes from. What CD are you on? Might just be that it's too early for your BFP OPK.x

They are super expensive, especially if you use 2 a day. I started on CD 10 last month I had flashing smileys right up to 2 days before my AF, I’m on CD 9 now and started using them yesterday just to be doubly sure!

Thanks @BambiOnIce80. My GP was fantastic, she's a 50 something woman who is brilliantly empathetic - the second I started speaking she passed over the box of tissues and she told me about her own experience of infertility and miscarriage. She very strongly advocated stepping away from the tests, temps (and forums... ), and trying to relax, enjoy the odd glass of wine and try to live as 'normal' a life as possible. She's sent our fertility referral off again so we'll see what happens. As I already mentioned, I fell pregnant previous when we had stopped trying in preparation for our first appointment at the clinic, so I do believe there may be some truth in what she said. Either way knowing that we're going back into the system has taken a weight of my shoulders. I don't feel as if this will be my month but hopefully we'll get there eventually x.

@Lf803 prior to my pregnancy I had been using those CB tests for four or five months. I would frequently get eight or more flashing smilies in a row and never saw a solid - it's only since I've miscarried that I've actually seen solid ones. It might just take a while for your cycle to settle down, but I'd suggest mentioning it to your GP too as you'll soon past the six month mark....

@Carley321 thanks for the welcome! I'm definitely a stress head, but am hoping that I'll be able to relax a bit more now I know that we're in line to get some specialist help. Good luck to you (and everyone else here...) xx

Looks like I have a positive OPK ladies both lines same shade and came up at same time and got a bit darker still since the photo. DP doesn't get here til tomorrow evening is that going to be too late or just right for DTD my app says within 12-24 hours of spike is when egg is released so does that mean I'm in good position for fertilization or going to miss the boat this month? So confusing

Thanks for the welcome everyone, I will learn how to reply individually soon I hope 🤞🏼 so I’m not being rude I just haven’t worked out how to do it yet 😂.
I bought more CB ovulation tests today 🙄, and also some conceive plus to try. I have rose quartz and jade crystals under my pillow and have a lovely fertility bracelet with rose quartz, moonstone and Rhodonite on it. They say crystals have strong powers 🤞🏼X