Hoops, Rings and May Bus 3 Things!

[MrsEmilyB]

Hi Ladies,

So we seem to be absolutely hammering through our May Bus 2 thread. My gosh we can chat! But you have been vital to my sanity this cycle ❤️❤️❤️ I've tagged as many as i can think of at the end of a working week 🤯 please tag the others as I absolutely haven't the brain power!

@RobinRose @babyG123 @SmileyT @Ltay2 @Positivetime @GingerBaby89 @Sausage1990 @firsttimetry @Minster2012 @coronababy

@SmileyT haha, thanks! Can you tell I'm feeling hormonal?

@NemoBear7 I'm planning the 20th if no AF, but that will make me 18dpo so let's see if I get that far 😂 only 3 more sleeps til you test and this is a very lucky bus xx

I’m not sure when I ovulated this month as I missed my LH surge so the earliest I might be able to get a result is the 14th. I’m not convinced it will be a BFP but I’m crossing my fingers. Otherwise i might have to wait a bit longer for either a positive or a BFP.

Really hope this bus continues to be lucky for everyone testing soon.

Fingers crossed you get the BFP on the 20th. If you can wait that long! 👍🤞🏻

Good luck @SmileyT really hope this is your month for a BFP! 🤞🏻

Do we think I'm near ovulation or do you think I will continue to get higher readings over the next couple of days?

@firsttimetry I would say you are very close but keep going until they (hopefully) get darker!

I am having cramps, sore boobs and a sickness sensation, all signs of af coming from previous months, it's not over until the red lady signs, but I think I'll be out... Onto cycle 8

I agree with @SmileyT - @Pixielou16 you just won with that line haha

@firsttimetry - I've attached mine in a hope of better explaining as I am awful with words! End of April / beginning of May my numbers were in the low "high" range, then tailed off completely. Then a few days later it ramped up rapidly to a peak (just prior to ovulation and then fell again!) - keep testing!

@MrsEmilyB thank you for posting pics it's a great help, I see you got your peak on CD21 may I ask how long your cycles are? Do you usually ovulate around that time? I've started panicking because my clearblue digital is still only high I usually ovulate around CD16, decided to try femometer along side and only had a max on 20Lh, on CD 17 atm but I think my cm is slowly increasing

@Pixielou16 - not sure what you'd like to know in relation to diet! I read a really interesting medical study which showed the best macros for fertility: less than 40% of daily intake carbs, over 35% daily intake as fat and over 25% of daily intake as protein. So that's my priority. The homeopath gave me 2 rules: don't eat from or heat plastic (including dishwasher or hot water) and don't eat soy.

I have cut out all refined sugars and keep my general sugars low anyway as insulin spikes are said to be harmful to fertility.

Fats try to be "good" fats - I attempt to limit dairy and instead get them from avocado, nuts, eggs etc. But cheese is a weakness of mine so I do still indulge in moderation. I'll consume more dairy in the first half of my cycle and less in the latter.

Protein is a tricky one for me as I am vegetarian. Soy is a massive no-go, so quorn, beans, lentils etc are what I am relying on. I've just ordered some rice protein as I'm struggling to meet my daily protein.

I am buying as little processed food as possible and cooking in bulk from scratch as it can take ages and ain't nobody got time for that!! I've avoided white pasta, bread, rice etc and subbed with wholegrain and quinoa.

In the second half of my cycle, it is an old wives tale to only eat warm and blood building foods, but I'm giving it a go! So lots of chillies, curries, roasted vegetables etc.

I'm seed cycling in a low-sugar smoothie each morning. It's been really easy so far. My current fave is berries, avocado, lettuce, almond milk, nut butter, seeds and supergreen powder!

I've only been doing this wholeheartedly this cycle - so no idea whether it works! Is there anything you want to ask?

@Fluffkins14 - no, that's late for me! I usually ovulate around day 18 and my Cycles are usually around 30 days. Last cycle was quite typical for me - I ovulated on CD18 and my cycle was 28 days long. However, the cycle before was bonkers - I ovulated CD36 and my cycle was 47 days long 😩 I think it was stress, as it can massively affect your cycle!

@MrsEmilyB I definitely agree it's stress but find myself stressing more I haven't got a peak 🤦‍♀️ tmi I know when I ovulate because of cm but I wanted to track. The longer I'm doing it the more I'm messing with my cycle! Wishing I could go back to work to take my mind of it

@MrsEmilyB you are a star! It looks like you are doing a similar diet to me (minus the chocolate bar I inhaled because AF is a wench) breakfast seed smoothies with low sugar berries, I was a good vegetarian for 4 years but fell off the wagon so aim for salmon twice a week, chicken and other fish, lots of broccoli and green veg, a salad for lunch every day... I need to pay more attention to the percentage make up of my diet though. Do you use an app for that? I also need to curb the dairy - cheese is a tricky mistress!

@Pixielou16 - cheese is too damn good to miss out on! If we are really struggling I'll go hard and be mega strict, but for now, I'm doing what I can.

DH made some amazing black bean brownies - deffo get a recipe! Hits those chocolate cravings right in the vagina!

With salad, don't forget there are many veggies that "shouldn't" be eaten raw when ttc. Lettuce is fine, but kale, spinach and most other veg should be lightly cooked first. Something about the energy taken to digest raw food stealing from your womb. Another old wives tale I'm sure, but what's to be lost!

I use the lifesum app, just because I have for years and it's easy to adjust macro settings, plus the recipe ideas are nice and I am a sucker for the cute and colourful interface. It's much the same as my fitness pal and other free ones, though

This is where my stressing out begins, ladies. DH and I have had the last BD (unless temp doesn't rise and we'll do it again day after tomorrow) and we have done what we can for the month. Now it'll be just me, my supplements, diet and following 6502 old wives tales and hoping for the best. Please send me all the baby dust from this lucky thread!

Best ways to not think about it???

@MrsEmilyB thank you, guru. I think raw spinach has been stealing my womb energy....time to lightly cook that bad boy! I'll look into black bean brownies for sure. Do you tend to find time to log recipes? I'm a teacher and now Boris is telling me I need to spend all my free time wiping down books and pencils. I've used MyFitnessPal before but got a leetle bit obsessed so had to stop that.

@MrsEmilyB tell me more about soy! I’ve just gotten onto soya milk in the last month and am loving it! Should I be avoiding?! Xxx

@NemoBear7 only 2 more sleeps until you can test 🤞

@MrsEmilyB was your temp up this morning? I found the first 6 days of the TWW acceptable as I still felt like there was stuff I could be doing to help and found meditation really helpful 🙏 in other news it appears my diet needs a complete overhaul. The last couple of years I've really gone overboard with exercise and basically lived by the mantra of 'you can out train a bad diet if you're committed ' but I definitely was looking after my outward appearance more than my actual body so next month I'm getting this into check. What's your thoughts on artificial sweeteners? This has always been my go to when trying to cut out refined sugar but wondering if it's just as bad fertility wise? Trying to avoid cold food and heated plastic at work is impossible without glass containers, I must order these today 🙈

@Fluffkins14 , @MrsEmilyB guess who woke up to ANOTHER stupid flashing smiley face 😠!

@mrsemilyb so your LP is 10 days normally? Are you doing anything to try and lengthen it?

I'm totally expecting to see more BFPs on here today btw, I feel like we have them daily now!

Cd 22, so the next four days will be the crucial time, no cramps today but woke up to a very strong pulling sensation, can’t sleep much, but I put that down to the small human refusing to go to bed and dh noise in the morning.

One week left before testing. Getting my usually pms, sore boobs, sicky feeling, always starts around a week before period so I'm guessing we havent conceived this month 😒

@Aimy1 just remember that up until implantation which can be up to 12dpo your body is doing the exact same things so pre-AF and pre-implantation will be exactly the same symptoms as it's your bodies reaction to progesterone so you are definitely not out 🤞

@Aimy1, I thought I posted the same yesterday night, it it is not here, I don’t know which threat did I shock😳, but I am getting the same, cramps, boobs and sickly feeling I also think I am out, but resigned to wait and no testing early.

Thanks @SmileyT trying not to cross my fingers too hard as I think I will actually cry if I don’t get a positive this month! I’m not a patient person and I’m not sure I can handle starting a fifth month of waiting!

I’m feeling for you at the moment on your TWW. It’s so hard not to obsess and so easy to get up hopes up. Sending baby dust to you for a BFP! 🤞🏻

@MrsEmilyB Wow! You have amazed me with all your diet related pre-conception ideas and advice. I feel so lazy having only cut back on caffeine and alcohol and hopefully stress! Really hope you have the positive result you need this month after all that effort!