Post Pill TTC - Still Partying

[MintGreenLife]

No idea how we managed to smash through 1,000 messages (40% of them are probably me anyway, ha!) in such a short space of time, but a new thread is needed for the post pill TTC party, so here it is...

Tag anyone I've forgotten please, and new party-goers always welcome :)

@juno231
@kay00
@flowerkm
@pumpkineverything
@ams19
@sarahp2308
@cams50
@sperr
@moocher90
@lisalx

I am @Sperr 4dpo for me I believe! There are a few others too

Hi ladies sorry I've been under a rock for sept. Hope you are all well socially distanced hugs and BD sprinkles ❤️❤️

@PumpkinEverything @Sperr I'm on cd19, I think 5dpo but not sure as I didn't do OPKs this cycle.

My last 2 cycles have been a little different because my nipples used to hurt loads the whole luteal phase but they haven't as much now. Also more acne. And EWCM after (presumed) ov both times now (as well as before). Also some odd cramps I am not sure how to place today. Not reading anything into any of it, just making notes to try and discover patterns. Scan for cysts in two weeks.

@mrsmacmc welcome back - where are you at now cycle wise?

CD6 for me so nothing to report :)

I told my fiancé last night that I did a test and I’m not pregnant and I think he was more disappointed than me! He was like yeah but it might take a while to show so you can test again in a few more weeks. I mean technically he’s right as I think I just ovulated 😂. His best friend is having a baby and they just had their 12 week scan so I think he may be getting broody finally!

@Sperr ah that's sweet. When did you test, I thought you only ovulated a few days ago? Or do you mean in a previous cycle?

I'm 3DPO, for the first time ever FF has given me solid crosshairs! Rather than the dotted ones, and to be honest I'm super chuffed with CD25 as ovulation day.

@flowerkm thank you lovely. Fingers crossed! Yes it really has ruined everything haha! Honestly don't know why I read the news it just sends me into a spiral of dispair :(

@Sperr just realised you do mean this cycle! The earliest I would suggest testing is around 10DPO, there's absolutely no possible chance of getting a positive this early, as implantation doesn't happen until at least 6-7DPO at the very earliest, and you're not technically pregnant until the embryo implants and your body starts producing HCG, which is what the pregnancy test picks up x

Hey @Tatty1987 welcome! Another 33 year old here (birthday was 2 weeks ago!) It's crazy how much the pill masks everything isn't it? I'm honestly finding it so fascinating learning about my body, I just wish I'd come off earlier in preparation and keep driving myself crazy with that thought but hey, hindsight! Great news that your cycles are back to a good length and you think you got your peak! CD25 here of my 2nd cycle no sign of a peak, first cycle was 108 days 😬 anyway, welcome, and fingers crossed you can still have your dream wedding next year!

@TheHotelCalifornia fingers crossed your cycle isn't as long this time! Until this cycle earliest I had ovulated was CD40ish as well as having anovulatory cycles, but this cycle it happened CD25, so fingers crossed that's a sign things can improve with time x

@MintGreenLife I have no idea why I tested 😂. Well it was because the pill was playing tricks on me- I just didn’t feel right. I was so bloated, my boobs ached and I was starting to feel sick! That’s all gone now so I do actually feel stupid for doing it. I’m 100% not testing until 14DPO this time!

@Sperr ahh bless you, I totally get that though. My first cycle off the pill I was so sure I was pregnant because of all the crazy symptoms, I was so gutted when I got a BFN. It's totally normal to read into everything, especially when you've just started. The thing that sucks is a lot of the symptoms you get sooner after the pill are like pregnancy symptoms! Also if your boobs are hurting that's most likely the progesterone in the second half of your cycle, - after ovulation my nipples become really sensitive and my boobs hurt on the sides! Which in a way is handy as is a good sign you've ovulated x

@MintGreenLife I'm glad you're feeling better about the thyroid! And tbh I think it's already super positive that you not only ovulated but ovulated at a good time this cycle! Fingers crossed this is it and you'll have a bundle of joy next summer :)

I managed to snag a babywear shawl thing on ebay the other week (they normally go for like £50 but grabbed one at £14 after looking for maybe 6 months lol?!) and I'm not even embarrassed about getting baby stuff anymore. I'm just so ready to have a baby that I don't care. I'm going to a friend's house end of the month and she has lots of stuff saved for me like a bath, electric rocker etc and I can't wait to pick all of it up

@TheHotelCalifornia that is exactly how I feel...why didn't I come off months before i actually wanted to try! I would definitely now tell friends/family on the pill to do so, I had absolutely no idea how much it messed everything off. I honestly thought I would snap back to normal straight away. What is with the "miss one pill and you might get pregnant" rubbish!!

@mintgreenlife thank you for sharing that gives me hope! Yeah, not convinced I ovulated in my first cycle. No temp rise or peak OPK. All I can do is continue temping and daily OPKs and hope something happens. I'm wishing the days away though to get closer to ovulation day! I just need to be patient but it's crazy, I just want it so bad RIGHT NOW ha!

When we see friends and family I feel like everyone is wondering because I mentioned we may start trying once we moved into our new house (we lived an hour away for 3 years due to our jobs but recently moved back home) and I know I'm just imagining it but do you know what I mean? I need to remind myself that literally no one else cares or is thinking about it haha, it's just me! Hoping the Dr calls me back today with my results too. Sorry to hear about your worries re: the thyroid issue, again Dr Google is both our worst and best friends haha and I know it's so hard but do try not worry as you're already doing so many things to maintain a healthy lifestyle and give baby a happy home for 9 months

I didn't think I'd get pregnant straight away off the pill, just because I know people struggle, but tbh I didn't think it would quite take this long (8+ cycles now) either; not with regular cycles etc anyway. @AMS19 I also always panicked if I missed one (like once a year max) which is so funny in hindsight ha..

[quote AMS19]@TheHotelCalifornia that is exactly how I feel...why didn't I come off months before i actually wanted to try! I would definitely now tell friends/family on the pill to do so, I had absolutely no idea how much it messed everything off. I honestly thought I would snap back to normal straight away. What is with the "miss one pill and you might get pregnant" rubbish!![/quote]
Omg THIS! I want to do a public service announcement like get off it right now!!

and I KNOW! How is it even possible to accidentally get pregnant?? We're all over here trying so hard haha I don't understannnnnnnddd! The thing that I keep reminding myself is we COULD have been super lucky and got PG straightaway, in which case we wouldn't have been in our lovely new house etc etc, plus I got made redundant very suddenly last November and it was honestly the worst time, and now things are so so much better so it wouldn't have been the right time then if that makes sense. But I hear you! How good would it have been to be like 'right, we're going to to start trying now' but already having a good knowledge of your cycles and regular cycles and just be really in the know about BBT and OPKs and everything? That would be amazing!! So envious of the ladies who have been using natural birth control all this time and can just switch to TTC! Sending hugs, we'll get through this together!

@MintGreenLife it was definitely a weird week but I feel normal again so hopefully I’m settling down - I noticed this morning my nipples are sensitive but I’m not thinking into that. I’m not actually expecting to be pregnant this month I wasn’t so disappointed when the test came up completely blank 😂

Thanks @Juno231 I think if I can get my gut issues under control then I will hopefully be able to bring my thyroid levels down naturally, so am feeling proactive and fairly positive ha. Definitely feeling positive about the earlier ovulation - I think this is the first time me and DH have actually caught it and DTD in a timely fashion! Makes me feel like this is my first proper TWW.

That's awesome, and you totally shouldn't feel embarrassed! You mustn't be too far off your FW now?

@TheHotelCalifornia I totally get where you're coming from. I think you can easily end up in a bad place as every day you get a negative OPK or no temp rise is a disappointment, and when your cycles go on forever, let's face it, that's 95% of the days! I think I did actually ovulate my first and second cycle off the pill, but had a very short luteal phase. Third cycle ovulation was around CD40, then fourth cycle I think was anovulatory, and this cycle CD25! We told our parents and siblings, and that was 6 months ago, and I do think they must be wondering what's going on urgh. Telling people may have been a rookie mistake! Thanks that's really sweet, it's so helpful having you all to chat too to help me get out of a funk! x

@TheHotelCalifornia @AMS19 100% about making it public knowledge that the pill can royally mess you up! I asked several times in recent years at my pill checks if I should come off before TTC and was always told no.

In my head I was coming off the pill in Sept, then would avoid using natural cycles and start trying in Dec and get pregnant that month 🤦‍♀️😂

Here is me now praying for a period or any sign of ovulation and there is no way I'm now avoiding it if I get any sign of ovulation. My LH levels are so low my OPKs come up as invalid on premom as there is no second line 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ i know it is still super early days, I just wanted educated enough coming into this to prepare from that. 100% what @TheHotelCalifornia said - imagine the dream of starting TTC with normal cycles!

@MintGreenLife and @TheHotelCalifornia I have been terrified to mention our TTC journey to any friends or family... and to be honest I think my mum has given up on the idea of having a grandchild from us. We have been together 17 years+ and have just adopted our second dog, haha! I would love to tell her I am pregnant, it would be such a surprise, and she would be so happy. My niece (her only non-dog grand child) is her life and she loves being a nana so much.

I think there needs to be a lot more info provided on the pill in general! I had no idea about the majority of the side effects of it, or what happens when you come off it. Nevermind all the cycle related things, I felt bloated for ages, more emotional than usual which was making me cry at stupid things, and also when looking back now, I think it’s also the reason why my hair was falling out and breaking off so easily a few months ago

I too wish I’d come off it earlier. I just love the convenience of knowing exactly when your withdrawal bleed is coming as it made it easy to plan holidays etc

@Kay00 ahh that's sweet. Hopefully you'll get your BFP soon! I'm glad I told my mum really, as I talk to her most weeks about my cycle and how it's all making me feel, but she's a nurse so has lots of good insights ha. She also told me she was trying for four cycles before she caught with me (her first) and said she was stressing too thinking something must be up after just four cycles, so women were doing the exact same things we were doing 30+ years ago ha. Although interestingly she told me that back then the only women that used OPKs and BBT were ones struggling to conceive, whereas obviously it's just the norm now to start them right away really.

@PumpkinEverything I had a few months of accelerated hair loss! I think it's settled down now, but for example when I washed my hair, I would brush it before I showered, have to pull a handful of hair out my tangle tease as it would be full, another handful worth would come out in the shower, then I'd brush it again went and same again, and then brush it once dry and same again! I swear I felt like I was losing 3/4 handfuls of hair every time I washed it, eeek!

@MintGreenLife this is exactly what was happening to me too! My hairdresser said it was maybe the stress of covid, and I thought so too at the time, but I’ve been WFH the whole time so didn’t think I could have been that stressed. Now when I think about it I definitely think it was the pill. I have quite fine hair anyway, so to be losing more was just horrendous!

I’m so weird with things, and don’t always like tell people things. Like when I have a job interview I’ll tell us little people as possible as I feel like I’ll jinx it otherwise so the only person who knows about us TTC is my husband. My best friend knows we had planned to start around now, but I haven’t said to her that this is it. I think I’ll tell her soon, as we talk about this all the time, but she’s had a lot of stress with her wedding being postponed, and ultimately her baby plans being postponed too, so I feel a little bit guilty