Trying to conceive baby No 1 over 40

[October1979]

I am 40 nearly 41 and ttc baby no1. I fell pregnant for the first time in December but suffered a missed miscarriage at 8 1/2 weeks in February. I've been trying ever since with no luck. I use Clearblue advanced fertility monitor. Take vitamin B, C and Co Q10 as well as pre conception tablets daily. Until lockdown I did weekly acupuncture. I guess I'm feeling low as af turned up today and I turn 41 very soon.

I am usually positive and hopeful. Trying to think what's for me won't go past me...

Looking for some buddies in the same boat or some over 40s who conceived naturally to give me hope and share their secret to success.

@hugocat Omg! That must have been a shock?!

[quote Geriatric1234]@hugocat Omg! That must have been a shock?![/quote]
It was!

@October1979 sending lots of love, support and hugs now AF has definitely arrived. That sounds like a very sensible and positive approach XxX

@October1979 I so admire your positivity in such an awful situation! I hope you (and everyone here) get your BFP soon!

My Ava bracelet arrived today, I'm already on CD6 and I'll continue to temp for the rest of the cycle whilst wearing the bracelet just to see if the info on both apps match up

Hi Everyone,
I am 47 and naturally pregnant. I am very sad because we were on treatment for an STD, I was using 3 antibiotics that one of them is teratogenic, the other 2 are also heavy antibiotics. I think I have less than one percent chance to have a healthy baby given my age and heavy antibiotic exposure in the first week of pregnancy. Do you know anyone who took antibiotics and was okey

Great@sabtom remember Ava measures skin temp which should be lower than BBT don't panic like I did. But you should see the same pattern. Thanks for all your kind thoughts everyone. Let's hope our luck changes on here. Welcome @littleangle46 I'm sorry to hear you are worrying. Has your doctor said there may be a problem? Have you considered the harmony test. This is a blood test that looks for genetic problems and is supposed to be very accurate. Keeping my fingers crossed for you x

Hi @littleangle46 welcome to the group and congratulations!

Had your GP raised any concerns about the antibiotics you were on? From my understanding the potential damage that could occur during pregnancy depends on at what point specific teterogenic medications are taken, and the riskiest time is over the first 12 weeks generally, when different parts of the body are forming at different times, so the fact you only took them for a week very early on pregnancy may not be such an issue?

How many weeks are you currently?

Hey all,

Had a great chat with midwife post-blood results this morning.

All fine with me, AMH within normal range for age, low overall obviously!

I did ask her about progesterone as it’s come up a few times here so i was interested in current fertility practise. She said progesterone had a brief period of being used but no studies have correlated progesterone to preventing miscarriage. She said it’s occasionally used post-IVF egg collection, but it does nothing to help improve chances of conceiving or maintaining pregnancy and whilst some GPS might prescribe it to reassure women, it is not generally given to women trying to conceive or who have had miscarriages. This is in line with a study I read that was done in 2018 and found women given progesterone vs not given it had the same chance of pregnancy outcomes. Interesting.

Just posting to reassure anyone worrying about levels or something they might be ‘missing’. I might add I am not an expert so just relaying what she told me.

Ultimately she said it’s just a game of noughts and crosses with the noughts being the good eggs!

One thing I found super reassuring was she said any moment you feel a bit defeated by the statistics, imagine yourself going into a contraception clinic. Any woman under 50 with an AMH of over 1 would be told they were CRAZY to not be on birth control as you still have a significant chance of pregnancy. I rather liked that! X

Thanks for sharing @Geriatric1234 - that's reassuring to know.

@Geriatric1234 glad you had a good experience with the midwife getting your results. Definitely agree with her that it’s a game of noughts and crosses. Or like rolling a dice. Just a few less numbers equal a viable pregnancy for older ladies.

It’s a difficult one with regards to progesterone as I know some research has found no significance. A more recent study found the live birth rate was significantly better with those on progesterone with a history of miscarriage. My GP felt it was worth giving me it as really hard to diagnose low progesterone. It definitely wasn’t just for reassurance. I’d never heard of it before. Also I paid for an appointment with a fertility nurse who strongly believed anyone with a history of miscarriage should be on progesterone. Obviously it’s really difficult to know if my ds is here because of the progesterone but I wouldn’t be comfortable going through another pregnancy without it.

Years ago I remember telling a nurse at the family planning clinic I was worried about my age and fertility. I was 34 I think. She laughed and said I had many years of contraception left until I’m at least 50. Also she said she sees lots of accidental pregnancies where women in their 40s assume they can’t get pregnant.

I’m sure we’ll all get there. Hopefully some good news soon! Xx

@Catconfusion Interesting! Goes to show it’s yet another area that really needs more studies but won’t get funding because it’s just “women’s issues”! I don’t know anything about it beyond what I was told today but I’m still going to get my levels checked to confirm, so thank you.

I am sure we will see lots of BFPs here soon :-) xx

Found this which I think reflects what you were talking about @Catconfusion ? Xx

www.rcog.org.uk/en/news/progesterone-could-prevent-8450-miscarriages-a-year-finds-new-research/

Yes @Geriatric1234 the most recent research suggests it may be beneficial for some. In reality it probably is a small number of people. It’s however a cheap medication and doesn’t do any harm. I apparently grew a great big placenta during my pregnancy and my baby was big and healthy. It probably wasn’t the progesterone but who knows.

I really do hope for good news soon for us all. Xx

Thanks @Geriatric1234 for sharing really good information. And @Catconfusion for your experience. I'm booked in to speak to a specialist for a consultation on 3rd March. My DH has is SA at the end of this month. So I am writing up a list of questions I want to ask. Progesterone is definitely on my list. Another I wondered about was clomid?

@October1979 I think clomid would only be used if your cycles were irregular or you weren’t ovulating. It basically stimulates the ovaries to produce an egg if they’re not functioning properly.

My cycles were crazy before ds and ranged from 28 to 60 plus days. I did seem to ovulate but very sporadically. I’m not sure what my cycles are like these days. The last one I had the early loss with was long and would have been 40 plus days I think after two 35 day cycles after I stopped breastfeeding. If we don’t conceive within 6 months I’ve been told we can use clomid to bring ovulation forward as the chances are better if ovulation is earlier. However my ds was conceived on day 33 and was ok. My mum didn’t have periods for 6 months at a time when she was young and was one of the early users of clomid in the 70s to conceive my sister. I was then natural.

You could definitely ask about it. Xx

I think you are right @Catconfusion although read a lot about it being prescribed for people who have been trying for a long time with no success. I will be asking about everything! 😂

2ww begins for me today! Think I missed ov though because my boyfriend was away most of the week and I've only just begun tracking bbt recently! So missed ov but will still be waiting with baited breath until I get the bfn 😂 How are you all doing?

Hi @Yumcoffee I think I'm in my ovulation window now, but I seem to have more flashing smiling faces on my clear blue ovulation stick than usual. I'm putting it down to the effects of the cp last month.

So my 2ww will be beginning imminently I'm sure.

Hey everyone, how are you all getting on?

I got some EWCM today on CD15. This is early for me and haven't even started tracking yet. Last cycle I think it was about cd28. My new thermometer comes tomorrow. It would be typical to O early and then get inaccurate results. We will dtd tonight so we're covered. I was going to wait but we've decided to give it a go this cycle. Nothing to lose particularly. I will monitor my temperature starting Friday morning. How does everyone else do it? Do you set an alarm for the same time or just do it when you wake up? I used Ovusenue before but we can't afford it this time. Its tricky as my DS sometimes has me up in the night so not sure how accurate temps will be. Might just have to dtd every couple of days for the next few weeks (damn my long cycles). A also have some ovulation sticks on order as well. Hoping we get some bfps soon! xx

Hi @Catconfusion

That's interesting. I had that last night on CD13, although I'm confused as I haven't had a strong positive on a OPK stick yet. We're DTD pretty regularly to cover our bases currently! Will keep you updated.

I hope you get into the temperature monitoring etc quite quickly.

I hope you get a positive in the morning @Littlemiss40andfabulous

I don’t really trust my body as I can get ewcm on and off for a couple of weeks before O. I seem to remember my first two losses made the next cycle shorter. Might be what’s happened as I don’t normally get signs of o this early. I better get on it with the monitoring! Xx

Hi @Catconfusion I got a peak smiling face on the opk yesterday, I've never had a flashing one though, it's always gone from empty circle to static smiley 🤷🏻‍♀️ anyway, been DTD from cd7, 9, 11,12, 13 (today). I starting using the Ava bracelet and that gives my predicted ovulation to be Saturday (cd16) and I continued with temping just to see how the 2 match. My Femometer app gives my ovulation date to be yesterday, so we'll see who's right in a few days I guess. Still gunna DTD the for the next few days just to make sure all bases are covered 😊

Sounds great @sabtom It will be interesting to see which method of monitoring is the most reliable.

I have no idea what my body will do this cycle. It’s rare for O to be before cd20 so hopefully I’ll be able to get temping first. I find it so much less stressful confirming when o has happened. Last cycle I had no idea and then the chemical happened. Hoping for a much easier time this cycle, whatever happens, xx

Hi @Catconfusion I do have an alarm set but if i wake up a bit earlier or something I just take my temp right away. I've got the femometer app and it seems fairly happy as long as I'm taking my temp within the same hour each day. It told me when i ovulated this month which was great because it was earlier than any of the apps have ever predicted and the test strips don't work well for me! The app also has tips to help you cope with each day of the 2ww! Let me know if you're interested and i can share a few! It keeps me busy anyway! It recommends to stay hydrated and keep your feet and lower back warm?! So here I am with my vest tucked into my knickers and big fluffy slippers on! 😂

@Catconfusion yes I peaked yesterday morning. So now officially in the 2WW again...

What do people do to distract themselves in the 2WW? I find work is the best distraction, but when I'm not working it's hard to think of anything else right now.