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.

@Catconfusion congratulations what great news! Gives us all hope! Keeping all crossed for you.

Hi ladies I’m on another thread but saw this one and thought I would join.

I turned 40 in Jan and we have been TTC since October last year.

My partner is 54 and already has children from a previous relationship.

I’ve been referred to a fertility clinic next month.

Since coming off the pill I’ve had regular cycles and have been ovulating more or less bang on CD15/16 as have been using OPKS to test.

Worried I left things too late but time will tell I guess.

Congratulation, Ladies, on BFP!
May I join, too? I have just turned 41 in March. For the first time tried Clear Blue Advanced sticks which surprisingly showed i ovulated early. From my body signs I was sure it’s much later but who knows 🤷‍♀️

Welcome@GingerFox2021 @Tillybabs lovely to have you girls join us. Can't believe how much this thread had grown! It's great for us all to support each other on our journey and be in the same boat together x

@GingerFox2021 do you temp? This confirms ovulation. Some women get positive opks and believe they will ovulate any day due to the surge. However it turns out the body geared up to ovulate didn't and tries again successfully some days later. I ovulate day 15 usually I do opks but also temp which confirms the day after it happens x

@October1979 thanks!

That’s interesting about the opks. Tbh I can feel when I’m ovulating as get slight ovulation pain and sometimes nausea like today. Today I didn’t feel great because of it!

I don’t temp though but might start doing that. I don’t know much about it though.

Thank you @October1979
I have just recently discovered temping but no, I don’t temp as I don’t think it will work with my sleeping pattern. I’ll see how these CB sticks work for few months, I mean what they show. Cause I really started tracking my body signs and ovulation 2 months ago and never done this in my entire life before. I even never knew how long my cycles are as I never followed- just knew it’s every month. So, it’s a new science for me, as we say.

@Catconfusion congrats! And fingers crossed you have a sticky bean there 

@October1979 my heart goes out to you, there's nothing worse than having the joy of seeing that 2nd line and then it be taken away 😔

Welcome to all the new ladies 👋🏻 all these BFP's are giving us hope that the statistics are wrong for 40yr+ women!

Might be a silly question but I hear 'baby aspirin' being mentioned a lot, is that something different to the everyday aspirin you buy at Boots for a headache? And what is it supposed to do?

Thank you @sabtom it’s the 75mg dose of aspirin. I linked a study above that’s quite interesting. I took it throughout my successful pregnancy. At 12 weeks I was told to up the dose to 150mg to prevent preeclampsia because I was over 40.

Be warned, GPs generally don’t know anything about it. Luckily my GP last year said it was worth trying. Current GP said a waste of time 🤷🏻‍♀️. I’ve decided to take it this time as I lost the pregnancy where I didn’t take it in January. Not saying that’s why but figure it’s worth a shot. I’m also on progesterone due to my history of mc. Xx

To clarify @sabtom the theory is aspirin improves blood flow to the uterus and reduces inflammation. Therefore increases conception rates and improves pregnancy outcomes if there’s a history of miscarriage. There have been mixed outcomes in studies but quite a positive one recently as I linked above. It’s just the standard 75mg available in boots. Xx

@Tillybabs I use an Ava bracelet. I wear it at nights and it does it for me and gives me a tick to confirm ovulation.

@Tillybabs It's just good for piece of mind. You read horror stories on google about conceiving after 40 and not ovulating some cycles or later/ earlier than you think so it's good for piece of mind

Hi @sabtom just everyday 75mg aspirin bought at any shop. It's supposed to reduce inflammation in the womb if any and thin blood and send more to the womb I think. I've read mixed things most say it won't do any harm, some say start after implantation, some say start before. I did it last month before and after but still CP

Welcome @GingerFox2021 and @Tillybabs

I would also second baby aspirin after recurring miscarriage. I had a late loss at 20weeks and they picked up that I may have thicker/stickier blood in pregnancy. They couldn’t say for sure that was the cause of the lose but they said to take baby aspirin in any future preg - I was told once the preg test Is positive and not before as I think there are some studies linked to it affecting implantation. Of course best always to speak to a dr but as @Catconfusion said they don’t always have the latest/fullest knowledge. I was also prescribed heparin injections too and carried a successful preg with these medicines.

Hi @Tillybabs @GingerFox2021 welcome to you both I second the temping as it's great for confirming ovulation

Ah ok. I was prescribed Fragmin (?) injections when I was pregnant last year. About 13 years ago I had a blood clot due to the Dianette pill I was on, and because of that the consultant thought it would be best that I had the injections throughout my pregnancy. It ended in a MMC anyway. But I think I was prescribed the thinners because of my history and not the risk of miscarriage.

Thanks I will look into temping

@sabtom yes Fragmin was what I was injecting it’s the brand name for deltaparin (heparin). Know idea if that was what helped me carry to term or not but I felt like I was giving my best shot by taking it! Even if injecting everyday was a pain in the bum!!

Hi @GingerFox2021 and welcome!

Hey @Tillybabs! I’m 42 and my DH is about to turn 50 so v similar to you! He also has kids from a previous relationship. Worth getting his swimmers tested as there’s things you can do for him too! X

Hello thought I'd say hi on this thread as ttc at 41 with very low AMH of 0.2 and refused NHS IVF because of this (age limit is high where I live).
I only got referred for IVF in case I needed back up as started TTC at 40 so was shocked and distressed to learn of 0.2 AMH in December 2020. I read the results online one evening and had to work out what it meant by myself whcih was awful. ANyway a few months in and I'm not feeling as shocked but do want to give it a go. Am reading It Starts With The Egg and started to follow recs including Ubiquinol. We shall see....
Be good to hear from ithers in similar situations.

@Geriatric1234 thanks for the advice. We are having an fertility appointment this month so hoping to get some answers soon and he will get tested.

I’ve already got him taking vitamins lol but it will be good to know if there is an issue or not.

@Ronnyrambler hi, I don't know my amh yet, but I've heard (think it was @Geriatric1234 that said about it?) it's only really an issue when having ivf not when ttc naturally as long as it's not 0 you're in with a chance! I've just turned 42 and partner 40 in too old for ivf here plus we both have children from previous relationships but none together, so we are trying to get more tests done at the mo. I have also been told that amh can change slightly so definitely worth doing all you can - quality not quantity! 🤞🏻

Morning all @October1979*@Marvellouslymadmum @sabtom* @Geriatric1234 and everyone! Hope you are all doing ok...

So I turned 41 yesterday - I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to my age so many times on a single bday!! Even my 40th! 🙈 I’m never normally bothered about turning a year old but yesterday it really depressed me ☹️

On the good new front I feel like I may have ovulated or am about to?! Had a temp rise just above the cover line this morning, strong o pains and ewcm yesterday- however oddly no positive on opk yesterday?

Here’s my chart what do you think?!

Morning all!

Happy belated birthday @Honey2! I don’t chart temps (though thinking about getting an Ava following the chats on here) but I think if you haven’t ovulated it’s definitely imminent with the rise and those symptoms! How many days have you had EWCM for?

I was feeling a bit blue about my age last month but all the BFPs here have really cheered me up! Xxx

I was 41 when I had my youngest and luckily conceived straight away like I had with all the others. I think there’s an element of luck in terms of the genetic hand you have been dealt. When I went to the gynae unit at the hospital recently they told me to still be careful with contraception as they recently had a 57 year old in there accidentally pregnant and that was their record (I’m 53). So older women can and do conceive naturally and it’s more common than you think. That means it’s frustrating and upsetting when you can’t, of course, but at least you know it’s a theoretical possibility.