Pre-conception, planning and trying!

[sunflowersaremyfav93]

Third thread here we go...

@CookieMonster3001
@lollipop87
@bells3032
@thenewmrsM
@curiosity101
@AMS19
@butterfly5291
@clouless
@gems05
@HeyDW96
@kittyT30
@Pebbleinthesand

I've started a new thread for us, tag people I've missed.

💘

@mackjm20 I'm not a believer in fate or karma, but these things do always seem to have a way of sorting themselves out. Often ending up better than they were. So fingers crossed for your DH!

If everything goes to plan I will be testing anywhere from 10DPO which could be 29th/30th December. So realistically it could be a New Year BFP. Or a new year BFN, it really is a case of do I crack open the Nosecco or the Prosecco

Just had a sneaky little look at work's maternity pay package today. I suddenly got this horrible feeling that I had to be back at work for a full year before I got the enhanced maternity benefit. But it's just 25weeks of continuous service before the 15th week before your EDD. So basically 25 weeks of service before you're 26 weeks pregnant... ie. so long as you aren't pregnant on the day you start then you're good to go.

@Curiosity101 aw thank you :) 100 percent something will come up :) it will all be okay :)

Haha prosecco or nosecco! Love that! I’ll be testing 23 dec so that will be my plan and if BFN I will be drinking all the wine at Christmas :)

Oo that’s good news re maternity pay :) I’m self employed so it’s just maternity allowance for me but keep thinking the longer it takes to get a bot the more I can save so every cloud :) x

My period has come early! Which has shifted everything forward- natural cycles now thinks I will be ovulate around the 15th instead of the 19th- 20th! Bit concerned about the cycle change given it had been the same the last 3 months and I assumed it had settled, but I guess 5 months off the pill I could be still having hormones settling.

I am so so glad I came off the pill 5 months ago and gave myself a chance to experience my own natural self. I have been using condoms until we decided to be brave and trust natural cycles this month, but the difference in me is unbelievable, I used to get awful pms, shouty and crying, huge swollen boobs, 3-4lb weight gain, binge eating chocolate- it's completely disappeared. I was getting multiple migraines a month- sometimes 3 in a day I haven't had a single migraine in 5 months.

I actually have a sex drive, looking back on the pill we only had sex once maximum twice a month before, and it was me feeling bad and having sex without really being in the mood. Now I have a sex drive again.

I will absolutely not be going back on hormonal contraception again. I had been on it 16 years since I was 16 and I just had no idea that all the crap I put up with wasn't my body!

@mackjm20 haha, all the wine, I like your style. And yes, silver linings and all that. Always good to have more savings.

@wrensandrobins I bet that took you by surprise! 😄. I could literally have written your post word for word. I have vowed never to go on hormonal birth control ever again. I didn't realise I had so many negative side effects from it until I came off of it. I'd been on it for 14+ years. I'm considering the copper coil once TTC #2 is sorted. I'm nervous about the potential risks associated with it, but I cant see any other options that would suit me and after #2 I don't plan to have anymore babies.

@wrensandrobins that is exactly what has randomly happened to me! Goodness knows why so frustrating isn’t it!

So good that you have been able to realise the pill isn’t for you! I feel exactly the same about it!

@Curiosity101 oh yes! Let the wine flow hahaha! It’s my 30th in March and originally we weren't even going to start ttc until after then so I mean although it sucks each month that I get a bfn on the plus Atleast I’ll be able to drink at my 30th if this continues :)

Hope everyone is good today! I got up and went for a brisk walk 1st of the month and all that and really trying to shift a stubborn few lbs this month and get cracking on the weight loss again :) x

@mackjm20 That's such a positive outlook! And you can definitely lose the weight if you want to 😄. I love my morning walks to the childminder, I feel like it sets me up for the day and at this time of year if I didn't have to leave the house then I don't think I would!

Do you have a weight loss target in mind?

@Curiosity101 thank you :) I would really like to lose 3 stone in total but every lb counts aiming to do it healthily so 2lb a week and just see how far I get :)

Omgosh I know right it’s so cold! Popped my Fitbit on this morning to get moving as literally I am so sedentary working from home lol!

@mackjm20 You're definitely right, every little helps. Tbh any positive lifestyle changes probably help 🙂 and I'm impressed by anyone that chooses to go outside when it's this cold.

I used to ride horses prior to having DS, I'd often be down at the farm in the middle of winter at 7am in the dark and the cold. 🙈🙉 But only because I had to! 😄

I weighed myself this morning and am down another 1lb. So I'm 3lb away from my next target of 10:7. I really really want to get there before my first TWW, but then I do worry what dieting could do to my lining during the folicular phase. I might be worrying about nothing but it just feels like your body wouldn't put as many resources into building it up if you're at a high calorie deficit?

@Curiosity101 yea that’s what I am hoping :) You have done amazing well done! How have you done it? Yea I know what you mean completely it’s certainly a worry of mine and I know ideal scenario would be all the weight gone before ttc but we will see :) X

@mackjm20 Pretty much just calorie control. Initially I was following TheFast800 plan but was struggling on such a low carb diet. So I've relaxed it a little and am probably on roughly 1000-1200 calories a day. Relatively low carb but not a Keto diet anymore.

I've also been making sure I'm staying active. I'm aiming for 10k steps most days and throwing in a few light strength training bits. Literally just a few planks, squats and sit ups here and there.

I do feel like starting thyroid medication has helped. I reckon I'm naturally burning a few more calories a day without doing anything.

@CookieMonster3001 @MayDay27 thanks!

@TheNewMrsW just different lots to think about now 😂 I'm super impatient to she a midwife and get a scan to see what's up

@mackjm20 faintly nauseous, DP thinks it's in my head but I felt ill on Saturday and put it down to being told my grandad was dying (he passed last night 😢). Also i had "period is coming"/something uterus-y pain Sunday night which is why I tested because I'd had it before and no period appeared.

Putting a pin in it because of redundancy is what I tried to do, fingers crossed similar "works" for you

@Curiosity101 that "not pregnant when you started" is the same for SMP and I'm 99% I missed that as I've only worked there for 3 weeks.

@wrensandrobins 😮 dear god, never mess with your hormones again! (She says two years into breastfeeding with very low sex drive 🤪)

@olderthanyouthink I thought SMP was paid by the government and the first 6 weeks was worked out as 90% of your average earnings between weeks 18-25 of the pregnancy or something like that? Hopefully it's only your employer's enhanced maternity benefit that is affected?

@olderthanyouthink Just looked up the rules and you're spot on. That's awful. So will you end up with basic maternity allowance instead?

@Curiosity101 yep no 90% for me, the government pays the employer back for SMP but I have to deal with the annoying MA now because I was forced to change jobs My last place did 100% for the first 6 weeks but buggered it up and kept paying me my normal salary for a few months and said to keep it so I had lots extra, not going to be the case this time.

@olderthanyouthink 😭😭😭

Babies eh? 😂😅

Sorry to change the subject a bit but for you guys thinking about TTC in the next few months would you consider having the Covid vaccine first? I am not sure what to do on it. Even if not pregnant yet no evidence of long term impacts on near embroyos. Do I just trust everyone else to have it. Usually I'd have been the first in line to get it!

Oooooh snarky woman on the phone from the hospital, she's not impressed with the clear blue digital tests that don't tell you any further than 5 weeks ("waste of money") and my not knowing how far along I am

Narrowed it down to 5-11 weeks though, got a scan next Thursday to maybe do the 12 scan or just work out dates, DP can come with as DD will be at nursery and I'll just have to do a bunk at work.

For all the ladies talking about dieting, I really recommend The Arrow Club. You can find them on Instagram and they talk a lot of sense about calories in and out, losing weight and exercise. They don’t advocate diets, or cutting food groups, they encourage you to use their free calorie counter, weigh your food and log it in (free MyFitnessPal).
Their Instagram is full of a lot of helpful info.
Basically, you work out how many calories a day you should eat, then you eat those calories each day, and include a deficit of 100-200 to lose weight sustainably. Those calories can be nutrient dense, or mars bars, but whatever you eat, if you go over the calories you will put on weight, if you eat less you will lose it.
It’s not a quick fix, it’s a lifestyle change.

Afternoon all!

Got my peak this morning on an OPK literally out of nowhere which is odd because it sort of indicates that I will ovulate tomorrow which is CD11. So either I am going to ovulate a day early this month, or I have my cycle days wrong, which could be a possibility as I started bleeding on Saturday evening but logged AF as started Sunday... who knows!!

Tried to DTD this morning but OH was too sleepy and I had just woken from a bad dream so wasnt really in the mood. Going to DTD tonight and tomorrow :)

@mackjm20 how are you lovely?! TBH I haven't noticed that much difference with them. I do notice a bit more CM in general, but still no actual EWCM. I do get a lot of watery CM though, so maybe mine is just watery? Sisters wedding (well registry) is finally going ahead next week, hurrah... poor girl has had to cancel so many times! When are you due to ovulate or have you already? Cycle 3 has come around so quickly to be honest, and even thoug we all know it can sometimes take up to 12 months to concieve, I dont think we REALLY got to grips with how long it might take and that we probably wont fall in the first cycle. Defo hard work to say the least. So sorry to hear about your OH! It is so hard to be zen isnt it!

@curiosity101 not long now!! You would be proud of me! I dropped 3 lbs this week! :)

@wrenandrobins The pill is awful isnt it!! I had pretty similar symptoms to you and even though we werent ready to TTC, I came off mine last October, and honestly the best decision ever made!

@olderthanyouthink haha sounds like she was having a good day! Is the scan this Thursday (2days time) or a week Thursday?

@Smushty14 a week Thursday (10th)

@Curiosity101 that’s so good :) calorie counting is such a sustainable way of doing it :) I’ve done Keto before with exercise and found it dropped off so defo watching my carbs that’s for sure :)

@olderthanyouthink oh bless you depending how far you are it could defo be morning sickness :) ahh fingers crosssed it works for me :)

@Bells3032 I am really unsure re covid vaccine to be honest... really torn on the idea so not very helpful. Half of me thinks would be great to be vaccinated and I normally get vaccinated for everything but other half is nervous what about you?

@lulahloo thank you I will take a look at this as still have so much I want to lose :)

@CookieMonster3001 I’m good thank you how are you? So odd that the peak came out of nowhere but great that you spotted it :) so glad your sisters wedding is happening next week :) I’m currently on cd8 and have no idea when ovulation will be as my cycle has been abit up in the air the last 2 after being settled for months (stress maybe) but going to really just focus on DTD every other day (if sh is in the mood based on job stress) and see what happens :) the cycles do come so so quickly don’t they! I know exactly what you mean even though you know the stats I had never prepared myself mentally enough for the bfn. Last cycle I didn’t test I just waited for af as I couldn’t bare to see another negative lol! But I know I’ll end up testing this cycle as want to know if I can drink over Christmas or not :) thank you! It’s so rubbish but dh will be okay :) everything will fall into place I’m sure :) just would be great to have a positive end to the year with a bfp so that it would be positive in more ways than one but if it’s not meant to be then that new caramel baileys can console me :) xx

Having one of those weeks at work where I feel like my to do list isn't getting better. Just had a brief look through the thread - looking forward to reading them all properly later!☺️
Happy 1st of the month.

Gaaah my body is a PITA!!! So as I posted at the weekend I thought I have confirmed Ov for last Thursday - EWCM, positive OPK and a (admittedly slight) temp shift, both apps confirmed Ov based on this. This morning, what I thought was 5DPO, my temp dropped, I have some EWCM and I got a high OPK this afternoon (though not as high as last week).

WTF is going on? I am now wondering if even though I did see a small temp rise for a few days that wasn't actually Ov (it would have been really early for me to O with my cycles) and my body is gearing up for it now? Esp as my fertility monitor didn't pick up a peak last week. Anyway I grabbed a very perplexed DH, who thought he was off the hook, as soon as he came in the door from work and told him to get his pants off as I didn't want our marathon efforts of last week to go to complete waste if I actually don't ovulate until this week 😂

I know it's possible to have more than one LH surge before O so wonder if that's what's happened, though doesn't explain the slight rise in temps the last few days 🤔

It's all soooooo confusing, let's see what tomorrow brings 😂

@mackjm20 welcome back! Sounds like you have the right approach this month just try to take it one day at a time when you have so much on your plate 😘