Post Pill TTC - Party Hard with a Vengeance

[TheHotelCalifornia]

It’s that time again, the 5th post-pill thread of ladies who are experiencing the highs and lows (mainly the lows…) of coming off the pill and TTC! Here you’ll find stories of delayed ovulation, crazy long follicular phases, crazy short follicular phases, light AFs, short luteal phases, long luteal phases, confusing temp charts and blindingly white OPKs, to name a few. Join us, won’t you? We're a lovely bunch and we'd love to help you make sense of post-pill life if we can!

Welcome back:

@mintgreenlife
@juno231
@kay00
@sperr
@mrsmacmc
@chinchilly
@curcurbita
@tillybabs
@ams19
@moocher90
@trying4one
@flowerbudd
@pumpkineverything
@tatty1987
@mancmama39
@elsie2021
@danielle2012
@spencer22
@charwils
@ftm94
@lobster8
@musicaljojo
@laurat94
@crabette
@moocher90
@cams50
@thedaydreambelievers
@K80AWE
@emmgrem
@MissC07
@MOL234

Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone, please tag them!

@kay00 hm I wonder why FF gave you dotted crosshairs though - maybe because there's been no positive OPK? Fingers crossed this is it though. Re the foof temp though - those are always a fair bit higher than oral temps, that's why you can't mix and match them I'm afraid but have to stick to one type of temping per cycle. Maybe try it next cycle? It is supposed to be more accurate and I guess the beeping would be quieter lol!

And yeah although my AFs are light this one is particularly so. Just had some spotting though so perhaps it's not all over yet.

@LauraT94 @Kay00 @Juno231 thank you ladies. Definitely can't be ovulating, it's a full blown AF. God I'm feeling so sorry for myself- this is why I loved being on the pill haha!
It's reassuring to know that the first few cycles is normal to be all over the place. Here's hoping I can have a standard 28 day cycle after this 😬

@Kay00 when you mentioned coq10s working.. are they supposed to help ovulation happen then? I bought some but haven't started them yet. I wasn't sure what they do. On the packet it says something about heart health which was putting me off as I wondered how that could possibly be linked 🙈

@MintGreenLife loving the 14DPO BFP it’s so strong! Wishing you a happy and healthy 9 months. Please keep us updated with your progress x

Thanks @Moocher90 I of course will, and want to stay up to date with what's going on with all of you too :)

@emmgremm in the course of TTC it's usually taken for egg health reasons but I can't speak for @kay00 ! Good to take especially if you have low egg reserves or due to start IVF etc to improve your chances. Takes 3 months for it to start having an effect as it takes that long for eggs to mature apparently!

@emmgrem yes, as Juno said, its meant to improve egg health and reserves which decline post aged 35... and i'm 35 years old, so thought I should perhaps take some. CoQ10 is naturally occurring in the body but you make less of it as you age, it is a protein and an essential building-block for the repair and construction of the body’s cells, so is also meant to be good for sperm (if your OH takes them).

@Juno231 yes, if I give myself a + OPK on CD15 then I get the solid cross hairs. Its odd though because the only cycle I have had solid cross hairs I didn't get a + OPK then either ??

Is there any chance your period could IB? How many DPO were you yesterday?

@Juno231 could be IB, cramps seem to have stopped and boobs are exploding out of my bra, this happens every cycle at this point though! Not getting my hopes up though as I don’t have high hopes for this cycle

@ChinChilly @kay00 I would have been 14 DPO yesterday so unlikely! . Anyway AF came back with a vengeance just before lunch! Had to take two painkillers and have a hot shower. It's gone back to a medium flow again so god knows what yesterday was about. Mind you - with this development this is a heavier than normal AF for me! But I think there's no point trying to figure it out as it still differs a fair amount cycle by cycle.

Fingers crossed for a xmas baby instead - did I tell you my sights are now set on the potential of being able to tell OH on Christmas day lol? I'm so delusional!

@Juno231 I always have similar great ideas of how I will tell people at certain times of the year, never bloody happens though 😂

@juno231 Urgh... godammit! Sounds like a awful AF too.

It would be lovely to tell people you are pregnant over Christmas... it would make my mums year! Nay, decade! But i'm going to try not to get my hopes up as it is still fairly unlikely for me (with my super low temps)... she says whilst munching on pineapple core and swigging a handful of vitamins down with another pint of bloody water!

I'm interested to know if @MintGreenLife and @TheHotelCalifornia have told your parents yet? Or will you wait until Christmas?

@Kay00 I've told my mum, but she knew we were TTC anyway and I would regularly moan to her about my cycles etc. I think I'll tell my dad also, my mum is currently keeping it a secret ha. Don't think we will tell OH's parents, we will probably wait until the 12 week mark, but we may consider telling them slightly earlier if it means we get to do it in person. You never know - swigging a handful of vitamins daily seemed to work for me ha xx

@kay00 excellent question! I love hearing about this Also @TheHotelCalifornia @Ams19 @MintGreenLife have you thought about things like extra scans, harmony tests, whether you're finding out the six (purposely misspelled that) of the baby etc? Tell us all.

I think I'd be keen in theory not to find out but OH would go crazy and he wants to know as soon as medically possible lol so we'd probably have to go down the harmony test route - I think you'd have the results by week 11ish already!

@Juno231 I had contemplated an early scan as everyone gets them, but I think we will most likely wait, unless I feel the need all of a sudden. I have to admit, I had to google Harmony tests, but I don't think we would have this test no. We will find out the 'six' though haha, I couldn't wait I don't think xx

@MintGreenLife yeah I think I'd skip the early scans in theory - I say theory because maybe I'll turn into a super anxious pregnant lady, who knows? Then again if OH wants us to do the harmony test just to find out the six I think that includes a scan at 10 weeks anyway so...

TTC silver linings - I'm dying for some wine after another rubbish week at work so I think I'll have that tonight!

Also if anyone needs any TV show recommendations then we started The Undoing yesterday (Nic Kidman and Hugh Grant) and it's so good so far, def recommend it!

OOh, thanks for the TV recommend... their isn't a great deal on at the mo. We are watching the Queen's Gambit though which has been excellent so far.

I think I would get an early scan so OH could be there, then the normal 12 week scan on my own (unless coronavirus is a distant memory by the time i'm actually pregnant lol). And I think we wouldn't want to know the six (snigger) as we like surprises.

@Juno231 Like you I'm saying we probably won't have one, but if I feel like I really want to and I just can't wait until 12 weeks then I probably would have one. I actually bought a bottle of wine and prosecco for my birthday this weekend, alas that's been passed onto DH now, but to be honest I couldn't have asked for a nicer early present. I'm thinking I'll get some fizzy elderflower and have it in a champagne glass to try and trick myself! Wine sounds like a good plan though, did AF ever properly arrive?!

Oh I'll check that out, we're really struggling for something to watch at the mo. Where is it? Netflix, Prime etc? Bet you're going to say Sky or Now TV ha x

@MintGreenLife haha it's on sky/nowtv - so we bought a one off month pass as we figured £9.99 for a whole tv series is still way better than the days where we'd go to the cinema regularly! Saying that though NowTV does 7 day trials which we've used in the past (once in my name to watch Chernobyl and once in OH's name to watch Big Little Lies. Both really good as well!

@Juno231 haha, I saw that coming! TV is absolutely rubbish at the mo, which totally makes sense as obviously not much new stuff can be made, but also makes lockdown all the more painful. We're watching Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country to prep ourselves for our move ha. Oh we did the same with NowTv to watch Chernobyl, issue with free trials is I always forget to cancel them! Totally paying for Disney+ at the mo and never ever use it x

@MintGreenLife Thank you for sharing your story! Really interesting about you stopping Gluten & Dairy. I have also suffered with IBS for years so may try that too

@MissC07 no probs :) could be worth a try x

@MintGreenLife thanks for sharing your story! I’m going to start ubquinol and Agnus castus this month. Such a strong 14dpo line 😍

@Juno231 I’ve also thought about being able to tell my DH on Christmas Day 😂 but think I’d actually only be like 7dpo then which is going to make it awkward at my sister’s house for Christmas as we haven’t told them we’re ttc so they’ll expect me to drink so I’m torn between drinking or not. But this will be cycle 8 so I’m not too hopeful these days so might as well drink 🤷🏼‍♀️ But still always have the guilt/ fear! A drink tonight when an AF sounds amazing!

@juno231 good question. I've looked into the private tests and we considered it but I think we will stick with the NHS ones. I know they aren't as accurate but if anything does show we can get more specific tests.

I have a private scan on 21st Dec when I'll be 9+5 so I can tell very close family at Christmas. Not ideal at all, would rather wait, but the not drinking will make it so obvious Christmas day

So little update from me, had some bleeding this week. Not much, definitely more spotting, but my god do you panic! I decided to take more tests and they were sooooo light. When I mixed them with water because of the hook effect (so weird you were just discussing this) they got a bit better but still much lighter. The weird thing is both the test and control lines are lighter. So basically they are no help 😂😂 EPU have booked me in for a scan Tuesday when I'll be 6+6. So now just praying for no more bleeding and that bean is still there and okay on Tuesday. Keep everything crossed for me please ladies 🤞🤞

P.s. pregnancy is a lot harder than I expected! 😭😓😫

@Cams50 no probs at all ☺️ That sounds like a good plan x

@Ams19 aw I’m so sorry to hear about your bleeding. Keeping everything crossed for you. But I think bleeding in early pregnancy is common and even bleeding throughout pregnancy can be perfectly normal so hopefully all is well x