TTC 35+ Thread 6 Cougar and Silver Fox Club

[M4v3r1ck]

Hey ladies, setting up a new thread! 😃 Hope it works! 🤪

@Kitekat81 that sounds really good! Certainly not bad news!! Glad you’re feeling a bit more positive to try naturally for a bit longer 🙂

@thislittlebird I do feel like a lot of the onus is put on females having decreased fertility as men can go on having children into the 80's but that's only some men! The same as some women can get pregnant at 50/60 mots may be a good way to do things!

@Kitekat81 I'm glad it went well and everything looks good for you so far

Hello all! A lot of messages to catch up on!

Welcome new ladies! A very, very helpful thread we're in here! ☺️

@sickofthisyear I'm so sorry to hear your news, it must be heartbreaking 😔

@MeltingSnowflake wow that's excellent!

Re the IVF sales pitch, that's exactly how I felt. I felt after my hycosy it was rather good news to know my tubes were clear. The consultant did say the number of eggs was reduced but said the number is only important if you want to try IVF and reiterated twice I could return for a further consultation in that regard if I wanted.

The doctor I spoke to before my hycosy suggested trying until the age of 40 (so for another six months of so, at the time) and then my IVF chances would dramatically reduce. My partner pointed out that (ok, age has an effect) your body doesn't just suddenly become infertile at that age. And the doctors don't know anything about your state of health either.

I did ask what supplements I could take. The doctor said nothing, simply folic acid and try not to stress.

On another note, weirdly today I noticed my skin looked great this morning!! I did do a mask and little tan last night but it was suddenly tighter, like ovulation skin! Usually by this time, day 21, I feel a bit saggy! So of course I'm reading into this as a symptom! 🤣🤣

PS @MeltingSnowflake how have you feeling? Any symptoms? PMS'y? 🤔 Be really interested to know, if you don't mind! 🤗

That’s good then @Kitekat81. A little reassuring that it wasn’t awful because you hear so many version of how it can go.

Was the doctor pre hycosy you spoke to nhs or private @selina37? Your partner is right. A private consultant said to me something like “oh you don’t want to leave it too long, you’ll be 38 soon and that’s when fertility will start to decline”. It annoyed me, because it doesn’t seem to take individuals into account and feels like they’re always pushing you towards ivf. I’m panicked enough as is, I don’t need them reminding me but I also don’t think all my follicles are going to die suddenly in May. This consultant did recommend a supplement for my husband which was good though.

Been reading tonight about how stress can mess with your progesterone levels and acupuncture can help so I’m hyped for this acupuncture session tomorrow. Needle me up!

@thislittlebird it was a private clinic though the hycosy was carried out under the NHS; that's as far as the funding would take me.

That's what I thought, I know age is not on our side but I wasn't going to hit 40 and suddenly become egg-less. And the test confirmed I do have eggs (albeit reduced, but that's expected) and I had actually just ovulated, which confirmed the pain I felt two days earlier.

Of course they aren't going to encourage all the things one can do to help natural conception, but I was surprised they didn't suggest anything that could help, even a little. Vitamin D for example is something we should perhaps all take, and is known to help fertility. Not even that was suggested. It just seems the IVF route is what they ultimately have in their sights.

Cynical, I know.

That said, if they want IVF to succeed, I guess the sooner they start it the better.

@MeltingSnowflake fantastic news. Congratulations!

@thislittlebird Hi, I'm just starting to look into accupuncture. Have you tried any yet? I'm not sure what types of thing I should be looking for when finding one

Are the progestoerone, AMH tests etc that have been mentioned private or on the NHS? I haven't been referred for anything on the NHS yet. I've had some blood tests privately after my second miscarriage and it only seemed to pick up the MTHFR gene carrier. I was thinking of phoning the GP but don't know what to ask for.

I couldn't believe my luck earlier, I went into Boots to pick up an online order and found a pack of 10 CB ovulation sticks redcued to £3 on the clearance shelf. I'm going to scour those shelves at every oportunity now on!

@KG1145 you could ask for them I’m sure. How long have you been ttc? They’ll do progesterone but the GP will probably call it day 21 tests. AMH is one most people get privately or once they’ve seen a specialist I think.

First acupuncture for me is tomorrow, will let you know how it goes!

Nice find on the sticks!

@selina37 frustrating that it was a funding issue. How did they tell you’d just ovulated?

I got a price for cycle monitoring from the clinic I was arguing with this morning. I’m not convinced I should do it, it’s very expensive and I don’t know if they can prove I ovulated, I need to do some more research on it.

Yeah, as you said obviously ivf will work better if younger but still, it doesn’t feel great when they keep pushing it at you.

@KG1145 I’ve had all my tests (progesterone, AMH, internal scans etc) done on the NHS. You just have to tell your doctor how long you’ve been trying for and providing it’s been ‘long enough’ then they’ll begin the blood tests. I was referred to the fertility clinic at my local hospital. They gave me a checklist of all the tests I need to have done, and I have telephone consultations to discuss results.

@thislittlebird well I saw on the screen a big black blob and I thought to myself 'that's the corpus luteum' and sure enough, he said you've just ovulated! The CL is where the follicle has grown and burst the egg out! I had felt pain two days earlier, on the side he said he was looking at (CD10) so that confirmed ovulation 🙂

@thislittlebird thanks for the info. We've been TTC for a year now but I've had two MC in that time so I'm not sure if they'll count it from the last MC or from when we started. It'll be worth a call to the GP anyway to find out.

I was having pain in the right of my pelvis so had a scan about a month ago and they found a 1.2cm lump on my cervix. I've seen a consultant and had some reasurrance that it doesn' look sinister and looks like a cyst but still waiting on biopsy results. Still not sure of the right pelvic pain though...

Good luck with the acupuncture tomorrow. Hope it goes well and you feel super relaxed after!

@Misty84 Thanks, I think i'll give them a call. I was thinking of giving it another month using the CB sticks but I suppose theres no point waiting :)

@KG1145 It can take so long between tests that you might as well get the ball rolling! 🙂

@selina37 I decided I’m not doing this cycle monitoring thing earlier because of my argument with the clinic today and I’ve just seen the price. I asked them how they’d know if I ovulated and they had no solid answer (which is weird, you would think they’d know more about things they do often). I had one scan before and it was around the time of ovulation. They never explained to me if they could see if it had come out or not, but they did say what side it was on (I got pains in both sides and I suspect my excess of follicles compete or something based on what I’ve read about it). I have those scans on file, tempted to shop around for second opinions. I just want to know if I ovulate

I would just tell them front the time you started initially @KG1145.

I’ve ordered myself some b6. Apparently it helps progesterone so I’ll get on that.

@MeltingSnowflake congratulations fab news! 🙏 for a healthy pregnancy.

@selina37 I’m on cd19 and trying my best not to symptom spot (but have thee most sore boobies I’ve evvvver had)

@thislittlebird have you seen these? proovtest.com/ Might be worth a try?x

@Loladoodle woah we both have a different symptom each! We simply must get a BFP the same month! 😂

@selina37 I used to always get sore boobs so never thought it was a symptom, then stopped getting them so much so that was a symptom and now they are back with a vengeance so of course this is a symptom! 🤪 I mean you with your gorgeous skin and my mega sore boobs- OBVIOUSLY going to be a bfp for us both 🙄😬🙏

@Loladoodle unfortunately my skin has reverted to the same old TWW sag today! 🙄🥱😒 xx

@selina37 🙏 for a miracle for us 💫