Ttc #1 - cycle 7

[rosiej95]

Really fed up of AF showing up month after month now 🤦🏼‍♀️ we've been taking the see what happens but dtd lots approach. But now going into month 7 so We've decided to use the clear blue opk's to see if it gives us a better chance. 🤷🏼‍♀️
Now to just wait for AF to disappear 😀

Any one else ttc #1? 😀

Hi ladies, I wondered if I could join in by any chance? There are a few names I recognise from prev threads I’ve been in (hi @rosiej95!) and you seem like a lovely supportive bunch!

I’m 3dpo in cycle 8, ttc #1. Had bloods last month and all looks good there, DH has a pot awaiting him submitting a sample. Taken it’s toll a bit on us now, def more on DH than on me, so that hindered our DTD this cycle so I’m not too hopeful yet still going out of my mind just 3 days into this tww 🙈

Hope you’re all having a good Tuesday x

Hi @Amy259

Of course ☺️
Its nice to speak to people going through the same situation and you can relate too.

The 2ww is awful ain’t it, but have to say having people to speak to has made it a little more bearable.

I have a feeling I’ll be moving onto month 8 soon. Not feeling very positive

Thanks @AZ1992X

It’s the worst, normally I’m ok(ish) at the very start of the tww but this week I’m already driving myself mad. I don’t know how people stay calm and not stress/overthink everything!

Fingers crossed your bfn turns into a bfp tomorrow or the next day 🤞🏻

Morning everyone

Af's got me... so officially on the 8th cycle 🤦🏼‍♀️
Originally when me & my bf spoke about ttc we said about trying to avoid a December due date as it's my busiest time at work but now we're just going for it still as we just want a little bubba 😞

I Naively thought it wouldn't take this long 🤦🏼‍♀️
I'm going to carry on with the sticks this month, eat healthy & hopefully get a bfp! 😂

Lovely to hear from you @Amy259
Hopefully the 2ww goes quick for you!
Hope your ok 😊

How's everyone else doing this morning? ☺️

Welcome @Amy259 I think we will all be on cycle 8 within a week or so. Lovely to have someone else to moan too haha.

I woke up this morning about 2am feeling sick and dizzy and severe pain in my lower abdomin. I thought AF had arrived but nope still not yet. Anytime now. If nothing still on Saturday then I will test again. Don't want to test on Sunday. I would rather know it's still a BFN and have lots of chocolate and some booze too!! Other than that, no symptoms still. I keep thinking ooh maybe but I'm also thinking that I've maybe been so good with food etc that actually I won't have many AF symptoms.

@amy259 my husband had his SA appointment yesterday so I will keep you posted with that. It says we will get the results in 3 weeks so that should be around my next ovulation time probably. I had bloods a few months ago which were all fine but they didn't do specific hormone ones so pretty pointless really! We will be able to get more help after trying for the year. Wish it was sooner!

Hello everyone
Please can I join in? You all seem lovely and I could do with some support! I am actually ttc number 3. It took 12 cycles to conceive my first and 7 or8 to conceive my second. We’ve been ‘not trying not preventing’ since December which isn’t long at ALL however me and dh had a disagreement about baby 3 and I don’t want to push things by buying OPKs and seeming obsessed!! Af is due tomorrow and I’m feeling really down. It’s normal for it to take up to a year but sometimes I just want to SCREAM why doesn’t it work?! Haha.
You can time it perfectly month after month and still get BFNs it’s just so frustrating!

@rosiej95 sorry to hear that, hope you’re doing ok!

I think I’ll be joining you I’ve got bad abdominal pains so think AF is on the way and should be due in next few days!

Hey can I join in, TTC for the first time, in 3rd month of trying! Usually have 28 day cycles but AF is a day late already, no symptom of AF either! I got a really late peak of OPK around 9 days ago so thinking that's maybe why it's late. I've not tested because I'm not confident it'll happen so soon for me! Fingers crossed though

@AZ1992X I feel like we have the exact same cycle haha.

Welcome @Aims1991 and @Cinderellashoes.

Good to hear cinderellashoes that you've had successful pregnancies in the past. Have you noticed much change in your cycles since the first or second?

Aims - how long have you been tracking for and what opks do you use? If ovulation was 9 days ago then maybe your cycle is longer this month? I normally have a 28-31 day cycle with ovulation on cd17 or cd18 but find the later CD the longer the cycle

Nope, not really! After the birth of my second I bled for 3 weeks continuously but my cycles have returned to every 28/29 days. My PMS is worse though - my boobs are sooo painful before AF which is cruel as it always gets my hopes up!

@Loops01 I use one step opks. But got CB for next month. I never really get AF late so this is strange for me

@Cinderellashoes I don't want to sound accusing or anything of the sort but have you tried changing your diet? I used to get really sore boobs for a full 11 days before my period but now I've reduced my sugar and started trying to eat for the stages in my cycle (which I didn't even know was a thing until recently) and I've found boob pain has completely gone so far. Like you said it does get your hopes up a bit maybe missed that hope in some sense.

@Aims1991 maybe it's a good thing or maybe just a freak cycle?

@Loops01 Knowing my luck it'll be freak cycle 🙄

@Loops01 it’s very similar ain’t it 😂

@rosiej95 sorry to hear af arrived... onto the next! Maybe cycle 8 will be lucky for both of us! We were the same about December, and my next o day would mean a Boxing Day due date. I think DH could use the break so think we might still skip it (which will be hard to do!).

@Loops01 yeah keep me posted on DH’s SA! I think mine is still building up to it 😂 my bloods were all fine, and found out my progesterone was around 45 which is reeeally high when not pregnant apparently and causes no problems but accounts for my PMS symptoms being quite strong - that was quite interesting.

@Cinderellashoes I feel that - this is just #1 for me but after 8 cycles of timing it, taking tonnes of supplements and doing every old wives tale under the sun I’m fed up of it just not working!! So frustrating.

@Amy259 how did you manage to get your progesterone readings? Are you private or just a good gp? How high is that? I've not researched it much just now since I can't get answers. But have heard high is normally good like you say as likely to be pregnant but strange. I always read that it's oestrogen that's harder to lower so maybe that's a benefit?

@Loops01 I had a phone consult with my GP last month on day 2 of af, it marked the start of my 8th cycle and I was so fed up. I basically was just like “Look I know its supposed to be a year but I’m 30, healthy, exercise, eat well, don’t smoke, don’t drink to excess.. my husband is the same. I have tracked with LH strips and confirmed ovulation with BBT for 7 cycles now and had a chemical in August. Is there anything you can do?” and she immediately sorted full bloods for me and SA for DH. Once his results are back, she’ll refer us both anyway because she said all they can do is say no and make us wait until June. Ive only met her once before, for a referral to get my coil out at hosp as the strings were too short, but she must just be a good GP!

So progesterone is

@Amy259 that's a good gp! Mine wouldn't even speak to me over the phone and we are the exact same (but we are both 31). We should be able to get a bit more help in July but might start pushing if nothing after cycle 8. They will do DH due to the tests being easier but hopefully with covid relaxing then maybe can push for more. That's mental how high the levels are. Wish there was easier ways to do this at home that weren't extortionate or inaccurate! Sorry to hear about your chemical - how far through were you? I've not had anything close, not even a faint line but do hear its very common, probably almost 1 in 2 have a chemical/later miscarriage. Mental!!

@Loops01 ahh very similar, DH was 32 at the weekend and I’ll be 31 later this year. Yeah I imagine after the SA our tests will stop until after the year mark, but I suppose at least it’s something.
I got a real squinter at 9dpo, then very obvious FRERs and easy@homes with progression from 11-14dpo but by 17dpo I was bleeding. It was tough, got a bit ahead of myself thinking about due date etc. I hadn’t told DH yet as was waiting to do a cute surprise, obv told him when I started bleeding, but I’m glad I didn’t tell him right away because I’ve still got that exciting moment to come one day! Yeah apparently it’s super common, still doesn’t stop me from testing early though 🙈

@Loops01 nope you’re spot on, I’m a nurse and I start at 7 so my diet is pretty terrible tbh. I rely on chocolate a lot!! What sort of things did you eat instead to reduce your sugar?

I’m glad to see about supportive GPs, I had some investigations done around my 8th cycle (first time ttc) but everything came back normal, I got pregnant on my 12th cycle with twins, however I lost one. My remaining baby has just turned six!!

So I guess it CAN be fine to take up to a year but I, even now, can’t see why you can time sex perfectly for 11 months prior and still not get pregnant. I didn’t do anything different the cycle I got pregnant either. So so frustrating and I can remember feeling this before.

Oooh actually I’ve just remembered my DH semen analysis came back slightly abnormal with poor motility but high sperm count (higher than av) he had it repeated and motility was fine but the analysis had high viscosity! X cx

@Cinderellashoes that's interesting about the SA. I heard that most of the wee issues with the sperm can be improved with diet etc quite quick which is handy. I just struggle to get DH to take his multivit. He's like a child himself in that sense lol.

I get you! I do a 10 wk shift pattern of days, lates and nights and it's so difficult. I just banned myself from chocolate until the last few days this month. Had bad headaches for 3 days and felt like my emotions were all over the place but felt better for it in the end. I googled what to eat for ovulation and for luteal phase etc and tried to add those into diet. I don't drink any caffeine (heard that's harder to crack) but it means most of my energy is from processed sugars. I just started eating more fruit and veg but every morning or whenever I woke up I would have a smoothie with some berries, water and then added general protein powder, collagen powder (read its good for egg health and general) and then inositol which is mainly for pcos (which I don't think I have) but good for depression etc too and heard its good for helping insulin levels. I think that helped me a lot. My issue is I like to snack if I'm bored so anything that takes longer to make or get into helped! Eg apple and a small amount of peanut butter longer to eat than that chocolate bar.

I can't imagine having kids and knowing they it was all fine then struggling when you want another. Hopefully for all of us it is just time needed. Hate it!! Haha

Well we never actually saw a proper fertility dr but he seemed to think it was nothing, maybe the sample not being processed quickly lol. Dh won’t take a multivitamin either!! Sooo frustrating. We have a 6 year old who took 12 months and a 2.5 year old who took 8 months to conceive. Only been trying since December but I’m so impatient haha! Thank you for all those suggestions, if af shows tomorrow (and I defo feel like she will, bitch that she is!!) I’ll try and improve my diet next cycle. Also starting reflexology in April which I’m looking forward to!!

Hey everyone

@Amy259 your gp sounds amazing! 😍
We had our break last December due to it being a busy month, it gave us chance to chill but I was glad when we got back to it. ☺️

@Loops01 @Cinderellashoes why is it so hard for them to want to take vitamins 😂
My bf was exactly the same! Until I reminded him it's the least he could do after this whole ttc journey & the fact if we are lucky to get a bfp I'll be the one giving birth 😂😂🙈
I'm taking the pregnacare ones. The taste of them tho 🤮😂🙈

I take the pregnacare ones all the time now (even when not ttc) because they’re really good for you anyway! Af is due today for me. I’ve had all the usual pre af signs and quite frankly I’m pissed off at the world today. About to start work, hope no one irritates me I just know I’ll be checking for af to arrive all day because I was doing the same last month!