TTC 35+ Thread 8

[M4v3r1ck]

New thread ladies! Hope this works! 😃

@M4v3r1ck Don't worry, I was rediculous and did a test at 6dpo in the middle of the afternoon haha I don't know what I was thinking.

8dpo tomorrow and contemplating testing with FMU - still rediculous. I have no self control!

It's been an emotional week for me. But glad I let it all out. To the strong women here and to my ever so loving family - from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And if I do win the lotto tonight, I shall fund all our fertility treatments

@Marvellouslymadmum No you did not come across grumpy at all or anything. Thanks for sharing a bit about your story with your son. I really respect everything you’ve gone through.

I definitely did not mean it “like that”! I know better. But as I was typing out a response I had a hundred things happening in tandem and wasn’t fully focused plus the website is clumsy, so yeah...

Oh yes if ttc doesn’t eventually work out, I’m back to travelling and enjoying life with my husband without the pressures of ttc and ovulation tests and SA results as you humorously put it @thislittlebird this whole ttc planning is overwhelming on its own 😅 so one step at a time!

@Geriatric1234 well your DH needs to be less resistant like that! See at home we’ve finally managed to reach an agreement that suits both DH and I: “Happy wife, happy life” 😂

@M4v3r1ck I really agree that this place has been a godsend. It’s just such a privilege to be here with likeminded women, each with her own story, and sharing together this journey with its ups and downs! The urge is always greater to test, even when it doesn’t make sense to! 😂 Well I’m 3 days away from AF and I’m gonna hold off till then. The longest and toughest 3 days await me. When’s your AF due?

Just wanted to say that you ladies are wonderful. @geriatric1234 your post made me smile! Such words of wisdom.

There are definitely pros and cons to conceiving later. I had moments or regret and anger too that we didn't start sooner. Having my first later than all my friends/family meant I had time to get a career established and pay off students debts first. We love to travel and took him on a few short backpacking trips when he was a baby which meant he'd travelled to 11 different countries by the time he was 2.5. There's no way I would have been able to do that if I'd had him in my mid 20s. Definitely pros and cons to each approach!

Keeping fingers and toes crossed for you all this month xx

@M4v3r1ck 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry!! 🦄 But also: DOOOO IIIIT 🤣

@Feanorous I swear our bodies take the pishh when TTC. Last month my clockwork period was 2 days late (I resisted testing because I prefer plausibly deniability rather than thinking it’s a CP) and I had SO MANY classic pg symptoms. Then AF appeared and was an absolute beeatch.

Now, i have Qs Oh Wise Women: I’m back to opk testing now and last month I got a flashing smiley on CD 11, today I got it on CD 9. I decided to take pics of the tests so I can use cheap sticks moving forward. Pics attached. Anyone got a clue how these are a) different and b) how this can be a surge??

The ones with wooden bg were taken today, the other one was yesterday. I think today looks fainter than yesterday tbh.

@Geriatric1234 sorry I can’t help with the opks as I am generally just winging it (especially this month more so than ever!) but just wanted to say your attitude is amazing and I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying re ttc/motherhood! Can tell you are an author- you should have your own Column as an agony aunt also! Brilliant 👏

Ps tequila will ruin egg quality? puts tequila down

[quote Geriatric1234]@M4v3r1ck 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry!! 🦄 But also: DOOOO IIIIT 🤣

@Feanorous I swear our bodies take the pishh when TTC. Last month my clockwork period was 2 days late (I resisted testing because I prefer plausibly deniability rather than thinking it’s a CP) and I had SO MANY classic pg symptoms. Then AF appeared and was an absolute beeatch.

Now, i have Qs Oh Wise Women: I’m back to opk testing now and last month I got a flashing smiley on CD 11, today I got it on CD 9. I decided to take pics of the tests so I can use cheap sticks moving forward. Pics attached. Anyone got a clue how these are a) different and b) how this can be a surge??

The ones with wooden bg were taken today, the other one was yesterday. I think today looks fainter than yesterday tbh.[/quote]
Hi @Geriatric1234 - are you using the advanced ones with dual hormones? If so, i don't think that line corresponds to oestrogen (which is what flashing smiley picks up). That's the line for LH and should only get darker for static smiley.
I've looked at mine for a few months now (sorry my pics won't help as they're dry now) and that line got darker this month when I got static smiley on CD14 and confirmed with cheap OPK.
If you're using the the other ones then I'm less sure! I'd get DTD anyway if possible- any idea when you'd expect to ovulate?

Morning ladies, hope everyone is feeling good today. I'm 10/11dpo today, had a slight temp drop this morning, not enough to rule me out completely but enough to mentally prepare me that I'm on my way out for this cycle. Oh well, glad I've got my ivf appointments lined up for next month.

I saw this meme on Facebook, bit cheesy but it reminded me of you ladies and our conversations so I thought I'd share it.

@KG1145 glad things are progressing well with your pregnancy so far! 😊

Thanks @kitekat81 😊 I've joined a couple of other mn groups but not really posted. I'm rooting for you all on here so much I keep checking back!

It amazes me that there are so many warrior women out there quietly battling huge things each day including ttc struggles and we all just get on with it and mostly keep it to ourselves as its not spoken about so much. Also how we've taken control, had to resort to our our research and there's not much support from Drs and we're making changes. Its fab to have a group like this where there are like minded people also getting their PhD in googling weird and wonderful tips and tricks.

@Kitekat81 Ah I like that photo 🙂
Just what I needed to see!
What are the details of your ivf appointments next month? Did you choose Create in the end?

@Misty84 I've booked treatment consultations with two clinics, one next week with a 'normal IVF' clinic in Glasgow which is geographically closer to me so would be a lot more convenient in that respect, and then one the following week with Create in Manchester, which is a pain in the bum geographically but might be a better treatment option for me and my good old low AMH. I'm going to keep an open mind and see what they both say, and then go with the one that is most positive about our chances.

@geriatric1234 if it's just flashy it's not yet a surge right? I take flashy to mean that some lh is showing up but not loads (hence why some people will have flashy smileys for days on end. Even my static smiley wasn't that dark on the test strip, but the easy@home one did get much darker at the same time and the next 12hours so I think CB was right. Personally I do wonder if CB just has a lower threshold for a surge, and will give a static smiley at a certain % which doesn't necessarily mean a darker line than the control.

Agree with you that bodies take the piss whilst ttc. My cycle has been 30 days max since i got them back after having my daughter, but this month ovulation was late so looks like it will be 35 days! Have tested BFN on a FRER today (day 33 and 12dpo) so looks like i won't be successful this month :(

I've run 100km this month as a fundraising effort for Leukaemia UK (my sister is undergoing treatment at the moment) so I'm putting the late ovulation down to the shock to the system, as I'd only run 10km total over Jan and Feb and not much last year at all!!

@Loladoodle Apologies - I assume that was autocorrect: “tequila MAKES eggs”. continues pouring tequila on her shreddies

@sickofthisyear Ohhhhh good point! I’m using cb digital advanced where you get an O/flashing smiley/static smiley. I assumed it would just get progressively darker. Last month I got flashing smiley CD 12 and static CD 13, so as I’m in CD 9 it felt v early. But I guess it depends how many flashing days (lol) I get before static. But I wasn’t expecting flashing for a couple of days, so I guess it could just be a different pattern this month. Thank you!

@Kitekat81 ❤️

@KG1145 please keep giving us updates! It’s so exciting!! 🥂🥰

@Noodella18 Thank you - great intel! I did wonder if I messed it up by starting base testing two days late, so possibly this is actually the first proper month. If I peak tomorrow it’s probably just an errant early month.

Bummer you’re out this month but DAY-UMM GURRRL - 100k?!? That’s amazing! Well done! I’m just proud if I hit 10k steps...! And sending love and positive vibes to your sister! Xxx

Correction - started testing 2 days late LAST month. Not this one. Typing and walking not possible with my attention span 🤣

@Twelvestars thank you, I do find that when reading messages we can take them a totally different way to they were ent too without the social queues etc it's so easy to misinterpret online!!

@Geriatric1234 I have had a look at my little
Stickies from the all Powerful cb ov thingamajig and they always seem to be way more feint than the cheapies - I actually did an internet cheaply on my second peak day this month just out if interest and it actually came up with a really dark strong peak which is very unusual but was way darker than the cb so I think because can measures two hormones it's more accurate but the lines won't necessarily show us mere mortals a lot, unfortunately.

@Kitekat81 that's a very positive little meme for the day, love it!

@KG1145 my dr google phd has been put on hold! So far in the car this morning I had a sniffly nose - brain 🧠 said - hmm, pregnant?
Then a woman selection to go in a million £ draw and I welled up - brain 🧠 said - hmm, pregnant?

IVE ONLY 5DPO!!! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
I've gone passed all these stages and usually pretty good at trying not to symptom spot and don't test unless late, however I seem to have developed new hope around the fact that my iron levels are now where they should be and my fsh levels appear to be that of a younger woman than myself 🙄 I need help 😂😂

Missed a few posts there while I was rambling!

@Noodella18 wow 100k is an amazing achievement, I'm sure your sister is very proud! We've just started taking big walks each day we've done 5.5k Monday and 6.9k yesterday so I'm pretty pleased with that. Just got to keep it up now!

Sorry too busy to keep up atm. But now 6dpo and no symptom checking yet! Tho tbh I'm praying I get a tiny one implantation spot in 4 days or so and no symptoms before then! This I know such a tiny, tiny percentage of women get an implantation bleed

Ovia says period expected Fri but due to late ov that's crap, prenom thinks 8th, which makes more sense

Hope everyone else is hanging in ok!

@geriatric1234 @marvellouslymadmum thank you! It's been bloody horrendous! I don't feel any fitter at all than I did at the start, every km has been utterly vile! Which I guess makes it worth the £1800 I've raised! That's really great about the walking, MMM, keep it up! So much more civilised than sweaty breathless jogging. Do you live somewhere with nice places to go?

@Noodella18 I can imagine! But yes definitely worth the money you've raised. Yes we live in battle, East Sussex so kind of in the countryside with woods and fields all around us and 20 min drive to the sea so we often take the dogs along there when the weather allows

@Noodella18 what an amazing achievement! Also sending lots of love and good wishes to your sister xx

@Geriatric1234 this pic shows my reading from FMU (on left) -flashing smiley with not quite peak OPK- and then reading from 3pm same day- static smiley with peak OPK. But you can see the difference on the CB sticks is tiny, I think the monitor is just more sensitive.
(I tested again that day as I have peaked on CD14 for last 3 months and was cross that might mess up my pattern! 😂)
I don't know how it measures oestrogen 🤷🏻‍♀️, but that's how you (hopefully) get a longer 'heads up' to your surge. I got flashing on CD10 but because I have a regular cycle I was fairly sure I still had time to DTD before peak. Managed CD11, 13 and 14. Now 2DPO.... 😬
For others waiting for peak, the LH surge can be quick so if irregular cycles I would recommend twice daily testing when you think it's coming or you might miss peak reading. Or some months you just don't get a peak, try not to panic. Baby dust to all. ☺️

Pic would help 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thanks for the advice @sickofthisyear about testing twice a day, def something I need to do to catch that peak as I never seem to have one. Are you supposed to dtd ASAP when you see it?!
I’m only on CD2 so a bit of waiting to go 🙄

I think just DTD when you can manage it! The flashing smiley gives you the approx start of your fertile window, but personally we couldn't manage all those days 😂 so just try and get the day before and day of peak so it's closer to ovulation as those days show best outcomes.
I'm trying not to put too much pessure on DH though. Sperm hangs around for about 5 days. Ovulation happens about 24-36 hrs (I think) after LH surge.