TTC after MC - new thread for newbies / lurkers on other threads!

[Lowkeyloopy]

Hi all!

I know there are several threads dedicated to this topic, which I've lurked on for several weeks without saying anything, but some threads (sadly) have so many people on them that it can be a bit hard to follow, or it feels awkward to jump into the middle of a conversation between people who have been chatting for a while. Does anyone fancy joining me on a new thread?

My story: 33, TTC baby #1, conceived first cycle in Feb, but had a MC at 6 weeks in early March. Absolutely awful, as everyone knows, and I was in a rubbish place mentally for a few weeks, but I've also counted my blessings - it was early, I needed no medical intervention and at least I know I can conceive. Also AF has returned today - 29 days after first day of my MC. I usually have a 28-29 day cycle so am so grateful that my body seems to be getting with the programme again.

So CD1 for me, and I'll be TTC this month and back to tracking - BBT from tomorrow, OPKs from CD 11, still taking my Pregnacare and trying to keep exercising and eating healthily!

Would anyone like to join me if they're going through something similar? How have you been coping since your MC? What's on your TTC to-do list?! (Other than the obvious..!)

Baby dust to all xx

@bea19 I take CoQ10 and also upped my Vitamin D intake after reading that book. I also did little bits like stopped drinking out of refillable plastic bottles and wearing nail varnish as I freaked myself out a bit!

I didn't know whether that was overkill but I had a Zoom consultant with a fertility acupuncturist on Wednesday and she went through the supplements in the book so now I've bought extra ones! She also mentioned about plastics and recommended the only nail varnish to use is the Butter London ones.

I still don't know what to think to it all to be honest. Plenty of people that wear nail varnish and keep food in plastic containers get pregnant every day! But I suppose you get to a stage where you're willing to try anything!!!

Total failure to write everything in one message, sorry!

@TBF29 I completely agree, it’s awful people have to have three consecutive losses before you can get help for recurrent miscarriage on the NHS. There’s a Tommy’s petition out at the moment to push for that to be changed that I can share if you’ve not seen it before? It’s backed up by recent research that shows that “For women who have early pregnancy bleeding and a history of miscarriages… there is high-quality evidence showing vaginal micronised progesterone increases livebirth rates.” So if I get pregnant again and have bleeding again I will be pushing for this even though it isn’t standard care yet… the research was published in a Lancet series and this phrase really resonated with me “Not all miscarriages could be avoided, but the insidious implication that miscarriage, like other women's reproductive health issues, including menstrual pain and menopause, should be managed with minimal medical intervention is ideological, not evidence based.” Here’s hoping we all get our BFPs soon but also that medicine catches up and starts taking miscarriage seriously!

@SparrowMaiden thank you. Good luck to you! You've got more patience than me!

@Lowkeyloopy thank you. I ended up just slipping it into conversation in the car yesterday on our day out. He's very happy. I think we're both not allowing ourselves to get ahead of ourselves. I'm only 4 weeks 6 days, but fingers crossed!! I'm feeling fine. I had a bit of car sickness yesterday, which is what my morning sickness felt like when I was pregnant with my DS but it could have just been the journey. So glad your lines are getting stronger. Hopefully you can start to relax and get more excited now. What date are you due?

@bea19 I only read a few chapters of It Starts With An Egg but I swapped my water bottle to a glass one and stopped heating food up in plastic tubs. Also cut down on the amount of tinned food I was eating.

@ItsMeantToBe thank you! I haven't really, I just don't want a repeat of the last time I tested too early, too traumatic. My temp is dropping already (not below cover line but lower than a few days ago) so I think I'm probably out :-(

@SparrowMaiden my temp spiked around ovulation for a few days and then gone back down by approx 0.3 and has stayed around there, so you never know.

I've tested again this morning and for a darker line, so I'm hoping that means it's not a chemical this time but I've googled it and some people did get progression for a few days and then went on to have a chemical so I'm still crossing my fingers.

@ItsMeantToBe congratulations!!! Everything crossed for you, hope you’re feeling okay

@Lowkeyloopy so good to see your lines get darker, amazing progression. Keeping you in my thoughts ❤️

So after my rant about missing what Flo predicted as my O day last week it actually changed to the Monday when we DTD and means that we DTD 3 days before and on O day, but we’ve still done it 4 times in a week in the fertile window so hopefully covered all bases.

Hope everyone is okay ❤️ Anyone else testing soon?

@ItsMeantToBe that's great that your lines are getting darker. And thanks for the reassurance, don't want to get my hopes up though. I am in Wales on holiday now and still not feeling very pregnant. I guess I'll know soon enough!

@CMcA21 if no AF on Thursday then I think I might test Friday morning... I bought some tests on the way here 🙊

Hey guys, so I posted about the positive ovulation tests since the 21st. Took another ovulation test today and this is how it come up? Would you say thats positive still? I also took a pregnancy test Friday and the photo shows how it came up? I think it's negative but then I can also still see a v v v faint line. I don't have anymore preg tests atm and period is due on the 10th, what does everyone think? I just wish I new what was going on, the ovulation tests have been positive for so long now!

@flowermil that does possibly look like a line on the CB test! Do you have any frers? Blue dye tests are notoriously unhelpful at showing shadows I think. And I don’t know how sensitive they are. If AF isn’t due until 10 June, HCG may not be high enough yet, but a FRER might pick it up at this stage.

@ItsMeantToBe Oh at 4 weeks 6 days you’re further along than me! You must have held out on testing for longer, haha. I’m 4 weeks 4 today. It was lovely to see the family but at the same time it was such a chilled weekend that I had too much time for my mind to wander and to obsess ! I’ve occasionally had some cramps and twinges but they’re intermittent and mild so I’m hoping they’re a good sign. I just wish I could fall asleep and wake up at 6 weeks (the day after my MC started) as that’s such a mental barrier for me and the risk is lower after 6. Work should be busy this week though which will be a nice distraction.

@CMcA21 Thank you for your thoughts hun 🙂 Sounds like you’ve given yourself a good shout - keeping my fingers crossed for you!

@SparrowMaiden I hope your AF stays away this week! Fingers crossed for a Friday BFP 😊

@Lowkeyloopy

I don't trust CB tests that much either but it was all the shop had on Friday. I don't have any other tests but I hopefully have some internet cheapies coming tomorrow. I don't feel like I am pregnant but the ovulation test thing is confusing me, they've been positive for so long now!

@SparrowMaiden exciting. Let us know and enjoy your holiday x

@flowermil defo looks like a faint line but I think test on some others to be safe, you haven’t missed AF yet so it’s bound to be faint so I think a couple of days and different makes of test will help you be sure. Fingers crossed for you.

Feeling so emotional tonight, I just wish I could give everyone on this thread a healthy baby 😢❤️

@flowermil That does look like it's positive but as @Lowkeyloopy get yourself a FRER and go from there.

@Lowkeyloopy I've been having long cycles, which is good as I didn't find out I was pregnant until 4 weeks 4 days! I was only 5 weeks 1 day when I miscarried last time so I feel like I've skipped some of the anxiety. I wish I could wake up at 6 weeks too!

@CMcA21 fingers crossed for you!! The TWW is hell isn't it. Just imagine yourself at the end up of it with a BFP!

@SparrowMaiden enjoy your holiday!

All my tests were negative this morning but still getting positive ovulation tests 😔 I'm 12dpo, think I'm out, dunno what's going on with the ovulation tests though. Feel like I got my hopes up too much 😭

@flowermil really sorry your pregnancy tests were negative though depending on how sensitive they are you may not be out yet. Do you mind me asking, do you have PCOS? I do and have read that you can get false positives on OPKs if you have PCOS which is really frustrating as they seem so handy.

@bea19 I'm really not sure, just don't wanna put my hopes up 😔

I don't have PCOS that I'm aware, my bloods have always come back normal and I had a scan a few years back that was fine. I don't think I have any symptoms either. Can you just randomly develop it?

Hello girls! How is everyone? Hope you've all had lovely weekends ☀️

@Lowkeyloopy Your line progression is great! It must feel so good to see it in actual words on the digital too. So lovely that you got to share your news with your parents! Will this be their first grandchild?

@ItsMeantToBe Hope you're feeling ok! I bet this is the first time you've been glad to have long cycles. It's great that you've managed to skip a few days of the anxious bit. I can completely understand you wishing the next few weeks away

@CMcA21 How are you doing cycle buddy? Have you heard any more about the new job?

I'm CD8 today and had a huge temp spike. I got a darkish 2nd line on an opk which is really unusual for me at this stage in my cycle. I also thought I saw a shadow of a line on an Internet cheapie but I honestly could be seeing things, I don't trust my judgement at all. Line eyes are real!!! I spent ages staring at it in different lights. I think I'm gonna do a frer in the morning but I'm so nervous about it being negative and feeling disappointed. Gaaah the tww is sooo rubbish!! 😭 This was our first month of properly sticking to the sperm meets egg plan and I just want it to work so badly!!

@flowermil Sorry you have all this confusion and uncertainty. I've also heard about PCOS giving false positives on opks. If it's not that then maybe it's a dodge batch? Maybe try a different brand

I meant 8dpo obvs. I would be testing on CD8!!

@Flopsy88 8dpo is super super early to be testing, do you reckon you could hold out a few days longer? Might save yourself unnecessary disappointment? The tww is absolutely the worst. It's such a dilemma between testing early and maybe not getting an accurate result, or just waiting and stressing yourself out thinking about it. I'll be 14dpo tomorrow but because I'm not due on until Thursday I'm still waiting... but also it is kind of ruining my holiday as I can't stop thinking about it and i can't relax at all 😔

@flowermil I don’t think it develops over time but it often takes a long time to get a diagnosis (I had symptoms from when I was a teenager but wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my thirties!) That said if you’ve had blood tests and scans and no symptoms it sounds pretty unlikely to be PCOS so maybe a bad batch of OPKs as @Flopsy88 said…

@Flopsy88 ooh, interesting about your temp spike. Fingers crossed!

@Flopsy88 hi! I was so confused when you said CD8 I was like surely not... I’m 7DPO apparently seeing as Flo has changed my O date according to my data. When would be the earliest it would show on a pregnancy test do you think?

Got an interview on Friday for a promotion in my work so I am just crossing my fingers for it 🤞🏻

@SparrowMaiden only 2ish more days to wait now. Stay strong!

@SparrowMaiden Oh love, I'm sorry this is running your holiday. It's hard to think about anything else isn't it It? Do you usually have a long luteal phase? Thursday is only the day after tomorrow now! I hope it goes quickly for you.
You are right, it was definitely far too early for me to test but boots has the twin packs of frers on buy one get one half price, so I've got 4 to play with and no will power! I think I've got my squinter though!!! You can hardly see it in the picture but it's definitely pink in real life and came up straight away. I've stared at enough BFNs for long enough to be sure I'm not imagining this one. It wasn't FMU though and was quite diluted so i'll try again tomorrow. Obviously it's crazy early so I'm trying not to get my hopes up yet 🤞🏻

*ruining your holiday, I hope it's not running your holiday!

Oh wow @Flopsy88, I think I see something too! Keeping everything crossed for you for a FMU test tomorrow!!

@Flopsy88 I see it too!

The wait is over for me, temp dropped to cover line this morning and I've just had blood on wiping (tmi) which is how AF always starts for me. So she is bang on time/slightly early as she always seems to be!!! Garrrrrgh. At least I can have a beer tonight. Just SO P*SSED OFF to be back at the beginning again!!