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

@Flopsy88 Haha, SO excited about my toast - gotta love peanut butter 😂 So I read a few threads on here that said increased resting heart rate can be an indicator of pregnancy. Blood volume increases in pregnancy and your heart has to work much harder pumping it all around. A couple of days before my BFP a couple of months ago I could hear/feel my pulse in my mouth when I was trying to sleep - it was so random. So I’m really on the alert for that again I guess. Though I read one thread where a woman’s heart rate plummeted a week or so after her BFP and she was convinced she had miscarried, but the baby was fine. So not 100% failsafe sign.

How are things with you?

Are you ladies in the UK and hopefully enjoying some sunny weather?

@Flopsy88 thanks for that, I’m so clueless. I had alcohol on Saturday so that will probably explain sundays rise... will keep checking and DTD again tonight. I’m currently CD14 so hopefully it rises tomorrow or my poor DP isn’t off the hook as he thought before 😂😂 never checked cervix position will have a google how to do that.

Are there any things anyone does in the TWW that’s meant to help with either taking your mind off it or with actually helping implantation etc?

Hope you’re all okay.

@Lowkeyloopy it was sunny this morning but it’s grey now and gone cold! Hope you’ve had a lovely day.

Morning ladies! How are we all today? Anyone symptom spotting or testing?

@Msd2416 and @ShoesEverywhere - I hope everything is still good with you both and your lines have progressed?

I’m 7 or 8 DPO today and am failing miserably to not think about it! I have had definite twinging on my RHS for about 24 hours, had vivid dreams the last few nights and am pretty tired this morning. Quite possibly the power of persuasion of course..! I’m not particularly stressed though I guess, just super interested or something!

@CMcA21 @Flopsy88 - I’ve never managed to work out the whole cervix thing 😂 One day before I got PG it seemed to go from medium high to very low to so high I couldn’t find it in just one day! So don’t think that’s a reliable indicator for me!

@Lowkeyloopy thanks for asking hun. Unfortunately a few days after AF was due I started bleeding and out little line faded. Since I’ve had a doctor appointment and waiting for my fertility appointment. Will still try again this month.

Oh I’m so sorry @Msd2416 - so cruel for it to happen after your AF was due too, so it’s not even like you could have avoided knowing by waiting until after AF to test. Good news that you’re talking to docs and have got your fertility appointment coming up though - I’m sure it’ll help to have that extra support. Your time will come.

@Lowkeyloopy how strange I’ve just come off the phone with DH and the doctors have told him his sperm count is high but mobility is low so have given him
Some strengthening tablets so I’m
Crossing everything for a sticky one this month xxx

@Msd2416 Sorry to hear that. Good luck for this month. Let us know how you get on with your fertility appointment.

I've woken up in a foul mood. I'm assuming it's because AF is coming in the next few days, which isn't helping my mood! Just done another test and got a BFN. My cervix is closed and firm...don't really know what that means?

Hope everyone else is having a better day!

@Lowkeyloopy I came on my period yesterday.

Spent a long time today crying and feeling sorry for myself.

When are you going to test?

@Lowkeyloopy I think cervix position is a good indicator of ovulation but not of pregnancy, it seems to move around so much in the tww. I hope you're not driving yourself too crazy with symptom spotting! Did you get an implantation bleed last time?

@CMcA21 Apparently you should keep your feet warm in the tww! Something to do with Chinese medicine and your feet being connected to your uterus which likes to be cosy. No idea about how to distract yourself though, I've never managed that!

I'm sorry to hear your updates @Msd2416 and @ShoesEverywhere ❤ I really hope this is your month! 🤞🏻

I'm on CD11 and feeling weirdly chilled about it all. No sign of the OPKs getting darker yet but I wouldn't expect them for another couple of days

Hope everyone's having a good week. It feels like summer is over here! 😭

Thanks @Flopsy88 ❤️

Right girls I am so confused. I was so bloated, have had breast pain and ovulation pain, sore boobs, EWCM but my BBT hasn’t risen. It’s stressing me out so I think I might stop tracking it and next month just do OPKs... feel like we’ve wasted a month now.

Also, I really don’t know what to do, I want to apply for a new job but if we then got pregnant soon I wouldn’t be entitled to maternity pay because I wouldn’t have been working there for a year. DP says he’s not prepared to put trying for a baby on hold... 😩

That must be so frustrating @CMcA21 If it's stressing you out too much then definitely stop. It can take a couple of months of temping to see a pattern though and not everyone sees a rise, or sometimes the rise is gradually. When did you get a positive opk? I really don't think you've wasted a month, you've had loads of signs of ovulation and dtd loads so you're definitely in with a good chance!
That is really tricky re. the job. It's so hard trying to plan your career around ttc when it's impossible to predict when you'll get pg. And also another example of how little men understand the sacrifices we have to make! If you have to be there 12 months to get maternity pay then you'd only have to have been there 3 months before conceiving, is that right? So you'd only have to take a short break from ttc. I guess it depends how good an opportunity the new job is and how happy you are in your current job. Could you start the application process and see what happens? I'm sorry you've got such difficult decisions to make xx

@CMcA21 with my DD i fell pregnant the week after i started a new job and i qualified for Mat Pay by like 2 days haha so i just scraped it by making sure i worked until the end. Saved my hols to finish early. I wouldnt hold back these things happen. Could happen to someone not TTC too? xxx

@Flopsy88 I haven’t been doing OPKs because I was going to try and do the BBT to not stress me out because I though POAS every day would stress me out more 😂 for gods sake I just feel like I’m in a hole now 😩 should I just order OPKs? Now I’m panicking the MC has stopped me ovulating even though I know I do ovulate because I have really reg periods and I’ve had a proper period since my MC bleed too.

I’m a teacher and it’s for a September start so it would literally mean waiting until after Christmas, it’s so hard because before I got pg I was really career orientated and then I found out I was pg, everything changed and nothing else seemed important except for my baby. Now I’m panicking about not living my life because of TTC because I know it might not happen and I could be TTC until December and nothing happen... @Msd2416 that’s so lucky, I might look in to the guidelines etc for qualifying but as it would be a September start I’d have to wait until definitely September and that seems so long away.

@Msd2416 It's great that you have some concrete information from the doctors that you can work with re motility. I think the 100% POM juice is meant to be good for that he can glug it before you ovulate for motility and you can glug it afterwards for uterine lining!

@ItsMeantToBe I hope you're feeling better today. Sorry about your BFN but there is still time - those BFPs can spring up out of nowhere! As @Flopsy88 says, I think checking the cervix is tricky. I'm better with easy-to-read data like temps and POAS!

@Flopsy88 and @CMcA21 - I also read that about keeping feet warm! In which case I'm screwed - my circulation is awful! I've been trying to keep bed socks on (sexy) but sometimes my feet are cold when I'm walking around the house in socks and slippers!

@Flopsy88 - no I didn't get an IB last time so wouldn't expect that again . I never spot either - think I'm just not a very bleedy person! That is, until AF dramatically announces herself. So good to hear you're feeling chilled - exactly as it should be! I got myself unnecessarily worried about getting my peak because the OPKs were super faint and then it suddenly appeared out of the blue.

@CMcA21 - definitely don't temp if you're finding it's creating stress for you. I think it's a tricky thing to do if not combined with OPKs. At least getting your peak confirms you should be about to ovulate, so even if you don't get a temp spike you can tell yourself that if you were going to ovulate that month, it would have happened within 48 hours of the peak. If you're just temping, you could end up DTD'ing for days on end waiting for a spike and not knowing if you ovulated! It's more likely than not that you have ovulated though, and your temps were just a little thrown by something.

The only thing I would add to the other comments on the job is that, if there is one thing I'm learning, our bodies and babies don't care about our plans..! We might think it's a perfect time to have a baby, and they don't play ball, and just when we think it would be super inconvenient, they turn up.. Also, maybe you and your DP should have a big heart to heart about it? You definitely don't want to end up resenting your PGy / DP because you wish you had waited.

9 DPO for me today ladies! I had quite a lot of pinching feelings on the right hand side yesterday, then today some very mild twinges more in the middle. The pinches actually felt a little like what I felt the day before the MC started, when I assume that pregnancy was starting to ... whatever the opposite of "implant" is! So it's made me think it could be implantation maybe . Otherwise no real symptoms though, though I'm writing everything down about how I feel so I can get to know my body better for next month and ignore "false" symptoms.

AF due on Tuesday so don't plan on testing until Wednesday. Though if I don't get any other symptoms in the next couple of days I'll probably write myself off - I definitely had symptoms like blue veiny and sore bbs and increased sense of smell last time by around 11 DPO and they are so far absent..

@CMcA21 In teaching it goes off continuous service, unless you’d be moving to an academy or an independent school, where they may not count it. Most academies do though I think. So you’ll qualify because it counts your employment as a teacher rather than your employment at a specific school. That’s my understanding of it from when I had my DD anyway.

And just so this isn’t too creepy-I’m joining you all at the start of my first cycle since my most recent MC. Both desperate to be and terrified of being pregnant!

@Lowkeyloopy thanks for the reassurance, I need to just chill a bit I think. Anxious Annie over here. But I’ll try and keep my feet warm but like you have poor circulation. Bed socks are super sexy 😂

@PolarBear63 funnily enough it is an independent school which is also why I’d be worried about getting the job and then going on maternity quickly because you don’t have to follow the same process and I may not be as protected. Thanks for the advice though and so sorry to hear about your miscarriage 😢

@Lowkeyloopy sorry I missed the second bit about the job, I’ve spoken to him about it and he says he will support me in what I do... so we will see I guess. But it’s so true what you say about the timing. They just don’t care do they 😂

Also your pains sound like implantation so fingers crossed for you. 🤞🏻 Keep those feet warm missus 😂 let us know how you get on!

Thanks @Lowkeyloopy AF was due today but no sign of her. I took a FRER and still BFN. I'm wondering if I should have counted CD2 as CD1, as I only started bleeding in the evening, so tomorrow might actually be CD28. I've still got no signs of AF, apart from increased use of the loo! I think I'll be ok either way though. If AF does arrive I'm having the biggest blow out ever at the weekend.

Definitely sounds like implantation for you!! Not long to wait now .

@CMcA21 it's so hard to balance life, career and TTC isn't isn't it. I've kind of put my career progression on hold as I can't handle too much stress at once. You can see how the gender pay gap happens can't you! Do whatever feels right. What will be will be.

@PolarBear63 sorry to hear of your loss! Hope this is your month.

I'm currently laid in bed with freezing cold feet- jealous of all you ladies with nice cosy ones!

Morning ladies! How is everyone getting on? I am SO GLAD IT'S FRIDAY!! 😴

Any more symptoms @Lowkeyloopy ? Are you planning to test early or are you waiting til af is due?

@CMcA21 Have you made any decisions about the job? I hope you're feeling better after talking to your DP about it

@ItsMeantToBe Any sign of af yet? Did you test again? Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I'm on CD14 and OPKs still not getting darker. I was feeling a bit disheartened cos I thought I always ovulated on CD14 but after looking through previous months on my app I realised I have had an LH surge on CD14/15 before so it's hopefully fine. My cervix is really high which I think is a good sign. It's hard not to worry that the mc messed up my cycle though

Morning! Welcome to the gang @PolarBear63 ! So sorry to hear about your MC and hope you’re doing ok - it will be your time soon 🙂

No more real symptoms I don’t think @Flopsy88 , so I’m now convinced this isn’t my month and trying to get into that mindset so I’m not disappointed! I’ve got a kinda heaviness / roundness to my stomach is the only thing. Doesn’t actually feel like bloat - I’m not gassy - just feel a bit.. round! And slightly like AF could be around the corner but it would be too early. Also have been waking up warm in the middle of the night like I did last time but I think that might just be normal progesterone / temp increase.

Checked my app and last time I had some slight dizziness and cramping a bit like AF by 11DPO which I am today. Though symptoms like veiny bbs and increased sense of smell only came after missed AF. Just gotta keep myself distracted until mid next week somehow..

Either way this month will have been helpful to remind me that there really is no point symptom spotting early and if all that twinging was nothing to do with implantation, I won’t go mental analysing twinging in future months!

Hang in there with the OPKs-I was also feeling disheartened and worried because I had no hint of a positive when I expected it on CD13. But then it suddenly appeared on the evening of CD14. Do you know if you usually get a gradual increase or rapid onset? Apparently most people fall into one of those two - I’m defo the second - the peak is blink and you miss it so I have to test 3 times a day! Fortunately only with ICs. Hopefully you have a fun weekend of DTD ahead!

Thinking of you @ItsMeantToBe ! Hope you’re ok even if AF has showed her face!

Hope all you other ladies are well too and looking forward to the weekend!

Morning ladies,

No sign of AF yet. I tested yesterday morning but got a BFN. Ive had a heaviness in my stomach too @Lowkeyloopy, I'm assuming it's period pains but I think it does feel slightly different. I've decided to wait to see if AF turns up and not test again for a few days...well until at least tomorrow. I'm completely expecting this to not be my month. I don't know what I would do differently next month though, apart from maybe monitoring BBT and wearing socks to bed?!

@Flopsy88 Keep doing OPK's today and tomorrow and fingers crossed you'll get your peak. I'm sure it's right around the corner.

Hope everyone is having a nice morning!

When was AF due @ItsMeantToBe ? Fingers crossed that heaviness means something. I’m also comforting myself with threads of women saying they had zero symptoms other than a positive test!

If this isn’t my month what I’ll do differently next month is DTD on all of CD 12-16! I missed CD13 which was probably the best day for me. And do more exercise - I completely slacked off after my MC. Maybe those who get BFPs can all share what they did, and all of us who don’t can swap thoughts about what to do next cycle - good to have a plan and practical things to do I think!

That said, I’ve been having sharp pulling pains today! I got a cluster of them probably around 8.30 am as I was pottering about getting ready to start work. Like every 30 seconds for a few minutes - quite low down on my abdomen but on the right hand side. Then they stopped for a few hours and about an hour ago I got one really sharp one as I was sitting at my desk - out of nowhere and made me lean forward and gasp a bit.

But then when they’re not happening and my body is totally silent and symptomless, part of me wonders whether I’ve just imagined it!

If this isn’t a BFP month, I might actually be inclined to go to the docs about it, because it’s near where I felt the twingy pains before my MC. So if it’s not a new pregnancy, I’d want someone to reassure me that everything is ok in there!

@Lowkeyloopy I originally thought she was due on Wednesday but I think I should have calculated CD2 as CD1, as it was the first full day of bleeding following my CP. So I'm that case she was due yesterday. My cycle is normally pretty predictable. I'm feeling pretty chilled though. I just want to know either way so I know whether I can have a glass of wine over the weekend or not!

I definitely need to exercise more, pregnant or not. I've been so unmotivated recently. Love your idea about sharing tips etc, we definitely need to do that.

Your pains sound similar to what I had with DS. It was the first and only symptom I had before I POAS and I had them for a few weeks following also. I'm sure you're not imagining them, just in tune with your body. Exciting!

Hi girls, hope you're all doing okay.

Sounds like there's some exciting symptoms happening for a few of you. Fingers crossed we start hearing bfp stories 🤞

I'm 2dpo today, a couple of cramps but not much happening at all really, today I've been needing to pee all the time though which is a bit odd! I got my positive opk on Weds (cd24) but didn't manage to DTD much during fertile week due to alternating shift patterns which isn't helpful! We got a couple of times on and near peak so I might get really lucky, who knows! X

Hi, I hope you don’t mind me joining, I’ve been reading everyone’s stories for a few days and thought I’d share mine.

I had my Nexplanon implant removed on 10th February in an attempt to TTC #3 (I already have 2 boys aged 6 and 4). Found out I was pregnant on 24th March but started mc on 6th April. Decided to TTC straight away and currently 7/8 dpo. I have no idea when AF is due so I’m going to try my hardest to resist testing until 13/14 dpo.

I’m trying to take the whatever positives I can from the mc in that we managed to conceive really quickly, so hopefully won’t take too long going i