One year+ TTC part 3

[BritInNZ]

Hey ladies - new thread here we come! Changed it from 9 months+ seeing as we're pretty much all over a year of TTC now (boo!)

Feel free to add anyone else I may have forgotten 😊

@Carla2601
@lemons44
@LucyAnne34
@NatW2021
@Indianna2006
@KatieLooLa
@Hoping43
@Flyonthewall89

Newbies welcome too! Just a bunch of lovely ladies going through a tough time TTC and having a good old time venting and supporting one another 😊

@Carla2601 how are you getting on with your pregnancy?

@FlyOnTheWall89 @BritInNZ how are you both feeling ladies?

hope everyone else is okay and plodding on still ttc.

Back in tww again 🤦🏻‍♀️ Literally bain of our lives that tww.

@Koalie are EPU still monitoring your hcg Hun? Or do you need to test eventually to see what happens?

Hi @Indianna2006 ! Is this the TWW after your holiday or the following one? I lose track! How are you feeling about everything?

I'm okay - very very nauseous, feeling pretty bloated by the end of the day, boobs and nipples looking bigger and fuller. All good signs I think. I'm going to have a harmony test I think in about 10 days time. Hadn't heard about it but a friend suggested it and it seems sensible.

Xx

@FlyOnTheWall89 my tww following holiday. So period turned up on holiday. We’ve been back off holiday about 8days now. 1DPO today 😂🤦🏻‍♀️
oh I don’t know tbh…I keep thinking am I actually in for a chance which sounds stupid. But I just don’t get this ttc busines. But that indent line last cycle was a bit annoying 🧐
gonna not test until 13dpo this time or wait for AF. Can’t be dealing with anymore indent line emotions.

keeping my fingers crossed 🤞🏼 But trying to also stay level headed. When I started I said I wanted a baby to be born before my DD started full time school 😅🙈 what a joke that was. now I just can only dream I fall pregnant before she starts full time school which is 2 months 😫

oh yes all good signs. I have heard of harmony test. Think they can check for syndromes etc and maybe also check for sex on that I believe altho not certain of that actually 😂Maybe that’s something else I’m thinking of lol. Glad things seem to be progressing as they should 🥰

@Indianna2006 Hi lovely :)
my hcg levels on Wednesday had gone up slightly again so I decided to have the Methotrexate yesterday. I’m feeling OK so far, just super tired - feels like pregnancy fatigue again. We are gutted we can’t try again for 3 months but we’re going to use that time to focus on OH’s morphology and motility so hopefully it won’t take us as long this time when we do start trying again. He started taking all of the stuff @FlyOnTheWall89 sent me yesterday.

Hope your tww isn’t too painful. I stopped testing before 12dpo a while ago because those indents are a killer! I’m also with you on the timelines .. I really wanted to be pregnant again before my first baby’s due date in May just gone 😔 let’s stop setting ourselves goals shall we? 😆 x

@Indianna2006 feeling good thanks for asking! On day 16 of 17 of my festival for work so slightly concerned this baby will only eat festival food and sleep to incredibly loud music but feeling a bit tired but overall a lot less tired Han on past years as zero booze haha.

hope the TWW isn’t too painful and it passes quickly for you - that’s been the great thing about this run it’s passed almost 3 weeks without time to count down days or worry so I’m 4 months now (and absolutely enormous 😂😂😂)

@Indianna2006 I'm doing okay thanks! Sleeping heaps and constantly tired, and my diet consists of beige, beige and more beige 😂 boobs are very sore, already switched to non-wired bras and have to wear them overnight too. Got a scan tomorrow to check all okay - bit nervous!

Looks like you're in your TWW again - hope it goes quickly for you! I'd like to say I had absolutely NO inkling I was pregnant and the only symptom I had was being incredibly thirsty (still have this, I wake up with hangover mouth every day!). So all the symptoms spotting in the TWW seems like a total waste of time 😊

Hope everyone else is going well!

Glad to hear everyone is well - not much to report my end.

@Indianna2006 i am also in TWW again im 1dpo. 😫 im not temping anymore and not very hopeful as this is 14th cycle now so think my expectations are lower and more manageable. I am going on holiday for a week on Saturday so AF will be due the day after i get home - least i wont be on AF when on holiday then we have our follow up appointment with NHS the week we get back. X

Good to hear everyone's updates.

@Carla2601 I'm very intrigued by what job involves that many days of festival! 😱🤣

We are ok here. We have our next consultant appointment on Wednesday and will talk about sperm retrieval and hopefully get that booked. In the meantime I am chasing my Drs every day about our NHS referral so that we can hopefully talk to them about IVF.

Alongside this, I don't know if you girls remember but at my scan my uterine lining was only 5.1mm on day 27 (day before AF). Well my consultant wasn't that bothered and said it's more important about the quality (something to do with three layers). However now it looks like we will need IVF I've been trying my best to get it thicker because from what I've read on Dr Google, they won't do IVF unless it's 8mm at least.

The things I've been doing are:

• taking a million vitamins including vitamin E and l-arginine (both have had studies show they improve thickness)
• drinking 2-3 cups of raspberry leaf tea a day - apparently this is good for the blood flow
• combining wholemeal with 'good fats' and oily fish by having avacado and smoke salmon on wholemeal bread for lunch every day. I read those are the things needed in your diet and apparently wholemeal can improve it by 0.4mm.
• the best one... HULA HOOPING to get the blood flow to my uterus so it thickens 🤣😅
• started running because one of the main causes of thin uterine lining is not enough movement and I work from home still and suspect that my issue is sitting down too much.

The last thing I need to start doing is acupuncture as that's one of the best things for the blood flow and thickness too (so I've read).

I know that most likely I would be pumped full of drugs during IVF to get it thicker, but if I can get it looking good naturally then I'd prefer to do that.

If anyone has any other tips on getting a thick uterine lining I'd be grateful to hear 😃

My AF is due today so I'm hoping I notice it's a bit heavier than previous months, as the past few years it has become quite light .. maybe linked to the working from home.

I hope you're all enjoying this sunny weekend ☀️

Hi @lemons44 great to hear you've got things in order and I hope your next appointment goes well.

Re your lining, I actually queried mine as it was borderline and they immediately said it doesn't matter because you will be essentially artificially preparing your bodies cycle. So, I wouldn't go crazy on extra things at this already stressful time. Your doctors will manage your drugs accordingly to build your lining but no one can predict how you'll react to the drugs which is why IVF is talked about as a treatment for which sometimes 3 cycles is needed because sometimes many adjustments have to be made to the drugs along the way/between cycles. But sometimes people get lucky 1st time. Let's hope that is you guys xx

@lemons44 haha I work for a festival organiser and we do our biggest event in hyde park which finished tonight! Dragged myself away from the party at 1 which felt very odd haha.

re lining I heard pomegranate juice, it’s not very nice and it’s expensive. I drank some for my round but I’d never had my lining looked at so idk if it helped but I saw it somewhere and it can’t hurt. Sounds like you’re making progress and keep us posted on your next steps as we’re here as your cheer squad! Also hulahooping sounds lols I love that!

@BritInNZ apparently beige food is normal, I got obsessed with potato smiles 😂😂😂. It’s meant to be a good sign for wanting all the carbs and I also had the dry mouth. Have you had your scan now? Thinking of you I know it’s really anxiety inducing.

@Carla2601 the dry mouth is the worst! I'm trying to find anything that isn't water to make drinking so much more exciting 😂 scan went well thank you! So surreal - saw the little heartbeat and it finally felt real. And pleased to say there's only one in there!!! Due date pushed back a bit, so now due 2 March 😊 day before I'm meant to be a bridesmaid at my friends wedding (who is an absolute bridezilla). RIP me 😂😂

@BritInNZ thats great news! It’s such a relief isn’t it.

You might well be fine for the wedding, my SIL was the same at our wedding and a friend of mine was a bridesmaid 3 days after her due date and on the day of her sweep 😂😂😂 so I reckon go with the flow until it doesn’t work, you can’t plan for it as it’s more of a 5 week due window so try not to worry too much about that and I’m sure she’ll be happy for you

@lemons44 glad things are moving for you. regarding lining, I kind of have the same issue as mine was measured at 4 mm just after ovulation. When I brought this up with the consultant, she said they will monitor it through the IVF cycle and may put me on oestrogen patches. Agree with @FlyOnTheWall89 it is such an artificial process, they will look at this as part of the treatment and adjust as needed. I too work from home (it's been over 2 years), so my movement through the day is very limited. I have also noticed lighter periods in the past few months. I also started so many supplements about 3-4 months ago to try and help, but yet to see a BFP, so IVF may be my only hope.

@BritInNZ aww so glad the scan went well and you could see a heartbeat. That is amazing. So pleased for you X

I am meant to have my nurse appointment tomorrow. I'm still a bit anxious that they may ring to cancel as they have the last couple of times. Though they said the reason for postponing was due to the consent forms changing, I still haven't received these so I'm hoping they will just print out a set of the new forms during the appointment.

@Tinkerbell098 good luck tomorrow - hope they fast track too now you deserve it

@Carla2601 thanks. I'll update on here on how it goes.

@Carla2601 wow that's a pretty cool job! 😎 I actually bought some pomegranate juice and have found it's nice with some fizzy flavoured water.

@FlyOnTheWall89 @Tinkerbell098 thank you. That's interesting what you have both said and actually makes me feel a bit better 💖. IVF still feels like such a scary thing to me. I never thought we'd end up in a position where we even needed to think about it. It struck me the other day how unromantic mine and DH's TTC journey has become with words like 'specimen', 'abstain' and 'retrieval' 🤣🤣 I'm sure you ladies feel or have felt the same.

@Tinkerbell098 it's interesting about the working from home isn't it. I am almost convinced that my periods have got lighter (and lining probably has got thinner) since working from home for 2+ years and therefore needing to walk and move less. I hope your nurse appointment goes ok. X

@lemons44 it’s very fun I’m very lucky it never really feels like work, was odd being sober! Haha.

It is daunting but you can do it and it might not be as bad as you’re thinking I was certainly relieved compared to what I had imagined!

@Tinkerbell098 how did it go?

Ladies I’m just back from my nurse appointment. So mentally drained after all the forms we had to fill in. Glad it’s all done now. We were informed that there is a national shortage in suprecur (buserelin) so we were given two options. Wait for it to be available (they reckon mid august) or go for short protocol so I’d start stims next month. Nurse said there wasn’t too much of a difference and it’s hard to tell how I’d respond to either as it’s my first cycle. I’m in two minds about it as on one hand I’d like this to be done asap since I’ve been waiting forever to get to this point, but also would like to do it properly and not skip down regs. So lots to think about!

@Carla2601 i must have replied just as you had posted. Thanks for asking 😊 any thoughts on what I should do or anything you’ve found from any research you’ve done or told by your clinic regarding long vs short protocol?

Have you had your AMH tested @Tinkerbell098 ? I personally think short sounded much easier on the body that long. Not sure of stats but from why I understand long is more likely to get your follicles to grow evenly ultimately meaning you'll probably get more eggs rather than 2/3 dominating, but as you said, you won't know until you've done a round just how you'll respond. @Carla2601 did short and I thought it sounded much easier and kinder on the body than the king that we had planned. I'd probably get cracking if I were you and you don't have a high AMH which could mean you'll over stimulate.

@FlyOnTheWall89 AMH was 12.6 and was told that it’s in the lower end for my age bracket. They’re also going to do do an AFC scan which will also shed more light into my egg reserves. Oh I didn’t know @Carla2601 did short. Yes it does sound simpler and kinder to the body. At the same time I’ve read that long is better and does produce more eggs overall. I just don’t know how to decide! I just feel if I don’t do this now I might end up with more delays down the line

Okay so it was similar to mine then and I was recommended long. I was told if buserelin wasn't available it could be 2 other drugs that are all very similar. Presume they've not offered you that option? I never had an AFC but that's a good idea. I would do that and then decide. @Tinkerbell098

@Carla2601 I am a bit jealous of your job! And thank you. I just can't wait to see if we definitely
have sperm and then I think it will finally start to sink in about IVF. For now I am still so scared they will get in there and not find anything.

@Tinkerbell098 I'm glad your appointment is done, but sorry you feel in a conundrum about the next steps. I didn't even know what short and long protocol was until I've read yours and @FlyOnTheWall89 comments and googled about it 🙊 My AMH was 14.1 so similar to yours and Flys. I can't really offer much advice but just wanted to offer some solidarity and send a big hug for having your appointment x

@FlyOnTheWall89 can I just ask, what do you mean by over stimulate? I would have thought the more egg stimulation the better? Sorry if that's a silly question x