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 😊

Hi everyone. Had my scan and day 18 and no dominant follicle. Hopefully this is the beginning of then identifying my underlying issue and therefore it can be retested appropriately. However the cynic in me is wondering if it’s all down to poor egg quality and my body just can’t respond!

Treated appropriately *

@Hoping43 I understand this must be really disappointing but as you say, this is probably the beginning of working out what's up so I think it could be a step in the right direction even though I know it probably feels the opposite. Hope you're okay!

@Carla2601 you're nearly half way! That is crazy. Ye we have told lots of our closest friends and family now. I had to tell someone I didn't intend to tell yesterday because I had to cancel on her because I couldn't leave the house. Too ill and the tears just wouldn't stop. Oh the hormones.

@FlyOnTheWall89 thanks. My cycles have always been slightly irregular. Wondering if this has been an underlying issue all along and we were super lucky with our first (first month), it took eight months (not long I know but longer than the first time) with our second and maybe it was down to the cycle thing and maybe now I’m older the combination of that and age related fertility decline is meaning it’s more of a problem. Pure speculation but nothing really makes much sense to me at the moment! X

@Hoping43 -sorry to hear that must be frustrating - did the clinic give you guidance/details? What are next steps to investigate? X

@NatW2021 ah if you’re not too far off I’m sure they won’t penalise you, they might be able to offer some support too as I can imagine it’s hard. Let us know what they say.

@FlyOnTheWall89 oh no!! Sounds terrible. I’ve literally had the opposite experience which according to old wives tales means mine is a boy and yours is a girl. Let’s see if we can disprove the somewhat misogynistic (in my view) stories haha. Seriously though I hope you’re on the mend soon. I know I think I actually might be half way because they do want the baby out early is the impression I’m getting although I’ll know more in a couple of weeks.

@NatW2021 i hve to go back on Monday but seems like I will have to have a higher dose next month. The only odd thing is my lining is thickening which normally happens in response to a growing follicle but they can’t see a follicle 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Carla2601 are you going to find out? My OH wants to know, I'm on the fence. Any reason they want baby out early? Hoping to feel better soon too! I have really low blood pressure too which isn't helping with the feeling of complete weakness when usually I am up and about and doing 3/4 gym classes a week, walking everywhere etc.

@Hoping43 so if you don't have a dominant follicle, does that mean you won't ovulate? Sorry, I like to understand these things. Will they scan you once more incase it's just late ovulation?

@FlyOnTheWall89 haha no….I want the surprise and it slows down the shopping. They think it’s quite big plus my mum went a month early with both of us so they think it will bring itself early but given the OHSS and my kidney issues (don’t think I’ve mentioned before as not relevant to fertility) they said likely 37-39 weeks depending on my monitoring 👍🏻

@FlyOnTheWall89 yes my understanding is without a dominant follicle I won’t ovulate. So I don’t know if this is happening every month or if it’s just a fluke it’s coincided with the letrozole. It might just be late but I don’t see it. I’ll be CD21 when I go back on Monday and they haven’t grown at all between day 14-18. I did have 25 follicles though which is double what I had when it was checked in Jan x

@Carla2601 so exciting!

@Hoping43 strange coincidence if this has only happened this month. Pretty sure you've had your day 21 bloods? Waiting game till Monday then I guess. Hope you get some answers soon x

@FlyOnTheWall89 ive had them once and it was 34. Most months I have had positive OPKs but I’ve had a couple of months where I haven’t. They said they’re not fool proof though. In Jan I deffo ovulated as they saw the right sized follicle on the scan two days before a positive OPK. Maybe I don’t ovulate all the time and now I’m 35 my eggs might not always be great so maybe the combo is the problem. Who knows. I feel confused to say the least xx

@Hoping43 I may be wrong but I believe the normal cheapie OPKs that most people use can't detect that an egg has actually been released. They just track the hormone surge. As you say maybe it's a bit hit and miss for you but with a 25 follicle count I wouldn't get too hung up on your age. Clearly still plenty there. 🤞🏻 some good quality ones too x

@FlyOnTheWall89 i think that’s my understanding too - your hormones can do their thing without producing an egg so the hormones show as normal on at home tests. Hope you get some relief from symptoms this weekend and can do something nice

@FlyOnTheWall89 @Carla2601 thanks so much. The nurse said this morning that they’re not foolproof. But the consultant initially said he was confident I am ovulating and he thinks I just need a small dose of letrozole so it’s come as a bit of a shock that actually I might have an ovulation problem and I haven’t even ovulated with letrozole!! 😭

@Hoping43 sorry to hear you didn't get any dominant follicles. I think it's probably a good thing though as now you have identified the issue and it should be easily fixed with a higher dosage! Fingers crossed for you! Also my dominant follicle was only 16mm so I was certain I had an egg issue - but low and behold ovulated that evening and ended up pregnant. So we worry about literally everything but we have to trust the process and the medical professionals 😊

@Carla2601 @FlyOnTheWall89 so funny about the old wives tales hey! I've been feeling pretty fine too - aside from being tired and the odd bout of nausea (mainly in the late afternoon/evening) I've been pretty good. So people say 'that means it's a girl because your body is used to female hormones' vs 'that means it's a boy because it's an easy pregnancy'. I love the guessing 😂 we won't find out either I don't think, but I am sure every single person will think we're having a boy. I have to tell my husband off when he calls the baby 'he'! Have you ladies started talking names yet? I'm waiting until we're back from our big trip - kind of scared to start that convo as I know we won't agree on anything 😂

@BritInNZ everyone says boy to us too. Literally everyone but one person haha.

started?! I’ve known their names whether they’re a boy or a girl for forever so I can’t imagine changing but you never know 😂😂😂. Also don’t let them kid themselves. after all this you get the deciding vote for sure! Haha!

hope everyone has lovely weekends x

@Carla2601 hahaha omg you're so decisive! I've got girls names I like but not really sold on any boy ones. I'm hoping I have some inspiration over the coming weeks 😂

Morning Ladies.

Got back of hols last night a woke to AF this morning- i will give my body some praise, i am like clockwork! Anyway i have just bought myself some new gym clothes and I'm starting this week! No more excuses and hopefully will help with weight loss but the stress all of all this aswell. Feel better knowing we have our appointment on Tuesday aswell 🙏 xx

@flyonthewall89, I've just seen that you are expecting... that is absolutely amazing news!!! I read a bit back that you fell pregnant naturally - what a lovely story. Huge congratulations to you and your OH! We had similar MFI with morphology. If it's not too personal, would you mind me asking what vitamins your OH took to improve his morphology so much? We have 2 appointments with two IVF clinics in the next months but I'd love to fall naturally obviously if possible!

@Carla2601 @BritInNZ 😂 we do not have names yet.

@NatW2021oh I'm sorry. Yes get in the gym. Commit to a realistic schedule and really try to see it as time to yourself, for you and not time worrying about all the other things we worry about. Going 3 times a week to something quite high intensity, a class rather than anything self-motivated, really helped me mentally when I was in the depths of despair. You can do it!

@ali2021 hi! Of course. Yes we feel really lucky and we are so so happy. He took 2 x sachets of Proxeed daily, ubiquinol 100mg, pycnogenol 100mg, Omega with DHA from Zita West 1 tablet a day and Vit D. Within 2 months, his test went from 0% to 9% but this was alongside cutting down coffee to one cup a day and other lifestyle improvements. His sperm count didn't change, but even though it was borderline overall count, we still got pregnant. He doesn't have a more up-to-date one as we cancelled it as we had decided to go ahead with IVF anyway so we didn't really need to know. I hadn't been tracking my cycle for maybe 3 months because it got tiresome tbh, but I am fairly regular so we knew which week we needed to make sure we had sex a good few times.

I know what it feels like to be in your position. Just keep going, keep trying and remember it might still happen. I had got myself into a really positive mind frame ready for IVF, helped by particularly one person on here who had a really positive experience. Stay away from anything who makes it sound like the most awful time... I found that quite scary and overwhelming.

You may have done this but your OH should see a urologist too to rule out things like varicocele and an underlying infection. If he has a high count, remember the morphology is less important, but obviously it will help to get it up a bit. Our clinic told us morphology was the easiest element of a SA to improve. Best of luck xx

@FlyOnTheWall89 - thank you - thats exactly what I'm going to do and see it as an opportunity to get out the house as i wfh! Also downloaded a calorie counting app as need to start tracking and reducing portions slightly! X

@NatW2021 sorry about af it sucks every time even when you’re expecting it but great if not have a plan for the weight loss. Depending on your personal taste some low cal snacks I love (aside from fruit and the obvious): olives, quavers, solero, frozen yoghurt/sorbet instead of ice cream. I’m sure there’s loads but whenever I’m being good they’re some of my go tos. Keep us posted on your progress we’ll be your cheer squad! Feels good to have a side focus too I always find as it takes your mind off ttc a bit

@Carla2601 - thank you 💗 its so lovely to just have you ladies to talk to and you all get it, sometimes its good to just say "af arrived"as weird as it is its not something I would txt a friend

Sorry for tmi 😂 My AF seems a bit like one from my younger years, had some back cramps and flow seems a little heavier - i had my thyroid meds upped so hoping its a good sign of hormones doing there thing although cant help but worry its something to do with the dreaded adenomyosis that was mentioned in my scan in April but will hopefully find out morw on Tuesday x