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 @Carla2601 sorry another quick question. What times was your DH in the hospital for? Mr Ramsay said my OH needs to be there from 6:30am which is fine but I'm wondering how long he will be in the hospital for and whether it will be all day

@lemons44 how did it go today? When can they fit you in x

@lemons44 how was it? Hope it went well! I just asked him and he thinks quite early - early afternoon. Yep he did have to be there early too (so did I when I had my retrieval)

Thanks @Carla2601 and @NatW2021 they can fit us in on 1st December 😃 just double checking this anaesthetist is happy to go ahead. I will be sooo happy to have it done!

@lemons44 thats really great news and not long to wait!

@lemons44 thats great news! My next telephone appt is on 1st Dec to discuss results and next steps (although I’m nagging them on a daily basis for an earlier one 😆)

x

Hi all, I hope it is ok to join in here? Have been properly trying since last Dec but did NTNP in Oct/Nov (naively thinking it would be easy!). My husband is away slap bang over my predicted fertile window this month - I thought I'd be able to have a month off of the obsessive thoughts, but so far (CD6) its as much on my mind as ever. Just feel like the year mile stone is taking its toll, hoping joining a thread with others will help me feel less alone!

Girls

I’ve managed to get my appointment moved to TOMORROW ! Thank you so much @FlyOnTheWall89 for your tip re ringing up for cancellations. I’m a little nervous now but looking forward to taking the next step towards our bubba 🥰

@JSS15 sorry you find yourself here, but it’s a great place to be if you’re struggling. Have you and hubby had any investigations yet? X

@Koalie oh wow! Well done you!! Good luck for tomorrow!

@JSS15 welcome, but sorry you’ve found us here. We are a very supportive bunch hopefully you’ll feel less alone with us.

Oohhh @Koalie I hope it goes ok. Let us know. Well done for chasing them up for cancellations

@JSS15 sorry you find yourself on this tough journey. Please feel free to vent to us as much as you need to as it is utterly shit!

@Koalie @Tinkerbell098 @lemons44 - thanks for the welcome ladies.

I’ve had some problems with my periods (irregular since April). I’ve had a scan and everything seems “reassuringly normal” but had low oestrogen show up in a blood test. Waiting on SA for my husband - does anyone have any experience of how long this will take? Still waiting on the NHS referral.

Best of luck with your appointment @Koalie - is it a fertility consult?

Thank you @JSS15 yes it’s an apt with the clinic to discuss some test results and next steps for IVF (if we meet the criteria.) a couple of the girls wrote their timelines for me a couple of pages back in terms of how long things take so that might be useful for you. I don’t think you will get the fertility referral until you’ve been through all the tests with your gp (including the SA) so just keep chasing them for that :) What did they say about your low estrogen and what it could mean for you? X

It must be quite exciting to have the appointment come through @Koalie in terms of looking forward and next steps. Will keep my fingers crossed for you that you get some good news.

Thanks I’ll take a look back for the timelines that have been posted.

Yes you’re right - we need to wait for the SA and if that’s normal we have to keep going until after the summer. Though I’ll probably end up going private.

The doctor just said something like “this sometimes happens and I’m not concerned”. They attributed the low oestrogen to stress but that was about it, they didn’t talk about what it means per se. Frustrating because obviously TTC itself is stressful! But unfortunately my dad did die this summer which gives me a bit of a reason - though my periods did lengthen about a month or so before, so it can’t explain all of it. I might ask them to repeat it in the new year if my periods are still off. They didn’t even test on CD3, it was around CD16 or something.

@JSS15 so sorry to hear you lost your Dad. That’s really crap of them to brush off a below average result like that rather than investigate further. I had a similar thing with my FSH because that was low but my GP said they weren’t concerned… however they also did my day 3 bloods on day 21 with the progesterone so I knew they were inaccurate anyway. I ended up paying for my own day 3 bloods on medichecks and doing them myself at home so you could always consider that. Hope you get some answers soon xx

Hi @JSS15 I lost my brother over the summer so I completely get it. It is such a bittersweet journey trying to have a baby and bring new life into the world when we are still grieving for our loved ones we have lost 😢
I can't advise on the SA wait list as we went private. With private they booked us in quickly and scheduled the results for the day after the test! Although our result appointment was actually cancelled due to staff sickness so we didn't have ours until a week after. Just to give you an idea of private wait times for it.
Have you googled any good foods or vitamins for low oestrogen? Just a thought incase there are some natural ways to boost it.

@Koali - really pleased you have managed to get in today! Let us know how it goes. X

@lemons44 - glad you managed to get in on 1st December, not long to wait (although i know every day feels like forever) x

@JSS15 - welcome! So sorry you are going through this. I think we waited for 2 weeks for the SA results.

AF due today and no sign- my temp is also still higher but i have been having period pains (mainly in the evening the last 2 nights) i sometimes have a 15 day LP - just want it to hurry up now x

Thank you @NatW2021 I am keeping everything crossed your AF stays well away x

@lemons44 Thanks 💗 although without being a Debbie downer i am not hopeful, i have.a FRER but I'm sick of wasting tests and negative tests too. im just more worrying Letrozole has messed my cycle up but it will hopefully show up today so i can get it over with. X

@JSS15 maybe look into seed cycling … it helped me regulate my hormones after my miscarriage x

So we just had our telephone appointment. It was looooong. My husband’s SA results are now within normal range !!! So the Proxeed etc must be working ! Thank you @FlyOnTheWall89 ! However, he does have very high sperm anti bodies. Apparently there’s no correlation to the miscarriages but it could be the reason it takes us so long to fall pregnant, as apparently it makes his sperm stick together. We are still able to be referred for IVF (likely to be ICSI due to the anti bodies) so they’re doing that today. We have to watch some videos and fill out a load of consent forms apparently so I’m just waiting for the email now. X

@Koalie - sorry hear about the ant

@Koalie sorry sent before finishing - sorry to hear about the antibodies, they Didnt even test for this with my husband or DNA fragmentation - i would like him to get it done to rule it out but it was hard enough getting him to do it initially. Can they not offer anything to improve it?

Good news that you can get on with applying for IVF though - how you feeling x

@NatW2021 Has your hubby just had the one initial SA which was done via your GP? They do a more detailed test when you get to the sub fertility clinic, however this doesn't include DNA frag - I am also really keen to have hubby tested for this but the NHS don't do it so I think we're going to pay to have it done privately. Apparently there's nothing to improve anti bodies but a quick google search says it could be caused by infection or varicocele. My hubby actually has an appointment with urology in Dec (he was referred separately to the clinic referral for some reason when he had his initial abnormal SA) so I'm hoping they will investigate either of these possibilities there.

Your temps still being high sounds very promising! Why don't you get some cheapy tests off amazon? I always buy the £3 packet for if i ever have the urge to test early (basically every cycle lol.) Keep us posted! x

@NatW2021 Just seen you asked how I'm feeling, thank you. I'm not quite sure. It's a lot to process but mostly I think I'm excited to be one step closer to having our baby. I'm relieved to have another piece of the puzzle (re the antibodies) but feel like I need the full picture before going for our first round (i.e. need to have that DNA frag test really even if it's just for peace of mind.) x

Sorry for your loss @lemons44 . I totally get what you mean about it being a bittersweet journey after loss. I’d love to have some happy news for my family but it’s sad my dad wouldn’t be there to hear it too. Good to know that your private SA was so quick. Think we might end up going that route. My husband called the GP for the referral back at the beginning of Oct, still waiting on a letter with an appointment.

I love Dr Google so I have been looking into what could help. Currently trying Vitex (Agnus castus) it’s not for boosting oestrogen but I’ve head it can help with irregular cycles. Some people say it helped their cycle regulate loads whilst others say it put them more out of whack. But I figured since my husband will be away for the good days this month there is no harm in trying it. Lots of things for boosting oestrogen just end up mentioning menopause, so now I’m naturally concerned I have DOR!

Thanks @Koalie for your suggestions. I’d do a hormone test at home but I’m really bad with blood and needles (fainter!) so I’d have no hope. I’ll likely just go private I think, then I can add on AMH testing too. Not sure about seed cycling - I'll look into it. Really glad your husband had good results - apart from the antibodies. It sounds like you have got some answers, I hope that is a bit comforting. That’s so good to get the referral too. Is this with the NHS? Is the DNA frag done by the NHS too? I thought that was a bit of an add on.

High temps does sound promising @NatW2021 . How long have you been trying letrozole for? I’m with @Koalie get in some cheap tests from amazon! I always have the urge to POAS haha and don’t feel so bad using those.

@JSS15 Oh you'd maybe be no good doing the private bloods then, although it is just a finger prick and you squeeze it out that way. Can also get one to include AMH test of you're concerned about OR. Re DNA frag, no the NHS don't do this so I would have to pay for it which is like £550. x