SMEP - anyone giving this a try this month and want to join me?

[Mum2DD89]

New to mumsnet 🙋‍♀️ and I've seen loads of threads where everyone is so lovely and supportive so thought I'd post. This is our 4th cycle ttc #2, 1st cycle giving SMEP a try as I've seen so many success stories. With our first, we got so lucky and ended up pregnant on our first month trying so this waiting is a bit of a shock, although I know out 1st was the exception not the norm! Would love to hear any success stories, or any other ladies that want to compare notes this month x

[allgoodthings84]

My easy@home test was 0.28 today. Was 0.15 yesterday so I’ll test in morning as think peak will be tomorrow or Wednesday as I suddenly go from low to peak

[allgoodthings84]

Hi @dobby13. what cycle are you on? When are you due to test?

[dobby13]

@allgoodthings84 cycle 2, TTC #1. On CD11, apps think I'm ovulating anywhere around CD18 and CD22 (not convinced, let's see what the OPKs say.)

Have just seen think you're due to ovulate tomorrow/Wednesday - fingers crossed for you 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

[allgoodthings84]

@dobby13 i think my ovaries alternate as every other month is a few days longer but LP always the same. This cycle looks like it’s gearing up to be same as the cycle before last which was peak CD12. This stage is always the most exciting as filled with hope but I constantly think whether we have done it enough / too much and so on ha ha. I hate the 2ww and of course AF. I can always tell when AF is about to arrive as my resting HR starts to drop back down on my Fitbit. I’m going to try to not look at the app this cycle as I prefer to hope. It’s all in my head though as doesn’t matter how much I hope whatever be will be.

[Mum2DD89]

Welcome @dobby13 the more the merrier 😊

@allgoodthings84 I think I will do the same this month, I temp rather than track BBT and I always have a massive rise 9dpo which gets my hopes up then a crash 10 and 11dpo .. I think this cycle I will stop temping 9dpo and live in a little hope bubble for a couple of days

[allgoodthings84]

@Mum2DD89 i don’t temp as my sleep is awful and I wake at all different times and usually have to get up right away but I think the rising resting heart rate does pretty much the same thing and my Fitbit measures that. I just want to try and resist looking after 9/10dpo ha ha

[NatGee]

@allgoodthings84 if you don't mind my meddling, but could it be an idea to measure your pdg levels ? Not falling on our first attempt got me looking into the reasons why that may have happened and I came across progesterone testing strips. Apparently if the levels aren't high enough on days 7-10 DPO then it could be an issue.

[allgoodthings84]

@NatGee I don’t think you’re meddling at all 😊. I’m not sure if it’s that as it’s completely normal for resting heart rate to drop again just before AF just like temperature drops when doing BBT. It doesn’t drop until day before AF which is 13dpo I just don’t like to see it drop as know I’m out then so try to stop looking before that happens iyswim? It’s always dropped before AF for as long as I remember and I had my daughter without really trying. After 6 cycles I’ll go to doctors and ask for progesterone blood tests. I’ve read that home pdg tests aren’t that reliable but I don’t really know. It puts me off the cost if they aren’t reliable. I won’t get much more help than that I imagine anyway as I’ve had a child so am/was fertile so I won’t get any help on the nhs other than the tests.

more people don’t fall pregnant first time trying than do. Each cycle it’s 20-30% chance and then 1 in 5 end in miscarriage unfortunately so I’m not worried yet as only on cycle 3 and I’m 37 so not expecting it quickly.

[allgoodthings84]

In case anyone finds it interesting 😂 AF arrived morning of 30th so can see it dropped day before. It then dropped after AF to 57 then 56 and stayed at 56 until today where it’s gone back up to 58 (see second picture) which is another sign ovulation will happen soon and then after ovulation it shoots up to 64/65 then back down day before AF and then repeat 😂 it’s very predictable

[allgoodthings84]

Forgot to attach second picture.

[Tubbytele]

@allgoodthings84 that's really interesting about the heart rate, I didn't know that at all. Thanks for sharing.

[allgoodthings84]

@Tubbytele i didn’t piece it together until we started ttc I just knew it went up around mid way through my cycle then fell back down when AF arrived but never realised why and that it could be ovulation etc until recently.

to be honest it’s only my guess that it will stayed raised if pregnant. For all I know it might dip then rise later on. I’ll know when I get a bfp ha ha. I do like that it shows something is happening in my cycles though. I would bbt if I could so this is next best thing

[NatGee]

@allgoodthings84 Re pdg, completely understand - I assume everyone is like me and trying for their first child! I haven't really met anyone who has had trouble conceiving, aside from my sister in law who tried for 6 years (!) but i have friends who fell pregnant on their first go in their late 30s, my sisters and my mum who had me at 40 so I honestly and naively thought id be ok at the first, or at least second attempt. Would the NHS not offer you IVF?

[allgoodthings84]

@NatGee I’m the opposite I only know of one person in real life who conceived first cycle. Everyone and every pregnancy is so different. I could have low progesterone no idea and I’ll find out if I don’t get pregnant but I’m definitely not worried yet 😊. In the UK I think they only treat low progesterone if you have reoccurring miscarriages otherwise they don’t seem to believe it’s an issue. I won’t be able to have any treatment on nhs only basic tests to check I’m definitely ovulating etc. In the NHS’s mind as I’ve had a child I can get pregnant so to keep trying. I will speak to GP after 6 cycles if I’m not pregnant but from what I see here about people who already have kids I wouldn’t be too hopeful

a positive story is a friend of mine took nearly 2 years to fall pregnant with her first child. They both had tests etc and nothing showed up as a problem with either of them so they just kept trying and it finally happened. They then started ttc when their first was 1 as was expecting it to take a long time again but happened first time and it was twins! So for her both ttc journeys were completely different but a positive outcome.

[NatGee]

@allgoodthings84 no wonder so many go private. That is a lovely story thank you for sharing. A similar one is my SIL, who is younger and started trying in her early 30s. She's now got a two year old after having had fertility treatments but fell with her second naturally and will be giving birth in October.
Everyone and every pregnancy can be SO different
Hope this is our month

[allgoodthings84]

@NatGee yep it sucks as just because I’ve got a child my partner hasn’t. He loves my daughter but she has her dad very prominent in her life. Hopefully it will be fine anyway. It’s still very early days and can take a healthy young couple a year. I’m healthy but unfortunately 37 😂

it’s amazing isn’t it. I see it as what’s meant to happen will happen

i doubt we will go private anyway unless tests show exactly what the issue is so can get treatment right off or trying to find the issue then get it treated will cost so much we wouldn’t be able to afford a baby after it all 😂

[allgoodthings84]

@NatGee i hope there’s lots of bfp on this thread 🤞

[NatGee]

@allgoodthings84 So many ladies give birth at 37. Im 38 so i keep reading of all the women whove had childrne later in life
Another encouraging fact is that women approaching perimenopause begin to experience shorter cycles. So until that happens id say bring on those BFPs

[Mum2DD89]

@NatGee I actually bought the PdG strips from Proov to use this month 🤦‍♀️ did my baseline test on CD6 and now waiting to ovulate so I'll let you all know whether they're worth it or not

CD9 today, did our CD8 bd last night, already feeling like there's a bit of a mountain to climb ahead of us this month 😂

Also broke out the OPKs this morning and my line is already darker than it usually is this time of the month which is strange, maybe I'll ovulate early this month, in which case I'm very glad we decided to do SMEP!

How are you ladies all getting on?

[NatGee]

@Mum2DD89 ohhh they're the ones i use ! Did them last cycle but because i didnt SMEP properly im not sure if i did them on the right days. Good luck hope you like them. Do you BBT? in all honesty if bbt works well for me i may stop buying the strips as they are expensive

I am on CD3, so still on AF. Would be great if you ovulated early, youd get it out of the way nice and early 😅 first cycle i OVd on cd22, longest month ever 😵
BDing can become a chore but try to make it fun. Also every other day shouldnt be too bad. Im getting ready to BD every day so wish us luck. Baby dust to you let us know how things progress with the method

[EdinburghGirl1]

Hi ladies sorry just catching up after a busy few days so not really been on here.

@allgoodthings84 that's great you had such a good support network at that time. I did too. I would've been lost without some of my friends abs my work were very understanding too giving me sometime off when needed. A Christmas goal is a good one. My birthday is November so would love to be pregnant by then. Although fingers crossed for this cycle for you then you can give your DP mother a lovely birthday surprise. We seem to be so similar. I too have regular periods and healthy so presume all is ok and will wait out the 6 months before doing anything. It took 4 cycles for me to conceive my daughter so I was expecting similar this time. As you say I'm just so desperate for my partner to be able to have a child and have our own little. My daughter's dad is also very involved in her life so he would love one of his own. Annoying how we would t get help even though our partners don't have kids. My heart rate seems to do similar too. Last few days have been AF and down to 52bpm.

@NatGee I think it's totally understandable to think that sometimes. I'm 37 so similar age and do also think about it, although I have a daughter so I know I can fall pregnant just worry a little now I'm older. However I know of a few people who have had babies at 40+ One of my close friends had hers at 42 I think. Seems a few of us are cycle 3. Hope it's third time lucky. That's a good statistic. I know several people who have fallen first time and several people it's taken a long time and some who have used IVF. There really is all sorts and different for everyone.

@NSx thanks. Fingers crossed for us all. I'm taking pregnancare too.

@Mum2DD89 good luck with the SMEP starting. Yes the COQ10 is meant to be good for eggs and for us slightly older ladies ttc.

@Aurora81 good job good luck for this cycle. Hope you get the later ovulation if that helps the eggs. If that's true I hope I ovulate a bit later this cycle too.

@Tubbytele congratulations and good that your plan worked.

If I ovulate CD11 again like last month it will be Monday. So will definitely be BD all weekend 😂

@dobby13 welcome.

[allgoodthings84]

I’ve had a high reading of 0.8 this morning so I’ll definitely be getting my peak today. It’s never as high as that even on peak day morning. I so wish we had dtd last night 🤦‍♀️ Will go tonight and tomorrow morning. Do you think it’s worth going tomorrow morning and tomorrow evening or do you think twice in a day is a waste of time? It’s usually evening for me when I get this result so I know I’ve now got less time 🤦‍♀️. Big regrets we didn’t go last night. We did Thursday morning (cd6) and Sunday morning (cd9) and obvs definitely will tonight and tomorrow morning so that’s 4 goes hopefully within ovulation. Annoyingly I had some sharp pains for 30 seconds last night so hoping it wasn’t ovulation before a positive test or something

[NatGee]

@EdinburghGirl1 @allgoodthings84 your situations are so similar and yes it seems like a few of us are on cycle 3
Wishing all you ladies so much luck and BABY DUST

[allgoodthings84]

Arrgggh I typed a long reply hit post and it didn’t!

@EdinburghGirl1 so similar! Both 37 ttc our second with a different partner who doesn’t have a child. My birthday is November too! So even born same month and year and on the same cycle ttc. Even have similar lower than average resting heart rates. So weird but great to support each other

[allgoodthings84]

Now I’ve got it in my head I peaked overnight and it’s all too late got me 😂

at 5pm last night it was 0.28 and 7.20am this morning it’s 0.8 and I peak fast so it is possible but I’m really hoping not. I can’t test again until 4pm earliest. Hopefully that will be my peak or I won’t know if it was during the day to today or last night. I’m hoping as last nights was still very low it means I’m peaking today