Anyone else trying to get pregnant and want to talk about it?

[WideWebWitch]

I thought I'd start this thread as monkey and I have been talking about getting pregnant on another thread. Is it just the 2 of us? Anyway, this might be a good place to talk about it before (and if) we can add to the expecting in 2003 thread

My ds is just 5 so if I do get pregnant soon-ish he will be 6 when any half sibling is born (separated from his father). I feel ambivalent about being pregnant again, as I've said elsewhere. Some days I feel excited at the prospect, some days I think Oh No, no sleep, ever again...Anyway, I thought we could all (or both if it's just the 2 of us!) chat about ttc, pregnancy tests and feelings here. For me I have to say that starting trying was strange (sorry if this is too much info) as it's the first time I've ever had sex whilst deliberately trying to get pregnant, as ds was a happy mistake. Very odd...

Dot - don't worry about moaning - we'll all moan until we're pregnant!
I know exactly how you felt about wanting ''something done'' as when I was laready on clomid and saw a specialist and he just put me on more of the same as I wanted different/miracle cure and I wanted it NOW! The thought of just going back to having fairly mechanical sex ( or in your case even less fun) every month and hoping against the odds is not appealing.
FIrstly tho which blood lests did your dr do?
Like Jane I am NOT an expert but I know significantly more that I did 18 months ago and I wish I'd know aeverything that I know now when I started if you see what I mean. Many Gps do not put a high priority on this sort of problem and their whole attitude is to maximise the ''go away and try some more'' and minimise any real intervention. Now this may well be appropriate - but then again it may not! Jane is right - you will rarely get any referrals in less than 6 months ( and only then if you're 'old'but for example have you had your doner's sperm tested? How do you know it's OK? And if you can afford it it is alwasy worht having it done at a fertility clinic rather than a GP one at the local nhs clinic ( costs around £70) - I know personally of people who had a 'normal' result from nhs ( basic test) and then an 'awful' result from fertility clinic. The consultant said it was like a Ford mechanic looking at a Ferrari engine and saying ''it looks fine to me'' the people who look at sperm in an average nhs lab are not specialists and they can give very misleading results - people in a fertility centre ARE experts.
DO your blood test say that you are or aren't PCOS? IF positive have you tried low glycemic index diet?
Are you ''charting'' your morning temps? Have you tried Vitex? I could go on and on - but I'll stop rambling for now....
Bayleaf
x

Does anyone know of a way to pinpoint ovulation to within 12 hours (apart from ultrasound!)? I know this sounds ridiculous but for various reasons we need to be able to have sex 12 hours or less before ovulation. I'm looking for a miracle. Persona can't do it, can it? (Persona users?).

Dot1 I too had polycystic ovaries and fell pregnant about a month after coming off the pill although it wasn't intended and we were supposed to be waiting 3 months. I was then anxious that I would have a 4 eyed monster but my doc reassured me that the hormones from the pill don't harm your baby and the only reason they say to wait 3 months is so that your cycle can settle down. Otherwise they don't know when you ovulated. So my doc now says that I should stay on the pill and start trying again as soon as I come off rather than waiting a bit when we want another child because you are very fertile when first comiing off the pill.

I am wondering if anyones has ever taken a home preg test the day before their period is do and gotten a very faint line and I do mean faint. You almost need a microscope to see it.

I took 2 tests spaced a couple days apart the last one being done on this past sat and they were neg. I took one today since I had 3 in the box and I think there is a faint line. Its very hard to see unless you hold it up to the light and even then its hard to distinguish. I feel so pregnant with what I think is morning sickness starting today. I just want that NOTICEABLE positive result. Anyone ever had this happen with a test right before their periods due? I'll probally test again on Wed.

Yes I did and promptly had an agonising wait overnight until I could get to a chemist the following morning. My dh was out for the evening and I couldn't think of a valid excuse to get my mother to come over and baby sit my dd whilst I went to a 24hr Tesco. I proceeded to go through 3 different packets and to my joy eventually got a positive. Unfortunately I lost that one, but I do understand the urge to squint your eyes and stare hard. Personally I think it sounds positive and I wish you great luck!

Thanks Wills

Aaarrgghhh!

I went to see my GP for a proper discussion of my blood test results, and my 21 day progesterone level was 19, and I remembered a posting ages ago saying that under 20 was no good....

My GP wasn't sure what to do, so I'm taking the test again on day 23, just to check, as my cycles are sometimes longer than 28/29 days.

Bayleaf - you're good at this - what do you think??!

I can't remember my other results - have got them but not here, but GP also said my LH/FSH ratio could indicate PCOS - but I'm still waiting (6 weeks later) for my scan date...

Yours despairingly......

DOn't despair Dot!
OK , no, 19 isn't good - BUT it could just be that you got the timing wrong if your cycle isn't completely regular - and that would give you a false reading - plus we all have annovulatory cycles form time to time so one means nothing.
What was your FSH result?
Even if you do have PCOS it is not such a big deal - many people get pregnant fairly easily wiht low tech help such as Clomid. In the mean time look at the PCOS support websites and look into a low glycemic index diet which is really supposed to help ovulation for PCO sufferers.
I can't find the right website for glycemic indexes at the minute but will pop back later if I've time and put it on.

The low carb/glycemic index site is here
Bit of a bummer some of the things you have to cut out tho! ( I know I tried it!!)
Incidentally I know someone who had been trying for 2-3 years with no success - then her husband was diagnosed as diabetic - they both changed their diets radically ( hers to support him) and she was pregnant in 3 months - which makes me wonder if she was a PCOS victim too!

I'm not exactly ttc but certainly thinking about ttc in the new year. Have just started using Persona and have had the 'O' appear on day 20 of a 30 day cycle.. so I guess that must mean that this month I would probably be ovulating on day 21-22. I am flabbergasted, I assumed that a 30 day cycle would mean day 16 ovulation. Have any other Persona users had such late ovulation times?

Mucus-haters look away now:
BTW from the mucus point of view I would have guessed that ovulation happened on day 18.. it's all so confusing.

Have you been taking your temperatures Bluebear? That should help to narrow it down - it should rise just after ovulation and stay higher until just before your period - unless you are pregnant in which case it will probably rise yet again near your period date.
Your cycle does seem slightly odd from what you say - but the luteal phase ( ov to period) is not always 14 days - 12+ is considered OK for ttc purposes - less than 12 is questionable. Even if it is short various vitamin supplements will improve/lengthen it ( vit B complex and B6 I think but would want to check it - and Vitex.)so it's nothing to worry about.

I use persona and generally have quite early ovulation times (around day 12-13 in the cycle). It's interesting how varied women's cycles are, isn't it?! I imagine the Day 16 thing is just an average and in practise there's a plus or minus 4 or 5 days there.

Bayleaf - I've not started temp charts yet (as not strictly ttc until January) but think I'll have to begin. I am taking a pre-conception multi-vitamin but I'll do a search on vit B - thanks.
GeorginaA - I believe that the 'norm' is a 28 day cycle and ovulation occuring on day 14 (so your persona 'O' would be on day 12-13), but as you pointed out, women are so variable!

Anyone got any idea what would be "normal" for a shorter cycle (anything between 21 and 25 days)?

Bluebear - can you help me with a Persona query please? I was wondering about the "o" sign - does it appear to confirm that ovulation has occurred (ie: the day after)? All I can see in the online Persona stuff is that you get red or green days. Nothing about the "o". Also, can you get an "o" on more than one day? Really grateful for any explanation you can give me!

GillW, I can't answer your question, but I just invested in this Toni Wechsler: Taking Charge of Your Fertility and it is packed full of reassuring, easy-to-understand information about how to assess when you are ovulating. I have not read it cover to cover (yet...) but there is a lot of info on how long or short cycle lengths affect the time you ovulate. It is the print version of the TCOYF website.

Janinlondon - you get O on two days usually ( well I do) which indicates that you will ovulate soon - next 24/36 hours I think.

janinlondon - as Bayleaf has said - you get an 'O' for 2 days and the 'O' appears before you ovulate (24-48hours before.) HTH

Sorry about this but I have to ask. I have the egg white mucus this morning. So when exactly is the best time to do the deed? Is it tonight or tomorrow?

both?

I meant to say really is it now as in today or tomorrow or later than that? Bearing in mond we have already been going at it for 5 nights on the trot now I would quite to know!.

Hard to say without knowing your natural pattern - some people have more days of EWM than others - thus tcoyf make you log all sorts of stuff like that alongside your temperatures. For some people EWM means ov soon - ie do 'it' NOW! - other people have 3 or 4 days of it. The more you have the more likley it is to be imminent IMO.
If you are really desperate to know then I can only suggest the dreaded predictor sticks.
I can imagine from personal experience how unwanted the prospect of yet more ttc sex can be - but there's no real way round it. You can stop when the mucus has dried up and/or your temperature has risen - but anything before that is risky.
Sory I can't be more helpful
WWW - apologies for all the mucus talk - would it help if we called it cervical fluid as they do on tcoyf!!!

Bayleaf, I don't think it would make any difference what you call it! It's still mucus talk aaaaaaagggghh! Never looked at mine to be honest

Thankyou Bayleaf.

Am feeling really fed-up tonight so have come on here to have a moan. I haven't admitted it on here before because I'm afraid that 'real life' people (who I've recommended Mumsnet to) will come on here and realise who I am and I've no intention of telling the world what I'm about to tell Mumsnet (Well except people at the London do who I've already told!)
Last month I had ivf/icsi as we realised dh's sperm weren't swimming etc after a specialised test at the fertilty centre we'd been referred to ( the nhs test had come back 'normal'....)
The ivf failed but 'suceeded' in so far as I produced good eggs and good quality embryos and I had managed to keep really positive thru' the failure by telling myself I could have a frozen embryo transfer ( we have 6 frozen) in my next cycle - late dec/early jan - and that it was only a matter of days to wait...
I've just seen the consultant and it loooks like the time that they would need to be monitoring me would fall exactly over New Year - so it's a non starter and I have to wait another whole month.
I KNOW that in the scheme of things this is not a long time - but when you are nearly 39 and have been trying for 18 months it seems like aeons.

I might ring up tomorrow and ask if I can go straight into another ivf cycle - not good in that FET is around £800 and ivf/icsi is around £3,500 - but FET has half the success rate of ivf and as the consultant put in this evening - my frozen eggs/embryos aren't getting any older but the ones inside me are - so in a way it makes sense to go ahead with the ivf asap and keep those frozen embryos as back up for the long term.
Oh bum bum bum.
Someone tell me a joke and cheer me up!

Ps if anyone in real life does 'recognise' me - tell me but NO ONE else!!!