SMEP-ing our way to a BFP 🍁🍂🐿️🍂🍁

[Aurora81]

Our SMEP plans continue.... The old thread is almost full, so I started a new thread so we can continue on SMEP-ing to a BFP ✨☺️✨

@LucyFraser1981 i hope it goes well today.

still no progesterone results for me yet. Hope they haven’t lost them or labelled them wrong or something 😂 I’ll ring next week if they don’t go on. Not sure how long to give them really. It’s so typical the one I want the most is the one that’s last 🤦‍♀️

Still no progesterone results. I think your GP sees them first though and mine doesn’t work Fridays at the gp surgery. Yesterday notes to my GP kept appearing in the “consultations and events” bit but not saying what for right away then once each result was released to me the note would change to say which test it was for (I can’t see what the note says just which test it’s for). There’s 2 of these “blank” notes to my GP there now so I’m thinking they probably have to be checked off by him before they appear in my results page. I bet one is vit c as that’s not in my results yet either and the other progesterone. No idea if he works Mondays but I hope so 😂

I hope everyone is having a good Friday evening? Any exciting plans this weekend?

Well fertility consultation & scan was very overwhelming, felt really burnt out and tun down for thw rest of yesterday. Didn't get much useful information really, just that I had 10 visible astral follicles and a 25mm follicle ready to release an egg (I'd predicted yesterday for ovulation based on the CB dual digital being peak on Thursday and a positive opk peak yesterday at 7am). Obviously hadnt ovulated at time of scan (11.30am), and so as my temp hasn't gone up this morning I think I may have ovulated late yesterday or during the night, so hoping my temp rises tomorrow morning.

I ended up being talked into more extensive blood tests, so will get those results in a week or two.

I've been driving myself insane googling with the info, and now worried that the follocle being 25mm puts it at the slightly too big end of the scale, so possibly won't contain a viable egg or won't turn into ovulation?

She said my scan looked fine, no polyps or fibroids visible, my antral follicle count was where she expected for a woman my age. She did say it looks like my bowel has become attached to my uterus due to adhesions from my c-section, so if I do manage to get pregnant then as I have to have another c-section I would need to make sure I have a senior surgeon doing it, as I'm at high risk for damage to my bowel 😕
Oh and my blood pressure was high, so I'm gong to borrow my mum's BP monitor and keep an eye on it, in case it was down to the appointment itself. But she's got covid at the moment so that will have to wait!

Feeling fairly stressed and like actually all I've gained is more things to worry about 😵‍💫

Plus it was expensive!

Partner and I have at least managed to boink successfully on CD9, 11 & 12 so far, with another one planned for this evening.

Sorry for giant essay, feeling a bit overwhelmed still. Hope you're all doing okay?

@LucyFraser1981 hi 🤍
just back from the gym…
i don’t know what any of that stuff means either but maybe you should ask the lady to explain it all further since you’ve paid so much money & also to put ur mind at ease - did she give u any idea if you will be able to get pregnant easily or will you need a bit of help? Try not to over think it all until you have more answers (I know easier said than done 💕)
ive just got my first flashy smiley Im cd11 expedient ovulation maybe cd15 if I go off another 29 day cycle like last month. We haven’t DTD yet because to be honest I’m fed up of having sex 16282929 times and it getting me nowhere.
so will DTD tonight which will be cd11, tomorrow cd12 miss 13 and do 14/15/16 - unless I get a positive OPK on cd13 which means I’ll ovulate cd14.
I have had enough 😂😄
Hope you’re all having a lovely wkend… I’m gonna goto get some lunch at Wagamamas with my darling man 🖤

Expecting *

@LucyFraser1981 I’m not sure what that all means either but agree with nsx that she should definitely explain it to you in a way you 100% know where you’re at not so you leave worrying more.

Thanks @NSx & @allgoodthings84
She'll be calling once my blood results are back in a week or so, so I'll ask her then on her opinion etc. I did feel a bit like she was just doing the information/results of scan report as if we'd already said we would be going down the ivf route, but partner and I have said we'll only be doing that around this time next year if it's not happened naturally, as we just won't have any money until he sells his house, which should be the beginning of October.
But I would definitely prefer to fall naturally before then if I can, even without the expense, I believe it's a very draining and stressful process and the odds aren't that great 😕

I guess for this cycle after all of that information overload I'm just hoping I get a temp rise tomorrow to confirm ovulation, and then it's just a wait to see what the TWW brings and blood test results 🤷‍♀️

@NSx I'm so jealous, I LOVE wagamama! I'm hoping partner is bringing back yo sushi this evening, but all depends on if there's any left at the kiosk when he finishes work! 😭
I get the fed up with sex thing, it's definitely become a bit of a chore. Although last night was much more enjoyable than the previous two, in terms of not just wishing it was over, so that was nice 😅
Will keep my fingers crossed for the boinking being less of a chore for you too!

@allgoodthings84 guessing you won't likely get your results until your GP is back Monday then if they have to review them first? Very frustrating! How are you doing besides the stress of waiting for them?

@LucyFraser1981 yea definitely don’t let them try to push you into more you can afford or want.

I’ve never been to Wagamama’s am I missing out? We are taking a trip to town today for new clothes for my daughter as she keeps on insisting on growing 😂 I got some on Vinted but I want her to have some new stuff she’s picked herself as she loves choosing clothes. She’s very picky though ha ha. Then tomorrow we are travelling to visit my grandparents. They are 90 and still very mobile (and drive!) and we will probably go out to a pub for lunch. it will be the first time they meet my partner too as he’s usually working on the days we can go visit. We had our first date 5 years ago next month 😂.

I’m toilet paper watch from today as I usually start spotting 9/10dpo. Last cycle it was 8dpo so I’m glad I’m past that. The 2 cycles before it was 10dpo (after starting to take vit b12 complex and vit c) and before that it was always 9dpo so I basically know it can start any time now. My vit b levels were more than double than last time I had bloods and I think it’s because of taking the daily b complex tablets so I won’t be stopping those even after I’ve had a baby.

@allgoodthings84 oh absolutely, bloody love wagamama!

Oooh well I hope the shopping trio is successful! I've only just discovered vented, it's already been a dangerous/expensive discovery 😅
Hahaha, that's brilliant! Hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow 😊

That's good you've made it past 8dpo. How long is your LP? That's interesting about the Bvits, I'm definitely interested to find out what my levels are, I'll be asking for a copy of the results to have a look myself.

Keeping my fingers crossed for us all! 💗

@LucyFraser1981 i have a 12 day LP (AF 13dpo) but I have extremely light spotting (nothing on a liner) for few days before. Don’t know why I actually spot but maybe the progesterone results will tell me. My RHR has gone from 59 on day of peak opk to 65bpm today so I think I do ovulate but no idea how good my progesterone is. It may not even be because of that. They don’t seem bothered to try and find out either as long as the tests show I ovulate.

I think the NHS are so understaffed that they really just don't see fertility as that important, so only do the bare minimum sadly 😔

@LucyFraser1981 I completely get it. It’s totally challenging for the nhs these days it’s just such a shame.

I hope everyone has had a lovely Saturday?

@allgoodthings84 It's sadly just a reflection of how badly the Tories have run the NHS down to the ground, there's just not enough funding or staff anymore. It's a massive shame that fertility isn't given more time or funding, as it has such a massive impact on mental health, but we all know how much funding mental health gets... 😒
One of the reasons I'm keen to move to where we're going next year is because where we currently live we're half an hours drive from a hospital, and having friends and family who work as paramedics, there's no way I want to risk not being able to get to hospital quickly, it's an utter nightmare apparently 😖

Just been me and my boy at home today, we made pancakes 😊 My partner has been working, but is bringing sushi back, so I don't have to cook!
Would usually have taken my son to my parents for the day, but they're both just getting over covid/still testing positive. I'm now the only person in my family and group of friends to have not had it 😬😱

How was the shopping trip?

Seriously. Men. Like with all the stuff we have to think about, monitor, buy all the testing equipment, supplements, pay to see specialists, have invasive scans and huge amount of questions, all the stress, and the ONE thing they need to do is actually just have sex a few nights in a row, but apparently even that is too exhausting! 😤🤬
We had ONE night to go tonight, to have managed three in a row right up to and including ovulation, but no. He's too tired, might be coming down with something, etc etc... 🙄😖 I know I sound mean and unsympathetic but it's really pi$$ed me off.

@LucyFraser1981 I totally get it. We put so much into ttc it feels like they don’t care when they don’t do the one thing needed from them. I think it annoys us even more as we know we do it even when tired or not feeling quite right so feels like they aren’t as bothered. Sex after ovulation or before it can count always is more fun

You're totally right @allgoodthings84 I just feel like all the responsibility is on me and it's mentally exhausting!

Oh I was a right grumpy git last night! To be fair he's obviously knackered as is still asleep now. My temp has increased a bit, so I added in an increased temp in FF for tomorrow morning just to see and it's algorithm puts ovulation as Friday, but as I know the follicle hadn't ruptured at 11.30am, I can assume I ovulated later that evening, so hopefully the sex that evening, plus Thursday's & Tuesday's might be enough 🤷‍♀️
Just a bit concerned after googling that a 25mm follicle (which is what it measured during the scan) is on the borderline of being too big to produce a viable egg 😕
Ah well, I guess it's just the delights of the TWW for me now 😖🤦🏻‍♀️

How are you doing today, any spotting?

@allgoodthings84 @LucyFraser1981
hey ladies 💕
I hope you all had a lovely Saturday .. and having a chilled Sunday. The winds up here at the minute are wild, it sounds quite scary 😂😅
I’ve just been making soup this morning & had some now with tiger bread and butter …. Honestly warm bread with butter is under rated 🤤
how u getting on? How are u finding your new watch? what stage of your cycle are u on?@allgoodthings84

I hope you aren’t going down the Google rabbit hole @LucyFraser1981 with the info you got at your fertility meeting, before it you will have diagnosed yourself with something wild that you don’t have 😂😂 also men are so annoying I can agree… although mine did go for a nap last night and bless him woke back up to DTD cos he knew I got a flashing smiley 😂😂.

the NHS is very overwhelmed - working for the nhs myself I see it first hand, too much money is spent on things that on my opinion aren’t important & then people suffer in other areas.
my specialist at the fetal medicine told me not to contact my dr re fertility until a year has passed but honestly how do they expect u to sit wishing ur life away for 12 months to get help!? It really does affect your mental health.

im undecided what to do. We DTD cd11 , and I will probably ovulate cd15 … I will DTD cd14/15 which should be day of OVU and also -1 my question is … do I DTD tonight (cd12) or cd13 which is tomorrow…
reason being is I want to give the swimmers a break as I don’t know if doing it every day helps much as I’ve not been successful when doing it daily 😂 (plus DTD every night is a CHORE)
wish we just knew the answers 😢

sorry for this essay 😅 x

@NSx personally I'd go for CDs12, 14 & 15, three days in a row is hard work 🤦🏻‍♀️😖🤣

As we're now past ovulation tonight's boinking will be just for fun, which is much nicer 😅

I LOVE fresh warm bread with butter, it's one of the reasons I stopped baking bread as I can sit and eat half a loaf with some butter in no time 😋😅 what sort of soup did you make?

Yep, definitely went off on a Google deep dive. Not at all good for my mental health! Will stop doing anything other than temping now I'm in my TWW, and I'm not even going to buy any tests until I'm at least 17dpo, because my temp will tell me if there's a reason to test after all!

Yes, I used to work within the NHS too (student nurse for a while, and student OT for a bit too), and it was just rather soul destroying 😕

@LucyFraser1981 yea so might DTD today which is cd12 miss tomorrow and do the next 2 😂😅 it’s so stressful all this I swear … although OH says we’ve to do it every day 😂 I don’t know if my lady garden can withstand all that 🤪😩

just take a bit of time and wait until u know more, don’t Google yourself into a frenzy like I do it’s not good for your mental health.
you just never know, this might be the month you get your BFP 🤞💕

well I had to stop myself and not eat 500 bits of warm tiger loaf or else I’ll never eat my dinner 😂😂
I made lentil soup with ham 😍 it’s actually very nice even if I do say so myself 😅…
I won’t be testing early this time, I’ll wait and if AF doesn’t home by predicted day then I’ll see but only if I have any symptoms 🤞

Hi all, sorry I've been MIA! AF arrived and then we went for a week's holiday in Greece. Been absolutely lovely and I tried to take some time away from my phone and thinking about TTC. DD3 has been a bit of a horror at times this week though so there was a definitely a moment where I was questioning why exactly we are so desperate to do this again! Hahaha! @LucyFraser1981, was really interesting reading about your private appointment. DH and I have pretty much decided to get the ball rolling on the IVF route. Figured it will take a while even privately so will start looking in to appointments, etc. whilst carrying on DTD at the right times and hope it might work out first. I'm surprised they didn't go in to much detail with you though, rather than leaving you to worry about what it all means. Hopefully when your final results come through they will do a more thorough run through. Hope you get your progesterone results tomorrow too @allgoodthings84. My cycle has somehow caught up with yours @NSx, i'm CD10 today. Had flashing smiles yesterday and today, which was a surprise (might have been on holiday and not thinking about TTC, but still took my flipping Clearblue kit with me!). Also, that soup and bread sounds delish! Hope you're all good and have had lovely Sundays

@fsr111 ahh welcome back cycle buddy 💕
I hope you had a lovely time in Greece I’m so envious 😍…
im expecting my third flashy smiley tomorrow then hopefully a static on Tuesday if all goes as per normal cycles 👌🏽 let’s see …
it’s good to get some time away from the internet sometimes, it’s good for the soul, ttc can be heavy going 🤍

@NSx hahaha! I haven't heard anyone else use lady garden for a long time! I used to call it that, but my partner is a 40 year old teenage boy and calls it a foof, so now I've got into that habit too 🤣

A BFP would be a welcome relief from this TTC stress (although would then open up a whole new world of new stresses!) We've been technically trying for a year now, although the first six months was just not paying attention whilst not using birth control. But still, I'd hoped it would have happened by now 😕

Definitely need to relax a bit now it's all out of my control for the next few weeks 🤷‍♀️

Oooh yum! I'm lazy and just buy the baxters lentil & bacon instead 😅

Yeah just holding off on testing I think will help, those negative tests are not good for my heart 💔

@fsr111 oooh lovely! Where abouts in Greece did you go? I love Greece and the Greek Islands, so I'm very jealous!
I think relaxing a bit is definitely a good thing, I'm going to try myself, who knows how successful I'll be though!

Yeah I definitely felt like she was more used to doing these appointments as a prelude to moving on to IVF, so I guess she didn't really get that we're not at that stage yet and just want an idea of our chances to naturally conceive. I'll be asking her to explain the results when she calls with my blood results!

😂😂😂😂 @LucyFraser1981 probably wouldn’t call it that in real life but was trying to find something nice and appropriate for an online forum 😂😆 🌸 ..
we DTD tonight so just going to go with the flow, if he’s up for it we will go every night but I’m not putting pressure on us, as long as we get the day before OVU and the day of then I’m Kool. I’ve got myself so annoyed at times missing days and honestly it’s not worth it.

you need to remember you have like 25/30% chance to catch even with ideal conditions so every month is not guaranteed… the odds aren’t exactly high 😩😅😂 … so we need to relax a bit, however surely we are due some BFPs in this thread sometime soon!!

I literally made soup to feed the 500, I will be feeding my fiancé and mother in law at their work tomorrow 😂😅…

quite frankly I’m sick of wasting money on FRERS … I waste enough on CB lube/OPK’s / preseed etc… oh and on the 500 supplements I now take, I am like an old lady now with her pill box 😂😅

So no early testing for me * 😅

Hi ladies,

Thought I'd fill you in on my fertility acupuncture appointment tonight! Very interesting. Has anyone been before? I'm willing to try anything once 😂 So she asked a lot of questions about my cycle, seemed concerned at my short LP and that's something we're going to focus on. One thing she said was after ovulation, keep belly and feet warm. This means the uterus is warm and that's the ideal conditions, with good blood flow. Warm food and drinks as well. She asked me to come back a week after I ovulate so she could try to prolong LP? God knows but worth a shot!