TTC a first

[Thatskindafun]

Just a thread for those of us TTC for the first time, but also anyone else that wants to join really!
We’re currently TTC baby no.1 and just on cycle #1 too, but DH and I both have health conditions that may make it difficult so I’m already driving myself crazy.

Im usually like clockwork but this month, of all months, AF was due 4 days ago and there’s no sign yet
Obviously every test I’ve done is negative though.

just looking for anyone to keep me company really whilst I obsessively check other peoples line eyes posts!

@Bananatoast123 have you tried a magnesium vitamin supplement for painful periods?

@UserL95 yeah I think once we know we are all fine I’ll just sit back and relax! Have you had your DH tested? That’s the one for my OH which cost a lot!

the GP was really good as my OH drinks quite a bit sometimes socially and she was so understanding and just advices what we can do! And just encouraged a few things but said also do what makes you feel good too! I’m the same as you though - I’ve had to really overcome a lot to get back in the gym etc!

Same! I had the copper coil too! My OH has wondered if it’s taking a while because my body is having to adjust to no coil despite there being no hormones! Best thing I can say has helped is the holistic stuff like massages and I’ve heard a few other people say this too! It’s definitely regulated me too!

I do hope it’s just due to chance for us!! Maybe we will both get our BFP at the same time! Which supplements are you trying?

@Bananatoast123 whereas I’m the opposite and I’m scared to find out more! Sticking my head in the sand so to speak. DH hasn’t been tested, and only day 3 tests for me. But if this cycle doesn’t work out then I think we need to go back for more testing.

Im on the waiting list for an internal scan but gyno waits are incredibly ridiculous at the mo so I’m trying not to rely on that.

im really pleased to hear Gp was good with you guys.

Holistically, I’m trying to keep stress levels for , drink more water, more herbal tea, practice lots of self care. I’ve heard acupuncture is meant to be so good too but it’s finding someone and forking out for it too.

in terms of supplements I did so much research on this. I took pregnacare for 1 month, conceive plus (Mens and womens) for 4 months, and currently both me and hubby are taking:
vit d
magnesium
coq10
omega3 fish oils
b complex
maca root
All have their own purposes and each of them is meant to help fertility in a certain way too. Eg maca root for oxidative stress and also libido. Coq10 egg/sperm health. Vit d is super important when TTC too although I can’t exactly remember why haha! It’s a lot, but they are all things that are good for my body and not just fertility, so I don’t mind!

it would be amazing if we both got bfp at the same time, someone to share this crazy crazy journey with!

@UserL95 ahhh yes I know what you mean! I think I’m just at the point where I’d rather be proactive and know now! Is your internal scan through nhs or private? If it’s private it might push me to find out more near me how long the wait is!

Yesss this is the same as me! I do wonder if sometimes I’m overdoing it by focusing so much on being good for my body! I’d read about acupuncture too but not sure I’ve gotten to that level of wanting to pay for it yet!

thanks for that on the vitamins I’m going to have a look! I’m getting the OH to get me the pregnacare ones today whilst he’s at work as I was just taking a normal multi vitamin that had enough folic acid in!

it has been so crazy! I genuinely thought we’d be like 6 months pregnant by now but here we are!!

@Bananatoast123 for sure. It’s crazy thinking how far you’ve come, I could’ve popped out a baby any time now from when we first started haha!

internal scan is nhs / that’s why it’s such a long wait…. I looked briefly privately but you have to start with a consultation, pay for that, then pay for the scan, then pay for the review consultation etc and it would have worked out to around £600!!

@UserL95 so crazy! I’m such an impatient bugger too! 🤣 there was me thinking we’d be a family of 3 at Christmas!

ahhh yes! I did find a private one that does all my tests and all my OH’a and consultation for £565! But it’s still so expensive! I think we’ll do it if we get to feb next year and no BFP!

Other than the day 21 this month I’ve not gotten to anything else that I can try now!

@Bananatoast123 definitely learning to be more patient as the months go on!!

have you heard of something called Ferti-lily?

also does your OH take any supplements?

@UserL95 me too! No what’s that?

my OH is taking a testboost multi supplement that’s suppose to support testosterone… it’s got added CoQ10 too, maca root, zinc etc! But he’s only just started and hasn’t been consistent! I’m so close to buying those mon-fri pots so he remembers 🤣! I’ve got him back into the gym lifting weights so hoping that gives a boost too haha

@Bananatoast123 be careful with anything that has added testosterone for OH as I’m sure I read that it can act as a contraceptive method for men!! Don’t take me on my word though, maybe just read into it a little bit

I also use the 7 day pill boxes to make life a bit easier 😂

Ferti-lily is a conception cup, bit like the Menstrual cups but more shallow. I’ve only used it this cycle every time we dtd in fertile period so not sure if it works. It was messy a little, but it’s meant to help the swimmers stay higher and need to swim less to get to the cervix 🤷‍♀️ I thought no harm in trying!

I just bought those pill boxes as well!

@Bananatoast123 @UserL95 I'll be honest, im not fully sure on it myself . But, when I first joined mumsnet about a month a go I was browsing and reading a lot of different threads. I came across one thread where a girl had tried it. She took 1 spoon on cough syrup a day and noticed an improvement in cm and got her bfp that month. I'd never heard of it before, a couple of other people on the thread commented saying they had heard similar stories and was planning to try it on their next cycle. Annoyingly now I can't remember which thread it was to find it again and see if the others tried it and how they got on.
I wondered if anyone here had heard of it. I didnt know if it was worth a try or if its just a coincidence that they got their bfp.

@Thatskindafun they’re so helpful!! I bought a kit of 7 day/night ones so my dailies are in the sun side and DH in the night side. Quite fun actually 🤣

@ScarletDreams very interesting I’ve never come across this. Have you tried it yet?

@UserL95 yes I’ve read this! It doesn’t have testosterone in it, just all the vitamins that are good in males to aid their hormone levels! So like all your vitamins and zinc and magnesium etc!

oh! Is it something you put in after? I’ve seen the suggestion of using fertile friends lube to aid conception too - have you tried this?

@ScarletDreams ahhh I feel like I’ve read something similar too but I wasn’t sure how legit it was or whether they just had a better cycle!! I mean it’s worth a go!

@Bananatoast123 yep we’ve used fertility friendly lube for around 5/6 months now give it take? We alternate between conceive plus and pre-seed

Oh I heard that fertility friendly lubricant can actually be harmful! And that they actually slow down mobility
im sure there was a study this year maybe
that’s just one study obviously, but maybe if you’re at the point of trying cough syrup it’s something worth considering too

@UserL95 @Thatskindafun interesting! I’ve never thought to try it yet as my EWCM has never been an issue!

my OH keeps talking about getting married and I think he’s thinking of proposing in the next 6 months… I keep thinking as soon as he does we’ll get our BFP just as I start planning a wedding, and it’ll stall that!! Almost like a nice distraction to ttc!

@Thatskindafun i had heard this too! But I think the consensus is that fertility friendly lube is still better than any other types of lube/make-shift lube. And much better than spit! Haha sorry if tmi

@Bananatoast123 so exciting!! I’m sure a proposal would definitely help distracting you from TTC for a while!

@UserL95 I know right! He mentioned it again last night 🥰

for your vitamins - have you stopped the conception vitamins now and gone straight to taking them separately? I might switch mine to the pregnacare and then top up with some others but also thinking of taking them all individually but seems a lot! I’m also reading how more than 400mg of folate acid can help?

So this is my first month ttc and I've started tracking with the easy@home tests and premom but my chart seems to be all over the place. Yesterday it looked to be in the way up getting a reading of 0.7 but today it's crashed all the way back to 0.17.
Do any of you track with these too? I don't know if this is normal or not . I'll try to attach a photo to show you.

@Bananatoast123 we still have Mens and womens conceive plus tablets left over so will continue to take them until they finish but are taking individuals alongside it as it’s only really the folate that is enough in the womens ones. Then once’s the conceive plus finish will continue taking all of the individuals with the addition of a 400mg folate supplement too! Not sure on taking more, I haven’t read into that. Share your knowledge haha !!

@ScarletDreams i just use amazon cheapies if I’m honest with you!! I use the Premom app to get the numbers but my peak is never over the 1 number either - not sure if this is good or bad as never had a pregnancy. I do know that the peak (lh surge) will grow steadily and then come back down so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I don’t always test anymore as my cycle is pretty regular. Don’t worry too much!!

pic for reference - the strength of the line is more important than the number:

One cycle I tested from cd9 and surged on cd16
On the other cycle I tested from cd13 and surged cd16
You just want the first line to be darker than the second x

@UserL95 ahhh good to know thanks! I might try everything separately for 3 months and see how I feel! Yeah I’ve been reading here Mumsinthewood … although hard to know whether it’s right but it’s similar stuff to what I’ve seen before! Seen a bit on robitussian which sounds like the cough syrup stuff!

@ScarletDreams I’d keep testing for a few days incase your peak comes back! If your body fails to ovulate it’ll try again and you’ll get a LH surge! It can fail for any reason like you had a stressful day or got a cold etc! But if it doesn’t it means you’ve most likely
ovulated! I think you ovulate 24-48 hours later so just because your lower you’re still in your fertile period!

I’ve got a peak above 1 a few times but I think it’s just down to the timing of testing! Once you get an increase make sure you test like every 3-4 hours as some people peak quickly and come down again! You can peak over a few hours or days, everyone’s very different.

if you’re fresh off contraception too you may find next month you have different results too!

I’m like @UserL95 I don’t test anymore as did it for a few months and I now know my body as to when it’s happening! And I didn’t like to “force” dtd because I knew it was ovulation day! Now I try to dtd at least every other day around that time and for a bit after!!

You’re doing great though! You’ve got this!

@ScarletDreams this happened to me this month, I had a reading of 0.7 then it dropped right back down. I kept testing and 4 days later I got a peak of 1.31. So like others have said I would keep testing just in case!

@UserL95 @Bananatoast123 @buttercupbee thank you, I will keep testing. I only finished af on Sunday, so sounds a little too soon to have peaked? But again I'm so new to tracking I'm still trying to figure out what's normal for me. I have had a stressful week at work so that probably doesnt help. I'll keep testing and see what happens. Thanks again 😊

@Beth290fox How are you getting on? Was the temperature rise a sign of a BFP? I was reading into bbt and I think the slight dip before AF and then rise can indicate implantation! I’ve started bbt this month after 9 not doing it - find it difficult to remember every morning so don’t know how you do it!

@Bananatoast123 I’m not sure if you meant to tag me instead? But I did keep tracking my temperature then a few days later my period started unfortunately, more weirdly my temperature rose slightly higher once it came too