One year+ TTC part 4

[lemons44]

Hi all
Onto thread 4! Hopefully this one is lucky for us 🍀 🤞🏼

Just a supportive thread for those of us who have been TTC for over a year. New faces are welcome. Feel free to vent, cry, laugh, ask silly questions, seek advice and talk about anything.

Tagging our BFP ladies who are rooting for us too.

@Tinkerbell098
@NatW2021
@Koalie
@Netflixnchilli
@JSS15
@BakinABaby
@KatieLooLa
@Indianna2006
@Carla2601
@BritInNZ
@FlyOnTheWall89

Feel free to tag anyone I have forgotten.

Hi @totheskytothewest welcome but sorry you find yourself here too. I don't have any clomed experience unfortunately however I totally get about the milestone thing. I remember last Christmas thinking 'I might have a baby by next Christmas!' And I am still nowhere close to a BFP.

@totheskytothewest welcome! I was prescribed Clomid (Clomiphene) and I was taking it for four cycles with no success. In the first month I thought I felt ovulation, I was having hot flashes and a bit of a headache and I did gain some wait in the time I was taking it. For me, it didn’t work, but I did read some success stories.

I’m starting with Letrozole next cycle if we weren’t successful this time around. :)

I seriously don’t think our problem is lack od ovulation … but it’s worth a try…

@Koalie yes, we were offered counselling and we had a few sessions during our fresh cycle. It was alright, at least got to talk about some of our struggles. I started counselling again for the frozen cycle and had a session a couple of weeks ago. This was with another counsellor, similar experience. They were all free for us on the NHS and there is no limit as to how many we can have. I think it would depend on how good the counsellors are. Worth a try if they offer it X

@lemons44 I never had day 2 bloods done. I had day 21 last year, but they didn't repeat it before IVF. The only bloods they did at the clinic were for STIs and some virology markers (I had AMH done privately about 6 months prior to that).

I’d like to join. Started TTC in July of last year, conceived in late October 21 but sadly went on to have a second trimester miscarriage. At the same time an ovarian mass was identified which turned out to be a rapidly growing (but thankfully benign) dermoid cyst for which I’ve recently had surgery. Anyway, here we are well over a year later, still no baby and down half an ovary. I’m on my second cycle of properly trying post surgery, but we had opportunities to conceive earlier this year without luck.
This time around I’m being much stricter about caffeine and vitamins for ovarian/egg health.

@summerchild92
I've just been reading through the messages over the last few days and can see we're in a similar situation. I'm just behind you at 9dpo today. Had a Hycosy 2 weeks ago with the same results.
My doctor said it will hopefully increase fertility for a few months so they are leaving us "to it" for 3 months then if no luck, on to IVF.

How you getting on? Have you tested this cycle yet?

Thank you to everyones responses to my question the other day on how you cope.
I think this thread is much more helpful than the generic TTC groups!
Wishing you all luck ☄☄

@SaraSS I have tested a few times (internet cheapies), but way too soon haha and I ran out of tests now, so I haven’t tested since 8dpo 😂 I ordered some new tests and I will test as I am now 11dpo, 12 tomorrow so if there’s something going on, I think I should at least get a faint line now?

I don’t think I have any true symptoms. I’m feeling a little bit more tired than usual, but this could very well be due to the weather change as it’s been raining/snowing for the past couple of days. Plus I had an upset tummy yesterday.

How are you getting on?

I’m hoping for a positive result, but I wouldn’t be surprised by a bfn either, as my dh was ill when we had to babydance (he had a fever for a few days) so this could have affected his swimmers. 😬😝

@BakinABaby well done!! We got notified today that we have been approved to attend a fertility clinic. My gyn also tried to prescribe me progesterone! How strange. Did they say it would help regulate your cycles? Mine are regular and so it was a little confusing

@summerchild92
I don't know how you manage not testing for a few days.. I'm obsessed in every TWW. I just use the cheapies, but I do go through them lol
Good luck with your next test when they arrive 🤞

I'm thinking I'm out this cycle.. I had some spotting a few days ago which got my hopes up thinking it could be implantation bleeding, but now I think I'm getting my period early.. I'm wondering if the Hycosy could have impacted my cycle a little? Usually a 28-30 day cycle..
I'm also taking different prenatal vitamins this cycle so that could have an impact on my cycle days, possibly.

Trophy124 (doesn’t let me tag you idk) - I don’t know exactly, she didn’t elaborate. My cycles are regular enough, but my luteal phase was 11 days for a long time, perhaps that is why. Any way, I did find some research online that seemed to suggest progesterone support did increase chances of conception in couples even if they had regular cycles etc. But there are a myriad of othes things that could be preventing us from conceiving and some of them can easily be tested for so I was I think understandably disappointed that she didn’t.

@Tophy124 ok my reading skill is nonexistent 😅

@BakinABaby oh very interesting!! Maybe I should have taken the progesterone when offered! We are fighting for any kind of testing at the moment and it’s an uphill struggle. I suspect I have a long luteal phase too

@SaraSS My GP didn’t say anything about HyCosy possibly affecting the cycle, but since it is pretty “invasive”, perhaps it can. Did you spot after the procedure?

and when did you start to spot again? Has it stopped now or are you still spotting?

Honestly, we won’t know until we test. There’s so many different pregnancies as there is women … you could very well be pregnant or just gearing up for af. Fx it’s the first!

My GP just rang regarding our NHS referral.

The GP said I now need to go into the surgery to have 3 sets of bloods day 2-5 of my cycle and 1 set of bloods days 18-21 of my cycle, plus a chlamydia test.

I'm not sure wether this is a good sign that the NHS referral is moving forward, or whether it's a bad sign we are still at the really early stages of the referral if they are only just flagging that they need this info.... 🤔

Did any of you need this info for NHS fertility referral or only for IVF referral? We haven't had any NHS consultations yet but I suppose I am just hoping that because we have most of our tests done, assuming we do find sperm in the surgical sperm retrieval, that we will not have to go through many NHS loopholes before we get in the NHS IVF queue.

The whole process is confusing I just don't want to pay private if we do have IVF if things are in motion with the NHS.

This is a bit of a pointless post but I'm home alone an offloading my head after speak to the GP haha

@lemons44 I think there are a few tick boxes to fill for IVF referral, so it's perhaps part of that process. But it sounds positive to me that they're moving it a little now. When it comes to the consultation bit, you can explain that you've got all the other tests done and that you need to move straight to IVF. I think at that point they'll apply for your funding and it should be fairly quick from there. They might know the wait times for NHS IVF. Ours said 3 months after applying for funding (although it turned into 6 months to starting my treatment cycle, but that's just my area being really bad).

Hi @lemons44

So my understanding (and what happened for us) is that the timeline is the following:
GP - Day 21 bloods Day 3 bloods (although my GP did them all on day 21 🙄) Semen analysis Both of us had to have other bloods like hepb and some others * I also had to be up to date with smears before they referred me. Don’t remember ever having a chlamydia test.

Referral then went to sub fertility (took a month just to get the referral over properly because the GP didn’t refer us together as a couple at first they just referred my husband off the back of his SA results

There was then a wait for sub fertility to pick it up (I called them and cried and think I got dealt with sooner than I should have) we then had a telephone consultation to discuss what happens next and that’s when I was told when and how to book in my HyCosy and AMH bloods & hubby booked for a more detailed SA where they also tested for anti sperm anti bodies.

Once those 3 tests were complete we had a wait for a call to discuss the results. This is where I called every day for cancellations and managed to skip the queue by probably months! Next was our call to discuss the results, then we were sent all the info and consent forms re IVF and were referred from sub fertility to the IVF clinic where they applied for our funding and told me to call them on CD1 to start the process so that’s what I’m waiting on now.

Hope that’s helpful xx

@lemons44 yes you need all those tests just to tick the boxes for a referral. They are pretty strict about that.

Once all those tests are done, they'll make the referral and you'll be then into the system. Just to warn you, I think it varies massively depending on where you are and if your bloods etc are not done yet you are right at the beginning in terms of NHS referrals. My initial letter having done all my bloods and my partners SA came in February and they gave me my first telephone appointment date for July (shockingly long). I was lucky and called up and they had a cancellation so ended up having my telephone appointment in March. From there, after various other consultations etc, we could have started IVF in July, so that gives you a rough timeline. This is SW London. I ended up getting pregnant before needing to do that. I think what stopped us immediately going private was that we had a chance of conception every month. I actually don't think the NHS wait was bad in the end, but when I first got that letter saying the initial phone consultation was essentially 5 months away, I burst into tears.

The quick and pain free way if private if you have the money. My friends have just gone private and they'll been so pleased at how quickly everything has been processed and they've got 14 embryos in the freezer.

Xx

@summerchild92
Yeah it was v v v light spotting a few days ago, didn't last long at all. Nothing since.
I'm still getting stark white BFNs so I feel like I'm out 🤷‍♀️ I'll keep testing until AF arrives though.

I'm looking at buying some digital ovulation sticks for next cycle (waiting for AF before I order!) I've not used them before but would be good to compare to the cheapy ovulation sticks I've been using- make sure I'm reading them right!
Honestly, clutching at straws - I like to try something new each cycle if I can!!

Urhh social media keeps showing my pregnancy adverts and baby thinks.. 😒 not helpful!

@SaraSS that does sound like IB. Fx it was and you will get a positive soon! Did you test this morning and get a neg?

@summerchild92
Yeah it was negative this morning with FMU. Tried again this afternoon with a long hold and negative again. I'm 11/12dpo now so would have thought I'd have a faint line by now if I was.
I'd love it to be positive of course but my optimism is low for this cycle now. AF is due in a few days so ill know fairly soon!
How are you? Have you tested again yet?

@SaraSS I tested yesterday too, but not with fmu, and it was a neg. I stupidly ordered tests online and as soon as I got them, I had the urge ti test. Haha 🙄 I’m supposed to get on my period tomorrow so I will wait until Saturday to test again (if af doesn’t show). This way I can keep the rest of the tests for the next cycle😬😂

@FlyOnTheWall89 @Koalie @Tinkerbell098
Thanks ladies. I was doing a bit of research and it looks like with my CCG area you can have one round of private and still have two rounds of NHS, or two rounds of private and one round of NHS. This has made me feel a bit better as IF we find sperm for IVF we can go private to save time but still have a chance to use our NHS entitlement too.

@summerchild92 @SaraSS sorry you've both had negative tests ladies ☹️ I know it never gets easier. Are you both trying for your first babies? x

@Tinkerbell098 hope you're doing ok by the way ❤️ been thinking of you

@lemons44
Yes trying for my first. been TTC for about 18 months, not had any BFPs. Tests are showing both me and DP are fine. Had a Hycosy at the start of this cycle so hoping that boosts fertility for the next few cycles.
If not, we're looking at IVF..

Did another test this morning and BFN. Had a few period type cramps too so think AF will show in the next day or so..