First Timers TTC. Safe space for brain dumps, questions, whinges and celebrations. Part 2!

[TinyDancer91]

Hi All.

This is a continuation from my past thread, but no need to go read that one if you're new here!

Quick TD;LR from the old post (but with up to date info) - I'm 31, OH is 35. We are TTC baby #1. Been TTC since Jan 2022, now on cycle 14. Haven't told anyone to avoid pressure.

Feel free to post any questions, thoughts, whinges, celebrations, basically anything here!

Going to try to be a bit more positive than I was toward the end of the last thread 😂

Love & baby dust to all. Wishing for BFPs for everyone this year 💖

@TinyDancer91
Thank you very much!
How are you doing?

I've been prescribed hcg injections every week until 14 weeks and progestin injections every 2 weeks until 5 months. Has anyone heard of something like this? I've never heard of anyone taking injections weekly during pregnancy.

@TinyDancer91 that is great news about your DHs ultrasound! Will be thinking of you both tomorrow.

What lovely news from everybody. Wishing you all health and happiness this Christmas 🎄💕

@ceruleansky my friend had to take progesterone injections and something else which I can’t recall for the first 4/5 months of pregnancy. The progesterone was because her levels were low but unsure on what the second set of injections were for. This was over 4 years ago now though, her little boy is 4 next year!

I am so happy for you guys! That’s like 5 BFPs! Gives the rest of us hope and I know the BFPs must be a lovely Xmas present for you all.

I hope we get more BFPs in due course. It is quite exciting to see people’s updates.

@ceruleansky I’m sure I've heard of people having progesterone injections in early pregnancy. It’s not ‘average’ which is why you’ve not heard of it before. I don’t think it’s ’a big deal’ either. They are just doing it for good measure.

I’m on cycle 14 and this month I’ve upgraded to Pregnacare conception max (which has Coq10 in it). I’d just been on pregnacare regular conception before. I’m also trying a technique where you get DP to ejaculate in you first and then orgasm. Apparently, this gets sperm up through the cervix better. Fingers crossed!

Although it had been thought DP had a fistula (which is serious) he had another scan and he doesn’t have one. It’s an anti climax but it looks like he just had post viral fatigue and pain after having viral prostatitis two years ago. He has spontaneously got better from this (viruses are random like that) so we’re just enjoying him being able to live life! It had been two years of him having extreme fatigue and pain! Health is wealth!

@Ditzydaisychain
Hmm I see! I don't know why they would think my levels are low, I haven't had any tests yet! But hey, if it helps I'll do it!
How are you doing?

@Feliciacat
That's good to know..! Like you said, I probably haven't heard of it. My doctor did say it's an "induced" pregnancy so she wants to provide maximum support.
She also banned us from Intercourse and I'm not allowed to exercise until 14 weeks, including walking, so I am a couch potato..

Good luck to you, sounds like you have a good plan! Fingers crossed that things work out!🤞

I am doing progesterone pessaries AND injections but that’s because it is an ivf pregnancy so I need the hormone support. Xx

@ceruleansky I'm doing ok. I'm keeping busy, I have 2 jobs, plus I'm in a show at our local theatre this weekend, and I've been making some memory bears for my cousin, so trying to keep my mind as occupied as possible!

@Ditzydaisychain thanks, he didn't really say much afterwards today as the nurses didn't tell him anything, guessing we won't hear this side of Xmas and probably new year now as our clinic is on shut down from 16th for a week

@BeeLieve86
I see! I suppose it's just for good measure to support the baby. How has your experience been so far? Are you allowed to be physically active and workout? Sorry if that's a personal question you don't have to answer.

@TinyDancer91
Wow, you are definitely keeping busy! Do you have the option to work from home? Aww that's so sweet of you to make the bears! Make sure not to overwork yourself! And updates on when your appointment will be next year?

What plans do you guys have for the holidays?

@ceruleansky my morning job is working from home, which is great and any evening job is teaching dancing so we're closed now until new year. My next appointment is booked for 11th March, and OH's is booked for May, but we/they didn't expect OH to get his ultrasound in this quick. We're going to call them in the new year and see if my bloods are back and if there's any news on his ultrasound and then if we can move any of the appointments forward 🤞🏻

Also, Xmas plans for us are seeing my parents Xmas eve, and his parents Xmas day, so no cooking for us!! 😂😂 how about you?

*any plans

@TinyDancer91
Omg you're a dance teacher? How fun! I've always wanted to learn, I can only dance after I've had a few shots lol 😆
I hope you get the answers you're looking for in those appointments. I wish you didn't have to wait that long just to get an ultrasound!

That's well thought out 🤣
We don't really have any plans.. since I'm not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. My parents might visit. And maybe we might go to a new year party. By then I'll be 10 weeks.

@TinyDancer91 we should have guessed your profession from your name shouldn’t we 🤣. Your Christmas plans sound lovely! We are with my family so no cooking for us either 🥳. Hopefully things move quicker for you now you are not having to allow time to wait for the scan. Will have everything crossed things start moving for you in Jan.

@ceruleansky hers were at a much more frequent dosage as well. I think they were daily but that does seem a lot. She actually just told me she is pregnant again today and we’re going out for lunch in Jan so she will explain it to me then I think, as she said in her message she’s going to need injections again.
I am doing well thank you! How are you feeling? I am usually a very active person. I swim, run and cycle to work but I’ve been absolutely floored by my nausea. I’m hoping to get back into it soon, it’s been hard been inactive the past 6/7 weeks. I actually went to cycle to work a few weeks ago and I just saw my bike and threw up 🤣, I think it was actually triggered by the smell in the garage, but that was enough for me to drive in.

@Feliciacat I took those vitamins and I had DH taking the men’s version. I think they massively helped me as I noticed an improvement in myself when I started taking them in November last year. I use to have B12 injections before the pandemic, stopped having them 2020. I went in for bloods to check on my b12 in may but they told me I didn’t need them anymore as my levels were good and I can only think it’s from this vitamin! Good news on your DH not having a fistula. He sounds like he’s had such a hard time, I’m glad things are looking better for him health wise!

Also a little update we had our first scan today and all looks well. They’ve dated me at almost 13 weeks so our due date has changed to June. We’ve almost dropped a whole week from our original due date in July. Thinking of potentially telling my mum on Christmas Day but it feels very all about me. So we might tell her Boxing Day.

@Ditzydaisychain
Ooh that's so exciting, congratulations to your friend!! I wish her a healthy pregnancy too!
It's good that you've been active I'm sure that will help you recover better postpartum! And at the same time, your body is keeping you inactive because you need the rest! 😅 don't worry I'm sure you'll be back at it soon enough, if not the same activities.
I'm down with a cold and fever but other than that I'm fine! I think this is the third time I've had a cold in the last 2 months. My immunity is shot! And I'm not even going anywhere. Luckily Im on holiday from tomorrow until new years. I can nurse myself back to normalcy. 🤣

I have these weird surges of hunger like I could eat anything in front of me, and the second I take a bite, I'm done. Hunger just vanishes. Is anyone experiencing this??

Happy new year to all!!!

Currently trying to avoid social media, first thing I saw this morning when logging on to Facebook was another pregnancy announcement.... Xmas was the same...

Anyone else finding this time of year hard for this reason?

Sorry you’re finding things hard. The time of year is definitely a thing; especially when you get your period on New Year’s Eve! My new technique did not work. So we’re just going to have sex every other day from the end of my period and see what happens. Sperm meets egg technique is doing nothing for us and is making sex unsexy. So I think I’ll keep tracking ovulation so I have something to tell my doctor but other than this, we’ll just try and enjoy life. We will do up the house this year too; that’ll be nice.

What non-conception plans do you have for 2024 @TinyDancer91? Maybe focusing on those will help you feel better emotionally. Not to be insensitive to your situation (I’m in a similar boat, hence being on this thread) but there’s a lot of life outside having babies. I wonder what we will achieve this year?

I'm the same Tiny dancer. I stopped counting Christmas and New Year's pregnancy announcements when I got to double digits. It's starting to feel like it will never happen. Now it's been a year so I can go to my GP and ask for support, but I have lost hope and feel they won't care or do anything.

@IsLarryFromSomething they will likely do day two and day 21 blood tests for you to check ovarian reserve and progesterone levels. They will also encourage your DP to get a semen analysis. If those both come back ok then they’ll probably say to keep trying as it must be stress. You can always go back to the doctor though. That is the position DH and I are in. If there’s nothing by May then I’ll go back and ask for structural analysis of my uterus and fallopian tubes. DH happens to have been checked out structurally and he’s ok.

So definitely go to the GP for blood tests and go from there. I hope you get some answers.

Thank you very much. That's really good to know.

I have the added bonus of not having ovulated in months and therefore no period. FUN. But I've done some research (tonight) and it seems like there are a few kinds medications which may or may not address that.

@IsLarryFromSomething it sounds like sorting out your periods would make testing easier to do. I hope you manage to get them more regular. You’ve got this!

Thank you xxx

@TinyDancer91 I feel similar to you. I deleted all social media on 22nd and didn't go on it again until 3rd but I still caught the tail end of loads of pregnancy announcements.

It's hard but we can get through it.

First appointment at assisted conception unit next week. Feeling very nervous

In need of some advice... as I mentioned, I had my bloods taken late Nov for genetic testing and OH had an ultrasound scan of his bits the week before Xmas. I emailed the hospital last week just to check if the results were in yet as I was told 8-10 weeks for mine. Secretary replied to confirm that the results had been received and checked by the consultant.

I asked if I could phone and get the results over the phone and was basically told no, they won't give me the results... we've got to wait for our next appointments with the consultants. However they are in March for me & May for him! I don't want to wait that long to find out the results...

Firstly, AIBU? Should I just accept it and wait for another 8.5 weeks OR is it worth contacting the clinic and asking if there is a possibility of the appointment being brought forward? Will they even do this?

If we wait until May for OH's consultant appointment, that will make it over a year since our referral without even an idea of when we can start our treatment. It seems a bit ridiculous given that have essentially told us already that ICSI is pretty much our only hope given our results to this point.

Please talk some sense into me before I end up losing my mind!!

Hmm, I don’t think you have anything to lose by asking if the appointment can be brought forward. If they say no then you’ll have to just wait until March. I’m not saying it’s ok to wait until March but I think the health service is just so stretched that it’s normal to have to wait so long.

If you have to get the results from the consultant then at least you will be getting the results in the best way possible even though it’s a long wait. You’ll have an expert to ask questions to and they’ll explain things well. I think it is worth the wait ultimately.

Hello all,

just an update from me. After going through IVF and getting pregnant during our first round, we had our first scan on January 3rd only to find out we have had a missed miscarriage 💔
I had to stop all medication on January 5th and I started miscarrying on Tuesday (9th).
I am so broken. SO broken.
we have one frozen embryo but given my low AMH we have decided to start from scratch and do another egg retrieval. The thought of that is so daunting.
why is this so hard?!

@BeeLieve86 I am so sorry to hear your news. Sending you lots of love 💕

I'm so sorry 💐