Preparing and TTC in 2023 - Thread 2

[DanisEndo]

Thread no 2 as thread 1 was so close to getting full!

As a reminder this is a positive support thread for anyone preparing and planning to start TTC in 2023 💖

If you join start by introducing yourself with your age. what no. you're trying for and when you plan on starting plus any goals you might have before then! for example:

@DanisEndo
Age 27
TTC No.1
Starting Sep 23
I want to:

• loose some weight (would like to get down to a healthy BMI by exercising and doing all home cooking, nothing to major or restrictive)
• do some decorating around the house
• get married (1st September woooo!)
• change job / company

I have endometriosis and PCOS, 2 surgeries down and hoping I'll still be all clear by the time we get to trying.

Theres a long list of us now so bare with me updating it as we go 😅

Good luck everyone!!!

Day 28.. still no AF, testing stark white negative on Clearblue and cheapies. Really long cycle for me but not completely unprecedented. Kind of want AF to arrive now so I can concentrate again. Had done so well this month not to symptom spot through the whole TWW that it seems unfair to have a late period teasing me! No suspicious symptoms though other than increased CM, and I am a bit under the weather so maybe that’s just thrown my cycle off.

Sorry I always do two posts in a row - if I am just late then the grapefruit juice thing is definitely powerful magic as started drinking it early and have ewcm for the first time in 2-3 months and definitely not ovulating rn!

Oh what's this about grapefruit juice? Havnt heard this!! 😮

Supposed to increase ewcm if you drink/eat grapefruit up until ovulation. I had some ready for next cycle but drank it all over last three days as I had a cold and have definitely noticed a lot even though am due a period not ovulation! Thought it might be a bit of an old wives tale but I’m convinced, hadn’t noticed any ewcm for at least the last two months.

What DPO are you? No AF is still positive! How long are your cycles normally?

@LeopardLover I didn’t attempt any ovulation tracking this month but I’m usually 24–25 days. It could just be that all the supplements have done good things and extended my cycle, but still no signs of AF this evening so heading into my longest cycle on record… but tests are absolutely showing nothing at all. Don’t know what to think!

Gosh, that is confusing! I guess it's just a case of waiting a few more days and testing again. Crossing everything for you! I normally have longish cycles and I had the shortest cycle of my life this month (27 days). TTC is keeping us on our toes!

@LeopardLover maybe we just swapped this month then!

Hope you’re feeling good about starting the next cycle. Feels like spring is finally here and that seems appropriate to the mission!

@BatildaB Haha yes, maybe! Or hopefully it's just your month 😉 I'm looking forward to tracking with OPKs, unfortunately we're away with friends during my fertile week and sharing a room with our toddler so that will require some planning 🤣🩷

Hi everyone, hoping I can join in! I'm 32 and really sadly lost a little girl, at 25 weeks, at the end of last year. She was my first pregnancy and although it absolutely broke me, the thought of trying again is filling me with hope. My husband and I are tentatively starting to try again and just seeing what happens. It's both scary and exciting in equal measure. Also lovely to see some BFPs on here ♥️

Welcome! Oh I'm sooo sorry to hear you lost your little girl so soon 💔 really hoping it doesn't take too long for you to get your BFP. 😊 TTC is really exciting but I can understand why you'd feel nervous too. Are you tracking ovulation?

Thank you @LeopardLover ♥️ she was so beautiful. Not using OPKs but have a pretty good idea from last time and keeping track via the Flo app. I think I'll turn to OPKs in a couple of months if we aren't successful but for now just trying to keep it as spontaneous as possible - I know I'll get a bit obsessed if I start OPKs straight away 😂

@Finderskeepers90 What was her name? 💜 Of course it's totally fine if you don't want to share but I bet it was equally beautiful! That's a really good move... I managed one month without OPKs and now I'm just finishing my period, I'm going to sneakily use them and not tell my husband so it feels spontaneous to him 🤣 I can feel myself getting obsessed already 😅

We named her Cerys, which means love in Welsh ♥️

That's a great move - spontaneous to him 😂

I have been taking pre natal vitamins as well as CoQ10 and Omega 3 fish oil to make sure I'm supporting myself as much as I can. I've also kept up with the no alcohol or caffeine since I was pregnant. I wanted to try and loose a bit of weight but food has been a great source of comfort these last few months so I haven't put any pressure on losing, just keeping to a balanced diet as well as I can.

Fingers crossed for you and a BFP soon!

Sorry that is me, it just reverted to an old username!

@Finderskeepers90 So sorry to hear about your loss. Cerys is a beautiful name. I hope you get your bfp soon.

I’m impressed with the long term abstinence.. I found stopping alcohol pretty easy but not caffeine. I quit coffee a couple of months ago for fertility and health, but put on about 5kg in a month and have got nothing done at work.. So am compromising on one pot of half caf a day for now!

@Finderskeepers90 @LeopardLover I like the concept of pretend spontaneity, feels like Victorian era secret ‘women’s business.’ I think my partner would appreciate a bit less info after I told him why I’d bought so much grapefruit juice.

I finally got my period today, longest cycle on (5 year) record - seconds after an apparently positive easy at home test! It was an emotional ten minutes. I think I’ll stick to more expensive tests in future..

I’m going to suspend efforts for one month, change in work situation means that 9 months from now would be a much less good time to have a baby than 10 or 11.. I’ll still check in on the thread to see how everyone else is doing though x

I am so sorry for your loss finders. I hope you get your BFP soon ❤️ What a beautiful name you gave your little girl.

So sorry for your loss @Finderskeepers90 . what a beautiful name.

Ive just had my period appear after a 16 day cycle (usually 21-24 which worries me as it is) so i’m in a bit of a state. Have called GP and will get a phone appt on Friday. I feel so disheartened though. I’m certain somethings not right with my cycles.

I think from the tracking i’ve done (though i’ve stopped now) that my luteal phase is 10 days. Heard pregnacare extended some people’s cycles and tempted to give it a go. Or I have 50mg b6 complex I bought and haven’t used so may try that. I don’t know. Just need to feel like i’m doing something

@xTinkerbell Short cycles suck 😕. Prenatal vitamins of various brands made my cycle a day or two longer, up from average 22-24 to 24-25. I’m also taking ubiquinol and have been making an effort to eat less sugar and to sleep for at least 7.5 hrs and generally reduce stress - an Apple Watch hrv app showed me that I was pretty much in a constant state of fight or flight, so I find hrv monitoring really useful to remind me to do 5 mins of deep breathing a day. Something in there is having an effect, causing my confusion this month with much longer cycle than usual. Let me know if you try anything else that works!

Short cycles can be a sign of low progesterone so definitely ask the GP to test for that Tinker

@Hopingforno2in2023 I’ll definitely ask! Going to ask them to check thyroid too. Back in January I had a similar issue with a random 11 day cycle and was fobbed off with ‘that happens sometimes’. Since then they have varied from 22-24 but don’t really want to just take this 16 days as a ‘just happens sometimes’

@BatildaB Glad to hear you’ve had some success. Think I’ll give the pregnacare a go. This month has been a weird one but i’m typically 22-24 with the odd 21/25 thrown in. So if I could manage to extend that by a few days that would be great. I’ve been trying to improve my diet but I’m the worst for skipping meals and fuelling myself with sugar. Need to make a more conciliatory effort especially with breakfast/lunch. I was prioritising sleep really well for a while but i’ve let it go so i’ll work on that again.

Im glad you’re finding these things having an affect on your cycle. Thank you for sharing! Hopefully mine follows suit

@xTinkerbell Yeah, I slip into living off caffeine and sugar, and could easily not eat till 4pm, I do think that stuff can have an effect on cycle length? And it all feels quite connected - not eating for ages, then lots of sugar, then sleeping less well.. not very hormone supportive. But quitting coffee and eating breakfast for a few weeks has me officially overweight for the first time. Trying to find the sustainable compromise lifestyle!

Oh the other thing I do that I think might be helping is tart cherry supplements before bed to increase melatonin. Melatonin seems to have a lot to do with fertility and healthy hormones, might be another thing to try.

Hope the dr is helpful.

@BatildaB this is me right now! I’ve not had one single meal today. A digestive biscuit, bar of chocolate and packet of crisps 🤦‍♀️Currently making something decent for dinner.

I struggle a lot with breakfasts but did start making a point of eating breakfast between having DS & DD. Not sure how I fell back out of that habit but I think from tomorrow i’ll start making a more conscious effort. I’m a few lbs overweight since having my kids and trying to work on losing that so really should balance my diet better and it’ll all help probably.

Oh perfect! i’ll give that a try, I’m willing to try anything. Sick of these horribly short cycles

Hi all!

Room for a little ‘un?

TTC no. 2
Age: 33
Starting: originally Sept ‘23 but I suppose May/June now. I have started taking folic acid and vit d.

I fell pregnant with my LG on 2nd cycle trying in 2021 after a record breaking 79 day 1st cycle trying so she felt like a miracle! My periods are irregular and it’s definitely on my mind I won’t be so lucky this time!

I took conceive plus ovulation support last time and not sure whether to start it again now or give it a few cycles and see what happens!

Hey everyone, joining in too mainly to start making it real for myself!

Will be TTC #1 later this year, I'm 32.

Will be coming off the pill soon though likely won't be trying until end of summer earliest.

In meantime nervous for the pill withdrawal to be honest! Anyone have a positive experience finally coming off the pill after a long time...?! It's been around 10 years for me.

Hope anyone testing this week gets their BFP 🤞