2023 TTC 35+ Part 4

[VixFromThe6ix]

New thread, ladies!!!!

Hope you can all find it.

Feel free to tag others to continue the conversation.

@CurlyWurly1991 I’m CD7 too!! Getting ready to start SMEP from tomorrow. I think my husband is scared 🤣 as is always the way we have his family staying with us so my plan of getting sexy/surprising him a bit is out the window! Oh well, what can you do?!

One thing I’ve noticed over the last few months is that my periods are quite short? Last one was only two days. I’ve been on some sort of contraception for the last ten years or so and my periods have usually been about 4/5 days. Any thoughts?

Also went to see Barbie last night. If anyone needs cheering up or reassurance that it’s bloody tough being a woman, then you must go! I have never felt more seen!🩷🎀🌸🦩💕

@MrsBP15 im CD8 today so similar! What does SMEP say again? Maybe I will just follow that - I don’t really have a plan yet!

My cycles used to be 30 days and I ovulated late-ish at CD18, but I’ve been taking inofolic (aimed at PCOS sufferers which I don’t have, but I have hypothyroidism and apparently also helps with that) and it seems to have brought my cycles into a textbook 28 days with ovulation around cd14 now (based purely on EWCM as haven’t done any ovulation testing yet).

What apps do people use to track ttc? I used Ovia with my last 2 kids but seems to have been discontinued!

@MrsBP15 sorry also meant to say I don’t think you need to worry re short cycles - key thing is that they are regular. The periods you get on contraception are normally different from the “natural” ones so I wouldn’t worry that they’ve changed either.

Thanks @Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow i’m sure stuff with periods is fine. It’s all just so new to me having had the coil for donkeys years. The main thing is they are there and pretty regular. Cycles are between 25-29 days and have been for past four months or so so feel like I’m getting into a rhythm. I usually ovulate (or so tests tell me) around day 15 so I think everything is all good there too.

SMEP is the Sperm meets Egg Plan. Someone on here very kindly shared this link (I think it was @Eirlys1986?) and if you are day 8 and want to follow it, you’d need to get cracking (no pun intended) today. I also checked out some videos on YouTube on it as I find that an easy and quick way to get the info I need!

https://fertile.com/sperm-meets-egg-method/

I use Flo to track my symptoms etc. it’s gotten pretty accurate the last few cycles but took a good few months to get there. I’m also using PreMom to analyse my OPKs. Are you testing for ovulation at all? Got some clear blues for the first time and plan to use them when PreMom tells me the strip tests are getting stronger.

@ReginaPhalange12 same here! My OH has found my mountains of old tests from last pregnancy in the cupboard and thinks I’m a loon. We did just stop near a boots but opted not to buy any.
@MrsBP15 good luck with smep! It is truely knackering in every sense of the word 😂

@Eirlys1986 ah I think that's lovely, I wish I'd kept mine but I'm not sure I did.

I'm really not sure what's happening with my AF. Average is 24 days, occasionally 25 but in March I had 27 days. I'm wondering if it's because I'm stressed TTC so it's delayed it a little. Last pregnancy I got a positive at around 8DPO on an IC, negative on FRER so I assumed the test was wrong & emailed the seller & said he really shouldn't be selling tests that were faulty & getting peoples hopes up, I had to email him a few days later apologising 🙈

😂 @ReginaPhalange12 I think it was very good of you to email and admit your mistake to the seller tbh! 👍🏻. My cycle naturally varies a little bit I think over the years between 25-28 days so I wouldn’t say your cycle is doing anything particularly worrying but if it’s different for you and you’ve always been clockwork before it could be stress, age, new vitamins perhaps?
I still have my tests from when I got pregnant with my son. Sadly all the ones I got for my MMC (where I’d obsessively play kept checking line progression as I just had a gut feeling something wasn’t quite right) I did actually chuck in the bin the day we had the scan, I think I was just angry and upset that nature could be so horrid as to keep producing positive pregnancy tests and symptoms despite everything having stopped with the baby. I don’t honestly know if I would want one of those positive tests now. Women truely do go through a load of old crap.

@Eirlys1986 due to my shorter LP I started taking some new vitamins a month or 2 ago so it's possibly that but I really have no idea.
I'm sorry about your MMC ❤️ You're right, we do. our bodies can do some amazing things but in situations like yours it can be very cruel.

Happy Monday everyone! How’s everyone doing? As previously mentioned, I’m trying the SMEP this week so we’ll see what happens there!

As always sending baby dust, good vibes and happy thoughts to all 🥰✨🌞

Thanks @MrsBP15 - good luck with the SMEP!

AF due today...

Good luck @SnookyPook. Sending you lots of baby dust xxx

Max 6DPO but do you think that would stop me from testing? Of course not. And of course it was negative, but with a nice indent line for me to squint at.

Good luck with SMEP @MrsBP15 I am also going to try it this cycle!

So DH is away tonight and tomorrow night and it’s just dawned on me that those are pretty key nights to be gone! I’m CD10 today so he’ll be gone CD10 and 11. I think I will ovulate CD 15 so hopefully if we can hit maybe 12, 14 and 15 that will be enough?

Does anyone have the latest info on whether it’s better to leave a longer gap between sessions so sperm can rejuvenate (I’m sure that’s not the right word 🤣) or whether we should just do it every day we can? If relevant DH is 36 like me.

Thinking of you today @SnookyPook

Hope you get your positive soon @CaffeineAndCrochet still early doors. I don’t test until AF late (which hasn’t happened yet) thanks to a pact with my husband that I won’t test without him. I find it really helps me resist temptation but I totally get why people test early and I’ve only been trying for six months so I’m sure I’ll be at it further down the line!

Hope SMEP goes ok for you @Angelsrose I had to deter my husband this morning when he was in the mood! Got to save it for the right day 🤣

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow i’m not sure leaving longer gaps but I’d be interested to hear more about it. I’m no expert but I think if you can do it on those three days you should be in with a pretty good shot!!

CD1 for me today..I have an appointment with my GP finally on 17th August to get the ball rolling with some potential investigations as to why I’m not getting pregnant. Has anyone else had this sort of appointment? Feeling very overwhelmed & Not really sure what to expect x

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow as far as I’m aware as long as no sperm issues then daily is fine. However I think more than once a day can impact on semen quantity - this might not be the case for every man though.

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow My GP told us every 2-3 days to, eh, 'give the tank' time to refill.

@H0pefull Good luck! I had my first appt a few weeks ago and am now booked in blood tests tomorrow morning (day 21) and again next week. DH has an appt for a semen analysis next week as well. GP said that once results are back, we'll probably be referred on to a specialist.

@CaffeineAndCrochet and @CurlyWurly1991 now I’m confused 🤣. I don’t think DH has any sperm issues.

I think I’ll aim for o-3, o-1 and o day and hope for the best. If the tank isn’t full
enough on O day then at least the other two should have been ok 🤞🏻🤞🏻

@H0pefull glad to hear you have an appointment not too far away now. No idea if yours will be different to mine as I've been referred to the recurrent mc clinic but they want to scan me to check there's nothing wrong with my uterus and then I'll be having blood tests. I'd imagine you'd have those but there may be other tests too.

Oh ffs I got flashing smiley today on ovulation test (cd 11) and DH is away til tomorrow night 😭. I think I’m a day ahead from what I expected.

Do I have any cycle buddies on this thread?

Thanks @Bumblebee413

In a bit of limbo here. AF was due yesterday. Usually like clockwork and still nothing. However did a test yesterday afternoon which was extremely negative. Not even a whiff of a shadow. Have some pre-period type crampy feels and I did think I maybe ovulated a day later than my app showed (maybe closer to the 24-36hr mark after my peak) which would mean more likely for today... So going to hold off today and see if she appears. Slight element of hope to hold on to is that my previous pregnancies were both detected after AF due at 14 and 15dpo and were squinters, so I'm not sure if they'd have shown earlier. I'm 13/14dpo today so if she doesn't appear I'll test tomorrow and who knows. Really don't know how likely it would be though to be completely negative at 12/13,dpo and then get a BFP! We'll see.

Hope everyone else is ok. X

@SnookyPook with my son I was testing starkly negative on Frer from 9dpo (daily testing!) right upto 13 dpo, cramping and a spot of blood on 13dpo then day 14dpo it suddenly was very positive on Frer !

@Eirlys1986 lovely nugget of hope right there! Haha. I'll know soon enough I guess! Trying to concentrate on work... 😆😩

It’s so difficult to concentrate isn’t it?! I am awful and got OH on board with testing at 9dpo last night! It was negative 😂 (not a suprise). However I did test positive at 9dpo with last pregnancy although it was very faint. I should now wait at least 48 hours prior to testing again but who knows if I can display the self control to do that 😂