Helping sub fertility

[thejollytrolleydolly]

Hello all! I was wondering if anyone like myself has struggled with sub fertility and did anything that helped them eventually fall pregnant (diet, vitamins, exercise etc) we have one beautiful daughter who took 3 years to conceive and we're currently on month 10 of trying for our second. I'm 38 so not much time left in me so I'd like to get a wriggle on! Has anyone found anything helped? I'm all ears ❤️❤️

Hi @thejollytrolleydolly - afraid I can’t be of any help as I am currently ttc baby number 1 and have been trying for a year with not so much as a glimmer of a faint bfp :( so am following with interest!

@Goldendoodlelover it's tough isn't it?! We're currently about to start being tested to see if there's something stopping us falling as easily as other people. We want to give ourselves the best chance in the meantime though so I was hoping someone had some advice of anything that helped them. Fingers crossed someone can help us out! I'm going to try the ovulation strips again this month but I find I get a bit obsessive about them 😅 xx

@thejollytrolleydolly I’m the same! I’ve already told myself that next month I’m having a break from OPKs and tracking my BBT - I know that I’m ovulating so I just need to trust my body as I become quite obsessive and over analyse / read into absolutely everything! Getting some tests done sounds like a good idea. Do you mind me asking how you conceived your daughter / if you did anything differently then?

@Goldendoodlelover absolutely nothing different it was a total fluke! Only managed to dtd once the whole month and caught! Whereas other months I had dtd regularly over my fertile period and not even a whisper of a line on my tests. We tried for 2 years (consciously) and then kind of gave up and resigned ourselves to being just dog parents and then I ended up falling 2 weeks after putting a deposit down on a bigger house so it happened at just the right time really! It didn't seem that way at the time though, I used to get really sad/bitter everytime someone else fell pregnant ☹️ I've just said one more and then I'm done. I had a loss at the beginning of this year too which has made me even more adamant that I want a sibling for my daughter it's just horrible having to live through the tww every month 🙈 xx

It can be hard OP, but you aren't alone. We TTC 13yrs, lost 3, multiple rounds of IVF and no living children. No cause for sub-fertility found. I even had a very good AMA, a higher reserve egg count for my age. 1 consultant did say it was likely due to my old eggs though- I was 34 at that point!😕

These are somethings we tried or were recommended. Obviously didn't work for us, but others have had success.

• Buy the book 'It starts with an egg'. I got a 2nd hand copy from ebay and has some basic lifestyle changes which might reduce chemicals and pollutants in your house/environment
• Get DH to wear loose boxers and no really hot baths for him
• I bought lycopene supplements for DH. Its naturally found in red/orange veg and fruit, but there is 'some' evidence it might help with sperm motility and quality
• We both got healthier, lost weight and cut drinking and caffeine to a minimum
• I used to try to time a night away when I was fertile- without mentioning it to DH.
• I bought a reusable OPK. Despite ovulating, I never saw a peak with the urine ones, but did with the reusable, mini microscope type. Mine is called 'Maybe baby' but lots available online.

@SM4713 thank you for that! I have actually had that book recommended to me by a friend too so I'll either buy it or see if she minds me borrowing it. I'm so sorry to hear that you've been struggling for so long ❤️ it's so frustrating knowing that there's nothing "wrong" with you yet it still doesn't happen. I hate that when you're past 30 they make you sound like you're 100 with regards to your eggs 🙈 I've just started to cut down my coffee to one a day and am trying to eat less processed foods to see if that has any effect. I'll look into the supplements for him too just incase that gives us a boost. Thank you so much for your response to my post xx