2024 TTC 35+ Part 1

[VixFromThe6ix]

New year, new thread!!!

Positive thoughts and baby dust for everyone this year!!!

Hiya everyone 👋 I hope you don’t mind me joining you. I’m 35 (36 in august) and TTC baby number 2 with my DH (39 in May). I also have two older children from a previous marriage (ages 12 and almost 9).

Hubby and I got married in August 2023 and I stopped taking the pill in September 2023 after our honeymoon. I had my first lot of bleeding at the beginning of October 2023.

DD (our youngest) is 21 months old and I’m still breastfeeding her but my cycles seem to be in a regular pattern already (average 28 days). I notice I get EWCM and what feels like pain on one side each month so I think I ovulate. However we have had unprotected sex for the last 5 months and not pregnant yet unfortunately.

I’ve bought some OPKs to try (any tips on when to use them, is it once a day from a few days before mid cycle?) as I want to see if I do ovulate round about when I think I do based on other signs. Not sure what else to do…not had any tests yet. Any recommendations for any vitamins either of us could be taking? I’m assuming the doctor will suggest I lose some weight too.

Any advice welcome. Thanks 😊

How you doing today @worldwidetravel2017 ? Hope you’re having a nice Sunday. Have you continued to track cycles etc so you’re all set when the time comes? Hope you’re feeling more positive today xxx

Hey

Thank you for asking

Tbh my ibs is bad today

But its sunny and a new month soon

Yes - still tracked - just ovulated

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday

Basel body themometer is v good
Doesnt cost much on amazon

Amazon 4 gbp ovulation tests am and pm when period ends work too

Vits - vit d is very important

I take 2000 iu a day
Feel good with my vit d near 100

It starts with an egg book is recommended

Good to ask nhs 2 check your feretin - b12 - vit d and prolactin

Hertility health highly recommended if you wanna check amh etc - v good service and 150 gbp well spent

Ok I’m so so confused with my body right now. As I said in an earlier post I started having some light pink bleeding when wiping Friday day time. Then DTD Friday Eve and had more bleeding after. This went away pretty much straight away and nothing until dtd Saturday eve when I had more blood this time (still not bright red more pink) - then nothing all day Sunday and dtd again not long ago and this time nothing at all so no bleeding whatsoever. Slight cramping after dtd but no pain at the time. Not due on period until Thur/friday …. And also this hasn’t bene enough to be a period as I’ve not needed to use a pad. I really don’t understand what it could be 😵‍💫

Ahh it’s a nice sunny day and January is very nearly over @worldwidetravel2017 count down to your holiday is on 😀

No idea really other than implantarion bleeding @Mum37of4 ? Fingers crossed!

My tests are darker today so am feeling good 👍 but time will tell, I’ve been so lucky and not had any losses that i know of ever but I don’t want to be complacent. My husband still thinks the lines are too faint but tbh he is a man and doesn’t look into stuff like I do 😂

Welcome @Bec0mum 🥰

@Lalaland13 - honestly I don’t know 🤷‍♀️ I mean I guess it could be implantation, I will soon find out if AF doesn’t show up. And if it does then back to the doctors I go for further investigation again. I’m glad your lines are getting darker fingers crossed for a sticky bean :)

Thank you for the welcome @Lalaland13

Thanks for the advice @worldwidetravel2017 I will have a Google and see what I can find about doing temps and get on Amazon to buy opks and the vitamin D. Thanks for recommending the tests too. Hopefully my surgery are happy to do them. I’m on CD4 so only got about a week until my fertile window!

@Bec0mum welcome. I'd recommend the Clearblue digital ovulation tests. Yes they are expensive but they don't leave you guessing what's going on unlike the strip ones. You start testing on a specific day based on the length of your cycles, it tells you in the pack what to do. If say if you're still having no joy after a couple of months using those then it's worth speaking to your GP. I've been taking Proceive supplements, not cheap but the highest doses of everything you need compared to other brands.

@Lalaland13 fingers crossed for you. So far I've not tested at all today, trying really hard not to now.

Thanks for recommending the Procieve @RoseH36 . I’ve just looked into them and they have great reviews. Do you take the capsules or the sachets of powder? Do you think the clear blue digital tests are worth it if we are happy to BD every 2-3 days throughout each month anyway?

@Bec0mum I've been using the capsules as I couldn't justify the cost of the sachets. Boots always have them both on 3 for 2 whichever you opt for. It could still be worth it for knowing exactly when you ovulate but you could just get the smaller sized box.

Well done on not testing yest @RoseH36 1 it’s an addiction. Nice to have a form of reassurance though. Sure once you’ve seen baby and had some appointments you’ll start to feel more confident. How many weeks do you think you are? My test was more faint today but I think wee was less concentrated as I had loads of water last night. Do your one step tests take a while for test line to show? The control comes up right away and the test a few mins later? X

Hey everyone, I hope everyone’s ok!

just wondered, for anyone who has had a pregnancy loss, when did you start tracking ovulation again? I only had the surgical management last Monday but am really keen to start trying again, but I haven’t a clue when to start doing opks as I know they can give false positives if you still have any hcg in your system.

I guess I’m just keen to have some idea of what’s going on in my body too. I’m feeling so frustrated as I feel like my body just does not have a clue what’s happening with it. It just doesn’t respond to anything!! I have never had any period symptoms my whole life (not even sore boobs), I’ve never had ovulation symptoms, when I had my son I had no symptoms the entire pregnancy, when I was in labour my body didn’t seem to know it was in labour (my contractions were weirdly 5 minutes apart the entire 60 hour labour and never got any closer, and I ended up with an emergency c-section as everything kind of stalled), and now I just carried around my baby for 6 weeks after it‘s heart had stopped with no symptoms at all or knowledge it had gone. Like why does my body not respond to anything?? I feel so frustrated trying to depend on it to get pregnant and carry a baby full term when it just doesn’t seem to have a clue what’s going on. Sorry for the rant haha, I’m feeling hormonal and sad and frustrated! 🙈

So sorry for your loss

Often folk are told to wait til after their next period...

You could track from now though

We tracked soon after our loss - our miscarriage was early

@Lalaland13 haha thank you, took a lot of resisting! Only 4+1. How about you? Yes, mine are the same, they take a while to show up.

@Mrsspoon3 you will sadly need to wait until you've had a period again before you can start tracking as until then nothing will be accurate. Mine took a few weeks to arrive afterwards.

@worldwidetravel2017 Thank you x
Yeah I was going to wait until after my next period but was just keen to have a handle on what was going on in my body, and also I’m 40 this year and just really want to get on with things 😢
Yeah I’ve always tracked at a normal point after my loss with my other 3 miscarriages but they were all around 5 weeks or less so it was more just like a normal period when I lost them, but this was at 13 weeks and needed surgery so everything feels a bit different. Might just get some cheap tests and start next week I guess!

Ah ok thanks @RoseH36! I know I’m super impatient, but it’s just with my age and everything I’m concerned I’ve lost so much time already x

@Mrsspoon3 I know it's so hard. I was told it can take longer after surgery for your body to get back to normal so that's why I was told to wait as its not the same as after a chemical x

@Mrsspoon3 Im in a similar boat with the surgical management 3 weeks ago today.
please don’t feel your body is doing anything wrong. You have conceived and laboured a baby before and you will again. The MMC was almost certainly caused by that baby not being able to go on to full term, unfortunately there is so much that can go wrong at any stage of pregnancy. It isn’t your fault or your body’s fault. You are doing amazing coping with this relatively late loss, and I hope you are doing OK because I know it can feel fine one moment and then very sad and overwhelming the next xxx

In terms of moving forward with TTC, if you feel ready, I wondered if you are doing hcg tests for pregnancy to track the hormone levels? I have been doing them every few days and started doing that and Opk testing yesterday. My Hcg are faint now but still very much there. The OPK was very faint (I.e. negative).

I think I’m gearing up to ovulation at the moment due to my rhr (use an Fitbit) and EWCM. We are going to try before my first period as it seems the only benefit of waiting is for dating purposes, which seems fairly outdated if you know when you ovulate and now that we have ultrasound scans. I’ve looked at the RCOG and Tommy’s websites and they both say it is fine to start having unprotected sex and TTC when you feel ready and once pain and bleeding has subsided. There is no increased risk of another miscarriage according to the data they have quoted. In fact getting pregnant within 6 months of miscarriage actually has 1/3rd lower risk of miscarriage, unclear why. Here’s the page I read https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support/miscarriage-information-and-support/trying-again-after-miscarriage#:~:text=Unless%20your%20doctor%20advises%20you,aren't%20suitable%20in%20pregnancy.

like you I’m keen to crack on due to age. Also my periods are generally irregular and cycles sometimes quite long, so I can’t face missing a possible ovulation when I have a cut off date in mind.

Would be 4 weeks today I think as that is when my last period started @RoseH36 glad it’s the same for you with the one step.

Hope your period shows up soon @Mrsspoon3 sorry you’re so frustrated. Bodies are werid but everyone is so different 😢 hope it happens and sticks very soon.

I had pretty much no symptoms also with my son! I felt lucky at the time as a friend was sick every single day whole time, multiple times! She had to go on sick from work and take leave early. I also had a very odd labour - they tried to induce but the pessaries didn’t do anything!! Just carried on waiting in the end and when I showed up to hospital they were like you can’t be very close you’re so calm 😂😂 but I was 10cm and I kept falling asleep between contractions! He was back to back so they did forceps in the end, so pleased we went to hospital when we did!

Cheap tests can’t hurt @Mrsspoon3 - least will feel like you’re doing something too

Link is from a Tommys baby charity email

https://www.poppyuk.net/

For those that havent been preg beyond 20 weeks..

Part of it means u get 6 months free preg tests and ovulation tests

Incase it interests any1

@Lalaland13 ah no way, identical timing! Are you going to be getting an early scan?
I find it hard having no symptoms. I had a bit of a sick feeling a couple of days ago but nothing since. My left breast has felt quite sore at times and I've been having hot fluses at night but both appear to be side effects of progesterone. With my son I had nothing until SPD kicked in at about 9 weeks.
Oh wow, good job you went in! My labour never got going, so ended up with an emergency C section 48 hours after my wayers broke.

@worldwidetravel2017 thats a good find, lovely there is help our there

I cannot catch a break !!

Have any of you had investigations to see if your estrogen dominant ??

So i paid 300 gbp for private thermal imagery of arm pits and boobs
As my gut said to - for a few reasons..

Had results - th3

Had consultation just now - basically have to change to a natural deodorant..
Instead of shop one . Was using ' sure.-
Has chemicals in

Apparently my estrogen dominance can be linked / coralate with my colon polyps..

And even coralate with possibly low progesterone / miscarriage
.
She told me all these reasons i need natural progesterone - not drs progesterone..

Have just emailed my liver consultant / gastro consultant re the links

Arghhhhh :(

So for anyone thats unfortunately suffered the pain of miscarriage - do consider that you might / could be estrogen dominant.. and maybe worth looking into

I am not sure about a early scan @RoseH36 - i had one with son about 7 weeks as I had such bad back ache.. so I did have some symptoms.. but it was fine. I guess we won’t this time unless feel there is a issue. There is a window to Womb place not too far away.

Ohh gosh @worldwidetravel2017 always something else, so they think the chemicals in he deodorant will be causing the estogen dominance?

I guess this is easy enough to change - there are these eco friendly wild ones I have been meaning to try actually. Might be worth a go.