TTC after chemical pregnancy

[LucyCL]

I had a MC this Jan , 6 weeks and 1 day. Then I had a CP last Tuesday, 4 weeks and 6 days. I finally stopped bleeding today. Two pregnancies and two MCs so far.

I would like to know what your ttc experiences were like after CP. I admit I felt so lost when I saw the line getting fainter and I have been feeling very low and anxious for the last 7 days. However it is not healthy and it is time to be positive! So, I will be trying again this month. That is why I decided to start this thread.

CD14 of the third cycle post CP
I have a few things which I would like to share with all of you!

Oral BBT and core BBT
Last night I slept for 5 hours which is definitely not enough. This morning my oral BBT shot up whereas core BBT stayed the same. So, the oral BBT can easily be affected by the length of sleep. It is right for me to use oral BBT as the second opinion.

FSH during the follicular phase
I was looking at my FSH level on mira and compared this cycle to last cycle.
Here are two things I would like to point out

1. My FSH levels were higher last cycle
2. There is usually an increase in FSH in the early half of the follicular phase then a slight decrease after mid follicular phase followed by a surge on the O day.
3. Based on Mira, FSH level begins to surge a couple of days before ovulation. This morning my FSH started to rise so does it mean I will ovulate in 3 days? There was also a further rise in estrogen as well.
4. My FSH levels of both cycles were following the pattern mentioned above. This is a good thing.
5. High FSH may mean the ovaries lack eggs suitable for pregnancy. Based on the guideline, I don't have high FSH level but I only use this cycle's FSH level to compare to the ones of the previous two cycles. For the first cycle post CP, my body failed to ovulate for several times and although I didn't measure my FSH level, I have the feeling that having a higher FSH level could also be the case for the 1st cycle post CP.
6. So, do you have higher FSH levels after MCs??? I would like to know. 😂

I have attached the graph for us to understand what FSH is doing during the follicular phase.

https://labpedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/menstrual-cycle-changes-4.jpg

Here is what I found about the follicular phase:
What happens during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle?
You’re born with about a million eggs. This reserve declines as you grow older. Once you start menstruating, your body begins a process of maturing these eggs. Only a select few fully mature over your lifetime. During the follicular phase of your menstrual cycle, around 11 to 20 eggs begin developing, but only one matures completely.

Hormones in your brain and your ovaries regulate the changes in your body that make this process possible.

Your pituitary gland releases follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). A part of your brain called your hypothalamus controls your pituitary gland. Your pituitary gland helps your body make the hormones it needs to regulate important processes. The FSH from your pituitary gland activates your ovaries to start producing follicles, the fluid-filled sacs where your eggs can mature.
A dominant follicle forms. A single follicle, called the dominant follicle, starts to develop more quickly than the other follicles in your ovaries. As the dominant follicle matures, so does the egg inside that will eventually be released when you ovulate.
The dominant follicle releases more estrogen into your body. The increased estrogen thickens your uterus lining so that a fertilized egg (embryo) can implant there. This stage is sometimes called the proliferative phase.
The increased estrogen triggers a decrease in FSH. Your pituitary gland responds to the increase in estrogen by decreasing the amount of FSH it produces. This decrease causes the other follicles to begin to wither away and reabsorb into your body. Meanwhile, the egg inside the dominant follicle reaches full maturity.
Toward the end of the follicular phase, high estrogen levels trigger your pituitary gland to release a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH), the hormone associated with the luteal phase. LH activates the mature egg to escape the follicle and the ovary (ovulation).
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23953-follicular-phase

For further information on the follicular phase
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/follicular-phase#:~:text=The%20midfollicular%20phase%20is%20marked,estradiol%20results%20in%20endometrial%20proliferation.

According to Mira, I will ovulate on CD17. OvuSense used the data of the previous cycle which does not truly reflect what my normal cycle should be so it predicts that my fertile window starts on 31/7/24. It'd be interesting to see which one is correct, Mira or OvuSense.😁

I am also sharing my Mira and wrist temperature charts here.
A further increase in E3g. Very good.
The wrist temperature also shot up this morning due to the 5 hour sleep.
So both oral BBT and wrist temperature can be easily affected by the external factors.
In the meanwhile, my LH remains low consistently so I expect to see a sudden increase in LH soon if Mira is right?? Very interesting.

There is one more thing 😆
For this cycle, I lay down for 15 mins after sex. Although I truly believe all good quality sperm is already inside the cervix, still I am willing to try and see if it works. I have got nothing to lose. 🤗

Here is what I found:
“Laying down after sex can be satisfying and theoretically, may help keep as much sperm as possible in contact with the cervix, but if you need to get up for any reason, it's not going to lessen your chances of pregnancy. Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron: It actually doesn't make it work better!”

CD15 of the third cycle post CP
I can compare the current cycle to the previous one on Mira. My hormone levels have been quite stable and I don’t think I can see any failed attempts to ovulate either. It seems my body is calming down finally.

To be honest, I was actually expecting to see one or two unusual things this cycle, like fewer failed attempts to ovulate or some fluctuations in e3g etc.
Instead my LH remains low and my e3g has been increasing steadily. FSH has continued to increase since yesterday.
After everything I have been through after 2 MCs, maybe this is really happening to me, a normal cycle finally??🙂

Fewer fluctuations this cycle

I got a static smiley face last Sunday and another one on Friday, 5 days after, I would say that I probably ovulated/am about to ovulate on the latest surge. However, when I had my recent cpChemical I had two surges, 8 days apart and assumed I had ovulated on the second surge. However, I got a digital BFP 6 days after the second surge, which isnt really possible and I must have ovulated tge first time. What the second surge was, I have no idea.
Witb the double surge again this month, I am just confused and s bit fed up, ah well...

That is interesting. You could have ovulated twice again ? Which dpo do you think you are on ? I assume you are not using BBT to confirm ovulation?

Here is what I found
blog.inito.com/two-lh-surges-a-week-apart/?amp

Hi there, you can only ovulate once a month. You vpcan ovulate two eggs, one from each overy but only once a month. That was the weird thing about what happened to me in May when I got two definite positive OKPs but obviously ovulated on the first one because I would not have got my positive pregnancy test that soon if it had been the second surge. I dontvactuslky bother with BBT. I probably should but I have never quite got into it.

Ooh, thank you. I will have a read.

CD 15 evening
So this happened… I might get my peak tomorrow?! Such a big rise from this morning.

CD16 of the 3rd cycle post CP
CBFM says Peak
T/C ratio is not yet over 1
Because I started to use Premom to measure T/C ratio after my 1st MC and it has been above 1 in the past , I am not sure if 0.87 is my true normal T/C ratio or not.
I expect to reach peak this afternoon if my true normal T/C ratio is above 1.
It is also good to use OvuSense to confirm ovulation.

Comparing my chart with others
Will keep testing LH to see if it rises above 1.
This will be my first time to see what my pre MC true normal T/C ratio is. Getting to know my body once again is great!😃

Here is one important thing for me to remember: It is amazing that this is the first normal cycle after 2 MCs however getting a BFP is not guaranteed. Expecting to have a BFP on 10 dpo was another main reason why I felt lost after each past BFN cycle after the 1st MC.
I shall never make this mistake again! 😤

You sound so positive, @LucyCL! All the data is looking really good.

Mine won't be - CD6 here but because my peak was a few days early and hit a point where me and DH were ships in the night, so I'd have to have conceived from 4 days before, which seems pretty impossible. So probably a wasted cycle here.

I'm still struggling with 90% of my life revolving around babies, I may have to distance myself but that'll mean isolating myself from most of my friends, which also seems unwise. I'm debating it.

Good luck @Carportforme! I struggle with BBT too. I do it using my Apple Watch but I've got no real confidence in it, it's not automatic and wrist temperature is massively affected by a lot of external factors.

I am sorry to hear that you got your AF again. I sympathise with you and it is really hard to be surrounded by pregnant friends and pregnancy related news! I will never forget about how I felt when I saw a few pregnant women on the street after I did a HCG test in the private clinic to confirm CP on the 7th of May. I really wanted to cry but I was in public. I had to hold back tears. Then it happened again and I had to go home quickly so I could let them out.
I hope this third cycle post CP is going to be better for you!! The wrist temperature is likely to be accurate as long as you have a long uninterrupted sleep but still it can be easily affected.

So I tested it again after 12 p.m and now I know my normal T/C ratio is above 1. I am also sharing my wrist temperature chart. I did have a good sleep so this chart is accurate. It matches a BBT dip on OvuSense.
Will test LH again.
Also I was looking at previous cycles before my 1st MC. Although I didn't test LH daily and I have limited data, I can tell that I ovulated between CD15 and 17 previously.
If I don't get a BFP this cycle, it would be good to see how many days my luteal phase of a normal cycle lasts. My guess is 11 - 12 days.
Yesterday I didn't know know I'd get peak so quickly so I bought two bottles of grapefruit juice! 😂

CD17 The O day
Core BBT rose as expected. So did the wrist temperature and oral BBT.
But if I was only using BBT and LH strips, I would not have known the exact time slot when the egg was released.

An interesting insight: PdG typically starts riding rapidly immediately after ovulation and FSH peak occurs within one day of ovulation in 97% cases.
Because I tested last night after 10 p.m and again this morning, I know that I ovulated in the past 8 hours. 😁

I love how much data you've got, @LucyCL!

Sadly I had undisturbed sleep in about three years now, but I'll just take BBT with a pinch of salt 😅

The power of technology! 😊I am always amazed by how our body functions to ttc. You could try OvuSense so you wouldn't have to worry about the inaccuracy of daily BBT.

So after lunchtime, I have only just realised that I need to take vitamin B6, C, E, Zinc, Magnesium, beetroot extract, Selenium and 3 Brazil nuts after ovulation. They are essential to boost progesterone. Also I will stop drinking grapefruit juice until AF arrives.
Wow, tomorrow will be 1 dpo for me. I really thought that I was going to have a long cycle again! If my luteal phase lasts for 11/12 days, it is going to be a 28/29 day cycle for me! Not too bad!!😁 I will start testing LH and HCG from 1 dpo for the sake of data consistency and line progression!

CD18 of the third cycle post CP, also 1 dpo
I didn't dtd the day before my peak. Hopefully I have done enough.