TTC #1 no previous pregnancies cycle #6 - looking for others in the same boat!

[MocktailMe]

Hi all.

As per the title, TTC first baby, I've never had a confirmed pregnancy before. I'm 31, bf is 27.

Been trying to conceive 9 months, but due to PCOS only 6 cycles.

This year I've lost weight, and my cycles since January have varied from 28 days to 38 days. Had PCOS confirmed, and currently waiting for an appointment with gynaecologist to see if I need further assistance. Appointment is taking its sweet time so for now doing it the old fashioned way still with plenty of hope (at least some days, not so much others!!!).

I'm currently on cycle day number 28, negative tests, no signs of a period in sight, CM up to my eyeballs and a whole heap of doubt over when ovulation occured!!

If you are :

TTC #1
A woman who has never been pregnant
Pissing on sticks at an ALARMING rate
Potentially with PCOS but healthy ovaries welcome 😁

Then PLEASE join my thread, so in need of buddies in a similar boat! ⛵

No offence to those TTC #2 or more, genuinley ❤️ just hoping to speak to people who also have no idea what pregnancy would feel like, and who also maybe have the fear they CANNOT ever get pregnant ❤️

Not symptoms, just some pulling on 6/7 DPO, which has now stopped. I would expect PMS symptoms to start appearing by now, so will see in the next few days if they come up. Long cycles only add to this torture, don't they?!

@lavafield they really do!!! Ive just ticked over to CD38 now, and feel sooo envious of women with 28 day cycles, who by now would be gearing up for the fertile period once again. Id rather be pregnant, but if I'm not then I want to crack on trying again asap really.

I'm nervous to test today (later today when the day begins again) and tomorrow as I feel those tests will be pretty definitive and if I'm out then I'm worried about why I'm still in this cycle!

@MocktailMe good luck for testing, I can see why you would be nervous because if not pregnant than this is a long cycle. Do you mind if ask what your longest cycle has been? I appreciate I'm lucky in a sense by having a shorter cycle 25-28 days because you never have to wait as long to start again. All that waiting must be so tough for you, the TWW feels long enough already!

@lavafield hello! That's great your GP was responsive. I'm trying to get the same blood test to check for ovulation from my GP but they're being difficult. I have another appointment on Friday with a different GP. I don't think you would have any symptoms at 6/7dpo, at least not anything that could be separated from the usual progesterone symptoms! Fingers crossed for you

I'm currently cycle day 7. I usually ovulate cycle day 11 or 12 so we're going to try at the weekend! Hopefully we managed to get some BD in and then I can feel hopeful on my holiday.

@MocktailMe hope you either get your BFP (🤞) or at least AF in the next few days. If AF comes hope the next cycle is a bit shorter and more predictable! In my case, a long cycle of 35-38 days is usually a one off, followed by 28-32 days, I can imagine the frustration if it is long every month!
@Nessie2395 do insist on a test during your GP appt. Good luck to you in coming days, I think it is important to try as much as possible in the days just before the ovulation. Hope you get your good news during your holiday! ☺️

@Nessie2395 in previous years I suffered from anorexia so went years without a cycle at all. When they came back they were only every few months, but whether that was PCOS or anorexia related I can't be sure. I didn't get a period til I was at BMI 22 which took a long time.

For the last few years the longest cycle I've seen was 45 days, but generally speaking they are in the range of 28-38, I haven't had one any longer than that for at least 18 months.

I've used non - hormonal contraception for ten years so that hasn't affected my cycle at all.

Best of luck I hope number 7 will be lucky for you! A holiday might just do the trick, a bit of relaxation and of course plenty of time to shag 😂

Let us know how you get on with the different GP on Friday, hopefully this one will be a bit more up to speed and can get your bloods booked in!

Period has arrived earlier this morning/overnight. So a 38 day cycle. I'm at a loss - we had plenty of sex two weeks ago. I just feel like my body's broken and this will never happen for me.

@MocktailMe so sorry to hear, I get it how it can be heartbreaking! Take care of yourself in these days, try to not stress too much, and hope this month will be your month!! 💫 Do you plan to press your GP for investigations or try for a few more months?

I started having pre AF symptoms CD 31 / 9DPO. Absolutely no tests in the house till the weekend! But I already start planning for next month when I will unfortunately be away during most of the fertile period without DP, so hope to catch just last 2-3 days of it.

What else is everyone doing to try and improve our chances? I take folic acid and coq10, and vitamin D. My other light-hearted list here to cheer up everyone:

• hot foot soaks days before or around ovulation (I know this is not for everyone if you have other diagnoses) 🛁
• warm woollen socks at home and in bed to keep feet warm in TWW 🧦

-beetroot and ginger juice every day in TWW 😂

@MocktailMe so sorry to hear that your period arrived. It's so hard isn't it. I wish I had some advice on how to stop feeling that way. Of course it may not help but it is 'normal' for it to take a year, or 12 cycles for you. We are sold a lie that pregnancy is easy to achieve, for many people it just isn't. I also feel that my body isn't capable of conceiving at this point, it almost seems like a fairy tale now or some mythical state!! Hoping I don't cry on the phone to the GP tomorrow but I expect I will.

@lavafield I've started taking Pregnacare Conception Tablets this month otherwise I don't really do anything else! I was taking vitamic D, Coq10, iron, vit B and folic acid separately but it ended up being more expensive than Pregnacare.

How is everyone feeling?
@Nessie2395 good luck with your GP call today, hope it yields some action! I can get it how it can be so emotional.

I am getting crazy vivid dreams over the last three nights, and had a sharp stabbing pain yesterday, two jabs! I almost cried how strong it was. It was a bit to the right too, so got me worried of course. But it quickly subsided and I am trying to remember if I ever had similar before AF or if it is yet another symptom-spotting exercise!

I am going to test tonight or tomorrow morning!

@lavafield thanks a lot! unfortunately the GP hasn't bothered calling me despite having a booking appointment which has made me feel really quite deflated. I will call them this afternoon and ask why not.

Ohh interesting! do you make note of your symptoms before AF? that way you can look back and see if you've had it before.

Thank you so much ladies I appreciate your kindness so much.

Funnily enough I have been sleeping in socks too! Not that it worked! But is actually quite comfy!

I'm feeling a bit better now after a couple of days. Started to accept it. Also received a letter for my rescheduled appointment which will now be in July. Gives me some hope.

Good luck with your GP nessie, it's not good enough to simply not call so I hope they are just behind and not completely not bothering!

Good luck testing lava I really hope you get a positive.

Got a clear BFN this morning on 9/10 DPO :-( Feel AF will hit by mid next week too. I will test again on Tuesday but don't hold my breath and will focus on next month. I know it's just cycle 2 trying but I can't help but worry sick because of my age. I will try to make some changes this month such as sleeping more (I have a very intense job, usually 10-11-hour days and early starts) and time DTD even better.

Mocktail, glad to hear your appointment has been moved forward! It is already next month so not long to wait.

Nessie, hope you got hold of your GP.
Thanks, a good idea to note usual pre AF symptoms so as not to guess next time.

Let's hope next month is our month ladies !

@MocktailMe and @lavafield

Thank you both I eventually spoke to the GP! They had forgotten me but I eventually spoke to them anyway. They were great and will give me the Day 21 bloods in early July and start the fertility referral process.

@lavafield so sorry you got a BFN. There is still time for a BFP though. But cycle 2 can be a fresh start. I know it's hard to control the anxiety if you're worried about your age though. Your job sounds like such hard work!

@MocktailMe that's great your appointment is rescheduled. July is not far away at all!

Hello ladies, how is everyone doing?
AF arrived today after a 36 day cycle as fully expected. Looking forward to July being our month! ⭐️

@lavafield hello, hope you're ok!! Here's to July being our month 🙏

I'm ok thanks having a lovely holiday and have barely thought about TTC at all which has been a good mental break. About 5DPO today, unfortunately I ovulated earlier than usual (Saturday night probably) and we didn't DTD in the lead up to that. We did on Sunday night but I think it was probably too late!

Hey @MocktailMe @Nessie2395 and @lavafield I’ve been a bit offline recently doing lots of fun things like camping, going to see girls aloud and playing a pathalogical amount of tennis.

I’ve just finished my period which arrived bang on 26 days.

I also got my day 21 progesterone test back which was normal and my thyroid - also normal and I’ve got a referral for a trans vag ultrasound on the 28th June now to see if anything’s wrong.

My partners going in for testing too hopefully in the next few weeks when he gets around to it 🙃

I had a month off trying which was really good - we ended up having sex a few times because we wanted to!! Which was in my fertile time anyway but having a month off really helped me take the pressure off a bit.

This month the plan is:

I’m getting Accupuncture at the moment and I just love my Accupuncturist she’s so lovely. Other than that I’m trying to lose weight as my bmi is on the high side of overweight and I’m also going to get back on the pre conception vitamins. I’m attempting more of a lower GI diet nothing crazy but more protein and veg.

Then I need to order more pre conception vitamins and we’ll try probably every other day for about day 10-20 ish.

I’m tracking discharge and bbt as signs of ovulation.

My Accupuncturist has said most people she sees take 1-2 years so I’m really trying to adjust my expectations around getting pregnant in a certain time while trying my best to increase the chances. It’s hard because I have two friends who get pregnant on month 1 and everyone else seems to within 6 months…

The most important thing is for us to be kind to ourselves as this shits hard!!!!!

Hi @CharLdn !
Good to see you girls enjoying the summer. I think it is important to not forget other areas of our lives, and it is not a bad idea to take a month or two off as a break if it all gets too much.
I am currently away too and back next week, just in time for DTD!
Interesting about acupuncture, I read it helped some ladies. I want to have a few sessions of reflexology in the next couple of months, read it is also good and if anything, deeply relaxing, which is also needed! ☺️
@Nessie2395 Did you decide to test or wait? You said you probably got it late this cycle.

Morning @CharLdn and @lavafield

Sorry for the late reply! Still no sign of my period, I did start pregnacare this month so wondering if it is delayed because of that. I haven't tested once because I'm feeling very deflated about it. Once it starts (I'm sure it will, I've got all my usual pain/cramps) I have to start taking Provera. My endo consultant thinks taking that for a couple months can help reduce inflammation and lead to rebound fertility. I'm so sad about taking a break from TTC but after 8 months it will be good to try something new. I'm also waiting for my day 21 blood test results.

@CharLdn How are you? it sounds like you had such a lovely month :) That's really positive. Good news about your blood results as well and good luck with your ultrasound. Your acupuncturist sounds very wise. And we should be kind to ourselves. I've been following some struggling to conceive accounts on Instagram and it's been helpful.

@lavafield How's it going? Reflexology sounds good too. I've never tried anything like that. It might be time...I hope you had a good break!

Hi all, sorry for being so absent from my own thread. Having a tough time of it currently.

I'm waiting for my next period where I'll then be able to ring and book a hysterosalpingogram for day 10 of my cycle. Sounds painful and not looking forward to that.

Meanwhile I've been prescribed Metformin. My partner is booking semen analysis too. Things are moving, just much slower than I would like them to.

After my hysterosalpingogram, if it shows no blockages, and provided my partners sperm is okay, we will be able to try clomid. If there are blockages I'll be having a laroscepy. After that, well I don't want to think about after that. I'm still hoping it won't get that far.

@MocktailMe sorry to hear you've been having a tough time, it's understandable that you need to take a step back.

It's good things are moving even though it's slower than you would hope. I hope the hysterosalpingogram goes well. I'm also hoping to have one of those when I get my fertility referral as I've heard they really do help sometimes and the surgeon who did my laparoscopy suggested it last year

Hi ladies,
@MocktailMe sounds like you have a solid plan and step by step you will get there. It surely feels slow but those are all steps in the right direction.

@Nessie2395 thanks, the break was good to take my mind off TTC for a week. I am CD14 now and chasing that LH surge and it hasn't come yet. I really hope it won't be another long cycle. We are still scheduling it to cover all bases in the next week in case I miss the right day so let's see. I bought a massive box of OPK sticks this month and I am testing like 3 times a day!

It is only cycle #3 trying, and I feel that we didn't get the timing right in the first two, so hope to be more diligent from this month on. it is a long journey and I am trying to be patient in the next six months or so as we try before we start investigating..

Thanks so much ladies I do appreciate your support. Due to requiring some samples taken prior to the procedure which can't be booked til the end of august my plan for now is to take the Metformin and give it everything we've got naturally until September, when the procedure will likely be!

I have heard good things about Metformin for PCOS and am trying to remember that even a few months ago I would have been really happy with this prescription. It's just one of those things where the more you learn the more you feel overwhelmed and consumed with the 'next steps'. I feel in my mind completely resigned to the fact that everything we do is just one more step leading to the inevitable IVF, that I already feel won't work, but I don't think this thinking is helping me. There's no doctor who has said IVF is my only option, nor that it wouldn't work if it was! I just feel consumed to believe the worst case scenarios. Some days I feel completely resigned to the fact I'll never have a family and that is really hard.

We have just had a weekend away that has been booked since Christmas. Id really expected to be pregnant on this trip when we first booked it and it was a resort filled with families. Found it hard.

I hope you find your peak this month lava - I have read that twice a day is best for OPK to catch the peak so maybe first thing and again around 7? Give you time to have sex in the evening if it's changed to positive since the morning.

Hi @MocktailMe , looks like you do have a plan to tackle your PCOS , there are already lots of positives with your plan and things are moving along.

I can get it how you had your hopes up to be pregnant by your break and it is hard to see families with children when we are trying and trying and trying.

Thanks, I did manage to get my LH peak testing twice a day, it was on Thursday midday. And we had sex that morning so hope it was the right timing, day -1 (and also -3) before ovulation. Now I did want to DTD also today which is likely the ovulation day but I got down with a nasty virus, luckily not Covid , but I was/am too unwell! Bad timing! But I guess I will have to hope we caught it with that day just before the ovulation..I read that two days leading up to ovulation have high chances of conception too. So guess with that my TWW starts

@lavafield i think we’re two week wait buddies I think I’m in the fertile window now…

We’ve DTD day 8/10/13 of my cycle so far - probably will try for 14/15 too.

my husband is sick of the sight of me lol

I haven’t been using opks just tracking discharge/temperature at the moment.

I’ve got my trans vag ultrasound on the 28th and my partners booking into the sperm test soon so hopefully we’ll no what the situation is by September…

I’m feeling less stressed about it this month and also this is bad but I’ve just lowered my expectations and am assuming I probably won’t be pregnant which is keeping me sane. Not sure if this is a great attitude to have but making peace this could take a while is helping!