Anyone else trying to get pregnant 2

[bayleaf]

It may just be my computer ( no broad band in the sticks!)but the other thread was taking a long while to load and accept new messages so maybe we can start again here...

Buttercup - congratulations. I felt sick and it was just a tummy bug - oh well, must keep on trying...

That's great, Buttercup!
I finally gave into temptation this morning and did a pg test (probably still 2 days too early)... Totally inconclusive, with the faintest of pink lines allowing me to be optimistic or pessimistic, according to my mood (changes every few minutes at the moment, so I must be pg ... or pre-menstrual!). That's what comes of being so impatient, I suppose.

sprout, I'd say that is very encouraging - any line at all means there must be some hormone there. Fingers crossed...

Jane101- good luck today and tomorrow! Looks like we may be overlapping in the 2ww. It is stressful trying to rearrange things at short notice - but it sounds like you'll have a reasonable chance this month.

Ruth21 -I first went to my GP when we'd been trying for 8 months - I was 32 then. I think for you things are a bit more complicated, since timing is much more critical - you might expect things to take a little longer, if only because you may be missing the critical timing on more months than if you were trying to conceive in the conventional manner.

Has your potential father ever had his sperm tested? That would be one of the first things to do (even if he's fathered a child before, though of course that would make it less likely that there's a problem there). The GP can also check your progesterone level which would give an indication as to whether you're ovulating - though if you have regular cycles and have signs of ovulation (the dreaded mucus again!) then you probably are. AFter that, the next step is a laparoscopy to check your tubes - this can take a while to organise.

Anyway I wouldn't have thought there was any harm in starting off the process. HTH

Ruth I'm with elliott on this one - unless you have a complete phobia of Drs and things medical setting the ball rolling can only help - if you get pregnant in the mean time then great - but it all can takes ages and if you wait till you are desperate to start tests etc then it will seem like an eternity.

Great news buttercup! I hope everything goes really well. And good luck sprout--the test I did the day before my period was due showed absolutely no sign whatsover of a line, so your faint one surely must be a good sign.

Re drsI probably will go, at least to talk things through. Thanks everyone for the support and advice. Yes, elliott, the (prospective) father has had his sperm checked. It is actually a bit complicted. He is not the biological father of dd, his partner is. But he wants his 'turn', just like I want mine. (Though I do think it's different in terms of the relationship with the child there's no difference in father 1 and father 2's relationship with dd that is due to the biological connection or lack of it, whereas there is a difference between my and dp's relationship to her, but that's another story.) He had been tested in the past when he was donating to a friend who didn't get pregnant. At that time he was told his sperm had low motility, at which point she started looking for another donor and he didn't pursue it. So when we started TTC, of course he went to get checked at the GP. The test came back normal, and we put the previous negative result down to the fact that he used to be a stressed-out school teacher and now has a much less stressful job! But I don't actually have the numbers and didn't ask for them, it's a bit of a sensitive issue. I do wonder whether 'in the normal range' could be disguising problems though. What if it's in the normal range but at the very very bottom of it?

So I think I will get the numbers from father 2 before I go to the GP. Would y'all know how to interpret them if I ran them by you?

Meanwhile, my period is due today but no sign of it, and my temperature was still high this morning. So I still have a tiny hope that the test on Monday was wrong.

thanks for all your lovely messages. Sprout any kind of line is very positive. You cannot get a line if you are not pregnant. In my case the line became more defined once i was actually due.

Ruth21, interpreting sperm tests is not straightforward - so just knowing the numbers may not be enough. And not all sperm tests are the same - at fertility clinics they tend to be more detailed and look for more subtle changes than the standard ones the GP can do.

Scrolling back through the messages it looks like you haven't been trying for very long yet - this your third month? I'd say plenty of time not to panic yet....and there's still this month....

I know, it's ridiculous, this is only the 4th go and I know loads of people who got pregnant after 6 months or more, with no intervention. It's just the short cycle thing that got me a bit anxious. But I am not panicking, just too impatient for my own good.

Hate to sound like elliott's echo - but yes there is a big difference between NHS standard tests and fertility clinic tests ( usually private - approx £70) dh has had several nhs - whch have had various different readings - his recent one was 'normal' - then 2 months later a fertility clinic one came back as DIRE in just about every respect - and both times we've done icsi since then they've been assessed before the process and have been pretty much as dire as the first test.
Consultant says that NHS test is like asking a Ford mechanic to look at a Ferrari - he might say it looks fine - but he's just not an expert.

Hmm, maybe I should raise this with the father. On the other hand, I do wonder about private clinics who tell you you really need treatment--might there be a 'they would say that, wouldn't they' element in play? Not to impugn your clinic, Bayleaf, but their interpretation would surely be bound to be more skewed toward recommending treatment than the NHS's, wouldn't it?

Period started today. Boo.

Ruth21, I share your slight cynicism with regard to private fertility clinics - personally I would always choose treatment at a clinic which provides NHS treatment. The important thing is that they should be fertility specialists.

But I still think you have time on your side at the moment if you are only on month 3. Sorry it wasn't the month this time...

Ruth 21 - stay positive! I am in a similar position and am starting to get obsessive about conceiving despite being only a few months ! Every day I think about it and do the maths over and over, double checking all the time. Every time I go to the loo after day 35 I am anxious!! a short cycle isn?t so bad - I have a really long and irregular cycle (35-40 ish) and all that extra waiting time is so frustrating! See it as a bonus and more opportunities to conceive coming round more quickly. Good luck next month, let us know how you get on.

AHH for once elliott and disagree!!
It may be the case in some clinics - obviously it's impossible for me to know - but it certainly isn't in all. My clinic only does private as far as I know but the consultant is the one I've seen half a dozen times on the nhs and there is just no way he would be anything but entirely honest and above board. Any good clinic is over subscribed and they really don't need to get 'false' business
A doctor would have to be pretty 'corrupt' to lie/exaggerate about the sperm test - and if it's a case of interpreting the numbers ( you get a series of readings on different asspects of the sperm, number of them, condition of them, how good at swimming they are ec!)you can always get a second opinion from you gp.

elliot - I've just realised I didn't reply to your post. I'm 3 days into the 2ww and already trying to convince myself I feel queasy (far to early to tell either way, I know). I'm on cyclogest this time, so I don't know if that might be making me feel a bit odd. Anyway, things went well - they said all the signs were good, so I can't help being a bit hopeful. Good luck to you too.

Hello all,

This is day 10 for me now, so I've started using ovulation sticks, and got a very (VERY) faint line this morning - a kind of hold it up to the light and it's there line!

I've got a question - if I was ovulating 'properly', should I expect a faint line that would get darker each day, or just a dark line when I am ovulating?

Not that I'm obsessing about what kind of line to look out for...!

Sorry dot - have no idea - am no expert on OKPs
elliot how's it going?
Jane101 - any symptoms?? What day are you intending to test? Do the hospital also test?

Dot: For me, the line is present when I first start testing, then gets a bit darker each day until is definitely darker than the line you are supposed to compare it too. Though the change is not always completely even and progressive, there has always come a day when it seems pretty definite--though I know there are lots of people out there who say the sticks don't work at all for them. I would think the faint line is a good sign and you should see some changes over the next few days.

Thanks for everyone's support, and sorry to moan on when I know lots of you have been trying for far longer than me. I am just about to phone the GP to try to get an appointment.

Good luck Jane!

Dot, I used the ovulation kit (and am happily 4.5 months pregnant after first use!) - in my experience, the lines started faintly and then got darker the next days - if you start it too early then it will probably be very faint. I thought that the lines were as dark as they could get and tried the last one for good measure and they were a lot clearer..hubby asleep in bed at the time..! He was in for a surprise the next morning though!!

thanks - I'll keep trying - this morning there was no line at all, so maybe I imagined yesterday's line...

Aarrggghhhh!

Dot - don't panic! I usually get a faint result, then a blank day, and a proper positive the day after, so keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Oh God - sorry this is turning into a very boring 'line' thread..... Today I've got a slightly darker line - but nowhere near as dark as the test line...

Still, this could be good, as I can only go up and inseminate at the weekend, so maybe I'll get a stronger line tomorrow/friday....

Right, no more 'line' talk from me now!

hi dot. not to worry I became obsessed with how dark the OPK blue line was and ended up spending a fortune. It stayed a feint/medium blue for about a week never getting as dark as the control line. In the end, by using other methods (mucus and temperature) I realised that it wasnt actually telling me when i was ovulating. have you tried the mucus method? i think it is supposed to be the most reliable. It worked for me.

Hi Bayleaf, I'm supposed to test on 22nd March, but probably will give it a go a couple of days before then if I think there's any hope. However, I am now feeling quite sore inside in a pre-menstral sort of way and don't have any pregnancy sort of symptoms Still too soon to tell really though.

Yes defintely too soon to tell Jane101 - and lots of people get all the menstral type pains from cyclogest.
Presumably the 22nd is day 16 - you'd be a strong woman to hold out till then....
Still no sign of my peroid which is a bit of a bug**r as I can't start my FET till it comes!

Thanks Buttercup - I'm so confused! No line at all this morning (or possibly very very faint), but lots of lovely muucus! I definitely feel like I'm ovulating/just about to - like my body's telling me I am, but no line.... The problem is, do I do a 500 mile round trip this weekend, leaving ds and dp for a night and messing up our weekend plans just because I think I may be, but with no 'proof'?

Probably...!