TTC Feb 2025

[sjwx]

Hi everyone, I'm on CD 7 (I think.. last month was a very weird cycle for me) and going to start ovulation testing with the easy @ home strips and use the app they have.

I've used the clear blue smiley face tests the past 3 cycles but wanted to try something different this month.. but I'm worried I'm going to read them wrong as the clear blue ones were very straightforward!

If anyone has used these strips, what time of day did you test? I've read not to use the FMU so plan to test at 6pm (due to work) until I get a line and then try and test at 12pm too..

And did you not drink/wee for 2 hours before doing the test? With clear blue I left it 4 hours but struggled!

Would be great to chat to anyone who's also hoping this will be the month🤞🏼

@Taysonic so sorry to hear, it's never easy. Hope you're doing ok and taking time to get your head around it all ♥️

I'm now 3 days late/16 DPO/CD30. Ran out of cheapies to test but CB standard (not early tests) are still negative. Very unusual for me and a complete head melter!!!

@Taysonic really sorry to hear that, your head must be spinning & you must be exhausted, take some time to look after yourself ❤

@Mama09876 got my peak yesterday so thinking ovulation is today, havent dtd since Monday, so hopefully will today, but not holding out much hope for this month!

@LivingonaPrayerandGin how confusing, definitely sounds like you couldve ovulated later

@Taysonic im so so sorry you’re going through this. Heartbreaking. Hope you look after yourself this weekend and treat yourself.

@LuckyDuck93 im feeling the same not holding out much hope 😂 my ovulation confirmed as Tuesday as I’ve had 3 mornings of temp rise. I’m glad someone else is in a similar boat, but you still have plenty of time if you got your peak yesterday try today and I think you’ll have covered it well!

@LivingonaPrayerandGin this is really strange? Have you been particularly stressed this month? Or ill? Maybe effected your af?

I think I need a new strategy cause I was thinking this morning, we both woke up around 6am normally this would be a fab time to dtd and what we’d usually do pre child but 10mins later who comes running in and jumping in the middle of us 😂🙈 then by the time we go to bed at night we’re both absolutely shattered! I think we’re going to have to try some day time dtd, when the little one is napping! It’s my only hope for next month 🤣

Such a horrible time of being in limbo @Taysonic. Like you my bleeding has eased up but I'm not brave enough to do a weeks test. I'm looking to book a private scan for Sunday when we get back from hol. Sending you all the love, it's rough xx

I'm really quite sure I know what's happening. And that does help in a way. Being in limbo is way worse - difficult to know whether to try and stay hopeful or brace yourself for the worst.

Will catch up on proper messages soon and get up to date with you all. ❤️

Keeping fingers crossed for you @lynzmb 💐

AF finally arrived, 3 days late meaning ovulation was so late we never stood a chance. We actually started earlier in my expected fertile window and carried on later than usual to cover all bases but seems like it was a waste of time. And exhausting 😅
Feel so deflated between the normal AF disappointment but more so the waste of time planning just seems pointless, it's a complete random guess unless we have sex every single day for like 2 weeks. With a toddler and full time job🤦‍♀️

Not my usual style to be so negative but with plans to start IVF in June, I'm seriously considering bringing it forward to just avoid the confusion for another couple of cycles 😮‍💨

@LivingonaPrayerandGin aww I’m so sorry! That’s really frustrating & annoying when you think you’ve covered all bases.
Do you take your BBT? I know it’s really difficult with a toddler. But that’s the only way I know if/when ive ovulated.

You know what I was only thinking the other day I know the stress and pain and toll on your body is immense with ivf but I did think do I just consider it cause time just isn’t on my side and least then it can be planned better 😂 (privately of course i wouldn’t be eligible for NHS)

I’m in the exact same position with a little one and full time job, where do we get the time or energy! 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

@Mama09876 honestly! With a million tabs open on our to do list too 😅😅
While I would never say IVF is the easy way out, our last round was a breeze asode from the emotional rollercoaster! 2 weeks of meds zero side effects and lucky our first attempt. While that was free we have to pay for our next round (despite the embryo just....sat there 😅 it feels like the major work is done! )

I did buy a BBT thermometer last year but like you say difficult with a toddler! He woke up at 5.50 today for no reason....yesterday was 7am. And I'm jump out of bed 😅 might be worth attempting though. What app do you used to track it?

I started tracking BBT last month and it was REALLY useful to have that clarity over ovulation. And it was ultimately what alerted me to the fact I was pregnant as my temp was still elevated during what I thought was my period. Would definitely recommend if you can.

@LivingonaPrayerandGin bbt tracking has really helped me, I use natural cycles, its been so helpful to understand whats going on, we (usually) try to dtd every/every other day in my fertile week until my bbt has been elevated for 3+ days, then I know i've ovulated.
If its any consolation, im down already this month and dont even know if Ive ovulated yet 😅ovulation yesterday/today but dtd is not going overly well, the pressure is not helping hubby and I feel awful because i dont want to put pressure on, but also, theres only a few days of a month to dtd to have the best chance, its so tough mentally, no-one tells you this do they!

I’m the same as @LuckyDuck93 i use natural cycles, I use to track every single day but now with a toddler I just try 3/4days leading up to ovulation then 3 days post just so it’s confirmed.
I have mine right next to my phone so when my toddler comes barging in to our room at 6am I grab the thermometer and quickly take the temp before I lift by head.
you can take it 2hrs out of either side of normal wake up.

i’m also in the ‘downer’ mood this month. Must be something in the air! 😂 Just feel annoyed we with myself that we didn’t try harder this month.
I feel you with the pressure! I don’t want it to feel like it’s pressure but there is literally only a few days you can get pregnant and we’re (as in me and OH) aren’t doing a great job at it 😂

@Taysonic i was the same with my first! Before I took a test I thought I could be cause my temp was till really high 14 days after ovulation.

hows everyone feeling?

@LuckyDuck93 how did your ovulation week go in the end?

im around 7dpo and literally nothing to report. I think we dtd to early this month. No to say I’m out already 😂 but not feeling hopeful

@Mama09876 I mean it wasn't the best ovulation week 😅 but managed to dtd on ovulation day & the day after, which is something I don't think we've done before, so trying to look at that in a positive way, but also not feeling very hopeful!

Update from me... not a particularly nice one but it is what it is.

Had a scan this morning which confirmed no viable pregnancy. They've taken some blood to rule out ectopic but seeing as I can visibly see how my hcg levels have reduced on test strips, I'm not worried about that. Think they do it as a precaution as I'm still testing positive even though there's nothing to see there.

Will do a bit of research to see when the best time to start tracking ovulation again... I guess current hormone levels probably would play havoc with testing right now. Some of the advice says to wait until after your next period, but I think that's more so that it's easy for them to 'date' your pregnancy. Surely, if I'm trying to track ovulation and can see when it's happened, that's less of a concern. I don't want to wait.

So sorry to hear @Taysonic. I'm in the same shitty boat, no visible pregnancy on my scan yesterday. Hope you're holding up ok. I've asked for a call from midwives to get advice for what's next as was still getting positive tests over the weekend xx

@Taysonic @lynzmb sending so much love to you both, hope you're both looking after yourselves.
@Taysonic Im no expert but id say if you can see you're ovulating then it shouldn't be a problem?

Thanks @LuckyDuck93im off today so had a day of naps, crying and Below Deck then I will dust myself off 💪🏻 xx

Sending LOADS of love your way. If you don't mind me asking, are your test lines getting fainter or are they staying the same? Hopefully they'll offer you the same as me - a blood test to check that levels are reducing in the way they'd expect. If it helps, for my test today, they'll check hcg level and progesterone level. If progesterone is below 2, that's fine and as expected no matter what the hcg levels are. If progesterone is elevated, they'll get me back in 48 hours later for a repeat blood to check that hcg has reduced by 50% over that time period.

If hcg hasn't reduced, then it points towards an ectopic pregnancy.

But I do think it takes time for your hcg levels to reduce properly back down. I'd say my levels have probably been slowly reducing for two weeks now. And I'm obviously still getting 'positive' pregnancy results.

And @lynzmb, definitely do WHATEVER you need to do to process and get through this. Telling a few people closest to me has definitely helped. Made me feel really supported and looked after.

A little thing that helped me... when I got pregnant with my son, I bought a little silver ring with an infinity symbol on. I wanted something that no matter how that pregnancy went, I could look at it and know I bought it when my baby was that size (of the infinity symbol) and would be something permanent whatever happens. Thankfully, he's now a bouncing 8 year old boy.

But last week, when I knew to expect the worst, I was in Tesco and spotted a set of silver infinity earrings. I bought them without even hesitating. And I love now that I have this permanent symbol and reminder of this pregnancy and it brings me some form of comfort. In Tesco too, they also had a Yankee candle on sale called 'To the Moon and Back'. Bought that too, and my partner and I have been lighting it in the evenings. Again, not sure why, but it makes me feel hopeful somehow.

Thanks lovely, and to you @Taysonic. Grateful to have this space to chat it though. I did a test last Wed and got a strong +, then 1-2 weeks on a CB last Friday. I'll order some cheapies from Amazon. EPU wants me in for a scan on Friday, but if I test negative before then I've to call and cancel. Weirdly I've been getting sharp pains between my belly button and c section scar, possibly from the internal scan yesterday.

That's such a sweet idea to have a little memento. I think I'll do something similar. We told both sets of parents before the bleeding started so they know, and told a few friends so feeling very supported. Glad that's helping for you too. Have you had any previous losses? This is my first and it's not at all what I expected. I felt really embarrassed yesterday like I should have known the pregnancy had ended. xx

Found this pic in my holiday snaps and feel like it's giving me hope. DS drew a little smiley face in a sandcastle, the position of it in the photo is 🥺

It's my first loss too. Funnily enough, when I got the reduced weeks pregnancy test and knew what was about to happen or had already happened, I said to my partner (amongst all the tears): 'I feel so stupid!'

I don't know if he really understood what I meant but I guess it encompassed lots of feelings: feeling stupid for having gotten so excited, for having gotten carried away, for thinking ahead, for not knowing whether I'd already had the loss or whether to still expect the loss to come... When I first went to get checked out: that's what I wanted to know. I just wanted to know whether to expect further bleeding or not.

There are SO many variables. Some people experience bleeding in pregnancy without loss or complication. Some don't. Some experience pain. Some don't. It's really hard when the outcome is so out of your own control.

Be kind to yourself. You're going through real grief, and horrible physical things too. Take whatever time you need to process. And I very much hope to still hear how your journey goes, and fingers crossed we'll both have more reason to celebrate.

You've summed up my feelings exactly. I felt silly to have gotten so carried away when it's not promised. I don't feel like I've had a lot of bleeding at all.

Yes keep in touch, let me know how your results go this week and hopefully our rainbows are coming soon xxx

@Taysonic @lynzmb Sending you both lots of love! I hope you’re doing as ok as can be. Do whatever you feel is best for you, if you want to start trying straight away again 🤍 I feel like in these situations you’ll know and your body will know if you’re good to go straight in to it again.
I love the idea of the keepsake 🤍

Sending flying hugs to you both @lynzmb and @Taysonic, not silly at all for having all that hope it's what we're all living on! I had similar in Dec 23 and it still hurts, thinking of where we'd be now and the ages etc.

AF came and went and it's hit me like a ton. Seen a pregnancy announcement today and for the first time ever in my 5 years TTC I could cry. No idea why its hitting so hard this time round when we're lucky enough to have a wild toddler to fill our days but it feels heavy this time.

Think I'll try the BBT as suggested as will need a new approach to get through the next cycles! Range the IVF clinic last week to look at timeliness and think we'll aim for being ready for June regardless ♥️

Sending lots of love to all!