Anyone else in the early stages of their TTC journey for baby #1?

[Ivylilac]

Hi everyone,

We’re early into our TTC journey and are currently on cycle number 2 for our first baby. I’ve also never been pregnant before.

I’m currently on day 14 of my cycle but my cycles are around 25-27 days on average, so my Flo app predicted I’d ovulate on day 12 based off symptoms of ovulation from previous months which have been quite consistent. We dtd on day 7,8,10 and 11 and haven’t been able to do it again since due to clashing work schedules, mega long days and then being exhausted in our free time as a result, so I have no idea if we’ve done enough this cycle.

Either way, it would be nice to chat to others in the same boat who are also only just starting their TTC journey! :) I told myself this cycle I wouldn’t count down the days or symptom spot like I did last cycle, but it’s hard not to already!

@LuellaB congrats on tieing the knot! Hopefully you’ll keep busy with the big day planning and seeing family you’ll be back in your fertile window before you know it 💖

@CouchtattieI’ve been tracking OPKS 4 cycles now and the first two were relatively the same CD12/13 , however 3rd cycle wasn’t until CD17 and this one CD20! I don’t know if it makes a difference that I started taking folic acid beginning of cycle 3… or just a coincidence! 🤷🏻‍♀️

@LuellaB - HUGE congrats on your civil marriage :) deffo a very special one and something to keep the spirits up! Sounds like we are on very similar journeys with our cycles so fingers crossed we will both be successful!

Thank you for all the support and love everyone. Another cycle to be hopeful!

@mummm2 folic acid really lengthened my cycle. Normally 26 days became 35!

@Couchtattie ooh interesting most likely that then!! I don’t know how useful it is to take it!? I know it’s advised. Are you still taking it?

@mummm2 I’m not tbh. I have a 9 day luteal phase so if I got a positive I’d know quite early and would take it from then. I figure a lot of pregnancies are accidents so most women aren’t taking it? I’ve tried a few vitamins and they just make my cycle go a bit mad!

@mummm2 yeah I’m sure the cold didn’t help but I just feel like I’m out this month. Not in a sad way just a generalized “this doesn’t feel like the month”. I’ll keep an eye on the temps and I do have until the weekend to wait for AF. How’re you feeling?

@Ivylilac i feel like I can hold out on testing until Wednesday. That’ll be DPO11 or so and if my BBT keeps trending down will be my way to learn to trust the science 😂.

I might try and wait until Friday, then I’ve got the weekend to process it if it was positive!

Had very bad cramping again today, but looked back again at Flo and I also logged this on this day last cycle, so it’s hard not to think this is just my period brewing. I usually get cramps 3-5 days before it’s due anyway and I’m due on Saturday.

@Couchtattie tbh with my previous pregnancies I didn’t take folic acid. I did try pregnacare before but just don’t get on well with it. That’s a bonus for you then, the wait doesn’t have to seem so long I suppose!

@PearOpal let me know how you get on with temps! And if you test Wednesday crossing my fingers for you! 🤞🏼

@Ivylilacits so annoying that pregnancy and AF symptoms are so similar 😭 in my experience the tiredness is a definitive symptom, it’s like a next level that hits you!

@mummm2 I have felt very tired, but again it’s not unusual for me to feel tired around this time. I wish I could just get a really obvious symptom that something is up like some spotting for example, as I never get that anywhere in my cycle, so it would be a clear indication. At the moment it’s just a battle of whether this is my period turning up or not!

Aw yeah I know what u mean! I usually get cramping and the odd spotting anyway so I honestly would never know the difference with that. But I do remember sitting at my desk literally couldn’t keep my eyes open!

Morning!
I hope you don’t mind me jumping on the bandwagon.
It’s my first time trying, I literally stopped the pill just a couple of days ago, and my period kicked in this morning. Honestly, I’m really surprised! My periods have always been quite irregular, and for most of my adult life, I’ve been on contraception (I’m 32). I was also diagnosed with endometriosis (though not severe), and was reassured it shouldn’t cause issues with getting pregnant.
That said, I have no idea what a “normal” cycle even looks like for me, so this feels like a real learning curve. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself, but I’m already getting a little obsessed with tracking my cycle, because I'm so impatient.
I’m also fully armed with an ovulation test kit, pregnancy tests, and a couple of apps so we’ll see how it goes! ❤️

Yes please do join our bandwagon! The more the merrier ☺️ I don’t know much about the pill as I’ve never been able to take it, but that’s good if you’ve got a period already! Hopefully that means this cycle will be fairly straightforward as a result. Keep us updated with everything ❤️

Welcome to the crew @ProfessionalOverthinker1 were all here trying to learn the mysteries of the female body, stay sane, and sprinkle lots of baby dust around!

The symptom spotting is likely to become my worst enemy over these few months. That being said - all signs could be a good sign @Ivylilac. Definitely keep us updated if you test Friday.

I know this is only month one of trying to BBT but my chart is allll over the place. Either this is the beginning of me learning I have some sort of hormone imbalance, being sick really just totally skewed my results, or I’m terrible at tracking. It’s too soon to tell but it’s got me thinking about switching to a wearable monitor of some sort instead of an oral thermometer.

I've been in a similar boat to you @Ivylilac in that I've had cramps today, looked to see if I had them last month and turns out I had them on the exact same DPO as today. Feels a bit disheartening to see but I'm trying to keep the faith!

Will do!

I definitely think being ill would’ve messed with your temperature, so you probably haven’t had a chance to accurately track it. Just see it as a learning curve!

I know I’ve had such strong cramps today and yesterday, but as I ovulated a bit earlier, I think it’s likely my period will arrive a day or so early too. Yeah I can relate, it is disheartening, but we’re not out yet until AF arrives so we’ve got to keep faith!

Morning all!

I had such bad cramps last night which also went down my legs and into my back too and I had a sharp pain on my right side. I then had a dream that I took a test and it was positive. Why does my body mess with me like this 😂 I woke up this morning with barely any symptoms, maybe slight cramping but nothing like last night.

My partner has super long days today, tomorrow and Friday, so I’m not sure when to test or to just leave it and see if my period arrives over the weekend and test on Monday if it doesn’t. I just don’t know if I can be bothered with another month of potentially wasting a test and then my period arriving a day or so later and realising I should’ve just left it and not got my hopes up.

What’s everyone else thinking about testing?

Morning !

Ugh nothing worse than going the bed with cramps. Same here although I know it's period at the mo. I suddenly got so many BAD large spots on my forehead as well, I can even feel some under my hair on my head 🙃 and speaking of dreaming... I had some crazy dreams last night as well bit baby related bit that someone was trying to re marry and steal my husband right in front of me 🤣 so intense I woke up with head ache lol

I think once I get to the point of test or no test, I think I'll test... impatience will be killing me. Maybe wait extra couple days and see if period arrives and test tad later than you usually would do ? X

Funny you say that, I was just inspecting a proper boil that’s appeared on my chin 😂

Hahaha dreams can be wild can’t they!

Yeah I think originally I wanted to test early, but these are all normal signs I get before my period arrives, so I really do think it’ll just lead to more disappointment if I test earlier than my period. I might for once actually follow Flo’s advice and wait until Monday where I’ll be a day late!

@Ivylilac Do you believe in dreams? I kind of hate to admit it, but I do. For years, I’ve had this recurring dream that I have twins which is wild because I don’t even have siblings, let alone any twins in the family! Neither my side nor DH’s has a single case of twins, so realistically the chances are super low but we'll see 😄

I totally get the disappointment you’re feeling :( I’ve been using both Flo and PreMom too. Although, I’ve read quite a few mixed reviews especially about how the predicted ovulation days in the apps can be off by a couple of days compared to what people’s ovulation strips are showing.
PreMom actually sent me a notification today telling me to start testing for ovulation already. It feels a bit early, aren’t we supposed to start around day 5 of the cycle? I’m kind of second-guessing it now.

By the way, have you come across the book It Starts With the Egg? It’s more geared towards women going through IVF, but honestly, it’s full of great insights about egg quality, what happens to the egg before it’s released, and why sometimes fertilization doesn’t happen. I found it super informative and it totally changed how I think about the whole TTC process.

@ProfessionalOverthinker1 yes! My dreams are mental most of the time, so I often think there has to be some kind of meaning to them haha. That’s so strange you say that because I’ve also had a weird gut feeling I’ll have twins at some point, but that may be because I’ve got twins on both sides of my family and both times they’ve skipped a generation, which they always say increases your chances! Also a fellow only child here!

Yeah I agree, the thing I found annoying about Flo is I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to put positive or negative when I got the flashing smiley on my CB, so my ovulation day kept changing. I did have the CB app though, so as soon as I had a static smiley it gave me a better idea. Trouble is though I didn’t test the night before, so there’s a chance my static could’ve arrived 12 hours earlier and I wouldn’t have known. I still don’t think we did enough this cycle anyway. We DTD on the evening of CD 9 and 10 (both flashing smiley days) and then I first clocked my static at around 6am on day 11, but didn’t manage to DTD again during the rest of my fertile window, so who knows frankly! The month before we DTD more or less every other day so would’ve easily hit our window and it still didn’t happen for us, so I’m not optimistic.

I personally started tracking from day 7, but that’s because CB said in the instructions to do so from that day if your cycles were the same length as mine. I guess if you’re using the strips it can’t hurt to start on day 5!

I’ve heard about this, but haven’t read it. I’ll look into it, thank you ☺️

We DTD CDays 9, 11, 15, 16, 17 and 20. That’s way more than I’m used to so just hoping for the best. Feel satisfied we’ve given it a good go! Didn’t get a positive OPK and I’m still getting egg white mucus. Hoping I just missed the surge as going by previous months the surge only lasts a few hours for me and I didn’t test on suspected OV day because I was away with work. Good luck ladies x

Also some of these 2ww sound positive! Vivid dreams, skin being different 👀 keeping my fingers crossed for you all x

This definitely sounds like you’ve covered all basis! Fingers crossed for you!! X