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!

Hi @Ivylilac 😘 I’ve actually been really surprised at everything and slightly overwhelmed. I was reading something last night about fertility cups 🤯 I didn’t even know such thing existed!! Then there’s all the supplements and fertility acupuncture…. I can’t even take it all in. I’ve been taking folic acid for a few months now and I thought I was well prepped. Clearly not! However I do also take biotin and I’ve read that can affect testing so I’ve stopped that now.
I’ve got the Premom app to track my OPKs but also have the ClearBlue as I was using that. And then my Garmin tracks my cycle too. None of them are perfectly matched up to each other. But I feel like my Garmin is likely the most accurate right now as that’s got all my previous months data in it to compare etc.

Will keep everything crossed for you that the test was too early or wrong and your period doesn’t arrive this weekend 🤞🏻🤞🏻
its such a hard process isn’t it. Everyone says to relax and just enjoy it, but it just isn’t that simple. Everything plays over in mind and I’m almost 37 too. Tick tick tick! 😂

@SilverDrive hahaha I know I read about those too and was like what?! 😂 I feel like I’ve been so naive with it all and as we’ve actively tried to avoid pregnancy for years we’ve been ridiculously careful, as we just weren’t in a position to consider starting a family until now. But now we’re on this journey I’m realising just how tough it might actually be to conceive! Especially as most around me seem to have gotten pregnant on the first or second attempt. I’m using Flo at the moment and that seems to be quite good on the premium version so hopefully that’s helping me predict well. Thank you! I’m hoping it was a false negative but I’ve got it in my head now it was accurate, so if it was false it’ll certainly be a nice surprise! I know, it’s already becoming stressful and sex is starting to feel like a planned event rather than something in the moment, but I really don’t know how you get around that when TTC. How many days are you into your cycle at the moment?

Ahhh the joys of planned sex 😂 we’re the same, not sure how you really get around that. It almost feels a little awkward at first!
Tomorrow will be CD20 and I’m not due on until 12 April. I’m usually a 29 day cycle, but it’s thrown me off this month with being a week late.
I’ve no idea if I’ve actually ovulated this month as I’ve not actually had a positive test yet….well I had the high fertility on the ClearBlue advanced, but never got the peak fertility. I’ve only been using the Premom OPK for the last 2 days and my readings are low. I think there’s a good chance I’ve missed seeing a positive test this cycle.

Hey everyone how are you all getting on? @BeKeenPeachLemur how are you getting on?! Fingers crossed - your tests look positive to me! ❤️

Agree there’s so much info out there it’s all a bit confusing. The only things we are doing is taking supplements (did a bit of research into those that have some evidence base) and I’m ovulation testing and we are doing SMEP. So planned/timed sex… we got a bit exhausted from it last month so we’ll see how this month goes haha.

Hi @Wiennetta im doing well thank you how are you getting on? 💕

my lines are getting stronger which is amazing; but I think I’m still in denial a bit I just am in shock still 🥹

@SilverDrive yeah planned sex isn’t really doing it for me to be honest at the moment and we’re only on cycle 2 😂 did you have any physical symptoms like EWCM or anything that indicated ovulation as well as the test?

@Wiennetta we were trying to follow smep this cycle too but it was so tough with my partner’s working hours. He’s sometimes out the house for 14-15 hours, so trying to galvanise ourselves to get to it at 11pm when he’s home but we’re both exhausted was hard work haha. He’s thankfully got a bit of time off coming up this coming cycle though, so that should hopefully make it easier to follow smep for cycle 3. Which supplements are you taking? I’m on vitamin D, omega 3 and folic acid. I was going to take calcium too but I drink so much milk I wasn’t sure if it was necessary?

@Ivylilac it’s hard to follow SMEP isn’t it. We managed last month and should be ok this month but next month I’m not sure as we have a lot going on. But we will are also trying not to be too harsh on ourselves and be realistic about what is achievable. Not put too much pressure on (easier said than done!)

With supplements I’m taking Ovum which has the usuals like folic acid, Vitamin D, B12, but also some additional ones like CoQ10. I’m also taking omegas. Bit of a minefield really as so much info out there on if/how to supplement.

That’s great news @BeKeenPeachLemur! Not surprised you’re in shock though! Are you feeling any different/any signs yet?

@Wiennetta thank you! :) No not really to be honest, I was cramping from 5dpo which is really unlike me, I only normally get cramps the day before my period so I kinda knew something might be off! I am still getting some cramps mainly in the evening when I sit down on the sofa! My boobs are veiny and hurt a lot and I suddenly have developed hayfever - which I have never ever suffered with haha!

@Wiennetta yeah we’re trying to do the same, as I worry putting too much pressure on it will lead to stress and that won’t help anything!

That’s good to know about your supplements. I’m going to do another month of what I’m on whilst tracking ovulation and also changing our lube, as we were using durex which I have since found out can slow sperm down (again, a minefield with everything you need to know haha) and if none of that works that I might look into prenatal multivitamins to ensure I’m getting everything.

Hi ladies. So, turns out I’ve got a peak OPK today and EWCM which I was actually really shocked at this morning. Did the Clearblue Advanced test too, just to see if it also picked up my LH surge, and it did. So all being well I’ll ovulate in the next 12-36hrs I think. So maybe I’m not quite out this month yet!
Will be interesting to see what happens with my cycle from here after being a week late this one.

How are you feeling @Ivylilac? Are you planning on doing any more tests before AF due on Saturday?

@BeKeenPeachLemur how odd about the hayfever! Were you taking any supplements at all?

@SilverDrive amazing!! How exciting! You’ll have to keep us updated if you start to feel anything once ovulation has passed. Fingers crossed for you!

No I don’t think I’ll bother. I don’t have any of the cheap testing strips, only the clearblue ones and they’re expensive, so I’d rather save it until Sunday when I’m a day late. My Flo app says I shouldn’t test until Monday unless my period arrives, but I don’t know if I can wait that long haha. Honestly this waiting business is agonising! I’m trying to live normally and do other things but every morning I keep thinking I’m one day closer to testing. It’s taking over my life already 😂

@SilverDrive yeh super weird with the hayfever! I’m not sure if it’s cause I recently just came back from living in Australia for 3 years and they don’t really have pollen as high as here, so I might have just reacted to it as I’ve not been exposed to it you know- or it’s pregnancy related 😂

I only take magnesium which I have always done for migraines and started on folic acid about a month ago :)

@Ivylilac i can only imagine how long that wait feels. I’m purposely not going to buy any tests so then I don’t have them in the house to tempt me! It’s so hard though isn’t it.
fingers crossed for a BFP on Sunday!! 🤞🏻

@BeKeenPeachLemur the pollen count is definitely up as one of my friends has suffered with it this week. Hopefully you won’t have it all the way through if it is pregnancy related!!
Have you got a scan booked yet?
How have your migraines been since you got pregnant?

@SilverDrive Yeh it is mad, my eyes have seemed to calm down a bit now thank god cause it was not a good look at all haha! Fingers crossed it goes away for good.
I haven't had a migraine yet as im still v early, I normally get them around ovulation time but it can also be triggered by bright light, loud noise etc, so we shall just see! :) I do have tablets for them, but I have just read that they might not be good to take during pregnancy so I might have to figure something else out...

How are you getting on? Are you going to do a test in the next week? :)

@BeKeenPeachLemur maybe they will stop whilst pregnant. That would be ideal as then you don’t need to medicate. It’s so hard when you suffer with migraines. I get one every few months and I don’t know how I would manage without being able to take medication to help clear it. They can be so debilitating!

So the sensible part of me wants to wait until AF is late, but I’m impatient! Haha. I’m also very aware that this is our first cycle trying so I would be very very surprised if anything comes of it.
Plus we didn’t DTD on the run up to ovulation as my husband was away. We did last night, after my peak OPK yesterday, and we’ll no doubt today/tomorrow. My OPK hasn’t dropped off yet so not sure if I’ve ovulate today or tomorrow.
I will try my best to hold off. I don’t actually have any tests in the house at the moment so I can’t anyway. Will try stick with that…but Amazon Prime is too helpful sometimes!!

how many weeks are you now?

@SilverDrive yep that can be so horrible! I mainly get the auras which i find impossible to deal with cause I literally go blind haha, but fingers crossed they don't get worse!

Ahh I know what you mean! I think that sounds like a plan, to be honest we did it day before I got my peak, day of peak and day of after peak - but my LH peak was never that strong I think I missed the surge so I actually don't know 100% when it was or 100% when I ovulated! So I might be 14dpo right now or less! I am only 3w4d pregnant so still very very early, but my test strips are getting a little bit darker each day which is good :)

Defo hold off on testing, I waited until 10dpo but I only tested cause I had a crazy dream where I had a positive test and I only had one test in my cupboard - otherwise I would have probably tried to wait until 12-13dpo lol

@Ivylilac how are you? Are you excited to test this weekend? 🤞🏻🤞🏻

@SilverDrive I’m doing ok thank you, been feeling quite sick the last couple of days but today I’ve had very strong period style cramps and lower back pain. I suffer terribly with period pain every month though, so it’s very typical for me to get cramps the day or so before it starts, which I guess is hard to interpret, because my mind immediately goes to “ok that’s a period starting then”, but obviously I’ve heard cramping in early pregnancy can feel like this too, so who knows!! I’ll try and wait until Sunday to test but I might give in and test tomorrow morning haha. How are you doing??

@Ivylilac keeping everything crossed for you lovely! 🤞🏻
I’m okay thanks. Just been chatting to the husband this morning and we’ve agreed that I won’t test until my period is late which means waiting until 15th. I know it’ll be a struggle, but I do think I’m best waiting. It’s just hard and on my mind so much already! Which drives me mad as I don’t want to be focused on it this much!

@SilverDrive thank you! Probably going to end up testing today at some point as we’re due to go out tonight with family and I just want to be sure beforehand. My period is due today as well, so I figured if I am then surely my hcg levels must be high enough by now to pick it up?

I know the waiting it’s agonising! This cycle has felt like an eternity for me. It’s hard because you say to yourself just wait until your missed period, but each day feels like a month haha. I’m the same, I don’t want this to keep taking over my life each month, but it’s so hard not to.

@Ivylilac youve done so well to wait until today!! Really hoping you get the BFP and can enjoy your night with a little secret 🫶🏻

@SilverDrive thank you!! 😘 I’m just waiting for my partner to get home around lunchtime and then I’ll test so I’ll keep you updated ☺️

@SilverDrive just tested and a BFN so onto cycle 3 for me. I know my period hasn’t arrived yet, but I think that’s pretty obvious now with two negative tests that it’s not happening this month!

@Ivylilac I’m so sorry lovely. 😔 how are you feeling? X