Hoping for some advice after a year TTC baby no. 2

[Emarosa]

DH and I have been trying to conceive baby no. 2 for just over a year now, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’ve been tracking my cycle and everything seems normal, so I kept thinking it would happen naturally like it did with our DS. But so far, no luck, and I’m starting to worry that we may have waited a bit too long before going to the GP, as we tried to stay positive and give it time.

I’m 33, DH is 44, and our DS will be 3 next month.

For those who’ve been in a similar situation, when did you decide to speak to your GP or seek further help?
Did anyone find there were factors they hadn’t initially considered, even when cycles looked “normal”?
And if you went down the route of investigations or fertility support, what was that process like for you?

Any insights or experiences would be really appreciated — feeling a bit unsure about next steps.

Not to late to go to your GP. Are you taking any supplements, Any fertility supplements?

In my area anyhow you have to have been trying for a year before can get referred for fertility tests- at your age. I think it goes down to 6 months in late 30s. So not too late to go to GP, sounds like sensible timing. Good luck.

Hi
No advice really, just wanted to write a message in support because I know how frustrating it is to struggle with a second one with no clear explanation, especially after the first was naturally conceived.

Our situation is/was remarkably similar to yours. I'm 33, DH is 44 and DD just turned 3. I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant with our second - I'm so grateful for it, but was an unexpectedly long journey after our first was naturally conceived. My only "symptom" was that my luteal phase was a bit shorter than before.

We went for testing at about the 1 year mark. First had a few months of monitoring ovulation with scans and progesterone levels. Semen analysis for DH. Hysterosalpingogram to check that my tubes aren't blocked. Sonar so check for a c-section scar defect. A few other blood tests to look at thyroid levels, iron, prolactin.

We never really got to a clear answer but tried ovulation induction and supplementary progesterone for multiple months. Finally when we reached the 2 year mark we opted for IVF (I'm not UK based, so we had to do all of this privately anyway).

I would recommend that you get the ball rolling on the initial exploratory testing. I hold thumbs for you that you'll fall pregnant soon, and that if something is wrong that they can easily diagnose and treat it, because it is sooo frustrating not to know why it's not working.

I approached my GP after 8 months (technically had been a year since we started, but I miscarried in between so it was 8 months from starting after the miscarriage). Because we already have one living child they could not offer any support. The tests we've had done, we had to pay for privately