Anyone else trying to get pregnant ? 3

[bayleaf]

New thread for all ttcers who want to moan etc...

Bayleaf and Dot, ta for messages, I shall start the temperature taking this month. It does look like a lot of preparation and organisation but hopefully more accurate than my wee sticks. Cant believe how long we have been trying, it is only recently that I have started to fret.

bunny2, I think the wee sticks work fine if they work for you (if you see what I mean) - I always got a very definite surge when I was ovulating (not that it ever did me much good mind, I did require IVF to conceive!) My understanding with temperature is that it rises AFTER ovulation, which is really too late if you are timing sex (others may correct me here, I have never tried this method). The trick really is to make sure you are ttc just before ovulation, as the sperm hang around a lot longer than the egg does.
Have you considered seeing your GP? A year is a fair time to be trying, and it might be worth at least getting some preliminary tests done - sperm count and a blood test for you to indicate whether you are ovulating. HTH.

bayleaf, sorry I put a message for you on the other thread by mistake. Funny, I don't have broadband but don't seem to have this problem with slow loading threads.

yes, the temperature taking can only give you a good picture of what's already happened - but it's worth starting to do this so that if you are still trying in a couple of months time, you might be able to predict when in your cycle you ovulate -like I have 28 - 30 day cycles, but seem to ovulate early on - day 9/10.

The worst thing I find with taking my temperature is when we're woken up by ds, and I feel bad that I have to stay still for 5 minutes while dp goes to see to him - doesn't seem fair. So I'm tending to wake up earlier so I can take it before anyone else wakes up..!

What a palava..!

BUm bum bum bum bum bum.
There - got it out of my system ( well a bit) am NOT down regged ( suspect that I didn't always sniff enough drug- in the past I've taken an extra half sniff just to be sure- but as down reg worked perfectly the first 2 times I didn't seriously consider that it wouldn't this time.) Well it hasn't - I'm about to ovulate - so that means another 2 weeks on down reg - this means my March FET cycle will now be in May we've had so many delaying factors - I just want to SCREAM!!!!

Oh Bayleaf - I'm sorry.... (although I haven't got a clue what you're talking about - but I know it's not good at all if there's another delay for you). I know you said the problem lies with dh, but if you're about to ovulate, is it worth trying anyway - is there any chance you'd conceive? Probably a really naive question - sorry...

Talking of delays, I've worked out that when I'm due to ovulate next month (if I do), it's a weekend, which is good news, but is packed full of things - people coming down to stay etc. Aarrgghhhh! So I'm hoping for a long cycle this time, to push it to the beginning of the following week - it'll be easier to take a couple of days off work than change the weekend plans!

bayleaf, sorry the down reg is going to take a bit longer. I know its always frustrating when things get delayed, but as you know I have never down-regged in the regulation time scale, and it has no bearing at all on the eventual outcome.

Dot - no it's not a naive question as I half wondered myself - but a) dh's sperm at the moment ( or when last measured) is such that it's flippin unlikely ( tho not impossible) and whilst I am about to ov I've also been taking drugs to supress my normal cycle so it's likely that my uterus lining is not as 'thick' as it usually would be at this point in my cycle - plus I need to keep on taking the drugs which are certainly contra indicated with pregnancy - so all in all a mad dash for the 'passion' (!) route is a bit of a non starter.
Am a bit more reconciled now than I was first thing when I posted - suppose it gives me 2 more weeks to lose the 7lbs I want to get rid of....

I think I will see the gp (assuming that I am not preganant that is) next month. What should I expect? I bet he will tell me to lose weight first as I still carry an unnecessary stone.

Bunny - ignore them if they tell you to lose weight! It really isn't a big deal as long as you are eating healthily - people having ivf on the nhs are only accepted if below a certain weight - but privately they take anyone and plenty of very overweight people seem to get pregnant! What they are likely to do is to suggest that dh does a sperm test ( usually a case of him providing a sample in a little specimen pot which someone has to drive to the hospital within a couple of hours - trying to keep it at body temperature ( a big cleavage helps in this regard I found!) and then that you do a 'day 21' test which measure the progesterone in your body on day 21 of your cycle which gives a very good indication as to whether you have ovulated ( mind you that is only if you have a 28 day cycle - if not it'll need to be 7 days after ov, whenever that is!). If you do manage to start taking your temperature the chart will also help to indicate if you have ovulated ( in an anovulatory cycle your temp will go up and down with no real pattern - a 'normal' cycle will be consistantly lowish pre ov and then rise post ov - the precise temps vary from person to person).
HTH

Oh bayleaf, how frustrating for you - what a shame you've hit another delay.

Yes I'm still here, as another old timer. We've been trying for about 15 months now I think. The plan now, is to have another go next month. But, I think I might have the same problem as dot1, i.e. ovulating at an awkward time. I think it's likely to be the May bank holiday weekend. I think the clinic's open on Saturday mornings, but if they're closed on the Monday, and my day before ovulation is the Sunday, it's not going to work out. Still, no use getting pesimistic about that yet.

I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but if i'm having periods does that mean I must be ovulating? The reason I ask is that we are trying for our 4th baby (you would think we would know what we are doing by now) We have been trying for 5 months, I know this is not a long time to wait, but I fell pregnant each time in the first month of trying and I was hopeing it would be that easy this time around. my periods returned 5 months ago and my cycle length is anything from 29 days to 34 days - they were always 28 days before my 3rd baby. Also Im still bf my 1o month old and don't know if this has anything to do with why im not pregnant yet? I hope you can understand all that, but I only had a few minutes to post

Ralph
Having periods does NOT mean that you are necessarily ovulating, your best waay of finding out is taking your temperature and charting ( see ovusoft.com for details) - and home ovulation prediction kits.
Breastfeeeding is very likely to interfere with getting pregnant ( depends on how much you are breast feeding and also varies from person to person - eg I didn't have any periods whilst I was feeding!)

Ralph
Having periods does NOT mean that you are necessarily ovulating, your best way of finding out is taking your temperature and charting ( see ovusoft.com for details) - and home ovulation prediction kits.
Breastfeeding is very likely to interfere with getting pregnant ( depends on how much you are breast feeding and also varies from person to person - eg I didn't have any periods whilst I was feeding!)
Jane101 - my heartfelt sympathy - Yes you're right to try not to start obsessing about it now when it might well be OK - but it's yet another stress that we JUST DON'T need isn't it?!

not sure how that happened!

Thanks for the info Bayleaf, I'll get the ball rolling after my period.

Just a quick question - this month I'm assuming I haven't ovulated, as I haven't had a dip in temperature. But I am now getting higher temperatures in the second half of my cycle. I'm very confused (as usual!). Does a cycle where you don't ovulate still show a rise in temperature in the 2nd half? I definitely haven't had a dip - was the same temperature virtually until day 14, and now for the past 3 days have been a few degrees higher...

Oh the wonders of the body...sigh..

Bayleaf - that's such a shame you can't even give it a go because of the drugs you're taking. (I'd do a sad face here but I'm not technical enough..!)

I'll do one for you dot1.

I am still here too and also likely to ovulate at an awkward time - from the weekend prior to the May bank holiday weekend when I have a hen weekend, through to half-way through that week! Oh well, good vibes to everyone and hope that at least one of us graduates from this thread to a new Jan/Feb babies thread before too long.

Dot - lots of people don't see the dip - I often didn't - but if your temps rise and stay risen than you're very likely to have ov'd ( my consultant says you can never be 100% sure without 21 day blood test AND scan!)

DotI didn´t get a dip eitherI think it´s the rise in temperature that matters.

Bunny2I really found doing both together helpful. It is better to bd/inseminate several days in advance of ovulation, and then every 24-48 hours until the day of ovulation, because sperm can live several days in your body. OPKs only give you 12-36 hours notice of ovulation, so you may miss some good times if you rely only on them. In fact, last month, when I did get pregnant, we weren´t able to inseminate on the ovulation day itselfthe last insemination we did was 36 or 48 hours before I actually ovulated. If I hadn´t had a reasonable idea of my cycle from charting (using temperatures and the past results of OPKs), I wouldn´t have known I should be inseminating then, if you see what I mean.

Sorry about the down-regging, Bayleaf (and thanks for the explanation, all much clearer now!). Hope it works soon.

Well I'm finally 'down regged' - was a bit of a saga as I usually go to a 'satellite' hospital about 12 minutes away - but my consultant was taken into hospital unexpectedly so I had to go to the main fertility centre 50 minutes away - where instead of 2 0r 3 people being scanned there were 20 or so and it took over an hour of sitting around to have my blood sample done and the scan - thus a round trip of 3 hours AND from the scan it looked pretty much like I still wasn't ready ( ie I hadn't had my natural system turned off properly yet) to start the HRT (for 17 day) prior to the frozen transplant.
I thus spent the day ''coming to terms'' with the prospect of yet another 2 weeks of 'down regulating' - only to be told, when the blood results came back in the afternoon, that I WAS ready - so I can start HRT this weekend and the FET ( frozen embryo transfer) is set for the 13th May.
I can't tell you how happy I was to have this 'fixed' date - I've spent so long ( since feb!) not booking dates in case it clashed - and the one time I did ( our weekend away) It DID clash and I totally regretted having gone in the end - so to actually have it 'sorted' and be able to try again is GREAT!!!!!

Jane101- any more news on whether your ov will be at the ''wrong'' time this month?

Great news Bayleaf - everything's crossed for May 13th!

I completely understand about not being able to plan ahead - although my process isn't as complicated, but just having to drive 250 miles to get inseminated, which invariably means an overnight stay, means we can't plan ahead that much - have to keep weekends free if we think ovulation's going to fall anywhere near one, etc...

Very best of luck, Bayleaf - really hope it happens this time for you. Wishing everyone else luck too. Have a close friend going through this at present (with donor eggs too and all that entails) so am thinking of you.

All the luck in the world to you and everyone else trying, Bayleaf.