Continuing conceptions and follicling ahead of Feisty, Fabulous Forty somethings

[rowingboat]

Hello world!

where can you get progesterone cream from? I think I have a short luteal phase (spotting starts at around day 24/5), and am taking vit b already.

Www.progesterone.co.uk is where I bought mine, it's called serenity natural progesterone cream.

Hi all,

Frosticle, I bet you can't wait to see her, nice to not do 'bedtime' and 'playing' for a little while though.
I can imagine it would be pretty tricky to explain to a child that age about daddy moving away, will he have a webcam or something do you think?

Webby, good luck with the redo. Didn't know there was such a thing, but you hear alsorts of interesting things about vasectomies reversing themselves so I'm sure it is well worth another go. Your poor DH though!

Pollyanna I'm sorry to hear about the MC, I agree you need to talk for a while then it's time to stop talking and move on. The MC group obviously helps lots of people, but I'm nobody wants to stay forever.

TFLS hi sweetie. What lovely news that you are 17 weeks, fantastic, and a good nuchal scan!! Well done.
Not sure what to make of the 'gunk' but should warn you some midwives had their brains removed shortly after qualifying.
Hopefully the whole blood thing will be clarified properly when you see your consultant.

Deige hi and welcome. I thought I saw someone peaking round the corner, but I didn't want to scare you off.

WMBB a lot less expensive would be getting your DH an evening job in the warehouse at Iceland. Might help the swimmers?

So not much to add here, must buy some pee on sticks, better get on with that.

Hello! I'm going to try my best to keep up with this thread as you all seem so lovely, but please excuse me if I'm not that familiar with everyone's backgrounds and stories; I'm sure I'll pick things up!
Well on the ttc-front, had been moving along quite nicely this month, and then I read somewhere that you should wait 12 months after a section before ttc?? Had a section last June, so 10 mths post-section, and feeling a bit about it all. Had sort of thought age may be a factor, hence trying sooner rather than later, but then don't want to be worrying about it being too early after section, but then I'm sure 2 mths is neither here nor there... Arghhh!!! If anyone has the definitive answer please shout!!!

Just a quickie from me (ahhh that sounds familiar ).

Welcome to all the newbies. Glad in a way to hear that I'm not the only one who feels they can't talk about MC's anymore pollyanna.

Haven't started with the progesterone cream yet cos I am waiting to ovulate. Will then report back.

Found an old discussion that I had with someone in December where she was raving about it cos she had used it for the first time and got a BFP. I just checked and she's on the August anti natal thread so all must be going well.

I've just crashed onto her thread and asked her to advise if she kept using the cream for the first 12 weeks (I need to be ready for when I get my BFP . I bought the serenity cream by the way from the same place as someone else advised.

Hi to ILGH and TFLS - glad all is going smoothly.

Missing you Italian.

Just a quick one to check in and to say I'm feeling very smug about eco-friendly decision that we'd take train to the alps... Nice relaxing journey today, had we flown would still be sitting on a coach with a very fractious toddler!

Huge congrats for successful scans for Kiwi and ILGH, lovely to hear news like that. Crossing fingers for Italian tomorrow. Sorry Zita was wrong hippy, keep us posted on prog cream, considering it myself...
Hi Pollyanna, nice to see you over here.

Don't rate my chances this month... Had a lovely time but lots of lovely vin chaud and lots of falls (am a beginner), one particularly hard and I think I cracked a rib but avoiding dr and x-rays just in case... Off for long relaxing bath, schlepping bags and grizzly toddler across Paris has made it worse again, but was all worth it for great week

Hi everyone, I know I am the worst at keeping on this thread, most of you won't even remember me!!!! So I will just say I am 42 ttc#3 and so far failed appallingly with having 6 m/c in the last 2 years. BUT it looks like I might have found the emotional strength to try again. Updating myself on folks here is encouraging to see some successes, and realise that age is not all there is too it. I also realise that several of you here have been trying as long as I have or longer with no pregnancies and so I should not forget that whilst they have not been with me for very long each time (the longest was 11 weeks) that at least I know I can get pregnant and that I can survive if I do lose another one. Does that sound too negative?

Deige - knew you would try for #5! Hope it happens soon for you.

TFLS - wow, last time I chatted to you, it was following m/c, it is great to read your good news.

Hippy - I see your thread for preg over 40 is still going, hope we can all go and fill it up soon. Hope the progesterone works for you.

Hi to everyone else, I promise to try to come and chat here more often!

Hi there Hippychick, good to hear from you! I remember chatting with you back in December; glad you managed to track me down again. I'm so, so sorry to hear about your MMC - here on our antenatal thread we had loads of people going through MCs in the early weeks, and it was just so heartbreaking. Best of luck trying again - on the positive side, at least your recent experience showed that you're able to conceive, so no reason why you can't do so again.

To answer your question, yes, I did keep using the cream after I'd got my BFP. I'd almost forgotten, actually, but early on in the pg I went through real agonies about whether to continue with it. My consultant had told me it was unnecessary full stop, and I was also concerned about 'medicating' my pregnancy by continuing to take it (I was also paranoid that I'd forget to take it one day and something dreadful would happen). On the other hand, I knew how awful I'd feel if I stopped taking it and then MC'd (because I'd never know whether stopping the cream had caused it). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I eventually decided that I would start to cut it down gradually after my 12 week scan, just using a tiny bit less each day, and I eventually stopped using it altogether at about 15 weeks IIRC. It was a tricky time, because every time I felt a cramp or something, I was terrified that it was because I was cutting down on the cream. But, as you can see, I'm 24 weeks now, and all is well - and I've finally stopped worrying about it. Actually, as soon as I'd had a couple of weeks without the cream at all, I felt pretty happy that it had been ok to give it up.

Sorry, long ramble. In short, I'm pretty convinced that the cream helped me to conceive (or rather, it helped hold off my period for the crucial few days while the baby had a chance to implant). I actually have no idea whether the cream made any difference after that - it may be that I took it unnecessarily for three months - but it certainly doesn't seem to have done any harm, so in retrospect I think it was the right decision, for my peace of mind if nothing else.

HTH. Very best of luck with your TTC, and do come back any time if you want to ask me anything else - I'm only too delighted to be of any help I can.

(I'll try to find your other thread to post this in as well.)

Diege my sister fell pregnant 4 months after a c-section (her second one) and had her her baby 13 months after her son was born, and all was fine(she had a third c-section), so I wouldn't worry if I were you.

As for me, I have just had a really tough three weeks. It has been my DH term break(he's a teacher) which is usually a lovely time, but our LO has been a woeful sleeper of late, first he was ill, then cut three teeth, but kept up with the restless nights, til a couple of nights ago, when I was up all night, ill myself! I have an awful feeling I might have gallstones so will be off to see my doc asap to sort that out! However, I'm still standing and despite all that, still hope I'll get another chance and have another pregnancy soon! I figure if this sleep deprived fog I've been in wasn't enough to put me off then nothing will.Either that or I'm just delusional due to the lack of sleep!

I just want to say hi to all the new members of our lovely bunch, and congrats to all you preggie girls with great scan results. I'm so pleased for you.

When I had Charlie I had a really bad scan + blood test result(1:178 chance of trisomy 13 and 18) which had me and DH terrified for four weeks while we waited for the amnio.It turned out that the professor who did the scan at the amnio could see that our baby was perfect so we didn't go ahead with the amnio.It was such a relief. So I said if we did this again I wouldn't do the 12 week scan, I'd go straight to amnio.Now I feel really differently.I'd still have the nuchal scan and bloods rather than the amnio, I think. Having an amnio does scare me a bit.

Italian are you back?I'm dying to here your test results.

I don't know how much I'll be around.My lap top slid off a cabinet when I put it down carelessly and now it doesn't work!So I'm using DH's laptop which means I can't get on as often as I like.

Best of luck to everyone.

Hi all

Thought I had posted but it is not here - when will I understand technology?

Congrats Kiwi and ILGH on fantastic scans so excting
TFLS briliant to have such good results - whoopee from the mature egg growers association!

Hippy did not do anything to extend cycle it just happened, I've put the shortened cycles down to moving stress in line with my new 'think positive' campaign, inspired by all you lot. I had convinced myself it was perimenopause before (always clockwork cycles)! I am wondering if it might be worth trying the progesterone cream - are there any contra-indications that you know of?

Hi Newbies - good luck to you all Diege both my SIL and I have had C-sections close together (14 and 18 mths apart respectively) and had no problems at all. I was amazed when the consultant said it was OK to go for no.4 (will be another c-section) as I thought I would be told it was too many - she said they don't even start counting until 5 these days!

thinking of you Italian

waves and best wishes to all

Hello! Many thanks gumblossom and haystack for reassurances about c-section and ttc-ing again. I have a feeling this won't be my month anyway, but even if it were the case it would be 11mths after section by the time I got a bfp, so not too bad. Good news Haystack about multiple sections too - I'd heard somewhere that the guide about 3 only had changed, due to the new techniques they used. My section was a shock I must say, having had 3 normal deliveries beforehand, but ds (10 mths) was nearly 10 pounds and did genuinley get lodged half in, half out of my pelvis, trying to come out with the side of his face facing. I am very petite, so had to endure a 10 hr obstructed labour before emcs under general. Not great but hey would go through it 100 times to have him here
Gumblossom, I feel your pain with teething - the disrupted nights are so draining aren't they?
Rainbowdays yay!!! Really good to hear from you. You seem very positive which is great to hear - what a great attitude you have . I've gone from feeling (more than) 'done', to not not ttc, to thinking, what the hell if we want another I'd better get on with it asap. The fear of another hyperemesis pregnancy has taken a lot of thinking about though..
BTW, is there a stats list so that I can have a good nosey? see where people are up to?

Just wanted to let you know why elusivemoose came on to asnwer my question.

I decided to have a look through mumsnet at all the discussions about serenity progesterone cream and i came across a discussion between her and me back in December (always weird to read your own stuff back .)

Anyway she had just got a BFP having used the cream for the first month and was not sure whether to keep using it for the first 12 weeks. I did a bit of nosing around and found her on the aug anti natal thread so doing my maths i worked out that her pregnancy must have stuck and I was curious to know if she had used the cream upto wk 12.

Anyway, it seems that she did and all is well for her - hooray!

I think i will do the same if/when i get a BFP (to answer your question haystack I don't know of any contra-indictions, my consultant seemed to think it would do no harm but he could not say for definite that it would make any difference.)

diege I went a bit teary when you said you would go through it 100 times to have your DC. When i had my first child my sister (who had not experienced child birth at the time) asked me what labour was like and i remember saying that if I had to do it every week just to have him then i would gladly do it. Love for your kids is so all consuming and so unconditional .

TFLS what fab results - not bad for an old bird .

italian thinking of you today. xx

On the topic of progesterone supplimentation, there are no side effects, you do have to be careful with the creasms that there are no other additives that could be a problem. I used "cyclogest", which are progesterone suppositories, with my last pregnancy and it did what I was warned about in that instead of m/c at 5 or 6 weeks I went to 11.5 weeks but the emby only measured 7 weeks with a heartbeat and then gave up. It is the only downside that I know of, it cannot sustain an inevitable m/c but it can prolong it. If you stop progesterone supplimentation too early and suddenly, it can cause a m/c. However it can apparently help sustain an otherwise healthy pregnancy. So I think it is worth a go, especially anyone with a short luteal phase. You need to start progesterone support soon after ovulation and continue it to at least 10 weeks, when the placenta takes over the progesterone production. I hope this information is helpful?

Hi all,

Deige that does sound very reassuring about so many people having successful pgs after sections.

Alba how fortuituous about the train travel. Who could have foreseen the volcanic ash fiasco!
I travelled through the alps many years ago when I was interrailling and it was absolutely gorgeous.
I don't think there's a lot you can do about a rib, but get it checked just in case there are any complications. Did you start to improve by the end of the skiing?

Gum poor you. Have you had gallstones before? My dad and a friend had gallstones at the same time last year, quite strangely. She had hers whipped out, but the galls stone just sorted itself out for my dad.
I hope you are feeling much better soon.

Italian thinking about you.

Rainbow I do remember you, I do!

My peculiar news is that I emailed my clinic in Europe to sort ouf paying for another year of freezing and he reckons we have four frozen embryos there - I had always thought we had two. How odd!
Ordered the OPKs so will be able to check if my cycle has gone back to normal, this is day 9 or 10, can't remember, it's too fascinating for words.

Evening all - you all sound well. Nice to see some of the old names on here - TFLS and Rainbow Days. I love this thread!

I painstaking read back through the thread for assisted conception and feisty and forties and made notes in a notepad on my pc without saving it. Just as I got to the final bit my pc updated something, the screen went blue and the only bit to be lost was what I had been doing for mumsnet chums!
So, because it is late and I can?t face going back over it again, I will just say hello to any new people, please tell me more about agnus castus (anyone who can), all best luck for the lovely people on the two week wait, congrats to those who have just got positives and sorry for those who have got negatives. I think I do know exactly who you all are but I don?t want to risk making a mistake! I am thinking of my chocobunny pal for tomorrow and I am posting the same thing on both threads so Kiwi, please ignore one!

Long post, only read if you are interested.
Sadly, our fertility treatment with donor eggs, did not work. The embryos I named Emerald and Laurel did not hang on and the test was negative.

I did the test on Friday at Spring Harvest (an Easter Christian event at Butlins, yes, I know it sounds odd but it is amazing). Before I went away I had been quite positive and in a totally mad way was even hoping for it to be two of them. But once I got away a kind of calm resignation seemed to settle and I could almost imagine it being a negative result. I got up on Friday, after a pretty restless night, desperate for a pee and did the test. It was negative. I felt very sad, cried a bit, went back to bed and cried a bit more.

Spring Harvest has a 'pastoral' team, which means they are counsellors but don?t really counsel you, they just listen and pray for you. So DH and I went to see them. It was a bit like a French farce, I popped my head in the door and they could see us straight away, which I wasn?t expecting! I needed the loo and was about to head off when they said they had a loo and showed me to it, I was trying to text DH to say come to the pastoral chalet now and he called to say I still had DD's coat and then I had to go and give him the coat and left my phone in the loo. It was a bit of hilarity in an otherwise sad situation. I said to the pastoral team, do you want to know our problem? They said no. We went to the room and I toyed with the idea of pretending DH had been having an affair, but decided to stick to the truth! The lady we got had worked for 20 years in adoption services so was just the right person for us. She was kind and helpful and we chatted and then she prayed. I used up a lot of tissues and then we left.

Through the day and the following couple of days, while I waited to re-do the test, I felt a kind of resignation.

I felt very close to God as we sang songs about being God's friend, and I felt kind of lifted up above the situation. It is hard to describe and I really hope I don't come down to earth with a bump. My sister described me as resilient, and I hope I am but I hope on a deep level I am also accepting this, I don't want to feel sorry for myself, even though I think I have the 'right' to if I want!

Also, I guess the fact we do have DD already makes it easier to bear and the fact that DH is open to adopting makes it easier. I did ask the clinic about donor embryos but they are even rarer than eggs, and the wait could be two years. I think we have our answer. If we were younger or richer or did not have a child, or perhaps all three, I would definitely press on, but now I do feel resigned to it. I am sad, still, and a bit raw. It is hard to explain to people. I know we are lucky to have DD but that does not totally take away the pain of this failing and so it is hard to explain to people how it feels. I am still glad we did it, glad we waited a year and glad we spent the £5K. I would not want to have not tried but I do just feel very sad, still, that it failed.
I am now getting excited about the prospect of not having to have fertility treatment and looking into adoption. But I will probably harbour a secret fantasy for the next few months that I will miraculously get pregnant by myself (well, not totally by myself!).

I am planning a book about the whole fertility road, maybe it will also include adoption if we get that far, maybe I will never get it published! I have already got the title, I think it will be to do with hamsters, guinea pigs or rabbits... note to self, must get DD a pet!

This all sounds quite jolly and the reality is that if I think about it for too long I could feel quite bitter. But I don?t want to feel like that. There is enough sadness in the world. I am sure given time it will all feel better. God has been a source of joy to me while away and continues to be with me in this.

Best wishes to you all. I will lurk a bit longer probably and then find a new thread for adoption.

I'm so sorry to hear your news Italian. Having invested so much emotionally in those two little ones it can't be easy despite your positivity. I'm so sad for you but I'm sure you'll be cheering up plenty of others on the adoption threads if that's where you choose to go next. All the very best of luck and happiness with it.

Rowing, more embies than you thought has to be good, must have been a nice surprise.

I'm leaving the rib to sort itself out but it's still rather painful. Paracetamol are ok whilst TTC but not ibuprofen? Is that right? Avoiding Dr... After all the upsets after MC I hate going anywhere near the doc if I can possibly help it

I did learn to get down not very steep slopes in some style but petrified of anything more as the pain meant I did not want to fall! DH making plans for next winter which makes me a little sad as it hints that our efforts at TTC won't be successful. I'm sure he doesn't mean to upset but I'm back to baby obsession now we're home...

italian i honestly don't know what to say. i was so hopeful for you. I agree, you do seem very resilient. Perhaps it's cos you have such a strong faith. I'm sure there are some wonderful threads on here regarding adoption and they would benefit hugely from your witty chat. But please don't leave us all together will you?? Wish i could hug you in real life but you'll just have to make do with a Hippy Hug (((())))

Thanks for the info re; progesterone rainbow. i have thought about progesterone prolonging a preg that wasn't meant to be but then that's what happened to me without the cream anyway. i guess i have to weight it against just making the LP a bit longer and giving any possible embryo a decent chance to get comfy. It's a hard decision but i think i am gonna go for it. i have signs that i'm about to ovulate again (early again) so might be cracking open the jar of serenity quite soon.

Love to all , especially Italian. xxx

Alba Sorry to hear about injury, well done on the psychic not flying thing!!

Hi lindalinda how nice that you saw me and remembered me. i don't remember being nice to you before (must have been one of my good days haha).

It seems like we are in quite similar situations. I'm 43 +7 (how funny that we count the months again just like when we were seven and a half!) I'm about 2 stone over weight (if I'm honest) and I recently had an MMC at 11.5 weeks.

When I was sat in the hospital waiting for the EPRC I felt sure I could never go through that experience again and was not sure I would be able to try to conceive again. However, very soon after all that, i knew I couldn't leave it there and am now on my second month of ttc.

I think you will decide quite soon if you are ready to stop now or feeling able to try again. The doctor who discharged me said it was fine for me to try again but i had to accept in my own mind that I could end up back in the same situation. There are no guarantees. I decided to try again and am just trying to be really positive that it will all be ok next time.

Welcome, welcome you sound just right for us bunch of old girls (meant affectionately.)

What thread did we chat on??? I get about a bit - what a tart!

I must confess, i have been checking in on the preg over 40 thread that i started and I read your news last week and i really felt for you. .

It gets easier. Hope you soon feel happier in your own mind and have decided what's next for you .

Just had a quick thought lindalinda. There is a thread called: Just MC and ready to try again? Pack your cake, wine and tightie whities and join us for more ranting, weeping and most of all, laughing. All welcome.

I was on it when I first had my MMC and I found it very supportive as did a couple of other ladies who also post on here. I found that in the early days I wanted to talk abot the MC quite a bit.

The only thing I would say is, that I found I had to pull away from it once i was ready to try again. It was just not a positive thing for me to hear that people had had more than one loss etc. Also when new people came on all shellshocked and sad it bought it all back to me.

So you might want to just linger a bit and have a quick look-see. As I say, it was very helpful when i first experienced my loss and everyone knows exactly how you feel so i wouldn't want to put you off by saying that I now find it best not to hang out there.

It was right at the time - IYSWIM.

Italian I know you don't 'know' me as such, being a newbie, but I have been following your story and feel both saddened by your news but also inspired by your resiliance and positive attitude. As you say that's very much only one side of how you're feeling though, quite naturally of course . I have no similar experience myself, though my sister went through something pretty similar to you and is actually in the process of adopting at the moment.
Lindalinda and Hippychick I think I can empathise a little with what you're going through having experienced a MMC last year too. I agree with your sentiments about the MC thread - a valuable resource but very heartrenching when bad news somes up...
Well, onto the 2-week wait here (day 18), though not my month I think. Had some good news about my cholesterol levels - results back today at 4.1, down from 5.5 3 yrs ago so v.pleased. My mum had a stroke a few years ago at 50, so have been a bit worried about the family link etc. Celebrating with the last off ds's easter eggs (for the good of his teeth of course

lindalinda your hubbie sounds lovely. He hates to see anything bad happen to you - ahh bless him.

Agree so much about the kids. We'd told our two that we were getting a baby in August and they thought that was a given. The worst bit for me was telling them they weren't getting 'their' baby.

It's still early days - you can ttc next month if you decide to. I know the clock noise is deafening (I hear it too.) But you probbaly need a little while to decide.

I'm still so chuffed that you liked me and I was kind to you - sad arn't I!!!