Charter's Anonymous

[LittleSilver]

I thought I'd start a thread for all of us who worship at the shrine of Toni Weschler, spend whole seconds analysing cervical mucus, slip over in the shower checking cervical position and spend two minutes every morning flicking their heads from side to side in a valiant attempt to stop a baby pulling the thermometer out of their mouths. Ladies, this thread is for all of us, may it see many many BFPs!

I sympathise, emptyshell. Could I join in? Am charting for my first month as I don't think I'm ovulating.

Anyone got any advice? I was hoping for a temp spike this morning as I'd had a couple of days of feeble EWCM, a slight twinge yesterday and had gone dry down below. Also a temp dip yesterday. But I was in a hotel last night that didn't have a clock or somewhere to plug my alarm in next to the bed-so I had to guess the time when taking my temp! So have very low temp from 4.30, thought I could manage another 3/4 hours for another temp but instead took it at 6ish-bit higher than the day before but no spike- and finally at 8am a temp that would be a full on spike. None of these temps are actually any good, are they? Each waking was for a loo visit, just because I'm nervous!

hello, I was using opk but never showed positive...(had blood test, and I am!!wtf)...was thinking of using the temp/charting game...any advise which site has the best?...looked at a few but they are all american?...thanks

Hello to all the new people! And thanks for all the good wishes. I have not POAS yet! My temperature is still up this morning, DPO17. Considerably higher than this day last month. And I did feel sick all day yesterday, but I do get nauseous just before AF arrives. The crampy feeling has turned a bit bubbly (p'haps I just need a good fart)!

Empty, the first month I used FF, it had me ovulating on CD10, then changed it to CD12, then changed it back to CD10 again, so I wouldn't worry if it is being a bit temperamental. It may calm down once it has a few more temperatures to work with. Do you feel as though you have ovulated? I get quite bad pains and bloating when I ovulate, so I'm quite lucky in that I can usually tell when it is all over, IYSWIM.

ifatfirst, what was your temperature this morning?. I agree with decaf, a single temperature (or even a whole gang of them), however much we all obsess over them, is unlikely to yield much information. Wood for the trees and all that (maybe I should take my own advice ). So sit it out, and good luck

stiffy I have no real advice, I'm afraid. Just don't miss an opportunity to SWI, and wait and see what tomorrow brings temperature-wise.

ljg72, I use Fertility Friend fertilityfriend.com, which gives you quite alot for free (although I have just upgraded to VIP status!), but to be fair, I didn't shop around, so I don't know what else is out there.

shaggy I hope you aren't casting aspersions on my lady equiptment!

empty I think you should view this cycle as a charting practice run. I'm afraid I don't think you have enough data in one month for FF to make an educated guess. Having said that, FF will adjust and re-adjust itself if weird things happen. Last cycle for eg, FF totally contradicted my CBFM and I was a bit . but a few date later it had a re-think then warned me it was changing it's mind and switched to perfect correlation with CBFM. I think it's helped though by having some guidance from my previous cycles. Also, if you do have rubbish night and you KNOW the temp is flawed, you can ask FF to ignore it ... There's an option somewhere. It will then work with the temps that are meaningful.

stuffy my temps seem to do a little rise at 1dpo and then a sharper rise on 2dpo. You could also be a "slow riser" with a series of small increases. What matters at the end is having a number of temps significantly higher overall in the second phase of your cycle. The coverline FF draws means nothing ... It's a visual aid. As I said to empty you can always set FF to discount some temps so if you are sure today's are wrong then you can do that.

Ljg my choice has been fertility friend. It is American but you can set it to chart in Celsius as well. I think it is really good.

Xpost with bv lol at you rushing off! Very good luck! It sounds promising ... Maybe have a huge fart to eliminate any misleading symptoms .

I have rubbish nights sleeping every night! It's the big symptom of the depression failing to concieve (I can't even bring myself to use the term TTC anymore as that implies chances of success) has knocked me into.

empty - I'm a bit of an insomniac when I am worried and was concerned that it would affect my temperature too much. I set my alarm for 5:30, take my temperature (without looking!) and then usually fall back asleep, except for the last few days of the 2ww, when I lie awake churning. And I find that even as little as 1h not-particularly-good-quality sleep prior to taking my temperature has little affect on the outcome. But I think that restless sleep probably affects temperatures in different ways, so what is true for me might not be true for you.

I think you will need a few charts to be able to see whether your sleep is affecting your temperatures too much. Try not to worry about the individual values too much yet (easier said than done I know )

Have you thought about seeing a reflexologist? I have no personal experience, but I do know someone who struggled to conceive who found it a great help. The mere opportunity to spend time with someone who has experience of treating women with similar problems, and will listen to your problems, might help enormously. Of course, you might think it is quackery, but I thought it might be worth a shot

BabyV - i have everything crossed for you. You are a very good girl for not testing yet.

Will check back again soon and hope to see wonderful news from you. (No pressure there then Hippy)

My sleep's always been hilarously messed up BV - I'm a frustrated vampire at heart; I tend to struggle to doze off by about midnight, wake up again at 2, up again at 4, then the alarm goes off at 6:30 by which time I'm either out for the count, or I've been awake and lying in bed since 4am.

Doesn't help our stupid bathroom is downstairs since our landlord's a muppet who decided to remove the upstairs bathroom (badly) to turn a 2 bed into a 3 bed and shove the bathroom in the cupboard under the stairs - so by the time you've done the moonlight streak down to the loo and back, you're wide awake and can't nod back off.

I've got the alarm set for 6:30 to take temps - but quite often I'm awake at 4 or 5... other times I'm flat out so it's a pain in the butt to predict and work around sleeping in 90 minute - 2 hour chunks.

Docs have been naff all use on this one - when I'm not stressed the pattern's not AS bad, but I've always got the sleeping in chunks issue going on - I can just drop off easier than I can at present.

empty, I have no more ideas re. sleep. My problem is getting to sleep in the night, too. Once I'm up, I tend to read until I fall asleep.

I still think the reflexology or acupuncture avenue is worth having a look at. If you can afford it, of course; I guess it's not cheap.

hippy, thanks so much. Good has nothing to do with it however, I'm just too scared to test! After a promising start this morning, I now feel a bit pre-menstrual. Very ANGRY and a bit sad. The angry is pretty normal for me just before AF, in fact that is one of the reasons why I started taking EPO in the first place. Having said that, spending a whole rainy day trapped inside with an extremely tired toddler probably hasn't helped - although she is an angel, really. Still, I guess I'll know more by tomorrow due to my temperature. Think of me, empty, I'll be wide awake too, resisiting the 5:30 urge to read the thermometer...

I'll pop back tomorrow babyV to see how you're getting on.Good luck.

I have a cd of relaxing music which i've put on my mp3 and when the worrying thoughts keep me awake at night I listen to that. It used to be Zita West telling me how to get pregnant but she's done her bit now .

I wake up cos i need a wee and then can't get back to sleep cos of DH snores so bloody loud. (He can keep me awake even if he falls asleep on the sofa downstairs )

How's my old preggy mate silver??

Just reporting as I'm sure you're all dying to know about my bodily functions...

I have a very faint line on my OPK and lots of CM so must be getting near to the important time . Hoping for a nice strong line in the next day or two.

(Have to confess to being still a bit awestruck when a test actually works, tis like magic!)

Yay, spilt. If you can't share your fluids with us lot, then who can you! Mine are creamy.

hippy, thank you. Feeling tearful, 'tis the stress I know. Welled up when I read an article about homemade jam earlier . Off out early tomorrow, so if I don't get a chance to post, don't fret. Whatever the outcome, you'll be in the loop, my dear.

BV you have an impressively strong will!

spilt SWi SWI SWI my dear! I know exactly what you mean about being awestruck when a test works; I got my first pos OPK last month and kept it in my sock drawer just to marvel at.

hippy I am fine, except for frantic knicker checking (CM always heavy when pg) but I am convinced I am mc. Have had 2 and get a bit paranoid. Someone at toddler group guessed yesterday (how?how?) but has promised to keep schtum. Only I have the will power of a gnat; DH and I agreed not to tell family til I had a bump, then he came home and admitted he had told his parents. Which was just as well as I had caved and told mine! How are you doing?

BV, I collected my wee, stuck a FR in, then as soon as was sure that was pos stuck a CB in (no WAY was I risking a test yelling NOT PREGNANT at me, I would have cried. At least give me a blank space to dismantle squint at.

ljg I used FF set to celsius. I also used TCOYF but wasn't such as fan (hey, did anyone notice that their message board was completely devoid of ANYONE with a sense of humour? I think they would have keeled over reading this thread. I used both because, umm, I like charting my temps and obssessing over studying them.

Good luck BV!

silver chuckling at you and your DH promising to keep it a secret and then shamefacedly admitting you'd told people within 1 day!

Not sure I could bear to tell my mum for a little while because I'd never hear the bloody end of it.

Incidentally, if at work you were around horrible chemicals and did a fair bit of physical work too (I do both), when would you tell them about being pregnant? (I'm thinking from the perspective of needing risk assessments carried out and possibly needing to have your responsibilities altered, but also weighing this up against risk of early mc). Does about 7/8 weeks ish sound sensible, but asking manager and immediate colleague to keep it quiet?

Ha, silver, that did make me chuckle. I can't believe you caved so soon!

spilt, it sounds like I worked in a similar industry (I left prior to TTC). I would tell them ASAP just to be safe. I guess it all depends on your lab set-up and whether you are using large quantities with heavy lifting (I did both). Also, how many of your colleagues might put you at risk, however unwittingly. You can always vouch for your own safety practices, but not theirs IYSWIM. The problem with telling them straight away of course, is that they may do a RA and decide to move you into an office - in which case the rumour mill starts up and everyone guesses you are up the duff! It is a tough decision, but at the very least you would need to tell your line manager and immediate colleagues I think. HTH and hope you have this exact problem very soon.

Anyway, this morning (18DPO) my temperature remains high! Although I lay awake for 1.5 h before taking it, so maybe this has something to do with it! FF is shouting 'You have had 18 temperature above the coverline - TEST NOW!'. But, I also had 18 days of high temperatures last cycle, and AF arrived in the afternoon of Day 18. I really don't want another negative test, so I may test tonight or tomorrow. Currently lurching between and excitement when I feel a bit sick, and terror when I get a bit of gloopy CM. In fact, I think I may be going ever so slightly mad.

Arrrgghhh babyV I logged on especially to see if you had got your BFP.

I now know how everyone felt when I said I would test and then went awol for the whole morning!!

Do I have to MAKE you pee on the flippin' stick?????

You have an iron will. Get on with it woman!!!

ps. GOOD LUCK HONEY.

Sorry for the tension hippy. I don't mean to be dithery, but I wanted to wait and see if AF turned up today. She hasn't and I have just been to the loo and am regretting not saving my wee! Feeling a bit shakey, not sure if that is just nerves. On reflection, I think a BFN now will be better than a low temperature tomorrow morning, so I am having a glass of water now. Will test as soon as bladder up to it...

I'm back. And guess what, BFP!!!

The strange thing is that I tested first with my internet cheapie and got a positive. Then I thought I'd test with a ClearBlue so I could put the lid on and get DD to present it to DH - but it didn't show any lines at all - not even the control . Repeated with another CB, same batch, and no lines on that either.

Can't believe it! But a bit perturbed by the weird CB non-result. Might have to send DH out to the shop

Thanks for replying to my post on Tuesday ladies, I'm still non the wiser.
AF should be due today (in my 28 opinion) but no sign, and temp has crept back up by .30c over the last two days.

I was convinced I was getting cramps at DPO5-7 and my temp dipped about that time. Other than that, no other syptoms.

HOWEVER, over the last two days my CM has been quite watery, constantly feeling wet (TMI - sorry) which I got before I found out I was pg in February, and my mouth & throat have been very dry, which also happened last time!

ifatfirst, that all sounds very promising. If it helps, I have been feeling rather abundant in the CF stakes today at 18DPO, and got my BFP about 30 minutes ago

Hope you get the same!

ARGH! BV that is great! OK, don't be perturned by the no show on the CB; it's 25 miu am pretty sure and you are testing with non fmu. I'd pee on it tomorrow morning and you should get a nice result (have you entered pos test in the FF deatils yet? I SO enjoyed doing that!) Wish I could give you the CB digi I have upstairs, part of a double pack and I can't bear to poas again in case it changes its mind or goes backwards with the conception indicator. Congratulations, well done you! And I remain seriously impressed by your willpower! When are you due???

ifatfirst one of my earliest signs is lots of very watery CM! When are you testing?

spilt I wouldn't hang about to 7/8weeks tbh vefore telling your boss to get a RA done; OK, the outcome may not work out as you want but at least you are doing everything poss to keep your baby safe iyswim?

Incidentally, how many DC do people already have, if any?

Well done again BV

Thanks silver, freakishly FF has given my date as 13th February. 1 DD already.

The internet cheapie was 10 miu, and the CBs are obviously faulty because the control line didn't even appear (wonder if I can get my money back? )

Wooooo, congrats BabyValentine

I think I will try & and wait until Sunday to test. I will be at my Mam & Dad's so wont be tempted by evil little tests in the bathroom!!
DH is away until Sunday, and I don't really fancy telling him over the phone if it's +

17DPO is an OK time to test I reckon!

bv THEY WILL REPLACE IT; RING THE CARELINE AND THEY WILL SEND YOU cb DIGIS (HENCE MY TWIN PACK!)

oops sorry caps