TTC with a donor

[Waiting2BAMummy]

So it appears I posted the 1,000 message on our previous thread and now it's closed so I've opened us a new home!

@TimeIhadaNameChange
@LanieM87
@Freezerbump

Any sign of your smiley @Waiting2BAMummy

Looks like my surge has been and gone. I didn't get a static smiley, but on Sunday I got an almost positive on a IC, I've tested yesterday and today and there's hardly anything.
I'm just gonna have to wait for my temps to confirm. I had a slight dip yesterday and it's risen a little today, so it's a waiting game. I don't know whether to keep testing as I've had no other symptoms. I usually ovulate late, but if my cycles are now going to be shorter then who knows anymore.

I'm so deflated.

Bless you @LanieM87 I truly understand your frustration.

My IC was lighter this morning and got another negative clearblue this afternoon. I’ve decided to stop testing now this month as I honestly believe my peak was yesterday and even if it wasn’t my donor is set to visit again tonight and tomorrow and I can’t mess him around.

Have you had a look on co parents yet?

I know you do! That's why this thread is a god send! I'd go even crazier without you to talk to! @Waiting2BAMummy

Sounds like you've covered yourself either way with donations! Just have to sit back and go through another 2WW!

The bloody thing has blocked me again! I tried to log in yesterday and today to have a proper look and it won't let me. Now it's saying my email isn't registered. This just isn't my month! Ha.

Oh bless you @LanieM87 you’re having a real nightmare.

I’m not confident about this month as I just don’t know if maybe I missed my surge when I was just using IC. Hopefully that means I won’t be symptom spotting for the next 2 weeks - famous last words haha

Strewth, you two, you're not having easy, are you?

Scan was fine. The little one was far more relaxed and still (there's less room there now) so it was easy to get a head measurement. EDD 5 March. Bizarrely they have calculated conception happened on the Thursday, which is strange considering the last deposit was made on the Monday and frozen sperm are supposed to die after 24 hours, so who knows...?

The due date is just an estimation @TimeIhadaNameChange and maybe because the zygote doesn’t start growing until it implants in the uterine lining they start counting from then. It could be one of your earlier inseminator that worked but then it takes several days for the fertilised egg to reach the uterus.

I’m so glad everything is progressing nicely it can’t be that long until your 20 week scan now? Will you find out what you’re having? Have you got a bump now?

I had my last donation tonight for this cycle so now I wait for AF to arrive in 2 weeks!

Hi ladies ☺️
It's been a really busy couple of weeks but will try and catch up with you all!!!
@Waiting2BAMummy thanks for explaining the SMEP method- it sounds like you have given it a lot of thought...fingers crossed for you this month 😘
@TimeIhadaNameChange haha thanks for the welcome to the "crazy world" it truly is crazy, like a rollar coaster for sure 😅 I'm not using temping as part of my methods. I've got a clear blue digital ovulation kit (I literally just bought this) and little cheapies that I've been using so far. Congratulations on your scan awwww you must be sooooo excited! Can I ask how many donations you did.
@LanieM87 it is strange they send it in two vials, I've given it some thought and I think I'll put them into one....I plan on inseminating twice in my cycle so I need to just get timing right (don't we all) Sorry you are having such a hard time with your cycles. I hope it gets easier and more regular 🤞🏽

So we are going ahead and starting next month (I am supposed to ovulate on the 13th October) so just gona be testing like mad after my period. Argh it's so real now!!!

Good luck @Pinkfamily it is a crazy time but the best gift when you finally get those 2 pink lines.

How are you doing @LanieM87?

Good luck with your inseminations next month @Pinkfamily I'll keep everything crossed!

I'm not too bad thanks @Waiting2BAMummy not an awful lot to report really. I'm back on coparents. But not really found anyone yet. How are you doing? When is AF due??

Glad you got back on co parents @LanieM87 hope you find someone soon.

I’ve been having af pains for the last 4/5 days so I think I’m out. Af due on Tuesday.

Must have ovulated earlier than I thought as I’m getting pink/brown when I wipe (sorry serious TMI 🙈) so expect AF to be in full flow tomorrow.

Aw I'm sorry to hear that @Waiting2BAMummy are you temping as well now?

I haven’t been and to be honest I kind of don’t see the point @LanieM87as it only tells you after the fact that you’ve ovulated by which time it’s too late. My cycles are all over the place too so it’s not like it would be helping pinpoint when I would likely ovulate the following month.

Idk maybe I should just accept this isn’t going to happen.

Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind a newbie joining the thread. My partner and I are starting our TTC journey in the near future. We will be using a known donor so it will be 'on tap' so to speak.
I have a history of PCOS with hugely irregular cycles so the timing is worrying us.
Which ovulation predictor kits would you suggest we start with. I've had the cheapo sticks and to this day have never had a positive (I've been tracking for the last 4/5 months).
Any help/advice would be much appreciated ☺️ thank you.

Welcome to the crazy world of TTC @KLO0224 I would recommend clearblue digital tests as they give you a smiley face when you get your LH surge and there’s no guessing is it/isn’t it positive? If you still don’t get a positive after a couple of months you may need to see a doctor to make sure you are ovulating. Do you test more than once a day? If not and you have a short surge it could be that you’re missing it.

I do find temping very useful, after a while you can follow the trend of your temp dips and can give you a bit of insight on when ovulation is going to happen. But it's not for everyone and as you say when cycles go from being regular to all over the place  it just confuses the algorithm @Waiting2BAMummy

Please don't give up though. I know I keep saying it, but I really do think with this new donor you are closer then you've ever been, it's really just a matter of time x

I do find temping very useful, after a while you can follow the trend of your temp dips and can give you a bit of insight on when ovulation is going to happen. But it's not for everyone and as you say when cycles go from being regular to all over the place  it just confuses the algorithm @Waiting2BAMummy

Please don't give up though. I know I keep saying it, but I really do think with this new donor you are closer then you've ever been, it's really just a matter of time x

Welcome @KLO0224 like @Waiting2BAMummy I would recommend the clear blue as well, you really can't go to far wrong with a static smiley face. The internet cheapies can be a bit difficult to decipher if you are new to OPKs

I don’t think I ovulated this month @LanieM87, I got that almost positive IC OPK and EWCM on CD 17 and my LP is 14 days so I shouldn’t have AF until Tuesday. I did kind of hope on Thursday that I was getting IB but it is definitely AF so I can’t have ovulated.
I’m not giving up yet my donor said he would help for 6 months so I have 3 months left but if I’m not pregnant by Christmas I can’t go through having to find another donor again so I think I will just have to accept it at that point. I will also have been trying for 14 months by then but I do know that I have been wrong on my timing on a few occasions and there were a couple of months I didn’t try. I just never expected it to be this hard.

How are you doing? What are your plans? Will you get another delivery of you can’t find anyone on co parents?

Ah that's frustrating, but I suppose at least you can put a line through it and concentrate on this month.
It's a lot more difficult then I think we were all led to believe! Have you had any fertility tests?

I know what you mean about finding a donor, it's not an easy process. I've not really found anyone yet, I was hoping for someone a bit more local so I could aim for something similar to what you have, but there doesn't seem to be anyone logging on!

AF has arrived today so I've had a 2nd 27 day cycle, if I don't find a donor for October (unlikely) and that cycle is also 27/28 days then I will probably go for frozen again in November, unless of course I find someone on coparents.

No I haven’t had any fertility tests @LanieM87 guess I figured it would just happen and the thought of being poked and prodded really doesn’t appeal to me. They’ll be enough of that going on after I’m pregnant don’t really feel like going through all of that before I even get there. I could be wrong that I didn’t ovulate as I wasn’t religiously using my clearblue OPK’s like I normally would so it could have gone back to ovulating on CD14 and I missed by surge. Won’t be making that mistake again this month I’m going to start testing on CD7 like I used to.

I hope you manage to find a nice donor on co parents. My cycle was 27 days this month too but if I’m not pregnant I’d rather have a shorter cycle than be waiting for af so I can just get on with the next month. I have my fingers crossed for you that you get a positive OPK this month and find yourself a nice close donor. We can both be pregnant by Christmas!

Hello - another newbie here! My partner and I are hoping to be starting to ttc with a known donor soon. I wondered if anyone could recommend a good website or thread about how best go about the whole AI process and how to do it with best chance of success, where to buy the kit, any tips?! We are going to have to travel quite a way so can probably only have one try a month so we're keen to find out the best way to go about it all and there's so much information that we're not really sure where to look!

Hi ladies, how is it all going? @Waiting2BAMummy were you due on Tuesday gone? Has it come (fingers crossed it hasn't) @LanieM87 are you having any luck on co-parents, there are also groups on Facebook for sperm donors if you haven't tried that already...if you do go frozen again which clinic do you think you will use?
Hiya to the newbies @KLO0224 I would definitely go with clearblue as they are much better they do digital ones that you can sync with phone and because you are irregular and PCOS I would think this is the best route. Plus temping (I don't know anything about this but know the ladies on here can advise on that) @DancingKittens the syringe is something you can get from pharmacy or Amazon, it's just a needless syringe used for medicine, and also I would say get the Clearblue ovulation kit.

I'm just at the end of my period so will start testing from Sat/Sun though I'm not "supposed" to be fertile till the following weekend (I know cycles can be different each time) I was using the cheapie tests but have bought the Clearblue now as I know it's much more accurate...I've pre ordered the sperm (frozen) and will be getting two tries....so now I'm just trying to decide which days are best to inseminate day of ovulation and day after, or day before and day of!!! @TimeIhadaNameChange when did you inseminate and how many times? How are you feeling?any sickness
Such a crazy time for us all huh ladies.

Baby dust ✨

Hi @DancingKittens welcome to the madness! You’ll need to track ovulation obviously and I would recommend temping. This won’t tell you when you’ve ovulated until after the fact but can give you an indication of how long after you positive you tend to ovulate this is valuable information especially if you can only insem once a month. In terms of kit I use soft cups (you can get them from amazon) they’re individually wrapped and I get my donor to make his donation straight into the cup so there is no worry about transferring the sample. Some people have the donation made into a sample pot and then draw it up into a syringe that’s too much fiddling for my liking!

@Pinkfamily I was due af on Tuesday but the witch actually arrived last Friday so am due to ovulate again next week will be messaging my donor tomorrow to make arrangements. Are you going ahead with your first try this month or still just tracking things? Do you know how long after your positive opk you ovulate? For most people it’s around 24 hours I believe and it takes around 12 hours for the sperm to reach the Fallopian tube. Since frozen sperm only live around 24 hours I would suggest around 12 hours after your positive and then 12 hours after that for your second. Good luck x

Thank you for your recommendations, AF has finally arrived after a long 43day cycle 😠. It seems by body doesn't want to be co-operative with any of this. We are not going to start trying until after Christmas but I want to know roughly when I ovulate. I'm prepared to spend a fortune on tests as I feel it's going to be all over the place.
Donor has said he will do anything and everything he can including SMEP so fingers crossed we can nail it (no pun intended).

@KLO0224, @LanieM87 and I definitely here you on the messed up cycles front. Mine were pretty regular and for months I was getting my positive opk on CD13, on a Monday afternoon, every 28 days. Since then I’ve had months without positives, my positive moved to CD17 and all sorts. You’d think our bodies would play the game since that’s what they’re designed to do but don’t hold your breath on that one!