Any positive pregnancy over 40 success stories?

[Liissaa]

After a mmc with my first pregnancy at 40 earlier this year, I would love to hear any success stories of any over 40s who have achieved a successful pregnancy! Xx

@Oldmamabear43

Hello, it has been a while, how you are doing ?

I just wanted to share the wonderful news that Stella Creasy the MP for Walthamstow is expecting her second baby at 43 nearly 44 years old. She had her first at 42. I hope everyone is doing well. Xx

@FleurDeLotus

Hello stranger How are you and your husband.?
Hope all is going well.
I'm ok thankyou...tired it's a lot lot harder than I remember but it seems to have gone really quick.. only 3 months to go till the little lady arrives!
Xxx

Hi, I've not been on here for a while, but still feeling negative unfortunately, I'm 6 months ttc and it feels like a lifetime, plus I'm 41 end of April....my gp has been very kind and referred me to the Fertility clinic although she said I don't need it...I just need to be patient, both my and my husband have had tests already so she's pointed out there probably isn't many more tests we could have. On another note my mum saw a pregnant lady the other day no previous pregnancy, this was her first, but she told my mum she thought it wouldn't happen had all the tests which were fine, her gp said to her you will get pregnant just give it time and it took her a bit longer than a year, but her gp was right she did at 43.
Is 6 months a long time or do I just need to be patient....thanks

Hey @sef89 bless you, it’s so hard! I’m so sorry you’ve reached the 6 months mark. It’s great news your test results were normal though. My only advice is to prioritise mental health. I had a hellish journey to having my ds which in the end was only 7 months but I had two losses and several messed up cycles in that time. It was the cycle I had loads planned and my mental energy was good I conceived. Actually I’d been quite low at the start of that cycle because my ovulation kept failing. I got so fed up with feeling down I took a picture of myself crying and told myself I would never let myself feel like this again. I had the best week mentally because I made a conscious decision to live my life and enjoy myself. A baby would be the cherry on top. Just one week later on day 34 of my cycle I conceived my son at 40 years old. I’m not saying it’s as easy as all that but I think mental health plays a big part. I’m now ttc my second at 41. I had a surprise pregnancy after Christmas but miscarried and I just spend the whole morning crying because I got a bfn for the cycle after even though we timed everything well and tracked o. I really do need to follow my own advice!

I hope the next cycle is the one for you! Xx

P.s. I really think the lockdown is not helping us ladies ttc because it’s hard to practice self-care in the same way. We can’t see our friends and are limited to what we can do. Also being over 40, we don’t have the time which makes it more frustrating. Anyway be kind to yourself. Your time will come!

@Catconfusion thanks. Do you eat super healthy etc? Has you gp been positive? Gosh were the 2 losses within the 7 months.....you conceived very quickly.....
I'm hoping stress won't stop it happening, my gp and gynae said it won't, and that scientific evidence says it doesn't too, anecdotally you hear things, but my gp and gynae both said its coincidence.
Yes lockdown isn't great, but I can't see why it would affect trying to get pregnant, I'm just thinking there must have been times in history were people didn't see many people or even now were people are quite isolated....xx

@Sef89 honestly my diet is pretty average. It’s generally healthy but we have takeaways sometimes. I try and limit sugar and caffeine. If I fancy something I generally have it within reason.

Yes I fell pregnancy accidentally on my honeymoon and had a mmc at 12 weeks. It was devastating and I needed surgery. I then fell pregnant the next cycle and lost that one too. I don’t think my body was ready. Four months later my ds was conceived. I have AF roughly every two months so was relieved tbh as ttc is stressful as my fertile week is actually over three weeks and o comes sporadically.

My doctor is really positive since all tests were normal for me and DH before ds and I had 4 pregnancies in 18 months, one going to term. Still worried it was a fluke and we have a long road ahead. If we’re not successful soon I’ll get retested as a lot can change at our age.

Interesting that the doctors don’t think stress affects things. I suffer with irregular cycles and the more stress the less likely it is I’ll ovulate. I guess everyone is different. It makes sense though that increased cortisol messes with hormones. It’s certainly won’t hurt to keep mental health good.

I think lots of reasons why lockdown is bad for fertility. People not getting enough vitamin D, not moving as much, diminished serotonin levels etc. These things will affect some people more than others of course. There does seem to be little research on the psychological side of ttc. Doctors seem to believe it’s just a biological process that just happens. I feel like the body and mind need to ready. It’s annoying when people say relax or have a holiday but the amount of people I know who’ve conceived like that is high. Xx

Ah OK yeah I guessbits best not to go out on diet etc. Sounds very positive from you go etc. There actually isn't any evidence that stress harms fertility though there's stuff online, but it's certainly not peer reviewed studies, it's often a biased view based on what people have you believe, you'll always here stories like that though it's the same with reflexology and acupuncture some people will swear by it, but ultimately the prob would have conceived eventually whether or not they had the treatment, again likely coincidence, I felt reassured when you think about it the most negative and stressful places to live,ole Nigeria have the highest fertility rate, if it affects ovulation than yes that will make it harder, but only because it delays it meaning you have to track more, luckily my ovulation hasn't been affected nor my cycles surprisingly, I do think it's counterproductive when people say things like just relax etc, whoever totally relaxed anyway, I conceived my son when my work was extremely stressful and actually the one I lost sadly I lost my dog and was heartbroken when I conceived, but you never here those stories I guess.
I guess it's just being patient really waiting for the right timing, egg and sperm......hey xx

I think how stress affects fertility is a really difficult thing to measure as often people don’t realise how stressed they are or how it affects them. We all experience it differently, certainly in other cultures.

I totally agree it stings when people say relax. I’ve been told that so many times and felt awful. Its not a very constructive thing to say to someone having fertility problems. However for me mindset seems to have an affect so I’m going to try to take the pressure off next cycle and see what happens. Xx

@Catconfusion
I'm sure affects people differently, did you say its affected your cycles and ovulation?

Xx

@Sef89 I conceived at 43 dont give up hope or the dream xxx

@oldmamabear43 thank you. Did you do anything special with diet etc.....how long did it take you to conceive....xx

@sef89 yes definitely. When I was a teacher I ttc for three years and I didn’t get any signs I was ovulating in that time despite normal test results. I was living in fight or flight mode due to stress so it feels like it was that. I feel like I’m more fertile now than in my early thirties. I’m a SAHM with my 11 month old ds. Life can still be stressful at times but I’m in a much better place mentally. Xx

@Catconfusion so your progesterone confirmed ovulation? What do you mean no signs of ovulation?
Xx

I was monitoring my temperatures on and off during that time and I got no temperature rise, just really long erratic cycles. Also progesterone tests showed I wasn’t ovulating. Everything else was normal. We got referred to the fertility clinic. The doctor was confident Clomid would induce it. My partner at the time unfortunately had low SA so it turned out we would have needed IVF. We broke up in the end and that was almost 10 years ago.

I monitored my temps again with Ovusense for a few cycles before I married my husband at 39, convinced I’d need help. I was shocked to see I was ovulating each cycle but really sporadically. I still didn’t believe I could fall pregnant easily because of my previous experience with infertility. Even though it was my ex partner with the serious problem, it damaged my perception of my own fertility. If someone had said I’d fall pregnant by accident in the future, I’d have been surprised. Xx

@Catconfusion oh I see, so trying for 3 years was a male factor issue.....xx

@Sef89 ultimately but also I wasn’t ovulating so id have needed intervention regardless. My ovulation still isn’t great, this cycle was day 34 but it is happening now at least. Xx

@Catconfusion yeah along as its happening, I use ovusense too, I usually ovulate between day 12 to 16 so reasonably similar but prefer the reassurance of ovusense xx

@Sef89 yes pleased it is even though really difficult to catch. Sadly I can’t afford Ovusense this time but it was great and definitely helped us take a bit of the stress out.

Great you’re getting regular ovulation. Hopefully not too long for you. Xx

@Catconfusion are you using bbt this time....
Yeah uts really expensive, I hope so, hopefully for you too, at least you won't have a big age gap, my son is 3, wish I'd tried sooner, but I just wasn't ready I guess xx

@Sef89 yes just a standard fertility thermometer. It gives an accurate result just a bit more difficult with a toddler waking us up. I use LH tests too but I get multiple surges before the one before ovulation so not the best predictor.

I think it’s lovely you got to enjoy the early years without another baby. It certainly wouldn’t be my choice to have two close together. I’m just scared if I leave it, it won’t happen. Hopefully it won’t be long for us both! Xx

@Catconfusion no i know what you mean its nice to enjoy them. How old are you.....i got the impression it's more like 43,44 when it becomes very difficult xx

Hey @Sef89 I’m 41 and 42 in June. How about you?

I was under the impression it wouldn’t be too difficult at this age too. However someone else I chat to is 41 with good test results and been told at 41 there is realistically a 1% chance she will fall pregnant naturally by a fertility doctor. Also even if she does fall naturally a much higher chance of miscarriages and the baby having birth defects 🤷🏻‍♀️. I was quite shocked by this as I know plenty of people who’ve had healthy babies in their 40s. They can’t all just be lucky! Xx

@Catconfusion thats strange, but test results are only a small determining factor, has she had previous children? What fertility clinic said that? Even the average which takes into account women who've never been pregnant before are much more optimistic than that, around 60 percent are still fertile, and its not necessarily age which is affecting the rest it could be endo, pcos , ovulation problems, older sperm, factor x etc I'm really confused this lady was told this.....what tests has she had.....i mean you don't always hear the full story, i.e you didn't know with your previous partner he had male factor issues, you thought it was stress. I'm 40, 41 at the end of April, I've been told quite the opposite xx