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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Feeling so low, any words of wisdom?

12 replies

Whalewhisperer · 15/09/2020 16:30

Hello everyone. I'm not pregnant, but I figured you guys would be the best to help me and offer words of wisdom. I've had a couple of bad cycles recently. One early MC at 17dpo 2 months ago after 2 glorious days of being pregnant, after a year of trying and then another CP last month, I tested early. Both times I got my bfp I became so very anxious. I convinced myself it wouldn't stick and it didn't.

I'm in this awful pattern where I spend the first weeks of each cycle so low, then the second trying to relax and telling myself I won't obsess so much this time, then about cd 8/9 the anxiety creeps in and I start tracking. Post ovulation I spend week 1 trying to relax and then week 2 convincing myself I've got all the symptoms, only to be terribly disappointed and around again I go. This month, when I had my CP, I wept for what felt like days. I feel so very low.

You see my OH has performance anxiety and I never know if we will be in with a shot from month to month. It helps if I relax and put no pressure on, but the thing with tracking, is I know when I'm fertile and so I feel desperate around those times and that makes it so very hard to relax when I feel so desperate. I am 33 and I desperately want to be a mum. My 'trying it on' really does exasperate his anxiety and he is so embarrassed and sad and sorry that he can't perform when it happens and historically he has been the one to take the lead in the bedroom so my trying it on is somewhat out of character and a giveaway. I've suggested manual ways (AI) to get around his issue but he was mortified. I think he has this romantic idea of what conceiving a child should look like.

I have wondered if it would be better if I just didn't know when fertile, but I'm scared to track nothing, as my fertile window fluctuates each month. I can ovulate anywhere from day 12 to day 17 and with OH's performance anxiety, we are lucky to BD once in every fertile window. I try it on every other day or so but we are rarely successful and this is creating more tension outside of the bedroom. With every passing month our sex life goes more to sh*t and I feel like I am perpetuating the problem and becoming more and more depressed and desperate. I'm sure I am entirely unattractive at the moment. The way I'm feeling, I never feel sexy, I feel like TTC is consuming me. I'm the last of my friends to fall pregnant and I feel as though I am getting left behind.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here really. People to tell me they've been there and it worked out in the end, some words of advice, wisdom or best, any success stories out there of people who have relaxed completely and solved anxiety issues and conceived with BD'ing just once or twice in a month without tracking.

I think for my first few months of trying my luteal phase was too short, but the last 6 months I have extended it with supplements. I do feel fertile, I just feel so much like I am getting in my own way.

Thank you for reading if you've got this far and congrats to you all xx

OP posts:
pooopypants · 15/09/2020 16:39

I'm sorry it's all gone to shit a bit for you lately OP, it all sounds like a LOT of pressure.

Could you bin off all the tracking, testing etc and just DTD as often as possible for the next few months? Early testing will mess with your head too - between squinters and POAS, you're adding the pressure to your journey, you need to both relax as much as possible

whenwillthemadnessend · 15/09/2020 16:52

I agree. Bin the tracking for a bit maybe take a holiday and relax. Just enjoy being around each other.

It sounds like your DH is feeling very pressured hence the anxiety

babyb2nd · 15/09/2020 17:40

I'm so sorry to hear how hard things are at the moment for you. You're under a lot of stress which I don't think is good for conceiving but I'm sure you know this already xx

I stopped having periods and was tracking but it drove me mad! I completely gave up in the end and thought I would let nature take its course and it worked! My partner was also having performance issues brought on by my pressure I think although he won't admit.

Try to start having sex to enjoy it and I'm sure the rest will come. I think this was really key for us.

My advice would be, to be kinder to yourself (this one is important - you can talk things into existence good or bad) stop tracking and eat your 5 day. Good luck and I really do wish you all the best xxxx

PlanBea · 15/09/2020 17:49

I'm 33 and spent nearly 2 years waiting for my BFP. I know each month feels like a single opportunity with SO much waiting around in between, but it currently sounds like DTD is getting in between you and your OH rather than making you closer. A few months where you take some time to enjoy each others company sounds like it will help remind you two why you want to have a baby together. Has he always had performance anxiety or is this a recent thing? The months where we focused on enjoying it and on being intimate as a couple were the easier months to deal with the BFN, but I know the feeling of time slipping away all too well!

CoalCraft · 15/09/2020 18:34

Oh OP, I'm sorry, it sounds like such a shit time Flowers

Agree with others; stop tracking for good, only test when period is late and ease off OH for a bit. Remember you're still young and have plenty of fertile years ahead of you, and in the long run taking a few months out to relax and reinforce bond with OH will only help.

Basically, TTC is exhausting for both parties and you both need to recover your energies a bit.

27andcounting · 15/09/2020 19:01

What a horrible cycle you've gotten stuck in, so sorry to hear this.

Like PP I would throw it all out the window, I tracked for the first few months to have an idea of when I would ovulate (differed slightly each month) but then had the same issue with my partner he was struggling to finish because of the pressure (even tho there was non at the beginning). Once I established a rough idea of when I was ovulating I stopped tracking, we would have date nights, go and have a day out together because it always made us feel closer which made us both want to have sex more, I would do this to encourage him making the move on me. Also tried to nice lingerie to entice him more. But most importantly I would do this throughout my cycle (just happened to be a bit more regular around ovulation) he didn't really notice this in the end. But after a couple months of mixing it up I feel pregnant!

Best of luck to you, just know it will happen but sometimes for your own mental health you need to step back every now and again as it's a really trying process if not.

Whalewhisperer · 16/09/2020 09:04

Thank you to everyone who responded. It was nice to wake up to such thoughtful messages. I feel like taking some time away from tracking will be good for us. To answer a question from above, no my partner never previously has had performance issues, far from the opposite. Until recently our sex life has been great. I think you're right, we need to get back to that and hope nature takes its course. We are away this weekend for a long weekend with friends and I had planned to take my clearblue opk's because I am due to ovulate any time from Friday onwards (somewhere in a 7 day window), but your messages have encouraged me to leave the tests at home and see if it makes a difference to us. It is scary to me to not know exactly when I'm ovulating and to hope that the once or twice we might dtd will be at the right time, but I think it is necessary. Thanks again everyone. Does anyone have any success stories about leaving it to the gods and only dtd once or twice in fertile window?

OP posts:
Whalewhisperer · 16/09/2020 09:07

That should have said "quite the opposite", not "far from the opposite!".

OP posts:
whenwillthemadnessend · 16/09/2020 22:50

I didn't use anything as it was 15 years ago and they weren't really about then. But I can feel when I ovulate so that helped. Hopefully others can give you some positive stories

Daisysandviolets · 17/09/2020 03:14

Just wanted to say sorry your feeling so stressed about it all. When we first started TTC I became so consumed by it and ended up putting so much pressure on my husband nothing happened. Then when I deleted all the apps tests etc, just decided to focus on enjoying being intimate with him, which made him perform better as he didn't think we were only DTD to conceive and it happened 😊 x

Gerdticker · 17/09/2020 03:43

Yes, I used the ovulation sticks for months with no luck - finally gave up largely due to their cost, and conceived about 4 cycles later.

My doctor actually told me to not to use them for the reasons you describe, and that really pissed me off at the time, but now I see her point!!

Personally, I have conceived both DC’s much earlier in the month than I ever thought possible

Both pregnancies appear to have been on around day 8 - so just 3 days after my period stopped. Of course we’re all v different, but if you feel in the mood earlier in the month than expected/the sticks suggest, go for it!

Megan2018 · 17/09/2020 04:47

DH and I conceived first baby for both of us aged 40 (almost 41) and 45 with only having sex on average twice a month in less than a year.

I never bought any form of ovulation testing, no tracking, charting, temperature checking etc. I only did one pregnancy test when my period was obviously late.

We had infrequent sex as it was a busy year for us (DH working unsociable hours and PM a house build) so it wasn’t performance related, just exhaustion related. We had agreed to stop contraception but neither believed TTC would work but we thought we’d just see what happened.

You know you can conceive so my suggestion is to get rid of all pregnancy tests and ovulation tests and just have sex when you both want to for a year. If after that there’s no sniff or you can’t manage sex then seek help.

You are young, it doesn’t need to be this complicated or stressful. At this rate you’ll end up with no marriage, so invest in that first and ignore TTC (apart from being contraceptive free).

If we can conceive then there’s no reason you can’t.

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