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Pregnancy

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

What’s a normal cycle for 35?

4 replies

TTCournumberthree · 28/08/2022 17:27

Hi 👋🏼

wondering if anyone has been or is currently in the same boat as me. Just turned 35 and have a wonderful almost 10 and 7 year old. Thought we were done but we’ve decided to go for number 3 and I’m becoming more desperate with each cycle.

I’m 35 years old and since my last child I’d had the mirena coil for 5 years and then the copper coil for just over a year. Since we decided to have the coil removed and ‘see what happens’ I’m very aware that my cycles are very regular between 24 and 26 days but they are quite light with only 2/3 days of medium to light flow and a day or two of spotting. Pre mirena I were a good 4-5 day heavy to medium flow girl with a extra day or 2 spotting.

We’re only onto cycle 4 but I can’t shake the feeling that my periods have changed too much and it’s affecting my fertility. Previously it’s only take 2/3 cycles to conceive including 2 early losses.

Both of us are fit and healthy.

Can anyone share their own cycle history or any advice? TIA

OP posts:
SiberFox · 29/08/2022 10:14

Hi @TTCournumberthree, I’m 36 and my cycles have definitely become lighter in my thirties. Mine are around 28 days and I only get one day of heavier flow, couple of days medium to light and then just spotting. Not been a problem in terms of conceiving - I’ve felt pregnant 3 times since starting TTC last year but had a chemical and a MC before the current pregnancy (13 weeks and all well so far), each time within 1-2 months of trying. Wishing you all the luck x

KatRee · 29/08/2022 11:13

When I was 34, I noticed my periods got much lighter and went to the GP about it. She ordered standard blood tests where they check hormone levels on days 3 and 21 of cycle and they came back normal, indicating I was ovulating and had nothing to worry about. I did a lot of googling around the same time and some sources seemed to suggest lighter periods can be normal for some women as we get older. I had never been pregnant or been on the pill.

At that stage I wasn't tracking my cycle much- despite having light periods I still got fairly painful period pains giving me a heads up when I was about to come on, so never really bothered to count days. I assumed my cycles were still around 28/9 days as they had been since I was a teenager. A year or two later, started ttc and noticed they were actually more like 24 days. I didn't think anything of this. After many many months without a positive pregnancy test, I ended up having a consultation with a fertility doctor with decades of experience at a private clinic, who told me that anecdotally, they tend to find that women with shorter cycles do have lower ovarian reserves. He hypothesised that because fewer eggs are maturing each month, it takes less time for the lead egg to become fully mature and be released. I used OPKs to track ovulation and it was the first half of my cycle, before ovulation, that was significantly shorter, rather than the second half, so this checked out for me.

It can all sound a bit alarming, but ovarian reserve obviously does decrease as we get older, and as long as you are still ovulating the odd 'good quality' egg, which you normally would at 35, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't get pregnant again eventually. Egg quality is something that isn't talked about as much as quantity, or ovarian reserve, but it does decline as we age also. If in your mid-30s only 25% of your eggs are genetically viable, on average you would only be able to conceive a healthy pregnancy one month in four, so four months of trying really isn't long.

Having said that, I would recommend you follow NHS guidelines and refer yourself to the doctor if you're not pregnant after 6 months trying. In my case, although I was ovulating and had a fairly normal ovarian reserve for my age (of course significantly depleted from my younger days), it turned out one of my Fallopian tubes was blocked and the other may well be damaged and non-functioning too. This was not in any way linked to my short, light cycles and dwindling reserve, but it meant I had to have ivf to conceive. The success rates are much higher the younger you are and drop significantly even between mid and late 30s. If you have a lower ovarian reserve, it will usually take several attempts. I was 35 when we first started ttc with a very relaxed approach and 38 when my third ivf cycle finally gave us a positive pregnancy test. There were some really stressful months when I really thought it would never work as I'd left it too late and really wished I'd had investigations done sooner. Everyone's situation is unique and it's probably very unlikely you have any issues at all -fingers crossed you'll conceive soon enough. I certainly don't want to scare you by talking about me IVF when there's no reason to think you'll need it. However, knowing what I know now if anyone is asking for advice I always share my experience and recommend starting investigations sooner rather than later

TTCournumberthree · 29/08/2022 18:26

SiberFox · 29/08/2022 10:14

Hi @TTCournumberthree, I’m 36 and my cycles have definitely become lighter in my thirties. Mine are around 28 days and I only get one day of heavier flow, couple of days medium to light and then just spotting. Not been a problem in terms of conceiving - I’ve felt pregnant 3 times since starting TTC last year but had a chemical and a MC before the current pregnancy (13 weeks and all well so far), each time within 1-2 months of trying. Wishing you all the luck x

Thank you for your reply and I’m so sorry about your losses. Congratulations on your new pregnancy!

It’s reassuring to know that others have shorter periods and that it hasn’t affected your chances, I think I need to be a little more patient

OP posts:
TTCournumberthree · 29/08/2022 18:30

KatRee · 29/08/2022 11:13

When I was 34, I noticed my periods got much lighter and went to the GP about it. She ordered standard blood tests where they check hormone levels on days 3 and 21 of cycle and they came back normal, indicating I was ovulating and had nothing to worry about. I did a lot of googling around the same time and some sources seemed to suggest lighter periods can be normal for some women as we get older. I had never been pregnant or been on the pill.

At that stage I wasn't tracking my cycle much- despite having light periods I still got fairly painful period pains giving me a heads up when I was about to come on, so never really bothered to count days. I assumed my cycles were still around 28/9 days as they had been since I was a teenager. A year or two later, started ttc and noticed they were actually more like 24 days. I didn't think anything of this. After many many months without a positive pregnancy test, I ended up having a consultation with a fertility doctor with decades of experience at a private clinic, who told me that anecdotally, they tend to find that women with shorter cycles do have lower ovarian reserves. He hypothesised that because fewer eggs are maturing each month, it takes less time for the lead egg to become fully mature and be released. I used OPKs to track ovulation and it was the first half of my cycle, before ovulation, that was significantly shorter, rather than the second half, so this checked out for me.

It can all sound a bit alarming, but ovarian reserve obviously does decrease as we get older, and as long as you are still ovulating the odd 'good quality' egg, which you normally would at 35, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't get pregnant again eventually. Egg quality is something that isn't talked about as much as quantity, or ovarian reserve, but it does decline as we age also. If in your mid-30s only 25% of your eggs are genetically viable, on average you would only be able to conceive a healthy pregnancy one month in four, so four months of trying really isn't long.

Having said that, I would recommend you follow NHS guidelines and refer yourself to the doctor if you're not pregnant after 6 months trying. In my case, although I was ovulating and had a fairly normal ovarian reserve for my age (of course significantly depleted from my younger days), it turned out one of my Fallopian tubes was blocked and the other may well be damaged and non-functioning too. This was not in any way linked to my short, light cycles and dwindling reserve, but it meant I had to have ivf to conceive. The success rates are much higher the younger you are and drop significantly even between mid and late 30s. If you have a lower ovarian reserve, it will usually take several attempts. I was 35 when we first started ttc with a very relaxed approach and 38 when my third ivf cycle finally gave us a positive pregnancy test. There were some really stressful months when I really thought it would never work as I'd left it too late and really wished I'd had investigations done sooner. Everyone's situation is unique and it's probably very unlikely you have any issues at all -fingers crossed you'll conceive soon enough. I certainly don't want to scare you by talking about me IVF when there's no reason to think you'll need it. However, knowing what I know now if anyone is asking for advice I always share my experience and recommend starting investigations sooner rather than later

Thank you for your reply, it’s easy to forget about your reserve and quality of eggs as we get older. I’ve ordered some ovulation tests so I can better track my cycle, I do suffer with ovulation cramps and had been using that alongside apps to try and pinpoint when I were ovulating but I think actually testing is a more sensible and reliable option.

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