Older Mum trying

[Dreamingofhazelnuts]

Hi everyone,

I am turning 44 and have a four year old. We thought we were done having children but last month decided to just see what happens after an "accident". We then proceeded to have a full week of "accidents" all around ovulation time. A week later I had some spotting.

I am now 16 days late for my period. My breasts have been sore for six days, cramping, fatigue, light headed ness and also feeling really cold. I have taken two tests and they have both been negative. I'm not usually this late and I also don't usually have symptoms like this for so many days.

I drink a huge amount of water (I've read that can dilute the HCG). Do your hcg levels drop as you get older? Has anyone else experienced this? It's such a rollercoaster! I struggled the first time to fall pregnant but when I did fall pregnant I knew immediately (tmi but basically as my husband got off me I said "that got me pregnant" - he thought I was insane!) I also went off coffee about a week later, couldn't stand the taste. I haven't had any of those but it's all just weird.

Thanks for reading x

Hey. I fell pregnant in October at 39 (first baby) and I had those symptoms! I was only a few days late on my period but I’d never felt like that before so knew I was
pregnant. Mine was a faint line on a few dipsticks then got a clear blue to confirm 2-3 weeks. Have you bought the little strips you can get (forget their name). People say to try and stick to one brand

in my last pregnancy i never had 1 positive on a stick- had to have blood test as i knew i was 100% pregnant

Have you been tracking your periods OP? Are you usually much more regular than this?
If you want to continue trying then I'd recommend ovulation testing so you have a bit more of a picture of what's going on with your hormones
In future, pregnancy tests are best done on your first wee of the day so your urine is not dilute from drinking.

No one can really tell you if you're pregnant or not, even if you have symptoms, especially due to your age, just take a test and find out. Also why would you want to dilute your HCG? I'm unsure if that's even possible.

Are you aware of the risks of becoming pregnant at your age?

OP, maybe get a different brand of test? Or see if you can get a blood test at GP?

@ILikePistachios your post was quite rude and unnecessary chiding at the end. Surely she knows what she's doing as a grown up who already had a baby around 40. Also, she said she took tests already.

You could be pregnant or you could be menopausal. We can’t tell you. It’s a mighty coincidence though…

So hard to tell. Premeanpause symptoms can start at that age.

Try to avoid excessive water deinking and always use FMU.
If you are both wanting to try then it would be worth going down SMEP and try Ovulation sticks and BBT to avoid wasting time.
I have family who have had 2nd / 3rd / 4th child in their mid to late 40's snd have had healthy normal pregnancies and babies. They live abroad so there is a different attitude to pregnancy after 40 but in the UK and west so much fear mongering makes women so stressed.