Official Trying to Conceive - Thread 13

Mrsburrows2018

Af turned up as expected on our wedding anniversary...I managed to keep it together and not let it ruin our day.

We went to the drs this morning and spoke to a lovely dr there about everything, I said my main worry was my age as everything you read says fertility declines rapidly after the age of 35 and she said she hates how they word it. She said the positive thing is we got pregnant, so we should be able to do it again.

We are having all the tests though, husband thought he was going to get away without giving a sample as she said as evidenced by our pregnancy his swimmers work but then decided to do all the tests to cover all bases. I'm cd4 and she asked me to book in for day 21 bloods....sods law cd21 falls on a weekend so I'm going to have to go in the day before, and hope they can see me early as I work every Friday although I have an amazing boss.

I've also got to reduce my stress at work, I work for sainsburys on checkouts running the tills and customer service desk, and with all the changes sainsburys have made my job has become more pressured as we have less staff! I'm debating walking/running/yoga or something to relax myself after work. I have to try and not let getting pregnant consume me, so this month I'm going to not use the ovulation tests as my cycle is regular so she said that's a positive, and just try and go with the flow every 2-3 days like she recommended.

The only downside to it all is that if for whatever reason they do find something wrong we wont get any help via the NHS as I already have children. I may be getting ahead of myself but have looked at some of the clinics local to me and the fees.....������

Doobop

Hi everyone. It feels awfully funny posting on this forum, making it official in a way that we are TTC.
A bit about me - we've tried for several years and for medical reasons I won't explain here, we're going to go via a home artificial insemination route.
I'm looking online and trying to figure out the different ovulation tests. Any recommendations? Clear Blue is advertised a lot. Not sure what the best days are, and a kit seems the easiest route rather than some complicated taking of my temperature. Daft question - do you do the test every day? Just some days in the month?
Do appreciate your knowledge.

skimper

Welcome to the thread Doobop.

I use the cheapie onestep Ov tests you can get on amazon or ebay. I think i paid about £3 for 20. They have a control line and a test line, when the test line gets as dark or darker than the control then its Ov day. I usually start on day 11 and do 1 a day, but i know my cycles are regular and I Ov around cd14-16. Some test twice a day. They can sometimes be hard to read and the test line doesn't always get as dark as the control, but it gives you a good indication of days.

I know some people have used the clearblue ones but they can be pretty expensive.

Doobop

Thank you Skimper. It's all very confusing at this stage. Clearblue is amazingly expensive, but then so much is around infertility.

Doobop

I'm finding this all a bit overwhelming. We were TTC previously but not tracking ovulation etc.Now looking at basal thermometers. Feels like I need to buy the right one or it won't work, and all have some negative reviews! I'd prefer to buy from Boots I think as I trust them (irrational I know) but can't find any online.

This one has more stars on amazon than others but a couple of reviews seem to say it's not accurate for them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Basal-Body-Thermometer-BBT-113Ai-WG-iProv%C3%A8n/dp/B07JWG1328/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I'm driving myself mad! Any recommendations?

Aunty-Pickle

Hi Doobop - big hugs it can be really confusing and overwhelming.
I think just go ahead and buy the one you've linked to. There will always be some people who will claim it doesn't work or isn't accurate but you have to take into account user error - they just may not be using it properly! For me, when I was charting temps regularly, I had an alarm set before my "getting up" alarm. I'd roll over in bed, turn off the alarm and take my temp. Studies show that it is most reliable if you've had plenty of undisturbed sleep - haha! It's also a lot more accurate if you take the temp vaginally but I've never been able to bring myself to do that!!
Then you just need an App to put the temp data into and hopefully one that will do the calculations for you to provide estimations / predictions of when ovulation is likely to take place.
I've used Clue and Fertility Friend and I prefer Fertility Friend. Unfortunately, I don't sleep well so my temps are very erratic and pretty unreliable.
For me, it has been useful to establish that I ovulate anywhere between Day 11-18 - and most commonly on Day 14/15. Which is an awfully big range.

For me, I'm trying not to think how pregnant I would be if I hadn't had an early loss before Christmas last year. Due date would have been August 27th. I also keep thinking I'm too old for this!!! I will be 42 later this year.

Hugs for anyone and everyone who needs them!

Doobop

Hi Aunty Pickle, thank you so much for the information, I've ordered that thermometer and will make a start charting. I've also downloaded that app you recommended, thank you.
Like you I think I'll go with a temperature in the mouth,some things are too much when just woken up!
Sorry to hear about your loss, it's such a hard thing and often very private so people don't know you're struggling. Hugs to you as you grieve.

PrettyKittyKat

Hey ladies! sorry for being MIA. It's a busy time of the academic year but school is nearly over for summer! *does a little dance*
The tests we've had done via the nhs have been frustrating and not quite the information the clinic needed to see, and there was some confusion over the timing of mine. But the clinic rang me and I *think* we are clear on what we need to do now. We had some good news thought - DH did his sample and there were swimmers that could be frozen as backup! I am super super happy about this and it's made me feel a little more positive.

AF is due this weekend and the spotting/heavy feeling has started so I expect she will make her appearance tomorrow!

Doobop, I love temping and wish I had done this alot earlier rather than wasting money on ovulation sticks. I use fertility friend and find it very accurate. I am so glad you have ordered the thermometer! Remember it takes a few months of doing it regularly for you to see a pattern and FF to accurately predict so persevere with it

skimper

Oh that's good new PKK,

I bought a thermometer a week or 2 ago and haven't started using it yet, I can never remember to do it as soon as I wake up.

Mid fertile week for us, CD15. Managed to BD on cd12 and 15. Fingers crossed this is enough. I'm starting back at the gym on Monday, really need to shift some weight.

BachSoon

Hi everyone.

May I join please? It would be good to have somewhere to share the frustrations of TTC. I am TTC DC2. DC1 took 6 months. Currently cycle 2, CD9, with ov expected on Monday. Fortunately DH is at home over the weekend, so should be able to fit in some BD time
As a side note, having seen the first post, I am impressed by how sensitive the superdrug own test is.. I always thought first response was the most sensitive!