The Official TTC Thread!

[blushingbride]

Cara - that's awesome news you got your AF! Oh how I wish that were me! I actually have no idea if I ovulated this month or not. I might go home and take an ovulation test tonight. I keep having watery CM. I used to get that around when AF was approaching, so it could be a sign, but I've had it for two weeks straight! What kind of CM were you experiencing before AF came (sorry TMI)? Also, wow many weeks was it between the miscarriage and AF?

The nurse at my doc's office told me to call her if I don't get my period soon - she said she can give me something to bring it on, but how long should I wait? That is the question.

I went to the doc on July 23rd and was told then that my HCG levels were zero so, that was almost two weeks ago.

Oh Vesper - my boobs hurt and got BIG the day or or after my BFP. Like Cara, they usually get like that several days before AF, but this month, they didn't until after.

 

[drk]

Swimmer - that bites about the BFN, and even more about the "I only tried once" pg announcements you then had to deal with. Ugh ugh ugh. That just sucks! Hope your RE appointment on Friday bears some fruit.

Fisher - I actually had to take the trigger shot with ovulation induction with clomid or femara. After a few tries with no success, we wondered if maybe my follicles just weren''t rupturing, even with a good LH surge. I think I only ever got one follicle on the clomid and femara, so there was no risk of multiples for me. Yay for a good semen analysis! I''m not sure what the deal is with limits on how many clomid cycles you can do. I don''t think I would do too many back-to-back, just because it really dried up my cervical mucus. I did loads of femara cycles back-to-back without the same problem. I think part of it might be that if you''ve done 5-6 clomid cycles, and you''re going to get pregnant from it, they expect you''ll be pregnant by then. If your semen analysis is within normal limits, there''s nothing wrong with keeping things low-tech for a couple cycles and just trying timed intercourse with clomid. Hopefully they''ll follow you with ultrasound or at least have you do OPKs twice a day to pinpoint your LH surge so that you can time things properly.

Festy - My DH was also convinced that his "low volume" (I''m talking 0.5-1mL max here, every time, and he gave about 5-6 samples in the end) was just a collection issue, or because he wasn''t excited enough to be collecting a sample. TMI warning: Looking back, I certainly never had the same amount of stuff drip out when peeing after intercourse with him as I did with my first boyfriend. I''m pretty sure it was a chronic problem, and can''t have been helping things when put with the low morphology and motility. They had him do pre-collection and post-ejaculation urine collections too, and spun those down looking for sperm. Turns out he had some degree of retrograde ejaculation, which was helped a smidge by him taking 60mg of pseudoephedrine (sudafed, the older formulation) about 30-45min prior to intercourse. It didn''t help the spontaneity any, but was supposed to help with the retrograde ejaculation.

Lindsey - hang your hat on the thought that you have a 50:50 chance of an Rh negative baby with a much less worry-filled pregnancy. And the fact that you have a reason for your loss, rather than a series of unexplained losses, is probably a good sign that you''ll be able to hold on to your next pregnancy. I can totally understand all your worries though!

Laila - if you think it comes easily to everyone (which I often do too), think of me. Finally 9.5 weeks pregnant after our second shot at IVF. And it would have been 4 years of trying come September. Lucky me. Sure I had two miscarriages along the way (which were awful), but I was undergoing infertility treatment for 3 of those 4 years to achieve those pregnancies and now this (hopefully successful) one.

Blushing - I hope you love Sweden. I only got to spend a couple days in Stockholm when I was in Scandinavia, but it was a beautiful city. We spent 2 weeks driving through Norway in 2004 and staying in campground cabins, and it was so fantastic. I loved Scandinavia!

Gongjoo - congrats! Even though I''m finally pg with IVF (please God, let me remain so!), I''d still love to hear more about what you did with the acupuncture and herbs. I did acupuncture just once before transfer this time around, but had been going regularly (and taking nasty herbs) last fall.

Anyhow, had a good 9.5 week ultrasound this morning, with everything on track. Details (and pic of the blob) on my IVF thread, if anyone wants to look. I''m still too superstitious and chicken to move to the pg thread, so I''ll lurk on here a little more. I''m just waiting to cheer Melanie on for her upcoming IVF, as well as those giving clomid a shot in the next little while!

Kate

 

[Festy]

Vesper, I''m certainly no expert, but those symptoms sound very promising. I usually start looking for symptoms myself around one week PO. I''ve heard of people feeling symptoms as early as 3 DPO and as late as gosh, 8 weeks? Who knows. I''m hoping it means what I think it means!

 

[drk]

PS. I still have very minimal symptoms. More tired than usual. Peeing a little more than usual. Occasionally feel icky in the stomach, but that''s fixed by food. Logically, I don''t think you ought to feel much different until HCG levels start to rise, which isn''t really till 13-14dpo, but I''ve seen stories of people who just felt different at 7dpo, when the embryo had barely implanted. Who the heck knows!

 

[cara]

Started off in Rome, this is the Pantheon.

 

[cara]

Then flew to Geneva, which was wonderfully less hot.

 

[cara]

This is on the ski lift up to Verbier. We parked in the Valley below and you can see the switchbacks on the road on the way up - this is the course.

 

[cara]

This is the view from the switchback where we camped out, about a mile from the finish.

 

[cara]

This is the yellow jersey starting off the caravan.

 

[Festy]

DrK, thanks for chiming in re: volume. Yeah, DH is convinced that the two low volume samples were situational. I don't know how low they were in mL's but now I'm curious. In any event, I'm becoming more and more convinced that I should not wait to start IUI. I may call the dr's office and see about speeding things up.

Cara - awesome pics! The yellow jersey guy does NOT look human! But then they are all freakish human specimens, aren't they?

ETA: ok, I just re-looked at the photo and now realize that's not an actual person! Ha! Not human afterall! What an idiot.

 

[cara]

OK, here's the guy who would end up in the yellow jersey that day (Contador). Also, they do look scary skinny, especially the good climbers. Oh festy that's a riot! Don't feel bad! I posted that one cause it just looks so weird with the monster guy heading up the mtn!

 

[cara]

I think this is Andy Schleck.

 

[cara]

And this is my fav from that day - we have another pic and you can see the name on the can, and this guy in the autobus is actually having a beer. It was only a mere 207 km day with nothing too killer (except this steep hill he's almost done with.) Why not a beer near the end of the race day?

 

[cara]

This is Courmayeur in the Italian Alps, where we stayed next.

 

[cara]

And we camped out on the lower slopes so it was much more chill.

 

[cara]

Did I mention chill? The only one really chill was the bebe. The adults spent most of the efforts trying to entertain her and keep her from killing herself on the roadside, as she would only stay in her lounge chair for a few minutes.

 

[cara]

Opps, Lance is the second guy here.

 

[Laila619]

Re: Pregnancy Symptoms

Implantation and subsequent making of HCG doesn''t even occur until 7-10 DPO, so I don''t think it''s possible to have any symptoms until then at the earliest. For women that claimed to have had symptoms right away, it''s probably just coincidental, because the secretion of HCG through your body is what starts causing the symptoms.

 

[cara]

And here''s them approaching.

 

[cara]

And this is near the end of the day.

 

[cara]

Time trial in Annecy was madness.

 

[cara]

40 km around a lake, one smallish hill.

 

[cara]

Us cheering for one of the Columbia guys... OK, we are a bit decked out in the Americana.

 

[cara]

Date: 8/4/2009 4:50:25 PM
Author: Laila619
Re: Pregnancy Symptoms


Implantation and subsequent making of HCG doesn't even occur until 7-10 DPO, so I don't think it's possible to have any symptoms until then at the earliest. For women that claimed to have had symptoms right away, it's probably just coincidental, because the secretion of HCG through your body is what starts causing the symptoms.

Laila you are probably right on it being 7-10 dpo, but I am pretty sure I got symptoms prior to having enough HCG to register positive on an home pregnancy test (which is not inconsistent with what you said.) Just one day of nausea alone wouldn't make me so sure, but it persisted and going off coffee was a pretty distinctive sign for me as I am normally a coffee feign. And the first whiff of coffee in the morning didn't smell good again until a few days after the miscarriage.

Blushing, apparently my entire cycle was 34 days including 18 days of miscarriage related bleeding. I was definitely hating waiting for the bleeding to stop, but once I saw signs of ovulation I started feeling better. But some women don't ovulate the cycle post-miscarriage and I think 6 weeks is pretty typical for a wait after an early miscarriage. Try not to worry until then. As for CF, I haven't gotten up on checking it regularly nor I am certain of the categories but I noticed some fertile CF around CD 22, and I ovulated somewhere in CD 23-26. But that's it. Sorry not more help there.

ETA: Also, my first blood level taken on day 2 of miscarriage was much lower than yours, if I remember correctly. Mine was 115 and took a couple more weeks to drop all the way to below 5. Even though you got back to zero in a similar time frame, maybe having higher HCG levels more recently has the hormone readjustment taking longer? Pure speculation at this point.

 

[cara]

Sorry for the bad news, swimmer and fisher.

Bleh seems appropriate. Oh, and Lulu. What unhappy news to come back to.

Melanie, good luck with the IVF! You are in the thick of it now, right?

And lindsey, so now you are clomiding? Good luck for you too!

 

[vespergirl]

Thanks, everyone, for feedback on the early pregnancy symptoms. I will let you guys know how it turns out - I''m going to hold off on doing a HPT until Saturday ...

 

[NewShiny]

First, Cara - wow! What great pictures!

Hi all. I hope you have room for one more on this thread. I came out of lurkdom to share my pregnancy loss last week and thank the others that shared on that thread. Blushing invited me over here, and while I won''t have anything to contribute for awhile, I hope I can be a productive part of the great support and discussion that goes on around here.

About me: I''m 31, have been trying for my first for about a year. I was scheduled to do an HSG test when DH and I got our BFP. We saw a beautiful heartbeat at 8 weeks (7/23), but 5 days later it was gone. I had a D&C a week ago today. The bleeding has stopped as of today, so now its onto the wait for AF before we can start trying again. I''m still having a very hard time, but every day it gets a little easier. I saw this quote and added it to my FB page yesterday, and I think we can all relate to it: To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. -Chinese Proverb. For some reason, that quote is the best explanation that I''ve found as to why we put ourselves through this process we call TTC. We must keep on stepping so we can all have our own beautiful little ones!

Blushing, to answer your questions on the other thread: My follow up appointment is Monday. I''ll ask the Dr. if they did any tissue testing, but I doubt it. I think I remember through the numbness of the last appointment that he thought the cause was chromosomal abnormalities. I''m going to ask him if he can think of any reason for the loss. I don''t have any fertility issues that I''m aware of, but I do have a history of very light periods (3-4 days of spotting, 1-2 days of light AF). DH has had an SA, and it came back normal. And, in non TTC news, we''re going to Kauai for a week. Some friends are getting married there, so we rented a condo with some friends for a week. I can''t wait. I guess now I can go look for a dress that is fitted

.

Hi to everyone else and especially to Fisher - I am a fellow CA gal living in the South! Good luck to all who are or are about to ovulate. I am on the lookout for AF, but I know she won''t be here for awhile.

 

[blushingbride]

Hi NewShiney!

Great to see you here!

Wow, we have even more common than I thought - I too, am 31 and have been trying for a year. It''s amazing, just when you think you''re the only one out there going through this, you realize you''re not. And not only are you not alone, but there are women out there who are just like you, going through exactly the same things you are!

I hope you find this thread as a place of comfort. It''s funny, I was never someone who was into chatting online, blogging, etc. I''m on FB, but am not on it all that often. I oringnally came to PS to research engagement rings. Then I came out of lurkdom when I became engaged because I found the bride forum and had so many questions trying to plan my wedding. I met some great ladies in that forum (some of whom are on this thread or have passed through this thread) and now I think PS and this thread in particular has given me such great knowledge and insight - not to mention some good laughs and lots of smiles on myface. On top of that, I''ve met some amazing women along the way! I hope you will find the same here.

Thanks for the quote - I believe that is true and something we need to remind ourselves as we go through this process.

I hope that you have a good appt. next Monday and that your HCG levels get to zero quickly. Are you going to start trying again as soon as you get your AF? Keep us posted on your visit and let us know what your doc says.

I''ve never been to Kauai, but we too have friends that are planning to get married there (although they aren''t engaged yet

). My friend is living in CA and her soon-to-be fiance is there with her, but is originally from Austrailia so, HI makes the most sense for them. We would go to Kauai for their wedding and then go back to our honeymoon spot, Maui, for a few days. Now, we''re just waiting for him to pop the question!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Hi Everyone,

I'm still here, though I wish I would post more often. I am at CD 28 and approx 12DPO. I didn't chart at all this month. I am always hopeful during this time period, and I've suspected that I've created pregnancy symptoms in the past! This morning, I wake up with a mild headache and nausea. I suffer from migraines with severe nausea and vomiting, so I assume this is a migraine. I feel terrible that I am going to call in sick because I had taken a vacation day on Monday, in part due to a mild headache and just being so tired, that I finally gave in to the urge to just take a random vacation day.

So, this morning, I had coffee and some excedrin, which made me sick, i.e. caused me to vomit. I *knew* I had a migraine, so I went back to sleep and figured I would tell work later that I would be out sick. I wake up close to 9 and feel quite well. This never happens with a migraine. When I have a migraine, I have to stay in a dark room and sleep until appoximately 4 pm. Only then, can I take water without getting violently ill! I had some toast, and I feel fine.

So, this is strange, and I am more hopeful. Of course, I took a cheapie internet test, which was negative. Grrrrr.

So, I'm waiting it out . . . again.

 

[swimmer]

Cara, thank you for the photos! Awesome, feel like we were there. Contador and all their skinny arms! How can they even hold onto the bike? Love the chillin' bebe. Talk about the lap of luxury!

Welcome NewShiny, the waiting is so hard. It sounds like you are in a good place. Hope you stick around with us on this journey.

Fisher, thank you for that post, perspective is so important.

Oh LV, i totally hear you on the manufactured symptoms...our hopes/imaginations are so strong. It could still be a bit early. Good luck to you!

Hugs to Blushing, DrK, Laila, Vesper, Festy, and all.

ETA: so exciting, AF showed up, omg, a 28 day cycle?!? how fantabulous, i was so dreading waiting a few weeks for the fat lady to sing. Now my F appt will be a cd3 visit! Thank you for this being a place where it is fine to share such info.