The Official TTC Thread!

[vespergirl]

Date: 9/18/2009 9:14:56 AM
Author: Lanie
Violet -- sorry to hear about your DH. I hope that he feels better after the appointment, and that he gets the numbers up!

I wanted to share some very exciting news from yesterday. A friend of mine announced that she is 12 weeks pregnant. She is 38 and she and her husband have been trying for E L E V E N years. They did everything...Clomid, in vitro, you name it. She wanted to adopt, but her husband was iffy about it. They were going to start filling out the paperwork and just go for it, when suddenly the planets aligned or whatever. She''s praying so hard for a healthy baby, and we couldn''t be more happy for her!!!!!

And in other news (less exciting by far), I got my first crosshairs! I started taking prenatals, and things are evening out a lot more. Now just waiting for AF to see if the charts match up with my body!

Lanie, that''s a great story about your friend. A similar thing happened to my neighbors who I used to babysit for when I was a kid. They were married, in their late 30s, and had been trying for 12 years to have a baby. Finally, they decided to adopt, and got a beautiful baby girl. A few months later, the wife unexpectedly became pregnant! They thought that they would never conceive, especially naturally, after years of fertility docs, but there it was. So then they had a beautiful little girl and a baby boy, and they were ecstatic. Then 6 months after their son was born, they conceived naturally AGAIN, and had another little boy! So within 2 and a half years, 3 beautiful kids. They were more than a little shell-shocked, but so happy. I remember the wife telling my mom that once they weren''t trying anymore, it just happened so easily. I guess for some people it works like that ...

Violet, I''m sorry to hear about your DH, but it''s true that because men are constantly replenishing their sperm supply, numbers can increase or decrease due to environmental factors. Some of the common things they say to avoid are riding a bicycle, hot tubs (or laptops - any heat source near the crotch), and tight underwear (boxers are better). Just making some of those changes may be able to help things along. I hope that all goes well with his doctor''s appointment.

 

[Lanie]

Do any of you have good recs for OPK''s? Are the cheap internet ones good? Any recs...hopefully the cheaper the better since you use them a lot!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Lanie,

I purchased my OPKs and POASs from here: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Early-Pregnancy-Tests__W0QQ_armrsZ1

These are just the test strips. I use a cup, rather than actually POAS'g, when using these. I think some people may prefer the digital tests for more certainty when reading, but I have been happy with these.

 

[violet02]

Okay in re: to the laptop comment, WOW. We went to the urologist today who asked THAT very question! And we had no idea when thinking of ''heat'' in that area that was a factor. So go figure for the last few months my husband has been complaining about how hot his macbook has been on his lap, he was even putting a pillow on there for awhile and he just finally purchased a laptop stand a week ago! I bet that played a huge part in it!

They are having him take ProXeed to see if that will help the count then take another test in a month. I''m not sure how well that stuff works and I have to order a month''s supply for 100 bucks! Yikes. It will take like a week to get here too, lame.

Lanie - I''ve been using First Response OPK''s for 3 months now I like them. I buy the 20 pack each month. They aren''t cheap per se though.

 

[Laila619]

violet, zinc and selenium help with healthy sperm counts. Maybe have your DH start taking some good quality mens vitamins.

 

[swingirl]

Date: 9/18/2009 4:21:27 PM
Author: violet02
Okay in re: to the laptop comment, WOW. We went to the urologist today who asked THAT very question! And we had no idea when thinking of ''heat'' in that area that was a factor. So go figure for the last few months my husband has been complaining about how hot his macbook has been on his lap, he was even putting a pillow on there for awhile and he just finally purchased a laptop stand a week ago! I bet that played a huge part in it!

They are having him take ProXeed to see if that will help the count then take another test in a month. I''m not sure how well that stuff works and I have to order a month''s supply for 100 bucks! Yikes. It will take like a week to get here too, lame.

Lanie - I''ve been using First Response OPK''s for 3 months now I like them. I buy the 20 pack each month. They aren''t cheap per se though.

Hi Violet. I just wanted to mention, in case you are looking for a fertility specialist, I highly recommend the Nova IVF clinic in Palo Alto. Dr Polansky is wonderful and I know of 8 people who have gotten pregnant dating back to 1987 when IVF was very new. My best friend had twins at 40. They have a very high success rate. Good luck!

 

[violet02]

Date: 9/19/2009 5:03:00 AM
Author: swingirl

Date: 9/18/2009 4:21:27 PM
Author: violet02
Okay in re: to the laptop comment, WOW. We went to the urologist today who asked THAT very question! And we had no idea when thinking of 'heat' in that area that was a factor. So go figure for the last few months my husband has been complaining about how hot his macbook has been on his lap, he was even putting a pillow on there for awhile and he just finally purchased a laptop stand a week ago! I bet that played a huge part in it!

They are having him take ProXeed to see if that will help the count then take another test in a month. I'm not sure how well that stuff works and I have to order a month's supply for 100 bucks! Yikes. It will take like a week to get here too, lame.

Lanie - I've been using First Response OPK's for 3 months now I like them. I buy the 20 pack each month. They aren't cheap per se though.

Hi Violet. I just wanted to mention, in case you are looking for a fertility specialist, I highly recommend the Nova IVF clinic in Palo Alto. Dr Polansky is wonderful and I know of 8 people who have gotten pregnant dating back to 1987 when IVF was very new. My best friend had twins at 40. They have a very high success rate. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the referral swingirl! Right now I'm going to a fertility clinic in Portola Valley so we'll see how goes. They do IUI and IVF. Let's hope I don't need IVF though! I will keep the other dr. in mind if mine doesn't work out for me.

Thanks again. And I'm still hoping for twins hehe.

 

[SparklyLibra]

Hello to all. I haven''t been much of a poster these past few weeks. Been online here and there, but more in a lurk mode again.

I''ve been so busy you wouldn''t believe. So many medical appointments with my mom, kids, and meetings with my fostering duties.

Sorry I haven''t been able to keep up with replies to every one of you.

Well I have some good news to share. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, I had become distracted enough to take my mind off of my tww. Okay, not completely, but enough to miss AF completely, and not realize it until the day she was supposed to arrive. There were some symptoms, but I tried not to pay attention to them, as I didn''t want to be disappointed if it turned out to be imaginary.

I did pop into my Dr''s for some bloodwork toward the end of the week to f/u on a previous concern, and had him test for HCG.

SparklyLibra is pg!!!

I''m excited, but remaining prayerful and cautious.

Thanks to all who have welcomed me and wished me a short stay in TTC. I have all of you in my prayers, and hope your stay is not too much longer.

Just wanted to share some good news.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Congrats SL

Of course, you know that you have to post a picture of your hpt right?

 

[Kaleigh]

Yay SL, that''s wonderful news!!! Lots of sticky dust your way.

 

[cara]

Yippee SparklyScales! What fun... congrats!

 

[SparklyLibra]

Date: 9/19/2009 10:04:00 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Congrats SL

Of course, you know that you have to post a picture of your hpt right?

DD, you are so right! Even tho I found out via blood-work, I still tested with a dollar store cheapie! Lemme see if I can dig up some pics....

 

[HOUMedGal]

SparklyLibra, YAAAY!!!

So happy for you!!! Sending healthy sticky vibes!!!

Violet, I''m hoping the laptop stand (and the medicine) does the trick for you guys!! Fingers crossed that next SA is much better!

Lanie: congrats on the crosshairs!! I wanna see your chart! About the OPK''s, I bought a bunch of cheapies from earlypregnancytests.com...have only used a couple though, so can''t really comment on how much I like them. But they were cheap (80 cents a test or so, I think?) And congrats to your friend...what an amazing story!!

Fisher, I''ll be praying for baby Quinn and his family. 24 weeks is so early, but I''ve seen some darn good looking former 24 weekers in clinic too! Good luck with the chiro...wouldn''t it be lovely if having her work on you did the trick?? You never know!

Tiffany, how are you doing? I''ve been thinking about you.

I''ve currently got 5 days off of work (yay!) and have gone to my parents'' house in the East Texas piney woods to relax. It''s really nice, considering I just came off a week of brutal ER night shifts. I finished my 1st AF off birth control...wasn''t too bad. A little longer than my on-BC periods (5 days instead of 3), a little more crampy, but overall tolerable. My temps so far this new cycle have been all over the place, but I know it''s because I was temping around 4-5pm since that''s when I was waking up from my longest period of sleep! Gotta love night shifts. Anyway, I''m back to a normal-person sleep schedule now so things should straighten out.

Gonna go help my mom recover some chair seats...she''s got an antique dining room set that belonged to her grandmother and some beautiful fabric to recover the chair seats with....we love doing artsy-craftsy stuff together!

 

[vespergirl]

SparklyLibra, congrats! What great news!

 

[violet02]

SparklyLibra, BIG congrats!!

 

[icekid]

Wonderful news!! Many congrats, SparklyLibra!!

 

[swimmer]

Congrats Sparkly Libra! (and happy birthday soon?)

 

[swimmer]

We went to our ultrasound 7week appt on sat and everything is measuring perfectly, heartbeat at 124bpm, we could so it! Like a tadpole or a gummybear with a pulse. The tech took great photos, kept ooohing and ahhhhing...she called the baby beautiful twice. Then the Dr on duty (not my regular one) came in and explained that there is a three inch mass next to the baby. So, it could just be a follicle (? can''t find anything on the internet about this), it is not a fybroid or a cyst he says, but it could be a growth of some sort. DrK or anyone with superior googling skills please lmk if it is possible for a follicle to hang out in early pregnancy? It would just be cruel for this to be more tumors, I''ve been in remission for almost 5 years. DH is awesome, he thinks I have kudzu in there and is not at all concerned. I''m working on being so calm, going in for bloodwork in the am to look at white blood cell count.

 

[Lanie]

Congrats Sparkly!!! Wonderful news!!!

Thanks guys for the recommendations on the OPK''s. I''m off to buy some now.

I''ll post my chart tomorrow when I''m not on the IPhone.

 

[Puppmom]

SparklyLibra, congratulations! What wonderful news!!!

Lanie, good luck with the OPKs. I used ClearBlue Easy Digital at first because the results are read for you and it gives you that lovely smiley face. It helped me see what a true positive looks like. Those dang OPKs are hard to read!

CD12 here...I may be out for this month. I''m a day or two out from ovulation but DH broke his hand yesterday! He''s on percocet right now and not feeling so much like BDing as you can imagine. It would be a miracle if I get KTFU this month. Poor DH

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Congrats Sparkly Libra!!!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Date: 9/20/2009 6:02:58 PM
Author: swimmer
We went to our ultrasound 7week appt on sat and everything is measuring perfectly, heartbeat at 124bpm, we could so it! Like a tadpole or a gummybear with a pulse. The tech took great photos, kept ooohing and ahhhhing...she called the baby beautiful twice. Then the Dr on duty (not my regular one) came in and explained that there is a three inch mass next to the baby. So, it could just be a follicle (? can''t find anything on the internet about this), it is not a fybroid or a cyst he says, but it could be a growth of some sort. DrK or anyone with superior googling skills please lmk if it is possible for a follicle to hang out in early pregnancy? It would just be cruel for this to be more tumors, I''ve been in remission for almost 5 years. DH is awesome, he thinks I have kudzu in there and is not at all concerned. I''m working on being so calm, going in for bloodwork in the am to look at white blood cell count.

Hi Swimmer- keeping my fingers crossed for you. I did have some (at least one) follicular cyst left over from the stimulation meds, although I think mine was in my ovary. I don''t know where else they can hang out.

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Hi HOUmedgal, thanks for asking about me. I''m doing ok, my beta''s didn''t drop as much as they wanted them to after the first dose of methotrexate so I had a 2nd dose on Thursday and we recheck them in the morning. They were actually fairly high and I''m pretty nervous about the tube rupturing but hopefully tomorrow they will be lower. All of these lab draws are not pleasant on the arms though, I''m acquiring a fear of needles. (I would think I''d get used to it, but I''m beginning to really dread it!)

 

[SparklyLibra]

Thanks a bunch for the congrats ladies

Swimmer: Yep, my birthday is this coming Saturday, the 26th. I''m hoping the tests come back okay. From what I know (follicular cysts) can hang around. Sometimes they rupture on their own, and can be mistaken for the pain similarly felt in ectopic. Please keep us posted?

Puppmom, sorry to hear about your DH''s hand. Hope he gets better soon.

Tiffany, hopefully this second dose works and you don''t have to be poked and prodded much longer. (((Hugs)))

DD, my usb-thingy is acting up and I can''t get any more pics out of my camera: boooo. The one picture will have to do for now...

 

[Festy]

Sparkly, congratulations!! Wishing you a healthy 9 months.

Swimmer - thanks for the update. I''m glad the bean is looking good! As for the mass, ugh. So not what you wanted to hear I''m sure. Sending tons of dust your way for a simple and benign explanation. Please keep us posted, friend.

 

[blushingbride]

CONGRATULATIONS SL!!!!

Swimmer - hoping the tests come back just fine for you and that your pregnancy is uneventful from here on out!

Lovely - just checking in to see if you have any good news to share from your IUI! I'm hoping all the best for you!

On a side note - we leave for Sweden on Friday - can't wait! Would love to see some BFPs around here when I get back!

 

[drk]

Swimmer - I hope they manage to do further testing to see what''s going on. I wonder what they meant by "close to the baby"? They should be able to say if it''s in the uterus, in the adnexa (likely ovary or tube). Though I''m sure you''d have excruciating pain if there were a 3" something in the tube! It is possible to have fairly large corpus luteum cysts, though I''ve personally never had one that big. Maybe 1".
But since you were scanned during the leadup to getting pg, I''d have thought they''d see whatever this was at that time, if it were anything worrisome.
Congrats on seeing a nice bean with a heartbeat!

 

[swimmer]

Thanks Tiffany, still pulling for you. This will end. It has to. More love and support coming your way.

BB and Festy, thank you so much! BB, have so much fun in Sweden!

Sparkly Libra, keep on cookin'! My bday is the day after yours! what awesome presents!

DrK, thank you. DH has decided it has to be a corpus luteum cyst, (he is a cancer researcher, not really the main reason I married him though) it is on the ute. The RE says it isn't a cyst, I was not told why. Appearance? Blood tests this am inconclusive re wbc etc, oncologist is checking it out tomorrow but I'm just thinking positive thoughts and willing the random area in the us away. On the upside I got to see the gummybear again, the heartbeat is just awesome. Thank you and hope you are doing fantastically.

ETA: love the city house! LOVE IT! Yes, you NEED to be near coffee houses, neighborhood breakfast places, that little shop that has cute stuff...the urban lifestyle! What a great lot of space. Can you just see teenagers claiming the top floor? I'm sorry to read in the other thread about your scare and really hope that all is better now. Thank you again for addressing my concerns.

Fisher, one reading for Rosh Hashana was Hannah praying to have a baby and how unfair it was but through her expression of faith she did get her baby Samuel...I thought of you (and so many other wonderful women here) and how this will be your year.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Sparkly,

Yay, girl!! Congratulations! Thinking only the best for you and that wee one!

****
Lanie,

I use Answer brand OPKs from Walmart. You get 20 for 14 bucks (or something like that) and you don't have to wait for them to come in the mail (I'm not patient, so I go for instant gratification as often as I can, especially in the TTC thing).

****
Violet,

Yeah, the laptop thing is something you don't think about. When I first heard about it, I thought of all the times I laid a laptop on my torso in college while "studying" (or searching the web) while in bed at night... got to wondering if you can overheat your eggs that way... not sure, but needless to say, laptops come no where near my tummy now.

****
Anyone who's been here a while, but doesn't go to the preggo thread often; Ms. Peony had her twins! They're itty bitty, but Ms. Peony seems to be in high spirits and fully in love with her sons! (The preggo thread has a picture... all I can say is ADORABLE!!)

****
Swimmer, Thank you for the updates, lady. You're in my thoughts (along with the beanie baby) often. How exciting to see the heartbeat. I'm sure it was a very touching moment (and a reaffirming one, as well). I'm praying for that "mass" to be nothing at all. Don't let it dampen your spirits; that baby's growing and has a good heartbeat. It's just a matter of time til he/she's in your arms.

Side note: will you find out the sex?

Thanks for sharing the about the reading you had. I'm certainly praying this is the year for ALL of us!

****
Tiffany, Still in my thoughts. Stay tough, lady!!

****
Blushing, Have fun on your trip. Take pictures. Then share them with us.

I've been wondering about Lulu, too. (Hi, Lulu!!!

)

****
Will be seeing the chiropractor this week. Was supposed to go in today, but it's raining to the point of flooding here, so we postponed it til later in the week, hoping the rain will let up. This is day 8. EIGHT. I'm from Cali and this just isn't right for me!! The forecast is for another 6 days of rain. Aye! The ground is saturated, there's no where else for it to go....

I called the Dr. today to see about getting 7DPO blood work; I was told that I could ask about that at my next Dr. visit. Um, I won't be 7 DPO on that day! Duh. Argh. And grr. It wasn't the regular receptionist (who I just love) so I think maybe she just didn't know what she was talking about. I'm debating calling back tomorrow and seeing if the regular receptionist answers.

Hoping everyone had a great weekend and has wonderful week! Tomorrow starts FALL. I love fall... changing leaves, cooling temperatures... birthdays, holidays. Fun stuff!!!

ETA: Festy, good to see you, girl. Saw your cheese thread. I'm lost without fatfree cream cheese, so I refrained from posting, but hope the cycle without it is going well.. can't be that many days left now, right?

 

[drk]

Fisher - hope you get the bloodwork!

Swimmer - thanks for the words on the house. I was torn. Now I just want it. We''re going to try to meet with the seller tomorrow night and put an offer in if we''re ok with his answers to our questions. There''s nothing else like it on the market in the area that we love, so this is the one for us. Too bad we''ll be paying $$$ for it and then again for some renos in the future, but like you say, teens will totally claim the 3rd floor loft as a hang out with their friends (mini bar and all), and one kid will be fine in the basement room after age 10-11 or so. I''m so excited. I just hope our offer gets accepted! The agent made it sound like there wouldn''t be much of a rush yesterday when I talked to her, then I guess must have done a little more research today and decided we have to jump now before it''s too late and we lose it or are in a multiple offer situation. I really hope we can get it and for a decent price.

Yeah, the weekend was a little too exciting, between the house hunt and the scary painless contractions. They have (knock on wood, and thank God) settled down a lot today. I haven''t heard back from my OB yet, but she typically works long long hours, and who knows when she''ll call. I was nervously feeling my belly off and on today to see if I was missing anything - good thing I told my boss by email on Friday and chatted with him last night, cause the cat will soon be out of the bag. Supposedly they''ll just pick up the slack or change some bookings around when I''m going to take my 3 months off. He said there''s enough people to be able to cover for me for that period of time without finding a locum, so that''s a relief.

I''ll be either scanning or dopplering myself on L&D tomorrow to be sure the kiddie''s still happy. The U/S tech gave DH a little tour of baby yesterday (since I already knew what she was looking at), and then got our hopes up by asking if we wanted to know the sex. We said yes, but then she said it was too early to comment. Darn it! My gut from the last peek I took with the U/S said girl, but I''m definitely not 100%. I''d be so excited to have a little girl, but I''d be darn excited to have a little boy too. Hopefully one of each! Those frozen embryos had better pull through for us in the future!

Hope all of you are doing well. With the house search and sorting out billing and insurance stuff for my job, I haven''t been following as closely as I should...