The Official TTC Thread!

[mia1181]

Wow DD, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for taking the time to look over my charts and give me your interpretation. I can''t tell you how much that meant to me. Well what can I say? I wasn''t happy that I was ovulating late but at least I thought I was ovulating. I have seen lots of late ovulation KTFU charts on Ovusoft so that didn''t worry me. But now it''s like there is so much wrong with my charts. I don''t even know where to begin.

Also in the beginning I was getting lots of EWCM but now I hardly have any. Last cycle was so strange because I had at least 10days in a row of TONS of EWCM. No mistaking it. But then there started to be spotting in it and then it became full on blood. Then I bled for so many days. It was such a short cycle, it''s like my body didn''t even give itself a chance before the anovulatory bleeding. Something is clearly wrong here.

But the funny thing is I am 27 years old (28 in November) so while I am not "young" I don''t think I''m old enough for a doctor to take seriously (especially since I haven''t TTC yet). Also I have no infertility issues in my family. Most of the woman in my family have 3+ children and my mother had 5. Not saying I can''t be the first but this is such a surprise. I am also at a healthy weight not too heavy or thin.

I plan to try and see a doctor about this but I know that they will just say come back after we''ve TTC for a while. It''s just frustrating because I only started all of this because I wanted to get an early start on things.

As for when we will TTC, DH will be signed on as a permanent employee soon, as soon as the health insurance kicks in, we were going to start trying. It''s just going to be so frustrating to even try when I''m not sure if I will even ovulate...

BTW, DH agrees with you that I should toss my thermometer. I don''t think I could actually do that though. I think I will continue to take the temps and just work on not caring so much about the results.

Anyway thanks so much for your take on things. I really appreciate it.

 

[mia1181]

Oh and Lanie- Thanks I am thinking about OPK''s now and I am going to see if I can get an appointment in for provera before my anovulatory bleeding starts this cycle.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Date: 9/22/2009 11:02:13 PM
Author: Lanie
Fisher...your temps are so high! Or mine are so low! Are you taking them orally or in the vag? I''ve never gotten above 97.7!

Hi Lanie,

There''s a vide variation in a person''s temps. Mine have always been in the 97.5-98.8 ish range prior to ovulation and up over 98 post ovulation. But it''s different for everyone. My pre-ovulation temps are slightly higher now that I''m taking Clomid. I do find it interesting that my temp. is as high as it is, because I''m always cold. Always. Eh, weird things our bodies do, I suppose. I temp. orally.

*****
For what it''s worth regarding charting: the Dr. told me that once you see a regular pattern, it''s pointless. I think it is a good first diagnostic tool that we can use ourselves to see if there''s something wonky going on. And I think it helps Drs. to see that you''re serious and actually have evidence of *something* on paper, instead of being someone who just has ancedotal information to share about your body. I''m supposed to be only OPKing now but I still chart because I still don''t always think the OPKs are being read right. I do only take my temp a few days before ovulation now, and I try to stop after about 6 DPO, to prevent me going nutty. I caved and did it again today... but it was higher, so I was happy. (And yes, I know this means nothing. We used to get so excited here if we had a high temp on a particular day after ovulation... the good ol'' days!!

)

****
Cara, interesting points you make. I remember DD telling us lots of times that charting will only tell you within a day to two days either way that you''ve ovulated. I''d never known that it could be off by three days, though. Wow.

****
Mia, if you have your yearly coming up soon, I''d just let the Dr. know that you''re close to the TTC stage, and you''ve been charting, and you''ve noticed some things... and take it from there. They may want to wait to get you actually charting while TTC prior to doing anything, but what we all start out with is "irregular periods," and that doesn''t have a thing to do with making babies... it''s just about getting regular. I bet they could at least do some basic testing, get some blood work done, an ultrasound, those sorts of things.

Separating from caring about the daily reading of temps. is hard stuff! I''ve eventually gotten better about it, but back in the day, I was obsessed with it and I''d temp several times, to see if it changed, etc. Nutty. Now when I do chart, I just say "eh," log it in, and go on.

This is random, but I''ve always thought that I''d like to keep charting temps so that when pregnancy came, I''d have a full chart to one day show my child. Haha, doubt they''d care to see it, but it seems like it''d be something few others would have, you know? "Wow, that was the making of *me*?" kind of thing... I think that''s why I''m still so tempted to keep temping late in my cycle. Goofy.

Oh another thing, Mia--- the adage about Drs. wanting you to try a year before seeing them if you''re under 35 is misunderstood a lot of times, I believe. That''s if you''re not charting or are oblivious to any *issues.* If you know your cycles are nutty or that you''re likely not ovulating, you don''t have to just wait for a year before you get any help. Some Drs. may be that way, but not all are. And if it''s an insurance issue saying that they won''t pay for any testing unless it''s been a year, that''s silly because having regular cycles is about our health in addition to our baby-making concerns. I''m not sure how it works if you''ve not been off BC for a year, though. Because Drs. do like for a woman to allow her body to sort out after being on hormonal birth control before jumping the gun. But you''ve been off BC for a while now, haven''t you?

Anyway, hoping that this sorts itself out, and if not, that you get the answers you need to TTC happily when you''re ready.

****
Why is it that Provera and Promera are so similar in sound? I get confused by them all the time.

(The rain stopped, the flood waters are receding in the city and surrounding areas; yippee!!! I''ve been doing a LOT of thankful praying today! The SUN came out yesterday. It was glorious!!)

 

[blushingbride]

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! You''re all the BEST!

I had a great day yesterday - my friends at work threw me a party which was fun (love my co-workers, they''re like familiy to me)! We had dinner at the Mr. Chow''s in Tribeca which was delicious! We dined under the stars and the night couldn''t have been more perfect.

Tiffany - wanted to ask you how you were doing?

 

[janinegirly]

happy birthday blushing--that sounds like an awesome dinner, you do have great co-workers, wow!

 

[lovelylulu]

happy birthday blushing (just a little late

) sounds like you had a fantastic day and evening!! it''s going to be so great to have that wonderful trip to sweden to distract you over the tww. can''t wait to hear more about it. seems like such an interesting place.

tiffany - hope that your second dose lowered the levels. thinking of you.

sparklylibra

many congratulations!!

***********************************************

So, I adopted the "festy" approach this cycle and kind of stayed away from this thread after my last cycle was a bust. It was a clomid/IUI with an ovidrel trigger shot. I had ovulated super-early and my lining was sub-par, so I wasn''t exactly surprised with a negative. just a little spent.

my husband and I are currently in the process of buying a new house/moving and selling our current apartment, so life is a little crazy. I decided to take this month off the meds. I want to do an additional IUI(s), but I''m now interested in getting off the clomid (thin lining issue) and perhaps going the injectible route. However, I haven''t had enough time to sort it all out, so we''re just going to try the old fashioned way this month until things calm down a bit.

sorry for the ramble. but thinking of you all!!

 

[Laila619]

You cannot get pregnant on your period unless you are a super early ovulater. Example: you had sex on CD 6 which was the last day of your period. You ovulate on CD 9.

You cannot get pregnant when your period is due. That would be after you''ve already ovulated.

It is possible to have a temp shift but not actually release an egg. What happens is the egg gets stuck, and never ruptures out of the ovary.

 

[cara]

Laila, I was wondering how to get the temp shift with no egg! That makes some sense. For the rest, some of those statistics are from this article.

You can get pregnant during your period if you *happen* to ovulate early one month, and even women who think they are 'regular' occasionally have a month outside of their norm. Look at Lulu- she ovulated on CD8, the fertile window is 6 days (5days before ovulation through ovulation day). Pregnant from sex during your period is not exactly common, but possible. I know this is a TTC thread so we are concerned with maximizing odds and less concerned with long odds, but if you are talking about what is possible then long odds need to be considered.

Same things with getting pregnant on the day you expect your period - only if you ovulated on your normal time that month are you infertile when you expect your period - one of the finding was that 'Women cannot predict a sporadic late ovulation; 4-6% of women whose cycles had not yet resumed were potentially fertile in the fifth week of their cycle.' Remember, many women are just counting days they are not using an additional method to confirm ovulation. Counting days is unreliable as even women who consider themselves regular occasionally are irregular.

Fisher, for what its worth, I think the way you are using temps right now may be all they are good for. You are using OPKs to precisely monitor for ovulation prediction, and temps just to check if you happen to have missed the surge or check that things are still roughly on track. And you show a biphasic temp shift. I think that is what the studies drove home - temp is an imprecise indicator of ovulation but a rough guide to what is going on for women that show the shift.

One other thing you may be interested in is that in the study above, the pregnancy rate per cycle was similar for late ovulation cycles (22% for ovulation after CD21) as the rate overall (21% per cycle). This study did kick out any couple with a known fertility issue, so it may not be generally applicable to couples that take longer to conceive, but there it is.

Anywho, too much access to pubmed late at night

.

LovelyLL, sorry this month didn't work out for you. But after a month of regular trying you do have a plan! And good luck with the house, that is such good news!

Blushing, is your birthday the equinox? How exciting!

Swimmer, so glad it was just a scare! Will the scar present any issues going forward? Um, your ute is going to have to get a lot bigger!

 

[Lanie]

Cara...this is all so interesting! Can you repost the link? It asks for a password to get in.

 

[cara]

Oooh, sorry, I thought the abstract at least would be available to all but maybe the whole thing is restricted. If you have access to academic journals, its AJ Wilcox, et al. "The timing of the "fertile window" in the menstrual cycle: day specific estimates from a prospective study" BMJ 2000;321:1259-1262 (18 November).

I looked at other papers too, but in the one above they analyzed ~700 cycles in 221 women planning pregnancy by looking at first morning urine samples and logs of menstruation and intercourse and subsequent pregnancy/birth. Ovulation occurred as early as CD8 and as late as CD60; at least 10% of women with regular cycles were in their fertile window between CD6 and CD21. Even for 28 day cycles, ovulation varied from CD 10 to CD 22. There''s more, but basically beware calendar-based rhythm methods for contraception! And the fertile window timing is variable, even for women that report regular cycles.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Interesting insights from that article. Interesting indeed.

Who knew that late ovulation could have such high success? I guess that maybe the stats get a little messed up because late ovulation typically means fewer cycles per year. Eh, who knows.

Thanks for posting that information, Cara!

****
So, went to the chiro today. I was surprised by all the measurements and exercises they have a person to do. My favorite: the scale that weighs your left side AND your right side, to see which side carries more weight, and if you're balanced. I wasn't balanced, but after the adjustment, I was only 1 lb heavier on the right as compared to the 9 before the adjustment. Crazy things... Never knew that happened!

Anyway, I got this packet on all the vertebrae and what they control through the nerve endings in your body. So, I was misaligned at T9, and guess what? That partially controls the ovary, and the central nervous system's signaling power from the ovary to the brain (which is exactly what my Dr. said the clomid was for, to create a stronger signal between the ovary and brain. INTERESTING!), along with the adrenal glands, which also have all this reproductive hormone action going on. I've carried a lot of tension in my lower back for years (I account most of it to my heavier days in my childhood and adolescence) and this was WAY jacked up. My right hip is lifted up and twisted a little, so this also has effects on the reproductive system. Anyway, the adjustment was NOT painful in the slightest, but I was very tense throughout. Hopefully that will be better in the future because the less tense you are, the more beneficial each adjustment is. Extra bonus: it's supposed to help with stress, and come on, who's not a little stressed out during TTC?

It will be interesting to see what effects this has... supposedly, I should be going to the bathroom much more often than I do, and this should start to happen as I get further adjustments. (I already am on a good diet, so it's not about that so much.) And I should sleep better, which I'm looking forward to! I wake up SO many times a night, have never been a sound sleeper. I hope to see that change tonight!

Anyway, just a highlight of the experience for anyone who's considering incorporating chiropractic care with their TTC measures.

****
Lulu,

Good to see you around here... hoping great things for you, as always!

(Have any more stellar pictures to share?)

 

[Laila619]

Regarding temps...

I have read from multiple different sources that if your temp is consistently lower than 97.5 upon waking, that it could possibly be a sign of underactive thyroid. Once in a while is ok of course, but all the time might be cause for concern.

 

[Lanie]

Date: 9/23/2009 10:45:09 PM
Author: Laila619
Regarding temps...

I have read from multiple different sources that if your temp is consistently lower than 97.5 upon waking, that it could possibly be a sign of underactive thyroid. Once in a while is ok of course, but all the time might be cause for concern.

I hope not! I just had my thyroid levels tested and it was okay. Is that vaginally? I started taking mine vaginally and they are way higher this go around!

 

[blushingbride]

Hi Ladies!

Just wanted to drop in one more time before leaving for Sweden! Thanks again, for all the birthday wishes! Now I officially feel OLD!

Lovely - you know that I''m one of your biggest fans - it WILL happen for you (just like it will for all of us)! At least you have a nice distraction right now with moving to your beautiful new house (so jealous)! I wish you a quick and easy move and all the best in trying to decide the next steps in this crazy TTC journey. Question for you - were you on clomid this past cycle? I''m assuming not since you ovulated so early, but I can''t remember. I definitely agree that if you have a lining issue, clomid isn''t the best thing. Isn''t Femara supposed to be better for that?

Cara - yes my birthday is on the cusp for the seasons and signs. I''m technically a virgo, but also have traits of a Libra!

I''ll be thinking of you all!

 

[lovelylulu]

thanks blushing. the feelings are completely mutual

and oddly, I was on clomid. 50mg, day 3-7. strange. currently, I''m on CD10 with no drugs and no ovulation in sight.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 9/24/2009 8:47:44 AM
Author: Lanie

Date: 9/23/2009 10:45:09 PM
Author: Laila619
Regarding temps...

I have read from multiple different sources that if your temp is consistently lower than 97.5 upon waking, that it could possibly be a sign of underactive thyroid. Once in a while is ok of course, but all the time might be cause for concern.

I hope not! I just had my thyroid levels tested and it was okay. Is that vaginally? I started taking mine vaginally and they are way higher this go around!

This makes me think you may have been a mouth breather

That can lower the temps and also make them innaccurate. I am very curious to see what happens this cycle with your chart!

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

Hi Ladies!

I havent posted on pricescope since my hubby & I married last year (cant believe its been a year already!). I have been lurking for a while following your stories and just wanted to say hello and wish you all lots of luck!!

My husband and I have been TTC since June 09 but so far BFN! I''ve been using BBT & OPK''s but after getting off BCP in March 09 its taking my body much longer to get back to normal unfortunatly! Im waiting for my FSH/E2 results & hubby has his SA test next week. Hoping all goes well.

Anyways just wanted to say hi and come out of hiding! hehe!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Welcome Lucy! Hope your cycles even out soon... coming off BC can be a rough ride for TTCing. Hoping your tests and hubby's come back wonderful!

****
Long post, and I apologize but I'm a little confused by the Dr. visit today.....

So, had my Dr. appt. today and got some sad news; my Dr. is out on permanent medical leave, of course due to HIPAA and confidentiality issues, they couldn’t disclose anything, but did state it was a very sad situation. I just saw the Dr. in June and it just really hits home how very, very fast life can change. Just like that. Wow. It blew me away. We’d not been to see him often (just started treatment in March), but both Paul and I felt very comfortable with him, and with his approach (laidback).

I met with the new Dr., a female. I liked the previous doctor a lot, but I was hoping for a female when I first chose this practice. She wanted to get my full history in my words again, because Dr. scribble is hard to read. So I told her the whole thing, off the pill since 1/2008, started TTC 6/2008, started charting, saw (from charting) that I was ovulating, but way late in the game, and March 09 came to see the previous Dr. He looked at my charts, did CD3 blood work, and started me on Clomid 50mg. Paul did his SA, great results.

I told her I’d never been referred for 7DPO testing and I’d made an appt. today to get that. She asked when I had started this cycle and I told her and she said I was too far into my cycle to have 7DPO testing, stating it should have been done on CD21 of my cycle. I explained that I didn’t ovulate on CD14, but on CD17, and today is 7DPO. She said she’d still do the progesterone test, but my numbers will likely be low because I missed the peak. I was annoyed because I know that today is (relatively close) to 7DPO based on charting, OPK, and CM. She said on Clomid, I should ovulate closer to CD14, and I may need to up my dose. I mean, it's only *three days* difference.

The good news is that she’s very thorough and seems to think Paul and I have lots of options before we’re sent to an RE. (I know a lot of couples want to get there faster, but we don’t want to be pressured that way.)

Game plan now is that she wants to up the Clomid to 100 mg, which is weird since previous Dr. said 50mg was fine, since I was ovulating much earlier than I previously had on it. She said that 100mg could further improve the quality of the egg being created, and since I have a slightly elevated FSH, that could be one factor that’s effecting the creation of our baby. She asked if I was having any adverse side effects from Clomid and I’m not, so she said that we should at least try the 100mg dose. I asked about the increased chance of twins and she said that 100mg is as high as she goes, because of that risk, and stated that 100mg has 8-18% chance of twins. 18% seems pretty high to me, but I just have to remember we’ll end up with the number of children we’re supposed to have, in the grand scheme of things. She also said (again) that CD17 is a little late to ovulate on Clomid, so increasing it could help with that. Vote’s still out on whether or not we’ll increase it… hoping we won’t need to because a baby’s coming in June! Any thoughts on the validity of upping the Clomid when I already am ovulating on 50mg?

She also said that my weight and FSH being slightly higher than average could be a reason to look at starting Glucophage, in case I have any mild PCOS issues. I don’t think I have PCOS and I thought that ultrasound and blood work coupled together would show that, but she said I could have certain components of the diagnosis and not have the actual diagnosis. I didn’t get a clear understanding of what the Glucophage medication does, other than work with the hormones… and I’d take it daily. I *think* Swimmer took glucophage; what was it for?

So, I go back on 10/6 (which would be CD3 of my new cycle unless my baby’s growing right now) and do an ultrasound, endometrial biopsy (to check lining she said… anyone heard of this??) and get a prescription for the HSG, which will have to be done at the hospital. She said they may do blood work again, too. In the future, she said we may need to do a post coital test where my mucus is checked after we’ve BD’ed to see if my CM is “attacking” the swimmers.

All in all, she said that we have about 5 months to continue looking at options to get this baby here in the most “natural” way possible before going the RE route. I feel a lot better about that…

 

[E B]

Date: 9/25/2009 6:37:52 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
She said that 100mg could further improve the quality of the egg being created

Fish,

My OBGYN said the same thing, but my RE disagreed. He said Clomid has no impact on the overall health of an egg, but perhaps she meant earlier ovulation = better quality egg? Either way, O on CD 17 doesn't seem late enough to be worried about that. I'm no expert (far from it) but upping the dose seems like it'd only a) cause more eggs to be released and/or b) increase the risk of 'anti-estrogenic' side effects. Definitely something to look into- perhaps get a second opinion?

Also, somewhat related: When I was doing Clomid research while TTC, I kept reading that it isn't recommended past six cycles (in a row or total, I'm not sure). Did she mention anything about that?

Fingers crossed none of the above matters because you're already growing a bean!

 

[cara]

Ooh Fisher, I''m sorry about losing your dr and having an unsettling visit with the new one. This sounds like one of those doctor visits where, being a non-expert, its really hard to determine how much evidence is behind your doctors recommendations, how much is hunch maybe backed by experience, and how much is just a complete guess/blowing smoke.

The endometrial biopsy is, I think, to look for evidence of fibroids. I seem to remember that this was one of the examples of things that used to be done to properly diagnose unexplained fertility, where now it is often just skipped and people are started on the clomid/IUI/IVF train to baby. You should ask.

Can''t help on the PCOS/glucodrug.

Have you already done 5 clomid cycles at lower dose? I think I would sit down and think seriously about how well prepared you are health and otherwise for a twin pregnancy if the doc is giving you odds over 10% with a higher dose. Maybe its just me, but saying you''ll end up with the number of kids you are supposed to is a little too close to Jon and Kate or Octomom. I''m sure they love their kids, but lets use our human brains when messing with making babies - both the usual way and unusual ways! (Not that clomid --> sextuplets or anything! Just be prepared for the 18% twins if the doc is warning you.) on the clomid, the dose you are on now is a flat dose and not scaled for body weight, correct? So if you are larger than average, are you really getting a proportionally lower dose than a tiny woman? Being larger than average size myself, that might make me lean toward a higher dose. Second thought is the ovulation timing. Certainly for an unmedicated cycle ovulation on CD17 is no problem. But if for a medicated cycle, if you are ovulating 3 days after expected, maybe there is some element you not responding to the low-dose clomid enough to move the ovulation to the day expected. However, now I am trying to remember what is normal for other women on clomid - are clomid cycles supposed to have ovulation on CD14 or is ovulation somewhat delayed?

Last thought- I know you want a pregnancy with the most natural route possible, but it might be more a matter of finding the right doctor than what their specialty is. Yes, going to an RE and then saying you want the least intervention possible might be backwards (and you might have to try one or two to find one that matches your style) but the advantage to an RE is that this is what they do. So if any doctor is going to know their stuff and have researched clomid and the glucophage and what not (and hopefully be able to give you confidence in their answers), it would be an RE. Since you had a good feeling with your old doctor it made sense to stay with him for a while, but if you have to adapt to a new one and don''t feel great about this woman, maybe trying to find an RE willing to go slow with you might an option?

 

[nycbkgirl]

Hey FISHER!...

just wanted to chime in on the glucophage/metformin....it is a medication generally used for diabetics and those with pcos....i wouldnt just take it to take it ...i was put on it bc of my family history (lots of diabetes and pcos) and i had some cysts on ovaries as well. there is also a test done to determine whether u are actually insulin resistant or not...i would visit internist and ask ob again to explain this to u...there arent any ovarian cysts? and just bc u are "slightly" overweight doesnt mean u have pcos and need to be on meds! she should have told u to lose weight instead of taking meds

(not that im tellin u to lose weight lol...but my doc did say that i needed to be in the process of losing weight..meaning if i was actively losing that was what he wanted...5 lbs etc) and again bc of family bkrnd.

i wish u luck and all the best!!!!!!

 

[Laila619]

Fisher, my doctor recommended an endometiral biopsy for me too. He said it would determine 1) whether my lining would be able to support a baby, 2) whether it''s thick enough and healthy, and 3) if I really have ovulated.

I don''t know how accurate those statements are, but that''s why he says he recommends them. In my case I have spotting during the 2ww all the time, so he said I should get one.

 

[swimmer]

Morning Fisher,
Hm, a biopsy when they haven't been doing regular u/s to track your cycle? Seems a bit invasive when they have yet to really monitor you.

I understand that it is hard to make that jump to the Reproductive Endocrinologist, but as Ebree and Cara pointed out, the REs are really experts in the project of getting folks preggo. My RE said the same thing, clomid doesn't make the egg better, just gets it out there before it starts to decline in quality. Probably she was oversimplifying just to make it easier to understand...but it seems like her tactic is to just throw stuff at the situation and see if something sticks (pun intended). I could be totally wrong here...

Metformin/Glucophage is my best friend. If I could only take one thing to a desert island... But haven't you had your bloodwork done on several occasions? Hormone levels change constantly so a one time only test might not catch the full picture, but if you have done the fasting glucose test and the hormone panels they should know about your hormone/glucose levels enough to say if you should be on it or not. Do you have sugar issues, I remember you have said that you had some pcos symptoms, but not others. The PCOS thread on here somewhere has a quiz and all that, but some of those symptoms are thyroid related, an entirely different kettle of fish.

Glucophage decreases the absorption of dietary carbohydrates through the intestines and it reduces the production of glucose by the liver. The liver uses the raw material in your food to create a reserve supply of blood sugar. When your body experiences stress, the liver releases the reserve glucose to supply your brain and muscles with an immediate source of energy to cope with the stress. Glucophage suppresses the production of this reserve fuel.
Most importantly, glucophage increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin. Insulin is the hormone that delivers glucose into your cells to be burned as fuel, or stored as you know what. Women with PCOS frequently have insulin resistance, a condition where excessive amounts of insulin are required in order to get blood glucose moved into cells, where it belongs. Glucophage helps your body to transport glucose with relatively less insulin, thus lowering your insulin levels. High levels of either glucose or insulin in your blood contributes to obesity, heart disease, infertility, and certain cancers, as well as the development of diabetes.

I was never "pre-diabetic" and have always been really fit, bmi is normal etc, but my migraines stopped, the head rushes stopped, and I generally feel better when taking it. Also Glucophage helps prevent early miscarriage, so I'm taking it till 12 weeks. Back in the day regular OB/GYN was sort of sure that I had pcos, but sent me to an RE to make sure. I know it seems like a big jump to go to a specialist, but they just have more education about exactly the situation you are in. I had to call my old ob for a referral to the obstetrician I'm going to see in a few weeks and he was really sweet. He told me that it was great that I went to a fertility specialist as he would have never have thought to put me on the meds that did get me here. His protocol would have been to keep trying clomid at higher and higher dosages, so I would have had no lining, and no monitoring to see that the entire experiment was doomed to fail.

Just a word on statistics. The treatment I was on gave me a 40% chance of twins. That meant a 60% chance of a singleton, which is the current situation. I have been thinking about statistics a great deal as we research which prenatal tests to take, people who get a result of 1 in 165 chance of downs syndrome see that as a firm "yes, your child will have downs" diagnosis, but I read that as a less than 1% chance. Would you be happy with an 18% as a grade? It really isn't very high. 18% chance of rain means a sunny day with puffy clouds. Dosage and size is a great point Cara. I started out on clomid at 100 because I am 5'10 and weigh 160. That was the lowest dosage the RE felt would cause ovulation. There are other medications out there. I only got up to the 40% chance because of the combination of three fertility meds I took together, not including metformin. fwiw, I would be distraught to get a 40% on a test...

Good luck Fisher

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I talked to Paul, not that he's a Dr, but because we've both agreed to stay on the same page, and we'll be staying with the 50mg Clomid for now. *Unless* my 7DPO shows concerns that my ovulation hasn't been strong enough (we'll get that result on Monday). Progesterone, I believe, is the only thing that was being tested. At any rate, they only took one tube of blood this time. Re: weight in correlation to strength/doseage of a medication-- That makes sense, itty bitty Peony would likely have a MUCH higher strength of 50mgs of the med running through her body as opposed to me. Interesting. Hadn't thought about that. I'm not fat--some may say I am, but I don't, I used to be fat and I know what truly fat is, I'm just not a stick figure that's falsely considered the norm or healthy in our society. Still, based on OPKs, CM, and temp shifts (and hopefully the progesterone results), it certainly appears that I'm ovulating just fine on the Clomid. Also, because I ovulated every cycle prior to Clomid, allbeit late, it makes sense for us to continue with the 50mg. IF the blood work shows otherwise, we'll re-evaluate.

Glucophage is something she said they could look at in the future; it's not something I've been prescribed at this time. I don't have any reason to think I'd benefit from that at this time. My insulin and thyroid levels have always been well within normal ranges, I have no family history of any issues in that area, and I'm not about to just take medications on a "let's see" theory.

The biopsy... she said that an ultrasound gives you an *idea* of how your lining is doing, but the biopsy shows without any question. I'm not sure what all is involved in the procedure, but I will research and I don't want to do it, I won't. I was happy to know that there are many more things that can be done prior to going to an RE, however, and I feel that the more information we can gather, the better.

Cara, when I said the number of kids we're supposed to have is what we'll have, I wasn't in any way saying I wanted to get pumped full of meds, produce multiple eggs and then have quads. What I meant was that we believe that children only come into this world if they're meant to, and in the order they're meant to... and so, I'm trying to not stress about what's *wrong* with me and just start on some crazy amount of medications in attempt to create a child, because ultimately, I can't control whether or not I have a baby. I can get information and learn about options in assisting my body in being properly set up to grow a baby, however. ETA: regarding more testing used to be done before jumping to Clomid-- this Dr. is of that school of thought and said I would have had the HSG, biopsy and SA for Paul all prior to starting Clomid under her care. Maybe that's why she's so gung-ho to get all these tests done right away.

Ebree, this is my 5th cycle on Clomid. I took a break in June and the Dr. said that when you take a break (it was only one cycle, but almost 2 months), it allows you to take the medication for a certain number of additional cycles (which varies, based on the Dr. you talk to). We may take off October because of a trip I'm taking, or we may take off December because I go through phases where this TTC business is just a little bit more difficult for me emotionally, and that tends to be around Christmas holidays (read: a lot of extended family time).

Swimmer, thanks for all the information the glucophage, I did some net searches on it last night and I'm not sure the side effects are worth it, particularly when my blood tests have shown no issues in that area at all. I go back on my next CD3 (or for a first medical confirmation of pregnancy!) and they'll likely do that same battery of blood work again. I had testing done in 2006 at the OB/GYN because of my wonky cycles then (prior to going on BC), and then again 3/09. Same results as the first time around.

I do like this Dr. okay; I think the appt. was so weird for me because I wasn't expecting the news of my previuos Dr. obviously going through a serious life change, and I was emotional over that to begin with. Then the confusion over the bloodwork... She, for whatever reason, thinks on Clomid, a person should ovulate on CD14. She was very good at explaining everything, but it was a lot to take in. She wasn't rushed, it was just more than I could process all at once. She wrote notes and drew diagrams and made lists of the next steps, the things necessary for successful conception, the aspects of those steps that we've already confirmed are in line and the ones that are yet to be looked at. I brought the notes home with me and Paul and I've been looking over them and we're glad that we have that information.

But I also want the opportunity to take this in *our* time and not be given meds we don't want, or that aren't necessary. I think this Dr. is more willing to do extra testing prior to RE, which we're thankful for (we won't be covered under insurance once we go to an RE, and more importantly, too many friends who have the same take on conception as we do have told us of the extreme pressure that is received once you get to that point to jump into injectibles, and IVF), but I think that our previous Dr. was more laidback, which was good for us. But, maybe this Dr. thinks we're fed up and ready to just jump into everything... lots of couples at our stage are at that point.

I'm going to feel her out again next visit and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help with processing the visit, though. My first thought when I left was wondering what Swimmer and Tiffany and the others who've been here would think or have to suggest. PS on the brain, I suppose.

 

[cara]

Fisher, sorry I totally misread your sentence, I thought the *doctor* said the thing about taking the long view on multiples. Perfectly good way for you to think about it (if taking moderate risks), not so good for doctor in charge of interventions!

And I forgot the $$$ factor on the RE - yikes! Yes, all the tests you can while under insurance. Good luck, glad you and your husband have a plan that you are happy with. (On the size thing, I think its just a volume issue not a society perception issue - other drugs are sometimes prescribed per kilo of body weight. Not an expert on that either, just a thought!)

Swimmer, any word on your 60/40 odds outcome? Inquiring minds...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Fisher My very first thought on all of this is to start seeing the RE now. I say this because I know this is emotional for you -- for anyone! -- and I worry that seeing a doctor who is not exclusively dedicated to the science of fertility could juts prolong the whole thing. Unfortunately, doctors are people too and are fallible and they do not always now the most up to date methods when they are not experts in a particular discipline. There is a reason you see a heart specialist for heart problems, KWIM? If I were you, I would go see the RE and I would say, "Look we want help, but we will NEVER use procedure x, y, or z for various personal reasons. Please help us as much as you can but please do not pressure us abvout those procedures. We know that you may think our odds are lower without them, but we do not care. That is our position." And then see how he/she responds. There are lots of REs out there, I am sure some will understand your position and will work within your comfort level. My main concern about staying longer with a non-specialist is that they may suggest things that in the longer run do more harm than good because they are following protocols that are not tailored to you or perhaps based on the up to the minute research.

Just my thoughts! I know there must be such difficult decisions, whatever you decide is the best for you guys.

 

[Lanie]

Hi lucy.lucy.80!

Wishing you a BFP soon!!!

One of my friends is 4 months (ish) pregnant, and she doesn''t what to know the sex. One of my friends said she knows it''s a girl because of the way she''s carrying it. I had always heard that, but isn''t that just an old wives'' tale? And what is the saying supposed to be...the lower you carry, it''s a boy? Girl? I can''t remember!

 

[AllieLuv83]

Date: 9/23/2009 10:45:09 PM
Author: Laila619
Regarding temps...


I have read from multiple different sources that if your temp is consistently lower than 97.5 upon waking, that it could possibly be a sign of underactive thyroid. Once in a while is ok of course, but all the time might be cause for concern.

Thats crazy...my temps are always like 96.6-97.2 I have been suspecting that I might have hypothyrodism but now maybe I really need to have that looked at.

 

[AllieLuv83]

So I just used two different basal body thermometers...one gave me a temperture that was 97.80 and one gave me a temp of 98.02 not a huge difference but a difference none the less. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Puppmom]

That seems like a big difference in BBT to me. I don''t think it''s the actual BBT that matters so much as the pre-O vs post-O difference. So, using the same thermometer the whole cycle is important.

I''m a little worried about my temps. Pre-O I range from 97-97.3 and post-O from 97.45-97.65. Although, I was sick with a cold pre-O and waking up 30-60 minutes late everyday so maybe my pre-O temps are lower that than. It''s my first cycle charting so I''ll keep my eyes peeled for the same pattern next month.

This stuff is confusing! What I was really looking for was to predict O with OPK and confirm O with temps.

With all this said, I''ve seen some WHACKY charts that result in pregnancy.