<3 <3 LOTS OF LOVE & BFPS <3 <3 February Testing Thread

[terripeachy]

ERose-I feel exactly the same way, and what if I forgot that I did that the day before, and then it was the weekend and I heard my alarm, jumped up and tested orally?! HA!!HA!! Zoinks!

Wish-I'm sorry your appointment with the doctor didn't go as well as you planned. Hopefully now she'll get on the ball and send you to an OB. I feel bad for strongly suggesting you go see her, but now at least you know how she feels about the situation. No one cares about your body as much as you do.

I had my appointment today and asked the doc about bloodwork before poking around in my tubes, and she said that as long as I have been getting bloodwork done at my regular doctor and nothing is medically wrong, 'she hasn't found that bloodwork has been a reason for people not getting pregnant, honestly.' I don't want to waste the insurance money getting bloodwork, so she said she'll blow out my tubes (ha ha), and make sure all is well. I asked if we can make babies prior to the exam, and she said 'yeah if you use a condom.' No thanks. I's married now! Condoms are NOT in my future. So tentatively it'll be scheduled for the 21st. Initially she said 'Let's wait two months and then we'll schedule the HSG' (which I was going to suggest not waiting that long), but after our conversation she said 'If your period is here on the 15th, 16th, let's schedule it for the 21st unless you're pregnant.' Score!! So, I can do my Valentine's BD, hope for AF and call it a week! Then we can BD like rabbits for a successful tube race!

 

[Katie Potatie]

Wish, okay this is making lots more sense to me now, so thank you for the long explanation. I'm sure you are right about the RE...they stopped at AMH and morph and figured from their medical perspective that nothing else mattered if you had to go straight to IVF. But since you don't feel comfortable going that route, it's a shame you have to go through this much rigmarole to get some additional testing done. You are the patient and the fact is, insurance probably won't do a lot to cover the tests anyway (as most dont seem to cover infertility stuff), so it would be you paying the lion's share anyway and not an insurance issue.

Have you researched things to help improve the AMH and morph?

 

[Kira_star]

I keep thinking I am feeling early pregnancy signs like being tired, dry skin, heart burn and a sore throat.

But then again I just could be tired cause we went swimming for two hours. And the heartburn could just be my reflux playing up grrr.

Sometimes I think it's all in my head I just want this so bad!!!

 

[Lyvid]

Terri you crack me up! I was considering the alternate temping method but not after what you suggested, that would be my luck!

You don't know it but catching up on this thread has cheered me up immensely! So much to comment on and no way I can do it justice:

Runners - you ladies are amazing! No way I could see myself doing a marathon (although those medals are pretty shiny....) DH and I did a 5k a few years ago and that was tough for me

Cloth diaperers - Me too! I love it! We use pockets and it's so easy and saved us a bunch of money too! I'm sad my almost 2yo is potty training (his request) as they are such cute designs.

Melinda, so sorry

Terri, one thing I remember most about my pg was lack of sleep and I'm a side sleeper which works fine when pg. It was getting up to pee a lot in the beginning, then super uncomfy the last few months, so don't worry you prob won't sleep well anyway! but you won't care, too much.

POAS addicts - i started at 4dpo IC's make it easy and cheap. i think mine were .40 each when you break it down and i have a short lp so i use less than 10.

Wish, so sorry your appt was so negative. Hopefully you get referred to an OB who is helpful soon.

One weird tip for you all, stop eating peas. When TTC my DS I read a bunch of fertility books and found that tip in one of them (not a total crackpot book either it had a bunch of the usual advice too.) Apparently they act as a contraceptive if you eat enough! DH and i both love them and had them easily 4 times a week. We stopped eating them and got our BFP 6 weeks later. Passed the tip on to another couple who was struggling and they too were pg in 6 weeks. Could be happenstance but we aren't eating peas this time around lol!

AFM - Been dealing with a sick 2yo all week. Bad cough and stuffy nose which meant he wasn't sleeping well so no one was! I got an evap on 8dpo (woke up at 4am and decided to test since it was easier without a 2yo around but couldn't stay awake to read results and at 9am there was a shadow of a line. even DH saw it and I got my hopes up) but no go as AF got me just before starting this post.

 

[Radkat]

Wish - Sorry for the frustrating appointment. Time to become the squeaky wheel re: that ob/gyn referral, if you think that you dr is not giving it top priority. Re: progesterone... You could get some progesterone cream and see if that lengthens your LP. Here's a good site. She has some YouTube videos that talks about how to use the cream. I know you're supposed to talk to your doctor about everything, but it's your body and if you feel like this is what's going on for you, give it a go. My understanding is that it can't hurt you as it's bioidentical to our progesterone. Just a thought...
https://natural-fertility-info.com/progesterone-fertility-guide

Katie - Ha. I'm weird I like the taste of ACV, put it in some water and drink it down. I also like those kombucha teas and all things vinegary.

Terri - Sounds like good news with your dr's appt.

Kira - It's easy to symptom spot. Hang in there.

Lyvid - I've heard the thing about peas. Weird. Boo to the sneaky test. That's happened to me where I pull a test out of the trash and see a line. My tests say that the results are invalid after 5 minutes. Easy to get excited though. Sorry about AF. CD kids potty train earlier, I've heard. It's a perk, except for missing the cute designs. Hope your LO feels better.

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[Blueshoney]

Melinda- I'm so sorry.
Terri-Your doctor sounds so nice and helpful!
Wish-Wow I can't believe how dismissive doctors have been with you. I have been drinking raspberry tea to increase my fertility. I have read that is helps prepare the body for pregnancy.

AFM-Just trying to be patient as I'm in my TWW. FF only gave me a dotted crosshairs. I hope I ovulated when it said I did, because the bding was great. I thought I O'd on Sunday vs the Friday they stated but who knows right? The other strange thing is my boobs always hurt after I O'd but so far no boobie pain.

 

[ttcinseattle]

Wish, I am so sorry about your frustrating appointment. You had me tearing up in frustration with you. I would be on the phone with her office every morning until you get an OB referral out of her. The nurses or front desk staff will get sick of you quickly and get one out of her for you. You clearly need to speak to someone more interested than she is, but less intense than the RE so that you can get the kind of care you and your DH are looking for based on your beliefs.

I just started googling after reading your post. You've probably read this, but if not I figured it was worth sharing with you: https://community.babycenter.com/post/a42862330/low_amh_16_and_pregnant_naturally
In the first handful of comments there seemed to be a number of recent pregnancies, so maybe this woman was really onto something!

I also totally disagree with your doc about the progesterone, and a little progesterone help can't hurt anything even if you aren't really low. I used Emerita brand bioidentical progesterone following my CP. I can't say for sure that it helped me get my BFP, but it definitely didn't hurt - and no prescription necessary.

Lastly, I just wanted to share the story of a friend who has been trying with her husband for 10 years. Granted, he's Navy, so there are some pretty big gaps in those 10 years, but still a long time to be giving it the ol' college try. On his latest leave he told her he thought they needed to start looking into adoption. She told him that she understood what he was saying but that she honestly felt God was going to bless them with their own child first and that they needed to wait. Two months later they were finally pregnant. I'm not personally a believer, but I still think it's an amazing story and might bring you some hope. I'm sure that you're very deserving, and one way or another you and your DH will get your LO!

 

[Sis4Us]

Wish it's very frustrating when u can't get help when u KNOW U need it!!

Terri... I've never heard of getting the HSG b4 Bloodwork hope U don't need it!!

Kira .... Symptom spotting will drive u Insane find a Hobby Quick

My BBT Thermometer is in the Water Closet so if I stuck it in my Mouth while on the Toilet I must be sleep walking or the Boys finally pushed me over the Edge !!!

Hope everyone else is Ready Tom. Is Friday !!!!! Yay
Testing will start in 48 hrs and counting

 

[Lyvid]

Sis, that looks like a nice implantation dip today, looking forward to the testing! Sadly I'm out, AF got me early.

 

[Esperanza1000]

Just testing my sig..

 

[Esperanza1000]

Sorry to hear that Lyvid

Sis your chart is looking good, fx for a bfp

Terri - Im glad your appointment went well. Your doctor sounds really nice.

Wish - sorry to hear the full story is quite difficult. Keep the faith. I agree with others that you will find someone else better, who understands your needs and beliefs.

Kira - I agree, you've got to get a hobby or you'll go insane

Katie - I'm glad you related to the optimism. Life's too short to spend it feeling sorry for ourselves. That's not to say we can't commiserate and empathise cos when there's a loss it sucks. But we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, try all over again

And at the risk of sounding trite, I've been trying to remind myself that I'm in a lucky position to be ttc at all. There are so many single ladies out there our age who would love to be in our position and have a supportive partner.

They say there's no joy in life without conscious attempts at gratitude, so I am trying to be grateful for this every day. Which isn't to say its easy!!

Afm - I just updated my mood to Good, because I was feeling pretty good today. But it made the lines go dotted because of course a cheerful woman 2 days before AF is unheard of LOL. Then I realised its probably just cos its Friday and the weekend is here! Haha

 

[oldermom1975]

Sis, that looks like a nice implantation dip today, looking forward to the testing! Sadly I'm out, AF got me early.

Ugh, sorry Lyvid! That sucks!

Finally back from dr appointment...
My doctor said to me that she did some research on progesterone levels and she could not find anything that stated that spotting before AF was a sign of low progesterone - so she wasn't going to give me any progesterone only if I could not maintain a pregnancy... (never seen a BFP in the 10 months of trying)
she also said just keep taking your supplements...(I felt at any moment she was going to pat me on the head and send me back to whereever I came from)

she also said she wasn't going to prescribe clomid and that she would look at my list of OB/GYN's approved by my insurance to see who she thought I should go to (she was supposed to do that two weeks ago)...

seriously I thought I was going to breakdown right there in the examining room... I thought there would be progress made... we have stepped backwards... I just wonder how long it will be before i get a referral for this OB/GYN... it could very well be months from now... and I will have to explain this whole story all over again and just hope they will do a test - ANY test...

thanks for letting me vent... I am sad... but I will just keep taking my supplements... and with my hubby... I just love him so much and wish I could give him that LO he wants... like eveyone else here!!

sorry for this long post ladies!!!

Katie
This is my regular doctor - I have had her for 15 years... I do actually like her...
last year she referred me to an FE here in town (the only one my insurance covers in the entire state) and he met with my husband and I and took blood from me the first day we were there... He did an AMH test (and a bunch of others I assume - although I didn't hear about anything else) and the nurse called me a couple days later and said they wanted me to come in on day 2 of my cycle for more blood work because my AMH was .18

so I went back and had day 2 blood work done - he called me in and said my amh was .38 on this test... my score was 5 - which means that he didn't think I would respond to the stims in IVF... I have the results at home - but the only number that was low was the AMH... everything else (FSH,etc) was in normal ranges for my age...but the FE said that my husband and I should go straight to IVF and use donor eggs...

obviously I was in shock and we hadn't even done my DH SA at this point...well a couple weeks later the SA was done - my husband numbers (best I can recall) were 260 million, 40% motility, 0% morph.... the nurse told me in the waiting room in front of other patients too...that the results were fine (didn't give me the numbers then) and set us up for an IVF consult...

so my husband and I go in for IVF consult - again the FE is pushing for IVF with donor eggs ... which my DH and decided was not for us... and then he actually gave us the numbers of the SA... and said we would not get preggo on our own due to AMh/morph issues and his options to us were IVF (he would try with my own eggs but gave us no hope) or IVF with donor eggs or IUI with artifical insemination(not much hope there either)
so we left without signing anything... upset at how the FE handled things... we wanted to talk about limiting the number of embroyos - not freezing anything... because of our personal beliefs...but he wouldn't talk that... told us that donor eggs was actually in the Bible huh??? anyway... hubby was upset...and we talked and talked and decided no fertility treatments... we would try supplements and pray that God gives us a miracle

the only reason I went back to my dr - is that after reading 100's stories on here (and the internet) I thought maybe my progesterone was low (and my hormones are off with 23 day cycles)
and maybe I could get those regulated without going back to the RE... and maybe we could have a better chance at conceiving on our own... but I haven't had any luck... all I really wanted was blood tests to check my hormones and maybe the dye test for my tubes... the tests that probably should've been done before I went to the RE or atleast done by RE... but I think the RE saw my AMH and that was that...
maybe the AMH and morph are killers... i should just leave it alone... I don't know what to think now...

Wow, Wish- I am sorry your appointment was sort of horrible. You know now, at least, that she is unwilling to help in the fertility arena. There was a lot in your messages, and I would like to address some things.
For one, my old RE told me that my pre-AF spotting was likely a progesterone/poor egg issue (most RE's seem to lump the two together now, which is unfortunate). I do trust my old RE when it comes to that, anyway- as my progesterone did indeed turn out to be low. So your GP could very well be wrong about that. Two- (and I have seen other docs say this, it just makes me angry) it is totally unacceptable for a doc to 'wait until you can't hold a pregnancy' to take action. That kind of reactive stance just results in more heartache. Three- become that squeaky wheel. Keep calling back until they do refer you to an OB (I think someone else said this on this thread, and I totally agree). Four- that old RE of yours was a real donker. He shouldn't have commented on your personal beliefs in that fashion. I THINK what he was talking about was the multiple wives/concubines thing... which is different of course because back then they had to have sex to get those 'donor eggs'. Anyway, he should have been more sensitive to your beliefs, not just brushing them aside to push you to an option you are not comfortable with. My DH and I hold similar beliefs- if we do ever choose donor eggs, we will limit the amount fertilized so that they can all be transferred right there (no freezing). You are not alone in that belief, and should have an RE that is willing to do it. Five- there is no reason yet to not try using your eggs first. There just isn't. They haven't looked at your eggs to determine with finality that they are poor- and even if you do have some poor eggs others will likely be just fine. There are some options for women our age who want to use our eggs (natural cycles, flare protocols, etc), and your RE wasn't willing to try any of them???
Lots of hugs Wish. Be the squeaky wheel.

 

[battyatty]

Really quick pop in to let you know the damn witch has just arrived on her broomstick. Thought as much my temps were the same as last month almost exactly the same cycle! Next O due just after Valentines, wahoo!

 

[oldermom1975]

Really quick pop in to let you know the damn witch has just arrived on her broomstick. Thought as much my temps were the same as last month almost exactly the same cycle! Next O due just after Valentines, wahoo!

Hate that witch
Although an O just after Valentine's day is pretty perfect....

 

[terripeachy]

First, I would just like to say that all of you are so helpful. I love this thread (of course, I could say that about all the testing threads I've been a part of). sniff sniff. You ladies are so awesome-shiny, gold medals all around!

Lyvid-I'm going to look up pockets just because I have no idea what you're talking about, but cute designs sound fun. Sorry AF got you too. POAS at 4DPO?! Every month someone comes into the thread that is more of a POAS addict than garfie and oldermom. Hilarious! I'm going to start BOAS on CD1. There! Beat you!

Kira-Yeah...I agree with the others. I hope this is your BFP, but you don't want to get built up emotionally and then end up crashing.

Atty-Can you sneak in 3 day bloods? Sorry AF got you. That's just crazy.

Sis-Bwaaahaaa about the boys driving you crazy --> oral temperature taking. HA!!HA!! I hope they are never that bad.

Esperanza- If you go to the bottom of the sharing page on FF, it asks you which charts you want to include. Just move them over to the box on left side. Your link does work though.

Radkat/Wish/ttcinseattle-Hey!

Yesterday (all day) I had a scratchy throat. I took one cough drop before I left for work, and I took another one around 7pm last night before I came back into work. By the time I left work at 9, my throat felt fine. I feel ok today but I brought my last cough drop to work with me. Then this morning my temperature seriously shot up (as you can see). My thermometer flashed yellow (meaning low battery). I'm going to use it one more time tomorrow morning and then I'll replace the battery, but I'm not sure what this is all about. Hubs got excited. I said 'don't get excited.' He said 'why not? Oh..because we don't know if it's pregnancy high temp or cold high temp.' I said 'exactly.' I don't want to bring him down, but I can't get excited just yet. What is this, 7 or 8DPO? hee hee. I still have a week to go!

 

[Kira_star]

ill crash i always do when i get a bfn, hobbie has been found i do cross stitch and my older sister is due in Aug so i have started charting the Characters from the MR Men and Little Miss Books to make her a quilt

 

[Sis4Us]

I'm so Sorry Lyvid treat yourself today!!!

I see it Esperanza!!!!

 

[Kayotic]

Sorry some of you are hitting so many roadblocks

I am officially in the TWW. We did manage to get 3 tries in, husband called in sick so we could go again this morning, haha.
I see some charts where people can have sex 2x a day for 3-4 days and I am always so jealous! We have to work around he kids schedule and then we are old and I am just jealous, haha.

I was not supposed to ovulate until 4 am but when I woke up to check my tem at 4am, I was clammy and sweaty and I had a small jump over coverline so maybe I did early? I had quite a bit of cramping while shopping yesterday so who knows.

Sis, if you could put me down for the 19th through I know I am going to start at 8DPO because I am an addict.

 

[Sis4Us]

Wow everyone Posted at once

Kira that sounds cute I always think a Lil retail Therapy helps

Terri nice temp hope it stays up!!!

Oldermom couldn't agree more Squeeky Wheel Wish!!!

Batty sorry the Witch got u but a VDay BD fest sounds Good!!!

 

[terripeachy]

Kayotic-How do you know you were supposed to ovulate at 4am? How can you be that precise?