30-Something Moms!

[cutieq]

You ladies are chatty. I love it! Just gonna echo what you've said until I can get on my computer lol.

Crystl, I'm also on a 5 day break. No plans but I'm glad I don't have to work!

Congrats Twinsie!!

Katie, I hope you have a surprise BFP on your hands.

2b, we'll show that witch who's boss next cycle!

Crystl, I developed a love/hate with the smiley. Hopefully it shows soon!

Can't remember who asked but I'm feeling more relaxed and in control of things. My registries are done and im having 4 showers so I'm holding off on buying anything until I see what comes in from the showers so for now I'm going to focus on decorating the nursery.

 

[Fleur828815]

Katie, did you test?!

crystlmcd, I hope you’ll get that smiley very soon! Sending you sunny vibes so you can make the most of your 5-day weekend.

scooby, I understand being nervous about the HSG. It’s so true that TTC is one of the things that is totally out of our control…very far from what they taught us at school about not letting boys get within a mile of us because we’d fall pregnant. Have fun at the festival this weekend!

Twinsie, awesome scan, she looks so cute! Congrats again about your little girl

Turtle, enjoy your long weekend ! I go to bed quite late anyway but I did check one last time to see if Twinsie had updated haha.

cutie, I’m glad you’re feeling more on top of things. When is your first baby shower?

Joy, didn’t you have your first shower already?

Not much planned for this weekend, except a mini gender reveal (except for my parents, it will have to be over Skype as some of my family is in the UK and all of DH’s family and many of our friends are in France). Last night I sorted through the boxes of baby clothes I have, I was forced to admit that DH is right and I might have a problem with baby clothes shopping And I have the same amount (or maybe more) for a little girl, my sister better have a daughter !

 

[KatieMK]

Good Morning!

Fleur: That is an insane amount of clothes for being in-denial-pregnant! However, it looks like you have QUITE a range of sizes there, and not only casual wear but also things appropriate for formal occasions, with neckties already included! Very practical!

Twinsie: I love her! And I love that she had to have chocolate to "perform"!! My kind of girl! I believe you said that you and OH have already started coming up with a list of names? Do you have any girl names that are front runners?? Names are so fun.

Well, I tested. A very clear no. I'm now on CD33, with no spotting or any real cramping to speak of! I think I had better wean myself off of this Vitex, since that's the only explanation I can come up with for the situation. That would be weird though, right? I mean, last cycle I took 950mg a day and it lengthened my LP by several days, but left my cycle length alone. This cycle, I lowered the dose to 750, so you would think everything would be as normal. If this is the side effect, not sure I can handle it! I'm going to go bananas if my cycle length starts going haywire.

I don't know when I ovulated this cycle, so figuring out how many DPO is impossible. According to my app, I'd be 11-ish DPO today, but that's based on the short luteal phase I'd been having. If I O'd as early as I did LAST cycle (I had a TWENTY DAY LP!) then I'd be 24 DPO. I think maybe the Vitex is a force too strong that I'd better lay off!

All this being said, I'm strangely OK... our efforts were HIGHLY subpar this cycle, and I'm not experiencing any symptoms. I had a bright, shining moment of excitement and anticipation yesterday afternoon when I saw that I was late, but I haven't had another moment like that since. Normally I struggle to sleep the night before a test day (if I make it that far in the cycle!), but I had no problem last night, and I was fine this morning. get up, pee in cup, insert test, clean up, look at test, see no immediate double line, shrug, get in shower. Check again to make sure, move on. On to next cycle!! When it arrives...

 

[Fleur828815]

Aww Katie, I'm sorry it was a BFN. Could you have tested too early? I have no idea about the Vitex but I'm sure someone else will be along to help! I hope your cycles aren't going haywire though, that would really suck.

By the way, I bought the clothes WAY before I started TTC... Haven't bought a single thing (yet) for this baby, didn't buy anything last pregnancy either. So yeah, I have quite a good range of sizes ranging from newborn to 4 years (!!!) but almost nothing in newborn - 3 month sizes so I will HAVE to shop more.

 

[cutieq]

Katie, did you test?!

crystlmcd, I hope you’ll get that smiley very soon! Sending you sunny vibes so you can make the most of your 5-day weekend.

scooby, I understand being nervous about the HSG. It’s so true that TTC is one of the things that is totally out of our control…very far from what they taught us at school about not letting boys get within a mile of us because we’d fall pregnant. Have fun at the festival this weekend!

Twinsie, awesome scan, she looks so cute! Congrats again about your little girl

Turtle, enjoy your long weekend ! I go to bed quite late anyway but I did check one last time to see if Twinsie had updated haha.

cutie, I’m glad you’re feeling more on top of things. When is your first baby shower?

Joy, didn’t you have your first shower already?

Not much planned for this weekend, except a mini gender reveal (except for my parents, it will have to be over Skype as some of my family is in the UK and all of DH’s family and many of our friends are in France). Last night I sorted through the boxes of baby clothes I have, I was forced to admit that DH is right and I might have a problem with baby clothes shopping And I have the same amount (or maybe more) for a little girl, my sister better have a daughter !

July 11. You have quite the collection! I love it.

 

[scoobybeans]

twinsie- Oh, a girl!!! Congratulations! That's so exciting to finally know (P.S. I was actually right!)

turtle- Sounds like a fun weekend. Enjoy! Yeah the fesitval is a little over an hour northwest of us so a pretty easy drive. My sister is coming, and I'm super excited because I've been trying to get her to go for like 10 years.

crystl- Enjoy your mini vacation! I peeked at your chart today and saw your temp jumped way up! Are you still getting negative OPK's?

cutie- That was me who asked how you're coming along. Four baby showers, wow! You should be pretty well covered. Have fun decorating the nursery

fleur- Thank you! Awww, love all the clothes. I especially like the brown and blue monkey jammies. So freaking adorable.

Katie- I'm glad you're rolling with it this month. You sound like you're in a great headspace right now, and with everything you've got going on that's pretty amazing As for the Vitex, I'm taking a much lower dosage of 425mg combined with B6 100mg. I started in February. My cycle has basically stayed the same length (25-26 days) but ovulation moved up from day 16/17 to day 12/13. If you're currently taking two pills a day, maybe drop down to one a day? I think it's one of those things that varies a lot from person to person, and you have to experiment a bit before you find the right dosage for yourself. Good luck!

AFM, I got crosshairs on FF this morning, woot! One thing that's a little confusing is that I seem to be getting my first positive OPK on the same day I ovulate. Only reason that seems weird to me is that I have a long LH surge, sometimes 2-3 days. Does it make sense that I get positive OPK's for 2 or 3 days after I ovulate? I'm starting to feel like going by CM is the most accurate of the whole bunch, as far as figuring out when you're fertile.

Anyway! My boss is letting us get out early today, woot! Happy Friday!!!

 

[crystlmcd]

Well, no IUI for me this cycle. My temp jumped up this morning but I never got a positive OPK so I called the doc and they got me in for a scan. My largest follicle was 12mm and I'm already on CD16 so the doc just told me to do timed intercourse this month as she didn't want to waste my money on an IUI this cycle with follicles so small. I go in for labs in a week to confirm if I actually ovulated and then they will adjust my meds from there. She said some women just never get a positive OPK so they may just have me come in automatically on CD14 next cycle for a scan. I'm disappointed but glad the doc was honest with me. Going to enjoy my weekend and just try to stay hopeful for next cycle.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

 

[cutieq]

scoobybeans, I just hope everyone doesn't sway to buying clothes and actually adhere to the registry, but I guess it's the thought that counts huh?

Crystl, I know you're disappointed, but I think you're right. Your doctor sounds great and I'm glad she was honest with you. I'm glad she's monitoring you so closely!

AFM: I started looking into daycares. Apparently some of them can have quite a waiting list. Money and finances stress me sooooo much! Daycare in my area is as much if not more than my mortgage!

 

[Twinsie]

Oh man dani that sounds expensive!! As much as your mtg! Yikes. GL finding one!

Fleur- I love the monkey pjs!!! Soooo cute. Great collection of clothes!

Crystl- sorry about the IUI not working out for this month. Sigh :/

Scooby- do you get O pains? Just curious how you know the exact day you ovulate.

Katie- vitex does work differently for different people. I was on a high dose and it worked like a charm! But I agree you have to find the dose that works for you . You've been in it for two months now? "They" say to wait three months for it to regulate.. I know it's hard to try and figure out and if you'd rather stop/wean yourself off that's your decision! I hope you find what works! Keep us updated

No names for miss baby girl yet! I have a list started of names I like so DH has to look it over and then well go from there

Long weekend for us here! Lots of condo stuff to do and I'm weirdly happy to spend my long weekend going through more closets and weeding through more stuff to throw away, donate or pack for the house! It's such a process moving!! Thank goodness we have two months to do it, I can't be productive for more than a few hours before I need to lay down lol ... Poor DH is stuck with the deep cleaning I can't do (using chemicals etc) and some not so fun condo fixing projects that need to be done so we can start showing it to possible renters in a month!! Being an adult is so glamorous! Lol

 

[Twinsie]

I need to vent - I totally blew it last night.. I had dinner with my twin sister tonight and as we were saying gbye, I totally slipped and said "her" referring to the baby.. I'm so so so mad at myself and completely bummed. I was so nervous to see her knowing I could slip up. And yup. I did . I was so excited for the reveal party to see her initial reaction when we tell everyone we are having a girl. She has a 9 month old girl so I knew she would be so excited I'm having a girl too. After I let it slip I totally tried to cover it up like it didn't happen and continue normal conversation but I know she caught it. She didn't react though probably bcuz she knows how badly I wanted to keep it a secret until the party.. But now I wish she did react so I at least could've seen her happy excited first reaction when she first finds out it's a girl! Now I Feel jipped of that natural reaction of excitement and she prob will have to pretend at the party, but I will know I missed her first real true reaction.. So totally bummed out, I can't get over it. Ruined the rest of my night, cried the whole way home and I'm still in a bad mood the next day over it! DH thinks im being too hard on myself and it's not that big of a deal. But it was to me. She was the one I was most excited to tell and see her reaction and I ruined it! Sigh

 

[Fleur828815]

cutie, still a while to go till your first baby shower then. I think people love to buy clothes because they’re cute! Nappies and thermometers etc. aren’t so exciting. Finding daycare is such a headache… I’m stressed about finances too! Hope you’ll find the perfect place for your little boy. Luckily over here I should be able to get a nanny without giving up my whole salary.

scooby, what kind of OPKs do you use? It doesn’t make sense that they would still be positive 2-3 days AFTER you ovulate but I’m no expert. I used the normal ones and I think I ovulated on the day I got the positive OPK.

crystlmcd, sorry that you couldn’t do the IUI this cycle, that's disappointing As you, at least they were honest about it though. I really hope next month things will go as scheduled.

Twinsie, aww, I can understand how bummed you feel about slipping up. HOWEVER, I’ve been referring to this baby as SHE/HER since the beginning, so couldn’t your sister just have thought that was your preferred pronoun? How did the cleaning/sorting go?

Katie, Turtle, Joy, hope you’re all doing well and enjoyed your weekend!

We did a mini gender reveal for our close family this weekend, it was fun! We were at my parents’ place, with my sister, and a few others were on Skype (we’re spread out all over the world). We made them vote boy/girl (most of them voted girl!) and then popped the pink balloon. Everyone was happy about a boy but going “aww, baby girl clothes are so cute though”, lol. I wanted to wait a bit to start shopping but yesterday DH, my mom, my sis and I bought a few (more) bits for the baby… and my family in London is also going crazy shopping!

 

[Twinsie]

That's sweet fleur! And you can still have cute boy clothes! I hope those comments don't upset you. Little boys love their Moms and are just as sweet!

I would be ecstatic if my sister didn't notice but I'm pretty sure she did! I'm almost over it now, I was super sad all day yesterday but thankfully feeling back to normal. Cleaning and such s going great so far! Doing one big task a day helps me not get too stressed! Still have a lot to do but we have another 6 weeks before it has to be done completely. So on a good track!

 

[Turtle0630]

Crystl, I'm so sorry about your IUI being cancelled! I can't imagine how frustrating that must be for you. I absolutely agree with you though that at least they were honest with you about it and didn't waste your time (and money!), but I'm sure it's still very frustrating and disappointing nonetheless. I hope you've been enjoying your 5 day weekend and are able to take your mind of TTC for a few days!

Cutie, I hope you're enjoying your 5 day weekend as well! Wow, 4 showers! That's great!!! Sounds like you'll be pretty set!

Fleur, your gender reveal sounds super cute and fun! I'm so glad that it went so well. I love the pics too, thanks for sharing those! Haha, you DO have a lot of clothes already, huh? Nobody can say you aren't prepared at the very least, that's for sure!

Katie, I'm sorry to hear about the bfn, I was really hopeful for you. Any updates on your end? I'm secretly hopeful that it was just too early to test, and that you O'd a little bit later this cycle! FX!!!

Scooby, I hope you had fun at the festival this weekend! That is confusing about the +opk, that's for sure. I think that might be why they say to stop testing after you get your first positive...I, of course, can never manage to do that though!

Twinsie, I'm really sorry about your slip-up and about how disappointed that made you! I just want to give you a big hugs, you sounded so sad! I agree with Fleur though...maybe she just assumed to were referring to baby as "she" in order to call her SOMETHING, and not because you already actually know? Does your sister know you had already had the gender scan? If so, that logic probably doesn't hold true...but if not, I would just play it off like that! Like next time you talk to her, refer to baby as "he" and really throw her off the trail! I'm glad you're feeling better about it today though!

Joy and 2b, hope you lovely ladies had a nice weekend as well!

 

[crystlmcd]

Twinsie - I'm glad you're feeling better about your little slip-up. I'm sure I would have done the same thing. Hopefully she didn't realize you said the actual gender and will still be surprised at your reveal!

Fleur - what a cute reveal! I can't wait to start shopping for a baby. I try to stay away from all of the kids stuff because I know I will buy stuff that I shouldn't.

I decided to stop temping this cycle and just relax. I got 2 days of elevated temps (plus my boobs are sore which is normal post-O for me) so I believe I'm 4DPO and I'll be expecting AF in about a week. I am now officially 32 and so I only have a few months to get pregnant and have a baby by 33. I'm really hoping that works out for me but we'll just have to wait and see!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm looking forward to one more day off work and then a short 3 day work week!

 

[cutieq]

Crystl, that sounds like an amazing plan. Ttc can be so taxing at times. I got pregnant at 33 so there's hope Not sure it age itself was your concern but I wanted to throw that out there.

I go back to work tomorrow and I'm absolutely dreading it

 

[crystlmcd]

Well, our original plan was to have 2 by 35 since everything seems to become "high risk" at 35. But, honestly, I'd just take 1 right now. Sorry you have to go back to work tomorrow!

 

[cutieq]

Well, our original plan was to have 2 by 35 since everything seems to become "high risk" at 35. But, honestly, I'd just take 1 right now. Sorry you have to go back to work tomorrow!

I absolutely get it. I will be having this one at 34. Literally and I'm already wondering do I rush to #2 or settle for #1. I wonder if the 35 number is still accurate. I see halle berry doing it after 40 but who knows what Magic drugs she has access to.

 

[KatieMK]

Crystl: I'm sorry about the IUI! It sucks to get yourself all geared up and ready to go (not to mention the optimism!) and have it be put on hold. Try to hold on to some of those good feelings for next month! I'm sure with hormone changes, some bodies just take some time to react. HA! I should listen to myself!

Fleur: So cute!! And it sounds like your baby shopping habit might be genetic!

Twinsie: oh man! I'm so sorry you slipped up and that you are sad you might have ruined the gender reveal experience! But you know what? I bet you didn't. I mean, even if she DID pick up on the "she", I bet you get a great, honest, reaction from her at your party. There will be lots of emotions and excitement all around you, and it will be, at the very least, the first time you both acknowledge the fact you will be moms to two little girl cousins. I think you will get to have your emotional moment! Bring tissues.

Cutie and Crystl: I'm also 33, and if I manage to get pregnant at some point this year, I'll have our baby during 34. We'd also like to have two children, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to have them back-to-back, so we'll see! My mom had me at 40 (whoopsie!), so I know it's possible. Ideally, I'd have had two children already by this time, since my parents are "older" grandparents, and I really wanted to be younger for that phase of my own life, but c'est la vie! My husband is 37, so he's practically a cranky old man already anyways.

AFM: showed up Saturday night. She left yesterday. VERY WEIRD ALL AROUND. My periods are normally 5 days or so. And here we go into TMI territory... Saturday night I had bright red blood, but that's it. Sunday and yesterday was all dark blood. I had very little to no cramping. And now it's all over. I've read that Vitex is supposed to really help with cramping and heavy periods, so maybe that's what's going on? I'm decreasing my dosage this cycle to two tablets, which will be 500mg. We'll see! ONWARD!

 

[scoobybeans]

Hope everyone had a great weekend

crystl- That's such a bummer about the canceled IUI, but I'm glad your doctor seems to be on the ball. I think it's great that you're relaxing this month. My husband's unexpected cold last cycle actually turned out to be just what I needed, sort of a break from it all.

cutie- One of my best friend's had 3 baby showers (and one was HUGE) and she got so many clothes most of them were never even worn. Luckily lots of people give gift receipts now, or you could always donate or re-gift. Hopefully it won't be a problem though!

twinsie- I felt so bad reading your post. I hope you're making peace with the slip up and I honestly think you'll still get her truly excited reaction when she learns for SURE that you're having a girl. One other option would be just meeting her one on one before the reveal and telling her so that the two of you can have a private, special moment. You asked how I pinpoint O. I temp and check CM as well as using OPK's, so between all three I can usually nail it down. I do get O pain as well, but sometimes (like this month) it lasts more than one day. It goes away once I've O'd though so that's another way I can tell.

fleur- Your gender reveal party sounds like it was a blast! Love the pics, thank you for sharing. I think the brand of OPK's I use is probably too sensitive, and that might be why I get multiple days of LH surge (since it's catching the surge on the way up AND the way down.) What I like about them though is that I can see the slow rise over the course of several days. It's a great early detection sign for ovulation. I'll post a pic on here later so you can see what I mean. Now that I'm used to them, it's really easy to tell when I'm getting close.

turtle- The festival was great but we all spent wayyyyy too much money lol. There's so much good food though, like homemade fudge and toffee and kettle corn, it's hard to pass up The last couple of months I've curbed my POAS habit quite a bit! Only took 5 OPK's this time, versus a couple of months ago when it was closer to 15 lol.

Katie- If it helps, the Vitex shortened my period to 3 days and one of those is super light. Cramps are way, way better. (I'm actually prescribed painkillers for cramps because they're so bad.) Since taking Vitex I've cut down on the amount of painkillers I have to take by more than half.

AFM, I'm 7DPO and trying not to symptom spot. I had this sort of weird low down cramping last night though, and then a big temp drop this morning, so naturally I can't help but wonder. At least work is super busy today, which helps me not think about it!

As far as age, I'm pretty sure I've got you all beat But now I feel like a weird old lady lol. I've read a lot about age and fertility though, and it seems like it's not a steep drop off after 35, more like a slow decline. How healthy your body is also makes a big difference, as well as genetics.

 

[Fleur828815]

Twinsie, couldn’t you casually ask your sister if she thinks the baby is a boy or a girl? Will she let on that she knows? I expected my family to be slightly disappointed about the baby being a boy, so I wasn’t upset – they’re so girl-obsessed! But they’ll thrilled anyway, it’s the first baby for both sides of the family.

Turtle, I’ve told people to stop buying clothes, he has too much already! Nappies and essential stuff on the other hand… No idea what he’ll need!

crystlcmd, my original plan was also to have 2 kids by 35 (earlier it used to be by 30… I wanted to be a young mum like my own mum - ha!), but I’ll be almost 34 when I have this one if all goes well. Life doesn’t always go as planned! I look forward to the day when you’ll be putting up pics of the stuff you’ve bought for your baby!

cutie, hope the return to work wasn’t as bad as you were expecting.

Katie, I suppose the Vitex could be affecting your period? Although sometimes I had much shorter/lighter periods and was told it happens as you age!

scooby, how old are you if you don’t mind me asking? I also have read that your fertility doesn’t suddenly decline overnight when you turn 35 – how would your body even know you’ve had a birthday?? So yeah, probably in general it’s harder the older you get, but from woman to woman it’s so different, some women don’t have any trouble even at 40. My OPKs also got darker and darker each day before getting a positive, but it was only a true positive for one day. Hope your temps keep going up after that dip!

2b4us, were you going away somewhere or am I getting confused?

Joy, hope you’re well. You’re only weeks away from the baby’s arrival, how exciting!