Anyone who is ttc having trouble with their cycles due to previous bc use?

[Rachel789]

That's great news Michelle! Can't wait to follow you journey of your first and hopefully last femara cycle!

Steph-that's great that cait is almost done with the harness. My dh has been a huge help so far and I am grateful for that. We are lucky to have dh's that are helpful because I hear a lot of women complain theirs are useless lol.

The dr was asking me at the hospital to think about what I want to do for birth control. We haven't decided what to do yet but I would like to try to avoid bcp but there really arent any other great options so who knows what we will decide to do I am going to try to get around to my birth story this weekend, it is tough to find the time!

 

[ImSoTired]

That's great news Michelle! Can't wait to follow you journey of your first and hopefully last femara cycle!

Steph-that's great that cait is almost done with the harness. My dh has been a huge help so far and I am grateful for that. We are lucky to have dh's that are helpful because I hear a lot of women complain theirs are useless lol.

The dr was asking me at the hospital to think about what I want to do for birth control. We haven't decided what to do yet but I would like to try to avoid bcp but there really arent any other great options so who knows what we will decide to do I am going to try to get around to my birth story this weekend, it is tough to find the time!

It's so important that DH help. One of my friends has a baby with his girlfriend. He used to go out on the weekends with his friends and I didn't think twice about it then but now I think I'd kill DH if he left me with the baby. We barely have enough time for each other let alone going out with friends to drink. I'd be fuming.

You don't have to think about BC now anyway. If you had a vaginal delivery you won't be visiting the gyno for about 6 weeks anyway I think. They put me on the mini pill because I was still breastfeeding and that is the least likely to reduce milk supply. I took it reluctantly because I obviously haven't had a great experience with bc. I still would rather do without it but I'd prefer not to have another baby soon so I really didn't know what else to do. I've thought about it and I think the mini pill is probably better than a full hormone pill and if/when I do go back on a full hormone pill I will not be on it long and come off it a few months before ttc'ing again. Once I'm finished having kids I will gladly go back on bc but until then I will be careful with it.

I understand it is hard to find the time to get online, especially in the first few weeks. You will be a busy lady for quite a while. I'm still having trouble finding extra time...

 

[Rachel789]

I finally got around to my birth story! It is kind of long but here it is:

Starting Tuesday April 30th-May 3rd I was having Braxton Hicks contractions every 6-8 minutes, they did not hurt but were very uncomfortable. Once this started I was feeling like things would happen soon. I had my prenatal appointment on Friday, May 3rd at 39+5. The mid wife checked my cervix and I was one cm dilated and 50% effaced. She did a sweep and said at the most it would be a week until I had the baby but it really could be anytime now. She suggested I try to do some walking to get things going. DH and I went out for dinner that night and had pizza, then went to the mall to do some walking since it was hot outside. While having dinner and walking around the contractions were still about 6-8 minutes apart but at this time they were starting to get slightly painful. We went home and watched tv and while I was laying on the couch I was getting more uncomfortable but still not too bad and I didn’t think it was labor yet. I went to bed around 11 or 12 and woke up at 3 a.m. and that is when the contractions started to get painful. I kept trying to go back to sleep but I couldn’t. For an hour I was in and out of bed and timing the contractions, which were around 5 minutes apart and finally around 4 a.m. I woke DH up and told him I thought this was it. I was starving so I asked him to make me some eggs and toast and I continued to time the contractions, which remained around 4-5 minutes apart. I ate only a few bites of food and took a shower around 5 a.m. and I noticed in the shower they were coming more frequently. Once I got out and timed them again they were 3 minutes apart so I told DH we needed to hurry up and pack the last few things we needed and get moving. He didn’t quite believe I was as far along as I was and kept asking if I was sure it was time yet, but I was in a lot of pain at that point and we had a 30 minute ride to the hospital so I decided we should go to be safe. When we got in the car the contractions slowed down to 6 minutes or so apart, I thought to myself “great I will probably get there and be sent home”. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 a.m. and were sent to triage and they checked me and said I was 6 cm dilated! I couldn’t believe I was that far along already. So they admitted me and sent me to labor and delivery. I told them in triage that I wanted to epi so they took some blood work and said once that came back ok I could get my epi. The contractions continued to get more intense and I was impatiently waiting for my epi. The anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section so they said the attending would come. Three times I was told he was on his way and he never showed up. It was such torture thinking the pain relief was coming, I kept staring at the door and no one came. DH and my mom were very surprised at how I was handling the contractions. I wanted complete silence and I just breathed through them and didn’t make a noise. For me it was better to remain in control than to scream in pain. Finally after waiting 2.5 hours the anesthesiologist came and got my epi in within 6 minutes, they said that was very fast and it helped that I was able to start very still which was so difficult during the painful contractions. Getting the epi was so easy and did not hurt at all. Finally I was able to relax and talk normally and take a little nap. I was exhausted as I only slept a couple hours during the night. They checked my cervix again right after the epi was in, and from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m. I hadn’t progressed at all, I was still only 6 cm. They went ahead and broke my water and at this time I was told there was meconium in the water and the baby would not be able to be placed on my chest immediately after birth. They had to check her out first and make sure she was ok. I was very disappointed but all that mattered to me at that point was she is healthy and taken care of. A couple hours after they broke my water they checked me again and I had only progressed to 7 cm so they decided it would be a good idea to start me on Pitocin to get my contractions stronger and closer together. It was around 1:00 p.m. that they started the Pitocin and by around 3:00 p.m. I was fully dilated and the baby’s head was down very low and DH told me he could see her hair and she had dark hair. I started crying at this point because I knew I would be meeting her soon. I was so numb from the epi that I couldn’t feel the contractions so the nurse had to tell me when to push. I didn’t even feel the ring of fire everyone talks about when she crowned. I was told even with the epi I would feel the ring of fire and that pushing on average takes about 2-3 hours. I pushed for around 35 minutes and Shaelyn Marie was born on Saturday, May 4th at 3:38 p.m. weighing 9 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches long. I was in shock when I heard how big she was. Everything was ok with the meconium and after they checked her out and cleaned her off she was given to me. It was the most amazing feeling looking into her eyes and holding her for the first time, I couldn’t stop crying! I ended up tearing really bad; it was a 3rd degree tear. The recovery hasn’t been fun but it was more than worth it and I would do it all over again for her.

 

[ImSoTired]

Wow. It's actually kinda similar to my story in certain areas. You will remember more bits and pieces as time goes on. I know I had forgotten a lot of it that came back to my within the first few weeks. Overall it sounds as though you had a good experience. I'm happy everything went well and you have a healthy, beautiful baby girl!

 

[Lovetoteach86]

So now I am scared and excited at the same time to go through all of that, but I am 1000% sure that it is worth it.

I am now on day three of my five days of femera. I haven't been through the dreaded two week wait in a loong time.

 

[Rachel789]

Good luck Michelle! Are you going to chart again?

 

[ImSoTired]

so exciting Michelle! You are right, it is worth it!

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I am charting again, I need to put it all on fertility friend though. Right now all my temps are on my phone app. So far the temps aren't making much sense, but I have never seen a femara chart before, so I really don't know what to expect.

EDIT: Ovulation chart updated

 

[Rachel789]

Yay I will be stalking your chart, Hope o comes soon! Are you being monitored by ultrasounds?

 

[Lovetoteach86]

Yay I will be stalking your chart, Hope o comes soon! Are you being monitored by ultrasounds?

No ultra sounds, just day 21 progesterone blood test for the first cycle at least.

 

[ImSoTired]

Excited for you, Michelle!

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I got a SMILEY face on the digital OPK today. Hope it's right! Going to bd tonight when I get home from work just in case

 

[Rachel789]

Yay!! How exciting, catch that eggie

 

[ImSoTired]

Fxd for you Michelle!

 

[Lovetoteach86]

so today my temp is still flatline and the OPK doesn't have a smiley face anymore, the second line is very faded. Hopefully I just caught my surge yesterday and ovulated last night/this morning. There is always the chance that I just geared up to O but didn't, so I am still going to bd every other day until I see a temp increase for more than a few days. I had a killer headache yesterday, and I am hoping that was due to shifting hormones that led to ovulation. I can't wait until June 3rd when I can take the progesterone blood test, and find out for sure if I ovulated or not. I would love to add more beautiful baby pictures or even sonogram pictures to this thread

 

[ImSoTired]

It's possible you O'd like you said and your temp hasn't risen yet. I'm so excited for you I just know you're going to catch that egg soon!

 

[Rachel789]

The surge is typically the day before o so it would make sense today is o day. I bet you see a temp rise tomorrow'

 

[Lovetoteach86]

Now I am lost and very confused. My temps went down, down, down, now I guess only the progesterone blood test on monday will tell if I ovulated or not. Unless I see really good temp rises in the next few days, I am guessing that I won't ovulate this cycle. Next cycle I guess I need to take metformin and femara together. I stopped the metformin a few months ago when we waiting for insurance and testing, and they never said anything about it, I guess they assumed I was still taking metformin, and I assumed they would mention it if I was suppose to be taking it.

The combination of metformin, and clomid are what made me ovulate last time, so I bet a combination of femara and metformin is what I would need to get me started this time. I should have never stopped the metformin, but all the tests weren't finding anything wrong, not even any cysts, so I assumed if I had zero signs of pcos I didn't need metformin. Also most people with pcos lose weight when they start taking metformin and I didn't lose weight until after I stopped taking it. I guess it must have been helping in combination with other pills, but when taken alone it didn't make me ovulate on those months where that was all I was on. This is all so very confusing, and I wish the doctors would be able to tell me that it was the BCP that messed me up and tell me if they can fix it. I bet they aren't legally allowed to tell us that is what it is. I wish they could tell us, or at least warn us of the risks before they put us on BCP in the first place.

 

[ImSoTired]

Michelle I see why you are confused. I wish I knew what to tell you but I think you'd know better than I would anyway. I think you are right though...It probably has everything to do with the BCP suppressing your body's natural ability to O for so long that has your body in a state of complete confusion. I think it probably happens to more women than we think and that is why there are so many women who see fertility specialists. Some women are able to get back on track and some aren't without the help of fertility drugs. Of course a gyno wouldn't tell you that BC might interfere with your natural cycles even after stopping. It's probably because they get kickbacks from the BC companies, the specialists, and the fertility drug companies. Unfortunately that's how the world works now a days. That's my conspiracy theory anyway, haha...sorry for babbling on.

Just hang in there and keep working with your doctors. It's going to work out for you, they just have to get you on the right combo of meds like you said you O'd on last time. It's all going to work out, just keep your head up.

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I go in for a blood test today just to make my fertility specialist happy and find out for sure if I ovulated. I know my body though, and unless the progesterone after ovulation is doing NOTHING to me this time, I am pretty sure that I didn't ovulate. I already told DH last night that we just need to take both meds next cycle and I might as well get back on metformin today. Too bad I have to go through the stomach aches that accompany metformin since I am not used to having it in my system anymore. I forgot how stressful it is though to keep everything on a schedule. DH gets tired of bding every other day, I get annoyed because we HAVE to bd on a certain day since we don't have a million chances of ovulating and I feel like he doesn't get how important it is. He seems to think that the sperm all build up over the week and they ALL stay alive and my body ISN'T working to fight them off. He has been told how it all works, but I feel like he doesn't comprehend how 1 in a million the chances are even if I do in fact ovulate that cycle we have to have the timing right.