At what point to do additional testing?

[Yoomee]

I am 35 (hubby is 31) and we have been TTC for 4 months now. I had my IUD removed in June and was very fortunate that my AF started pretty quickly and I've had very regular 27/28 day cycles ever since. This month however has been different...

I started spotting at CD21 until CD26, which I originally thought was IB. But then AF didn't show up...at all. I am now on CD33 and 5 days late. I tested this morning. I spoke with a nurse on Tuesday (2 days late) when I got a negative test and she thought my spotting might have been O bleeding and not IB. She suggested I wait till Friday (today) to retest and go from there. Today I spoke to another nurse and she thinks that although there is a chance the spotting was OB and it still might be too early to get a positive (or is causing AF to be later than my usual cycle), she also said it could be that I didn't O this month and/or my spotting could be a sign of low progesterone.

So my question is this: When did you guys get further fertility testing done? If I was younger I'd wait a year and see if it happens naturally, but given that I'm 35 (36 in March), I don't want to wait too long in case there is something I can start to do now to give me better chances of conceiving. I got pregnant very easily with my boys, and even got pregnant 2x while on BC, so I never thought I might have fertility issues until now. I don't want to jump the gun, but I want to be proactive as well. PS: I plan on getting hubby tested as well just to cover our bases.

Thank you for reading my LONG post!

 

[CaliDreaming]

I got mine done at the 1 year mark when I was nearly 38 years old. 1 year of trying is suggested because most insurers will pay for testing after a year. But no one can really verify when you started so if you want to go earlier, you can.

However, if you are concerned something may be wrong, a general rule of thumb is that if you haven't gotten a bfp after 3 months of well-timed intercourse using OPKs, then something is going on. It might be that you get pregnant in time, depending on the problem, but something is causing a delay. IMO the standard line about it taking normal couples up to a year is for people who are just going with the flow and not trying to pinpoint ovulation.

With me, I waited the year, but if I had to do it all again, I would have been much more proactive, especially since I was over 35. Even in the early stages I knew something wasn't right.

 

[Yoomee]

Thank you so much Cali! Yes, I'm definitely too impatient to wait a year. I just started using FF and ovulation sticks so I will try a few months and hopefully will get the BFP we want

 

[Vonn]

Where I am at, once you are 35 the wait is only 6 months TTC to start having tests done. Since you are asking the question, my guess is you are already paying close attention and you seem to be pretty proactive. If that is the case, I'd suggest going in whenever you feel comfortable; either waiting until the 6 month mark or fudging it and going in sooner. Better to know what you are dealing with, IMO. Good luck!

 

[Yoomee]

Thanks Vonn! Yes, I have been pretty proactive, but not as much as I could be. Hubby and I have BD pretty regularly (about 4-5 days a week), so I hadn't been tracking my O as much as I could have, since I figured we were probably getting it on around those days anyway. But now with my missed AF, and the nurse thinking I might not have Od last month, I'm really starting to track. We decided to wait till the end of the year to get tested, just hoping we don't have to:/