Hi! Brand new to all this. 34 years old TTC#1

[harley.quinn]

Hello!
I'm 34 years old- my husband is 39. We've basically been NTNP for 6 years. We were planning to officially try in 2016- but briefly this month we thought we might be (AF came today) we decided why not start a couple of weeks early.

Since I am brand new- it's all a bit overwhelming

A bit about my history -

• I have very irregular cycles

• I got pregnant at 22 years old- it ended with a missed miscarriage

• I am very concerned because it's been 6 years with no luck

• I'm also very concerned because of my age

I signed up for fertility friend today to start tracking temps and will start tomorrow CD 2

Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated

 

[joy8751]

Hi Harley!

Welcome into the OTTC (Officially TTC) world
I am 32 and I have been there for 11 months now, so far, no luck but I have extremely irregular cycles and very short LP (8 to 9 days).
I have been temping and using opks which is very useful.

Last cycle, I took vitamins and supplements which have been a great help for me to regulate my cycles (29 days last months!) so I have great hope for this new cycle (cd 3 today).

May this new year start for the best for both of us - we'll know how good 2016 starts by the end of January I guess

 

[harley.quinn]

Hi Joy!

Thank you!

I did order some opks last night- so i'm hoping that, along with charting my temps, will help me pin point if i'm ovulating or not- and if so when.....

I also started prenatals and am going to try to get in to see a dr either January or Feb, hoping they might be able to do bloodwork to see if something is going wrong

 

[2ducks]

Hello and welcome! I have been posting on BnB for about a month and love it! I am 32 and ttc#1 since May of 2015 after being on the pill for 13 years. I was on the pill since the age of 17 so I really don't know what my “regular” cycle looks like but I do know that I have not ovulated since stopping BCP. I actually just had my first period this month since stopping the pill (at least I think) and hope it was a period! I had a three day bleed. Since then I have been temping and charting as well as monitoring CM, CP, using OPKs and saliva microscope.

As for advice… I HIGHLY recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It will really help you understand fertility and the whole baby making process. After I read it I was surprised at how much I did not know about my own body. You should definitely meet with an OBGYN, 6 years of no success should be concerning (not to scare you) and hopefully they will have a good action plan for you. Also, your man may want to consider getting a semen analysis. I read that %50 of fertility issues are male related, don't know if this is true or not. There are loads of vitamins your man can take that will help with sperm quality, just do a google search and you will come up with a comprehensive list. My partner takes a daily multi vitamin, b complex, folic acid and 1000mg of vitamin c. He has never had a semen analysis because we are fairly new to TTC but we both figured why not take it, it can only help. Also definitely take prenatals or at least take a folic acid supplement. Folic acid preconception and the first 3 months of pregnancy can prevent certain birth defects. Also I am doing acupuncture to try and regulate my cycles, not sure if it is helping, I will let you know!

I am also still learning about the whole ttc process, I am sure you will have some things to teach me as well.

 

[2ducks]

Hi Harley!

Welcome into the OTTC (Officially TTC) world
I am 32 and I have been there for 11 months now, so far, no luck but I have extremely irregular cycles and very short LP (8 to 9 days).
I have been temping and using opks which is very useful.

Last cycle, I took vitamins and supplements which have been a great help for me to regulate my cycles (29 days last months!) so I have great hope for this new cycle (cd 3 today).

May this new year start for the best for both of us - we'll know how good 2016 starts by the end of January I guess

Joy- I have read from other women that vitamin B6 helps strengthen leuteal phase problems, is this one of the supplements you are taking?

 

[joy8751]

Hello!

Thanks 2ducks for the advise on the book, I will definitely check it out as this whole ttc journey is definitely filled with questions (not only on my body, but also on bigger Why's sometimes...)

Regarding the vitamins, I tried a whole bunch on them after hours of googling :

I stopped BC on January 2015, my periods came back on May 10th - 4 months during which I was sure I was pregnant on regular basis... it was not easy

Then, I had a 33-day and a 55-day cycles with only folid acid, both with 8-day LP.
Then, I started a mix of B6 and Magnesium : I had a 46-day cycle but my LP lasted 10 days!
Then I tried Supradyn intensia because it was rich with D3, and got a 33-day cycle with 9-day LP.
Then I tried prenatals (oligobs) and got a 34-day cycle with a 10-day LP.
Last cycle, I tried Fertilaid and got this wonderful 29-day cycle with 11-day LP!

So this cycle, which is the last cycle before I see my Doc again, I ordered another batch of Fertilaid for me and also for my husband. It is expensive but for this last shot, and given the good results on my last cycle, I decided to give it another try.

I am just scared that if this does not work, and my husbend needs to have his semen checked, it might give false results and hide the problem...

2ducks, when did you start acupuncture? I heard massaging the "conception meridian" (shin - torso- belly- big toes!) is good, do you know anything about this? Which points is your acupuncturist working on?

 

[wintersocks1]

Hello Harley.quinn. I am new to posting too (this is actually my first post). I appreciate everyone's advice. My husband and I have been hoping to get pregnant since May of this year(We are30/34). There have been many times where internet searches have brought me to this website. I figured it was time to join. Thanks everyone for the good advice.

2ducks- I am especially interested in looking up the connection of b6 to luteal phase. I just had some nutritional testing that indicated I was insufficient. I have been taking it for about a week now. If you happen to remember where you learned about b6, I would love to read more.

 

[harley.quinn]

Thank you for all your replies ladies!

I have a question for those who chart their temps
- i started yesterday, so I don't have a long history but yesterday's temp was 97.9 and today's was 96.8. it seems like a big difference, but i know nothing about this- so maybe it's not...my question is, since it's winter we use the heater and blankets etc.... i assume all this affects the temp readings i'm going to get. is this going to throw off completely the point of taking the temps which is trying to figure out if or when i'm ovulating?

 

[2ducks]

Hello Harley.quinn. I am new to posting too (this is actually my first post). I appreciate everyone's advice. My husband and I have been hoping to get pregnant since May of this year(We are30/34). There have been many times where internet searches have brought me to this website. I figured it was time to join. Thanks everyone for the good advice.

2ducks- I am especially interested in looking up the connection of b6 to luteal phase. I just had some nutritional testing that indicated I was insufficient. I have been taking it for about a week now. If you happen to remember where you learned about b6, I would love to read more.

I just learned about it by reading through other threads and what other women posted. I highly suggest lurking around and reading a lot of old threads. You will learn a TON of information!

 

[2ducks]

Hello!

Thanks 2ducks for the advise on the book, I will definitely check it out as this whole ttc journey is definitely filled with questions (not only on my body, but also on bigger Why's sometimes...)

Regarding the vitamins, I tried a whole bunch on them after hours of googling :

I stopped BC on January 2015, my periods came back on May 10th - 4 months during which I was sure I was pregnant on regular basis... it was not easy

Then, I had a 33-day and a 55-day cycles with only folid acid, both with 8-day LP.
Then, I started a mix of B6 and Magnesium : I had a 46-day cycle but my LP lasted 10 days!
Then I tried Supradyn intensia because it was rich with D3, and got a 33-day cycle with 9-day LP.
Then I tried prenatals (oligobs) and got a 34-day cycle with a 10-day LP.
Last cycle, I tried Fertilaid and got this wonderful 29-day cycle with 11-day LP!

So this cycle, which is the last cycle before I see my Doc again, I ordered another batch of Fertilaid for me and also for my husband. It is expensive but for this last shot, and given the good results on my last cycle, I decided to give it another try.

I am just scared that if this does not work, and my husbend needs to have his semen checked, it might give false results and hide the problem...

2ducks, when did you start acupuncture? I heard massaging the "conception meridian" (shin - torso- belly- big toes!) is good, do you know anything about this? Which points is your acupuncturist working on?

Joy- I started acupuncture in November and I am doing a 6 visit treatment. I have one more treatment left. The acupuncturist will feel my pulses and then decide which points to do. She has done points all over my body. Last visit she said my pulses were the best they had been. I had a three day period after two sessions, of course I am not sure that is related. Now I am waiting to ovulate but its been a long cycle thus far. I am on CD 26 with no confirmed O. I have heard fertility massage is good as well but have not really looked into it. Let me know if you find any good websites!

 

[2ducks]

Thank you for all your replies ladies!

I have a question for those who chart their temps
- i started yesterday, so I don't have a long history but yesterday's temp was 97.9 and today's was 96.8. it seems like a big difference, but i know nothing about this- so maybe it's not...my question is, since it's winter we use the heater and blankets etc.... i assume all this affects the temp readings i'm going to get. is this going to throw off completely the point of taking the temps which is trying to figure out if or when i'm ovulating?

Don't use a heated blanked, that will definitely mess up your temps. Sometimes there are random temp spikes and drops, just go with the flow and keep recording. Hopefully you will eventually see a pattern. Also I discovered that I sleep with my mouth open which causes bug temperature fluctuations. I now temp vaginally which is easier and is not as traumatic/invasive as it sounds!

 

[harley.quinn]

Thank you 2ducks!
We don't use heated blankets but we do use the heater in our bedroom and thick comforters on our bed. We have an older terrier (12 years old) and she gets cold pretty easy so i try to keep it warm for her- but i also don't want to totally throw off my data

the same will be true when it's summer and i have the AC going all day (i live in AZ- we get hot haha)

i have never read anything about temping vaginally- what kind of thermometer do you use for that??

 

[wintersocks1]

Hello Harley.quinn. I am new to posting too (this is actually my first post). I appreciate everyone's advice. My husband and I have been hoping to get pregnant since May of this year(We are30/34). There have been many times where internet searches have brought me to this website. I figured it was time to join. Thanks everyone for the good advice.

2ducks- I am especially interested in looking up the connection of b6 to luteal phase. I just had some nutritional testing that indicated I was insufficient. I have been taking it for about a week now. If you happen to remember where you learned about b6, I would love to read more.

I just learned about it by reading through other threads and what other women posted. I highly suggest lurking around and reading a lot of old threads. You will learn a TON of information!

Thanks 2ducks. I'll use the search.

 

[wintersocks1]

harley.quinn, I also know that for some people, the time the temp is taken is pretty important. I know some people set a temp alarm so they can get the temp at the same time everyday. If you wake up later than usual, your temp will be higher. There are special thermometers that can recall your last temp taken. This is pretty handy if you want to go back to sleep after taking a temp and record later. There are also special basal body thermometers that I believe record to the hundredth degree? I do not have a special thermometer and I very much wish I did.

 

[harley.quinn]

Hi Wintersocks! (I love your name btw haha)

thank you for replying- I do temp at the same time everyday- 7am

yesterday's and today's temp are more in line- (96.80 yesterday and 96.93 today) so Monday's may have been a fluke

 

[2ducks]

Use a regular BBT thermometer.

 

[harley.quinn]

I'm so excited, my OPKs came in the mail yesterday - right in time- AF should be done tomorrow

 

[wintersocks1]

harley.quinn, looks like your off to a great start! I don't use the OPKs but it seems most people do and they like them.

 

[2ducks]

I'm so excited, my OPKs came in the mail yesterday - right in time- AF should be done tomorrow

What brand OPKs are you using?

 

[harley.quinn]

i started with cheapies haha

target brand up & up