Long Cycles after MC?

[nl1188]

Hi everyone. I was directed to this thread after signing up and wanted to see if I can get anyone that has any similar experiences? A little background: My wife and I have been trying to conceive for almost a year. My wife got overwhelmed by the TTC process, so to relieve some of her stress about it - I took on charting and helping her with the ovulation tests. My wife works night shift so it makes it difficult to temp - so we rely mostly on CM tracking and OPKs.

We started using ovulation tests in November 2016 and it worked out well because we got pregnant the first month using those. Unfortunately this ended in an early miscarriage. We tried again in December and got pregnant again, which again ended in an early miscarriage. We were devastated. We took a break in January (she did receive a positive ovulation test that month, right on schedule) and then finally had her first "normal" period after the two miscarriages at the end of January. From January to May she didn't have a normal period - some spotting here and there and absolutely no positive OPKs and no changes in her CM. We went to the doctor and he ran some tests and did an ultrasound and everything was normal. He put her on birth control for the month of June to "restart" things. She only stayed on it for a month and she got her period the time she was supposed to on the pill. After that, we finally started seeing some progress and got some positive ovulation tests except now they were around CD 33 and her cycle was 43 days long. Same thing happened in August - ovulation around CD 33 and 45 day cycle (this time with the help of progesterone to lengthen her luteal phase). We timed intercourse perfectly the month of August, but no luck that month.

I wanted to post this to 1) see if anyone has had similar experiences and has had success getting pregnant with these longer cycles or if it has any affect on the TTC process and 2) see if it's normal to have these long of cycles almost 9 months after a miscarriage.

Thanks in advance for any input and for the support during this emotional rollercoaster.

 

[nl1188]

also, please let me know if this should be on another board.

 

[Sorsha]

Miscarriages can definitely mess up your cycles. Before my first pregnancy, I had three cycles off birth control that were exactly 28 days. After my miscarriage, I had four cycles ranging from 38 days to 49 days. Temping was hard for me, so I had trouble confirming ovulation that way, but I started to become pretty sure that I wasn't ovulating at all. After talking with my doctor I went on a low dose of thyroid medication (my levels were in the normal range but not the ideal range) and a low dose of Clomid. One or both worked, because the very next cycle we got pregnant.

That cycle was a long one too--I didn't ovulate until CD25 (and my LP had usually been 14 days, so it probably would have been a 39 day cycle). But the pregnancy went totally fine and my son is now a very healthy 3 year old.

So basically, the irregular cycles could be due to the miscarriages, and you can definitely still get pregnant with longer cycles. But I would do your best to find some way to confirm ovulation is happening just in case it's not. If your wife sleeps at the same time every day, even if it's an unusual time, maybe she could temp then? Or if she has different sleep patterns on workdays vs. weekdays, temping on workdays would at least give 5 days of data every week, which would be enough to see the temp shift if it happens even if it wouldn't necessarily pinpoint the exact day.

My trouble with temping is that I'm an erratic sleeper, so I regularly wake up in the middle of the night, at unpredictable times, not always getting 3+ hours of sleep at a time. So it was impossible to temp at the same time every night while also having gotten the recommended amount of sleep beforehand. I've started using the OvuSense, which is a wearable device that takes your temp every 5 minutes throughout the night and then determines a sort of average to temp by. If your wife has similar problems with being able to take a consistent temp, a device like that (there are other ones too) might be worth looking into.

Good luck!

 

[nl1188]

Thanks Sorsha. So happy for your healthy 3 year old!

My wife is a nurse so she works 3 nights a week (different days every week) with 12 hour shifts. She wakes up at different times every day. The days she does have work she'll wake up at 4pm and the days she doesn't ranges from 7am-1pm.

The way we "confirmed" ovulation was positive OPKs and EWCM. I know it isn't an exact confirmation, but seeing as that it happened for the first time in July since January and happened the exact same time in August - we're assuming it's a good sign that she did ovulate. Granted, I'm no expert so please let me know if that isn't enough to think she ovulated.

 

[Sorsha]

I think those signs make it likely, but I know you can get an LH surge (for a positive OPK) and EWCM but then not ovulate after all. Those only tell you the body is gearing up to O. Temping is the only way to definitely confirm.

I think if she tempted at 4pm three days a week and maybe also 1pm one or two nights, you'd still see the shift. Just to make sure. But if you're not worried about that aspect, then not necessary!