Long cycles and the tww

[ksquared726]

Thanks, everyone! AF is taking her sweet time showing up. But I got the hot flashes, especially on my lower back, which is definitely AF coming. Spotting has increased but still not full on.

Aidensxmomma - Darn those OPKs. FX O day is just a few days away. Hoping those positive vibes from your engagement will help this cycle!

 

[HopefullyOpto]

I see on your chart ksquared that she finally showed her face, so you are two days behind me now! I have a good feeling about this cycle and I'm so glad I have you ladies along for the journey with me. AF was relatively light today so I really hope she is only around a few more days. It would be amazing to have a shorter cycle this time round. And even better if it yields a BFP for us all

 

[ksquared726]

Yep! Woke up this morning with AF in full swing and very achey. Seems like a good strong flow, so hopefully like you I'll have a nice clean slate for this cycle. I'm glad yours is pretty light now. This part of my cycle I always feel motivated and optimistic .

Yeah it's nice having my chart here! I have started really liking the Fertility Friend charts now that I put in a bunch of data and see what it can actually do. Turns out my LP might be more normal than I thought and maybe I ovulate a few days later than my burst of EWCM each cycle too. At least based on temps. Hopefully being more in tune will help me time the BD-ing this cycle too.

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Ksquared I'm really glad FF is working out for you, this is my 3 cycle using them and I have definitely found them useful. So far my DH and I have just been aware of my fertile time and BD'd around it without putting to much pressure on ourselves. This time I may be a little more pushy haha! I don't want to take the fun out of it though so I will just see how my cycle responds to vitex this month and go from there

 

[crazycatlady5]

Dh and I bded a lot around the time I ovulated the cycle I got my bfp, so that worked for us. We dtd twice the day before ovulation and ovulation day, and then bded the next two days after that just to cover our bases. We went with the more is more theory and it worked!

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Yeah I think that's what I am going to attempt this cycle of the DH is up for it I just want to stop stressing over TTC and my super long cycles! It bores me having to wait to ovulate...
How are you crazycat? Have your symptoms got worse?

 

[crazycatlady5]

Just have a few glasses of wine and relax until ovulation time opks actually helped me with that because then I wasn't over analyzing everything and wondering if I ovulated.

Doing well. Still no morning sickness or crazy symptoms. Just really tired and off and on nausea throughout the day, usually when hungry or after eating (so, often), but I haven't been actually sick yet. I've been having trouble sleeping too, I think the baby's getting me ready for sleepless nights to come! And my bra has become the most annoying thing in the world, I think I've widened or something because it's killing me. I actually went and got measured and got a new bra. They said I've gone from a c to d but my width hasn't changed. I felt wider but not like my breasts were that much bigger yet, so I got a wider bra anyway and it's more comfortable, but by end of the day I still need to get it off me, and I have never ever ever been someone to take my bra off when getting home. This is totally new to me, and it's just in like the last 3 days this has happened. Sense of smell still sensitive and super hormonal and moody (poor Dh), he put mr poppers penguins on for me last night and I was crying, so ridiculous.

 

[crazycatlady5]

Made a pregnancy journal! I tried to put it in my signature, but it's a long rambley link, do you guys know how to nicely add it so it just looks like a nice neat link?

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Hey crazycat, might have something to do with html, normally that's how these sites are set up. I haven't looked myself but I shall try shortly and let you know. I'm going to read your journal! I'm sure I will feel inspired x

 

[ksquared726]

Hey guys! AF is winding down for me. DH is being really good about taking vitamins and drinking water and getting active, so I'm feeling optimistic for this cycle. I really want to BD as much as possible during the fertile window like Crazycatlady did .

Has AF finished for you, HopefullyOpto? How are the OPKs coming along, aidensxmomma?

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Hi ksquared, yeah AF has finished up. Not sure if the spotting has completely gone as it stuck around for longer last time round but maybe vitex will help that, I guess now it is the dreaded waiting game... Praying and hoping that in the next week or two I come into my fertile window, although it hasn't ever happened that early so not sure I hold out much hope
You get any side effects from vitex ksquared?

 

[ksquared726]

Mine was really light yesterday but then we BD and it increased again, haha. Funny how that happens.

I didn't have any side effects until my second cycle, and then I had one night of really awful cramps about a week to 10 days before AF and diarrhea that was like I had food poisoning. But after that I haven't had anything.
And perhaps that wasn't because of the Vitex. Hope that helps!

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Yeah I steer clear of BD'ing when there is a possibility of spotting as I know it always makes it worse thankfully no spotting for me today so I'm hoping ovulation will be on the horizon sometime soon. Vitex has seemed to irritate my stomach somewhat and cause some diarreah (sorry tmi) but I can deal with this, what I cannot deal with is the fact that it may be causing my anxiety to rear its ugly head. It might not be that but if it is I will not continue using it as the BCP caused me to have extremely debilitating anxiety and I have been good since not being on it. Can anyone advise if vitex can cause this?

 

[aidensxmomma]

Hey guys! AF is winding down for me. DH is being really good about taking vitamins and drinking water and getting active, so I'm feeling optimistic for this cycle. I really want to BD as much as possible during the fertile window like Crazycatlady did .

Has AF finished for you, HopefullyOpto? How are the OPKs coming along, aidensxmomma?

All the OPKs I've taken so far have been negative. I don't think I'll ovulate for a while still. I had a good little cry to my OH about how I hate my cycles and how long they are and how that means it's going to take us longer to get pregnant. The poor guy sat through my whole emotional rant and was so supportive and caring about it. I'm one lucky woman. OH has promised that this cycle we will BD every day once my OPKs start getting darker until two days after ovulation. So I'm feeling a little more positive about our chances this cycle.

Sorry I've been so bad about keeping up with the thread ladies. Truth be told, I'm struggling a lot with TTC and just wanting to be pregnant so bad and I'm getting very disheartened about the whole thing. I know it hasn't been long - we're on our third cycle/fourth month - so I feel guilty for being so upset, but I can't help it. My long cycles are driving me absolutely crazy. I know it'll happen when it's meant to happen, but I don't like being patient and waiting for that time to come.

HopefullyOpto - I'm not sure about the Vitex making anxiety worse, but I hope your anxiety isn't getting too bad. I have really bad anxiety and it sucks.

ksquared - That's great that your OH has been so on board about taking control of his health too. FX that this is your lucky cycle!

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Aidensxmomma, sorry your not dealing with the TTC thing very well. Tbh I get days like that when I think why! Why do I have to have 50+ day cycles! I try to remember that it's still early days and that we will get there.
If you can try and take comfort in the fact that you have children so you know for definite that you can get pregnant and carry a baby to full term.
Try not to compare yourself to those who are lucky enough to get that BFP the first month, there will always be them but equally there will be those that wait what seems like a millennia to them.
Keep doing those OPK's and stay positive! Remember we are all here for support and to lend an ear

 

[aidensxmomma]

Thank you HopefullyOpto.

I do try to take comfort knowing that I already have kids and can have babies. I just worry now that maybe my OH has a problem. My kids are from my ex and my OH doesn't have any of his own yet. I think no matter what, I'd find something to worry about anyway, though.

But on the brighter side, my OPKs finally started getting darker today. Ovulation should be coming up within the next few days, so I'm feeling much better. This will be another long cycle, but not as ridiculously long as my first cycle TTC, so that's a plus.

The plan for this cycle now is to BD every day up until ovulation and then for two days after. Hopefully that will increase our chances a little of catching that egg.

How's everyone else doing?

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Hi aidensxmomma glad to hear those OPKs are getting darker, sounds like the body gearing up for ovulation.
We are always going to worry that this or that is wrong, us woman just seem to be born worriers, we do all the worrying that the men fail to do
I'm sure everything is fine so enjoy BD'ing for what it is. I wish my OH would grant daily BD'ing!

Afm - cd10, barely any cm at all yet. Hoping for an early ovulation instead of cd40 like last time but this vitex might not be agreeing with me. I have had an acne flare up all over my back and some on chest and wondering if it's unbalancing my hormones even more which is making me nervous..

 

[ksquared726]

Hey guys! I'm sorry I've been MIA too. In these early days of a cycle, there's not really much to talk about. The spotting from AF is finally over as of yesterday, so I haven't been able to track CM or anything yet since I feel it was all leftover from AF. Today is the first day I'll actually track it - on CD 8. I've also had a lot of stress from stuff going on at work, and trying to figure out what to do that could be a big change for us. A big change as in moving to another state, which would mean being away from our families which is terrible timing as we're trying to have a baby. But I'm not going to delay TTC - we want a baby too badly for that. I'm sure our families would be devastated if we moved, but it would be amazing for me professionally. So yeah - stressful and I'm not sure what to do yet .

Aidensxmomma - I'm so sorry that you've been so down lately. I totally understand how you guys want a baby together too. Perhaps if this cycle isn't successful, he could get tested. Does he take any vitamins or exercise? Sorry if you already told us and I forgot. Congrats on the darker OPKs! Just relax and have fun while you're in your fertile window, and FX you catch that egg!

HopefullyOpto - Hopefully you start getting more CM in a few days! I think my first cycle on Vitex, I had the clearest and most abundant eggwhite CM ever. It looked fake it was so clear! Too bad it didn't turn into a BFP for me, but perhaps you'll get lucky!

 

[ksquared726]

Oh HopefullyOpto - I forgot to reply about the anxiety! I'm so sorry that you're feeling those side effects. Has it gotten any better? Looking at the reviews for Vitex on Amazon, a couple of people had depression or mood issues, but I'm not sure how common that is. It was only 2-3 people I saw among pages and pages of positive reviews. But perhaps if you already are prone to anxiety and since BCP caused the same issue, and that was regulating your hormones too - though in a different way than Vitex. At least for me, the side effects of those cramps and diarrhea only happened over the course of one week on my second cycle using it, and since then I have been totally fine. So if you can, I'd say keep going with it unless it gets totally unbearable and hopefully you'll push through.

 

[HopefullyOpto]

Hi ksquared! Yeah the anxiety thankfully was only for a day, although I think it might be making me a little moody but maybe that will be temporary. I am however having a breakout over my back and chest which is unusual for me at this point in my cycle, I can only attribute it to the vitex. Some people have said its temporary and others just said to wait it out, so I'm definately a little conflicted. I just want it to shorten the folicular phase or my cycle as my lp is bang on 14/15 days which is average so I really hope it doesn't effect that.