Long Irregular Cycles 'r' Us

[Lucy Lu]

I like it!!! How do I add it to my signature? Haven't set one up before.

Good luck Bizy Bee - all sounds v promising! What a fab V-Day gift to your other half if you do get a bfp and could wait till then to tell him! Not long to go till you test! Keep us posted - and lots of baby dust.

Looks like I ov'd early-ish yesterday - the opk had gone faint again yesterday afternoon, and then this morning, my temp had gone up 2.5 degrees and my CP is closed. Is all such a relief after the odd looking set of temps I had last cycle.

Am convinced I have a whole raft of symptoms already as well - LOL what a loon I am! Would be the earliest symptoms ever - DPO1! hehe - have turned into a total TTC nutter!

 

[Erised]

Confirmed ovulation ... Hopefully your 2ww will fly past in no time so you can start testing =D

As for signature, click on where it says 'Private Messages' in the right top, then go to 'Edit Signature' on the left.

In the box that shows up on the right, copy and paste this:

[URL="https://www.babyandbump.com/cycle-buddies/43076-long-irregular-cycles-r-us.html"][IMG]https://www.elviramckane.com/wp-content/gallery/random-uploads/team-serendipity.gif[/IMG][/URL]

If you want it centered in your signature, add [ CENTER ] before it, without the spaces and [ /CENTER ] behind it.

 

[BizyBee]

Thanks Erised for linking the name to our thread. I love it! I wonder why you're spotting. Hopefully you'll get the referral soon!

Congrats Lucy on the big O!

 

[Erised]

That's alright =)
As for the spotting, it was indeed just a 1 day thing ... it's completely stopped now. Absolutely no clue what went on, it's not the first time it's happened though. Oh well, I'm sure it does no harm. The scan last week said all was well, apart from the one ovary, so I'm not too worried.

Just gotta sit and play the waiting game a bit longer.

 

[Lucy Lu]

ooh thanks Erised! - None too productive this morning with the snow today. I should be working at home, but b&b keeps calling instead!

Maybe the spotting is your body trying to get back into a routine Erised. You are still temping aren't you? I know you said you've been anovulatory, but there isn't any way it could be an IB is there?

 

[Erised]

Ermm, IB? Sorry, not seen that one before
The spotting was only for a day, and has completely stopped. I honestly don't think it was anything, all my OPK's came back negative and my temperature has remained pretty much the same. I'd like to be hopeful, but I just don't see anything happen naturally.

Hoping the post in half an hour will bring me my date for the gynae... been then again, have been hoping that for a couple of days now.
Good luck trying to get some work done Lucy Lu, we'll try our very best not to distract you too much I personally will be going back to bed soon ... Woo! I'm lazy, I've only had about 4 hours of sleep and want more. Only reason I'm up is because I'm waiting for a phone call ... once I've had that I'll be joining my DH in bed again. He's supposed to be working from home too, but doesn't seem to want to get up.

At least I get to watch the snow now =D Nothing this morning when I first got up, but it's been snowing steadily for the last 90 minutes or so, and it seems to be sticking. Maybe the world will go white around here after all.

 

[BizyBee]

I'm getting ready for work but wanted to stop in and say hi. Erised, hope you get your letter today... Lucy, any symptoms yet? (just teasing, I know you're only 2 dpo or so!)

 

[Erised]

No letter today, got the feeling it's not gonna get here this week.
I had planned on going back to bed, but I've only just got off the phone with my mum. She was supposed to call me this morning to let me know how my dads operation went, but did she f*ck. Bit annoyed as I sat by the phone waiting since 8:30, and she's known since 10:00 how things went and even spoken to him personally ... yet I didn't find out a darn thing until I decided to call her past noon, as I grew tired of waiting. Why say she'll call as soon as she finds out, and then not do so knowing full well I'm sat waiting on only a couple of hours of sleep? ... Blah. To think the only reason I was up this early and waiting was because I knew she's uncomfortable talking English on the phone and didn't want her to have to wait (and by doing so, talk in English to my MIL) while I was getting dressed to get to the phone.

At least he's doing well =) I've asked her to keep me updated by email now, so I won't be sat waiting again. Apparently he's got a massive screen on the ceiling above his bed, which allows him to watch tv, use msn, browse the internet and make phone calls through it. So he shouldn't get bored any time soon. Probably a good thing, as for the first 24 hours he needs to stay flat on his back and isn't allowed to move.

But back on subject, you'd be surprised how many symptoms you can spot at 2DPO. lol ... Obviously they're only in your head, but you can spot them non the less! In a couple of days you might have a temp drop, spotting and implantation bleeding though. From then on anything you feel could be real!

 

[quail]

hi ladies could i join you. i think im having 20-24 day cycles but im still breastfeeding my 7 month old do you think i could still be ovulating? thanks ladies

 

[Erised]

Yup, very possible and even likely.
If you weren't ovulating your periods would be a lot less frequent (every 80 or so days for me, but for some women it's even over 125 days). The fact you're bleeding pretty much every 3 weeks means you did ovulate and as you didn't fall pregnant, your body sheds the lining it had build up in case you would fall pregnant. If you weren't ovulating, the hormones wouldn't be evenly balanced and you would not shed the lining (bleed) until the build up becomes too much (50+ days).

However, with it only being around 3 weeks instead of 4 I'd say your luteal phase is likely to be on the short side at the moment. Which makes it less likely to fall pregnant and remain pregnant if you're TTC. If you're not ttc at the moment, it's still very possible to fall pregnant while breastfeeding and ovulating, so I would suggest taking some precautions against pregnancy.

Do excuse my very not scientific approach in trying to explain. I can't think of -any- of the words I'm trying to think of at the moment. So it will probably just read as a scrambled mess, lol

 

[quail]

thanks erised ,that really helped .well i am ttc so do you know if theres anything that i could do to lengthen my cycle to help me to concive . are you in upton near southwell by any chance? thanks for the reply.x

 

[Erised]

Nope, Upton on the Wirral =)

Before trying things to fix the short luteal phase, try to get confirmation that you do indeed have a short lp. If you start messing around with vitamins and stuff before you're certain you might only make things worse.

Are you temping at the moment? If not, I suggest you start =) If you take your body basal temperature every morning you should be able to tell from there, combined with checking your cervical mucus and maybe using OPKs, when you ovulate. Once you know for certain you've ovulated (which can be seen by a sudden dip in temperature, then high temperatures until AF comes in) you can count the days from ovulation until AF to see what the length of your luteal phase is. 'Normal' is around 14 days, though you should only start worrying if it's less than 10 days, as that would lower your chances of pregnancy.

So for now, I suggest checking that first =) It's possible you just ovulate early, around CD10 and have a normal luteal phase.

Sooo ... plan of action, which you obviously don't have to stick to if you don't want!

Wait until the first day of your AF, that will be CD1 (I'm sorry if you already know all this [you probably do] and I'm just repeating everything. Start taking your temperature at a certain time each morning, before you get up and do anything (that includes talk, breath through your mouth, walk around etc) and write it down (or use fertilityfriend.com to keep an eye on it for you). Do this every morning, at the same time as soon as you wake up, and make sure you've had at least 3 hours of sleep for it to be accurate.
Once you stop bleeding, start keeping an eye on your cervical mucus. Around the time ovulation is due it should turn into an eggwhite substance, stretchy and most often clear. This combined with a temperature drop could signify ovulation. If you want you can also start using OPK's (cheapies you can get online) as soon as your cervical mucus starts getting stretchy, once you have positive OPK you know you're about to ovulate or have just ovulated. Same goes for the temperature drop, this usually happens the day after you ovulated.

Once ovulation is confirmed through temperature and cm (and maybe OPK's if you're using them), start counting the days. If you're using Fertility Friend and your temperature has been accurate through out the whole cycle, it might pin point when it thinks you ovulated and you can compare that with your own guestimate. If AF shows up 12 - 16 days later, you're just fine to keep on trying and not worry. If AF shows up 10 days later or less I'd advice trying for another cycle to confirm, and then going to see your GP as you could have a luteal phase defect.

Did you have any trouble conceiving your 7 month old? If not, you probably just ovulate early rather than have a short luteal phase. But just to make sure it couldn't hurt keeping track of when you ovulate for a couple of cycles.

--Edit--
All that said, the whole no bleeding with ovulation is what my GP told me. If it's wrong, blame him =P
And when reading google just then, apparently it's quite common for women who are breastfeeding to have shorter LP's. So it could possible have something to do with that. If so, it's likely that your cycles will return to normal once you start breastfeeding less, or even stop completely.

 

[quail]

Thanks very much for that,i actually have 9 children but have never really had to try to concive.i have caught with about 3 of them whilst breastfeeding.this is really the first time i have ever planned it so im new to all this ,i really appreciate the advice,just wondering now if its cause im still breastfeeding so will just have to wait and see. My last cycle was only 20 days but around cd5 i started to have the clear mucus that was slippery.could this have been ovulation that early,thanksfor all your help,kirstyx

 

[Erised]

Cycle day 5 would be really really early, but it's possible that it was leading up to an early ovulation. Do you remember if the slippery clear mucus kept up for a couple of days? If so, ovulating on cycle day 9 is not unheard of, especially in short cycles. So it's indeed possible that that was leading up to ovulation.

If you've not had trouble with conceiving your 9 children before, and had 3 while breastfeeding, I wouldn't worry too much =) If you want you can start temping and keeping an eye on your cervical mucus, it should give you a clearer insight into what's going on in your cycle and where you stand.

A lot of ladies on here start of using the 'egg meets sperm' plan, I say start of using it as usually you just give up and babydance when you feel like it =P
For the egg meets sperm plan you start using an OPK from cycle day 10 on, but if you're on a short cycle it probably couldn't hurt starting on CD 7 or whenever you notice your mucus starts getting stretchy. Babydance every other day until the day you get a positive ovulation test. Babydance for 3 days straight (the day of ovulation, and the next 2 day), then have 1 day break and then babydance once more for good luck. Whether it actually highers the chances of pregnancy, I don't know. Some got lucky, others didn't.

Either way, have fun trying! =D Hope you'll get your planned BFP soon

 

[BizyBee]

Well Erised took care of all of the answers, but welcome Quail!

Funny story girls. I teach 6 year olds and yesterday one of my students drew me a picture of a woman holding a baby. I thought it was kind of odd, but when she told me it was Mary and baby Jesus, I stopped thinking about it. Then today another student stuffed her sweatshirt under her shirt and ran around telling everyone she was having a baby. It was hysterical! It's almost like they sense what's going on...

 

[Lucy Lu]

Welcome Quail! - hope you get your bfp soon.

Wow! - have a look at my chart. Sorry to go on but I am just so relieved to be having a 'normal' looking cycle - compare it to my cycle chart before this - god only knows what was going on there - to me it looks like my body tried to ovulate and then never really got its progesterone levels off the ground.

https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/24a68a

Trying not to get over-excited about potentially being pg - one step at a time hey? It's just that we bd'd 6 times in 5 days (with pre-seed on some of those days) so I just can't help thinking 'what if?'. I've been having light cramps in my pelvis yesterday - guess it is more likely to be ovaries settling back down after ovulating, rather than anything pg related, but it is making me dare to hope! - tell me to calm down!!!! I could be v disappointed.

Wow - I wonder if your student is a sign Bizy Bee?! - are you having any more symptoms? Not long to go till testing - I have my fingers and toes firmly crossed for you

Hope this snow clears up soon - I am supposed to drive 50 miles down towards the south coast today and that's where it's worst apparently, so won't be doing that methinks! Maybe your letter has been held up because of all of this Erised. Ooh, ps. I was using IB to mean Implantation bleed by the way x

 

[Lucy Lu]

Hey Littlestar? How u doing? Hope you are having a bit less of a stressful week this week.

R u stuck at home due to the snow?

 

[littlestar]

Yup! still got about 4inches of snow all over it's so eerie! it didn't get dark till way past 10pm last night due to the reflection of the street lamps and moon off the snow. sky is still full of it though can't see anything but cloud but there's no fresh snow falling.

had hardly any appointments this week so definitely less stressful but still no sign of , i'm CD39 out of OPK's and .

been feeling sick, gassy, tired (partly due to laziness methinks) and crampy, my CP is like a yoyo it was like this when i had my annovulatory cycle but hubby is having tests for UTI at the mo so we're not :sad:
the end of his fella is really sore and inflamed, it also keeps leaking a tiny bit which is making him self concious - he's got a blood test for diabetes next week as well as it seems to flare up worse when he has something sweet.

i'm trying not to read between the lines too much, but i feel different. I had a IMA appointment on monday for my Back and he thinks i'm suffering with a mild form of depression associated with my back pain and the effect its having on me, my job, and ability to do things around the house! so i've been doing stretches and probably tackle the ironing this afternoon. hardly a pick me up but i need to stop gaining weight as that is also affecting my back and mood - feeling really irritable.

 

[BizyBee]

Littlestar, I hope your hubby's tests go well and he's better soon. I also hope the stretches relieve your back pain so you can feel like "you" again!

Lucy, I don't think I've had any real symptoms other than the spotting and a little cramping a few days ago. I have been going to the bathroom more, but I'm sure that's due to the fact that I am actually drinking water now. I am never thirsty and used to drink very little throughout the day. Now, I am forcing myself to drink as I know it is good for my body (and hopefully my baby)!

 

[Erised]

Wow Lucy, look at that chart. Your temp is going up nicely! =D Hopefully that will continue and it will stay up. Though we'd miss you here, but you do really deserve it. To be honest, I don't think there's anything we can say that will stop you getting excited and thinking 'what if' and 'just maybe'. So I'm not even gonna try, hope you won't have any disappointment coming your way.

As for 'IB', no - for it to be implantation bleeding I would need to have ovulated, lol. Temps are still being odd, taking a plunge every couple of days but it's become a normal part of my cycle now. Not ovulation related I'm afraid.

BizyBee, lmao! I can imagine it must have been hilarious watching the little girl run around saying she was having a baby. That said, it probably also hurt a little at the same time. I do wonder whether us women give off some sort of 'vibe' when we're ttc. It wouldn't surprise me. I know my side of the family has started asking questions for the last couple of months, and they don't know we're ttc. Heck, they live in a different blooming country, so they shouldn't have been able to guess.

Littlestar, sorry to hear you're out of ovulation sticks again without positive result =( You know, I can understand that the other halfs need to be tested too. But honestly, I don't see how faulty sperm can stop us ovulating?! So why do you have to wait until he's all done and tested for before you get the meds you need? I'm certain Clomid would give you some peace of mind and a little bit of hope again. Hopefully things will pick up and running down the correct road for you soon. You've been here longer than any of us ladies I believe.

Also sorry to hear about the back problems and possible depression related to it. At least you seem to be getting help for it =) Don't do too much in 1 go to try and help your back though, we wouldn't want you to injure/hurt yourself even more.
As for losing weight ... blah! I've been at it for 2 and a half weeks now. First week I only lost 1lb, second week I lost 2lb. Hopefully on Sunday I'll have lost some more, though I don't feel like it. It's a pain! Especially with likely PCOS (which can cause weight gain), IBS (apparently takes extra long to get food out of the system) and rheumatism (stopping me from doing too much, or going to the gym). I'm guessing that with a bad back and likely PCOS you're having a hell of a time too. How are you going about it?

For me, cut out all the snacks, try to have 3 meals a day with fruit in between, drink lemon squash with water only and I bought a little under the desk cycle thing which I use for at least an hour a day.