Trying for our finale, TTC #4! Anyone else?

[justplay91]

Hi, all! We have a son who will be 4 in August, a 2 year old daughter, and a crazy little 1 year old (in 12 days O.O). My life/house is a crazy mess, and I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into. But we have made the (completely insane) decision to have one more baby and round us out to FOUR kids!!! I found adding #3 to be really difficult, so I am hoping #4 isn't as rough. If someone told me 10 years ago that I would have 4 kids I would have called them insane and smacked them, but hey. Life's weird like that.
I'm still breastfeeding my one year old, but only 4 times a day (cut down from 6-7 just two months ago, his choice not mine). So my cycles have been getting shorter and more regular recently, which makes TTC easier, thankfully. I got a solid smiley and positive wondfo this morning, plus lots of EWCM, so I'm guessing I'm o'ing today or tomorrow. We bd'ed last night ,and plan to tonight and probably tomorrow night as well. Poor OH!
I kinda can't believe I'm back here (we thought surprise baby #3 was going to be our last for sure) but I'm excited and ready for the TTC journey!

 

[BabyBrain80]

Good luck!
Im ttc #3 and on my first proper cycle after an early mc in Dec. Feeling rather nervous about it. Anyway just wanted to wish you lots of luck and

 

[NoGreaterLove]

Following! I love big families and hope to have a big one myself one day. Wishing you lots of luck!

 

[donnarobinson]

I am on the fence at the minute . I felt done till just a few weeks ago when I suddenly want another. Ino it’s because I really want a girl and I adore my boys so much I wouldn’t be sad to have another but I badly want a girl .. I don’t no wether to go for it one more time or not. I had the injection in December it was up on the 27th feb so I don’t no how long it will take for my periods or anthing to return . My boys have just gone 6,4 and 2 .. x

 

[justplay91]

Babybrain80, I'm sorry to hear about your loss in December. I can imagine that would definitely add to the already nerve-racking nature of TTC. I'm hoping you're super fertile (I think they say you're more fertile for a few months after MC?) and get a healthy BFP soon!

Nogreaterlove, the big family life is certainly interesting! When they're little, you're pretty much NEVER alone, but it's nice in a way too. I don't know what I would do with quiet anymore. It's funny, because I'm not the type of person anyone would have expected to have 4 kids! I'm non-religious (where I live, the only "big" families tend to be fundamentalist Christian or amish). But I love it! I love how loud it is, how every kid is different and you learn something new with each baby, and even that we've had to buy everything bigger to fit our brood. LOL. I hope you get your big family someday, too.

donnarobinson, I think I remember you from when I was pregnant with my now 2 year old daughter. I know the feeling of being on the fence. I honestly am still not 100% sure even though OH and I have been talking about it basically since our youngest was born. But I think for us, the regret of not having another would outweigh the total chaos of having 4 young kids, if you know what I mean. So we're going for it! it's hard to make what feels like such an emotional decision, though.

 

[donnarobinson]

Babybrain80, I'm sorry to hear about your loss in December. I can imagine that would definitely add to the already nerve-racking nature of TTC. I'm hoping you're super fertile (I think they say you're more fertile for a few months after MC?) and get a healthy BFP soon!

Nogreaterlove, the big family life is certainly interesting! When they're little, you're pretty much NEVER alone, but it's nice in a way too. I don't know what I would do with quiet anymore. It's funny, because I'm not the type of person anyone would have expected to have 4 kids! I'm non-religious (where I live, the only "big" families tend to be fundamentalist Christian or amish). But I love it! I love how loud it is, how every kid is different and you learn something new with each baby, and even that we've had to buy everything bigger to fit our brood. LOL. I hope you get your big family someday, too.

donnarobinson, I think I remember you from when I was pregnant with my now 2 year old daughter. I know the feeling of being on the fence. I honestly am still not 100% sure even though OH and I have been talking about it basically since our youngest was born. But I think for us, the regret of not having another would outweigh the total chaos of having 4 young kids, if you know what I mean. So we're going for it! it's hard to make what feels like such an emotional decision, though.

Thanks hun I remember u to . Ino my heart will win and we will have another I just am scared how hard it’s going to be . I’m scared the depo is going to have completely messed me up I only had the one shot so hoping it will leave my system quickly . I haven’t had a period yet though. X

 

[aimee_1691]

Exciting stuff! Mine I have 4 all fairly close together and we are TTC number 5, this will be my biggest gap as my youngest is 4 in December. I found 4 bad but I think that was because it was my smallest gap at 15 months and I didn’t cope well but now they are just argue with eachother so it’s wonderful ����

 

[justplay91]

donna, I don't know much about the shot but hopefully it wears off soon for you so your cycles can come back. It seems crazy to be thinking about a 4th, doesn't it?! Four kids!!!

Hi, aimee! Yeah, I have a 15.5 month gap between both my oldest and middle as well as my middle and youngest. It is a hard age gap, but I don't know any different! This time (even if I got pregnant right now) we'd have at least a 20 month gap, which I feel would be a lot easier. In your case, I bet the oldest ones (and even the 4 year old) will be able to help a lot!

I have no idea what is going on with my body. I got a solid smiley and positive wondfo yesterday morning + lots of ewcm, and then a REALLY DARK positive last night. So I assumed I had my surge last night and it would be negative today, but nope. None quite as dark as last night, but still definitely positive this morning and even this afternoon. EWCM seems to have dried up though. I think I've read you generally ovulate AFTER the EWCM so maybe I'm only just now ovulating? We bd'ed Tuesday night, last night, and planning on tonight as well (hopefully). I'm wondering though if I'm not actually ovulating this time since my ovary cramping/pain isn't as bad as it often is and my nipples aren't as sensitive, either. Ah well, I guess we'll see! If it was true ovulation, I'll either get a bfp or my period in 2 weeks. If not, my body will probably try and ovulate again. I think the fact that I'm still breastfeeding my 1 year old might be screwing things up a little. but, that's okay, I have plenty of time.

Where is everyone else in their cycle? When we were TTC'ing my daughter (the 2 year old), I had a TTC thread and I loved having all these TTC buddies to symptom spot, etc with! Hoping for that again!

 

[xdxxtx]

Awesome!!! My OH and I are NTNP and have 5 - our youngest is 7 months old, and our oldest is 6. I am sooo nervous!!! We must be insane.

 

[aimee_1691]

donna, I don't know much about the shot but hopefully it wears off soon for you so your cycles can come back. It seems crazy to be thinking about a 4th, doesn't it?! Four kids!!!

Hi, aimee! Yeah, I have a 15.5 month gap between both my oldest and middle as well as my middle and youngest. It is a hard age gap, but I don't know any different! This time (even if I got pregnant right now) we'd have at least a 20 month gap, which I feel would be a lot easier. In your case, I bet the oldest ones (and even the 4 year old) will be able to help a lot!

I have no idea what is going on with my body. I got a solid smiley and positive wondfo yesterday morning + lots of ewcm, and then a REALLY DARK positive last night. So I assumed I had my surge last night and it would be negative today, but nope. None quite as dark as last night, but
still definitely positive this morning and even this afternoon. EWCM seems to have dried up though. I think I've read you generally ovulate AFTER the EWCM so maybe I'm only just now ovulating? We bd'ed Tuesday night, last night, and planning on tonight as well (hopefully). I'm wondering though if I'm not actually ovulating this time since my ovary cramping/pain isn't as bad as it often is and my nipples aren't as sensitive, either. Ah well, I guess we'll see! If it was true ovulation, I'll either get a bfp or my period in 2 weeks. If not, my body will probably try and ovulate again. I think the fact that I'm still breastfeeding my 1 year old might be screwing things up a little. but, that's okay, I have plenty of time.

Where is everyone else in their cycle? When we were TTC'ing my daughter (the 2 year old), I had a TTC thread and I loved having all these TTC buddies to symptom spot, etc with! Hoping for that again!

You are amazing, but like you said you don’t know any different so anything else Older would be a bonus. It is lovely though isn’t it thoigh when they are so close and the bond they have.

Yeah hopefully haha! We shall see.

I’ll be following your progress, exciting!! X

 

[justplay91]

xdxxtx, wow, 5 kiddos! You must be super mom! My older two were around 7 months old when I became pregnant with the next baby, so that's an age gap I'm very familiar with. It's really nice, in a lot of ways. They're too young to really be jealous yet when baby comes home, so that helps. The downside of course is that they are still very dependent on you (but so is my now 3.5 year old, so when does that end?! ).

aimee, I don't feel amazing, LOL! Seriously though, there are some things about a smaller gap that are easier in my opinion. When you have a 16 month old and a newborn, the older one isn't in school yet so no rushing everyone out of the house in the morning. And as I said above, there also is less jealousy when baby comes home and they never remember anything but having their little sibling. They are both babies, so naptimes, mealtimes, diaper changes, etc line up fairly easily after a few months. But obviously the older baby is still very much a baby and needs the attention of a infant. And they can't entertain themselves as well while you're nursing, etc. I think a 20-30 month gap will be very exciting for me, as I have noticed that mine tend to gain a lot of independence around that time, as well as really starting to show a lot of personality.

With #4, things are going to be VERY interesting. My oldest will be in preschool in the fall, so getting everyone up, dressed, in the car, schlepped into the building, and then right back out again is going to be QUITE the feat. I'm not a super organized person, and I really need to work on that.

 

[justplay91]

I'd really like to know if I ovulated. I started getting EWCM on the 6th, so we DTD that night. The next morning I got a solid smiley opk and a positive wondfo and had lots more EWCM all day. We DTD again that night (Wednesday) and for good measure also last night (even though I didn't have much if any EWCM yesterday). So I would have assumed, okay, ovulation over. Except my wondfo tests are still positive?! But I'm wondering if maybe they are just too sensitive for me. Either that or my body geared up to ovulate but hasn't actually done so yet, and will probably try again in a few weeks. Which is super frustrating, because I don't know whether to consider myself in the TWW or not. But I think for the sake of staying sane, I'll just assume I o'ed yesterday and call myself 1 dpo today.

This would be a neat month to conceive, because my daughter's b-day is December 2nd. So this baby would be born just a week or so before her 3rd birthday. It would especially fun if we had another girl, but I'm sure we won't get THAT lucky!

 

[donnarobinson]

It’s horrible waiting for period to return 😩 im going to give it a month and then I’ll start the pill for s month see if that kick starts things x

 

[LuLu15]

Hello! We recently decided to try for number 4 as well! I’m still breast feeding my youngest who is only 9 Months. My cycle still hasn’t returned but I just bought some ovulation tests to see if I can catch that first ovulation. We had a hard time with #3 and needed Fertility help but I’m hoping we won’t need that this time. We also decided that we aren’t going to make it a chore lol if that makes sense. It was an emotional roller coaster for #3 and we don’t want to do that again. So Fx it’s not too stressful lol! And good luck to everyone! ☺️

 

[Katiedw21]

Hello! I am not ttc as I'm expecting #6 in October but wanted to weigh in on the #4 and age gaps I came across your feed when I accidentally clicked new posts

So between my oldest and #2 there was 2 1/2 years between #2 and#3 there was only 14 1/2 months between #3 and #4 there was 3 1/2 years and#4 and #5 there is 4 1/2 years and now we will be bank to 3 years between! So I'm all over the board but I found the transition from 2 to 3 very difficult (as you can see by the gap haha) I think there was something about being out numbered and not enough hands to go around! But from 3 to 4 was pretty much no change besides being tired that was really the easiest change for me which I found a bit odd but the even numbers have been easier so I'm hoping #6 is the same! I do think 2 years or around that is a really good age gap as they're a little more self sufficient but still young enough that it doesn't disrupt their whole world and like you said do not remember amt different! Good luck to you on your ttc journey and I think you'll absolutely love having your 4th!!!

 

[LO4]

Hi! I'm also trying for baby #4! I have a small age gap between my children but this gap is going to be a lot bigger since my youngest turns five soon! We have been trying since October without any luck, but my cycles are pretty long (last one was 40 days, but usually around 32) so I'll have to wait a long time for ovulation. Currently on CD3 on cycle #5. I'm not as impatient as I was the first try. And the second. Apparently this takes some time. I've gotten pregnant at the first try all previous pregnancies so this was new to me. Still under 30yo so didn't think I was gonna have to wait this long.

Babydust to you all

 

[justplay91]

Lo4, I also have a history of long cycles. It's nice when not TTC, as I have fewer periods in a year (like 10 vs the normal 12-13). But really annoying to have to wait longer between every cycle. Mine normally are like 32-34 days, but since I'm only a year postpartum and still breastfeeding, they have been as long as 65 days. I started taking vitex last month and it seems to really be helping! I was having a really long cycle, began the vitex and finally ovulated 5 days later, with a period exactly 14 days later. This month I o'ed on cd 20, which is early for me recently. Assuming it's the same as last cycle, I'm expecting my period on cd 34. Which would be about back to normal for me!

donnarobinson, I can only imagine how frustrating that must be. According to Dr. Google (lol) it can apparently be as much as 6-12 months after the last depo shot before cycles go back to normal. I hope it isn't that long for you, though!

LuLu15, I'm sorry to hear you've had a rough time with TTC in the past. It took us 4-5 cycles with my daughter and it was definitely a challenge to make it not seem like a chore. I can already see us going down that route again, so I also need to try and chill out. Good luck to you as well! Hopefully you get your BFP quickly!

Katie, thank you for the input! I love hearing from seasoned moms who have had different age gaps. I do think going from 2 to 3 was really hard. Even now, there's just a different dynamic when we all go out together. 1. We're outnumbered and 2. It's like one of us always has to be dealing with 2 kids while the other deals with 1. It's just really stressful. I have actually read that in some ways, 4 is easier than 3 because you can take 2 while your partner takes the other 2 and it kind of evens things out. That might be part of the reason that even numbers is easier. From mom friends I have with 4+ kids, the general consensus seems to be that once you have 3, adding another (or 2 or 3 more ) doesn't make much of a difference difficulty-wise.

4 dpo today and not feeling much of anything. Some twinges in my right ovary (think I o'ed from that side) but that's about it. I think if we don't conceive this month, we will be skipping TTC in April and resuming in May. We're trying to avoid a late December/early January baby.

Where is everyone else in their cycles today?

 

[donnarobinson]

Yeh I’m hoping it doesn’t take that long I’m going to give it a month and then think I might take the pill for a month to try and kick start things . I seem
To get pregnant quite easily since having my first . Took 3 years to conceive him 😩 yet after that I don’t really even need to try 😂
X

Im going to buy some ovulation tests to check when I ovulate .

It’s been 2 weeks since my shot run out and I have heard of people getting pregnant straight away .
x

All my kids birthdays are close together
12th January 13th feb and 4th March I would love a summer baby this time x

 

[babyjan]

Wow your one brave girl!

I want #3 some days and some days I’m just petrified at the thought! Not sure what I want most days lol

 

[justplay91]

donna, I'd ideally love a summer baby as well. My first was born in August, which was nice but I think June or July would be the best. We were originally planning on waiting until like October to TTC to have a summer babe, but decided ultimately we think its more important that our 4th be closer in age to the rest of them. Wow, your three are all clustered pretty close together with birthdays. That must be an expensive time of year! As far as opks go, I'd really recommend the wondfo brand on amazon. They're cheap, and they seem to work really well. I also then use the clearblue ones when the wondfos start getting darker to confirm ovulation.

babyjan, haha! Not sure if brave is the right word (crazy, maybe?)... TBH, the transition to 3 was really hard for me. Still is, especially now that I have a 3.5 year old, 2 year old, and 1 year old in the house. I always forget how much trouble 1 year olds are! But it's really worth it. I like to imagine Christmas and holidays years from now, with the big family. Hopefully they all like me and come home a lot!

Recently, I keep having doubts about having another baby. I think mostly I'm afraid for my youngest son. Taking away his "Baby" title... It just seems cruel. Right now, they are all special. My first (boy) is, well, the Eldest. That comes with a lot of perks. My middle is the Girl. Obviously, that makes her stand out, too. And my youngest (boy) is the Baby. And he is the stereotypical baby of the family (i.e. a Mama's boy ). I'm worried a 4th will completely mess that up. Idk, sometimes it seems worth it and sometimes it doesn't. I'm pretty sure I will always have these doubts, though, and I'm betting it won't be nearly as big an issue as I fear.

As for symptoms, not much yet. I'm 5dpo I believe, and already pretty sure I'm out. I'm emotional and my temper has been really easy to set off since Sunday. That's usually a sign that AF is going to arrive normally. Oh well. We'll be skipping next month and resuming TTC in May to avoid a Christmas baby. I'll definitely still be posting on here, though! It's going to take a lot of willpower to avoid DTD unprotected during my fertile period!