TTC first baby from 40 - Tell your story or join the boat

[Anke82]

Hello everyone,
I am 40 and trying to conceive my first baby. I did all check ups and everything looks OK, partner has low sperm count but improved a bit recently with vitamins. Still, 2 years of trying and 2 IUIs but no pregnancy yet. I would be happy to hear other stories to have more hopes, I have been down with all these BFN tests. Did you get pregnant after 40? What did you do? Naturally, IUI, IVF, ICSI.. etc?
Also happy to connect with others going through the same TTC journey
Wish you a nice day!
Anke

 

[Suggerhoney]

Hi welcome to baby and bump.

Not my first baby but I got pregnant with my youngest aged 41.
We started ttc again when I was 40 in 2020 and I fell pregnant 4 times that year but they all ended in very early miscarriages.
After the 4th loss I started taking Galatanised Macca Root and folate.
That was in November 2020' and in Jan 2021 I fell with my youngest. I had just turned 41.
We will be ttc again from May and I'm 42 now.
There's a few ladies on here that are in there 40s and ttc.
There is a Testing group in the 2ww forum. There's a Feb one and a new March one. U should join hon because there all lovely in there and there are a few that are 40 right up to 48 ttc..
We all support each other so please come and join us hon.
Ure get alot more answers to ure questions there as well.

 

[Anke82]

Thank you so much for your message! I will join the group. So happy to find others also TTC to share experiences. I feel I have no one I can talk to about it. I married 3 times, never took anticoncepcional, never avoided pregnancy and never even saw a faint positive pregnancy test. I got my AF today, after an IUI cycle and cried a lot, then I found this forum. I truly feel hopeless! Happy to know that it worked out for you! And thanks a lot for the tip, I have been taking folate but did not know about Macca Root.

I wish you all the best with the next TTC!!

 

[elencor]

@Anke82 Hi! First of all good luck with your journey.
I'm 31, we've been trying for almost 2 years without success, my husband has low sperm count, with normal motility and almost normal shape. I wanted to ask you if it's not too much indiscretion... What is your partner count? And what count do you think it's the minimum for achieving a natural pregnancy?

I'm truly sorry for the question but we've been told different things from different specialists and don't know what to think... The fertility doctor said it's next to impossible even with IUI, that our one and only chance is through IVF (counts have been 1million/ml, 9 million, 5 million) but the urologist said we will eventually achieve it through intercourse, and several people on the internet seem to achieve it naturally or with IUI.

We are planning to do IVF but are trying naturally in the meantime, I use menstrual cups after intercourse and also ovulation tests. What things are you trying?

Best wishes!

 

[Anke82]

@Anke82 Hi! First of all good luck with your journey.
I'm 31, we've been trying for almost 2 years without success, my husband has low sperm count, with normal motility and almost normal shape. I wanted to ask you if it's not too much indiscretion... What is your partner count? And what count do you think it's the minimum for achieving a natural pregnancy?

I'm truly sorry for the question but we've been told different things from different specialists and don't know what to think... The fertility doctor said it's next to impossible even with IUI, that our one and only chance is through IVF (counts have been 1million/ml, 9 million, 5 million) but the urologist said we will eventually achieve it through intercourse, and several people on the internet seem to achieve it naturally or with IUI.

We are planning to do IVF but are trying naturally in the meantime, I use menstrual cups after intercourse and also ovulation tests. What things are you trying?

Best wishes!

No worries at all!! we are here to help each other. Count was ok but problem was motility. He had 10% motility out of 36 million last Summer (so about 3.6 million). He started taking vitamins to improve male fertility 5 months ago and it helped!! On our first IUI in January 2022 he got a count of 15 million post-wash, which was great! And on our second IUI he had 35 million sperm post-wash which was amazing! Still did not work and I got my AF today

Our doctor said about a minimum of 5 million post-wash for IUI. I have not tried IVF, I suffer from anxiety and I am afraid of the procedure (beyond the costs which are much too high). IUI was very easy so far and not so expensive, I have done 2 natural IUIs (without drugs)… I will do my 3rd one in March….

I wish you a lot of baby dust!

 

[elencor]

Yes IVF cost is way too high, that has me really stressed out!
Let's hope third time is a charm for you IUI journey, keep us posted!

 

[cheerios]

Hi Anke82
We're prob the same age, I'm also born in 1982. I have 4 kids already and am still on the fence about my #5.

I took 1.5 years to conceive my first baby cos my husband had low sperm count and I had PCOS. I see that you've gone for 3 IUIs, that's great!! There's actually a LTTC thread where you might find more support since women there have health issues getting pregnant too.

For us, the husband took some antibiotics cos his sperms had some bacterial infection which he didn't know about. His sperm count increased quite a lot after 3-4 months post-antibiotics. I took clomid and got pregnant after my 4th try. Are you ovulating regularly? My cycles back then were so irregular I didn't know when/ if I was ovulating, so clomid really helped me to ovulate better.

i wish you all the best!!!

 

[Suggerhoney]

Wishing all u ladies so much luck I pray u all get ure sticky beanies soon.

 

[Anke82]

Hi Anke82
We're prob the same age, I'm also born in 1982. I have 4 kids already and am still on the fence about my #5.

I took 1.5 years to conceive my first baby cos my husband had low sperm count and I had PCOS. I see that you've gone for 3 IUIs, that's great!! There's actually a LTTC thread where you might find more support since women there have health issues getting pregnant too.

For us, the husband took some antibiotics cos his sperms had some bacterial infection which he didn't know about. His sperm count increased quite a lot after 3-4 months post-antibiotics. I took clomid and got pregnant after my 4th try. Are you ovulating regularly? My cycles back then were so irregular I didn't know when/ if I was ovulating, so clomid really helped me to ovulate better.

i wish you all the best!!!

thank you for your message! It gives me hope! I will ask the doctor for further checks on my partner. On my side all hormones are on the right range and I am regular, but I know that with age the egg quality may not be so good, plus the low sperm quality. I am still waiting for the outcome of my 3rd IUI. I hope it works out! I wish you also good luck with your baby #5!

 

[Anke82]

Wishing all u ladies so much luck I pray u all get ure sticky beanies soon.

Thank you!

 

[AngelUK]

My boys are almost 10 now but we conceived them on our third try with IUI when I was 41. We had been trying for years to get pregnant naturally and nothing at all ever happened. Our problem was that my Other Half had antibodies in his sperm and it needed to be washed as well. I did take fertility meds to enhance our chances and my twin boys are the result. So maybe you could try that too?
Good luck to you for your next try!

 

[cheerios]

thank you for your message! It gives me hope! I will ask the doctor for further checks on my partner. On my side all hormones are on the right range and I am regular, but I know that with age the egg quality may not be so good, plus the low sperm quality. I am still waiting for the outcome of my 3rd IUI. I hope it works out! I wish you also good luck with your baby #5!

Oh your hormones being in the right range is awesome!!! And having regular cycles too! Do u take any supplements to improve egg quality?? I'm thinking if I should take Agnus castus which is supposed to help with egg quality.

 

[Anke82]

My boys are almost 10 now but we conceived them on our third try with IUI when I was 41. We had been trying for years to get pregnant naturally and nothing at all ever happened. Our problem was that my Other Half had antibodies in his sperm and it needed to be washed as well. I did take fertility meds to enhance our chances and my twin boys are the result. So maybe you could try that too?
Good luck to you for your next try!

Nice it worked out for you!!!
I will ask for the meds, so far my doctor did not want to give me because he said I am ovulating and did not want to increase the chances of twins, but I would be so happy if it would also be the case! I will try to ask him again about that… I am now waiting for the outcome of my 3rd IUI! Period is due in 2 days….

 

[Anke82]

Oh your hormones being in the right range is awesome!!! And having regular cycles too! Do u take any supplements to improve egg quality?? I'm thinking if I should take Agnus castus which is supposed to help with egg quality.

Thanks for your message! I was actually a bit frustrated when they did not find a reason, because I wanted a treatment to fix the cause of not getting pregnant for years, but I know it is good the hormones are fine. I am taking just regular multi-vitamins. I don’t know Agnus Castus but will check it out. Also read that CoQ10 may help but apparently there are mixed results in the research. I am willing to try anything to improve my eggs, all that the doctor told me was “your eggs are 40 years old, not 20 anymore, so they have more chromosomes issues”, well German doctors are very straight to the point and don’t mind about hurting your feelings

 

[AngelUK]

Good luck!

 

[cheerios]

Thanks for your message! I was actually a bit frustrated when they did not find a reason, because I wanted a treatment to fix the cause of not getting pregnant for years, but I know it is good the hormones are fine. I am taking just regular multi-vitamins. I don’t know Agnus Castus but will check it out. Also read that CoQ10 may help but apparently there are mixed results in the research. I am willing to try anything to improve my eggs, all that the doctor told me was “your eggs are 40 years old, not 20 anymore, so they have more chromosomes issues”, well German doctors are very straight to the point and don’t mind about hurting your feelings

Hi!
Oh you live in Germany too? Me too? Which part of Germany are u in ? I'm in stuttgart. Oh boy, the doctors are not very nice, are they??

Did your health insurance cover your IUI?? I read that German health insurance overs IUIs only if the woman is below 40 years old.

 

[Anke82]

Hi!
Oh you live in Germany too? Me too? Which part of Germany are u in ? I'm in stuttgart. Oh boy, the doctors are not very nice, are they??

Did your health insurance cover your IUI?? I read that German health insurance overs IUIs only if the woman is below 40 years old.

hey!! Sorry for my late response, I did not get a notification that you wrote me…

I live in Frankfurt! Stuttgart is not so far!

no, the insurance is not paying anything, all done privately… and the worst is if I have to go for IVF, it can cost more than 5k per tentative. Insane! I don’t have either the money for this nor the emotional strength

Liebe Grüße!