Home The Official TTC Thread!

[AmberWaves]

Howdy everyone, just hanging out at home with Paul, making us breakfast burritos to heat up for tomorrow. Sad that I''m proud of that?? I seriously want to eat them now, though.

Sunkist, sorry your DH is still not okay with TTC now. Doesn''t he know we want to raise our "online" kids together?? And yeah, it was me who said the part about TTC being like LIWing! Man, I sooo love my situation now, though. At least now my parents aren''t asking him to buy the cow!

Everyone... hi!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 9/9/2008 11:47:21 PM
Author: innerkitten
Congrats Mela and Pandora, and lots of sticky vibes to you both~~~~~~~~

Do you guys feel warm? I remember that being a very early symptom of mine. That and being very emotional.

LOL, funnily enough yes!

To be honest the only thing I noticed up to when I got the BFP was feeling pretty tired. Then I had the craptastic day where I yelled at my boss and burst into tears and just couldn''t stop crying.

I put it all down to having cut down my Lamictal from 100mg to 25mg and starting to get depressed because of it (I take them for my bipolar). I even went back up to 50mg.

It''s odd though, now I know I''m pg I''m not so emotional, probably because I know why I am and that reassures me that I''m not going nuts!


Fisher, you can easily feel like you need to pee a lot, and have cramps at 7DPO.

I also have a feeling that I know what is confusing you on the CM. I quite often have what looks like half EWCM and half creamy, it''s kind of cloudy and like very liquid body lotion. I''ve um''d and ar''d a lot over what to put on the chart and in the end I go with sticky.

True EWCM is dead easy to spot if you get enough of it. If you don''t produce a lot of CM, you might not get the full ''OMG this is what EWCM is like'' experience.

If you don''t get a lot of CM, I would suggest adding in Pre-seed to give the spermies more of a chance.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 9/10/2008 12:01:36 AM
Author: EBree
Congratulations, Mela!

Date: 9/9/2008 10:34:54 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly

Haha... now I didn't drop it into a bowl of water. But, I did do more 'examining' than in the past, due to my inability to correctly distinguish. It's clearish (although not clear clear), it's globby (how's that for a technical term?), not clumpy though (meaning it doesn't break apart from itself), it does pull apart and stretch between the fingers, but again not inches and inches as someone else had described. I'm thinking maybe an inch or two, but I don't have a ton to be playing with here, either. Not lotiony, stays in a glob unless it's being pulled and stretched on, then back to the same glob.

So if I have two times of fertile fluid, does that mean I don't ovulate? I'm confused.

Now, I'm no expert, and I obviously can't see this for myself, but it sounds like sticky CM to me.

If you take the fertile CM off your chart, do you still get a solid or even dotted line? How do your temps look?

Yupper, Fisher, that is NOT NOT NOT EWCF. That is sticky. I got that for a day BEFORE I got full on EW. That is like slightly dry snot... LOL! Gross... whereas EW is very very moist and wet and slippery. So if you have had that type of CF before, change those days to Sticky please my friend! EWCF is a meduim for sperm to live in for days... sperm couldn't swim easier throug the globby sticky type you describe, so wait until you get EW and you will see how it is esier to imagine spermies swimming freely though it. Also, as for the "wet" days you have noticed, remember that fertile wet CF will make a round patch in your panties and will be totally clear... like water! Creamy, if there is a lot, can also make a wet macth but it will be more horizontal or streaky and it will be white. I think you have not ovulatied yet... what do you temps look like today?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Date: 9/10/2008 12:01:36 AM
Author: EBree
Congratulations, Mela!

Date: 9/9/2008 10:34:54 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly

Haha... now I didn't drop it into a bowl of water. But, I did do more 'examining' than in the past, due to my inability to correctly distinguish. It's clearish (although not clear clear), it's globby (how's that for a technical term?), not clumpy though (meaning it doesn't break apart from itself), it does pull apart and stretch between the fingers, but again not inches and inches as someone else had described. I'm thinking maybe an inch or two, but I don't have a ton to be playing with here, either. Not lotiony, stays in a glob unless it's being pulled and stretched on, then back to the same glob.

So if I have two times of fertile fluid, does that mean I don't ovulate? I'm confused.

Now, I'm no expert, and I obviously can't see this for myself, but it sounds like sticky CM to me.

If you take the fertile CM off your chart, do you still get a solid or even dotted line? How do your temps look?

Ebree,

If this isn't EW, then I don't have any. This was able to stretch into thin little spindly lines when I pulled it apart with my fingers. It was almost clear but not as clear as an eggwhite. I'm thinking it didn't go for inches and inches and inches because it wasn't a whole lot, because it would stretch until there was no more to stretch, if that makes sense. It was definitely not creamy lotiony because I've become familiar with that by now. Sticky to me is more of a tacky that will stretch, but then leave little peaks where it broke apart. This wasn't breaking apart. I'm pretty sure whatever this was is my form of EW. When I first came off the pill (like cycle 2 or 3) was the first time I ever noticed this CM and I had no clue what it was and I thought (because I was sick at the time) that since my nose was stopped up, my boogies were finding another way out. Paul died in laughter about that, but I was seriously freaked out. This is the same stuff, I just don't get big amounts of it to the point where I can inspect and drop it in water. Although, I will try to remember that the next time the opportunity presents itself.

I finally found pictures (thanks Sunkist for the idea) online last night of the stuff being stretched, and yes, the little thin spindles that were being pulled from one finger to the next were like what I had. So, I think that's right.

Maybe I'm wrong. I have been so many times with this charting stuff, but for now, I have hope that maybe I will ovulate today.

I put today's temp into FF (it SKYROCKETED) and then, like DD had suggested before, tried out some other temps around that same number, and if this is the pattern my body takes, it will have me ovulate yesterday and my coverline will be much higher than the one that is presently there.

At this point, I'd just like to be able to KNOW that I ovulated, whatever the day. I do wish that our BD line was longer than just one time, though, if yesterday was actually my O day. I guess I should have had more caution and kept it up when I thought it was a little too early for me to have O'd last week.

Plus, I was reading (no idea where now) last night that if you have an odd cycle that tends to be longer, you should BD only once you confirm Ovulation, so that you don't get tired out and miss the day. Then I was remembering the link I recently read about how to "predict" the sex of your baby, and it alluded that doing this could up your chances of having a boy, since their little swimmers are faster, but die off sooner and a girl is slower, but more enduring over time. I wonder how true that is. Hmm.

Anyway, the drama of the chart continues....

ETA: DD, I must have been typing as you were, too.

Well maybe this isn't EW. I have no idea now. Maybe I should just stop charting the CM stuff at all if I can't figure it out. I'd hate to have FF thinking I've ovulated over and over and be wrong every stinkin time.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I just took everything CM off my chart and it has a solid line for Oing on the 2nd now. Which was the original day it said I O'd.

But, if I add a high temp for tomorrow, it makes a dotted line for O'ing on Monday, the 8th.

We didn't BD until last night, the 9th. So, if that's the case, I would be "out" for this month.

Hmph. I'm not putting much trust in this chart, though.

 

[Pandora II]

If you BD once you have O'd, you'll probably miss the window. It can take 10 hours for the boys to get up there, by which time your egg may not be viable. For example, if you O'd at 10pm on day 14 and the BD'd on the evening of day 15, by the time they get there at lunchtime on day 16 you've past the window.

You are far more likely to get pg if you BD the 3 days before and day of O.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Fisher I am fairly certain from what you describe that the CF you have thought was EW was not. I read a thread about this on the TCOYF website a while back. Many women, myself and Robbie included, get that type of CF a coupld days *before* getting full on EW. The key thing that makes it different from EW is that when you pull it apart on your fingers, it will eventually detatch from one finger and snap back into a juggle ball. This aspect--that it likes to be in a ball--is what makes it sticky not EW! True EW will not "snap back" it will just stretch an dstretch and stretch.

I think that entering your temps and leaving the CF off your chart this month is a good plan! I was VERY VERY confused about CF the first month I charted... it is all about figuring out your own body''s patterns! Your temps alone are enough to confirm ovulation, so why don''t you record your CF on a different piece of paper... THEN when your temps confirm ovulation you can look at your paper and go "OK! I have X type when I am about to ovulate"... you are right that FOR YOU, you may have watery CF with some of that globby EW-like CF when you are fertile! It is all about figuring out your own bodies unique patterns and that takes more than one month. So do not despair! You may get preggo this month, or else this will be a learning month and next month you will be more confident and assured that you know what you are doing.

As for the timing of BD... I agree that if you have long cycles and an uncertain ovulation date you probably don''t want to try the every day method... but you can''t wait until ovulation is "confirmed" since that would mean waiting until after the temps shift which is too late! Perhaps what they meant was to wait until you get fertile CF. That makes lots of sense, and after you know your bodies unique patterns (i.e., once you see what type of CF YOU get when you are abotu to ovulate) you will be able to time your BD for only the days preceding ovulation. Until your pattenr is clear, though, then if you can do every second day, that is more than adequate!

By the end of this month you will feel relaxed and in control my friend because you will know what is going on! Just remember, the temps and the CF don''t actually control anything... YOU control things. If you wanted to just BD every second day now until it becomes clear you ovulated, then that is fine too! Just take an emotional step back from the data collection and you will feel better.

 

[peonygirl]

14DPO and another negative test. No temp drop yet. My LP is between 14 and 15 days. Ugh, this is depressing.

Can you guys tell me what people have found with the early-pregnancy-test tests? Was it just that they didn''t show up as positive until much later than advertised? I am not holding out hope for this cycle, just want to try to figure out whether I should purchase some for next cycle since they''re so cheap. Thanks!

 

[robbie3982]

Fisher, I agree with Pandora. Plus, you can''t actually confirm that you''ve O''d until you have 3 temps that are higher than the previous 6, so at that point you''re already 3dpo and the egg is long gone.

The FF experts wrote back to my question about why the lunar phases are included on the calendar:

HI!

those are there just as a point of reference, some women like to track where they cycle in relation to the lunar cycle. There is no real significance between the lunar cycle and TTC.



Whew. I was starting to think that FF believed in that whole Jonas method thing.

Someone who posts on the knot and FF got a bfp yesterday at 8dpo. Posts like that make it really hard to hold out until a reasonable test date. (I say that as though 10dpo when I plan to test is reasonable

).

I''ve been having dull cramping and sore boobs, but the boobs aren''t terribly sore and this always happens before AFF arrives. The sore boobs started a few days ago at either 4 or 6 dpo (depending on which O date I go with). I usually don''t get sore boobs til closer to AFF, but it did happen once at 5dpo. Kind of makes me think maybe the earlier O date was right, but then I''ll find something else that makes me think the later one is more likely. I swing back and forth like this all day, LOL.

 

[Pandora II]

I got a super faint (you saw the pics) at 11DPO - but only in the evening. The one in the morning with FMU was definitely a BFN.

I still don't have the sore boobs - until I take my bra off and then only a teeny bit. They're not as sore as they are when AF is due.

I started testing at 8DPO because I'm impatient and just wanted to POAS!

DH was really upset yesterday because I threw the FRER and digi tests away.... very odd. He's made me keep all the ICs which is kind of fun as I'm doing one every morning and you can so see the line getting darker. I'm 15DPO today and it's still only half as dark as the control strip.

 

[E B]

Date: 9/10/2008 8:14:46 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Fisher I am fairly certain from what you describe that the CF you have thought was EW was not. I read a thread about this on the TCOYF website a while back. Many women, myself and Robbie included, get that type of CF a coupld days *before* getting full on EW. The key thing that makes it different from EW is that when you pull it apart on your fingers, it will eventually detatch from one finger and snap back into a juggle ball. This aspect--that it likes to be in a ball--is what makes it sticky not EW! True EW will not 'snap back' it will just stretch an dstretch and stretch.

Exactly. I hate this type of sticky CM, because it's close, but no cigar. The real EW is slippery and shimmery and doesn't snap back into a glob because it's so thin, yet incredibly stretchy. When you have it, you'll know.

It sounds like it's best to go only by temps until you're really familiar with your CM, because CM can throw FF off and make it think you ovulated when you didn't, which makes it confusing for you. It'll all start to become clearer after your first chart (and even more so after your second), when you can really look at the peaks and valleys and get to know what your body does each cycle.

Either way, good luck to you!

As for me, CD 5 here. Totally boring. I've been pretty down lately. A friend of mine who got pregnant right after I did in May is still pregnant, and she just found out she's having a boy. I didn't think it bothered me much until I had two dreams about it. Until O time, I'm going to try to distract myself as best as I can with my new anniversary ring and handbags I want but cannot afford.

p.s. Has anyone heard anything about raspberry red leaf tea? I heard it's good for "toning the uterus" and making for easier and healthier implantation. I bought two boxes at the grocery store forever ago, but didn't drink it until last night. I'm going to do more research as I think I remember it's not supposed to be taken after ovulation, but I'm still 10 days away.

 

[blushingbride]

Good morning everyone! Thank you for all the kind words regarding my pics of Croatia - let me tell ya, that place was heavenly!

Mela - It was SO sunny there - you''re right, not a cloud in the sky for all 5 days we were there! You can''t help but be happy in a place like that. I would be so jealous if you moved there for your hubby''s job!! Definitely let me know if he ends up getting it! Good luck to him.

T-Gal - yes, the limestone was a little hard on the eyes without sunglasses.

I think walking the walls was my favorite part - the views from the walls were absolutely breathtaking!

Pandora - the water is not only so clear there, but it''s also a gorgeous shade of blue! I wasn''t a fan of the stone beaches though - they took some getting used to when walking to and from the water.

Chinacat - We went to Hawaii too for our honeymoon and I thought that was paradise. Dubrovnik is EQUALLY as beautiful as Hawaii just in a different way. You must go if you ever have the chance! The drive down the Dalmation Coast is comparable to the road to Hana in Maui or the PCH in Cali.

HIL - Happy Birthday to you my dear!!!

Amber and HIL - I''ve noticed that my DH does not like hearing about all the technical stuff that goes with BDing. He finds it unromantic to talk about and says it ruins the mood so, I try not to mention my temping, charting or testing during this crucial period when I need him to focus on one thing and one thing only!

Sabine - do you know what part of Croatia your family is from? Hope you have a chance to visit at somepoint in your lifetime! It''ll be worth it!!!

Well, I''m on CD 11 and got my first "high" reading on the CBFM this morning so, tonight will be the start of our marathon!

Best of luck ladies!!!

 

[mela lu]

Date: 9/10/2008 1:59:01 AM
Author: AmberWaves
Howdy everyone, just hanging out at home with Paul, making us breakfast burritos to heat up for tomorrow. Sad that I'm proud of that?? I seriously want to eat them now, though.

Sunkist, sorry your DH is still not okay with TTC now. Doesn't he know we want to raise our 'online' kids together?? And yeah, it was me who said the part about TTC being like LIWing! Man, I sooo love my situation now, though. At least now my parents aren't asking him to buy the cow!


Everyone... hi!

um, hilarious quote of the day!!! "At least now my parents aren't asking him to buy the cow!" Oh Amber you kill me!

I'm now 14DPO and got another faint positive on my $ store pee stick. A positive is a positive!!!!!

One of my "dead ringer" PG signs was the hot-to-the-touch skin. I'm radiating heat like nobody's biz!

My GF called me. She's now 10days late and not trying. D'oh!!! I'm meeting her after work to POAS. This is a gal who's married and not sure she wants kids. If she's PG, it's so unfair.

HAPPY BIRFDAY HIL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

EBree I''m sorry you are feeling poopy, things will look up again! As for the tea, I would be tempted not to mess around. I think you have a healthy body (and doc''s test confirm) and your m/cs were bad bad *luck*. I think all you need is time for the right egg-sperm combo to hit, and as we all know, 6 months is average, for half os us TTCers it takes longer and that is totally normal and healthy! It will happen, and thanks to this waiting game your baby will have a stylish mom with nice bags and jewelry

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 9/10/2008 8:38:00 AM
Author: Pandora II

I started testing at 8DPO because I''m impatient and just wanted to POAS!

I''m super impatient, but DH is super patient and wants to me to wait until AFF is late

. That''s not happening, LOL, so the compromise is Sunday which is 10/12dpo, though I didn''t share with him that there''s really only about a 35-65% (depending on if it''s 10 or 12) chance of getting a BFP that early...

 

[Pandora II]

Have any of you tried acupuncture?

My neighbour - who is 8 weeks pg and got KTFU on the first go - was very worried that she wouldn''t be able to get pg (she''s 37 and a plus size). She has acupuncture for her back and mentioned to the girl who does hers that she was about to start TTC. The therapist then said she''d do a special load of needles that would increase the chances of conceiving. This was 3 days before O - lo and behold BFP 2.5 weeks later.

My father (who also does acupunture) had amazing success with his TTC patients who were finding it difficult but didn''t have anything obvious that wasn''t working.


The other thing I tried - which I''ve seen mentioned on FF - was fresh pineapple. I eat it anyway everyday, but was quite suprised to learn that it is supposed to help with implantation. The core is supposed to be the best bit.

 

[peonygirl]

EBree, I''ve been reading a lot about teas because I enjoy them, but just about every reliable website I found said to avoid red raspberry leaf until the last trimester because it can stimulate the uterus and cause miscarraige. Here is one link: http://www.babycenter.com/0_herbal-teas-during-pregnancy_3537.bc.

Of course, the herbal websites are really for it. I really doubt that if you drink it occasionally it will have any negative effects, but from what I understand the greatest positive effects come from drinking it around and before delivery.

 

[peonygirl]

God, all of these stories of people getting knocked up on the first try are depressing me. Both DH and I were conviced on the first try (actually my mom wasn''t even trying; my parents were FWB and they just had unprotected sex once or twice in the same month).

 

[robbie3982]

OMG, I was just showing my boss something on my computer and I had this thread open in one of the tabs. I freaked out thinking, now he knows that we''re trying since it says something about TTC on the tab. Then I remembered that he once asked me what "LOL" meant. So, I think I''m safe. Whew!

 

[mela lu]

LOL robbie! you''re totally safe.
Most PS''ers don''t even know what TTC stands for!

 

[happy in love]

Thanks Mela and Blushing!

BFN this am, but no worries! DH took me out to breakfast, and I''m going in for a massage in a few minutes. I love playing hookie on my birthday. My 8 yr old nephew was my first bday phone call super early, it just made my day to pick up the phone and hear his adorable voice.

Peony- good luck to you, hopefully your temp stays up and a bfp is on the way
Amber- mmmmm.... I love me some breakfast burritos.
EBree- I don''t know about the tea, but am definately interrested in what you find out. Sorry you''re feeling down.
Robbie- Good thing your boss is not hip to the online lingo

 

[lovelylulu]

happy birthday HIL

sounds like you''re having a great day so far!!

***

i''m at DPO 4 with nothing much to report - no soreness, weird pains, headaches, etc.

 

[Pandora II]

Happy Birthday!

(It''s my mother''s today as well)

 

[Sha]

Delurking...

Anybody see this article about the Male Biological Clock/male fertility declining with age? I just found it on Yahoo News. Very interesting...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080910/hl_time/abiologicalclockfordadstoo

 

[oobiecoo]

Mela- Congrats!

Happy in love- Happy Birthday!

It''s completely unfair that people can so easily get preggo on accident while all of the ladies here are trying so hard. Everything has been really uneventful with me lately. I think I started charting right AFTER I O''ed (or was supposed to O) so I haven''t had a chance at all. I''ve only had CM one day and that was in the very beginning... the rest have all been dry days. *sigh* I know I''m not fertile now but I feel like there should be SOME kind of CM.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 9/10/2008 1:29:01 PM
Author: oobiecoo
Mela- Congrats!

Happy in love- Happy Birthday!

It''s completely unfair that people can so easily get preggo on accident while all of the ladies here are trying so hard. Everything has been really uneventful with me lately. I think I started charting right AFTER I O''ed (or was supposed to O) so I haven''t had a chance at all. I''ve only had CM one day and that was in the very beginning... the rest have all been dry days. *sigh* I know I''m not fertile now but I feel like there should be SOME kind of CM.

Dry is totally normal in the pre-ovulation and post-ovulation phases, don''t worry! Did you stop taking hormonal birth control recently? I had very little CF for the first two months off BC pills, then it came back with a vengeance!

 

[robbie3982]

Oobie, are you checking externally or internally? Many times I would mark dry if I was only checking externally when there''s really some that''s just not making its way out to the toilet paper.

 

[oobiecoo]

I''ve been checking both externally and internally. I did just come off the pill so hopefully that has something to do with it.

I know I shouldn''t worry and should give my body some time to straighten itself out but I can''t help but worry. My mom didn''t think she could have kids because she just never got pregnant until she had me much later in life and then also had a miscarriage later and endometriosis. I''m so scared that there will be something wrong with me as well and my body will never get straightened out.

 

[robbie3982]

I think we all have fears like that. It took a few months for my CM to come back after stopping hormonal bc too.

 

[vetrik]

I just wanted to say hi - I'm new around here. I've been lurking at Pricescope for a while, but I never knew until today they had a TTC thread. I think I was too mesmorized by all the beautiful rings!

I'm 27 (28 in Nov) and my husband is 29. We've been married since May 2004, and bought a house in 2006. I went off bc in March, and started charting in June. I had what I thought was the weirdest cycle of my life in June (I kept saying to DH "why I am so screwed up right when I start charting, I've always been normal?") that ended up being an ectopic pregnancy. I was treated with a methtrexate injection in July at 5w1d. I just finished my first normal cycle after the ectopic, and we are back to trying again - hoping to have a pregnancy quickly, in the right place this time! I really want to have a warm weather baby.

It's nice to have people to talk with about this, since we're not telling anyone in "real life" that we're trying (we did tell our parents about the ectopic, but just said that it was a shock and was unexpected when they asked if we'd been trying - that wasn't a lie, we weren't expecting an ectopic pregnancy!).