The Official TTC Thread!

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Katy, I don't think I welcomed you officially, so "WELCOME!" I'm not a charter either, but I did order a BBT from Amazon (and some Wondofos, thanks Charbie) when I ordered Christmas presents. I guess I'll give charting a shot, sorta science experiment style. I'm also not sure I'm O'ing so charting I figure would be good to find that out. Well, sounds like you'll have a great vacation either way, and NEL is right, 7 wks will be here in a snap. Tell then, y'know what they say "Practice makes perfect"

Side note: Did you know Amazon has "Ship to multiple addresses?" A *life saver* because I'm shipping presents to FL (parent's house) but having pregnancy tests and BBT shipped home. I'm not feeling the idea of my folks being privvy to what DH and I have planned. I dunno, I'm kinda "not feeling family-ish" when it comes to my parents. Bro & Sis are great, but parents are... parents.

WOIN: No worries about asking me about the genetic testing. I guess there's not much to do, but to just "be aware." I have a type of anemia that's caused by a recessive trait. My hemoglobin is smaller than normal, so I'll always be anemic no matter how much iron I take. Dr. suggested DH get tested to see if he also has the recessive trait. If he did, our baby(s) would be more likely to be anemic like me. I'm hoping he doesn't because no one in his family has anemia. Go you on taking the prenatals. Do you get them OTC or are they prescription? I think I'll do that once we start trying "for real" so I was just curious. I love the idea of "practicing" too. I told DH that as well. I think he just assumes I can get pregnant whenever, I doubt he understands the biology of conception much either...

NEL, Bummer about your date night.Hugs. I'm thinking your DH just needs some time to get his head around TTC. I think it's really sweet he wants to make the whole process special for both of you. Starting from the very beginning. He seems like a real sentimental softie. Awww!!!! Mushy hugs. (sorry, I usually feel sentimental around the holidays)

Went ice skating this morning. OMG fell HARD a bunch of times! DH felt bad he usually catches me but I wanted to try skating on my own.

 

[lizzyann]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to pop in over here. my DH and I decided we are going to try for Baby #2 next month!! Super duper excited! I already spoke with my ob/gyn and he recommended I start on prenatal vitamins for a month so that is what we are doing now, then we are open for business next month!! ha ha!!

Just a little bit about myself. I am 31, DH is 33, I have a DS who is almost 20 months. Before we conceived him I had two miscarriages. Dr. decided to have me use progesterone suppositories when i got pregnant with my son and he plans on having me use them again when I get pregnant this time around. Dr. doesn't know for sure if that is why I had a successful pregnancy or not but he said it doesn't hurt to use them again. All in all, my DH and I are quite fertile. We got pregnant every time we tried the first time around. My problem was staying pregnant. I am praying and hoping that we don't experience any losses this round of trying. I am hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. I am aware of my ovulation schedule and also plan on using the ovulation tests. They worked like a charm for me the first time around so I will use them again.

I plan on frequenting this thread now that I am TTC...so hello ladies! I wish you all good luck in your baby endeavors!!!

Oh and I think I need a glossary for all of the abbreviations on here. Sorry if I need to ask a lot of questions along the way!!!

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Lizzy, Welcome I totally know what you mean about the abbreviation glossary. In the *very beginning* of this thread, Page 4, there's a glossary of most of the abbreviations. And of course you can always ask. I asked a lot of silly noobie questions, and all of the lovely ladies graciously helped me come up to speed.

Date night tonight. DH was *HUNG.OVER* today, so I spent most of the day with Sis, whose boyfriend was also hungover. Got some TASTY Indian food in the Indian neighborhood of Chicago. Made me wonder about preggo cravings, I hear they're real, and it makes me wonder what I'd crave if/when we get pregnant.

Anyway, hoping for some practice tonight. I'm mostly convinced I'm not O'ing this cycle. No CM at all and I"m on CD13. But I'm not totally convinced I"m on CD13, probably more like CD103. I was on Seasonale, so I had 90D cycles. So yes, I'm a freak, but not that much of a freak.

Charbie, I guess you're too busy to check in with us ( ), but I'm wishing you happy egg chasing wishes.

 

[charbie]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

welcome lizzy! my sister is "elizabeth anne" formally, so seems as though you two may have the same name sorry you had the m/c problems back in the day, but great news that you did conceive- hopefully your stay here will be short at sweet! there are lots of pros around here, and many of us (unfortunately) have experienced a m/c. and here is a pretty comprehensive list of terms from another webpage if you don't want to look it up. http://www.babyandbump.com/forum-help-testing-area/730-babyandbump-lingo-abbreviations.html

lc- i'm still here...can't spend the whole day bd'ing! glad to hear you got the wondfo's! if you look through some pg test pics, a number of people here have bought them in the past- you can see a great progression of the hcg line getting darker! and watch out using the "pull and pray" method of bc...its how i got knocked up the first time also- i'm on CD14 and just started getting some good EWCM yesterday/today. i suggest checking internally, basically i find my cervix with my thumb and middle finger, sort of "pinch" to grab the CM and see what consistency is.

NEL: totally get you on the arguments with DH at terrible timing. i had planned on trying to BD everyday from CD8-CD16 to be safe. well, of course we had one night of not playing nice, so we had one day skipped. not a big deal, but i was SUPER pissed that night, and i was totally not in the mood to try and make a baby with someone who made me that pissed.

Katy: your cycle sounds like mine. i've been off BC now for a few months and have had very regular cycles. 29 days usually on the dot. i always thought i wanted a boy first, girl second, and would have used shettles method to try and swing the gender in the direction i was hoping for. now that i've spent a few months trying and not ending up preggo, i'm just trying to BD as much as possible in hopes that anything sticks! we have a few friends who recently have had boys, and buying for their baby showers isn't as much fun...looking at all the girl stuff makes me ache for a little girl!!!!! soooooo much cuter stuff for girls.

AFM: i really appreciate all of the well wishes! we've been running the marathon so to speak, and neither of us are ready to give up quite yet hopefully ill "o" soon, and then be back in the 2ww. hoping i'll be able to know what's up by NYE- what a great little tidbit of info to have before the new year starts! DH and i brought dinner over to friends who have a 7 week old tonight. oh he is such a little heartbreaker. he's got this FULL head of hair, perfect little face. i told DH maybe if he held him long enough it would put his swimmers into high gear. he then retorted, "if he cries, they may swim upstream backwards." i held the little baby on my chest for like, an hour straight...oh it was heaven

i was wondering if anyone would be interested in posting their CD up here- we used to keep a tidy list of who was waiting to "o" and who was (not) waiting on AF. feel free to copy this and then add your date:

WAITING TO "O"
Charbie (CD14)
Lliang_chi (CD13ish)
scarlet (CD3)

WAITING ON AF (NOT)

HANGING OUT BY THE POOL
KatyWI
Octavia
NEL
lizzyanne
Blenheim
WhatsOldIsNew

 

[RRose]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hi ladies! I too have been lurking for some time now and wanted to introduce myself. All of your posts and replies have been so helpful and inspiring and I truly thank you for keeping this forum. My husband and I have been married for 2.5 years. I'm 29 and he's 34. We have been talking about TTC after my 30th birthday this summer, and I was totally on board with the plan. But then the more research I did, and the more things I've read, I decided to get off the pill now to sort of give my body a break and a chance to get back into the swing of things. I've been on BC for almost 9 years. So I stopped taking the pill on December 5th with 1 week left of that cycle. I got my period 3 days later, very light and lasted 4 days. This was exactly how it always was on the pill. I remember having really bad cramps and bleeding before I went on the pill and it was always really regular. So I've been feeling sort of crampy this entire time, which I'm assuming is just my body getting back to normal. We talked about things this weekend, and it seems that the hubby is not really ready to be preggo like right now, but we have not been using any protection either. I'm not sure how I feel about the situation. I'm nervous that we may have trouble getting pregnant, so part of me just wants to see what happens. If we're like most people, it will probably take at least 3-6 months anyway, which will give us plenty of time to get used to the idea and get some more things settled in our life. I just recently started working after being in school for what seemed like forever and I'm really focusing on making this first year count and getting myself settled. I'm really hoping not to focus too much on TTC because I don't want to take the fun out of it and cause myself unnecessary anxiety, at least for the next few months. I'm slowly trying to relearn my body and my cycle, and get excited about hopefully being pregnant in the future. I hope all of you ladies who are TTC have a successful month and a very happy new years with some great news! Thanks for reading and thank you again for your kind words and thoughtful responses.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

LizzyAnn, welcome!! I'm so sorry to hear about your previous miscarriages, but it's encouraging that you're quite the fertile myrtle. You and your husband are both have age on your side and you seem to know your cycles really well, so hopefully your stay here is short and sweet!

LC, so glad you don't have to ship all of your TTC paraphernalia to your parents' house, haha. I recently realized I was low on OPK strips and am flying to my parents' house this week, but I didn't want to order them and have them sent there, either. Hopefully I have enough to make it through the next week!

D is definitely the more sentimental one in our relationship, and I do appreciate it. We had a good talk this morning that made us both feel better and I'm happy with how our little journey is progressing. We're both excited, but this is one of those things where you don't have control over the exact timing, so we're working out a timeline.

Charbie, agreed about the not being in the mood when frustrated. I think a bit of a buffer would have helped us this week--we both had a very long and stressful week, then immediately went out to dinner after work on Friday when we were exhausted. We probably should have just relaxed. We were fine the next morning and while I hven't seen much of D this weekend (the long week spilled into a long weekend), we felt better on Sat. and talked it out a bit this morning.

RRose, welcome to you as well!! I know my first cycle off of the pill was really informative and I actually got pretty excited when I ovulated (for the first time in years!) I hope the transition from pill to no pill is seamless for you. Without protection, you may find your stay here short!!

AFM: Nothing new, had a conversation with D this morning about moving the timeline from spring to...well, right now. He wants for me to be happy and is willing to change the timeline, but has two concerns: 1. We've planned a summer vacation and is afraid that if I get pg right away, I'd have to stay back (it's a mountaineering trip for him) 2. Our dog has been going in for chemotherapy and it doesn't end until January. He's not overly concerned about this, but since we're supposed to be careful handling our dog during he days after chemotherapy, he wants to talk with the vet about it.

I'm CD10 today, hoping to go back to my "normal" cycle and ovulate this week.

 

[scarlet16]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hi ladies-

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Yay to all the new members!!! That'll keep this thread poppin'!

Katy- Welcome! Hope your stay is super short!!! Seven weeks will fly by! Lucky girl and your obvious "O" signs - just my green-eyed monster poking through!

Charbie - Hope you had some fun marathon BD'ing. LOVE the honeymoon lingerie. It's crazy how "efficient" we were too - it's a lot of work when you're "trying" every day for week!!! And YAY to really quality EWCM. I didn't have much of it last cycle and that was definitely another reason I didn't think it was the month! And I LOVE babies...but they seriously my heart ache just a little bit at this point. Love the idea of the chart to figure out who's doing what. I'm actually CD4 today (Mon/Dec. 20).

LC- Yay to pulling the goalie!!! So exciting! Agree with Charbie on the pull out method, but I since you guys seem ready, its' probably not that big a deal. We did a big vacay in Oct. thinking that would be the big hurrah, but if we aren't preggers by the spring maybe I'll plan one more. And yay to ice skating! I haven't been in years and miss it.

NEL - boo to fighting. Did you ever watch Friends? If so, your story reminded me of an episode. As for Amazon, hubby told me that they're doing a "Prime" shipping deal now - free trial for 30 days and you get stuff in 2 days. Congrats to moving up the timeline!!! It's exciting. Depending on how "active" the trip is, and how quickly you get preggers, you MAY have to stay back. Assuming you get KU in Jan, you wouldn't be due until September.

WOISN - I hope you're right that this is the cycle! Although, I have to admit, I was thinking about the timing yesterday, and I think I'd rather get preggers in like May/June so that I could take maternity during the Spring/Summer. It's COLD in the winter in NYC!!! Not to say I'm not ready, but if I could have my way...actually I guess if I could have my way I'd be having a baby in 5 months!

Oh, and we don't want people around us (except for a select few) to know we're TTC, so we just tell everyone that "we're still practicing."

Lizzyann- WELCOME! I'm sorry about your prior m/c. Were they ever able to diagnose why they were happening? Either way fertile is good! I hope you have a nice short stay here and LOTS of sticky dust to you!

Speaking of prenatals, what brand do people use? I just bought "New Chapter" prenatals b/c they had great reviews on Amazon.

RRose-Welcome! Definitely smart to let your body clear out the BPC from your system. If you don't want to use protection, maybe you can start charting and using OPKs? At least then you'll get a sense of (1) if you're O'ing, and (2) when you're O'ing? Then you can avoid the few days where you're super fertile.

AFM - nothing going on here. The cramps were AWFUL this time around, but I am done with AF by tomorrow. Then I'm headed to the Ob/gyn for testing on Thursday. We'll see how it goes!

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hey ladies,

Snow, snow, snowy night here in the Midwest. The pooch likes the snow and we got some funny video and pictures of her playing in it.

Not much up with me today. Just wanted to say hi to you guys.

Charbie, LOL on the "pull and pray" phrase. I think that's so funny. But like Scarlet says, it's not a horrible thing if we have an oopsie, it'll just be a little quicker than we had penciled in. But we're in a good place right now.

Scarlet, Oy! Ice skating bruises + gym = "Oh yeah, I fell a lot on my right side." Hope your appt on Thurs goes well. I've got one on Weds about this weird cycle.

NEL, OMG I'd be so weirded out if the TTC paraphernalia got sent to FL. Ugh! That's a conversation I'd want to avoid like *THE PLAGUE.* And of course *all* of my aunts/mom/etc will have an opinion on what we should do, what we shouldn't do, etc. It's like "Hello! Who invited you into the bed? Butt OUT!" Glad your DH is up for the advanced timeline.

Rose, Welcome! I was unsure how my DH would react to the whole "I wanna get off HBC in advance of TTC." But he took it really well. I also agree about not taking it too seriously for now. That's kinda how I feel about it too.

Laters, ladies

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I'm stuck at the airport (canceled flight due to snow in Boston), so it's a good time to catch up!

Scarlet--yay for the end of AF! What testing are you having done this week?

I have been taking gummy pre-natals for about 2 months now. I think the brand is Vitafusion and I'm taking them specifically in the TTC phase because they don't contain iron and only have 800 mcg of folic acid. Many have 1,000 mcg of folic acid, but my ob/gyn said that 800 mcg is plenty and since I'm not pregnant, I don't need the iron right now. I may switch brands or get a prescription when the time comes. I really liked them at first since they taste like candy, but I'm almost through the bottle and am growing sick of the taste, haha.

Oh, and I watched a lot of Friends during college--was it Ross and Rachel who got in an argument or was it Monica and Chandler? Or neither?

LC--I feel you on the family curiosity, though admittedly my family is pretty good about it. Are you geographically close to your family? I live far from mine, which means I only visit 1 - 2x per year. So when I do see them they immediately look at my belly and ask "Any news yet??". I guarantee this very conversation will happen at the airport this afternoon! But it's sweet that they're excited for me and hopefully soon I'll finally be able to say that there is some news.

I probably won't be checking in for another week since my parents do no have broadband, but everybody have a Merry Christmas and/or other various holiday you might be celebrating!

 

[fabcrab]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

LC and New England- That's so amazing that you go skiing too!!! I've gone skiing 4 times this year already and I love it...(even though I'm not very good at it). I'm actually going snowboarding today so here goes nothing!

~~~

So I am on CD14 right now on 5 mg Femara (CD3-7) and still no + OPK! I've had some boob soreness yesterday but still no rise in BBT either. I'm starting to feel a little hopeless for this cycle . I really hope I don't have to move to really expensive treatments!!!

 

[charbie]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hello my friends!
RRose: nice to have you here! Welcome! I second that using OPKs and chartin gmay help determine your cycle. That leap off the pill can be scary, but you do have to be prepared from the moment you stop taking th epill to know a baby CAN come at that point, so I would make sure you're ok with it if you get pregnant now if you do get off the pill. I say this because I stopped the pill and ended up pregnant 2 months later even though I thought we were really careful.

Scarlet: I just take the Meijer/Kroger brand prenatals. There are two pills, do give you the "fish burps" but i take them at night and they don't bother me. sorry about the bad cramps this time around. ugh. we haven't told many people we are actively trying either. i don't want the looks, the questions, the "are you??" questions every time i see people.

LC: I'm in the Midwest, too! We've also got loads of snow, and I'm not a big fan of it. Ick. It took me two hours to get to work the other day and I was miserable. I've been coming down with a bit of a scratchy throat too...so im loading up on the Zicam. I understand on being ok with an ooopsie. Sometimes thats the best way! And yes, "pull and pray" was a term coined by my DH's friend who would brag about his abilities to "PnP.P

NEL: have a safe trip home for the holidays! My family nor DH's family would ask unless they noticed me not consuming alcohol. Not that I'm a major drinker, but we usually have a couple beers/wine whenever the holidays are around, so I know my mom's going to get curious if I'm not drinking on NYE. She is aware we've been trying, but I don't get nearly as detailed around her as I do on here

AFM: so the marathon is OVER...let's hope we won the race. to be perfectly honest, even though we BD'd every day since last Monday (except 1 day!!) i'm not sure this is going to be the month. normally i get some pretty telltale ovulation cramping- i had some mild cramping last night/this morning but not as bad as usual. also, my CM wasn't super quality or abundant. i mean, i had some EWCM, but i wish it was better. i'm kinda bummed. we put a lot of effort into it this month (i mean, i didn't even stop and get coffee in the morning or drink my daily diet coke!) and just sort of feel "meh" about it. i guess we'll wait and see. no plans to test until at least next thursday, or even friday, since I'll have the day off on NYE.


WAITING TO "O"
Lliang_chi (CD135ish)
scarlet (CD5)
NEL (CD12)
fabcrab (CD14)

WAITING ON AF (NOT)
Charbie (CD16)

HANGING OUT BY THE POOL
KatyWI
Octavia
lizzyanne
Blenheim
WhatsOldIsNew
RRose

 

[lizzyann]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Iliang_chi - Thanks for the welcome! Oh and I checked out those abbreviations and they were a big help! Hope you had fun practicing!!

Charbie - Hi there! Thanks for the thoughtful words and yes, I am also an Elizabeth Ann! My mom used to call me that when she was mad at me when I was a kid, but now I am just plain old Liz! Thanks for the list of terms. I will definitely need to check it as I read along on this thread! What are these wondfo's everyone is talking about? Ovulation predictors? I am CD20 I think. First day of my last period was 12/2. I have a 28 day cycle so I would have ovulated the week of 12/12, but my DH and I decided to wait till next month to start TTC. So the week of 1/9 should be my marathon BD week!! Hahaha!

RRose - welcome! TTC is such a roller coaster of emotion, but so worth it in the end!!! Good Luck!!

NELady - thanks for the warm welcome! Hope you are ovulating this week and you have some good results! I can't believe you are stuck in Boston due to snow. I hope you had a safe flight for the holidays. Here in Western MA we had no snow at all. I was surprised Boston did. I actually want a little snow for the holidays!

Scarlet - thanks for the sticky dust! I have never heard of sticky dust, please do explain!! LOL!! My miscarriages were both unexplained. We did some genetic testing after the second one and everything came back normal, so who knows really? Good news is that we did end up getting pregnant. Bad news is I have to use those progesterone suppositories for the first 12 weeks once I get pregnant again! They literally leak out all day! Granny panties here I come! Hey, it's all worth it in the end!!! As far as prenatals, my MD just recommended me to use a Womens One a day Multi-vitamin containing folic acid until I get pregnant. then once I am pregnant, he said he will write me a prescription for a prenatal. All MD's are different, but this was what mine has me doing. I love your comment about timing the maternity leave around the NYC winters. i have two friends who are teachers and both of them literally got pregnant on the first shot and had their summer maternity leave as planned. However for the rest of us, no such luck! You never know! Either way....Good luck to you!

Fabcrab - good luck on the ovulation!!!

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

 

[RRose]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hi ladies!! Thank you for the kind welcome. I absolutely love coming to this site now, it is my new guilty pleasure when I have some free time at work. I guess the more I think about it, the more excited I am about the prospect of being pregnant. It's super scary but great at the same time. I did purchase those OPK sticks from amazon when I was ordering some presents for my husband. I also bought a few books to read as well. I've been using the OPKs for 1 week now. I started at CD11, which was only 3 days after I stopped the pill. So far it only has one line, so no ovulation. I'm really looking forward to getting AF hopefully soon so then I could feel like I'm really back to normal. In terms of our time line, my husband will have things settled with work by March, so when we talked about things, he just felt like he would rather we be preggo after March. But obviously it takes time for things to happen and so we'll be fine with finding out just a few months before should be have an oops. I'm ready to just let nature happen, have fun, and maybe pee on a few sticks for fun.
Charbie, Scarlet, NEL, Lizzyann, and Lliang_chi thanks for the kind welcome!!! HOpe you ladies are having a great Wednesday!

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Morning ladies, I'm in a really "I don't wanna work today!" mood.

NEL I'm not located close to my family, I visit once or twice a year too. So there will be a lot of prying aunts. Hope you were able to take off in Boston... Gummy pre-natals? Hee hee, it'd make me feel like a little kid again.

Fabcrab, *love, love, love* skiing. DH told me that we won't be going on any ski trips after kids for a number of years and I was like "What?!?" They have daycare, and I figure I'll got skiing with friends with kids so we can all share baby sitting duties... I'm not sure if I'm OK with doing a multi-year absence of skiing. I'd be sad...

Charbie, I'm hoping your marathon was successful! DUSTY, dust, dust to you!!!! I'm SOOO not a fan of snow. The only place it belongs is on a mountain. Hope you bump your scratchy throat. So you DH's PnP abilities was that PnP success (as in no babies) or non-success (as in many babies)? Ha ha ha!

Lizzy, had a great time practicing but I'm sure this month is just a wash for me. I have a dr appt today to see if we can do something about my 136 day cycle. Man, I look like a freak show on the mounting list... LOL. STicky dust is for a successful egg hunt (right ladies?) I dunno I'm asking myself the same questions half the time. You can take some of our snow!!

RRose, hope you enjoy your few months before getting down to "business."

~LC, I guess I should go to work now...


WAITING TO "O"
Lliang_chi (CD136ish)
scarlet (CD6)
NEL (CD13)
fabcrab (CD15)

WAITING ON AF (NOT)
Charbie (CD17)

HANGING OUT BY THE POOL
KatyWI
Octavia
lizzyanne
Blenheim
WhatsOldIsNew
RRose

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Back from my GP appt. She said that my weirdo AF this month was in fact my AF, so I guess I'm on a normal CD16, not something in the crazy 100s. That being said, i'm probably still not O'ing, but I'll just wait and give my body more time.

She also said during this TTC time, I should be taking just regular OTC pre-natals, generic Target/Walgreens brand is fine for now. She said once you DO become preggo, your OB might prescribe something specific. Also that pre-natals have a higher Folic Acid content which you won't necessarily get from regular vitamins. And higher-ish iron content. I'm sure you ladies already know this because you're all way smarter than me, but I figure I'll share the info.

~LC

 

[lizzyann]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Back from my GP appt. She said that my weirdo AF this month was in fact my AF, so I guess I'm on a normal CD16, not something in the crazy 100s. That being said, i'm probably still not O'ing, but I'll just wait and give my body more time.

She also said during this TTC time, I should be taking just regular OTC pre-natals, generic Target/Walgreens brand is fine for now. She said once you DO become preggo, your OB might prescribe something specific. Also that pre-natals have a higher Folic Acid content which you won't necessarily get from regular vitamins. And higher-ish iron content. I'm sure you ladies already know this because you're all way smarter than me, but I figure I'll share the info.

~LC

Well I guess it is good news that you did get AF! Any idea when you will ovulate? This CD 100 thing has me perplexed. I've never heard of that lliang chi. Maybe now that got AF you will be fast tracked to ovulation!! Good Luck!

 

[lizzyann]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I was curious...out of all of the current TTC'ers, how many are trying for their first child, second child, etc? I am working on my second, how about you gals?

 

[Blenheim]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hello ladies!

NEL - How exciting that you are moving up your timeframe! Enjoy your holidays.

LizzyAnn - welcome! I am also TTC#2 with a 20-month-old. I'm so sorry about your previous miscarriages and hope that you get pregnant with a sticky baby right off the bat. I think that sticky dust basically just means that people are sprinkling virtual fairy dust in your direction in hopes that the next one sticks. Home-buying dust would be for everything to go smoothly in the home buying process, and so forth.

LC - CD16 sounds a lot less crazy! That's great. I hope that you ovulate soon.

RRose - welcome! I went off hbc and charted and used condoms during fertile times for about 6 months before TTC last time. Charting was eye-opening for me the first time that I did it, and it really helped me to understand my cycle and what was going on with my body. I'd highly recommend that, as some of the other ladies have also said.

Prenatal vitamins - Ugh. I haven't found any that I can particularly stomach. And when I said earlier that early pregnancy symptoms for me can include digestive issues, I honestly think that's because I am better about taking the prenatals then and not because they're caused by shifting hormone levels etc. My midwife was fine with me taking just a regular multivitamin plus folic acid when I was pregnant last, as you don't really need all that extra iron until the 3rd tri or so and I think that's what was causing all of my issues. I have a bottle that I am trying to get through right now - I had hopes that I could stomach a different brand, and I now I hate the thought of just throwing them out - and I am alternating them with just regular old multivitamins with extra folic acid. The main thing is getting that extra folic acid in the couple of months leading up to conceiving, and then throughout pregnancy, with extra iron at the end.

AFM, I guess that you can put me in the "Waiting to O" section. CD 15 here. I'm usually pretty consistent about ovulating around maybe CD 13-16 or so, maaaaaybe as late as CD 21 once in a blue moon, but I'm not quite sure how the miscarriage is going to affect things this cycle or next. For a few days now I have had heaps of EWCM but my cervix has not been particularly high or soft (weird), but I think that my body may be threatening to ovulate for real now. We are not doing BD marathons or anything like that, but we're not really preventing things either, so who knows.

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Blen, I'm updating Charbie's list (below). My GP said the iron is what gives most people trouble digestive-ly speaking or makes one constipated. I'm iron deficient so I don't think I've had trouble.

Lizzy, since you asked I'm on my first time kick.

I really don't think I'll be Oing this month, but I'm not too concerned. Just gonna let things happen as they happen. I did get my amazon shipment of Wondolfos today though (thought of you Charbie). I actually didn't pee on one, though. Lizzy or Rose, I think one of you asked what they were. Fantastic Mrs. Charbie informed me they are cheap but accurate/sensitve preggo tests you can get from Amazon. And cheap they were, 25 tests for $6-ish. Not bad if you ask me...

WAITING TO "O"
Lliang_chi (CD16)
scarlet (CD6)
NEL (CD13)
fabcrab (CD15)
Blenheim (CD15)

WAITING ON AF (NOT)
Charbie (CD17)

HANGING OUT BY THE POOL
KatyWI
Octavia
lizzyanne
WhatsOldIsNew
RRose

 

[scarlet16]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hey ladies-

Happy Xmas Eve Eve!

Thanks for the input on the prenatal vitamins. I guess I'll keep taking the ones I have now. They're just a little pricey!

NEL-It was Monica and Chandler. They get in a huge fight, then she fake makes up with him because she's ovulating, and then gets mad again after they are done!

Fabcrab-Keep up the hope. It'll happen!!! Maybe a Xmas miracle???

Charbie-I am crossing my fingers hard for you! Hope you caught that eggie!

Lizzyann-sticky dust is to wish your eggs stickiness (hoping that your pregnancy sticks)! I am trying for my first! It'll be the first grandbaby for both sides of our families so he/she will be SPOILED!

LC-Congrats on the AF! Have you started temping? Then, at least, you can find out if you're O'ing.

Blen-Glad you mentioned the cervix thing...maybe I'm not doing it right but I cannot tell what position it is in!!! Can someone give me advice???

AFM, just got back from the Ob/gyn and the diagnosis is PCOS. I probably should have written the numbers down but she said my ratio of LH to FSH (maybe the other way around) was way above 3x. She mentioned I have the chronic anovulation type of PCOS. Everything else seemed normal. Unfortunately, I'm too late in my cycle to start Clomid so I'm going to wait until the next cycle - meaning probably the end of January or the beginning of February. After reading about it on here though, I'm a little nervous. Any guidance advice from those who have used it?

As a sidenote, we're heading to my hubby's hometown in a few days. I am DREADING DREADING DREADING the "are you pregnant yet" conversations with all the family friends! They are so damn pushy! We get those questions from everyone and immediately. Last year, we walked into a party, and before I took off my shoes, one "auntie" put her hand on my stomach and said still not pregnant? Plus the in-laws have been putting the pressure on HARD CORE!

I'm probably signing off for the next week so happy holidays everyone!

 

[WhatsOldisNew]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hi Scarlet, I'm sorry for your PCOS diagnosis, but I'm glad that you at least know what's going on an can now address the problem! I hope Clomid does the trick for you!

How does your doctor determine that your PCOS is the "chronic anovulation" variety? I ask because I know you said your temps were rising in the luteal phase, and you did get positive OPKs - so how is one to know one isn't ovulating? I am also curious because many years ago when I was a teenager a doctor told me I had a high LH:FSH ratio, although he did not diagnose me with PCOS. But I'm worried now that I might not be ovulating, even though I get positive OPKs, EWCM, and temp rise after ovulation.

LC, you have a great attitude. Enjoy those wondfos! My first cycle after going off BCP I had a very short, light period, mostly just spotting. I think it's probably pretty common.

Blen, good luck! Sounds like you're about to O.

Lizzy, I'm trying (or will be trying) for numero uno.

Welcome, RRose!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Good luck to those waiting to O, and sticky dust for you, Charbie!

 

[scarlet16]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

WOISN - She mentioned there are actually 2 types of PCOS. My symptoms do not at all align to the insulin-resistance type. This website seems to explain it fairly well (though I'm not sure if its a credible site). Apparently, with type 2, you can be ovulating just not regularly.

http://www.sensible-alternative.com.au/female-hormones/polycystic-ovarian-syndrome

 

[Blenheim]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

LC/Charbie - thank you for the cheap preggo test recommendation! I peed on the entire box that I got last time, figuring that I would not have any reason to use pregnancy tests for another year or more, but I guess that was not the right call to make. And I have been reluctant to get anymore because I know that they can be found for much cheaper than the $10/pop they are at the store. Thanks!

Scarlet - I am sorry about the PCOS diagnosis, but at least now that you know what is going on you will be able to treat it. Cervix - TCOYF and probably FF have descriptions of what it should feel like (nose vs lips, etc) but it really took a while of charting for it to click for me. And then it changed some for me post-pregnancy, as your cervix gets all stretched out during birth and so the shape of it changes, so I had to relearn it a bit. Sorry, I can't remember, have you charted in the past or are you just starting? I think it took me a few cycles of feeling it at different stages to really really get it.

 

[charbie]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Blen: glad to help on the wondfo adviice...I first heard of them here, so I can't take the credit myself, but those suckers make you want to pee on sticks daily.
Scarlet: im sorry you've been formally diagnosed with pcos, but knowledge is power! Now you know what you will have to do in order to oncrease your chances of conceiving. It can and will happen. All of DHs friends wives are pregnant or have kids, and know I've had a m/c so luckily I don't have to talk too much about it.
WOIN: thanks for the sticky dust. Im hoping first for the conception.
LlC: glad you had a good informative appt. with the gp! Now youlll be ready to move forwad prepared.hopefully your cycle moves along well.

AFM: feeling crappy. That's good, right?? Icky heartburn and sore throat are not a good combo. Loads of lotionish CM. Not going to try to decipher any hidden symptoms, just trying to enjoy the next few days/holidays. This is a great time to 2ww! You get to have lots of distractions.

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Hey Ladies, Christmas is getting really close!!!

Charbie, thinking about you. You're right the holidays should be a nice distraction from the 2WW. Enjoy you and your DH

Blen, everytime I see those Wondofo (a) I'm sure I never spell it the same way twice and (b) I always think it's some wizard character from some fantasy story/game/movie, like Lord of the Rings or something... I dunno I'm just weird maybe.

Scarlet, sorry about the PCOS diagnosis. But as all the ladies said, now that you know you can start adjusting your TTC strategy.

Oh I forgot to say in my appt yesterday, my doc set me up with the OB/GYN for my annual in Feb. I didn't have one, I used to get my annual pap at my annual physical. Does anyone have an opinion one way or another about a male ob or a female ob?

~LC

 

[charbie]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Oh I forgot to say in my appt yesterday, my doc set me up with the OB/GYN for my annual in Feb. I didn't have one, I used to get my annual pap at my annual physical. Does anyone have an opinion one way or another about a male ob or a female ob?

~LC

Thanks! I personally have had both male and female ob/gyns, and have prefered the males. They give an unbiased opinion, and I prefer a straight shooter who doesn't let emotions get in the way. This sounds sexist, but when a woman is behaving in the technical way I prefer, she can sort of come off cold and bitchy. And I don't feel like a male ob/gyn is judging me, since he has nothing to compare when talking about my body! Im not one who likes hand holding and hugs tho (at least not from my doctor) maybe it has to do with working in the healthcare field myself.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

NEL: I love my gummie vitamines too!! And I can probably recite almost every Friends episode by heart. I used to play it in the background in college when I was getting school work done.

Hi guys, I'm new to the thread, hubby and I have been TTC for the past 3 months now. I'm now 1 day "late", lol, trying not to get my hopes up, but I'd be soo happy to be preggo for christmas! It's # 1 through 100 on my list.

I'm starting to go a little crazy though. Every time I feel a crampy pain I'm like

 

[noelwr]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

LC - I also prefer a male ob/gyn. because they can never really "feel" what we're going through, I find they tend to be gentler and softer. I had a fantastic male gyn deliver my baby. not that I got to choose as I just got the gyn on call, but luckily I was in good hands.

 

[lizzyann]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Blen - Thanks for explaining the sticky dust! I will need lots of it next month for sure! I was excited to hear you also have a 20month old and are TTC. I think my DS is going to have a hard time with a new baby at first because he has had all of mommy's attention for the last 20 months . The preschools near us start at 2 years 9 months old so I am going to start him in that part time once the time comes. Sticky dust for you too!!!

LC - are the wondfo's easy to read? That is a must for me! I remember when I was TTC for my first, I couldn't tell from the test I had whether I was prego or not so I went out and got a digital one that said "pregnant" or "not pregnant". Much easier to read. Regarding the ob/gyn, I also prefer a male, but it is totally a personal decision. I have had both male and female and I, like noel, have always felt that males were more gentle as they don't have a woman's body and were better listeners than women and I also agree with Charbie that I have found that the women I have come across were very cold.

Scarlet - So exciting to have the first grandbaby! My son was also the first. He truly has brought so much happiness to both my mom and dad and my DH's mom. I lost a brother at a young age of 25 about two years ago. I was about 5 months pregnant with my DS at the time. Him being in my belly gave our family hope thru a very tough time. And when my DS came he brought so much joy again to my family. Enjoy it! They bring so much love! Sorry to hear about the PCOS, but the good thing is that they have figured out what the problem is. Many people never get to the bottom of it you know? My friend had good results with Clomid. So fingers and toes crossed for you. If I were you, I would alert the family ahead of time that you are not pregnant so maybe you can avoid some of the questions in person. If the questions really bother you, that's what I would do!

WOIN - First baby is super exciting! Sticky dust to you!!!

MTG - welcome to the TTC thread! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and that Santa brings you what you want (i.e. baby in your belly!) Keep us posted! So exciting! Have you tested yet?

Charbie - Good Luck to you! Glad you will have some good distractions with the holidays here. It is such an exciting but anxious time when you are in waiting. Sticky dust to you! Enjoy your holiday!

Noel - I am totally in agreement with you on the male dr. The ones in my office are way gentler!!! There is one woman in the rotation at my office and I disliked her thru the last pregnancy and I felt so lucky that she was not on call the night I went into labor. I actually told my main Dr. there that for the next pregnancy I do not want to have her in my rotation. He agreed based on my situation. It is a long story, but she told me that my water was not broken, but in fact it was, , but she never tested the fluid under the microscope so she missed it and put my baby and me at risk for infection and c-section by letting me go over two days with my water broke. Anyways, I don't mean to say all female dr's are bad, but unfortunately I haven't had a good experience with them.

Everyone, enjoy your holiday! Thanks for welcoming me here! It is nice talking with you all!

 

[RRose]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I'm so intrigued by your answers regarding female vs. male doctors. I loved this question by the way!!! I've been going to my female ob/gyn since I was 18 and a freshman in college (so almost 12 years now). I absolutely love her! She is so thoughtful and caring and has helped me through a lot of things with my fibroadenoma diagnosis and the few abnormal paps I've had several years ago. When I told her last year that we were thinking of trying this year, she almost cried she was so happy. Since I've moved, I have to drive almost 45 min to get to her office, but I will not switch! As a side note, I'm a periodontist so I treat patients daily. It's a fine line between trying to be professional and not coming across bitchy or uncaring. I really try my very best to always have a smile on my face and not allow anything in my personal life to effect the care of my patients. I think people can sometimes sense kindness and gentleness more readily from women, and may prefer that. I hope that you ladies really trust your doctors. No matter whether they're male or female, they should make you feel safe and comfortable.

Good luck to all the ladies waiting out the two weeks!! Enjoy the holidays and the time will fly by. HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE TO YOU!!