40+ TTC Summer of Love Thread

[WaturMama]

Welcome to the 40+ TTC Summer Thread!

Previous Thread http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1208226


Babies Born

kbhlmh/Karen (44) Kevin (boy) born 12/05
noordinaryspider (42) Terran born 1/18/08
Hockeylover/Juls (44) Twin Girls born 12/08
Juneau (44): Baby Girl Eliza Jane born 1/12/09
DoulaMomVicki: Edie Mae born 1/25/09
WV Mommy/Erika (41): Josiah Born 2/5/09
Veganmama719 (41): Declan James born 8/2/09
saoirse2007 (39): It's a Girl!!! Rauri born 8/16/09
ElliesMomma(41) Welcome Shawn Robert born 09/8/09
Pookietooth/Jen (44) Baby Girl 10/28/09
Stealthee A new baby boy, born 1/31/10
Grace24(39) Xavier, born 2/15/10
Sunrise/Sara (43) Lucy, born 2/28/10
zonapellucida (40) Bennet, born 2/28/10
BuzzerBeater (46) Georgia, born 5/20/10
LisaSedai (42) Lily Elise, born 6/17/10
pitchfork (41) Fiona Ellen, born 8/31/10


BFP's:


kel32brown/Kelli (43) EDD 10/15/10
karen1968 (41) EDD 11/25/10
Ompath (40) EDD 12/1/10
NeverBeenHappier (39) EDD 12/5/10
M0xxie (43) EDD 1/23/11
2bpeaceful (40) EDD 2/1/11
LROM (44)
mentalgiant (43) EDD 2/27/11
sneezykids/Kelli (40)


HOPEFULS:

beachlover (44)
BHappy/Karen (42) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/27628e
bookwormommy (42)
contactmaya (43)
earthlymama (42)
edwardsmom (44)
enigo (40)
fuller2 (42)
gerlassie (42)
gumblossom (43) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/186327
heathenmom (39)
jenjersnap (41)
karmab (41)
kbhlmh (48) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/8fcb8
kittyl/Kitty (41)
klar09/Catherine(45)
Kristin0105 (44) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1dfb40
lauri0115(43)
LitMama (42)
lovestolearn (47)
lovbeingamommy/Kate (45)
mamapajama (39)
MassaginMommy/Laurie (47) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/8fe89
MI_Dawn (39) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/212b8a
Msgoodbuns (46)
music.mama.pdx (44)
nymomma
reikibirth/Toni (45)
saoirse2007 (41)
Sapphos/Laura (41)
shy (40.5) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/25ec6f
THANKFULFORFIVE (42)
Waturmama (43)



GETTING READY

carfreemama (42)
Folaboye
halifax40(42) http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/20a8a0
homebirthy/Amy (42)


It's a new thread for summer! May 2010 be a summer of love--may it bring us closer to the babies calling our hearts, may we enjoy the love of the families we have, may we benefit from the loving support in this thread.

I removed some names of people I didn't think had been around for a while (this was done totally unscientifically). If I inadvertently removed your name, let me know and may that extra moment of putting your intention out there help bring your babe soonsoonsooner.

Good wishes everyone, the current TTC and the folks who come back and visit. I am grateful for you all.

[kbhlmh]

[pitchfork]

Hi Mamas,

Just touching base, I am 32 weeks tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. The hyperemesis and a few other complications have continued, but I am under the care of a good TCM and midwife, and baby seems well. Planning a second homebirth.

Just wanted to check in and send and sticky vibes to you all.

Pitchfork
P.S. Thanks for keeping me in the list, I am actually 41.

[WaturMama]

Thanks for checking in pitchfork! Wow 32 weeks!! I'm glad you have care you like and planning a 2nd homebirth sounds wonderful. Lots of good wishes to you

(And I updated your age.)

[nolonger]

Pitchfork, I had a UC when I was 42. Best of luck to you.

[LitMama]

WaturMama, thank you for this new thread. I love the title and the blessings that go with it.

Pitchfork, you are sooo close! Thanks for sharing the good vibes with us. Sending many back your way for a joyous birth!

The fertility goddess did not smile upon me this cycle . I'm CD1 today, and now beginning our 5th cycle of ttc. I do believe we conceived and what I felt (twinges, cramps, "lead pelvis") was probably an epic struggle for an implantation that never happened. I don't think it even reached the chemical stage, as I never had a BFP. I was down about it for a bit, but I recognize some positives: I had a really robust O this month, and strong estrogen and progesterone per my chart and sensations (wonder if there was any connection to the soy I was taking). I also really re-focused my intention around this and threw my heart into in more deeply. A friend and her 6yo little boy stayed with us, and DH and I just fell in love with him. Watching him playing in our livingroom and sleeping in DD's room helped me envision our future with a larger family, however that comes to us.

Our next steps are another meeting with our RE (now that DH's labs are done) and possibly some custom herbal formulas from my TCM provider.

Wishing you all a beautiful holiday weekend with your lovely families!

[contactmaya]

Hi everyone, just wanted to check in. Im on 7dpo.....:-)

[Kristin0105]

Afternoon everyone. Thank you for the new thread Waturmama. Last week I was in a funk and even was tearful not once but twice during my acu's visit. However, I reread the Infertility Cure and I have renewed sense of hope. I wonder if I am just foolishly optimistic but at least I feel good about it. I plan to reread this every few months for a reminder of how important TCM is to my overall health and fertility.

I am going to try to get into see the acu. at least 2 x's a month and have been trying to do some acupressure daily. I find it hard to do all the acu points as I can't seem to sit still that long to find them all. I'd like to find a laser pen to use instead. I am also adding Fresh Royal Jelly/Bee Pollen to my daily regimen. I found a link on another site where many women found success using this one particular formulation. I don't believe in miracle cures but I figure it can't hurt me. I have been taking royal jelly capsules, perhaps the fresh will be more effective. It does give me a lot of energy and I find I need to take it earlier in the evening as taking it right before bed was keeping me awake.

I am going to ask my TCM provider to help me figure out a better nutrition plan for myself. I never lost all my babay weight from my daughter who is about to turn 5 I also want to follow the Infertility Cure's diet suggestions but as I have a few symptoms in several different Chinese medicine diagnosis I am not sure the best foods for my needs. It too can only help. I have put renewed effort into working out. I dropped the ball last year after my m/c but I am back to swimming laps an hour a day and feel SO much better. I hope to add some other exercise soon but can only leave dd at the gym daycare for 90 minutes so don't have time to lift weights.

So that's this weeks update. I hope everyone is doing well and that this summer is a productive one for all of us.

Pitchfork so glad to read your update. Enjoy the next 6 weeks and may you have a glorious homebirth.

[Kristin0105]

Having a weirdo cycle and not sure what to think. for those interested here is my chart link http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1dfb40 On cycle day 14 I had a temperature of 96.93 but I discarded it because I woke up really cold, no sheet, fan blowing etc... and the following day my temp crept back up but I did not have my typical day after ovulation warm feeling to my face. It's a telltale sign that I get every month day after ovulation. Last night I had ovulation pain and a little spotting after spending some time with dh if you get my point. It felt like I may have had a cyst rupture. Today my temp spiked where it normally does after ovulation and my face felt hot etc.... So I am pretty sure I ovulated last night. However, if I keep my day 14 temperature FF thinks I ovulated that day. Any thoughts? The EWCM yesterday was not nearly as nice as day 14 and I hesitated to call it that but couldn't come up with a more appropriate description. So don't let that fool you, also if I had a functional cyct that might explain some additional estrogen producing CM. I cancelled an order for some O predicting strips recently I guess I need to actually order them. I need more clarity.

[BHappy]

i like the summer thread, waturmama ! thank you kristin, it is so nice to see you. i have not been on here much over the last few months, either. now, i'm trying to check in a little more. i just really like this thread and all of you women who are here.

hope everyone's having a great fourth of july

afm.....

ff gave me crosshairs on cd12 so on cd15 dh and i bd unprotected. then on cd16 or 17, ff changed my ovulation date to cd14 i guess i never thought about it changing, since that has not happened to me before. if you want to see my chart, it is linked on the first page (oh, we are on the first page, lol)

i also have been wondering this cycle about how a detox/cleanse might affect my hormones and my cycle in general. i have been on a sugar detox for three weeks. i removed all wheat, dairy, most grains and fruit. no sweeteners, candy, chocolate, caffeine.... this is a big shift for me, and it is going well. do any of you have experience with cleanses and how they affect your cycle ?

xxoo

[contactmaya]

Hi everyone,

happy 4th July!!

So sorry I havent read the posts yet, but wanted to post this quickly in case anyone had any answers. I look forward to reading posts later (internet issues here)

Just a quick question, has anyone here had any experience with using soy isoflavones, to ensure/improve ovulation-produce more or better eggs. Im especially interested if you used this when you were already ovulating, and had regular cycles, but were trying more for age related issues. Also with femara or clomid.
Thanks Maya
(im following this with a more detailed post about my situation)

[contactmaya]

Im 8dpo on my 4th cycle ttc. Im beginning to think im not conceiving because of eggs past their expiry date. The first few cycles, there were issues of timing. This cycle, the timing was perfect, so if it’s a bfn, im pretty sure its my eggs.

Spotted today. Im taking a very very low dose of progesterone. (still nursing, short luteal phase most likely because of that, but could be old eggs too, but then, would I even be ovulating at all?) Put it this way, in my first two cycles, I was taking 200mg a day, 3rd cycle, I was taking 39mg in the am, and 52mg in the pm. I had spotting the whole cycle.

This cycle, I started with 40mg in the am, but got intense tiredness, so I cut it down to 13mg in the am, and 30mg in the pm.

Im using progonB, which comes in 13mg capsules.

Well, spotting today 8dpo, shows me that my true luteal phase is still at around 8days (unless its implantation spotting, whi h I doubt)

Im wondering if I am ovulating at all. I think its highly likely I am.

If I am. Then its just bad eggs.

I am giving myself 2 more cycles.

What I want to do is try a different donor plus do iui (rather than ici with the same donor) (iui put spmer straight in the uterus, so no wondering if sperm made it or not)

I want to stimulate ovulation in case it isnt happening, and /or get more/better eggs if it is.

I will be seeing a doc finally on my 12dpo this cycle.

I don’t really know what to ask them anymore-like, did I have an ovarian cyst this cycle, with that pain on the side? (doesn’t matter anymore)

Are my eggs ok? (no time to find out, im ttc 2more cycles anyway whether they are or not. Their tests are inconclusive anyway)

I can verify ovulation with them, so that’s a plus.

To jumpstart ovulation, its common to prescribe clomid. But frankly, its dries up cervical mucus, and I figure im better off using soy isoflavones.


So my queston is, have any of you used this with any success?

I seem to ovulate on cd13 or 14, without any trouble, have very reliable signs (except the bfp)

Ive heard though, without confirmation, that the soy can delay or prevent ovulation if you are ovulating. im worried about that.

Not asure my doc will even know the answers.

Have any of you had experience with this?

grateful for any info
Maya

[WaturMama]

Hi everyone! Glad folks are finding the summer thread.

Kristin, I don't use FF myself and I'm not sure what the solid v open circles mean. Though either way today being the shift seems more likely to me given the temps, the face flush (so interesting the patterns people notice!), and the EWCF pattern. And it sounds like you know your body well, so I'd trust your assessment over a computer program's.

Maya, I don't have any experience with soy or clomid. My RE (reproductive endocrinologist/fertility doctor) believe any of us in our age range are more challenged by egg quality issues than younger women, simply because our eggs are older. The TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) folks believe you can improve egg quality. Many people in our age range here and in my real life believe TCM has been helpful.

As I understand it from Taking Charge of Your Fertility, your luteal phase isn't over until you have red bleeding, so if you are spotting on 8dpo it's not over yet. (yay!) Also, I believe based on reading the same book, that the best way to confirm if you have ovulated is to see a temp shift.

Ovulating on cd13 or 14 sounds very regular of you. Seeing a doctor sounds like good illumination. Lots of good wishes that the right spermy hits the right eggy and that you are having implantation spotting.

[gerlassie]

Hi All! I'm checking in after 2 "false alarms" and found that my name was removed from the list. Maybe that's a sign LOL!!! Anyway, the only thing I have to report is that the B50 Complex has me on a perfect 28 day cycle and it seems to be helping me drop some of my excess weight. Feeling great and my "moods" seem to have stabilized too.

Hope all is well!

[LitMama]

Soy

Originally Posted by contactmaya

To jumpstart ovulation, its common to prescribe clomid. But frankly, its dries up cervical mucus, and I figure im better off using soy isoflavones.

Ive heard though, without confirmation, that the soy can delay or prevent ovulation if you are ovulating. im worried about that.

Maya

Hi Maya,

I have no experience with Clomid but used soy isoflavones for the first time last month. I took 200mg for 5 days only. The way soy isoflavones work, I believe, is by suppressing (something, can't remember what) which causes your body to believe it has low levels of estrogen and thus create more. The extra estrogen surge this creates can jumpstart ovulation or grow bigger or more follicles. The hormone cascade can also cause your body to create more progesterone during your LP. You do need to be very judicious in your use though... taken for too many days, soy can suppress your ovulation! You have to take it for 5 days maximum, beginning either cd1, cd2, or cd3. I took it cd3-7. I did have a very robust O last month -- very strong O-pains, very dark line on my OPK, very clear thermal shift. Then I had what felt like very high progesterone during my LP -- higher than normal temps, hot flashes, etc.

I didn't do it this month, just because I was out of town during the right cycle days and didn't have access to my soy.

Good luck this month, let us know how it goes!

[Kristin0105]

Originally Posted by BHappy

i like the summer thread, waturmama ! thank you kristin, it is so nice to see you. i have not been on here much over the last few months, either. now, i'm trying to check in a little more. i just really like this thread and all of you women who are here.

hope everyone's having a great fourth of july

afm.....

ff gave me crosshairs on cd12 so on cd15 dh and i bd unprotected. then on cd16 or 17, ff changed my ovulation date to cd14 i guess i never thought about it changing, since that has not happened to me before. if you want to see my chart, it is linked on the first page (oh, we are on the first page, lol)

i also have been wondering this cycle about how a detox/cleanse might affect my hormones and my cycle in general. i have been on a sugar detox for three weeks. i removed all wheat, dairy, most grains and fruit. no sweeteners, candy, chocolate, caffeine.... this is a big shift for me, and it is going well. do any of you have experience with cleanses and how they affect your cycle ?

xxoo

BHappy good to see you too. I have occasionally had FF change my O date based on day 3 temperatures. I don't know how they calculate it but what I have found is many times when they change it it sometimes aligns with my own thinking and sometimes not. This month it changed it from CD14 to CD16 based on today's temperature and that aligns perfectly with what I believed to be my ovulation date.


Maya I don't have specific answers to your questions but wholeheartedly recommend that you read Randine Lewis's book The Infertility Cure. According to chinese medicine you can improve egg quality. Western doctors tend to just assume if you are over 40 your eggs are old and may not fertilize. Just because you BD on ovulation day and do not get pregnant that month it does not indicate there is a global egg problem if could have been 1 of a thousand different issues. When you really read the process of egg development it's really quite amazing any one gets pregnant.

I do know that my TCM provider has told me many times that clomid is not a good choice for women over 40 as she says it has lasting effects on our systems that make it harder to actually become pregnant. I think it minimizes the development of the endometrium for one. Not sure of the other problems it creates she has said there are other better choices such as femara or some of the injectables.

But I think reading Randine Lewis' book would be a really good place for you to start she has all sorts of information on nutrition, chinese medicine, accpuncture/pressure, and nutrition and supplements. Using TCM and supplements changed my CD3 blood tests from borderline to that of a 20 year old.


And on other news: I read an article the other day that said get this researchers have found that our ovarys continue to make new eggs throughout our lives, thus we are NOT born with all the eggs we will ever had. SO there is great hope that some of my eggs are NOT 44 years old. I just need to find some of those new ones.

Also in The Infertility Cure she mentions a study that when old nonworking mouse ovaries were taken out and placed in a young mouse they began functioning as they had when they were young. It's not necessarily the ovaries but their environment that is the problem. If we improve our ovaries environment we can produce healthy eggs. Something to seriously consider.

Good luck, hope everyone is well. Got to run to the office.

[Buzzer Beater]

Overdue updates

Hi wonderful ladies!
I miss this thread and your wonderful personalities... I've been meaning to follow religiously but I have had the busiest two months of my life.

I developed pre-E late in my pg and ended up having a c/s at 37 weeks- everything turned out okay even tho I was bummed about not having my home birth. Honestly, at this point in my life I don't care how I got my baby- obviously or I wouldn't have done egg donor.

We've been super busy with Georgia. She has bilateral club foot, and we are casting her weekly with an orthopedic surgeon. She'll have surgery next week on her achilles tendons. It's so hard seeing her uncomfortable, but it will be worth it when her feet are fixed. We also got a positive on her newborn PKU screen for cystic fibrosis. We have spent a lot of time traveling for tests to try to determine whether or not it is a false positive. We think it's false as babe is growing like a weed- 9 pounds now up from 6.7 birth weight. We'll find out for sure in a few weeks when the dna tests come back.

Here is a link to some pics:http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/th...NAME=snapfish/

I know this thread and all of MDC is about going natural- but if anyone here ever wants to talk about the ultimate medical route to a baby (short of surrogacy I guess!) feel welcome to PM me. I believe it was all worth it, and I believe in my heart I would not have had a chance myself.

I hope you all are doing well- I'll be reading more to catch up on you.
Sara (46 now, Georgia born 5/20)

[contactmaya]

Hi Sara, congratulations on the baby! Just thought id say hi to you here on this forum. Remember me? Im still going with the progesterone. :-)

Litmama, Kristin, Waturmama, thanks for your responses. That info on soy Litmama was priceless. In fact, i got my period on 8dpo (ho hum) because i messed up my progesterone...was on such a low dose, and figured i could patch it up when spotting occurred. I did last month. But the period came anyway, (not much of a period tho) so im cycle day 2 today, and starting the soy tomorrow. Ill take 75mg a day (they suggest 80) Not sure if i should take more since i already o. But then so do you, so its encouraging it worked well for you.

Kristin, that stuff about old ovaries in a young body, is so interesting. I really believe we are still in the dark ages when it comes to understanding fertility and aging (aging period). The experts just dont really know and they will admit its all as much art as it is science. There simply isnt an accurate test out there for egg quality.

Anyway, its encouraging to hear from you all. I feel so heartbroken when i think that i may never have another baby. I just want to cry, and have many times. Ive never been so aware of my cycle, and at the same time it has never been more useless.
Im breastfeeding and still get strong sensations of O, and strong indications etc etc, and i think that must mean something, but noone really knows.


Back later...

[WaturMama]

BuzzerBeater!! Thank you for stopping by. I've been wondering about you. Congratulations on the arrival of Georgia!! . She is gorgeous. Yay!!

I'm glad there is a fix for the club feet. The pku diagnosis sounds stressful. I'm glad it's looking like a false positive and sending good wishes that that is confirmed and also good wishes for the surgery next week.

I'm not a moderator, but my take is that it is fine to post about your experience here and for others to ask questions about ED. You have a natural bent and went as natural as you felt you could--it seems to me that there is talk about medical stuff around Mothering to the level you have done it, it is just that we have natural tendencies. Personally I want this to be a thread where we can explore our options. Particularly as natural-oriented people, we sometimes need to work through our thoughts about the higher tech ones. I think you have a lot to contribute there.

Originally Posted by Kristin0105

And on other news: I read an article the other day that said get this researchers have found that our ovarys continue to make new eggs throughout our lives, thus we are NOT born with all the eggs we will ever had. SO there is great hope that some of my eggs are NOT 44 years old. I just need to find some of those new ones.

Kristin, I love this. ^ Love. Thank you.

gerlassie, I'm glad you are back. You are back on the list, too! I am sorry for overdeleting. I'm standing by my theory that it is an opportunity for extra intentions in the world and that is a good luck thing. So glad you are feeling good.

LitMama, thank you for more info about the soy. I'm going to consider it and see what my TCM practitioner thinks about it for me.

contactmaya, . I hope soon you will be holding your babe and knowing it came at just the right time.

[carfreemama]

Hi everybody:

Just catching up. AF finally arrived today, first one post m/c. I have another u/s scheduled in 3 weeks, to see how that ovarian cyst is doing. I don't even want to think about it. But definitely no TTC until then. Also, I am back on my OCD meds after a horrible past couple of weeks. They will have to stop before we can TTC again. So there are still some obstacles. I guess I should technically be listed as "getting ready."

I do find the info on egg quality and ageing heartening. I certainly know enough women IRL who have managed to have successful pregnancies in their 40s, maybe a disproportionate number.

Good luck to everyone in July!