**TTC with LLLOOOOOOOOOOOONG Cycles November** - Page 4

[lilmom]

Ok, ladies, today was CD1 for me. So, I was disappointed again. And oddly, I was wrong about O date and so was FF, apparently. Looks like i must have O'ed between the time I thought I did and the time FF thought I did. Really strange. But probably due to my surgery and the meds I was taking afterward. That has to be it, because this has never happened before.

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone would like to take over the thread for December? DH and I are probably going to be taking the next cycle (and possibly more) off from TTC because he is looking for a new job and we will hopefully be moving, changing insurance, etc. Plus this cycle just hit me really hard. It's been a year and a half, and I really had my hopes up because it's around the same time I conceived DS 4 yrs ago..it just seemed like this might be it.

So I would really love it if someone could take over. I will still be popping in, because I don't think I can NOT look at the boards, and it's not like we'll be avoiding really, just not being obsessed right now.

Let me know if there are any volunteers!
 

On a positive note, I hope everyone gets BFP's for Christmas!! We got our tree and everything up today and I love it!

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Hello Ladies! I am finally back online after two months of having to take a break. Of course I have only had one cycle since then and I am not sure if its over yet or not. Same old story for me. FF says I O'ed then about after 10-14 days it takes it away and says I didn't :(. Missed you girls how are we doing?

[Meeshi]

Hey! Ladies.., wishing all of you

I have very long cycles. I'm taking maca,fertilaid  and fertilitea right now. Hopefully I will get a  soon.

[ursusarctos]

Oh lilmom, I'm sorry! I am not going to be around here that much hopefully, so can't take the thread. But I want to say thank you for being a great threadmistress and for being so kind and encouraging It's been really nice hanging out in this thread. And I really hope you get your bfp very soon! And everyone else who's still around too!

[lilmom]

Welcome back, ZoeJane'sMommy! I hope you are doing ok. I am about to be taking a break for a little bit myself..do you feel like taking back the thread?

Meeshi, welcome! Do you want to join our little group? If so, let me know what info you want to be included. Are you trying for your first baby?

Ursusarctos, Thank you so much! It has been wonderful having you around and I hope your pregnancy goes just perfectly!!

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Yes I will take it back. It looks like I am going to be in the TTC forum atleast until the middle of Jan because that is my next FF predicted O date. Have a good break it really helped us.

[Sweet.Bee]

ZoeJane'sMommy,  Yeah, I'm still here TTC, too. Sorry to hear you're still having trouble with ovulating. What are you taking for that? I thought you mentioned way back something about trying Clomid?

I tried soy isoflavones this cycle, but I don't think it did anything to give me an earlier O date. Or maybe the flu messed up ovulation again? I just got a + OPK this morning (CD23), which probably means an O on CD25, around the late end of usual for me nowadays. I miss nice, short cycles like I used to have. Boo-hoo.

I'm feeling kind of demotivated after almost 8 months TTC #2. Our son must have been some kind of miracle because he was not planned at all.

lilmom, sending you positive vibes during your break. A few cycles ago, I was sure I would be pregnant that time because it would give me a due date practically the same as mine was our son. So, I get that. It's so hard to be disappointed after getting your hopes up like that.

Anyways, just waiting to ovulate, which should be soon. Maybe. I hope. Please? 

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Originally Posted by Sweet.Bee 

ZoeJane'sMommy,  Yeah, I'm still here TTC, too. Sorry to hear you're still having trouble with ovulating. What are you taking for that? I thought you mentioned way back something about trying Clomid?

I tried soy isoflavones this cycle, but I don't think it did anything to give me an earlier O date. Or maybe the flu messed up ovulation again? I just got a + OPK this morning (CD23), which probably means an O on CD25, around the late end of usual for me nowadays. I miss nice, short cycles like I used to have. Boo-hoo.

I'm feeling kind of demotivated after almost 8 months TTC #2. Our son must have been some kind of miracle because he was not planned at all.

lilmom, sending you positive vibes during your break. A few cycles ago, I was sure I would be pregnant that time because it would give me a due date practically the same as mine was our son. So, I get that. It's so hard to be disappointed after getting your hopes up like that.

Anyways, just waiting to ovulate, which should be soon. Maybe. I hope. Please? 

Hi Sweetbee - Yes I did one cycle of clomid and it did nothing for me, except bring on a good AF about 50 days later. This month I did soy iso's and at first it seemed to really work but now my AF (or just spotting I cant tell) is just so weak I cant tell if its AF or not. I am on month 8 of trying also!!!

Would you ladies mind looking at my chart and telling me if you think I am on AF or just spotting. I had some good flow for about 30 mins on friday, but other than that just spotting. It started our brown/with tiny pink and then bright red and then today again very little brown. my chart is

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/Zoesmommy

[lilmom]

SweetBee - I remember when that happened to you a while back too. So frustrating. i hope your cycles start normalizing! Is there anything else going on healthwise that would cause your cycles to lengthen, or other symptoms? I know for me..I have gained weight and I think that is a factor for me.

ZoeJanesMommy - That is one confusing chart. Remind me, how long is your normal luteal phase? I think that would tell us something. It does kind of look like you had a temp shift, but your cm is not matching up with that..so I sort of feel like maybe this is an anovulatory cycle? I wouldn't think you would have spotting for that many days, although it could be possible I guess. Have you ever had spotting like that before? If not, I would say it's probably AF, just anovulatory.

I hope you get your BFP soon and I'm glad your break was good! Also, thanks for taking the thread over in Dec! I'll still be around. Just hopefully not crazy obsessing. But I like to cheer on everybody else anyway.

[Sweet.Bee]

ZoeJane'sMommy, hmm, I'm really not sure. Was there any more bleeding today, or just spotting? You seem to have a lot of spotting during your cycles.  Does your doctor have any ideas about that?

lilmom (or anyone else interested), so, I'm not sure why I'm ovulating so late nowadays. Here's a brief history:

- I started my first period when I was 12, and they were always pretty regular. 29-32 days.

- I did bc pills a few times off and through the years (starting at age 17, I think?). Whenever I went off them, I had my normal cycle lengths right away.

- I occasionally had really bad CD1s, as in I would throw up half the day from the pain. That would be only every half year, maybe.

- When I was about 21, I lost a good amount of weight (I was never overweight, but I wanted to be more fit/sporty). I lost it too fast, I think, because I didn't have a period for 6 months. I started my cycles up again by taking bc pills.

- A year before I got pregnant, I had a fluke 40-day cycle (I think it was from stress). That prompted me to start temping/checking CM so I would know what was going on with my body. All my cycles during this time were normal (29-32 days) for me. I ovulated slightly later than average, but still seemed "normal". My LP was 11-13 days about.

- We were charting to avoid, not TTC, but we had been away from each other for awhile and were not as careful as usual the month I got pregnant.

- I started bc pills at 6 weeks postpartum (I hadn't had a period yet) because we were so convinced I was super fertile. Ha! We should have saved our money.

- Anyways, I stopped the bc pills in early April, a few weeks before our son's 1st birthday. On my first cycle, I ovulated on CD18. And then it went all downhill from there.

Now ~CD24 is a typical O day. I have a nice LP at 12-14 days, usually 13. It's the first part of my cycle that's messed up. I had insufficient EWCM for the first few cycles, but now I get a lot. I no longer get horrible pain during my period. In fact, I don't get cramps really. Just a bit sore. I gained about 15kg during pregnancy somehow, which is kind of a lot, but I had lost at least half of that by 6 weeks. I have been slowing losing the rest. I have under 5kg (probably less now b/c I haven't been weighed since July) to reach pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not doing anything strenuous b/c I don't want to stop ovulating again, but I do some yoga, lots of walking, light aerobics, toddler chasing. 

And that's the novel of my fertility.  7th cycle TTC. Almost 8 months. Late O. And still not pregnant.

[Meeshi]

Originally Posted by lilmom 

Welcome back, ZoeJane'sMommy! I hope you are doing ok. I am about to be taking a break for a little bit myself..do you feel like taking back the thread?

Meeshi, welcome! Do you want to join our little group? If so, let me know what info you want to be included. Are you trying for your first baby?

Ursusarctos, Thank you so much! It has been wonderful having you around and I hope your pregnancy goes just perfectly!!

Hey! lilmom thank you. I would love to join the group. A little about me....I'm 35 and DH is 38. We have been trying to conceive about  4 years now. We did the whole Clomid,Metformin,IVF thing and none of those methods worked. So recently. I decided to take a natural aprroach to conceiving our first child. That's what brought me to maca,fertilaid and fertilitea. I have been  on fertilaid for almost 3 months now. Fertilitea for about 1 month and I have been taking 2 tbsp of maca powder in my fruit smoothies for just over a month now. 
Sending fairy dust to  all you lovely ladies!  Hope we all get our  soon.
 

[lilmom]

Oh, Meeshi, I wish I could give you a big old hug, for those 4 years of trying!!!! Welcome to our little group though! And I want to put in a plug for acupuncture. No drugs, lots of relaxation, and it got me my DS, and regulated my cycles before I got pg with him. Actually, they stayed nice and regular afterward for a short time too, but I wasn't going to acupuncture anymore and eventually they went back to really irregular and long again. The acupuncturist also gave me herbs specifically tailored for me, and I think that made a huge difference. Maca did not help me personally but I've not tried fertilitea or fertilaid. I hope those help you!!! I can hardly wait to get back to acupuncture once we move though.

SweetBee - that is really interesting. To my non-medically-trained-mind, I would say that it sure seems like BC pills are the culprit. But my question is, were you taking the same kind, same dosage when you were 21 and started taking them again, or was it a different kind? I say that because if it was different, maybe that is the reason you couldn't go back to normal cycles after that? Or maybe it was the cumulative effect? Unless there is just something going on with your health that I am completely unaware of. But it sounds like you are otherwise healthy. If you are interested in my story...I always had crazy irregular long cycles from the get-go..started right before my 14th bday. ob.gyn put me on the pill to try to "fix" it, but of course it didn't fix it. It made me super sick. I threw up every single day from the pills and gained 25 lbs. It was horrible. Then I got an ovarian cyst and had to have emergency surgery. I don't know if this is true, but a specialist told me he felt I got the cyst from being on bc pills too young. Who knows. All I know is, I sure didn't want to take them anymore. So I didn't. And I kept having crazy long cycles. Every time I brought it up to any ob/gyns, they told me I should just go on the pill and not worry about it. Then, when I was in my mid to late twenties, I got really, really healthy. I have always been very small, and didn't need to lose weight but I got in great shape and started eating very healthy, and my cycles became regular, at 35 days every time. Still long compared to most people, but nevertheless I was thrilled because I knew when AF was coming! In my late twenties, I still wasn't married but had met my DH and was worried about my fertility. I read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and started tracking my cm but not temps. And then, cycles started going crazy when I got a different job and wasn't eating as healthy because I had to travel all the time. Then right before we got married, I started going to acupuncture. It regulated me in one month! And 4 months later we were pregnant!!!! But of course, now DS is 3 yrs old, and we've been trying for a year and a half, and I haven't even been close to a BFP. And I really miss acupuncture : )  So there's my story. Apparently, I've always had some type of hormonal issue that causes my cycles to be crazy. But no docs have ever wanted to investigate. So, maybe I will learn more when I got to an RE, if we end up doing that soon. I highly suspect I have PCOS. So there you go.

Good luck ladies..anyone else still out there?? Still thinking of all of you..

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Originally Posted by lilmom 

SweetBee - I remember when that happened to you a while back too. So frustrating. i hope your cycles start normalizing! Is there anything else going on healthwise that would cause your cycles to lengthen, or other symptoms? I know for me..I have gained weight and I think that is a factor for me.

ZoeJanesMommy - That is one confusing chart. Remind me, how long is your normal luteal phase? I think that would tell us something. It does kind of look like you had a temp shift, but your cm is not matching up with that..so I sort of feel like maybe this is an anovulatory cycle? I wouldn't think you would have spotting for that many days, although it could be possible I guess. Have you ever had spotting like that before? If not, I would say it's probably AF, just anovulatory.

I hope you get your BFP soon and I'm glad your break was good! Also, thanks for taking the thread over in Dec! I'll still be around. Just hopefully not crazy obsessing. But I like to cheer on everybody else anyway.

I do not have any idea of how long my luteal phase is because I do not think I have O'd yet since I started trying. I keep thinking oOOOOO I finally o'd and then something happens and I didn't. I do have PCOS and my OB thinks I am not Oing at all that is why we were doing th clomid. But I wanted to go more natural so I am trying the soy iso's. I am starting them again today because I think this was my AF. It is normal for me to have spoing AF's, my OB said that its not really AF but my lining just fills up and has to release some because there is no room. Or something to that effect. I have always had cycles like this. I had my first AF at 13 and they were about 6 months apart the doctors said they would even out, but then when I was 16 I was diagnosed with PCOS and told that I would probably never have children. I was always very healthy and my weight was always low until I had to have my gaulbladder removed (when I was 22). I did gain quite alot of weight but my cycles did not change one bit. and I got prego with my first at my heaviest weight. I have been doing some light exercise for several months now, and I have lost a few pounds. My OB says of course weight has a lot to do with fertility but in my case I was most likely always destined to be this way. Other than being overweight I am perfectly healthy. I do have hormone imblances (as do most women with PCOS). I hope that was too much rambling.

Originally Posted by Sweet.Bee 

ZoeJane'sMommy, hmm, I'm really not sure. Was there any more bleeding today, or just spotting? You seem to have a lot of spotting during your cycles.  Does your doctor have any ideas about that?

lilmom (or anyone else interested), so, I'm not sure why I'm ovulating so late nowadays. Here's a brief history:

- I started my first period when I was 12, and they were always pretty regular. 29-32 days.

- I did bc pills a few times off and through the years (starting at age 17, I think?). Whenever I went off them, I had my normal cycle lengths right away.

- I occasionally had really bad CD1s, as in I would throw up half the day from the pain. That would be only every half year, maybe.

- When I was about 21, I lost a good amount of weight (I was never overweight, but I wanted to be more fit/sporty). I lost it too fast, I think, because I didn't have a period for 6 months. I started my cycles up again by taking bc pills.

- A year before I got pregnant, I had a fluke 40-day cycle (I think it was from stress). That prompted me to start temping/checking CM so I would know what was going on with my body. All my cycles during this time were normal (29-32 days) for me. I ovulated slightly later than average, but still seemed "normal". My LP was 11-13 days about.

- We were charting to avoid, not TTC, but we had been away from each other for awhile and were not as careful as usual the month I got pregnant.

- I started bc pills at 6 weeks postpartum (I hadn't had a period yet) because we were so convinced I was super fertile. Ha! We should have saved our money.

- Anyways, I stopped the bc pills in early April, a few weeks before our son's 1st birthday. On my first cycle, I ovulated on CD18. And then it went all downhill from there.

Now ~CD24 is a typical O day. I have a nice LP at 12-14 days, usually 13. It's the first part of my cycle that's messed up. I had insufficient EWCM for the first few cycles, but now I get a lot. I no longer get horrible pain during my period. In fact, I don't get cramps really. Just a bit sore. I gained about 15kg during pregnancy somehow, which is kind of a lot, but I had lost at least half of that by 6 weeks. I have been slowing losing the rest. I have under 5kg (probably less now b/c I haven't been weighed since July) to reach pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not doing anything strenuous b/c I don't want to stop ovulating again, but I do some yoga, lots of walking, light aerobics, toddler chasing. 

And that's the novel of my fertility.  7th cycle TTC. Almost 8 months. Late O. And still not pregnant.

Yes, she says its not really an AF. Then if I call her and tell her its happening again she will prescribe me progesterone to induce my period. But at this point she is wanting to refer me to a specialist. My insurance does not cover anything except for the appointment to the specialist and I just want try a few more times with soy or clomid. It only took metformin for my first one, so I am hoping I don't have to do much more than that.

Sweet.bee I am keeping you in my thoughts. This has been a hard journey for you and I am certain your time is getting closer.
 

[akind1]

I'd like to join too, I think.

History: I have always had regular 32-35 day cycles, since age 11. Then I met DH, we got engaged . . I started depo provera in May of 2005 (I really liked the thought of not having a period!) . . .that was probably not the best idea. I had my last injection November of 2006, so the shot technically ran out Feb of 2007. I got my first AF since being on it in June of 07, but then nothing, so was given Provera in August which did work to bring on a cycle. In January of 2008, was dx'd with PCOS and given Metformin, which I didn't like at all and am not really fully convinced that I have PCOS (I know doc ran some hormone levels, but not tested at all for insulin resistance, not hirsute or prone to acne. only outward evidence is overweight and irregular cycles, which I didn't have before being on the shot) at anyrate, I didn't stay on the Metformin, and took some supplements - Inositol, Iodine, and one other that is NAC, but forgot what it stands for - all basically vitamins - and they did seem to help regulate my cycles, or it could have just been the Depo slowly leaving my system, and I slowly started losing some of the weight I gained while on Depo (and started a sedentary job, can't blame it all on hormones!) - I had lost about 15 lbs when I finally got pregnant in Febuary 2009, and DS was born 11/20/2009.

We are still nursing, but I have cycles since 4 months PP. they are crazy long, like 50-60 days. I went to see the doc who delivered him, and all he offered was Clomid, did not even offer to run any tests to see where my hormone levels were to see if I am ovulating, or when, etc. He basically said it was because I am nursing. which I know plenty of women who have regular cycles while nursing, and fall pregnant while still nursing. I am charting, I charted to help conceive DS. We aren't really gung-ho TTC, more like just open to a pregnancy right now. I think if nothing happens by the time DS is two, we may try to be more aggressive, but we aren't in a hurry.

Here is my FF chart

CD 35 and I think it is predicting O around cd 44-45 based on my PP cycles. If I do O then, and we catch the eggy, would be pregnant by Christmas which would be great! (but yeah, no hurry :))

-oh, and I am 29, DH is 28.

[Sweet.Bee]

akind1, welcome and good luck!

lilmom, I've taken many different brands of bc pills. Not sure if that means something? I've always hated them. The first cycle I ever took them, I bled like crazy.

We all have interesting histories. Sad that we're not only struggling with getting pregnant, but with even ovulating nicely at all. Thinking of all of you as we all struggle together.

My update is I still haven't ovulated.  It's CD27. My usual O day is annoying enough at ~CD24. I had a + OPK 4 days ago but still no thermal shift. That is new. Based on CM and cervix (and OPKs), I think my body has tried to O twice already this cycle (CD18 and CD24) and failed for some reason. I am at a loss of what to do.

BTW, do we have a December thread yet that I missed? I was looking for it, but maybe I'm blind.