October DDC, how long were you TTC?

[capretta]

previous polls:

How many children including this one (these two)?

Your age when the first was/is born?

How old are you?

[lifeguard]

We did 6 rounds of clomid & were on a break from the drugs before trying something new. What a great surprise to actually conceive on our own.

[yellowdart]

This was our fifth cycle TTC.

[StephandOwen]

I stopped birth control in the middle of the pack in December. We got married January 1st and decided to try right away. This baby was conceived on/around January 19th

[Mama~Love]

We were trying for 15 months. I did 5 rounds of Clomid, got pregnant but miscarried, tried without meds for a few months, then did 3 more rounds of Clomid. That was unsuccessful, so we tried Femara, and that worked on the first try.

[Amy May]

I went off chemical birth control in November, but we weren't actively trying.  Learning to chart was harder than I expected.  Figuring out after the fact that I ovulated (based on obvious thermal shift) was easy, but having any idea of impending fertility, not so much!  My first 2 cycles were both very long and hard to understand.

On my 3rd post-pill cycle, I wasn't noticing any cervical fluid or anything, but DH and I were feeling particularly amorous... I think we DTD on 12 out of 14 consecutive days.  When I had a temp shift one morning, I was fairly certain we could likely be pregnant.  

You know how in high school there were those kids that studied really hard to pass the test?  And then the others that were just naturally smart, and without studying would just show up and pass the test?  I felt like we were that kid.  We just kind of showed up and got pregnant.

We were definitely talking baby-making, but both of us were prepared for it taking many many many months.  When I went off the pill, I began taking folic acid, prenatals, and eventually B-6 (one of the side effects of the pill is that it depletes your natural B-6 levels, which can shorten your luteal phase).  

After hearing so many women's stories, I have a new appreciation for how easy it was to conceive.  When you think about how many moving parts are involved, sometimes it amazes me that babies are even born in the first place- amazing to think how many things have to happen just so.

[KristinaMarie]

We had not been avoiding since our son was born in August of 09. We got pregnant much to our surprise in May 2010, but it was a blighted ovum. We had to do IVF to conceive our son, and had 2 frozen 5 day blasts left from his cycle. We transferred those in Jan, and found out we were pregnant with twins the beginning of Feb. 

It took us 3 years to get pregnant with our DS. I had done 3 cycles of Clomid, got pregnant and it was Ectopic that ruptured so I had emergency surgery and removal of my right tube. After that we decided to move on to IVF. I am so thankful we did.

[by-the-lake]

Went through 10 months of infertility/IUI with DS who is now 17 months. Since our infertility was male factor, we did not even think we could get pregnant on our own. Then we did. Surprise!!!!

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by Amy May 

After hearing so many women's stories, I have a new appreciation for how easy it was to conceive.  When you think about how many moving parts are involved, sometimes it amazes me that babies are even born in the first place- amazing to think how many things have to happen just so.

I remember before I stopped birth control, dh and I were talking about TTC. He kept wanting to know how far I would want to take it if we couldn't get pregnant on our own. I think he was concerned that maybe something would be wrong with him and he wouldn't be able to have kids without interventions (ds is from a different relationship, he was conceived as a one-shot wonder). It was interesting to have to think about how far we would take it, if we couldn't conceive without help. I think we both imagined it would take at least a few months so when it happened on the first try (again) we were both a little shocked! Now we'll probably be more wary of unprotected sex unless we really want another child at that time! LOL! (before I went off the pill we always used at least one form of birth control, though usually we doubled up and used the pill and condoms).

[nicolian]

I got pregnant my second cycle of trying.

[ncas72]

It took us almost a year of testing and fertility treatments to conceive DS. That was 4 years ago. We decided not to use birth control after DS was born. So we were trying but not really. Since it has been 4 years, we kind of stopped really thinking about it. Figured maybe we just couldn't conceive on our own and we were content with DS. So, we were surprised when we found out. Definitely happy but also very surprised.

[bethanyclaire]

I voted 7-12 months but DS2 is just over a year old, so while we wanted another baby as soon as possible, we knew it would be a while. These two will be exactly the same number of months apart (22) as my DS1 and DD.

[Veronika01]

My first took 13 cycles to conceive. My second was 2 cycles. My third was unplanned, but not a surprise either. My fourth took 5 cycles and this baby took two cycles.

[NDFanatik]

OOPS!! 

We had decided we were done and then one crazy night of passion we didn't grab in our drawer for a condom like we ALWAYS do...  As soon as we were done we just looked at each other and said "Oh no!"  And that's the story of how Baby M came to be, lol.

[ThreeCats]

I voted 4-6 months. We started trying in June 2010 and were successful right away. I had a miscarriage. We took a month off (wasn't physically ready) then had what I believe was a chemical pregnancy. We took a couple more months off (wasn't emotionally ready) then started TTC again in January, and were once again successful right away.

[Earthmamajen]

In our young relationship of older people, lol, we talked about trying...kind of expecting that our age would be a factor. In December I thought we Dtd around the right time but I ended up with a 25 day cycle. In January we dtd on both the right day for 25 or 28... Mostly by chance and good luck because we weren't living together yet. And despite our advanced age...39 me and 42 him (I know it's not that old, I just feel old) we did get pregnant the first time we dtd on the right day. So, I answered 2-3 months....

[AKislandgirl]

Well, we conceived on our 2nd cycle of clomid. We haven't used birth control since DD was born.

DD was conceived after nearly 3 years of trying. We did 8 cycles of clomid and 4 IUI's.

[mambera]

I'm not sure of the difference between TTC and 'whatever.'

So by 'TTC' does that mean you were charting your cycles and timing sex for your fertile window every month?  And does 'whatever' mean you have no idea when your fertile window is?

I don't chart so I guess we were 'whatevering.'  We did that for 5 months (or maybe 4.5).  But I have a pretty regular cycle and I keep an eye on my CM so I have a general idea of when my fertile window is, and I am pretty sure that we didn't DTD anywhere near the right time until the last month.  (mostly due to lack of opportunity - relatives staying with us, traveling separately, lightly sleeping baby, etc.)

So I could say that we were TTC one month (since that was the first month we had good timing) or I could just say that we were whatevering.

I guess I will vote that we were 'whatevering.'  That category doesn't seem to have too many votes.

[capretta]

To me, not practicing/using any form of birth control *is* TTC. But that may be influenced by the fact that I was actively trying to avoid pregnancy for 15 years. I include the category of "whatevering" because I know that some women here make a distinction.

Certainly, I would not say that TTC requires charting. Most women, I think, who try to conceive are not charting.

[theboysmama]

We have lost 2 babies in less than a year (17 wks in august (Emeric) and then 8 wks in Nov.) Emeric was a charting to avoid, funky cycle, whoops. Then we ttc and lost that baby in nov. We decided condoms until may and then we would decide what we were going to do. We used condoms during my fertile phase both cycles since my m/c and got pg with this baby on the 2nd cycle. So I voted a definate oops.