Runner midwife TTC #4 naturally at 40

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Hi!

I haven't posted on Mothering for a very long time.  As you can see, I have been around Mothering for many years, and I am excited to be back.

DP and I decided recently to start TTC #4.  We have three kids: B14, G12, B5.  We would be thrilled with another daughter so my daughter can have a sister.  Another brother would fit right in, too!

I am a midwife in Ontario and so see lots of women who are 40+ who are pregnant.  It helps to normalize the statistics that tell me it will be challenging for me to attain and maintain a healthy pregnancy.  

I had an appointment with an OB friend who took my Mirena out and did some blood work.  Everything was really great, except my FSH (taken on an unknown day in my cycle due to the Mirena) was 11.6, so a little high unless I was mid-cycle.  She said that she was happy it was under 12.  I also did a hemoglobin A1C as my dad is diabetic and it came back at 0.060, which is the high range of normal.  I have been working hard at fitness level lately:  good thing!

Just prior to turning 40 I decided I was *done* with feeling tired and sluggish and overweight.  I decided to start running at 270 pounds and am thrilled to report my weight is sitting at about 206-208, which gives me a BMI of 29-30.  In October I ran my first half-marathon (my 13th race of any kind, ever) and in November I ran my second (3 weeks ago).  I'm not a natural runner but I am really enjoying pushing myself and testing my limits.

In January I am planning on running the Goofy in Disney.  That's a half marathon on the Saturday followed by a full marathon on the Sunday.  I am scared witless.  In preparation I am training and running about 35-50k a week.  I use a walk-run strategy mostly, but I can run continuously for about 5k.  My body prefers the walk-run ratios.  

Right now I am starting to chart on FF, and taking a prenatal vitamin and CoQ10, omega 3s, a B-complex (and magnesium and glutamine for my running).  I also recently got a VitaMix and am enjoying green smoothies!  I eat pretty well.

DH would prefer that we wait until spring to conceive, but I am feeling more pressure to start now.  Which we have.  He'd like a few months of casual couplehood before we dig right into ovulation day panic sex.  I agreed.  

Anyhow, that is me!  I'd like to keep this as a journal.  Feel free to say HI!

[SuzieSmiles]

Hi Carolyn, 

Welcome back! What an exciting journey to be on. I'm 39 and TTC #1... so am always very interested in fellow 'AMA' ladies (as they refer to us these days)... I will be following along, reading your 'journal' and hoping you get #4 when you're ready:)

[TenzinsMama]

Hi Carolyn!  I'd love to follow along, too.  We can share and learn from each other!  That is an amazing story of your fitness endeavours-- good luck with the upcoming marathon.  Although, it sounds like you don't need 'luck'-- you will do great!

About the statistics for women over 40... It doesn't seem so hopeful on paper, and in fact, in talking with an RE recently about societies in general not having children when they reach a certain age bracket-- I just have such a hard time with the doc's black and white thinking.  I mean, even on another thread I've been a part of for the past two years, there is a woman on there who just had a baby a few months ago-- she conceived naturally at age 44, and it was her easiest and healthiest pregnancy.  So, I'm really glad to have you here to say that it's possible, that you see it happen a fair amount in your practice!  Do you mind sharing some more of your thoughts around that? 

Also, what dosages are you on for your supplements? 

A little about me... I'm turning 43 next month.  I had DS at age 40.5 and DD at 42.5.  I really would like to have one more baby.  I've just had my first PPAF last month, which is around the time I got it after DS.  I take that to mean my body really, really wants to get back into normal cycling, and that it's going to defy the stats!  I know that it will take some time to get back to pre-pregnancy levels (I've had Day 3 bloodwork a couple weeks ago, and the one thing that is off is my prolactin, which isn't a surprise)-- and that since my PPAF came so soon, my fertility per cycle may be slower to come back than if PPAF took longer (as per Kelly.mom).

[skeemama]

Congrats on going for it!!

I am excited to see some success here!!!

I am TTC #3. 

40 plus & trying to get knocked up......after my 4th loss I am cautious yet optimistic.

Baby Dust ladies!!

[TenzinsMama]

And just to clarify my first post... It was the RE who brought up the point about different societies historically not having children at a certain point... I was just on the receiving end of that piece of information, as I didn't have anything to say about it... I mean, I don't know what she is basing that on-- and she must be talking in absolutes, as like I had mentioned, I have read quite a few stories on here about women conceiving later in life.  One of my good friends irl-- her mother had her when she was 45! 

Hi Skeemama!  I remember you from other threads...Sorry for your losses... Let's hope this coming year has us with our bfps and healthy babies in our arms!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Thanks for all the nice hellos and welcome!  I am on day 2 of AF - which I guess makes sense just a few days post-Mirena removal (I had it out on Tuesday).  Looking forward to starting a new cycle all fresh and clean!  Guess the fun is ahead of us.... ;-)

I am taking about 600mg of the coQ10.  Totally not scientific - but gleaned from other boards that REs seem to recommend somewhere between 500-1200mg.  I take 500mg magnesium (as I am prone to muscle cramps after running long distances) and a 100mg B complex.  It seems that REs prescribe some B6.  I also forgot to add that I am taking vit D - about 1000IU.  Not sure I need it as I get a lot of sun exposure when running but it can't hurt at that level of supplementation.  I'm not a big supplementer normally, just since I started running.

I have a busy day today but am off-call for the weekend.  We bought some lovely second-hand furniture for my youngest's bedroom that will give him a loft bed with a storage staircase (so cool!) and we have to get that in his room (after cleaning his room!) and then there will be a trickle-down effect to the other two kids' rooms, resulting in another loft bed for DS-14 and a bunkbed for DD-12.  But a lot of work!  It is cold out today (sitting at -1 celsius currently) and I need to get in a long run (14 miles/22k) so I think I will wait until the afternoon when it will be a few degrees warmer.

We also have some Christmas present wrapping today before the little snoops find our bags... but I love Christmas wrapping and can imagine lounging post-run with a good movie on while wrapping presents.

Thank you all for commenting and 'joining'.  Would love to keep hearing from you!  We can do this!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

I hope this is allowed.  This is a link to a non-mothering thread I started on my running journal on another board:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2761938

[contactmaya]

40 isnt that old. i got pregnant on my first try at 40, and so did my sister. 

[KnitterMama]

Hey CarolynnMarilynn!  I was just about to come post a thread asking if there are other runners TTC.  I'm also a distance runner and have completed 2 marathons (most recently the Wineglass Marathon in Corning NY).  I'm signed up for the Lake Effect Half Marathon in February and intend to keep running and racing through pregnancy (when I get a BFP, that is!).  I don't think I'll be doing a full during pregnancy but will definitely get a few halfs under my belt, as I've always intended to but always end-up registering for the fulls.  

Good luck in your Goofy endeavor!  That is a long term goal of mine.  Sounds crazy enough to be fun.  

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Hi KnitterMama!

Nice to hear from another running mama!  I LOVE running.  I love what it has done for my body and how I can push limits.  I am going into Goofy a bit undertrained due to a knee injury in September but I plan on taking it nice and slow, and just focus on finishing.  I am planning on finishing the half at 3 hours or just under, and the full under 6.5 hours.  Really nice and easy as I get very sore after long runs and I have femoral-patellar syndrome so I run with mild pain, and get up after a run with a touch more!  I don't think I will do another marathon as the training is too time-intensive.  I like the half distance though - enough in it to be quite a challenge and lots of room for me to improve (my last half was 2:47:00).  I will need to lose more weight before I can do much faster, but the weight is hanging on and the exercise revs up my appetite a few hours later.

DH and I talked last night and while I have jumped in with both feet for better or for worse, he is feeling apprehensive.  Still ok to move ahead and says he will be fine and excited for a new baby, but being the practical one, he is worried about the financials and fitting another person into our small home (about 1500 sq feet).  We talked about the OB's offer to send me right away to a RE, and while I initially declined, I would like to go and at least get a full blood panel going.  I think it will take a little while to get in.  DH is on board with that - he says he is scared to do anything more invasive as he is afraid of twins.  Me too!  Won't rule out a little Clomid though, if we can't conceive on our own.  We shall see.

Today is day 4 I am assuming.  I got the IUD out on Tuesday, and had heavy period-like bleeding over the weekend which is now tapering off.  I am assuming that the drop in progesterone triggered that and hopefully everything else is being reset if taking it out wasn't towards the end of my natural cycle.  I am pretty sure it was timed ok though as I had killer breast tenderness and ?middleschmertz about 10 days-two weeks ago.

As you can see, I am a bit of an obsessor.   I take everything I do quite seriously!  For instance, today I am getting the rest of the Christmas presents wrapped, because, well, it is there to be done!  Had a fabulous weekend of a great combination of exercising and running, and getting the kids' bedrooms completely overhauled.  My DS5 got his loft bed installed and his room completely cleaned and organized, right down to the closet!  His room is fabulous-beautiful, and I am so pleased for him.  It was a hot mess before.  My DS14 got his loft bed up, and his room is 80% organized and clean.  Three words that strike fear in every parent of a teenager held to be true:  under the bed.  Gross.  Anyhow, his room is much better and more functional.  Looking forward to finishing it, then comes DD12's room next weekend and she is a packrat!

Today I go back on call at 11am and have a few appointments.  None of my term mamas went while I was off - yahoo!  After my appointments I am heading to the gym before I pick up my Little from after school care, then I have my last running class that I am co-coaching at 7pm.  My great grads have worked up to 10:1 intervals!!!  

Anyway, it will be a challenge for me to not over-obsess and get anxious.

I hope you all are terrific this morning and I wish you all the best today!

Carolynn

[TenzinsMama]

carolynn, do you have any info that you have come across that talks about Clomid in women 40+?  My RE was open to that a couple of years ago when I was just turning 40, and she is now suggesting that I try Clomid when I'm ready to go that route (if nothing happens naturally in the next while).   However, some people have told me that it isn't the best option, that I should do IVF. I'm thinking that my RE is feeling pretty confident in that it would boost my chances enough over the natural way-- otherwise why would she suggest it to me?  Seems like pretty sound advice to me, to try the Clomid before suggesting I go to IVF.  She recommends not trying more than 3 cycles of the Clomid, though.  I'm trying to find out more info about the Clomid, because some of the people who cautioned about the Clomid even went so far as to say it would be contraindicated in women over 40... Where did they get this info, I'm wondering?  So confusing.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

I really don't know very much about Clomid - yet.  I had heard the same 3 month limit - I think due to risks of elevation of cancer risk.  It hasn't been proposed for me at this point and I am so new into this new chapter of my life, so I haven't looked into it yet - sorry.

I had a funny/embarrassing thing happen to me yesterday.  I was at Dollarama buying POS sticks and OPKs and I came up to the cash with 8 of each.  They are in cardboard boxes, so the stack was about a foot and a half high.  The clerk, a guy around 17, says, "I wonder what these are used for?"  Silence from me - I just had no response.  "There are so many!  Why so many?"  Silence from me.  "I have never seen anybody buy so many before!"  Still silence.  I pay and walk out, slightly mortified.  It was pretty funny though.  I suspect he wasn't being rude but maybe has Aspergers, as it was asked without malice, just wonderment and surprise 

[CarolynnMarilynn]

I don't know what is going on in this cycle:  today is spotting, cramping and sore breasts.  OPK neg, preg neg (no surprise).  I'm not sure if it is menstrual bleeding, or breakthrough bleeding, or what.  Fertility Friend says I am fertile - I don't think so.  I guess I can chalk it up to regulating stuff after Mirena.  It has only been 10 days post-removal.  Still waiting to hear on the RE appointment.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

What a day!  I called the OB office to see about my appointment and didn't get anyone.  So I called the fertility doc's office myself and found out that my appointment was booked for April 8.  Eek!!!  That is *very* far away.  Which is what I said to the receptionist.  She put me on hold and asked me to come in right there and then, that they had had a cancellation!  So I changed out of my jammies and jumped into the car.

I had no idea what to expect.  I had an ultrasound first.  Luckily I had to pee, and had just enough in my bladder for the first scan which was abdominal.  The second scan was transvaginal.  Then I met with the doc. She was very nice and we know some folks in common, so that is nice.  Also, I have privileges at the hospital where she used to, so that made small talk easy.  We went over my history, and she did a physical.  I opted for swabs and the complete bloodwork.  I also decided to do the AMH test, which was $100 out of pocket.  We reviewed my ultrasound which showed 8 follicles, 1 of which was 1.9 x 1.9 x 2.0 I believe, which she said looked ready to go tomorrow or the next day.  (Interestingly my LH stick only has a faint positive.  My ferning was less this morning, and my headaches are gone, so I think the timing of a day or 2 is correct.  Maybe a LH stick tonight will be more positive?  It is the darkest I have seen it, but still nowhere as dark as the control line.  She said that at 40 she was happy with my 8 follicles, that she was happy with anything over 6.  My lining was thick (I think 11mm) but not abnormal, but thicker than average for day 10.  Other than that, things looked normal.

I had a bunch more blood work done, but my head is spinning, so I can't remember it all, but there was TSH/T4, antibodies, and a bunch of other stuff.  She gave me a separate req for fasting bloodwork which was lipids, a GTT, progesterone, and androstenendione.  My head was spinning so i didn't get it all, which is surprising for me.  But the paperwork says Ca125, too.  

We made a plan, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  We will be monitoring one full cycle, without drugs or anything.  That will be in 2 cycles from now because of Christmas holidays and my cycles are short.  She also booked a sonohysterograph for Jan 23, and an endometrial sampling for Jan 14.  Also, DH will have semen analysis, a physical, and some bloodwork.  

So, I look at it all as information gathering.  I won't know the results of the AMH for a few weeks, and in the meantime, lots of dancing to catch that egg from my left ovary!!!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Yay! Nice big OPK positive today!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

FF confirmed my ov date and now I am 3 DPO.  Chart is looking ok.  Hoping my temps stay high!  My chart is a little jagged due to several nights of lost sleep, but I am doing what I can.  I am usually a terrible obsessive pee on a stick person, so I think I will let myself start at 7 days DPO.  LOL  

With my last pregnancy I tested faintly positive on a pee stick at 9 days DPO, and 2 days later the hcg was 47.  He is 5 now.

With my daughter my hcg was 66 day 22 of my cycle (likely 8-9 DPO)

With my son I ovulated day 14 and had a positive pee stick and an hcg of 40 on 9 DPO/day 23.  

We shall see what this cycle holds.  Hopefully there is a little cell ball growing as I type this. :-)

[katiecornflakes]

Fingers crossed for you! Are you planning to do the Goofy in your first tri? More power to you! I can't imagine. I'm a runner, too, but first tri gets me so tired out that I can't imagine that weekend. I am hopeful that if/when I get pg I can still do the half at the end of April I've been thinking about. I did my first post-kids half last month and it was great. I haven't done a full in years but I hope to get back to it at some point. Right now I work too much but I'll get there. Anyhow, the Goofy sounds great! 

Keep us posted! 

[Amberini]

Hi Ladies

So interested and excited to see this thread! Sort of a runner, did the London marathon! Have three DS 20, 18 and 17 and am currently trying for no 4 at the grand old age of 42!

Don't know wether to be optimistic or not, only on 2nd month of ttc, or wether to see doc (not all that helpful in the uk and also treat us over 40s as ancient!) am now 2 days late but too scared to take test as had very flat month hormonally and no symptoms of anything whatsoever!

It's been so long and there's so much information out there, it would be nice to get anything from anyone going through the same.

Love all these posts but Carolynn Marilynn so much useful information!

New to this so bear with me! Xx

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Good morning gals!

My AF is starting to come so this month wasn't it for us.  HOWEVER, my chart looks great:  it was triphasic and that THRILLS me as it is such a good sign that all the hormones are flowing right and doing their thing.  I got ferning when I was supposed to, a LH surge when I was supposed to, headaches with the estrogen surges at the right time, and progesterone breast tenderness.  

I am sincerely hoping for conception in March if I could be so bold as to plan.  I would love to continue running through the summer season, and then could be starting up again the next season.  DH and I have a running trip planned for next summer at the end of summer, and I can't be 36 weeks pregnant for that!  And if we had a girl baby, we'd have two Jan birthday girls and two April birthday boys in our family.  I love symmetry!

However, we will continue to try and not get too stressed.  The universe is perfect.  

[CarolynnMarilynn]

This cycle is looking good!  I am just 1 DPO today.  Have a great looking chart, did lots of baby dancing.  Now the wait begins.  I leave for Disney in 6 days.  So excited!  I'm not sure if I want to test before I go on the off chance I may get a positive, or wait until I get back.  I think I will wait.  I guess it would be too early anyhow to test at only 7 DPO.  Not sure if I will continue to do BBT testing while away.  The weekend will certainly be tough!!!

I have an appointment right when I get back for the endometrial biopsy.  I asked to reschedule it a day out further because I know that I won't want to go the day after the marathon, nor will I want to be out and about walking, or taking on more discomfort.  However, my period may come on the same day as the appointment, so I might be too late anyhow, and have to reschedule it.  I'd like to get my test results though.

Anyhow, just popping back in to say hello!