Cd6 / clomid? / femara?

[Rf1927]

Hello!!

We are ttc baby #7

We lost baby 6 this past January at 8weeks pregnant

I turned 40 a couple months later in March

I’m nursing two babies - one is 2.5 the other 15 months

I’m cd6 and we have been ttc since feb with no success

I retained hcg for what seemed like forever- and didn’t get my post mc af until the end of feb.

Feb period I passed tissue
March I passed tissue as well

Scans were all clear

Should I count feb/March as attempt cycles? Or am I in less distress then I’m fearing?

Also - I was considering starting clomid this cycle but chickened out


Edit to add - my ob just called in clomid for me and said I can start it today cd6 and do my progesterone on cd22 instead of cd21 but being 40 is it too risky? Or being newly 40 can I try a cycle and see what happens?
Thanks for any advice

[Rf1927]

About my cycles

Normally my cycles are longer - 34ish range

They have been a little shorter following the loss BUT each cycle they have lengthened by a day and I’m around 33 days now and my peak opks have been closer to my old normal

In March I peaked way early for me at cd14 this month it was cd19

My periods are heavier- always have been and so I don’t really feel it has much to do with fertility for me.

The only thing different with the loss baby was we got a hot tub and my husband was in it constantly - I didn’t know it messes with sperm! He doesn’t use it anymore lol

[Rf1927]

What we do

First couple cycles we were like rabbits hellbent on best chances to conceive - I think it was overkill

All my babies were the result of minimal attempts.

So last cycle we switched to every other day - still nothing

I use opks
Temping made me nuts but I did have a temp shift that looked good in March

This cycle I’m going to cut back on the obsessive peeing lol and I’m checking for saliva ferning

[Rf1927]

My meds:

I’m taking labatelol since my 2nd baby gave me pre e
Low dose aspirin
400mg of ubiquinol
Smarty pants prenatal

Husband reluctantly takes a daily vit but he doesn’t always remember 🙄 (he’s 41)

[Rf1927]

Can anyone advise on clomid at newly age 40?

I know I read it can be tricky for the over 40 crowd

Do I try to get in a few cycles or pass?

Thanks

[atomic sagebrush]

If your HCG was up, you shouldn't count those as cycles.

Many women seem to be able to tolerate the Clomid ok. If your OB has tested your FSH in the past and it's on the lower side for your age it is probably fine to try it for a month or two. I would not do it the full 6 months without a break after 3, though.

[atomic sagebrush]

My meds:

I’m taking labatelol since my 2nd baby gave me pre e
Low dose aspirin
400mg of ubiquinol
Smarty pants prenatal

Husband reluctantly takes a daily vit but he doesn’t always remember �� (he’s 41)

Is there a reason why you're taking the aspirin?? Under the guidance of a doc for the pre-e? Did you continue it during pregnancy?

Do you feel the periods have gotten heavier since you started the aspirin??

Yes, having sex too much can indeed cut odds of conception. We need to have attempts at the RIGHT time, so you're peaking with the fertile window. SMEP is a good plan to follow as long as you have no gender preference: https://thespermmeetseggplan.com/

Weirdly, every other day thru the cycle is not that great a way to conceive. This is because while EOD can help make a lot of healthy sperm, you're often ending up with only one viable attempt in the fertile window. To give you an example, you can end up with attempts either O-7, O-5, O-3, O-1 (O-7 and O-5 would absolutely be too early, and we are seeing very poor chances of conception O-3 as well, this leaves you with one viable attempt on O-1) or O-6, O-4, O-2, and O Day. (O-4 and O-6 are too early, and many times O Day is too late, leaving you just with the O-2 attempt.) This is why I recommend different patterns like the SMEP I mention above. We need you to be in with more than one attempt in that fertile window, particularly O-1, O-2, and early on O Day.

The hot tub probably did not have anything to do with your loss. While some people believe that heat can damage DNA, the real problem with hot tubs is that heat kills sperm, so you wouldn't conceive after using a hot tub, but it doesn't mean that bad sperm are going to then go on to cause losses. Men make a LOT of sperm and even when studies show more DNA damage, in most cases not all of them are affected. When there is that kind of severe damage, people just don't conceive.

Saliva ferning has not worked real well for us. What I would do is do an OPK just ONCE a day (after lunch) and then if it's starting to get dark you can go to 2x a day (after lunch and before dinner). That way you're not obsessively peeing, LOL, but you can still tell what's going on.

[Rf1927]

Thanks so much atomic!!!

I’m doing e4d
So far: Sunday / Weds / Saturday

I’m getting fertile mucous and will test with opk today to see if I’m gearing up to a positive

I usually get my first pos opk around cd16-cd18 I’m currently cd14

My periods have always been heavy for a day or two and then it just lingers for days after that - usually lasting 10 days in total - with the last 4/5 days being very light almost like spotting but no break between period and spotting

My ob always said it was a sluggish flow that just took longer for my body to expel

My heavy day(s) is heavy tho - I use a period cup so I can track it
So it makes sense to me that with such a heavy flow it may linger for a few days lol

The aspirin my ob said to take during the last pregnancy and when I lost the baby she said to stay on it but I’ll be honest I’ve been skipping it worried that it was exacerbating my flow

We dtd this morning cd14 - should I start with every other day now and add an extra at pos opk?

Thank you ❤️❤️

[Rf1927]

I’m sure we can get another attempt in tonight or tomorrow morning if thats not too soon since our attempt this morning ..

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh, ok. If you want a better chance of conception I would add in one more attempt at positive OPK and then continue with the e4d pattern all along (so just add in another attempt whenever the pos OPK falls, and if it falls the same day you're due for attempt have two that day or one the next day, but continue with the e4d all along)

I'm not a huge fan of taking aspirin without a darn good reason. It absolutely has risks and side effects and it without a doubt makes periods heavier for many people. It's one thing if you need it for preeclampsia but just staying on it indefinitely does not seem like great advice for someone with a 10 day flow! (even spotting that long is very irritating!) While some people with blood clotting disorders benefit from aspirin, some evidence even seems to indicate that taking aspirin during pregnancy when not needed may cause MORE losses. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-19962/Could-taking-aspirin-trigger-miscarriage.html Proceed with caution and you may only want to take it 3x a week rather than daily.

If your husband can "go" every other day plus one more at positive OPK yes absolutely. If he is struggling with that go to the e4d in the 72 hour pattern (just as you're doing it so far) and then add in the additional attempt at pos OPK.

[Rf1927]

Wonderful!!! I have no gender preference just want to get pregnant ASAP

Opk this afternoon was negative as expected - I’ve got watery cm as I always do
Leading to pos opk so I expect it to be positive in the next couple days or so

I’ll skip ttc tonight as we got one in this am - might move up to every other day but I kinda like the idea of e4d and added attempts at pos opk

Thanks so much for your help ❤️

[atomic sagebrush]

happy to help!! Keep us posted!

[Rf1927]

A new update

I got my positive opk yesterday around 2pm
Had very partial ferning - not full ferning

Took another opk around 7 and also positive
Also noticed more ferning when I checked last night after no food/drink for 3 hours

So we dtd yesterday afternoon

Now I’m getting more ferning so I’m inclined do dtd again this morning, but unsure if I’m better off to wait until the afternoon or even the evening?

I know you said add an extra attempt at positive opk so I don’t want to miss any efforts lol

We are just tying to get pregnant ASAP no gender preference

This is early for me to get a positive opk

I do wonder if the inositol in my smarty pants have helped with that. The only change in routine

I’m cd17 today

Normally I don’t get pos opk until cd18/19 so it’s 2/3 days early!!!

[Rf1927]

Dtd this morning - 6/8 9am-ish

Took opks 11:30am and they are still blazing - maybe a little darker

Should we try to get another attempt in tonight? I’ve noticed some opaqueness in my cm tho it was slippery and plentiful this morning for our attempt

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