rephresh/ zyrtec (although I still had a fair bit of ecwm) or the supplements?? DH did FR 7 days before first attempt....should we reduce that in case its lowering the sperm count too much or reduce/ eliminate some of his supplements (LR, Cranberry and CalMag)?? I was convinced after trying a few months o+12 that this month was definitely going to work....unfortunately not!:(
When you try to do O+12 you greatly decrease the chance of getting pregnant... the reasons why are the egg only lives so long, and sperm have to go through a maturation process before they can even penetrate an egg.
I never used Zyrtec..Only RepHresh twice the week of ovulation (every 3 days)
and Sylk during BD attempts and DH did FR like daily surrounding my 2 BD attempts.
DH did do Cal, Mag, and Cranberry
I did Vitex, Cal, Mag, and B-50 complex
Best of luck.. my advice is to BD on your + OPK and a day or so after that. :)
If it were me, the first to go would be either the FR or the licorice root. If you are BDing on and thru fertile days and still not getting pregnant, I would first point to the lowered sperm count. It might be too much lowering and the swimmers are just not there to fertilize the egg. Especially if you still have EWCM even with the refresh/zyrtec.
And if this is your first month NOT doing o+12, I wouldn't get too down yet. I would feel more strongly that something needs to change if this was your 3-4th month doing BD through O. But one cycle can just be a fluke. Really, statistically you only have a 25% chAnce of getting pregnant each cycle with BDing through the most fertile time. So it's not terribly surprising that one month wasn't successful. The chances of o+12 resulting in a pregnancy are less than 10%. I believe it is something like 7% but my memory for the exact number is blanking at the moment. I just read it this morning too!
Thanks to you both for your response....I really appreciate it! It's great having a website like this to share the 'madness'! I suppose I am just starting to fret unnecessarily about not conceiving. But I find being on the diet and constantly watching what you are eating and the mid month panic about FR and when or when not to BD really quite stressful. If I didn't have all these things to worry about I would take a much more relaxed approach. Our two sons were conceived first time after BD every second day before and during o. This will be our last child so I would very much like to do everything we can to get a little daughter. I was initially planning all the time abstinence (after being on IG for months) only to discover on this website that it can lead to birth defects for couples over 35. I am 35 and DH is 36. Is there point to reducing FR or do you eliminate it altogether and just go for it as and when the mood takes? We ran out of LR last month so DH would have missed two weeks on it. Or maybe reduced abstinence of 5 days or so and then compressed release on the two days of positive OPK?? Gosh who knows!!
If it were me, again you might choose different...I would nix the licorice root all together (if we don't get preggo this cycle, I am nixing it for us too) and do the second option you listed (5 days of abstinence and compressed release on +OPK days). That sounds like a plan that would be the best of both worlds. Give those swimmers *more* of a chance, but not enough to sway blue :) Good luck! I hear ya on the obsessing about diet and when to DTD. It's tough...while all the while trying NOT to stress because it raises testosterone levels! It's nuts. I do know how you feel. This is only our second month and we also conceived both our boys immediately (first was a total oops, second was planned but a one-hit-wonder). Even a couple months can feel like forever when you are used to being fertile. But think of it as a good thing, girls are born to less fertile women!!
Hi Heidih, I hear you also. It is all so stressful knowing what to do. I just got AF after our first month of trying. Not to disppointed being first month and all but now to decide what to do this month. I actually find the diet easier than deciding when to BD and how often. We only did one attempt last month at 2 day cut off. I think with everything else we are doing no wonder I never got pregnant. I agree with hotdogz&boyz I would probably drop the LR first and then BD through O. As it is only going to be my second attempt this month I am still a bit nervous to BD on O. My DS I am pretty sure was an O baby so that makes me nervous. I too wanted to do abstinence but after reading here decided against it. I do wonder though, you can't tell me 7 days abstinence could really be that bad. I am sure many couples over 40 who are having healthy children might have only done it once in a week.
When is your next attempt? Wishing you a BFP and lots of pink.
Thanks Hotdogz&boyz....think I will get DH now to stop taking the LR...just read somewhere last night on a thread that Dh should take a break every month anyway....didn't know that! Anyway am still unsure whether it would be best to drop rephresh or zyrtec instead of changing FR to 5 day abstinence in addition. Dh is very good to go along with my plans but I can't expect him to carry on with it for the next 6 months or so...I couldn't do this whole thing for another 6 months either! I find it pretty all engulfing and dread the middle of the month and the end of every month.
Thanks LO123...yeah I too am very nervous about bd through O as our sons were definitely conceived either before or during o! But after three months of trying 0+12 I just want to get pregnant now. Have started on vitex again...am not exactly sure why I did but I do notice my cycle getting longer....last 3 months it has been 33 days where it is usually 30 or 31.....makes the waiting game even longer!!! Will take it until first + opk and then stop for this month. Only on day 3 of cycle so going by the last two months have another 14 days to wait for o...but then vitex might bring that forward somewhat!! How about you...when is your next attempt??
HUGS!!! I know its hard :(
Id say drop the refresh and zyrtec as you are already doing enough to reduce the sperm count through the FR and the LR
Best of luck! Hope it happens soon :fx:
I'd always drop frequency first (just have hubby release every 2-4 days and then go for 3-5 attempts in your fertile window of O_2 through O Day). Followed by dropping RepHresh and reduce Zyrtec to one 6 hours before first attempt (and feel free to drop BOTH FR and also RepHresh and keep Zyrtec, or drop all three - there's no right or wrong way to do this.)
PS - I agree with hotdogz because it may just not have been your month this month.