Sway for over 35 DW and DH

[porcelina]

Bump!

[porcelina]

Strawberrymom, wow, your sway is heartening to me, since we ended up with almost the same bd pattern as you had as well. I just got crosshairs from FF on cd12, which means we dtd on O-2 in the pm and on O+1 in the am, if that is right. I'm not sure if the swimmers from O-2 will have made it, though, since that's what we did last month, but we'll see. Mostly I think I should be gearing up for next month with a better quality OPK!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks for bump!!

1)Re prog supplementation - statistically it has not been shown to help. I can understand that you want to try it and that's fine, it doesn't hurt anything, but I hope you have had a workup to make sure there are no clotting issues and also to have your thyroid checked. If you have not had your thyroid checked since the second tri loss, have it rechecked because I think that's the most common cause of second tri losses.

2)Zinc is for improved egg health. The LE Diet is lower in zinc and so if someone has a history of losses without explanation then I recommend it.

Cranberry is not good when breastfeeding because it can come through the milk and make your baby bleed and bruise more easily. This happened to me with dramatic results after taking 2 days of cranberry for a bladder issue and also 1 or 2 low dose aspirin in the same week (NOT the same day I took the cran). I was tandem nursing at the time. My older son and I were covered in bruises and then my baby got a tiny cut on his thumb that bled for 2 hours straight (I had to seal it shut with Superglue) and then off and on for another 3 or 4 days after that. So I personally do not think it's safe.

Re cranberry and your losses and TTC, the issue is the clotting for YOU. You're taking a very powerful blood thinner, and your body starts cranking out large amounts of clotting factors as a result. Then, since cranberry can cause miscarriage, you have to stop it at ovulation. Your body doesn't realize this and continues making these clotting factors for days and days, in the meantime you have a fertilized egg trying to implant in your uterus, which is exactly when you DON'T want to have your blood be very "sticky". May make it more difficult for an egg to implant in your uterus and cause chemical pregnancy.

3)I've heard of the tamoxifen before but it's been only in women who could not get pg on the Clomid. So it's interesting and I very much appreciate the explanation. That does seem like extreme overkill to me because tamoxifen is not without risks as I'm sure you are already aware. I would hesitate to ever have you use it again, because as with Clomid, the longer you are on it, the higher risks of some forms of cancer, and if you ever in the future NEEDED the tam. for breast cancer then you'd need to reserve it for that. It just seems silly to me to take a drug that you may need in the future to satisfy some doctor's curiosity about a protocol (not saying that's what s/he was doing there, but at first blush that's kinda what it seems like.)

4)Hmm, well, I've only ever gone off of the "line must be darker or as dark" rule but I've def. seen some people who never got a pos OPK. As long as you get your attempt in before or at ovulation and not a day after, you are in with a chance anyway.

[porcelina]

1)Re prog supplementation - statistically it has not been shown to help. I can understand that you want to try it and that's fine, it doesn't hurt anything, but I hope you have had a workup to make sure there are no clotting issues and also to have your thyroid checked. If you have not had your thyroid checked since the second tri loss, have it rechecked because I think that's the most common cause of second tri losses.

First, to clarify, I have prescription progesterone supplements from my RE (crinone) and am instructed to take them after O. Yes, many doctors will say that some studies show progesterone helps, and others show that it doesn't matter. And, for that reason, many OBs will not give it to you if you request it. I had the full gamut of testing back in 2007 (back when I only had 2 mc and 1 ectopic under my belt) and the only thing they "found" was the borderline PCOS. Then, mc after 2 healthy pregnancies, went to another RE and they checked thyroid as well as a few other things. The main RE at my current practice has a series of articles on miscarriage, and lists low progesterone as one of the 4 things commonly behind miscarriage. My second tri loss was a trisomy, which was definitely a fluke and not caused by anything else.

2)Zinc is for improved egg health. The LE Diet is lower in zinc and so if someone has a history of losses without explanation then I recommend it.

This is interesting -- had never heard of this so will look into it. I had been looking for anything to boost egg health, and if it does that, I will definitely add it in.

Cranberry is not good when breastfeeding because it can come through the milk and make your baby bleed and bruise more easily. This happened to me with dramatic results after taking 2 days of cranberry for a bladder issue and also 1 or 2 low dose aspirin in the same week (NOT the same day I took the cran). I was tandem nursing at the time. My older son and I were covered in bruises and then my baby got a tiny cut on his thumb that bled for 2 hours straight (I had to seal it shut with Superglue) and then off and on for another 3 or 4 days after that. So I personally do not think it's safe.

Re cranberry and your losses and TTC, the issue is the clotting for YOU. You're taking a very powerful blood thinner, and your body starts cranking out large amounts of clotting factors as a result. Then, since cranberry can cause miscarriage, you have to stop it at ovulation. Your body doesn't realize this and continues making these clotting factors for days and days, in the meantime you have a fertilized egg trying to implant in your uterus, which is exactly when you DON'T want to have your blood be very "sticky". May make it more difficult for an egg to implant in your uterus and cause chemical pregnancy.

Interesting --will go ahead and dump cranberry then, esp if baby aspirin easier and safer as you suggest.

3)I've heard of the tamoxifen before but it's been only in women who could not get pg on the Clomid. So it's interesting and I very much appreciate the explanation. That does seem like extreme overkill to me because tamoxifen is not without risks as I'm sure you are already aware. I would hesitate to ever have you use it again, because as with Clomid, the longer you are on it, the higher risks of some forms of cancer, and if you ever in the future NEEDED the tam. for breast cancer then you'd need to reserve it for that. It just seems silly to me to take a drug that you may need in the future to satisfy some doctor's curiosity about a protocol (not saying that's what s/he was doing there, but at first blush that's kinda what it seems like.)

Sadly, I was given the medication and took it blindly, just as I blindly took cytotec after my second miscarriage which was a missed miscarriage. I greatly regretted that decision. I suppose I am more careful with medications now -- and information is much easier to come by, thankfully. I didn't realize those issues with tamoxifen -- glad to know now!

4)Hmm, well, I've only ever gone off of the "line must be darker or as dark" rule but I've def. seen some people who never got a pos OPK. As long as you get your attempt in before or at ovulation and not a day after, you are in with a chance anyway.

Well, I think it was more like an O+12 or more, since we ended up with BD as soon as cm got creamy (we also had an attempt at what turned out to be O-2 according to FF, so close). RE the crappy OPK -- check out these instructions (pic down page a bit): NEW CHOICE OPKs (UPDATE!!) - JustMommies Message Boards
I didn't get those instructions, but rather the old ones suggesting line has to be darker as all other OPKs I have ever heard of. So, saw pink at some point but decided it wasn't dark enough and then missed the surge. That's okay, means we have time to make some tweaks to our plan this way.


Thanks!!

[atomic sagebrush]

1)My intent is not to have you stop prog if you and your doc think it's right for you, it's just that some women are given it in lieu of testing for things like clotting issues/thyroid so wanted to be sure you have had that done.

Sounds to me like all your losses were unrelated and just terribly luck. I'm so sorry.

2)http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...echniques.html

3)Thanks for the update on the OPKs, that's very odd that they changed it!! I wonder if they redesigned it or just changed the instructions. Things like this are very helpful to me because it's impossible for me to keep up with everythign, I very much appreciate it.

[atomic sagebrush]

1)My intent is not to have you stop prog if you and your doc think it's right for you, it's just that some women are given it in lieu of testing for things like clotting issues/thyroid so wanted to be sure you have had that done.

Sounds to me like all your losses were unrelated and just terribly luck. I'm so sorry.

2)http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...echniques.html

3)Thanks for the update on the OPKs, that's very odd that they changed it!! I wonder if they redesigned it or just changed the instructions. Things like this are very helpful to me because it's impossible for me to keep up with everythign, I very much appreciate it.

[porcelina]

1)My intent is not to have you stop prog if you and your doc think it's right for you, it's just that some women are given it in lieu of testing for things like clotting issues/thyroid so wanted to be sure you have had that done.

Yep, I know you are just looking out for all of us!! Thanks for all you do!!

3)Thanks for the update on the OPKs, that's very odd that they changed it!! I wonder if they redesigned it or just changed the instructions. Things like this are very helpful to me because it's impossible for me to keep up with everythign, I very much appreciate it.

No kidding, I can't keep up either! I have no idea if I had a really old lot (threw it out in the trash), since that pic was from 2011, or if they just vary a lot, or what. But, I think I'll steer clear from that brand (New Choice from dollar store) in the future to avoid confusion.

[porcelina]

Well, turns out you were right, Atomic, the saline sono may have helped as I just got my BFP!! I will post sway details later on if/when a healthy pregnancy is confirmed (after so many losses, I am very cautious). Thanks for your help and here's to hoping it all worked!! (DH's first words after expressing his disbelief were, "let's have a barbecue!" --he has been sad to be missing his red meat!)

[atomic sagebrush]

Yay congrats!! You prob. know this already but it's best to kinda ease back into the sodium, if you were limiting it. Rather than going from eating no sodium to eating tons and tons of it overnight.