January 2012 Chit Chat Thread for TTC Boy

[babyblessings]

Wow, thanks ladies, so kind and helpful!!

Hobbermittens - Going to see if Amazon deliver to where I live, but OPKs here are quite expensive :-( will definitely buy a pack in the month I ttc as an extra resource, but for now, going to have to rely on my microscope (Cinss - so glad to know you have had some success with it! And glad I have a few months to work it all out!). Thanks so much for the cut off explanation and the link too - all gets so confusing so will read through that this evening!

On all this lovely advice, I have registered at FF - great site! Have been charting temps for only this week, but will keep going, checking cervix, and CM each day too - so will see what happens! I am in day 14 of my cycle and still no sign of O! Which is probably how come I have 2 dd! Guessing I have longer cycles than the ave, and did all my calcs on the ave last time! So cutt off completely incorrect!! (was much less clued up;-)

Can anyone fill me in re Estrogen in DH and DW? what are we meant to be doing - raising or lowering it? On IG, I read that we both need to raise T and Est. that the case on GD?

Just a point to note on Atomic's Vit D theory - both my DDs were conceived in mid winter - least amount of natural vit D! And wasnt taking any supps... hmmmm

[SamB]

Hello, i am new here!!

I'm Sam, mum of 2 girls from Scotland. They are Kaidy (6) and Tia (3), we are on our first cycle of TTC and hoping for a boy! I had the mirena removed last week so waiting for my cycle to return and decide what its doing. I have opk's at the ready that i have been taking daily hoping to have some idea when i may ovulate again!! Taking Ferlicare as heard it helps sway blue, trying to up the bananas and tomatos as snacks and hoping to dtd as close to Ov as possible.

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

[LolaInLove]

I'm thinking I might O early this month after my chemical last month. I'm only on cd 11 from when I started spotting with the chemical, but I am already starting to have fertile looking mucus like I get only 2 days before O. My temp is constant still, so maybe I should start my opks today? I usually start them on cd12 bc I normally O on cd16. It's almost like my body is trying to get back where it would have been if I didn't have the chemical? Anyone else have an experience similar to this?

I did....chemicals don't tend to mess you up that much because they are so early, it is almost like you just had a late period. You don't have as much progesterone in your body from the pregnancy progressing longer, so your body bounces back pretty quick. It has been said that fertility is higher after a chemical. I conceived my DD1 a couple of weeks after my 1st one way back in the day! Are you taking opks? I say go for it if you are mentally ready.

[LolaInLove]

I asked this question a little while ago, because i was drinking URAL i thought it was diluting my urine, turns out not to be the case and i did get a +opk a few days later than expected. That was happening a lot over the board, so maybe it is happening to you too. If you are taking supps like EPO or L-arg, they can mess with cycle length.

This is exactly what I was going to say. One month, I was at a music festival in the heat all day so I was drinking a ton of water, and worried that I was diluting my urine and that was causing my opks to not be + but they went + even on the clear pee a couple days later regardless....it was the supps I was taking that caused my O to be a few days later than usual. I would *try* to refrain from drinking a lot for the hour or two before you test, but don't dehydrate yourself or anything.

[LolaInLove]

So, after the OPK not showing even a faint line yesterday, I woke up this am with a temp drop of - .4 and I did an OPK and it definitely had a line...though it was still fainter than the control line, it looks like it'll be tomorrow late or the next morning early that I O. It's been since Friday since we BD, which will be 4 days tonight, when we were going to do our cutoff. I'm worried about doing our cutoff tonight now since it might end up only being a 24-36 hr. cutoff. So, I called hubby at work and asked him if he could release this am. I'm so stressed about the timing now! I can usually predict O SO well to plan timing, but with the chemical last month, it's throwing me off! AAAAHHHHH!

First of all, don't worry about timing. It has been proven to not matter. SERIOUSLY! I would not want my DH to go more than 4-5 days without releasing though, because sperm can deteriorate (they become old and crappy, which is not good). I think you did a good job by telling him to release asap....then you'll have about 48 hours in between, which is great. Really, don't worry about it. If you haven't read the "how we made boys" thread in the ttc boy forum, do so, because it will make you feel a lot better about timing not mattering. TONS of them were from dtd every day even. Good luck!

[LolaInLove]

Yes, I only want to DTD on O day because I can definitely tell a difference in my pH on O day versus before or after. And I usually O very quickly after a +opk. THat's why I'm worried about the line being there at all today is because it usually looks like this around 2 days before O.

Just prepare to ttc for a while...the once method can take a while since you are really going by chance with when you O. If you are younger and ok with that, I say give it a shot.

[LolaInLove]

It took me quite a few cycles to figure that out. And Fertility Friend helped a LOT! I still can't pinpoint it, but I have a rough idea now. I have been charting my cycles on FF for 9 months now.

Good advice! FF is very helpful. I still can't pinpoint mine to the exact minute either, but standard ttc method is to go for it about 12-18 hours after a +opk. Best to do 2 opks a day also, at about 1pm and then like 8pm. I usually do 4 actually, at 1pm, 4pm, and then 8pm. It is usually + as can be by 4pm, so I know that I will be ovulating in the next day, roughly. I get lots of ovary pains, but I can never tell when exactly the egg is being released, which is why I think dtd the night you get a + (if you get a morning +) or the next morning (if you get an evening +) is the best idea for your 1st shot. But also, I really REALLY think timing doesn't matter, so I think it is prudent to go again if you are really wanting to get pregnant and don't freak about the old timing thing.

[LolaInLove]

OK, I have a zillion comments since been working like crazy this week!

HELLO AND WELCOME to Sam and BabyBlessings! You might get dubbed "BB" for short. Sam, sounds like you are ready to go! I haven't heard much about how long it takes the typical cycle to get back into gear after Mirena, but hopefully it is soon! BB, couple of comments above, but glad you ladies are here! Like the others said, do not feel bad for a second asking anything here. We are all here to cheer each other on and help you give your best shot to swaying for a boy. Definitely recommend reading through all of the sticky posts on the ttc boy forum for all the "base" info about swaying. There are a lot of methods and beliefs out there, but I will say that the methods on this site are really based on science and experience....not so much on old IG methods or wives tales. But we are here for ya!

3P1B, I am sorry you are having to deal with Charlie being a stinker already! I think you are right on though....try the inversion, and then if nothing, just have a c-section and think about the silver linings: no worrying about him during a high-risk delivery attempt, no labor and rushes to hospital, and you will look lovely in the photos. I remember my doc telling me that franks breeches don't often turn- not to bum you out- and honestly, as a mom who has had both a c-section and vaginal birth, it's not THAT big of a deal in regards to the experience. Recovery, yes, a bit harder. But if you need a section, don't worry about it. If he is big and frank breech, seems like your 1st decision as a good mama to him is to just do the section and get super pumped about your baby boy's birth.

Kris, buggar about the glucose test! I hope all is well....is Sarah ttc now or are you just waiting for your little lady and putting that on hold?

MFC, I totally agree with everyone- do not worry about the size. I know it is easy to worry when you've had m/c, but all looks well and your doc is not alarmed at all, so that is a good sign that there is no need to worry. And what a cute little wiggler you got there! I love that you saw him/her moving around so much! That is a GREAT sign!

TTC5- girl, don't be feeling bummed yet! When you know you have to potentially ttc for a while, you just have to let go of signs and feelings and being obsessed with it in general....trust me. It's hard to let go of, but you will be much happier when you just live your life and ttc on the side. But you are not out at all....your hormones are clearly working, so who knows, maybe that's a good sign? And I think it is an EXCELLENT idea to investigate suing for damages to cover IVF should you want to do that. With a good lawyer, a hospital will settle on that super quick versus having to deal with negative press and having to pay you millions, kwim? Of course, millions are bad, either, but you will have a shorter, quicker go of it all if you are just asking for the IVF to be covered. That is my 2 cents, at least! (I have a bunch of lawyer friends, obviously.)

Cinss, sorry about AF. Gear up for this month! FX for you!!!

Iluv, good to hear from you! I like the Delphine name as well. Super cute. They are all cute, actually! Carrigan is just adorable, sounds like a strong girl name. How are your others doing? DD2? xxoo

As for moi, we dtd again last night, so ended up 4 times in 3 days, O-1, O and O+1 just to be sure we caught an egg. I am going to test on my bday, which will be 12dpo (the 21st). I had a m/c on my bday last year, so I figure the universe should be cool to me and let me have a bday bfp. (: Best of luck to everyone!!!!

[Yahmama]

Just prepare to ttc for a while...the once method can take a while since you are really going by chance with when you O. If you are younger and ok with that, I say give it a shot.

We got a BFP last month doing it just once on O day, but unfortunately it was a chemical. Hoping to catch it again this month, though!

[Yahmama]

I did....chemicals don't tend to mess you up that much because they are so early, it is almost like you just had a late period. You don't have as much progesterone in your body from the pregnancy progressing longer, so your body bounces back pretty quick. It has been said that fertility is higher after a chemical. I conceived my DD1 a couple of weeks after my 1st one way back in the day! Are you taking opks? I say go for it if you are mentally ready.

Yes, started taking OPK's yesterday and a line is showing at the darkness it normally would about 2 days before--thanks for all your encouragement about timing not being a very important factor. Hoping to DTD Thursday, which would be 48 hrs. since his release yesterday morning.