Hello, I'm new to the group. **loss warning**

mdogan29

Hi all, just joined the group today. I'm 37yo, my DH is 41.

We've been TTC for years, but only really trying/focusing on it since 2/2013, got BFP on 10/7/2013 but had MC a week later... by the time I found out, it was prob. already too late. I was just over 7 weeks along. Naturally it was devastating, but I've learned SO much since then, including some issues I had going on, some for years that 'regular' doctors never addressed, I had to see a diagnostic doctor. 11/2013 I found out that I have hypothyroidism and the MTHFR gene mutation (compound heterozygous) and that my vitamin D, folic acid and iron levels were dangerously low, I was anemic. And that I had been fighting off a virus, maybe two, since I was in my late teens/early 20s. No wonder I was always so tired! My primary care doctor never caught it!!! Well, since then I've been working hard to heal and focus on eating right and taking supplements to get back into good/normal ranges and I was just given the thumbs up to TTC again after 7 months! (which will be this week/next week!). Just wanted to say hi and if anyone is going through the same thing, please let me know!

******* Added Later *******
If anyone is interested in knowing more about the MTHFR gene mutation, read more here: https://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/mthfr/ -- I'm a Compound Heterozygous: means I have one copy of the 677 mutation from one parent and one copy of the 1298 mutation from my other parent. It's usually associated very closely with hypothyroidism and causes fertility issues, it's good to look into it. I had never heard of it before my appointment with my diagnostic doctor!

latershrader

Welcome and good luck! I don't have much advise on the health issues but I do wish you all the best in getting KU asap!

mdogan29

Thank you! I have to figure out all these abbreviations so I can tell what's going on with some of the others.

marijaa333

I'm really sorry for your loss, mdogan.

Wow, I can't believe you had all those conditions and they were never diagnosed.

How are they treating those conditions now>

Are you taking a prenatal vitamin?

I have a family history of hypo- and hyperthyroidism, and have an enlarged thyroid although my levels were all normal when I last checked (a while ago).

latershrader

KU = knocked up. At the top of the posts there is Welcome Post. It should have a link to the abbreviations!

mdogan29

Oh, also I decided to buy an ovulation kit, since I had never done that before, to try to get things on track and get the best info possible! I've been using the Ovia app on my phone to try to keep track of my cycles, my average is 31 days, but they're so irregular, I'm not sure if that's my #, so I thought the kit would help. Has anyone had luck with using them? (I've gotten 'low' for three days now, I'm hoping to see it change soon!). Thanks!

mdogan29

Thank you @marijaa333. I know, you should have seen my doctor going over the results with me, she was amazed I was even functioning -- working full-time, going to the gym, etc., let along how I got pregnant!! With the MTHFR, I'm 50% less likely to get preg. I had really high CRP (inflammation), but it's come way down with diet as well. I knew I was lactose intolerant, but I had to stop eating dairy altogether b/c my body was creating antibodies, so I'm actually allergic and we think that's helped bring down the CRP (they thought I had lupus! but everything was neg.).

Almost everything is now in the normal range now, I still had low iron saturation and small RBC, but we're working on that. I'm taking redacted iron for that specifically. I take Armour (30mg) + Levothyroxine (5mg) for the hypo and vit D, B complex, FolaPro (methyltetrahydrofolate), Mega 10 (omega 7 & 3 together) and Prenatal One Multivitamin.

Well, @soontobeshrader, I actually figured out that one (KU)! I was referring to your signature and signatures of some of the other people.

marijaa333

Wow. Sometimes we women are too strong for our own good. Glad to hear nearly everything is now under control.  

Thanks for sharing your regimen. I've just started Prenatal One. You reminded me I really need to re-check my thyroid levels, and a bunch of other stuff.

There is a list of acronyms in the Welcome post -- I keep referring to it. Perhaps one day it will all be clear, I'm definitely in the newbie camp for now.

TTYL

mdogan29

I guess so, we just keep on plugging along! Thank you!

I hate swallowing pills and those prenatals are the largest out of everything I take, sometimes I gag from the herbal-y flavor, but it's all worth it (I hope)!

I hope you get good #s back on your future blood work. Dr. told me we'll have to watch it closely during pregnancy too because the thyroid #s can change! And with the MTHFR, I'm considered 'high risk.'

I'll check it out - thanks! And congrats mrs. newlywed! =D>

Davie813

Welcome, and good luck!  I'm glad you're getting your medical issues taken care of!

Is the ovulation kit you're using the ClearBlue fertility monitor?  Or just the ClearBlue opk sticks?  I never tried the monitor, but I personally didn't find the sticks helpful. I did better with the plain old pink dye opks (those, I do find very useful).

TAT2MAMI

So sorry for all you've been through! Welcome! I wish you the best and hope your stay is short!

marijaa333

Aw, thank you! Seriously, those horse pills are intimidating. I take mine with carrot juice and it seems to kill the pill's yeasty flavor.

I wish there was a home kit for thyroid levels... I know they recommend temperature charting but I'm guessing that has got to go wonky in pregnancy.

hooligans4

Welcome and sorry about your loss.
Good to hear that you are getting your health back in order.
If your cycles are irregular you might want to start temping and sign up for a fertility friend account. It has great tutorials so you can understand what is going on with your body. The only way to confirm ovulation is with temping. Opk's will tell you when your body is getting ready to ovulate but your temp change will tell you if you actually did.
That's my two cents.
Welcome to the group.

thirtyninetoforty

Welcome!

URMySunshine77

Welcome to the group. It sounds like you are doing well. I'm happy for you and hope that you receive your BFP soon.

mommyre

Welcome. I am pretty new too. I hope that your stay here is short and you graduate ASAP. I am so sorry for your loss.

meredithcarole

So sorry for your loss. Glad you have been on the mend and are ready to get off the bench. Welcome to the board.

kris-dan

So sorry for your loss.  Welcome to the group...I am glad that you are getting everything under control and wish you the Best of Luck!

CaraH

Welcome to the group, and I am so sorry for your loss. You've sure had a lot going on. I'm glad you're feeling better. Good luck!

kelley72

Welcome!  I hope your improved health status continues and your journey ends beautifully!

mdogan29

Thank you so much everyone! I bought the Clearblue Advanced Digital Ovulation Test, 20pk. I've been using the Ovia fertility phone app to track all of my day's symptoms/feelings, tests, CF quality/consistency BP and temperature, etc. However, it seems like my temp varies widely as well. I'm typically warm-natured too, but my temps have been up and down every day, from 96 - 97.5, so I'm not sure how to best track it. But I have only been tracking that for 9 days (97.5, 96, 97.5, 96.8, 96.5, 97.4, 97, 97, 97.2), so I don't have a full history yet. In the Ovia app it shows a fertility chart too with the temps and everything.

The ovulation test said 'low' again today, but according to my Ovia app, my 'fertility score' is only a 2 out of 10, so still have two days to go before getting close -- it also estimates my O day as 6/23. This is all based on 5 months of tracking my cycles, but this is the first month I've actually filled out as much of the data as possible. Based on 5 month's data, it says my cycle is 31 days.

Thanks for your feedback/suggestions.

lgsdesigner

Welcome, and I am sorry for your loss. Wish you the very best!

mdogan29

Thank you again, comments from new people. I appreciate your wishes and feedback.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to create a new discussion to ask a question, but you guys can let me know.  Thanks!

I'm on round 2 of Letrozole (Femara). I always had periods, irregular as they might have been, I usually had them at least 1x/mo. And most of them were pretty bad, with cramps and other crappy side effects as well. But I never noticed anything ever happening in between my cycles (ovulation). I normally felt fine when I wasn't on my period, and especially the 5-6 years I was on BCPS (been off for 16mo now).

But the past 2 cycles, a few days before and during 'predicted' O, I've felt a lot of pressure, sometimes pain on both right and left sides and this round major bloating, I know that Letrozole has side effects, but could what I am feeling just be ovulation (since I've never noticed feeling anything before)? Or even super ovulation w/ the aid of the meds? Any one else experience this? I'd appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!

URMySunshine77

I'm sorry, but I am not familiar with Letrozole, so I am not able to share any advice. I'm not using any meds, I have some light cramps a few days before my ovulation. My uterus felt really heavy on CD11 this cycle, and I won't O until CD17 or 18.

Are you taking your temp at the same time every morning? If you are temping at different times or temping without having three hours of solid sleep beforehand, you may be getting spotty temps.

For some weird reason I wake up at 2:30 or 3 every morning, so I temp at that time. My temps are sometimes an hour or two off, but I can still see trends on my chart. Some women are different.

mdogan29

Hey - thanks for your feedback! Letrozole (Femara) is similar to Clomid, but supposedly less side effects, my OB prefers it to Clomid. I wasn't sure I needed it because of already getting pregnant once, but she was really concerned about the progesterone level b/c of the MC.

I get up some days at 3-4 to pee (and sometimes I am soaked in sweat), but I go right back to sleep and usually don't wake up until after 7, so I usually get a solid 3 hours before taking my temp and I always do it right when I wake up, just before getting out of bed for the day (always 7-7:30am or so on weekdays). I was using a reg. thermometer, but I just bought a basal thermometer yesterday, so going to use that now. This is my first cycle of tracking.

Thanks again for any feedback!

C_Girlie

Hi and welcome, sorry about the m/c. Good luck to you and all your health issues and in your TTC journey

MelissaMiso

Welcome and I hope your stay here is short.

MoreTacosPlease

Welcome and glad to hear that your doctors are getting everything under control. I hope you will have a fast journey now that you're on the road to healthy.

mdogan29

Thank you all! I hope so too and wish everyone else the same!

So I'm on CD 17 today (according to my Ovia app) and my 'fertility score' should be a 9 out of 10 today and I've been using Clearblue OPK for the past 7 days and it's still 'low' (empty circle)... should I be concerned? Or perhaps my cycle isn't exact or maybe the fertility drugs alter the levels?

Davie813

mdogan29 said:

Thank you all! I hope so too and wish everyone else the same!

So I'm on CD 17 today (according to my Ovia app) and my 'fertility score' should be a 9 out of 10 today and I've been using Clearblue OPK for the past 7 days and it's still 'low' (empty circle)... should I be concerned? Or perhaps my cycle isn't exact or maybe the fertility drugs alter the levels?

I never got a "high" reading using those.  It just jumped from low to peak, so yours might do the same.  As I mentioned elsewhere, I didn't really like them, for that reason.  The pink dye opks at least have (for me) a fade-in pattern that actually gives me more advance notice than the fancy ones.

mdogan29

@Davie813 - You were right! I got the solid smiley face today!! Yay! After everything that's happened over the past 16 months I was starting to wonder if this was ever going to work!  I will definitely look into the other tests if I don't get a +HPT this month. I guess my cycle is longer than estimated, today is CD19. Thank you!

Davie813

mdogan29 said:

@Davie813 - You were right! I got the solid smiley face today!! Yay! After everything that's happened over the past 16 months I was starting to wonder if this was ever going to work!  I will definitely look into the other tests if I don't get a +HPT this month. I guess my cycle is longer than estimated, today is CD19. Thank you!

Hooray!  Better get busy tonight!