Tell me the secret to your (bfp) success!

Mamafesto

Alright ladies, there have been a lot of bfps up in here lately. For those of us still in the throes of TTC, tell us what you did differently your bfp cycle, what supplements you were taking, how often/what days you bd, and any thing else you can think of that led to your bfp success!

Congrats again to all the bfpers out there. Our grad thread is about to get a lot more exciting!

jilligan14

I've thought about doing this many times before when I've seen others celebrate their BFPs! I'd be more than happy to share everything I did but be prepared, it's going to be a long list (I take a LOT of vitamins!). However, I really want to wait until after my 2nd beta on Monday to make sure things are progressing normally before I consider myself a "success". I'm already feeling a decrease in my boob soreness level and it has me worried. Yikes - this whole thing is such a rollercoaster and nerve-wrecking process!

Jenniferk08

I don't think there's any one thing that helped. I have been going to WW since April and I'm down 19 lbs. I've been tracking on fertity friend. Spent a ton on OPK. I've been taking prenatals for a few months now (I like the target gummy). I've tried to reduce my sodium, eat a little healthier. BD a couple days before I o'd, the day I o'd and the day after.
But I'm not out of the woods yet. I went through the same last year and things didn't work out.

carrieandr

I didn't do anything differently, and only got to have sex two days before ovulation (in the evening, so more like 1.5 days before). I had a couple of weird cycles after my CP and then I had a nice, strong ovulation on my chart followed by very steady temps. I think my success was a combination of my body having a good cycle, DH and I having really good (not phoning it in) sex, and the luck of of the sperm that managed to reach his destination. In any given month, there can be things that are off -- your cycle, the timing, your egg, the sperm, etc. I think I just had a cycle where all the variables were good at the same time. Well...the verdict is still out on the sperm and the egg being genetically sound, but fingers crossed... Hopefully others like Jilligan can give you more helpful advice. Mine was really just luck, but I hope you get lucky, too.

bgf1

I am still in the breath holding phase of having had a recent bfp... But in my successful cycle I added opks, cut back to one cup of coffee a day, and found some emotional peace finally with the fact that after 1.5 years of trying it may not be going to happen. I think that release of the pressure and stress and expectations was probably most important for me

PattersRN

@CarrieandRoy it was your MIL

Mamafesto

@jillian14, @jenniferk08 and @bgfi - I totally understand being cautious in the early stages, but all my fx that these bfp's are the real deal!

@CarrieandRoy,it's interesting that you got your bfp on the cycle where you only had sex a couple days before O. The exact same thing happened to me with my last bfp after I had many cycles of having perfect timing. Go figure... I agree with @PattersRN that MIL was probably the secret weapon! Send her up north, would ya?

Sporty1216

Ok, I can't believe I'm going to quote the cover of People, but I was just at the grocery store and the cover was about Sandra bullock adopting her daughter. The quote said "the exact right children came to me at the exact right time." This is how I feel too. Every month I am disappointed with a BFN, I remind myself that the exact right child is out there at the exact right time. And when I get my BFP, I'll know that's who is in there.

Whatever the path looks like by which we build our families, I believe the exact right children will come at the exact right time--even if that is hard to remember sometimes.

Also, @CarrieandRoy , I do hope you tell your MIL she had a lot of traveling to do! She might be able to help that exact right time hurry on up for the rest of us!

jilligan14

Now that I've passed the beta tests, I'm feeling a *little* better about things, although I'm still so worried that things could change at any moment.

I'll go ahead and share all of the things I've done, even though I'm not sure which of them contributed towards my BFP. You never know what thing might help someone else so here it all is (let me know if you want brand names, quantities, or any more details).

- Prenatal vitamins (Trader Joe's brand)
- Myo-Inositol (power form) - this helps with PCOS and sugar levels
- D-Chiro-Inositol (pill form) - PCOS and sugar levels
- Cayenne (in a capsule) - helps with sugar levels and keeps me from getting sick!
- Vitamin D
- Evening Primrose Oil
- Fish Oil
- Probiotic
- Flax oil (good omegas) - I usually put 1-2 TB in my smoothies
- CoQ10 - helps improve egg quality (I only take up until O-day)
- Some nasty tasty herbal concoction from my acupuncturist

Other things I've taken in the past include vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc (we ran out of all of these this cycle). I've read that all of these can help with ovulation and conception.

I excluded all caffeine and chocolate this past cycle, apart from 1 or 2 cups of green tea and a small chocolate treat on Thanksgiving Day.

The other major changes I made was increasing my protein intake and decreasing my sugar/carbs intake. My acupuncturist put me on a strict 6-week no-carb diet, starting at the end of July. I was mostly vegetarian at that stage and she really pushed for me to start eating some organic meats. It was a very tough decision but I decided to give it a try. I really struggled with no carbs (which also included no sweets, no fruits, etc.) but made it through the 6 weeks. Then I kept going with the high protein part and very minimal carbs. There was a study that talked about how women who ate 25% protein had higher egg quality so that was one of my motivating factors.

I also recently went on cabergoline to bring down my high prolactin levels (a side effect of having PCOS). And then did the medicated cycle of letrozole and the ovidrel trigger shot.

I know the medication helped me have a "strong" ovulation but I tend to think that the diet changes, acupuncture herbs and all the vitamins helped make my inside environment strong, cozy and warm. But who will ever know? I'm also not out of the clear yet but at least I know it's still possible for me to get pregnant. Hopefully my little bean will keep on growing in there!

Anyway, I told you it was a long list! I hope some of this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to everyone!

Mamafesto

Okay, since I originally posted this and just got my bfp, I feel like I need to respond. This is the kind of thing I obsessed over during my ttc journey, so hopefully some of you will find this helpful.

The only things I did differently this cycle were that I added vit b6 and raspberry leaf tea (CD1 - O). We also bd'd EOD during the FW rather than every day, and (TMI) I actually orgasmed every time, which I'm sure didn't hurt!

Below is the list of supplements/vitamins that I've been taking regularly for months:
-PNV
-vitex
-vitamin d
-fish oil
-probiotic
-chinese herbs (astragulus and ginseng formula)
-OTC natural progesterone cream (after O)

I've also done the following things to improve fertility over the months:
-avoided dairy, sugar and cold/raw foods
-increased protein intake
-maya abdominal massage (1x per month prior to O)
-acupuncture weekly
-hot foot baths nightly
-heat on uterus (pre-O)
-instead soft cups immediately after bd (left in over night)
-chilled the f!#$! out (easier said than done, but i think it helped)
-cut back to 1 cup of coffee and 3 or 4 drinks/week

So hard to know which, if any, of these things made the difference, but I really do think that improving your mental and physical health goes a long way in this journey.

Good luck to everyone still in the game! Fx!

lickastick

We are all so different but here is what worked for me:
Our timing this month was -2,-1,0. In past cycles I always started BD too early and by the time O day came I was burnt out. This cycle I specifically waited and extra day or 2 before starting BD.

Supplements I have been taking forever:
iodine
Vit D
Selenium
**the 3 above to help regulate my thyroid function
folate
probiotic
smarty pants prenatal gummy with fish oil (love this brand!)
Herbs from my endocrine specialist naturopath to decrease cortisol, decrease prolactin, regulate thyroid and increase progesterone. 
I've been eating bone broth more regularly the past 2 months

2 months ago I read the book "it starts with the egg" and after that I started
ubiquinol (CoQ10) to help with egg quality, I highly recommend this for anyone over 35 TTC
my naturopath also started me on vitex 2 months ago only during the TWW
**both of these take a little while to build up in the system 

2 months ago and I started my DH on
Selenium
ubiquinol
vit c
*all to help with sperm quality
and he takes smarty pants adult gummy vit with fish oil as well
If your DH isn't on supplements I would suggest considering it!

After reading that book I also changed out every single piece of plastic tupperware/cooking utensil we had for glass and wood, I also changed our soda stream to glass and only used stainless steel for my water bottles I carry around (clean kanteen.)

I've been gluten free on and off for the past 3 years, I have never been diagnosis, but celiacs runs in my family. For the past 2 months I have been really good about being gluten free. (I was on quite a gluten binge in september and october)

DH was forbidden to go in hot tubs/steam/sauna and no seat heater in the car which he has been doing since august. (that is a tough one for us, we love hot tubs and steam rooms!)

I had Mayan Abdominal massage 2x before O for the past 3 months, and I did castor oil packs from end of menses to O, ED or EOD religiously for the past 2 months, and I did my self care massage as taught by therapist. DH also did castor oil on his testicles 2x a month before the FW time.
I get acupuncture about every 3 weeks and I do self acupuncture outside of that. 

For the past 2 months I also used mucinex at O time. Starting 4 days before O I took a 12 hour release tab in the am and pm. 

My DH and I have had a regular daily meditation practice for the the past 2.5 years, but for the past 5 months we have been doing the exact same pranayama practice, sometimes we do it at the same time but a lot of the times we do it at different times. The one we are currently using is specific pranayama or breath technique that is recommended during pregnancy. It is called bhramari pranyama and I'll include a link if anyone wants to try it. It is a great meditation to reduce stress! We do 22mins of bhramari and 11mins of stillness meditation. But you can start with just 3 mins and it is very effective. (*because we do such a long time, we use ear plugs instead of our fingers to block the ears)
https://www.artofliving.org/us-en/yoga/breathing-techniques/bhramari-pranayama

A couple weeks ago I was with a friend at a coffee shop and I broke down and ugly cried right in the middle of the place and finally talked to someone about my struggles. My friend said something very helpful to me, which was, god doesn't want you to put your life on hold (I was relating how even my yoga practice was on hold because I was scared to do inversions.) After that I decided this month that my mantra will be "I am deeply committed to moving forward with grace and ease" and I decided that baby- boy/girl or no baby, I would have to move forward either way. And after that I finally started doing inversions again after 4 months. I decided long ago that if it didn't happen for me (getting pregnant) that I would not go down the path of IVF/Adoption. I am so amazed by the strength of the women doing IUI/IVF and more. I just know in my heart that it isn't my path, and if that means a life without my own babies then that is my path, and I will have to accept that. I started to really think about and feel that either way baby or no baby, I can move forward and it will be ok. 

I hope this helps some! 

PoeMasque

These posts make me feel so lazy! No wonder some stress levels are high, y'all are putting in a lot of effort and time (obviously you will all make amazing parents!) I honestly had no idea what regiments people were on in order to increase their chances of conceiving. I hope you are all giving yourselves the credit you deserve for this, it's not easy mentally or logistically (something I didn't realize before we started trying). My hat is off to all of you for what you are doing to create a better environment for a little one to grow in. It's been very inspiring to read these posts - and motivating!

agriffin92013

@createillumination did you take the coq10 during your entire cycle and how much did you take?

lickastick

@agriffin92013 I did take it the entire cycle after i cleared that with my naturopath. From what I understand most RE also want you to take it the whole cycle. I took 100mg per day, my DH took 200mg per day. The book says that if you are doing fertility treatments you want to take 200-300mg a day. I stopped it a couple of days after BFP.

After a little research on cost and ingredients i decided to take nature wise ubiquinol its about $40 for a bottle of 120 on amazon (don't buy it if it's priced a lot above that, the price will go down again.)

redheadbride15

I didn't do much beyond temping/charting and just trying to stay patient. We were NTNP for over a year before we started actively trying. I never took birth control but we stopped using condoms mostly out of laziness. I never got pregnant in that time period despite the fact that we were having sex at least 2-3 times per week. I started charting after we got married in May and learned that I ovulate early in my cycle (usually CD11-12), which I think was tremendously helpful for us. It took 5 cycles of well-timed sex to get my BFP. Honestly the month I got KU was our worst timing of those 5 cycles (-3, -2) and I thought I was out. At the end of the day I feel like it's just a numbers game. My advice is to keep at it, be kind to yourself, and reach out for support here and elsewhere. There's a lot of advice and opinions out there about lifestyle changes, supplements, etc but do what feels right for you and your partner. I took a prenatal vitamin but didn't do anything else.

Haha @createillumination I never thought about the seat heater in the car! My DH LOVES his! Maybe this explains why we got KU in the summer rather than the winter

lickastick

@redheadbride15 Ha so true right! For us it's the hot tubs- we are in them all summer long and maybe thats why I only get KU in the winter!
@poemasque I totally agree with PP, you certainly don't have to do all that stuff to get KU, women all over the world get KU without any extra effort. I did all of that because it is the field I work in (acupuncture/herbs/yoga) and I like to experiment. I also think I want to go into fertility as a specialty in acupuncture and yoga so I did a ton of research as part of my professional development. Any small changes or effort make a big difference, it doesn't have to big a big effort to get big results, so much of it is just the luck of the sperm!

emsmama15

IVF is the secret to my success!  But seriously, I took many of the same supplements as others: Vit C, Vit D, myo-insolitol, CoQ10, high dose fish oil.  I did acupuncture regularly, Reiki every couple weeks, and Mayan abdominal massage.  I did castor oil packs for the week prior to my egg retrieval.  

I'd highly suggest reading "It Starts with the Egg." I found it so helpful and just overall intriguing.  I also got rid of plastic containers after reading that book!

I lost 45+ pounds for IVF by decreasing carbs and sugar and increasing protein.  The month or so before my IVF, I did gluten free and also did a green smoothie cleanse, which made me feel AMAZING after all the fertility meds I took for over a year.  

I agree that we do not HAVE to do all this stuff, but I figured at my age, every little bit helped.  AND, it all had the added bonus of making me feel great, so why not??