WTO Friday 2.26

pajamstagrams

**This is a thread that welcomes all regardless of where they are at in their TTC journeys. Please be mindful of topics that are discussed that could be hurtful to those going through tough times. Mention of children or pregnancies of others should have a TW (trigger warning) and be in a spoiler if possible, and only be mentioned if it is extremely pertinent to the conversation. Thanks for keeping this a safe place for us all to engage!**

Month/Cycle: 

CD: 

WAYDTGKU: 

R/R:

CS/Q:

fameonmain2

Month/Cycle: 9/8

CD: 18

WAYDTGKU: bbt, cbad

R/R: It's honestly been really hard to post this week. I'm frustrated professionally, I'm frustrated with ttc, and I'm a little frustrated personally. And then there's the pandemic. Since it's been kinda dead around here I'm sure others are in a similar place... anyways I'm hoping nicer weather and the weekend helps. Sorry to be a downer today.. just feeling blah.

CS/Q:

fifilala516

Month/Cycle: 6/6

CD: 3

WAYDTGKU: Prenatal vitamins, OPKs, cutting out gluten (which is a new development)

R/R: Rave - I got the first dose of the Covid vaccine yesterday. It was a seamless process and super organized. We spent more time waiting in the post-vaccine observation area than for the whole vaccination. Rant - my arm is very sore and bruised.

CS/Q: Question: I went off the birth control pill in September '20. I didn't get my period until November (which I expected) and since then, it's been very short and light compared to what I had been experiencing (which surprised me). I'm on AF now and it's heavier and more what I had been used to. I am wondering if this is my body finally regulating itself - has this happened to anyone else?

ronnie320

@fameonmain2 I’m sorry you’re feeling so down something about this week has been off for sure. I hope you can have a nice and relaxing weekend and start fresh with a new month on Monday!!

@fifilala516 I have experienced this as well. *TW* PG mentioned

My periods were always quite light with mild symptoms while I was on BC for almost 10 years, and then after my PG they came back with such a vengeance..way heavier and more symptoms than before. They’ve been that way ever since, so I think the hormonal changes (whether BC or PG) can definitely have this effect! 

Month/Cycle: 4/4

CD: 10

WAYDTGKU: OPKs, PNV, HIO

R/R: Definitely also been feeling a bit blue lately, busy with work and just overall feeling blah. My group has just hired on a new associate though, which will relieve some pressure off me so that will be good hopefully. My birthday is in March so it’s always a good month! Hang in there everyone

CS/Q: nothing to see

pajamstagrams

*lurking from TWW*

@fifilala516 I think there's a couple of us here who are GF for various reasons so definitely ask if you have questions! I've been GF for 15+ years so I know a bit 😜

As far as BC, no matter what type I'm on (hormonal or copper IUD), or whether you go on or off, I've found personally that it changes my cycle, either short term or long term (long lapse in cycles coming off pill, and super heavy periods from IUD even after it's been out for years) I also find that no amount of hormones (BC pill or just plain progesterone like I use now) will push my cycles out past 26-27 days, my cycle just flat out refuses to be anything more than that, and it's been that way for a long time. So yes, BC will affect your cycle in so many different ways, but it's always found a "new normal" for me. 

chgilmore

Month/Cycle: 2/2

CD: 1 

WAYDTGKU: BBT, prenatal (was already taking this), digital OPK, monitoring CM/CP

R/R: @fifilala516 congrats on the first dose - I get mine today! I'm simultaneously nervous and excited. question for you though (feel free to answer or not!), are you thinking about "benching yourself" because of possible high fever after the second dose in case you do get a BFP this month? I haven't decided myself and I don't know anyone IRL who is both TTGP and eligible for the vaccine.

TW: depression/suicide

I've had an emotional rollercoaster week. On top of SS nonsense, yesterday I had to send a teenage client to the hospital for a suicide attempt and they were my first one. I'm proud that I kept a level head and did the right things and was able to support them and their parent in the moment and we have follow ups next week, but immediately afterwards I sobbed. Reminded me of how lucky I am to have survived my own over a decade ago. Definitely looking forward to a weekend off.

CS/Q: none, definitely too early lol

fifilala516

chgilmore said:

Month/Cycle: 2/2

CD: 1 

WAYDTGKU: BBT, prenatal (was already taking this), digital OPK, monitoring CM/CP

R/R: @fifilala516 congrats on the first dose - I get mine today! I'm simultaneously nervous and excited. question for you though (feel free to answer or not!), are you thinking about "benching yourself" because of possible high fever after the second dose in case you do get a BFP this month? I haven't decided myself and I don't know anyone IRL who is both TTGP and eligible for the vaccine.

TW: depression/suicide

I've had an emotional rollercoaster week. On top of SS nonsense, yesterday I had to send a teenage client to the hospital for a suicide attempt and they were my first one. I'm proud that I kept a level head and did the right things and was able to support them and their parent in the moment and we have follow ups next week, but immediately afterwards I sobbed. Reminded me of how lucky I am to have survived my own over a decade ago. Definitely looking forward to a weekend off.

CS/Q: none, definitely too early lol

chgilmore said:

Month/Cycle: 2/2

CD: 1 

WAYDTGKU: BBT, prenatal (was already taking this), digital OPK, monitoring CM/CP

R/R: @fifilala516 congrats on the first dose - I get mine today! I'm simultaneously nervous and excited. question for you though (feel free to answer or not!), are you thinking about "benching yourself" because of possible high fever after the second dose in case you do get a BFP this month? I haven't decided myself and I don't know anyone IRL who is both TTGP and eligible for the vaccine.

I haven't thought about it too much, and am sort of going with the flow and whatever happens, happens, but I don't think I will bench myself. 

fantasyflyte

@fameonmain2 I'm sorry you're feeling blah. I'm a bit sad because we were going to have lunch with my parents and siblings this weekend, but now it's going to rain, so we can't because it would need to be outside. We're getting there, 3 of the 8 total of us have been vaccinated so far, but we're in that weird in-between where it's extra frustrating because we're so close but not quite there yet.

@fifilala516 yay vaccine! And anecdotally, for me, my period took months to get back to "normal" after I stopped the pill, and even now 3 years later, it's not as heavy as it was before I started the pill. It got gradually heavier over time, but has evened out by now. But it fluctuated in heaviness for a solid yearish.

@ronnie320 happy almost birthday! I hope the new associate helps with the work stuff.

@chgilmore sorry about the rough experience, but good on you for keeping it together. Hugs if you'd like them.

Month/Cycle: 4/4

CD: 28

WAYDTGKU: bbt, opks, cm, cinnamon supplements

R/R: Ugh, we had submitted a request for a thing to our bank a solid two weeks ago. They called my husband this morning and left a message, we hoped it was about the thing, but nope, just a generic "do you have any questions" call apparently? Got transferred to the thing's department where the auto phone tree seemed to imply that they went ahead and just did the thing without informing us at all. Except the thing affects a payment happening Monday, and I can't find anything on their website, so I have to assume I'm making the normal payment and I'm very irritated that I can't for the life of me get ahold of an actual person.

CS/Q: chart's looking much better after discarding the prednisone temps and I think I should O this weekend.

fameonmain2

@ronnie320 it's not just me, right? But at least your birthday is coming up! That is something to look forward to. Also hope work lightens up for you now that you have the new associate.

@fantasyflyte ugh, I'm sorry. We've had such nice weather this week so it's a bummer that your lunch is going to get rained out. But I'm glad it looks like you are going to O this weekend. I can't say it enough: I hate prednisone. I mean I love its anti-inflammatory properties, but I hate its side effects. Glad that your body has bounced back quickly though!

fantasyflyte

@fameonmain2 seriously. It worked wonders for the allergic reaction, but totally messed me up by a solid week. I got an almost-positive OPKs this afternoon, though, so we're HIO all weekend, and I'm just excited that we didn't miss the window.

acleverusername

@fameonmain2 I’m sorry you’re having such a draining week. Have you thought about counselling or anything that’s “you-focused”? I’ve been doing so much mental self care since Sep (started it just as we were getting into fertility treatments) and it’s finally paying off. This morning during my psych appointment, my doctor told me about “sighing breaths” which is where you take 2 breaths in and slowly exhale (exhale should be loooooong). I’m eager to add that to my anti-anxiety toolkit.

@fifilala516 anecdotally, my periods after I had my IUD removed in Dec 2019 were much lighter / not as painful as pre-IUD. Also, my NP told me it can take up to 6 months for your cycle to regulate post BC.

@ronnie320 hooray for bday month being here! I hope your work load gets more manageable with the new hire.

@chgilmore what an emotional day it must have been; it’s wonderful that you were there for this teen and stayed cool calm and collected during their time of crisis. I love hearing about folks giving back when motivated by their personal experiences.

@fantasyflyte glad to hear you’re done with prednisone. Hopefully O this weekend. As for dealing with banks, yeah... the new phone tree approach is making me want to stash all my money under the mattress so as to avoid having to try to get hold of anyone at the bank. 

Month/Cycle: 13/14

CD: 21

WAYDTGKU: trying naturally while getting more diagnostic testing done with our new fertility doc. So you know, the drill: HIO, bbt, opk, CM, progesterone and hcg microdosing after O. Lots of vitamins and supplements. 

R/R: been afk this week (reason posted to the IF thread). I think my body is finally ready to O. It’s so frustrating that when doing medicated cycles I usually O on day 10 or 11, and during this natural cycle, it’s been taking forever. Argh. Anyway, temp dipped super low (BBT nadir), I’ve been getting positive OPKs for the past 48hrs and last night had a big glob of EWCM. This is very similar to my May cycle (before all the treatments and even diagnostic testing) which I thought was my “best unmedicated cycle” so I’m hopeful. Of course that was the cycle when I had crazy SS, so not enthused about that. 

CS/Q: 

inthewoods23

@fameonmain2 don't feel bad if you need to take a break from here. A couple of us have done it from time to time. I started just lurking around on the weekends just to have a mini break. And well, I didn't join TB until I started going through the IF stuff and now that we're trying naturally again I'm, in a way back, to that first year of trying mindset when I didn't need support and guidance like I did first going through all the IF testing.

@fifilala516 probably beating a dead horse here lol but if I remember correctly, that's exactly how my periods were post-BC. The first one after the last pill is like any other "period" on BC being light. I typically just needed to change a pantiliner a few times a day for about 3 days back then. I'm not sure about the following cycles, but it did go back to how it was in my high school years of needing super absorbency tampons and pads changed a few times a day. So yeah, it will get heavier now that your periods aren't just withdrawal bleeds and your body gets back into producing more estrogen or whatever to build a thicker lining.

@ronnie320 boy would I give anything to have another body in our department! Feels so nice when you can share your load of work.

@fantasyflyte well that sounds really annoying!

@acleverusername I know everyone is different, but I also O'ed earlier on letrozole. It does suck when you go back to O'ing later. Doing the trigger shot for my IUIs on CD12 was so nice haha.

Month/Cycle: 4 AL

CD: 8

WAYDTGKU: better start HIO soon, GF/DF diet, PNV, supplements, temping, OPKs

R/R: I think work will finally be a little smoother or less hectic. Curious how the next few days will go mood-wise since I seem to have a hormonal pattern of some kind of emotional outburst right at the start of FW. I don't know what it is, but it's always something stupid and pointless! Hopefully going to keep myself in check.

CS/Q: my temps like to be up and down in the WTO. Not sure if it's due to me being hot while asleep or what.

acleverusername

@inthewoods23 yeah, I really did enjoy a quick follicular phase. It was like period ended, and 3-4 days later, it's trigger time. It's interesting that you've become aware of that particular hormonal pattern. Hopefully the outburst, if it happens, doesn't put you in a sour mood for FW.