Newbie Intros w/o 9/27

acleverusername

Welcome, new members! Please read The Ultimate TTGP Guide pinned at the top of the board (https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12685680/the-ultimate-ttgp-guide-newbies-read-this-first). It's full of information about TTGP and about our community here on The Bump. 

Please introduce yourself and share as much (or as little) as you would like. Once you're ready, feel free to jump into any of our daily/weekly threads to participate in the community!

Ages (you and SO): 

How many months have you been TTC?: 

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?: 

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.)

acleverusername

Gonna re-intro myself since I made a big fuss of departing, only to experience this... 



Ages (you and SO): Me - 38 in 1 week!; DH - 36 and loves to remind me how much older I am. But he's got a head full of grey hair and I've got none. Hah! 

How many months have you been TTC?: 21 months, 17 if excluding IF treatments, and now 1AL

***TW Loss*** we got pregnant naturally on our "break" month between IVF retrievals but unfortunately that lasted only for 5 days ***end TW***

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?: gearing up for egg retrieval # 2, while also fertilizing  previously retrieved eggs (2 years ago; for fertility preservation). 

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.) I'm a technical program manager working on the future of transportation. I love my job! MH is a software engineer. We currently live in SF, although we're both from Canada 🇨🇦.

We have a corgi whom we rehomed earlier this year (she's 19 months old) and for hobbies, we like to take her to the dog park, watch reruns on one of the streaming services (currently rewatching StarTrek TNG; hence the gif in the intro thread), meet up with friends in a safe way, enjoy the California weather and beauty by going for hikes and drives, etc. I've also been learning to play the piano since last December, and I'm surprised at the progress I've made. It's been a bucket list item for me. Oh, and meditating. I try to do that daily. 

We're currently/still trying for kiddo #1. 

walkawaynee

Hello! I am excited to join this group and connect with others!!

@acleverusername nice to meet you! I saw your note about previously frozen eggs, I wish I had the forethought to do that! 

Ages: I am 40, he is 28 by the time we met I thought I was past the kids window but we decided to give it a try while it's still maybe possible. 

How many months have you been TTC?: 10 months of actual trying + a few months of not preventing. 

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?:  tracking cycle, opks etc. Just decided to go through with IVF, potentially doing retrieval in December 

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.)

Pretty boring person lol, I like to read and hang out with my dog. We camp, watch a lot of baseball and football. I work a very boring job at a bank. 

acleverusername

@walkawaynee nice to meet you! Feel free to join us in the weekly IF thread. It's the most supportive corner of TB! There's a wealth of experience there.  

As for my egg freezing, it was honestly a total fluke that I went through with it. It took me a full year between initial consult and the actual procedure, and _the only_ reason I went through with it, is because MH (still a boyfriend then) had agreed to do an at home semen test and it came back NOT GOOD, which kind of helped me make up my mind. Had it come back normal, I probably wouldn't have gone through with it. And now, I've become a HUGE egg freezing advocate. All that to say, don't beat yourself up for not thinking of that. Society does such a shit job of making that option AN OPTION, it's a suprise that anyone does it at all. 

walkawaynee

@acleverusername Honestly It never occurred to me that freezing was an option! I had been single for long when we met, my fertility was no where close to the forefront of my brain

annanbby

Recently posted in the TWW thread, so here's my intro!

Ages (you and SO): 29 & 33

How many months have you been TTC?: This is the first since our loss.

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?: Just cycle tracking at the moment. Might start temping soon to get ahead of it if needed. I started temping once in the past and found that worked well for me.

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.) MH and I have been married almost two years now. We have a daughter (see spoiler). We both have office jobs. Downtime for me looks like knitting, reading, blogging (is that even still a thing, who actually knows, I still do it), and we like to watch tv shows or the occasional movie together at night.

*TW for loss*

Our first born came into the world in February, but due to severe medical issues she passed away in the NICU at the beginning of June. She never got to come home with us. We stayed at RMH for pretty much her whole life. During that time, we did almost nothing outside of eat, sleep, and be in the hospital with her. She was the greatest gift.
Before getting pregnant with her I had a miscarriage. Both pregnancies were somewhat unplanned (NTNP) so this is our first time actively trying. With our history, we're quite nervous, and in our grief, we're dealing with some complicated emotions. But we were both ready to start trying so here we are.

acleverusername

@annanbby Oh my goodness. I am so so so very sorry for your loss. Have you been working with a grief counselor through all of this? We have a very strong TTCAL weekly thread so I encourage you to seek support there. Are you working with an MFM or an RE given your history? Anyways, I am probably not the best source of information about all this stuff; other ladies who've been here longer or our resident lurkers can comment with tips for you. 🙏🏻

not_another_knottie

Ages (you and SO):  Me 34 my SO 30

How many months have you been TTC?: We have just started. I have been benched since January. 

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?: Tracking my cycle, Not preventing anymore, looking into getting OPKs and going to start temping. 

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.) I am a current adult student. He works in transportation. We are recently engaged and just closed on our first home. 

TW***** mentions previous loss

suffered from an ectopic pregnancy that ended up rupturing and I needed emergency surgery in Jan, hence why I  was benched. I have been pregnant now 3 times and only have 1 child. First pregnancy was a MMC 2nd gave me my daughter and 3rd was the ectopic.  She is almost 3 and is as sassy as they come.  As I get to know everybody more I will share more of my very unusual story. *****End TW 

I’m looking forward to getting to know everybody. 

Edit to add another spoiler for mentioning loss and LC. FFC I just learned last night how to do them. 

not_another_knottie

@acleverusername I have been lurking and saw your recent developments unfold in real time. I’m so sorry that you had to experience that roller coaster. 

@walkawaynee I was in a similar boat. Thought I was over wanting more before I met my current SO. 

@annanbby My heart breaks for your entire family. Thank you for sharing such a sensitive matter with all of us. Im so incredibly sorry you and your family went through this. 

acleverusername

@not_another_knottie I am sorry for your losses. 😢Did you lose a tube in the process? Also, by your name, I can see that you've been lurking here for a while. I hope that you'll find the support that you need now that you've come out from behind the proverbial curtain. 

not_another_knottie

@acleverusername Thank you for the support, it's hard to explain what it is like to live with such complicated emotions to those who have no idea. What a whirl wind of things you have been through in such a short amount of time. 

I am a survivor of ovarian cancer and by the grace of God it was on that side. Most of the tube was gone from my previous surgery but there was still what they called a "nub" left. My ectopic was a rare kind (since I am super special) and was a coronal, it was partially in my uterus and partially in the nub of the tube I had left. More of the story in the TW. 

TW mentions US and surgery/loss****** I went in for my dating scan and the tech couldn't find the baby through my abdomen, they switched to transvaginal and I kept seeing what I knew was the baby, but the tech was very quite and never told me until I asked. They then showed me the pregnancy, let me see the heartbeat and left telling me that the dr had to come see me. He came in and by his face I knew something was wrong. He told me all about it being coronal and that I had to terminate. He told me I would get a methotrexate shot, I wanted a d&c. The family planning doctor that I saw the same day granted me my wish of my d&c, I went from the OBGYN office to the ED so that I could get admitted. Long story short nobody knew was I was talking about and I had to call back to my OBGYN to get them to update the ED. I finally get admitted and they have to bring me up to the maternity ward... So that was rough. After waking up they told me they think they got enough of the pregnancy to interrupt it but wanted to follow my blood work. They were wrong. My levels went down then back up about a week later, so they called and I was supposed to go in the next day for the shot. I never made it to that appointment because after a BM it ruptured and I went to the ED by ambulance. I got rushed from test to test so I knew something was wrong, they operated on me, woke me up in the OR bc they had to wait for my COVID test to come back (which was incredibly traumatic) then I went to the floor. They gave me a methotrexate shot and I was discharged the next day. Two days after my surgery the spring semester started. I was told NOT to get pregnant for at least 9 months, brining me to today. Also if/when I get pregnant I will have to have a C-section which is of concern for me since I have had major abdominal surgery in the past. ***** End TW

Edit to add spoiler box 

walkawaynee

@not_another_knottie I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for trusting us to share your story. I look forward to continuing interactions on this board and seeing where your story takes you! 

optimistgardener

@annanbby my heart goes out to you. welcome to our community, though. I hope you're able to find support here.

The same goes to @not_another_knottie. Your story is vivid and frightening. I am glad that you're able to find your way back to this point, and I hope you are able to get pregnant with no problems this time around. My reasons for missing an ovary are different from yours, but from one singleton-ovary-haver to another, greetings.

not_another_knottie

@optimistgardener it was, and that’s just the most recent part of my issues with fertility. 

LJMoon6

@acleverusername I’m so sorry for your loss. I know how much of an emotional rollercoaster that can be. Big hugs! I also really want to learn how to play the piano! That has been on my bucket list for forever. I would love to have a house big enough one day to have a piano in the living room. Lol #goals

@annanbby I am so sorry for your loss.

@not_another_knottie Oh man. What a crazy journey you’ve been on. I’m so sorry for your loss.

 

Hi! I’m sheepishly introducing myself again. I tried to join in over the spring and summer but ended up getting too busy and ghosting for long periods of time. So I thought it was better that I just stay off the boards and lurk here and there. I’m back to work full time now and thought it would be a good point to join back in.

Ages (you and SO): 32, 31

 

How many months have you been TTC?:  11 months. Just started cycle 12.

 

What are you doing to get knocked up (WAYDTGKU)?: Working with an RE. Diagnosed unexplained IF. I thought we were done with treatment for the year because of insurance, but I re-ran the numbers and we should be good to do another 1 or 2 cycles. So, we will hopefully be doing IUI #3 this cycle.

 

Tell us about yourself! (Kids, pets, job, hobbies, etc.) I was pretty active on this board a few years ago while TTC #1. After 2 years and 4 treatment cycles we finally got KU with our son. He will be 2 next week. I was hoping him and his future sibling would be 2 years apart in school… so we have only 2 more months to make that happen. I know that it sounds silly after everything we’ve been through but I’m grieving that family picture in my head.

I’ve also been having a really hard time with trusting my clinic. I know I should really switch but, again, I don’t want to lose momentum and delay any more cycles. Anyways. Enough about that. (I’ll maybe share more in the IF thread)

We live in MN and I work at a university doing research in nanotechnology (in industry my job title would be more of a process engineer). MH works at a large company and is a lead operator. We use to own a camper and go camping every other weekend. But we recently sold the camper (since the market is so hot) and are looking to buy a boat instead. We love being outside (although I hate winter… and it’s coming fast). Our life basically revolves around our son lol. I’m thinking about buying a zoo membership so that I can selfishly bring him to the tropical area to hang out during the winter lol.

bows22

Is this thread totally spoiler-free for TFAS talk including for replies? Going to put in a spoiler just in case. 

@LJMoon6

I’m happy you are jumping in again but sorry that you haven’t been successful yet this time around ❤️  I also wanted kids 2 years apart in school. I remember noticing when I was growing up that siblings 2 grades apart seems to still be friends so it seemed perfect! But now DD is almost 4. And honestly, it’s been amazing to solely focus and enjoy her for this long. So I guess what I’m saying is, it sucks but every age gap has pros and cons! You still have time though so I hope it works out for you!

LJMoon6

@bows22

You are completely right. There will be pros and cons to any age gap. My emotions are bigger than the situation warrants… probably compounded by the lack of success (definitely thought we had figured out our IF, or at least what we thought we needed to do to be successful. Never thought we would still be trying right now). I’m definitely closest to my brother that’s 2 years older and loved having him in school with me. But a certain age gap really doesn’t guarantee any sort of sibling relationship. I know. But still that family picture in my head needs to change.

bows22

@LJMoon6 your feelings are 100% valid. It’s extremely unfair that so many people get to just decide what their family is going to look like. It’s mind boggling to me.  

not_another_knottie

@bows22 I was unsure. Thank you for bringing that up. I edited mine too. 

annanbby

@acleverusername thank you. Yes we’ve actually been in therapy since the NICU. The hospital provided free counseling with an amazing therapist while we were there, and we’ve continued counseling since then. I'm definitely going to join in on the TTCAL thread. So far, no, we're not working with anyone concerning our losses. I've seen my OB since returning from the hospital, so he knows our history. I've also updated my high risk doctor I was seeing during my pregnancy who offered to continue seeing me in the future, which I really appreciated. So that's currently where we're at.

@not_another_knottie thank you so much. We miss her constantly. I'm so sorry you went through what you did as well, that sounds so scary.

@optimistgardener @LJMoon6 thank you, I'm glad to have found such a supportive group here.

acleverusername

@LJMoon6 Hiiiii! Welcome back! Well, I'm sorry you're still TTC, but you get the sentiment. I hope.