Hello, new to the bump but not to infertility

Shell1122 · April 2016

Hello, I'm Michelle and I am 31, DH is 35 and we've been married 13 years. We have no children and I've never been pregnant. We have never tried to prevent pregnancy in any way and we honestly just figured it would happen when it was meant to. After almost 14 years that ship sailed a long time ago and we feel like our biological clock is ticking harder than ever. I will mention my husband is active duty military so we are apart more often than the average couple with deployments, training, trips, and so on. The unpredictability does not help when ttc!

I have pcos and I'm on metformin 1000 mg a day. I'm currently on clomid 100 mg. I'm looking for other options to help track ovulation. Any suggestions? I use fertility friend app, temp at 6 am every morning before moving, and use opks (but they are hit and miss with me). I do not have regular cycles - only 1-3 a year on my own and blood work shows I don't ovulate then.

Infertility (and clomid) can really drive you crazy. Bless my husband for putting up with all the emotions. I'm at the point where I need people to talk to and support from others going through similar things. Thanks for taking the time to listen and I look forward to chatting with you ladies

vssbrm · April 2016

Hi! Welcome to the board and I am sorry you have to be here. Your husband sounds very supportive! I do not have any experience with PCOS but I do have experience being a military wife - though my husband is retired now! It is really hard to get the right timing when they are gone all the time! The last few years my DH was active duty it seemed like he was always away.

You our mentioned you are on clomid? Are you seeing an RE? They should be monitoring your cycles while on clomid, which you would then know that you are ovulating and when.

Tell your our husband thank you for his service, and than you as well!!

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

Welcome! I'd like to echo what the PP said about seeing an RE while on clomid. Proper monitoring (ultrasounds) is needed, which OBs typically don't do. The RE will have better solutions for regulating your cycle too since they frequently deal with PCOS and infertility. I hope you find the support here that you need, as there are many women on this board with similar struggles!

LeanneB82 · April 2016

Welcome as well! I don't have any experience with PCOS, but do love the Glow app for tracking BBT and cycles. I also second the RE comments. When we tried Clomid it was with an RE and they monitored very closely to trigger ovulation and tracked it. A regular OB will not be as in tune with what is going on. Good luck!

em01092 · April 2016

Hi Michelle and welcome. I also have PCOS which was recently confirmed via ultrasound but suspected for a while. My left ovary is apparently near the size of a small cantaloupe and they are supposed to be the size of a walnut! My dr said this is common with PCOS. I'm like HOW is that fitting in there? lol

Anyway I love the Ovia app to track my cycle and symptoms. I feel like it is a bit better than FF but that's just me. Are you also checking your CM? I track that more often than my temp, as mine are generally really wacky even though I bought a $30 thermometer and test same time every day. Grrrr.

I hope your stay here is short, and best of luck on the clomid. Keep us updated! Thank you to your husband and to you for your service.

mwendell24 · April 2016

Welcome to the board! I also have PCOS. I have found that my CM is fairly accurate predictor. I haven't tried temping, as I was about to start trying and then got referred to an RE for IVF. I agree with PPs that if you are on Clomid they should be monitoring you regularly to see if you are ovulating. My RE predicted correctly to within a day with just an ultrasound!

babylonghorn16 · April 2016

Hi!

I have PCOS as well. Before I was diagnosed, I tried OPKs... but they were too hard to read. Probably because I wasn't actually ever ovulating. I didn't do any medicated cycles w/ timed intercourse. We chose to go through IUIs with a trigger shot for ovulation. If you haven't already, I would definitely talk to a RE rather than OB/GYN. I went to my OB/GYN and the ultrasound tech falsely told me with a pitying look that my follicles weren't maturing and there was nothing else I could do. Maybe she meant there was nothing else THEY could do, but it was misinterpreted by me, a newbie to infertility.

Anyway, long story short: get to an RE!

lol hope that helps!

Shell1122 · April 2016

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'll cover what is currently going on with me. I am only seeing my obgyn not a RE (yet). Ob wants me to do 6 rounds of clomid first. I'm currently on round 2. First round went well.I used opks and temping and was able to pinpoint ovulation on cd 17, followed by a blood test to confirm and my progesterone was 22. My ob does not monitor me except getting my blood drawn to confirm ovulation. I requested a referral to RE but they will not oblige yet. I am at the Naval hospital so I have to have that referral being on Tricare Prime. They want me to do these 6 round of clomid first. I really wish they would track it more and I kind of feel like it is a waste of time without monitoring! I'm trying to work on my ob to get that referral!

This round I have had hardly any symptoms just hot flashes and headaches really. I'm on cd 26 and I think I ovulated cd 23 but I'm really not sure, going for blood work on monday. I don't like that I ovulated so late and my temps didn't spike as much as last month, but I did get crosshairs on FF so all I can do is wait to get my results.I wonder if later ovulation has a less chance of conception?

I don't really track cm as thoroughly as one should. I usually just track it after bm since it moves it to the front. For so many years I really didn't know how off my body was with the weird cycles and lack of ovulation. The doctors just told me you can go on birth control or fertility meds, but we didn't want to use birth control and we honestly just thought it would happen eventually. How naive I was... I'm learning a lot! I so appreciate all the feedback from you ladies.

vssbrm - Thank you! It is so hard with his schedule for sure. He just returned from another deployment at the end of 2015 and he has been in the field on and off repeatedly lately. It is frustrating, because I cannot predict ovulation time! Plus whenever he is gone there is no point to any fertility treatments and I actually only seen him 3 1/2 months out of 2015. Hard to have a baby that way!

KatBH · April 2016

You should definitely try to get to an RE soon! You're only supposed to do 6 cycles of Clomid in a lifetime I believe, so to run through all that without any monitoring is less than ideal. With an RE you will do a baseline sonogram each month to make sure things look good, and then another when you surge. That way you know how many mature follicles (if any) you're producing, plus they can make sure your lining looks good (which can be an issue with Clomid). If Clomid isn't working at all you can move on to other options, but without monitoring there's no way to know.

meli123k · April 2016

Welcome @Shell1122, I hope you don't have to stay here very long! I unfortunately don't have any further suggestions on tracking O than what you've already mentioned, I use FF too. I hope that you will be able to get a referral soon to help more with the monitoring and next steps. Good luck!

Drove2u · April 2016

Agreed. You really should see an RE and not do six cycles of clomid without an RE monitoring you. That just sounds crazy!! Since others have said it's usually six lifetime clomid cycles. With an RE you will also do other tests like the HSG to make sure your tubes aren't blocked, a hysteroscopy etc. just as an example let's say your tubes are blocked the clomid won't help that and it'll be a big waste. Get to an RE! You will be way more successful too.

FatPony · April 2016

Yep, get to an RE asap. We did the same route as you (I have pcos, so we took clomid with our gyno). 8 rounds later, it turns out that we were dealing with MFI as well! If you haven't gotten your husband tested yet - do it immediately! We wasted about a year on clomid before moving on to IVF.

One be other thing - I can COMPLETELY commiserate about the clomid side effects. They're awful!! And last for a few months after I went off of it (shudder). Truthfully, they were worse than the fertility injections I had to take for IVF.

GL!!

mandasd · April 2016

@Shell1122 are you in SD? I am being treated at the Naval Hospital there. I really like them, very attentive. The waiting list for IVF is 10 months and so they will start with Chlomid, then go to IUIs (if the blood work and semen come back normal-ish) then if that doesn't work they move to IVF. There is some out of pocket with IVF but it's like under $10k. I don't have an exact number. They also support egg donation, sperm donation, embryo donation, etc. so if needed they support that through a donor bank in socal (the donors have to be military dependents).

Shell1122 · April 2016

Hello ladies! Well I had blood drawn yesterday and infact my progesterone was 1.06 so I did not ovulate. :-( I'm not surprised but still sad. My request to my pcm for a referral to RE was pushed saying talk to my OB about it. I don't think my OB will give me the referral, but I'm going to ask! So I did 100 mg each round. First round I ovulated and second round I did not. Why did it work one month but not the next? No idea... I left a message for my OB to call me, but no call yet.

Mandasand: I'm up at Camp Pendleton, so near SD but not at the same place. There is no RE here, so it would be a referral to a civilian most likely.

Fatpony: My husband did get SA done and doctor said he is good. So I don't think we have any issues there.

I think I'm willing to do one more round of clomid if she bumps me up to 150. After that I'll push really hard for the referral. I don't know if even then she will put in the referral. Trust me I'd love to be going to an RE, but unless she gives me the referral it wouldn't be covered by insurance. I'm still waiting on a call back to see what we are going to do next. I left a message near closing time yesterday. If I don't get a call by tomorrow I'll call again. So annoying that you have to chase them down to speak to them!

pmjb · April 2016

@Shell1122 when I was doing letrozole and clomid with an OB I also had months when it worked and some when it didn't. My OB explained it to me this way she said "even healthy women who ovulate normally can have months that they may not ovulate. it is not uncommon and hard to explain why." Hope this helps you to know that it happens from time to time, frustrating I know!!

Want a personalized experience?

Hello, new to the bump but not to infertility

Re: Hello, new to the bump but not to infertility

Choose Another Board

Search Boards