@soemthingclever, @adirat, @wabash15, I'm still here. I'm actually starting to get worried and holiday travels messed up my chart as of late. Can you guys chart stalk me? I temped 2 days ago at 5AM and today at 7:50AM (Edit:6-7AM is my normal temp time) so I don't think that temp spike is real. My monitor has said High for the last 4 days. My OPKs have been negative, but have looked dark. Today's looks especially dark but is still negative. Yesterday, I felt back spasms, and I could have sworn I O'ed and that it was all over. I know the open circles in my chart suck, but my alarm didn't go off this morning, and we are traveling, so I get woken up by people using the bathroom etc. here. https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/66e35d
@adirat, I'm so sorry that you're in a similar position here. I know how stressful this is. I'm trying to not let it ruin my holiday, but it's hard when you are worried something is wrong. @wabash15, I'm happy you Oed!
TTC since 8/7/16 BFP 9/13/16 MMC 10/18/16 D&C 10/20/16
Guys, I have been so productive today at work...searching pubmed for information on TTC stuff. And since I have long, irregular cycles, and have noticed a number of you guys do as well (or at least intermittently, I thought I would share a couple points and things I thought were interesting.
1. A couple days ago I linked an article on drinking and the the menstrual cycle. Turns out a lot of the human data was questionable as far as whether there was a clear increase in cycle length with drinking. And most of the rat studies used pretty significant amounts of alcohol (human equivalent of 10-45 drinks in one dose). But I did find a paper about fecundity (which is sort of the rate of getting pregnant) and moderate drinking, which I thought was worth mentioning. I think they specifically looked at drinking between days 14 and 21 (so during beginning of TWW), and saw that drinking even <1 drink per day could decrease fecundity (i.e. fewer of these women got pregnant than those abstaining), and there was a dose-dependent decrease as well (more drinking, fewer pregnant). Here's the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1113743/. While I'm still not sold on the link between drinking and lengthening of cycles, it does still look like there is an advantage here, so I'm still giving this a shot this cycle.
2. Has anyone heard of night-lighting? It seems a little crunchy to me, but it's based of the principle that women's cycles (historically) sync with the lunar calendar. The idea being that our bodies (and hormones) respond to the amount of light at night to regulate our cycle. Now that we live in homes with curtains or even various light sources in our rooms, this could cause irregularities. Night-lighting is used to train the body back to regularity by turning on a light for 3 days in a row to simulate the full moon, then no light at night for ~25 days. I did find a psychiatry article on it (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.secure.sci-hub.ac/pubmed/2243890), but I didn't have access to it to read in more detail. While I'm skeptical, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try wearing a sleep mask all but 3 days a month? I probably wouldn't subject DH to keeping a lamp on though.
Me: 30 | DH: 31 Met: August 2006 Married: July 2012 TTC #1 since June 2016
@mrsegan13 Your temp from today looks like it's still near the same average as your previous temps so I wouldn't conclude you O'd just yet. Keep HIO for a few days and see what happens to your temp.
Me: late 30s | H: early 30s TTC #1 since April 2015 RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016 IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal Polyp removed May 2017 FET May 2017 - BFP! Baby boy born 2/2/18
@metrogirl Yeah cutting down on the alcohol is not going so well. New Years resolution? I did manage to cut down caffeine a lot. I went from 3 mugs of coffee in the morning plus the additional latte, coffee, or tea later in the day to now only 1 cup of coffee most days then 1 cup tea.
@icecubeinthedesert Thanks for sharing that info. I haven't heard about lunar cycles regulating menstrual cycles...
Me: 34 | DH: 33 Married Aug. 2013 TTC #1 Sep. 2016 ***TW***
BFP Jan. 15, 2017; MMC Mar. 4, 2017 at 10w6d BFP Jun. 5, 2017; MMC Aug. 2, 2017 at 11w6d BFP Nov. 20, 2017; ended in CP All the tests. Everything normal except treated for ureaplasma and DH potentially has high DNAF. BFP Dec. 25, 2017; EDD Sep. 5, 2018; DD arrived Aug. 26th My chart: https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/63f71d
@starla it sounds really hard to cut down on alcohol, which is why I haven't really tried yet - I think New Years resolution might be easier. I found with the caffeine what helped me at first was to still have my one cup in the morning, and then maybe have a decaf latte or something, because I really didn't notice the difference in a latte.
I just called to schedule my HSG and they don't have a single appointment available. Apparently the hospital is recognizing the holiday on Monday and several people are in vacation so there's not as many available to perform the procedure. Guess that will have to wait another cycle.....
"It's time to try defying gravity."
Me: 38 DH: 38 Married 6/11/16 TTC Since 6/2016 12/2016 RE appt; 1/2017 SA & HSG results - all normal 3/2017 Dx Hyperprolactinemia; 5/2017 Prolactin levels normal; 8/2017 Low Ovarian Reserve 8/2017 TTA for personal reasons; 10/2017 NTNP; 12/2017 Re-start TTC 7/2018 Clomid+IUI 11/2018 Letrozole+TI 12/2018 Letrozole+IUI 2/2019 NTNP 5/2019 Stopping all TTC efforts; living Childfree
R/R: Just glad to finally be over here after a 38 day cycle.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays? He actually ordered it for himself. He has a car that he's building. I'm clueless when it comes to car parts, so I just gave him a $ limit and let him get what he wanted.
Me: 31 DH: 40 Married 2012 TTC #2 since July 2016 PCOS diagnosed 2008
@lulu1180 that seems a little ridiculous! My doctor scheduled mine based on an estimate of my cycle days and it worked out fine. Is that a possibility for you to make sure you get in next cycle?
@hartmich I didn't think to ask. It sounds like this is just due to the time of year but the woman I spoke with (who was very nice and apologetic) said she would call me if someone happens to cancel
"It's time to try defying gravity."
Me: 38 DH: 38 Married 6/11/16 TTC Since 6/2016 12/2016 RE appt; 1/2017 SA & HSG results - all normal 3/2017 Dx Hyperprolactinemia; 5/2017 Prolactin levels normal; 8/2017 Low Ovarian Reserve 8/2017 TTA for personal reasons; 10/2017 NTNP; 12/2017 Re-start TTC 7/2018 Clomid+IUI 11/2018 Letrozole+TI 12/2018 Letrozole+IUI 2/2019 NTNP 5/2019 Stopping all TTC efforts; living Childfree
@lulu1180 That sucks!! Shouldn't they be set up better, knowing there's a small window for it? You shouldn't have to wait another cycle for it!
Me: late 30s | H: early 30s TTC #1 since April 2015 RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016 IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal Polyp removed May 2017 FET May 2017 - BFP! Baby boy born 2/2/18
WAYDTGKU: PNVs, CoQ10, not temping this cycle, waiting for AF to leave, increasing my liquid intake
R/R: rant: I ordered my mom a Fitbit from Lord & Taylor. It came yesterday and they sent me the wrong size. (It's correct on the invoice included). I called and they said the earliest they could have it to me was Tuesday. They tried to tell me that next day shipping only includes business days and they don't deliver on Saturdays (BS!!). And that there isn't Mail on Monday. Then I have to pay for another to be sent otherwise send it back, wait 2 weeks for the refund to go through and re-order. I'm so annoyed! They tried to offer me 10%off my next purchase but I told them I don't shop with them.
Rave: we're driving to my parents house this afternoon for the holidays. We're celebrating my moms birthday tonight since it's actually on Christmas.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays? The main thing was a gift card to Men's Warehouse because he wants a new suit. Also got him a Brincos grill set, Broncos shirt, windshield wipers and some movies. I might go get him a squatty potty tomorrow as a joke if it's not too crazy.
@lulu1180 Maybe a lot of people scheduled appointments knowing they'd be off work on top of them being short staffed. My office only does them on Tuesday and Thursday for some reason, so it's already tough enough. Hopefully somebody cancels!
@hartmich Hugs -- this is so rough and I'm sorry we're in the same place. When are you thinking of scheduling with an RE? We're thinking January (we have new insurance starting Jan 1) but want to go full steam TTC even with that on the horizon. It's hard to imagine NTNP at this point.
@spiderlover25 I get a blazing positive OPK the morning of the day I ovulate (temp spike the next day). I typically get a near-positive the night before the morning blazer. Actually if you look in the CS stalk thread, @soemthingclever 's posts are exactly what I get too.
@mrsegan13 I agree with PPs that you likely haven't O'd yet. But based on CM, it could be any day! Get it girl!
@kiwi2628 We actually haven't decided yet! Last year we went to Il Mulino, which was amazing. We've been wanting to try Bar Masa and Momofuku. These places are all out of our price range normally so it's really a treat. Any suggestions?
I reviewed this literature several months ago and found myself disregarding all of it given the poor methodology. Even the study you linked (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC28642/ for full text) doesn't have causal methodology -- you have to assume that women who do not drink and women who do drink are fundamentally similar on unobservable characteristics (as the study does correct for some observables). This is not a valid assumption, as one of the big things we know correlates with fertility outcomes -- stress -- also corresponds with alcohol consumption. There is no indication that the real differential in conception outcomes is caused by alcohol. In fact, it could be caused by stress, and the fertility outcomes and alcohol are comorbid.
Now, obviously if you want to decrease alcohol, no harm done! But I don't think the literature is saying this. Like @starla I did work hard to get rid of almost all caffeine except green tea, so it's going to be desperation before I do alcohol too. You can pry wine from my cold, dead CD1 fingers.
What we need is a randomized controlled trial in which women who drink a moderate amount and are trying to conceive are randomly assigned either to keep their current habits or to abstain from alcohol (or some middle point reducing alcohol, in a three-pronged study, would be ideal). This is the only way we could really understand the causal link and attribute differences in outcomes to alcohol consumption. Descriptive, retrospective studies are not able to do this, because you will never convince me (or any methodologist) that women who do and do not drink during ttc are otherwise identical.
Note that it is outdated (1989 publication) -- has anyone done more recent research on this topic? This study is a randomized trial with subjects' baseline cycle determined before random assignment, which is good. However, this study had only seven subjects (red flag) and most important in my opinion, eight subjects dropped out of the study because they had trouble sleeping. So that's literally more than half of study subjects who couldn't complete the treatment because it was messing with their lives. To me, it is much more concerning to undertake a treatment that half of people can't stand (especially when stress and sleep are vital to reproductive health) than depend on the results of this study.
@adirat Thanks for giving these your social science (as I recall?) opinion on these, as that's definitely not my strength! I had the same general thoughts on these articles as well. But they are interesting. There was also an interesting study on cycle length done in the 80s where they had women at a study center work for their choice of alcohol or money in return for work. I think there might have been some difference, but I can't find the citation right now. But again, those who choose alcohol could be more prone to stress. I think getting a protocol to force people to either drink or not would be next to impossible to approve, even if people are willing
Me: 30 | DH: 31 Met: August 2006 Married: July 2012 TTC #1 since June 2016
@icecubeinthedesert Any time. Alcohol may be on my list in 2017 if I get desperate enough. But for now, it's helping me get through these tough times.
By the way, regarding study approvals, that isn't really true. The way you would test all of these things is by taking a study sample of people who already do the behavior and randomly assign them to stop it (or to receive incentives to stop it). While an IRB would not approve a study to have women start drinking, it would absolutely approve a study of female drinkers to stop drinking. This is how we have RCTs of tobacco smoking, drug use, etc. -- you don't recruit abstainers, rather you recruit users and get half of them to stop.
@adirat@icecubeinthedesert FWIW, I can't even remember the last time I had a drink, and I am sure it was no more than 1 glass of wine whenever it was. Hasn't helped.
@adirat I'm saying we will be NTNP with the idea that it might take time to get an appointment see the RE, possibly do more testing (I.e. more waiting), start any meds, etc etc. so we will still be doing something to work toward getting KU, but not killing myself with temping, OPKs, timed intercourse etc. I will hopefully call to book an appointment either at the end of next week or the week after, and we will have to go from there. I'm terrified of getting KU anyway before getting in there because if this is PCOS that we are dealing with, there is a higher chance of a loss. I would feel better being "monitored".
@hartmich Hugs. I totally get it. Here's hoping you can get in quick.
I was just wondering because I remember from the two weeks we tried to tta, the second I saw ewcm I felt this irrepressible urge to hio. I can't stop knowing about ewcm lol
I'm in the better late than never club again today
@adirat, I meant to say something to you yesterday about the struggle you're having. I have my fingers crossed so hard that you O on a day when you've had lots of FWP for many days before
@Uhlease13 Through the Never is probably my very favorite Metallica song. That is an awesome tat, and you are my hero for putting it there, especially with those thick black letters. Nice!
Month/Cycle: 12/14 (8AL)
CD: 15
WAYDTGKU: All the things, chasing after OH, flashing him my girly parts all like:
R/R: I had a temp rise this morning, so I'm pretty sure yesterday was O. But that will not stop me from jumping OH tonight. Gotta be sure, and there's nothing wrong with a little +1 action...
Q/CS: Nope
GTKY: We typically don't do presents for each other. We're far too expensive, LOL. But this year I did surprise OH and DSS with an electric train to go around the Christmas tree. It hasn't made it there yet since they're still playing with it spread out all over the living room, but I love how excited they both are about it. I also like playing with it, too.
Me: 45 OH: 42 Beloved SS: born 12/2011 TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016 **TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW** August 2016 - dx with DOR Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T May 2017 - began freezing sperm June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
@adirat I'm worried about that actually! I am debating if I should continue temping or not... I'm not sure what will make me more crazy (because I'm crazy either way). And like you said, I think I'll notice my other ovulation signs no matter what... It's funny because H just asked me a few minutes when I'd be ovulating, so obviously he's not totally 100% into a break either, haha. Who knows, I'll probably say something totally different when it's not CD2 and I'm full of all the feels.
R/R: I bought a glass bbt thermometer and I'm totally stoked to try it out! I've heard great things, that they're much more accurate. We'll see!
CS/Q: nope
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays?
We're super lame and not doing gifts this year because we have been actively paying down debt for the last year, and we're super close to our goal so we figured we'd save the money instead. But we did get some Maker's Mark and decided to have a day to ourselves today, which has been absolutely amazing.
I hope all of you ladies have a wonderful holiday!!!
@hartmich Yeah it's a tough call. Depending on where fw falls in January, I may not bother temping (I have two trips meaning three time zones between what I predict will be cd9 and cd20 so temping may be valueless). But I fear I'll be more stressed not knowing than knowing! I'm fortunate to get multiple days of watery and ewcm so that may be enough to tell the general timeframe. Of course, I also thought this cycle would be smooth sailing without OPKs and my body took it as an opportunity to confuse me like crazy. Honestly I'm starting to think it's all a wash. So many feels.
@adirat Momofuko yaaaaaas. Also, for RIDICULOUSLY expensive, but one of the top rated places in the world, I recommend La Grenouille. I literally cannot describe how the duck melts in your mouth. It was revolutionary. A religious experience. I actually had an orgasm when the food hit my tongue. True story.
@Aurora1973 thanks! Originally I wanted the tattoo smaller, but after talking with the artist (who was a Metallica fan and put on their music for me during!) i picked out this font and decided to go bold or go home since as much as I'd like to think I'm dainty, I'm not haha.
@adirat@icecubeinthedesert I always appreciate research discussions, so thank you! It makes me sad that so many of us have considered (or questioned) whether or not having that drink has hindered our ttc journey when for so many it doesn't even matter. Maybe I'll reconsider in 2017
@adirat and @Uhlease13 I'm certainly not goinging cold turkey, but I probably can do better than 1+ beers every night. Maybe I'm just trying to justify putting the drink aside? But I fully support CD1 beverages and holiday drinks
Me: 30 | DH: 31 Met: August 2006 Married: July 2012 TTC #1 since June 2016
@adirat and @Uhlease13 I'm certainly not goinging cold turkey, but I probably can do better than 1+ beers every night. Maybe I'm just trying to justify putting the drink aside? But I fully support CD1 beverages and holiday drinks
I'm with you. I actually told dh that will be my focus in 2017. I think it will be better for me overall.
This will prob be my last post until Monday. I just can't keep up with the holidays and the travel. Everyone have a happy holiday!
Month/Cycle 9/9
CD: 4
WAYDTGKU: PNV but af is still lingering around
R/R: my af is usually 7 days, I'm so over it already and I'm only cd4. Boo.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays? we don't normally exchange gifts since we usually buy what we want/need. I did get him a clemsons sweatshirt from DD.
@icecubeinthedesert I don't know about in people but for horses, females are put under lights 16 hours a day during the winter to stimulate decreased melatonin which leads to increased gnrh release which works on FSH (I believe) to stimulate ovarian activity and follicle growth. Horses usually go anovulatory in the winter so the lights are used to bring them back into cycling so you can time breeding to have foals that are born as early in the year as possible. Wonder if there's a related human pathway to explain that study?
@adirat@Uhlease13@icecubeinthedesert I went cold turkey off alcohol this past month (coffee the month before & soda before that) it's really rough right now. Wondering how many months I'll last before I say F it
Ended up having to P&G yesterday since I did get called into work @lulu1180 I'm so sorry for CD1 and that with the holidays you couldn't get your HSG scheduled. Hugs. @adirat I am doing a holding off on O dance for you @hartmich hugs lady, I'm so sorry that your in this place. Do what is best for your sanity, all those BFNs and AF really wear on a person
*TW*
TTC 1/2012 Diagnosed : unexplained infertility 6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015 TTC #3 5/2016 Restarted Fertility tx IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17
Re: WTO Friday 12/23
DD2 born 9/10/17
Can you guys chart stalk me? I temped 2 days ago at 5AM and today at 7:50AM (Edit:6-7AM is my normal temp time) so I don't think that temp spike is real.
My monitor has said High for the last 4 days. My OPKs have been negative, but have looked dark. Today's looks especially dark but is still negative. Yesterday, I felt back spasms, and I could have sworn I O'ed and that it was all over. I know the open circles in my chart suck, but my alarm didn't go off this morning, and we are traveling, so I get woken up by people using the bathroom etc. here.
https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/66e35d
@adirat, I'm so sorry that you're in a similar position here. I know how stressful this is. I'm trying to not let it ruin my holiday, but it's hard when you are worried something is wrong.
@wabash15, I'm happy you Oed!
BFP 9/13/16
MMC 10/18/16
D&C 10/20/16
@starla wow, the holidays is a tough time to cut down on alcohol and caffeine, good for you
@wabash15 yay for O, and also that's a really thoughtful gift you got YH
@jillibean0871 and @thebookisbetter sorry your Jobs are being kinda grinchy, and lol at Clark griswold
@lulu1180 sorry for cd1!
@buthayna that's tough, in so sorry Christmas shopping was hard for you this year
@Uhlease13 I'm so sorry for your loss. Your New Years trip sounds like a great way to relax and enjoy some time together
@haylsbayls the furbo sounds like such an awesome gift
@thebookisbetter gross to your coworker, I hope you don't get sick over the holidays
@pinky917 fx you get you CH soon
@eggplantface I hope you got to leave at noon after all!
@adirat I really hope O holds out long enough for you to get some privacy and HIO one more time
@cactusblossom hi! I hope your boss agrees to let you leave early
@spiderlover25 have fun today
1. A couple days ago I linked an article on drinking and the the menstrual cycle. Turns out a lot of the human data was questionable as far as whether there was a clear increase in cycle length with drinking. And most of the rat studies used pretty significant amounts of alcohol (human equivalent of 10-45 drinks in one dose). But I did find a paper about fecundity (which is sort of the rate of getting pregnant) and moderate drinking, which I thought was worth mentioning. I think they specifically looked at drinking between days 14 and 21 (so during beginning of TWW), and saw that drinking even <1 drink per day could decrease fecundity (i.e. fewer of these women got pregnant than those abstaining), and there was a dose-dependent decrease as well (more drinking, fewer pregnant). Here's the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1113743/. While I'm still not sold on the link between drinking and lengthening of cycles, it does still look like there is an advantage here, so I'm still giving this a shot this cycle.
2. Has anyone heard of night-lighting? It seems a little crunchy to me, but it's based of the principle that women's cycles (historically) sync with the lunar calendar. The idea being that our bodies (and hormones) respond to the amount of light at night to regulate our cycle. Now that we live in homes with curtains or even various light sources in our rooms, this could cause irregularities. Night-lighting is used to train the body back to regularity by turning on a light for 3 days in a row to simulate the full moon, then no light at night for ~25 days. I did find a psychiatry article on it (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.secure.sci-hub.ac/pubmed/2243890), but I didn't have access to it to read in more detail. While I'm skeptical, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try wearing a sleep mask all but 3 days a month? I probably wouldn't subject DH to keeping a lamp on though.
Me: 30 | DH: 31
Met: August 2006
Married: July 2012
TTC #1 since June 2016
***TW***
BFP: 7/12/16 | MC: 9/12/16
BFP: 1/18/17 | MMC: 2/13/17
BFP: 10/7/17 | EDD: 6/21/17
MTHFR: homozygous A1298C
TTC #1 since April 2015
RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016
IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN
IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal
Polyp removed May 2017
FET May 2017 - BFP!
Baby boy born 2/2/18
@icecubeinthedesert Thanks for sharing that info. I haven't heard about lunar cycles regulating menstrual cycles...
Married Aug. 2013
TTC #1 Sep. 2016
***TW***
BFP Jun. 5, 2017; MMC Aug. 2, 2017 at 11w6d
BFP Nov. 20, 2017; ended in CP
All the tests. Everything normal except treated for ureaplasma and DH potentially has high DNAF.
BFP Dec. 25, 2017; EDD Sep. 5, 2018; DD arrived Aug. 26th
My chart: https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/63f71d
"It's time to try defying gravity."
Married 6/11/16
TTC Since 6/2016
12/2016 RE appt; 1/2017 SA & HSG results - all normal
3/2017 Dx Hyperprolactinemia; 5/2017 Prolactin levels normal; 8/2017 Low Ovarian Reserve
8/2017 TTA for personal reasons; 10/2017 NTNP; 12/2017 Re-start TTC
7/2018 Clomid+IUI
11/2018 Letrozole+TI
12/2018 Letrozole+IUI
2/2019 NTNP
5/2019 Stopping all TTC efforts; living Childfree
CD: 1
WAYDTGKU: waiting for AF to run its course
R/R: Just glad to finally be over here after a 38 day cycle.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays?
He actually ordered it for himself. He has a car that he's building. I'm clueless when it comes to car parts, so I just gave him a $ limit and let him get what he wanted.
Married 2012
TTC #2 since July 2016
PCOS diagnosed 2008
"It's time to try defying gravity."
Married 6/11/16
TTC Since 6/2016
12/2016 RE appt; 1/2017 SA & HSG results - all normal
3/2017 Dx Hyperprolactinemia; 5/2017 Prolactin levels normal; 8/2017 Low Ovarian Reserve
8/2017 TTA for personal reasons; 10/2017 NTNP; 12/2017 Re-start TTC
7/2018 Clomid+IUI
11/2018 Letrozole+TI
12/2018 Letrozole+IUI
2/2019 NTNP
5/2019 Stopping all TTC efforts; living Childfree
TTC #1 since April 2015
RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016
IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN
IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal
Polyp removed May 2017
FET May 2017 - BFP!
Baby boy born 2/2/18
Month/Cycle: 5/5
CD: 3
WAYDTGKU: PNVs, CoQ10, not temping this cycle, waiting for AF to leave, increasing my liquid intake
R/R: rant: I ordered my mom a Fitbit from Lord & Taylor. It came yesterday and they sent me the wrong size. (It's correct on the invoice included). I called and they said the earliest they could have it to me was Tuesday. They tried to tell me that next day shipping only includes business days and they don't deliver on Saturdays (BS!!). And that there isn't Mail on Monday. Then I have to pay for another to be sent otherwise send it back, wait 2 weeks for the refund to go through and re-order. I'm so annoyed! They tried to offer me 10%off my next purchase but I told them I don't shop with them.
Rave: we're driving to my parents house this afternoon for the holidays. We're celebrating my moms birthday tonight since it's actually on Christmas.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays? The main thing was a gift card to Men's Warehouse because he wants a new suit. Also got him a Brincos grill set, Broncos shirt, windshield wipers and some movies. I might go get him a squatty potty tomorrow as a joke if it's not too crazy.
"It's time to try defying gravity."
Married 6/11/16
TTC Since 6/2016
12/2016 RE appt; 1/2017 SA & HSG results - all normal
3/2017 Dx Hyperprolactinemia; 5/2017 Prolactin levels normal; 8/2017 Low Ovarian Reserve
8/2017 TTA for personal reasons; 10/2017 NTNP; 12/2017 Re-start TTC
7/2018 Clomid+IUI
11/2018 Letrozole+TI
12/2018 Letrozole+IUI
2/2019 NTNP
5/2019 Stopping all TTC efforts; living Childfree
@haylsbayls a furbo sounds like something I'd need!
@spiderlover25 I get a blazing positive OPK the morning of the day I ovulate (temp spike the next day). I typically get a near-positive the night before the morning blazer. Actually if you look in the CS stalk thread, @soemthingclever 's posts are exactly what I get too.
@mrsegan13 I agree with PPs that you likely haven't O'd yet. But based on CM, it could be any day! Get it girl!
@kiwi2628 We actually haven't decided yet! Last year we went to Il Mulino, which was amazing. We've been wanting to try Bar Masa and Momofuku. These places are all out of our price range normally so it's really a treat. Any suggestions?
And thanks, friends -- I am in good company for some extra WTO time! @spiderlover25 plus @kiwi2628 and @hartmich who I rarely see, plus of course remaining cycle buddies @wabash15 @soemthingclever @mrsegan13
I reviewed this literature several months ago and found myself disregarding all of it given the poor methodology. Even the study you linked (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC28642/ for full text) doesn't have causal methodology -- you have to assume that women who do not drink and women who do drink are fundamentally similar on unobservable characteristics (as the study does correct for some observables). This is not a valid assumption, as one of the big things we know correlates with fertility outcomes -- stress -- also corresponds with alcohol consumption. There is no indication that the real differential in conception outcomes is caused by alcohol. In fact, it could be caused by stress, and the fertility outcomes and alcohol are comorbid.
Now, obviously if you want to decrease alcohol, no harm done! But I don't think the literature is saying this. Like @starla I did work hard to get rid of almost all caffeine except green tea, so it's going to be desperation before I do alcohol too. You can pry wine from my cold, dead CD1 fingers.
What we need is a randomized controlled trial in which women who drink a moderate amount and are trying to conceive are randomly assigned either to keep their current habits or to abstain from alcohol (or some middle point reducing alcohol, in a three-pronged study, would be ideal). This is the only way we could really understand the causal link and attribute differences in outcomes to alcohol consumption. Descriptive, retrospective studies are not able to do this, because you will never convince me (or any methodologist) that women who do and do not drink during ttc are otherwise identical.
As to night lights -- this is the full text: https://eurekamag.com/pdf.php?pdf=007595218
Note that it is outdated (1989 publication) -- has anyone done more recent research on this topic? This study is a randomized trial with subjects' baseline cycle determined before random assignment, which is good. However, this study had only seven subjects (red flag) and most important in my opinion, eight subjects dropped out of the study because they had trouble sleeping. So that's literally more than half of study subjects who couldn't complete the treatment because it was messing with their lives. To me, it is much more concerning to undertake a treatment that half of people can't stand (especially when stress and sleep are vital to reproductive health) than depend on the results of this study.
Me: 30 | DH: 31
Met: August 2006
Married: July 2012
TTC #1 since June 2016
***TW***
BFP: 7/12/16 | MC: 9/12/16
BFP: 1/18/17 | MMC: 2/13/17
BFP: 10/7/17 | EDD: 6/21/17
MTHFR: homozygous A1298C
By the way, regarding study approvals, that isn't really true. The way you would test all of these things is by taking a study sample of people who already do the behavior and randomly assign them to stop it (or to receive incentives to stop it). While an IRB would not approve a study to have women start drinking, it would absolutely approve a study of female drinkers to stop drinking. This is how we have RCTs of tobacco smoking, drug use, etc. -- you don't recruit abstainers, rather you recruit users and get half of them to stop.
@adirat I'm saying we will be NTNP with the idea that it might take time to get an appointment see the RE, possibly do more testing (I.e. more waiting), start any meds, etc etc. so we will still be doing something to work toward getting KU, but not killing myself with temping, OPKs, timed intercourse etc. I will hopefully call to book an appointment either at the end of next week or the week after, and we will have to go from there. I'm terrified of getting KU anyway before getting in there because if this is PCOS that we are dealing with, there is a higher chance of a loss. I would feel better being "monitored".
I was just wondering because I remember from the two weeks we tried to tta, the second I saw ewcm I felt this irrepressible urge to hio. I can't stop knowing about ewcm lol
@adirat, I meant to say something to you yesterday about the struggle you're having. I have my fingers crossed so hard that you O on a day when you've had lots of FWP for many days before
@Uhlease13 Through the Never is probably my very favorite Metallica song. That is an awesome tat, and you are my hero for putting it there, especially with those thick black letters. Nice!
Month/Cycle: 12/14 (8AL)
CD: 15
WAYDTGKU: All the things, chasing after OH, flashing him my girly parts all like:
R/R: I had a temp rise this morning, so I'm pretty sure yesterday was O. But that will not stop me from jumping OH tonight. Gotta be sure, and there's nothing wrong with a little +1 action...
Q/CS: Nope
GTKY: We typically don't do presents for each other. We're far too expensive, LOL. But this year I did surprise OH and DSS with an electric train to go around the Christmas tree. It hasn't made it there yet since they're still playing with it spread out all over the living room, but I love how excited they both are about it. I also like playing with it, too.
Beloved SS: born 12/2011
TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016
**TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW**
August 2016 - dx with DOR
Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T
May 2017 - began freezing sperm
June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T
July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba
July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
CD: 5
WAYDTGKU: pnv's, temping
R/R: I bought a glass bbt thermometer and I'm totally stoked to try it out! I've heard great things, that they're much more accurate. We'll see!
CS/Q: nope
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays?
DD born: 3/31/19
@hartmich Yeah it's a tough call. Depending on where fw falls in January, I may not bother temping (I have two trips meaning three time zones between what I predict will be cd9 and cd20 so temping may be valueless). But I fear I'll be more stressed not knowing than knowing! I'm fortunate to get multiple days of watery and ewcm so that may be enough to tell the general timeframe. Of course, I also thought this cycle would be smooth sailing without OPKs and my body took it as an opportunity to confuse me like crazy. Honestly I'm starting to think it's all a wash. So many feels.
@adirat @icecubeinthedesert I always appreciate research discussions, so thank you! It makes me sad that so many of us have considered (or questioned) whether or not having that drink has hindered our ttc journey when for so many it doesn't even matter. Maybe I'll reconsider in 2017
Me.30 DH.31
BFP 2/3/17...edd 10/13/17
Me: 30 | DH: 31
Met: August 2006
Married: July 2012
TTC #1 since June 2016
***TW***
BFP: 7/12/16 | MC: 9/12/16
BFP: 1/18/17 | MMC: 2/13/17
BFP: 10/7/17 | EDD: 6/21/17
MTHFR: homozygous A1298C
Me.30 DH.31
BFP 2/3/17...edd 10/13/17
Month/Cycle 9/9
CD: 4
WAYDTGKU: PNV but af is still lingering around
R/R: my af is usually 7 days, I'm so over it already and I'm only cd4. Boo.
CS/Q:
GTKY: stolen from the TWW yesterday... what did you get DH/SO for the holidays?
we don't normally exchange gifts since we usually buy what we want/need. I did get him a clemsons sweatshirt from DD.
@lulu1180 I'm so sorry for CD1 and that with the holidays you couldn't get your HSG scheduled. Hugs.
@adirat I am doing a holding off on O dance for you
@hartmich hugs lady, I'm so sorry that your in this place. Do what is best for your sanity, all those BFNs and AF really wear on a person
Diagnosed : unexplained infertility
6 rounds of IUI and a MC 2/2014, rainbow twins 4/2015
TTC #3 5/2016
Restarted Fertility tx
IUI 2 rounds, baby girl 12/17