One does not simply... get pregnant

[onthefly]

Ok, I'm asking the LT TTCers because I know you've tried it all

My two littlies were conceived through IVF and it's been a while since we tried with sex, really. But I figure, it's cheaper than IVF so maybe we'll give it a go. Only, it's been a while and I"m out of touch with all the new-fangled acts of desperation out there.

I have no idea if I"ve ever ovulated - except that time I blew my eggs before egg pickup. I usually have regular, 29-day cycles, though and I also have endometriosis. My DH has lazy swimmers. The odds aren't great.

I'm on vitex and we've both taking royal jelly - because I read somewhere that people do these things. There's little chance I can get my DH to give up caffeine or alcohol. maybe he'll cut back? Also, we have sex occasionally I hear that's supposed to help.

Hit me with your regime. (I don't want to do charting/thermometers because that just drove me completely mental when I used to do that, and, also, I never got pregnant anyway).

[Lenny]

Good luck. Not sure whether the sex thing works. I don't reckon it does.

I do think OPKs are a good idea. They aren't expensive. I used them along with cycle monitoring many many moons ago, and was surprised that even though my cycles were completely predictable, the ovulation itself seemed to happen later than we thought. That'll save wasting all the sex on nothing!

When you have little children you can't do the thermometer thing. Life and sleep becomes too unpredictable.

I hear having a holiday (with your DH) or buying a dog - they are meant to help too.

[~TT40~]

i only paid attention to when AF was. by marking a red dot on my calender. and paid attention to cm. my body made it really clear to me when i was ov tho. and if i was ov from my left i would get a stitch like pain for a day or so.
mind you...we didnt get pg either but since found out it was impossible because of DH (nothing at all indicating i couldnt fall naturally).

umm..i heard water makes it sticky so made sure i drunk bucket loads if it..but did that for other reasons too.

i would just have unprotected sex. if it happens then thats a miracle. if not well thats normal so no need to stress.

[nothing2lose]

On the way to school pickup so will be back but in the meantime, forget the sex thing. It's a myth

[Ladylove]

My man is taking menevit because when we were TCC he first time he found out he has low motility. But then he later told me he only got his sample to pathology within minutes of the hour deadline or however long it is because he initially went to the wrong lab and a friend said that would have affected the motility of his minnows. Little did I know I was actually pregnant when the dr. broke the news so we never did find out if he did have low motility or not but this time around I figured he may as well use the menevit... Anyway that was a long story but yeah, menevit!

Oh and I'm taking an EPO/fish oil combo for better/more cervical mucous and a prenatal/preggo supplement.

[onthefly]

a holiday! now why didn't I think of that?

do OPKs work if you have PCOS?

[briggsy's girl]

do OPKs work if you have PCOS?

no. they arent recommended

[Marley&Me]

do OPKs work if you have PCOS?

Yes, they can! I bought the good ones from the chemist and it was always positive. But then I bought cheaper online ones and they seemed to work. I still had quite dark lines, but just a shade lighter than the control. And when my surge came it went really really dark, so I knew that was it.

After more than 3 years, just booking in to Melb IVF did the trick for me. Lucky cos I had no freakin idea where we were going to get the money from!

[Lenny]

Sorry.

[jellybean88]

.....

[Joeve]

Hmmm we tried sex it didn't work. Then we tried all kinds if other stuff including ivf.... Still didn't work. Lazy swimmers here too.
We had a another crack at sex supplemented with a weekly dose of acupunture and Chinese herbs, not one ounce of expectation and some full on non planned ttc type sex which had ruled our life for years. One of those lazy bum swimmers actually decided to crack the egg. So not sure if it was the herbs, acupunture, the screwed up remnants of a failed ivf cycle or just a miracle but it worked. No temping no opks.... Goodluck and hey enjoy the sex anyway!

[onthefly]

Did you guys both do the acupuncture & herbs?

maybe i'll save money on the opks....

[Marley&Me]

Did you guys both do the acupuncture & herbs?

maybe i'll save money on the opks....

I was doing acupuncture too and drinking herbs. But I stopped about 4 weeks before i got my BFP so I'm unsure weather it worked or not. Plus I conceived on a 150 day cycle! I knew I was ovulating so we discussed dtd, couldn't be bothered because we had given up on sex actually working. But the next day decided to just have one crack and hey presto. Total fluke.

Good luck!

[onthefly]

I've booked in for pins and herbs.
I think I'll have an uphill battle getting DH to do anything. Aside from having sex, that is. I think my eggs are ok, or at least the ones we got out 6 years ago were. I suppose they're practically geriatric now.
Anyhoos.

[nothing2lose]

Tell him you find caffeine-less men a real turn on.

[Marley&Me]

Just a warning - the tea is horrendous! I just held my nose and chugged it down with some juice

[AndiE]

Did you guys both do the acupuncture & herbs?

maybe i'll save money on the opks....

OK, so I don't know if I can class myself as a LTTTC, but DS3 took a fair while to conceive - and that's where acupuncture and herbs come into this picture. I went down this path when clomid didn't do much and the OB/GYN prescribing the clomid didn't appear to give a rats. She diagnosed me with PCOS despite no blood tests/scans etc. Plus I don't fit the general profile (wasn't overweight, excess hair etc). I did have a problem with anovulation though. My acup lady has a wonderful reputation, so if you go this way try and find someone who has a solid reputation and who treats people individually - not someone who treats backache and fertility the same way, if you get my drift.

I had herbs via capsule form - no aftertaste at all. But as she was also a naturopath and used all round commonsense, I was on zinc, magnesium, vitex as well. DH was given the "nasty tasting" TCM to improve his sperm quality (it was pretty crud - less than 4% viable, in actual fact). It took me about four months of almost weekly sessions (which I could claim on private health insurance), which included ovulation induction ... but it worked! In addition she identified my thyroid was working 100pc effectively, and she made me cut most sugar out of my diet (well, it was supposed to be ALL sugar, but hey ... 85% cut out wasn't too bad). Acupuncturists have a thing about cold - so you'd probably be told not to eat or drink anything cold, or get cold. I can't recall what that's all about but it's pretty common with acupuncturists.

I can't recommend going this way more highly. But ... what worked well for me and made me feel great, may not work as well for someone else. I ended up with acup and herbs, plus the zinc etc all through my pregnancy. Oh, and DH's swimmers did improve after he'd taken herbs for a month or so.

[onthefly]

The cold thing would depend whether you're more yin or yang, I guess. I'm a small yin, so need hot things, yeah. (don't go there n2l!) and according to my last chinese-medicine doctor, alcohol was a big YES! Can't remember where they stood on sugar.

and hey, 4% is pretty good


I've seen this woman before and she does fertility stuff. I've NFI if she's good at it, though. Her induction acupuncture didn't work for me! There is another guy I've seen recommended in Perth. Maybe I should try and track him down.