Went to DR

Hi there,
I went to see DR today even though we've only been ttc for 9-10 months.
I know your suppossed to wait till 12 but went anyway and of course she told me what I thought she would.
That it's too early, It could still take months and not to worry as I am young (27) and that there is nothing wrong, not sure how she knows this I guess she was trying to reassure me.
Something interesting she said about OPK was she said there not overly reliable which I thought was odd and that they are a relatively new thing in Australia.
Anyway she said because my cycles are irregular between 31 & 37 days that I should be BD every two days between days 11 & 27 that way I will be sure to catch ovulation because sperm will stay around for 2 days.
She said women usually make the mistake of only concentrating around what they think is O day and they could be missing it altogether.
I hope this might help some of us ttc.
She also mentioned that most women who seek advice from DR or make an appoint. at fertility clinic ususally fall preggers before they even get to the appoint.
Fingers crossed for us all this coming month, maybe the easter bunny will send us all a little baby bunny.
J

Fingers crossed for you J, that's the usual advice given in the UK as well by GPs. Were you also told that if you forget about it then it will happen? That's another common one around here. I have a friend at work who is TTC and that's all she gets - she works with contraception so sees fertility type people a lot, not sure how much she's spoken to the doctors about it though!

As for the women falling pregnant before the appointments - doesn't that suggest the waiting lists are too long? LOL

LOL J, we were TTC for 26 months and Aaron had all of his tests out of the way but I got my BFP literlly 2 days before my appointment!!

Your DR sounds nicer than mine!! :lol:

Its very true about the ovulation though. I was one of the girls that :bd: around what I thought was ovulation because I was just lazy.
As for OPK's, another DR told me the same thing. Waste of money and are not that reliable.

He told me the most reliable way to see for ovulation is
CM and
Temping.

Good luck catching the eggy this month!!

good luck at getting your bfp

my gp told me the same thing to bd every second day from when af leaves until the day she is due to arrive, i am 37 yrs old and ttc #4 it has taken so far 10mths and i am getting a bit anxious about it all now. she did tell me tho when i first mentioned to her that we were starting to try again that if i didn't fall prg within 4 mths to see her to get the ball rolling on tests etc. but we have decided not to go down that track, as i said we are ttc #4 and would dearly love for it to happen but if it doesn't then we will try and accept it.

sounds like you have a good gp there - they are very hard to find. mine is also great but really hard to get to see and always running late lol

J,
I hope you get your wish soon.

I will beg to differ with a few things your doctor said. I believe OPK's if used correctly and for long enough and often enough in a cycle are very good indicators of fertility. Many women don't pick up their surge because the instructions say to test once a day between 10am and 10pm. For some women the surge is short and sharp and they miss it if testing only once (Iam one of these women). Also if you don't test at the same time each day you will likely miss the surge. Also some women don't get a true positive (lme!) but they still ovulate. I ttc last year for 5 months. The last cycle I had worked out how to use opk's to suit my body and I conceived. I conceived again the following month using the same plan of attack.

Cervical mucous is definitely a fantastic indicator of fertility. However, some of us don't get noticable changes there. ME!!!! If I waited for cm changes to bd I would never get pregnant! Also, some women have fertile cm for up to 5 days. To know precisely when you are ovulating (within a 24 hour period)OPK"s are fantastic. Also, some men's sperm are not as motile as others. I have a friend who has to pin point ovulation because her hubby hasn't got strong swimmers. She has conceived each time using opk's to pin point ovulation and thus make sure she bd's at the right time. Yep, she has four boys!

I would agree wholeheartedly and absolutely that getting them right can be a bit of a challenge. However once you work out what your body is doing they can work like a charm.

I always thought I ovulated on day 16. I don't. I usually o on day 17 or 18 but when I am ttc I want to know exactly when. I have found them great for that.

So, I guess what I am saying is that opk's shouldn't be written off. They can be very helpful to some women. Especially for women like me who don't get obvious cm changes. My ob and others I have worked with recommend them highly - others don't so I guess that is personal.

I hope your dreams come true very soon and you have a healthy happy little baby to love.

Love and blessings,
Deb

I just wanted to add the comment "forget about it and it will happen"

DH and I stopped using protection and I wasnt on the pill or anything. That was 2-3 years ago. We always went with the, if it happens it happens, and well it never has!
There were some times of course when we did avoid anywhere near the middle of the cycle eg: before the wedding etc
Now TTC 110%!
I have no idea on how long we should wait before approaching a doctor. We dont even have a regular doctor coz we used different ones depending on where we can get into.

:chairfall: I agree Sunny Summer. Forget about it and it will happen. Like we can forget about it!!!
Also a really dumb thing to say to someone. And dangerous. As we all know when we want to be pregnant it isn't always as easy as we think it is going to be. There really is only a tiny window of opportunity for the sperm to meet egg each month. And then the egg has to be healthy and in the right mood and the sperm has to be the same. I reckon it's a miracle that it happens at all!
When I think of all the years I tried NOT to get pregnant! Then I have so far had no real difficulty getting pregnant. (I [-o< that I will be again soon).
To say to forget about it is partly a good idea. Sometimes we get so focussed (me!) that it gets a bit consuming and this is stressful and stress can inhibit the whole process.

My advice is to make sure you have a good diet, drink plenty of water, take Vitex and vit C and zinc and folate. Exercise daily (yoga or some other relaxation/meditative exercise is great). Use OPK's for a few cycles to get an idea of when you ovulate. Make sure you have your immunity to rubella and CMV checked and have had a recent pap smear. When and if YOU start to get concerned find a doctor that you click with and get a referral to an ob and ask for some investigations when YOU are feeling concerned.

I think us women know our bodies pretty well. Most of the time our bodies will produce for us healthy babies. Sometimes it does take time. My third baby took 10 months to conceive. Her brother and sister before her were conceived as soon as we decided to have babies (only 1 or 2 cycles). However I think that my third child took so long to conceive because I had started to ovulate later in my cycle and I wasn't doing the deed late enough in my cycle. Often it is all about timing...

However the general consensus is that if you haven't conceived with 12 months of conciously trying to and you are under 35 then it is reasonable to seek out some medical help. If you have been conciously trying to conceive for 6 months and you are over 35 then seek out some medical investigation.

I wish us all healthy happy babies soon. And yes let's hope the Easter bunny gives us some nice fertile vibes!

Love to you all,
Deb

Hi J,

It's a frustrating road this one, I agree. You will find GPs will give you the type of answer you got for a very good reason - it is not so easy to fall pregnant as we've been told. Even if you are young and fertile, it is quite normal for it to take 12 months, frustrating though that is. So in that sense, your GP is right when she said that very often, patients waiting for an appointment with a fertility specialist will fall pg before the appointment comes up. Usually by that stage, it has been 12 months and a bit so the odds are in your favour =) It sucks to have to wait though.

OPKs are usually pretty helpful I found because I don't get much cervical mucus and my surge is short (similar to Deb's story). I'm also ten years older than you so that is probably a factor too. I know that some people have trouble using them for the reasons already outlined. I think they work best when used at the same time each day with a concentrated amount of urine. That test line must be as dark or darker than the control line etc. It can take a while to get used to them.

I agree with Sunny Summer that it is pretty hard to "forget about it" when things just aren't going as you planned. It can be a tense and frustrating time and very hard to deal with, particularly if everyone around you seems to be falling pg. The funny thing about all this is that nobody ever talks about it (for some people it is too personal) so the sense of isolation is increased. Thank God for BB!

Wishing all of you the best of luck ... Deb had some good advice re diet, exercise, vitamins and getting basic tests done. I really think all that helps so much, particularly if you do eventually need assisted conception. The healthier and fitter you are, the easier your body will deal with it. It also helps to get the easy tests out of the way before you see an IVF doc. I hope it doesn't need to get to that though.

We tried to conceive for three years and I had all the tests and laparoscopic surgery for endo before our one and only IVF cycle got us this baby (due on Tuesday). Hang in there because when it happens, it is so worth the wait.

Mel

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to say thanks everyone for your replys and especially your best wishes.
DH and I often say that it's a wonder anybody gets pregnant, it just shouldn't be this hard!
I have decided this month we will BD every second night like doc said but I am also going to use the OPK as well, even just if its to get to know my body a bit better.
Surely then we wont miss any chances.
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE let this be my ( and everyone else on here) month.
By the way Mel CONGRATULATIONS on your little miracle, I bet your getting excited (and nervous) you will be meeting your baby very soon.
Good luck.
J