What now?

I hate TTC :(

It took us 11 months and a miscarriage to conceive DD1. DD2 was conceived first try just after I got AF back after DD1. We have now been TTC number 3 for 9 months. Now, that would be fine because I know it can take up to a year when everything is normal. But it's not normal. I ovulate a bit late and my LP is all over the place but always too short. The shortest it has been is 8 days, and the longest (1 cycle) is 14 days. Usually it's around 10 or 11 days. Too short, and varies way too much. That's not normal! I have been going to acupuncture and last cycle it increased to 13 days so I was hopeful we were getting on track and I would have a chance now but I'm 10dpo now and have spotting :( So I just feel like it's never going to happen, I don't have a chance.

I'm not really sure what to do now? Should I go to the Dr? Will they even care? Any Dr I've been too didn't seem to trust my charting too much or think it was important, and it hasn't been a year yet. I'm not really sure if I should do anything yet, as I haven't had this issue before so just looking for advice? No point in keeping on TTC and doing nothing if it's not going to work anyway though.

TIA.

you could always get the ball rolling with your GP and ask for full blood works (fsh, tsh, day 21 bloods, iron, vit D etc) just to make sure everything is as it should be? :)

I have heard people say to take vitamin b6 to help make their Luteal phase longer.

:

---

you could always get the ball rolling with your GP and ask for full blood works (fsh, tsh, day 21 bloods, iron, vit D etc) just to make sure everything is as it should be? :)

---

I have no idea what that means but thank you, sounds like something simple enough I can do that may give me some answers!!

:

---

I have heard people say to take vitamin b6 to help make their Luteal phase longer.

---

Yep, tried that. Also on vitex at the moment from the acupuncturist. Seemed to work last cycle but not this one :(

:

---

I have no idea what that means but thank you, sounds like something simple enough I can do that may give me some answers!!

---

Lol sorry! - Fsh is your follicle stimulating hormone and tsh is Thyroid stim hormone - both these impact/affect conception. Day 21 bloods check to see if you have in fact ovulated! The other two are just vitamin D and iron levels. Not sure how/if they impact conception but my specialist ordered them all together :)

Would be interesting for you to know your progrestrone levels post ov as sometimes lower progesterone links to shorter LP. I know for me this was the case. So first stop blood work :) good luck!

:

---

Would be interesting for you to know your progrestrone levels post ov as sometimes lower progesterone links to shorter LP. I know for me this was the case. So first stop blood work :) good luck!

---

Ooo yes, this too! - Knew there was one i was forgetting :)

My LP was always 11 or 12 days. I never realised that was a problem!

What doe you acupuncturist say about it?

I don't have anything. Just want to offer some of these :hug: :hug:

:

---

Lol sorry! - Fsh is your follicle stimulating hormone and tsh is Thyroid stim hormone - both these impact/affect conception. Day 21 bloods check to see if you have in fact ovulated! The other two are just vitamin D and iron levels. Not sure how/if they impact conception but my specialist ordered them all together :)

---

hehe, thank you!! Ok, I'm on it.

:

---

Would be interesting for you to know your progrestrone levels post ov as sometimes lower progesterone links to shorter LP. I know for me this was the case. So first stop blood work :) good luck!

---

Yeah, that's what my acupunturist said. I am on vitex to try and increase progesterone but obviously not helping much :/

:

---

My LP was always 11 or 12 days. I never realised that was a problem!

What doe you acupuncturist say about it?

I don't have anything. Just want to offer some of these :hug: :hug:

---

Thanks LS, it makes me feel better you conceived with a short LP anyway! I was a bit concerned about it, and the fact that it varies from one cycle to the next (thought it was meant to be the same) so that's why I started acupuncture in the first place. She definitely thinks it's a problem and would like it to be at least 13 days. She did say it takes about 3 cycles with AP to regulate your cycle and this is only the second, but I saw improvement the first time and if this cycle is going to be crappy again then I maybe it's not working :(

Thanks for the hugs, I forgot how much TTC sucks. Really wanted a smaller age gap than this but what can you do. I am very blessed to have 2 beautiful girls to begin with, so trying to concentrate on that :)

The other thing is I'm still BF DD2. It's only 1 or 2 times per day but I wonder if I went to the Dr if they would tell me just to wean? Or that they won't do anything until she's weaned? As much as I want another baby, I won't wean DD2 to get pregnant. I got pregnant with DD2 when I was feeding A LOT more than this so I don't think it's the problem anyway.

I don't know much about ttc but just wanted to add I had a short LP and it was different every month (12 days, 14 days, 9 days) it was never the same. I put it down to still breastfeeding. So your short LP may not be an issue? I don't know much though, but thought it might make you feel better about them being a bit all over the shop. :hug:

:

---

I don't know much about ttc but just wanted to add I had a short LP and it was different every month (12 days, 14 days, 9 days) it was never the same. I put it down to still breastfeeding. So your short LP may not be an issue? I don't know much though, but thought it might make you feel better about them being a bit all over the shop. :hug:

---

Thanks Mel, it really does! x

:

---

The other thing is I'm still BF DD2. It's only 1 or 2 times per day but I wonder if I went to the Dr if they would tell me just to wean? Or that they won't do anything until she's weaned? As much as I want another baby, I won't wean DD2 to get pregnant. I got pregnant with DD2 when I was feeding A LOT more than this so I don't think it's the problem anyway.

---

DD2 took 6mths to conceive and i was still feeding DD1 6+ times a day - my specialist never once suggested i wean her :) she weaned on her own when she was 20mths and i was 5mths utd :)

:

---

DD2 took 6mths to conceive and i was still feeding DD1 6+ times a day - my specialist never once suggested i wean her :) she weaned on her own when she was 20mths and i was 5mths utd :)

---

Oh phew, that's great, thank you!

My cycles are all over the shop - I'll have a 15 day cycle and then a 74 day cycle and then a 53 and then a 27 (but never, no never a 28...) and so forth. Also, temping doesn't work on me, because I just don't spike. No idea why.

DH's initial "solution" was that we were simply going to have sex every day.

Seriously.

When that didn't work (after a couple of cycles) we "dropped back" to every 36-48 hours.

When that didn't work (after a few more cycles) I got a large amount of internet cheapie OPKs and just tested to see whether I was O'ing every day ... we had sex other days too, but we were less exhausted, and able to enjoy it more! I got a bag of maybe 100 for $20 or so.

I also cut back on coffee (to 1 cup a day) and was obviously doing some other standard things re vitamins, no alcohol, fresh air and exercise, lots of water, etc.

I was going to suggest vitex and maybe b vitamins also but thats already been done :D

Wanna give you some more :hugs: though and say I'm another with a short luteal phase of only 11days (sometimes less) and the months I've gotten pg it hasn't made a difference that I'm aware of. I wouldnt be surprised if still BFing plays some part in things being irregular I'm pretty sure it affects me... But I've always been BFing when I concieved again so no if you and dd are happy to keep going then do. I guess i just wanted to reassure you that just because things dont seem 'normal' does not inherently mean you don't work properly or can't have another baby! I hope it all works out for you really soon tho hun. :)
PS spotting could be from implantation if it hasn't progressed to anything more.

Thank PN. I haven't really tried OPK's yet. Well I did get some internet cheapies but they came with preg tests too which I tested out and got faint positives on all of them when I wasn't pregnant so I don't know if they're going to be reliable :/ Might test them out next cycle though.

Thanks HSM, comforting to know that a short LP doesn't mean there's no hope! It won't be implantation, I have spotting every cycle for 1 or 2 days before AF as well so it's not looking good unfortunately. Have an acupuncture appointment tomorrow actually so will see what she says about things.

Thank you so much everyone, I feel better already.

Saw my acupuncturist this morning. She was disappointed that my LP was shorter again and decided on some extra supplements to see if they can help this cycle. She also said though that my temperatures were much better than any other cycle, my hormones are evening out and if we can just increase the LP now than I will have a pretty perfect cycle. So hopefully these other herbs will help me out. She said I can go to see the Dr if I like for blood tests so I might do that this cycle just to see what's going on as well. Fingers crossed!

Glad to hear your AP is onboard with you also seeing your doc - sometimes the best results occur when Eastern & Western medicine work in conjunction with each other :)

Hope your next bfp is just around the corner hun :hug: