Cycle: Trying since August 2017: 20 cycles tracking + 6 months-ish NTNP
Age + Partner's age (if relevant): 26 & 28
Typical cycle length: 27ish days (weird cycles for the past 6 months)
Ovulation cycle day: CD15
CD/DPO of positive test(s): CD34/19DPO (didn't do any testing prior to that day)
Tracking methods and app(s) used: Fertility Friend for temps and general charting, Premom for OPK reading
Relevant days of sperminating and/or method (SMEP, TI, IUI, FET, etc.): TI O-5, O-4, O-3, O-2, O-1, O
Health conditions/medical tests: MFI - bilateral varicoceles + oligozoospermia (confirmed by 3 SAs): SA #1 (May 2019), SA #2 (June 2019), SA #3 (November 2019). The 3rd SA was 1 week after I ovulated and showed little to no improvement from the SA 5 months prior. Our RU seemed to think that the SA results were skewed by the fact that Mr. Spooky was really sick with a fever when he did the SA. I had already had my immunization titers checked, pelvic ultrasound, and had CD3 bloodwork a year ago. I was currently waiting for my exploratory laparoscopy with chromopertubation due to suspected endometriosis. Mr. Spooky has ADHD; I have migraines, ADHD, depression, panic disorder/PTSD, history of EDNOS/OSFED, and low Vitamin D.
Supplements and medications (yours and/or your partner’s): MR. SPOOKY: Qunol CoQ10 200 mg + Omega 3, Jarrow Formulas B-12 500 mcg, Actif MegaCount (multivitamin), Maca 950 mg X2 daily, Kirkland Calcium Citrate + Magnesium + Zinc, Kirkland Vitamin C 1000 mg, Nature’s Wonder Vitamin E 400 IU, Adderall. ME: Wellbutrin XL, Fioricet, Smarty Pants Prenatal gummies, Nature Made Fish Oil, Qunol CoQ10 100 mg + Vitamin E, Nature’s Bounty Probiotic, Solimo Iron 27 mg, Kirkland Calcium Citrate + Magnesium + Zinc, Vitamin D 50000 IU once weekly (prescription). I stopped my ADHD and anxiety medications under my psychiatrist's supervision so my current meds have already been approved by him for pregnancy.
Birth control history (if relevant): Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo and Yaz/Beyaz for 8+ years (Stopped in 2016); Junel - Cycle 14, mini pill - Cycle 15
Link to chart: Sweet Potato Tragic
Link to lineporn: Sticks
Symptom spotting: See my chart. Sore nipples are not a normal symptom for me but it has happened in past cycles. Normally I sleep a lot during my LP and 1-2 days before my period starts I am not as tired anymore. That did not happen this time. I've been a human potato. I didn't get my normal cold legs/feet thing that I get 1-2 days before my period starts either. Other than that, I've felt more pregnant in my nonpregnant cycles than I do right now. The night before I tested, I ate sushi to celebrate what I thought was spotting (lol) and promptly threw up the next morning. Probably unrelated.
Other (advice/tip(s), freaking out, miscellaneous): I never ever thought that I would be here. I had nothing prepared to write in a BFP post because I thought that I had a lot more time if this ever were to work out. A few days before I ovulated, we saw Mr. Spooky's reproductive urologist and our reproductive endocrinologist to go over our next steps. This included discussing the lap for me and ordering a repeat SA for Mr. Spooky. It's been a shitshow just trying to get testing done for both of us which is why we were still unable to move on to treatments sooner. It took three urologists before we could get an SA and it's been over 6 months since I began seriously pursuing the lap. After December, we planned to take a break again while we waited for my lap because this whole process has been exhausting between the MFI, my death pain, and all the hoops we've tried to jump through to just have a shot. If I could do this over again, I would have started demanding an SA earlier and I would have been a lot more proactive about getting the lap done. This was not plan A, plan B, or plan C so although I am thrilled that this worked, I had made peace with and planned not to be able to conceive without assistance. I had started our application to foster this cycle too which will be on hold temporarily but is something we absolutely want to pick back up afterwards.
Also, I had ZERO EWCM this cycle. I maybe had some watery CM? But definitely no visible stretchy stuff which is pretty common for me. Our RE assured me that the lack of CM wouldn’t be an issue with IUI but part of me worried that it definitely wasn’t helping chances. The reason that I thought that I had started my period the day before I had tested was because my periods are almost always extremely light and short. My last period lasted a maximum of 48 hours and was a very light flow (I typically use junior slim tampons). Seeing some pink when I wiped led me to assume that it was the beginning of my period. So to anyone who is worried about either of those things, apparently it didn't matter in my case.
I really can't say that we did anything different this cycle. We did pretty much the same or less than we've done for the past two years. This was a high score for intercourse timing but we’d had almost a dozen cycles of high timing before without success. There are no magic secrets or supplements or whatever. FUCK THE STATS. This really is mostly all a game of luck. Things I have tried in the past (that obviously didn't work): Brazil nuts, pineapple core, grapefruit juice, evening primrose oil, Preseed, ConceivePlus lube, softcups, lying down with my hips on a pillow, NTNP, and probably a few other things. If you want to try these things, go for it but I think I'll skip all of them the next time around. The only woo woo thing that I’m pretty solidly behind is icing. We used this for the past 3 months/2 months before the 3rd SA. Concentration stayed pretty similar (slightly increased) but we went from 2% morphology to 4% morphology.
I highly recommend NOT testing. Honestly, I think that’s what helped me to preserve what little bit of sanity I had left. A piece of me wonders what it would have been like if I had tested earlier but overall, I don’t regret doing things the way that I did. Not testing allowed me to pretend that I was pregnant every cycle and find myself some hope again. Sure, CD1 sucked. But those cycles that I had tested, I was always so sad leading up until my period arrived. This method also allowed me to spend money on snacks. I went through 3 FRERs since August 2018. The last FRER I had taken prior to this one was when my period hadn’t arrived on 15DPO. After that super depressing negative, I was too afraid to test any sooner than that since my body is an Oscar-worthy troll. So every day that crept past I kept telling myself that I had been faked out by my temps and OPKs (it had happened before) or was just having a super long LP. First, I tested on an OPK and then took another few hours to work up the courage to take another OPK & HPT.
Thank you to this beautiful community for lifting me up and carrying me through this long, frustrating jOuRnEy. I have made so many amazing friends here and learned from some of the most knowledgeable people I have ever encountered. I honestly cannot say enough good things about my time here while trying. Shoutout to trolling for keeping me sane and giving me an outlet to laugh at the insanity of this entire process. Special thanks to the sister subs ST and IF for being supportive as I navigated the complexities of testing and treatment. I love all of you so so much and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to finally be a grad.
Edit: update links/formatting (links to supplements added!)
Edit #2: my IRL BFF sent me a picture of her test and she’s a unicorn! We’re due within a week of each other��
Edit #3: Omg thank you for all of the love you guys! And thank you for the gold!��
Cycle: Trying since August 2017: 20 cycles tracking + 6 months-ish NTNP
Age + Partner's age (if relevant): 26 & 28
Typical cycle length: 27ish days (weird cycles for the past 6 months)
Ovulation cycle day: CD15
CD/DPO of positive test(s): CD34/19DPO (didn't do any testing prior to that day)
Tracking methods and app(s) used: Fertility Friend for temps and general charting, Premom for OPK reading
Relevant days of sperminating and/or method (SMEP, TI, IUI, FET, etc.): TI O-5, O-4, O-3, O-2, O-1, O
Health conditions/medical tests: MFI - bilateral varicoceles + oligozoospermia (confirmed by 3 SAs): SA #1 (May 2019), SA #2 (June 2019), SA #3 (November 2019). The 3rd SA was 1 week after I ovulated and showed little to no improvement from the SA 5 months prior. Our RU seemed to think that the SA results were skewed by the fact that Mr. Spooky was really sick with a fever when he did the SA. I had already had my immunization titers checked, pelvic ultrasound, and had CD3 bloodwork a year ago. I was currently waiting for my exploratory laparoscopy with chromopertubation due to suspected endometriosis. Mr. Spooky has ADHD; I have migraines, ADHD, depression, panic disorder/PTSD, history of EDNOS/OSFED, and low Vitamin D.
Supplements and medications (yours and/or your partner’s): MR. SPOOKY: Qunol CoQ10 200 mg + Omega 3, Jarrow Formulas B-12 500 mcg, Actif MegaCount (multivitamin), Maca 950 mg X2 daily, Kirkland Calcium Citrate + Magnesium + Zinc, Kirkland Vitamin C 1000 mg, Nature’s Wonder Vitamin E 400 IU, Adderall. ME: Wellbutrin XL, Fioricet, Smarty Pants Prenatal gummies, Nature Made Fish Oil, Qunol CoQ10 100 mg + Vitamin E, Nature’s Bounty Probiotic, Solimo Iron 27 mg, Kirkland Calcium Citrate + Magnesium + Zinc, Vitamin D 50000 IU once weekly (prescription). I stopped my ADHD and anxiety medications under my psychiatrist's supervision so my current meds have already been approved by him for pregnancy.
Birth control history (if relevant): Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo and Yaz/Beyaz for 8+ years (Stopped in 2016); Junel - Cycle 14, mini pill - Cycle 15
Link to chart: Sweet Potato Tragic
Link to lineporn: Sticks
Symptom spotting: See my chart. Sore nipples are not a normal symptom for me but it has happened in past cycles. Normally I sleep a lot during my LP and 1-2 days before my period starts I am not as tired anymore. That did not happen this time. I've been a human potato. I didn't get my normal cold legs/feet thing that I get 1-2 days before my period starts either. Other than that, I've felt more pregnant in my nonpregnant cycles than I do right now. The night before I tested, I ate sushi to celebrate what I thought was spotting (lol) and promptly threw up the next morning. Probably unrelated.
Other (advice/tip(s), freaking out, miscellaneous): I never ever thought that I would be here. I had nothing prepared to write in a BFP post because I thought that I had a lot more time if this ever were to work out. A few days before I ovulated, we saw Mr. Spooky's reproductive urologist and our reproductive endocrinologist to go over our next steps. This included discussing the lap for me and ordering a repeat SA for Mr. Spooky. It's been a shitshow just trying to get testing done for both of us which is why we were still unable to move on to treatments sooner. It took three urologists before we could get an SA and it's been over 6 months since I began seriously pursuing the lap. After December, we planned to take a break again while we waited for my lap because this whole process has been exhausting between the MFI, my death pain, and all the hoops we've tried to jump through to just have a shot. If I could do this over again, I would have started demanding an SA earlier and I would have been a lot more proactive about getting the lap done. This was not plan A, plan B, or plan C so although I am thrilled that this worked, I had made peace with and planned not to be able to conceive without assistance. I had started our application to foster this cycle too which will be on hold temporarily but is something we absolutely want to pick back up afterwards.
Also, I had ZERO EWCM this cycle. I maybe had some watery CM? But definitely no visible stretchy stuff which is pretty common for me. Our RE assured me that the lack of CM wouldn’t be an issue with IUI but part of me worried that it definitely wasn’t helping chances. The reason that I thought that I had started my period the day before I had tested was because my periods are almost always extremely light and short. My last period lasted a maximum of 48 hours and was a very light flow (I typically use junior slim tampons). Seeing some pink when I wiped led me to assume that it was the beginning of my period. So to anyone who is worried about either of those things, apparently it didn't matter in my case.
I really can't say that we did anything different this cycle. We did pretty much the same or less than we've done for the past two years. This was a high score for intercourse timing but we’d had almost a dozen cycles of high timing before without success. There are no magic secrets or supplements or whatever. FUCK THE STATS. This really is mostly all a game of luck. Things I have tried in the past (that obviously didn't work): Brazil nuts, pineapple core, grapefruit juice, evening primrose oil, Preseed, ConceivePlus lube, softcups, lying down with my hips on a pillow, NTNP, and probably a few other things. If you want to try these things, go for it but I think I'll skip all of them the next time around. The only woo woo thing that I’m pretty solidly behind is icing. We used this for the past 3 months/2 months before the 3rd SA. Concentration stayed pretty similar (slightly increased) but we went from 2% morphology to 4% morphology.
I highly recommend NOT testing. Honestly, I think that’s what helped me to preserve what little bit of sanity I had left. A piece of me wonders what it would have been like if I had tested earlier but overall, I don’t regret doing things the way that I did. Not testing allowed me to pretend that I was pregnant every cycle and find myself some hope again. Sure, CD1 sucked. But those cycles that I had tested, I was always so sad leading up until my period arrived. This method also allowed me to spend money on snacks. I went through 3 FRERs since August 2018. The last FRER I had taken prior to this one was when my period hadn’t arrived on 15DPO. After that super depressing negative, I was too afraid to test any sooner than that since my body is an Oscar-worthy troll. So every day that crept past I kept telling myself that I had been faked out by my temps and OPKs (it had happened before) or was just having a super long LP. First, I tested on an OPK and then took another few hours to work up the courage to take another OPK & HPT.
I have not done a lot of research in to quality brands for Vitamin D3 supplements, but for B12 I take Jarrow Formula Methyl B12. In general I like to buy any vitamin or supplements I'm going to try out from Puritan's Pride because they are usually cheaper, plus they always have bulk sales. Looks like right now they are having a big buy 1 get 1 free sale.
Anyway, I didn't mean to imply you should get blood work every month for your thyroid. Only that you should be persistent if fixing your B12 and D deficiency does not help you!