Any TTCer's out there?

Simistar · June 8, 2011

Originally Posted by JoanneIreland

Thanks Simistar! I'm from Ireland but living in US at the moment (long story, came here for work temporarily, met my fiance, well boyfriend at the time, decided to stay longer and got a green card via work, so split my time between the two as my company is international), so my health insurance is in US. I think I will definitely make a doctors appointment and go ask for the tests. My doctor isn't terrible, but not great either, if I feel she is not taking this seriously I think this will be a good sign for me to change PCP. Thank you so much for the advice! Ordered my book and thermometer last night and already have my prenatal vitamins and iron supplements. I quit smoking almost 4 years ago, started working out at least 3 hours a week since February so overall doing good, although I do want to focus on less stress at work, i literally work around the clock and I can feel it taking it's toll on me, plus I want to cut back on the booze, have gotten into the habit of having some wine to alleviate the work stress and wedding stress and I think I should cut back or even cut out altogether if planning to have a baby.

Wow -- sounds like you're doing all the right things!:-)

I know what you mean about work stress, and that CAN play a big factor, so do what you can to alleviate the stress...maybe consider yoga in your workouts? I don't do yoga myself, but friends of mine swear by it to help them de-stress:-)

One big things is start tracking your cycles, which can be hard if you're irregular..I'm not as irregular as you I don't think, but I certainly don't fall into the "28-day cycle norm".

I bought a Clearblue Digital Fertility Monitor (not cheap! About $200) which I thought really helped me b/c of my irregular cycles. BUT, lots of girls with irregular cycles, just use the regular ovulation sticks, basal temperature etc etc and are fine;-)

I think it's a GREAT idea to go to your doctor sooner than later. And absolutely, if you feel he/she isn't taking you seriously, get a new one who will:-)

It's amazing how much time all this stuff takes...and unfortunately, a lot of it is "cycle" dependent...meaning you'll often have to wait for your next cycle to start to do a certain blood test or take a certain drug or get an internal ultrasound, etc etc...and every time you have to wait for your next cycle, that's another month gone:-(

And if they DO find something that needs to be dealt with ( a cyst, polyp, whatever) then that adds time on too...

Thankfully for us, it seems there weren't any major red flags, just the usual stuff when you try to conceive when you're older (lower sperm motility, etc).

Most doctors will likely tell you (and your fiance!) to cut back on drinking when you're TTC...I still had a glass about a once a week:-)

JoanneIreland · June 12, 2011

Thanks Simistar.

My FI as it happens has a doc's appointment this coming Friday so I asked him if he would talk his doctor whilst he is there about some male fetility tests, and to my surprise he did not kick up a fuss and agreed to (he is absolutely dying to start a faimily!!), I need to do the same myself and hopefully this will put us on the right track. TTC wise I don't think it makes a difference (but this could be me being naive), but my FI has MS. I hope this doesn't have negative impacts of TTC (dont think it has any bearing) but yup, I really need to talk to my doctor.

Thanks so much!

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Originally Posted by Simistar