A weekly dedicated space for members who have been trying for another for 12 or more months, experiencing infertility. Talk of treatment, testing/diagnosis, or tough feelings are welcome here. While this is a safe space to vent, please consider how other long haulers in different circumstances may feel about your words.

This thread is primarily for current long-haulers to connect with, vent to, and support each other. We ask that anyone else (including TFA grads and those whose current round of TTC has been less than 12 months) participate only to answer questions where your personal experience is relevant - for example, if someone asks about the side effects of a fertility treatment you have tried. For more general support, sympathy, and finger-crossing, in this thread, if you have not currently been trying for at least 12 months, please stick to a quiet upvote.

This thread is not meant to limit discussion only to this thread. Discussion of long haul issues is always welcome in the Daily Chat.

Welcome! Are you new to TFA? Tell us about yourself! Make it as long or as short as you'd like.

Some possible topics could include: Age, # child you are trying for, what part of the world you're in, your partner, how you spend your time, how you are feeling about trying again!

Note that adding flair with your age, TTC #, and optionally ages or birth month/years of your child(ren) is highly encouraged!

Hi everyone. Currently trying for another baby 12m postpartum. I started spotting during ovulation, I believe, at 8m postpartum and it lasts a few days. Has this happened to anyone and were you still able to conceive? I have a doctors appointment booked but just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience. TIA

Hi friends! My and my fiance have been “trying” for about a year. Which consists of looking at my fertile days on Flo. I had a MC on 8/28 which has been my first pregnancy since my daughter and I’m just about done bleeding(veryyyyy little spotting). This has really confirmed our want for another baby. We weren’t trying when I got pregnant with my first. That was 7 years ago. We were so excited for the literal 4 days I knew I was pregnant. How do I actually track my ovulation? I’ve read some posts but they’re a lil confusing. I want to actually track the right way but my cycles are so weird 27-40 days usually right around 31-34 with a few odd months. Any tips are greatly appreciated 💙💙💙

I’m trying for our 5th baby.

We have had 4 full term healthy babies. The first 3 I didn’t try at all to get pregnant. Our 4th at 36 we tried for 3? Cycles or so.

But now I’m 39 and my AMH is .6 and im worried that it’s been taking me a while to get pregnant. We’ve been trying since March.

I understand that other people have not been as fortunate as me to have gotten pregnant so easily and carry all babies to full term, I don’t want to seem insensitive.

I just hope to have another and I am curious if you’re in your late 30s early 40s , how long did it take, what interventions did you need?

I am already seeing a fertility specialist and had an HSG saline done. Everything is fine. It’s really my age at this point?

My husband is going to get his SA soon. we had a baby 2 years ago, I don’t think much has changed with him though

Thanks for answering in advance!

Casually trying for 3 cycles so far and I used a pregnancy calculator and if I got pregnant this cycle, due date would be 2 weeks after my preschooler’s birthday. I was induced at 38 weeks with her and if successful, 38 weeks would fall on her birthday. I don’t know if we should “sit this one out” to avoid crowding birthdays? I’m 34 but feeling time pressure. What would you do?

FF shows I’m at 13 DPO, Premom shows 12 DPO.

I have been tracking for the 3 months and I always had symptoms after ovulation - super tender breasts and body stays very warm.

This time - it’s completely opposite - I feel chilly all the time and no sore breasts at all.

Period is due on the 3rd of Sept - waiting to test (because of past cycle negative results and disappointment)

Did anyone end up having a positive test with no symptoms at all???

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.

I’m TTC and trying to figure out the best way to time intercourse around my LH surge. I recently heard someone recommend having sex a couple of times in the days leading up to your surge instead of having sex every single day, with the idea that having sperm already waiting before ovulation is more important than trying to time everything exactly on ovulation day.
For those of you who were tracking LH when you conceived, what did you actually do that cycle? Did you have sex every day, every other day, or only a couple of times before/around your positive LH test?
I’m especially curious about people who could see their LH strips gradually getting darker before their positive. When did you start having sex, and what days relative to your positive/peak did you have sex? Not looking for gender-swaying methods or anything like that just trying to understand what timing worked for people who were actively tracking ovulation. Thanks !

Looking for any suggestions/success stories. It took us 12 months to get pregnant with our first, I quit vaping that month and got pregnant right away. Unfortunately I started vaping a little bit after having my first and we’ve been trying for our second for 15 months with no luck at all.. I’m wondering if it’s my vaping addiction again.. has anyone had issues ovulating when vaping?

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.

Doing a big closet clear out and have a bunch of maternity clothes I’ve been hanging onto. After 1.5 years of TTC for #2, plus failed IUI and IVF, I am wondering if now is the time to part with them.

To be clear, I am not giving up!! I’m 39 but do believe I will get pregnant soon (I have to believe!)

Of course my brain wonders if getting rid of the clothes will magically make me pregnant lol. Any thoughts??

TTC has been so hard lately, and honestly, I feel like I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. 🥹

Has anyone experienced a sudden shift in ovulation day or a shortened luteal phase after previously having regular cycles? Did it eventually return to normal, and how long did it take?

I’ve been trying to conceive since January, but only started using ovulation kits in April. In April, I was using a digital ovulation kit but couldn’t catch any surge. I’m not sure if I was too stressed or anxious about TTC at the time. I switched to OPK strips in May, and in both April and May, my positive OPK was around CD 12–14, with a 14-day luteal phase.

Then in June, my cycle was really disrupted, probably after a bad flu. Since then, I’ve been ovulating around CD17, and my luteal phase has shortened to around 8–10 days. It’s been worrying me, especially since we’re TTC.

I’m currently 8 DPO and started having brownish-red discharge today. I was really hoping either to get a good news this cycle or at least have a longer luteal phase. 💔

My TTC deadline is the end of this year, so I’m starting to feel like my time is running out. 🥹 I’m 35 and my son is already 5 this year.. I haven’t actually been as stressed or anxious lately, so I’m not sure what’s causing the change. 😭

Moms who were actively TTC: what happened during the cycle you finally got pregnant that was different from all the cycles you swore you were pregnant but weren’t?

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.

Hi everyone. This is probably a question for a doctor, but perhaps someone here has been in a similar situation.

I’m 36 and we’ve been trying for our second child for 10 months. I had a completely normal first pregnancy five years ago and conceived without any difficulty. I delivered by C-section.

I’ve had my hormones and AMH checked, and my partner has had a semen analysis — everything came back normal. I thought the next step would be an HSG, but my specialist told me that the chances of blocked fallopian tubes are low and suggested trying letrozole first. (I dont have PCOS or irregualr cycles, my cycles are 29-32 days long and regular).

I’m really torn because letrozole is still a hormonal treatment, and logically it makes more sense to me to first check whether my tubes are open before stimulating my ovaries.

Even if I decided to arrange an HSG on my own, I probably wouldn’t have enough time to do both the vaginal/cervical swabs and the HSG during this cycle, considering that today is the first day of my period. I’m supposed to start letrozole on cycle day 3.

Sorry for the long post. I’m genuinely unsure what to do, and unfortunately today is a public holiday in my country followed by the weekend, so I can’t consult my doctor. I also don’t have any other doctor i consider close enough to contact by phone. And i really don't want to skip yet another cycle.

If anyone has been in a similar situation, I would really appreciate hearing about your experience or advice.

Thank you, and have a lovely day!

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.

Note: Discussion of BFPs / ongoing pregnancies is allowed and encouraged in this thread!

A dedicated space for TFA grads to check in and keep their TFA friends updated on their journey to #2+!

If you're looking for more discussion, please head over to the gradsofTFA subreddit as well. It's a private subreddit so you can send a modmail using desktop or you can directly message moderators DreamsofCheesecake or youcango-now to be added.

Has anyone taken maca while TTC and noticed any difference? I just started taking 1900mg maca along with my prenatal. I plan on stopping maca immediately if I get a positive pregnancy test. Just curious if anyone has taken it and what your experience was!

I haven’t tracked in 8 years so I’m a bit confused here. I got a positive test strip ovulation yesterday. Took a clear blue the one with just solid smile or empty. Day before yesterday negative and yesterday positive. Also day before negative on the strip.
So since I’m negative today but was positive yesterday my big question does that make it over or should we still be having sex every day. We had sex Tuesday and yesterday. This is hard on my anxiety.

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.

Hi everyone, currently on cycle 5 of TTC for baby #2. I’ve been using the clearblue ovulation tests and for the past two months, it’s gone straight from an empty circle to a solid smiley, completely skipping the blinking smiley state. Does this mean i have a short ovulation window? Has this happened to anyone else and what did it mean for you? For example, I tested this morning and it was negative (empty circle) and then on a whim I tested tonight and it was positive (solid smiley).

I got a positive ovulation today a week after predicted in my app by the time I got my period. Does that mean my period should be expected later?

Tell us about everything! Only thing that isn't allowed is BFP and pregnancy talk - those have their own threads.