Oh hun, sorry to hear that. I agree that it is a good idea to give yourself a break from TTC - not that suddenly not stressing will magically make you pregnant, but that single-minded focus can be really wearing after a while. Simply not having to reach for the thermometer the minute you wake up can mean that it’s not the first thought you have each day, which I felt gave me more perspective.
Fingers crossed for the IVF. I had really built it up in my mind and was relieved to find it was not as bad as I had expected. I’m half way through my second antagonist cycle right now for #2 and it’s such an easy way to do it, rather than a down reg cycle. I’m in Australia so can’t talk specifics about the US system, but if you’d like to, feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need to vent. I’d also recommend Stirrup Queens, which is a site that rounds up lots of IF blogs - good if you’re looking for inspiration or support.
Been there and done that multiple times. It sucks. Be kind to yourself and cry if you have to. I found the physical pain never as bad as the emotional fallout. I hope IVF works for you.
Thank you for the kind words. Girl From Mars, I was actually on Stirrup Queens last night! I was looking for blogs and success stories (always makes me feel better!) and ran across that one.
I’m trying to focus on the good things that are coming up for us (a few long weekends and vacations in May, family coming for a weekend, etc.) and am really starting to focus on my training (I run and cycle) now that I feel like I can really push all the time. I always told myself I wouldn’t ‘put life on hold for TTC’, but now that I think about it, I really was.
The only thing I’m questioning is if I should stop taking my Prenatal too. I’m thinking no, as I could use the multivitamin daily anyhow.
I’d keep taking it - unless you’re going to be very careful there is the chance you could still fall pregnant naturally, and better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, they recommend at least 3 months (some say up to 12 months) preconception vitamins, so you’d only have to start taking it in a couple of months anyway.
Dammit, I was really hoping for a positive for you this time. I’m really sorry for you.
I don’t think I can give you any helpful assvice on how to stay sane while waiting to go through IVF. My strategy to pass the time was always to go on holiday and do things I couldn’t have done were I pregnant or had a baby. There are only so many holidays you can go on, though!
We’ll probably be looking at going back to IVF if I haven’t become pregnant by the end of the year. So we are in the position as well of trying, but not trying (because as soon as we start really trying, the stress becomes to much and, well, things don’t happen like they’re supposed to).
So far, the only thing I’ve found that helps is to throw away all the charting and such, and just focus on other things. And I’m trying to stay away from pregnant people, although they keep popping out of the woodwork when I least expect it, so that’s not really working.
Oh, and I second **GfM **- IVF is not that bad really. I think the best thing was that we really felt like we were doing something that had an actual hope of working. Plus, as you go through it, you get lots of lovely numbers for you to keep track of and google the hell out of. Hormone levels, follicle sizes and counts, fertilisation rates, embryo growth…