in dire need to some supportive words of fertility wisdom!

[Anonymous]

I'm at a total loss here. its been nine months of serious effort. and a year and a half of unprotected sort of trying. I'm 27! NOT GETTING PREGNANT IS THE WORST JOKE EVER! my dh will get his sperm checked this december when we are back in canada so we can see if that is the issue here but in the meantime arrgh!!

so here is a list of all my attempts to make my body baby friendly:
omega 3's
a whole foods prenatal (2/3 dose)
hormone cream (made just for me from my ND)
probiotics
"pregnancy prep" (a mix of red raspberry and other fertility promoting herbs)
I walk FAR many times a week (we have a high energy dog which helps)
I eat well (gluten/dairy free... and only occasional, like once a month, soy)
I sleep 7-9 hours a night
I drink enough water
I'm not a big caffeine person (maybe some green tea/mate a few times a week)
I have regular cycles
I temp/chart and seem to be ovulating regularly
I don't drink (maybe a tiny glass of white wine or a gluten free beer like once a month max)

I mean seriously what more can I do? ok ok, the relaxation thing is hard for me. I tend to run a little anxious. but I belong to a great group that does peer counseling, so I have a lot of emotional outlets to work on my "issues" and my hormone cream also has a little bit of added support for my adrenals.

Any suggestions or words of wisdom or great articles on fertility you feel like sharing would be incredibly helpful. Success stories are helpful too : )

[Anonymous]

I totally understand how you feel! I did all of the same things you are doing and we have not been able to conceive naturally. After about six months of trying my husband was tested and the results were irregular. I would go ahead and make an appointment with a fertility specialist if you can. Technically you are supposed to try for a year before you see a specialist, but by the time you get an appointment (which can take some time) and get through the initial testing, 2-3 months may go by.

[Anonymous]

I think sperm analysis is not that expensive depending on where you have it done. Might be worth at least getting that done now so that at least you'll know if that is the issue. Also, my RE says that they sometimes see funky things in women who eat too much soy b/c of the natural estrogens in that food. So maybe that is affecting things. Also, are you using any lube? Most lubes aren't good for TTC. Good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

What's your body weight like?
I actively tried to conceive for 10 months at age 32 before finally getting pregnant. The trick for me was gaining 5 pounds.
I wasn't thin enough to stop menstruating or ovulating (I was b/c I tracked), but because of my lack of body fat I didn't have enough estrogen to make much cervical mucus...once I put on 5 pounds, I was back to having very abundant EWCM and conceived right away.
My BMI pre-weight gain was 19.

I'd probably nix the hormone cream so you don't interfere with your body's hormones...a supplement shouldn't be necessary.

I also agree with getting your husband's sperm tested here. I made my DH do that early on. It's not too expensive.

[Anonymous]

check any lube you are using. Most are not sperm friendly or so they say. I assume you are timing your attempts to conceive. If not, I recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

In addition to having your DH checked, I'd reccommend talking to your OB about getting Day 3 bloodwork done to test hormone levels and a HSG to determine if your tubes are clear. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My first thought was, "Have you been checked?" There are all sorts of tests that an RE or even an OB/GYN will do. You might have an issue that you are not aware of that is keeping you from getting pregnant.

[Anonymous]

My first thought was the same as 13:33. You need to get day 3 bloodwork and an HSG. You could be in excellent general health and your BBT charts could look beautiful, but that doesn't tell you if your tubes are blocked. And get a semen analysis done soon. I think something like 40% of fertility problems are male factor. There is no way to know without the testing.

I would stop the hormone cream and the concoction of herbs. Both of those could be affecting your hormones, and you don't know for sure what they are doing to your hormones or how the two of them are interacting with each other. If you are otherwise healthy with normal cycles, you shouldn't need the supplements. While they sometimes help for specific problems, they can have the opposite effect on women with normal cycles/hormones by throwing things off balance.

I'd skip the OB and go straight to an RE. OBs can order the testing, but some of them are not well-versed in fertility issues, and if it turns out there are issues, you'll need an RE anyway.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it is more to it than that - you live a very healthy life style it seems so now it is time to get a few preliminary tests done.
Are you sure you know when you are ovulating? It turned out that I ovulated on day 7 -9 always - and always started tested at day 10 so I was always missing the window of opportunity.

[Anonymous]

make an appt.w/an RE

[Anonymous]

Have you tried Robitussin? In "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" plain old Robitussin (none of the extra formulas for symptoms other than cough) is recommended to improve the quality of cervical fluid. Apparently is has the same effect on cervical fluid that is has on the mucus for chest congestion - increased viscosity.