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Introduction
My husband and I decided to TTC when I was 38, turning 39. We had some medical issues, as my husband had some surgery probably 10 years ago, making one of his testicals nonfunctioning. We had also been using the withdrawal method of contraception for a few years, so honestly, I wasn't even sure if getting pregnant was possible.
Tests, Procedures, Medical consultations
I went to see an ob/gyn who specializes in fertility before we began to TTC. (I didn't know at the time that that was her speciality.) Because of my age, she suggested trying for 6 months and then going to see her to take further steps. Luckily, we never had to.
Trying-to-Conceive (TTC) experience
The TTC process was confusing, I think would the best way to describe it. Even with my husband's medical issues and my age, I expected to get pregnant the first month. The longer we TTCd, the more focused on getting pregnant I became. The first month, I estimated my fertile days. No success. The second month, I began to temp. This was much more helpful, but still, no success. The third and fourth months, we added OPK tests. Still no success. The fifth month, I started using a fertiity monitor. That was the most helpful, I think, because it pinpointed my fertile days. I got pregnant the 6th month, and I attribute it mostly to timing. (Most of the time that we were TTC, my cycles were off. I think it was the stress of TTC.)
The TTC process was also a little hard on my relationship with my husband. He felt really pushed into ddt on fertile days, and wanted a lot of advance warning. (I think he thought that I could tell a week ahead of time, and was pretty surprised when I explained that ovulation was not always easy to predict.) He is also older, so numerous ddt sessions were unrealistic. I would get very upset when pregnancy tests came back negative, and worry that I would never get pregnant. And because he was a little ambivalent about being a father so late in life, he wasn't as upset as I was. This caused some friction. (Note that, now that he is a dad, he couldn't be happier.)
As far as the day-to-day experience, probably the funniest thing was my obsessive checking my chart. (Did I really think it would change since I checked it 2 minutes ago?) I also spent a lot of time looking at other people's pregnany charts and comparing them with mine. And trying to keep myself occupied while waiting to test. Reading birth and pregnany journals.
Charting Experience
I am ashamed to admit that I never really knew when I ovulated, before I started to temp. When we didn't immediately get pregnant, I really threw myself into finding out my body worked and how to increase my chances of getting pregnant. Learning about my body through charting was really empowering -- I wish I had done it years ago.
The Internet
When I first started trying to figure out how to increase my chances to get pregnant, I started looking on the internet to see what kind of information was out there. I found a lot of boards of other women who had the same kinds of questions I did, and other women with answers. And then I found fertilityfriend, which was invaluable. The information presented on your site is terrific.
Other Thoughts?
My baby is now 4 months old, and we will soon start the TTC journey again. I'm hoping that this time around, I will have a better idea of what works for us and that I'll be less emotional when we're not successful. But I know that the older I get, the less likely it will be for me to have another child.
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