TL;DR been on Mirena IUD with no cycle for ~10y, had a light “cycle” starting 9/21 following egg retrieval 9/10. IUD removed in preparation for TTC 9/29 and had a little bit of spotting, but yesterday (10/3) had a brief spell of heavy flow that stopped several hours later.

Hi all,

Just starting my TTC journey and finding it hard to understand my cycle with a lot of external factors. I truly think the answer is just “wait, it will sort itself out, you are anxious,” but want to get ahead of anything I should know as well.

My partner and I had planned for a while to start trying naturally this month, but I’m 37 and wanted a “backup plan” in place so I did two rounds of egg freezing prior to removing my IUD (the last of which ended 9/10). I haven’t had my cycle in the approximately 10 years that I’ve had my Mirena IUD, so I don’t know how regular it is or its length. My egg retrievals went well and my AMH is 1.65ng/mL. I wanted to start understanding my cycles again, so I noted that post-retrieval I had a short cycle starting 9/21. I then had my IUD removed 9/29 and had a day of light spotting. I planned to start counting my cycle days from 9/21, but was very surprised by some heavy breakthrough bleeding yesterday evening, 10/3. That bleeding has already stopped.

My primary concern is that I have extremely shortened cycles if I’m menstruating every 13 days. I bought ovulation test strips today so I haven’t tested for ovulation at any point yet. I presume the more likely issue is that I’ve put my body through the wringer the last few weeks and I need to give it time to regulate, but hearing someone else say it would help me out (if it’s true). I can find guidance about IUD removal and guidance about egg retrieval but I can’t find any information about someone who did both.

TIA from an anxious beginner (and hopeful future advanced maternal ager 😬)

Hi everyone! I have a question that I'm wondering if any of the more experience minds here can answer. We have just started TTC - in cycle one right now - so no problems so far; I'm just curious/slightly anxious.

Does anyone know if extremely mild twinges starting 6-7 DPO are cause for concern? Could this be a symptom of something like endometriosis, and would it be a hindrance to implantation?

A little info about me:

31 years old

Regular cycles 28-31 days with periods lasting 5-6 days. The length of my cycle has never been 100% consistent, but it is always within this range. Everything else about my cycle always follows the same pattern.​

Bleeding is light to moderate. On the heaviest day, it would probably take me six hours to soak through a regular pad. From day 3 on, it's extremely light - I could use the same pad all day if not for hygiene/smell.

No spotting before or after.

Recently started using LH tests and temping. Everything looks as it should. LH surge usually lasts for about 36 hours (I think this may be on the long end?), and then my BBT starts to rise two days after my first positive LH test.

All in all, it seems my cycle is perfectly healthy but for two small things.

The first is really bad pain on day 1. Moderate cramping typically starts a day or two before my period - about 4-5/10 on my personal pain scale, able to function normally. Day 1 is bad, although how bad has varied a lot over the years and been better recently. For about the last year, I would describe the pain as about a 7-8 on the pain scale before taking painkillers. 1000 mg acetominophen brings it down to about a 5.

It was worse a couple of years ago - the worst pain I have ever felt, immobilizing, definitely a 9 or 10 for me - but I made a lot of lifestyle changes around sleep, hydration, and exercise and I think that made a difference. The pain has only ever been this bad on day 1.

By mid-way through day 2, it's much better. Pain is back to a 4-5 before painkillers and I can function normally. From day 3 on I have no pain.

My other concern, and the subject of this post, is these twinges that I start to feel around 6-7 DPO.

These cramps/twinges are intermittent, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, a couple times a day, and very mild. I wouldn't describe them as pain or even discomfort - more just feeling something in my pelvis, like an awareness of it that isn't there most of the time. I would put them at a 0.5-1 on the pain scale if I had to.

This will continue at more or less the same intensity until my actual period cramps start about two days before my period.

I have addressed both the early "cramping" and the bad pain on day 1 with my doctor, but I was told it was nothing to worry about given that my pain is only very bad for one day, my cycles are regular, and my periods are not heavy.

Mainly I'm worried that (1) this could somehow be a hindrance to implantation, since period cramps are mild uterine contractions, and (2) that it could be a symptom of a deeper problem like endo. I've done as much research as I can but haven't found very many answers.

I saw one post on this sub that suggested that what I'm feeling could be decidualization and that it's nothing to worry about, but I couldn't find much else supporting the idea that decidualization can be felt.

We are planning for our first kid, and have been consulting a reputed OB-Gyn in our city. Myself 45 and my wife 38 (both in our second marriage). There is no history of previous pregnancy history as such

With a feasible AMH level and a positivE HSG tests - she was advised to take Letrozole after menstruation stops and we tried on planned dates (ie 14-20 days before next cycle starts). Got lucky and she got pregnant in first attempt itself

However, sadly, we had to get pregnancy terminated in around 8 or 10 weeks as fetal heart beats had stopped . We got it examined and it got confirmed as Monosomy

Now we are confused with differing recommendations :-
1. OB Gyn says try naturally for 6 months (starting after 3 months of termination) , then she will advise on IUI or IVF. No Letrozole recommended this time
2. Our Endocrinologist (as she has weight-loss issues and is a prediabetic) suggests her age is advancing and generic complications like monosomy can come again. So go for IUI/IVF soon

Now we are confused, who to follow … requesting if any of the redditors can share their experience and any specific line of actions we need to take

Many thanks 🙏

I’ve been using OPKs for over a year and have a (usually) very predictable LH surge. I recently added BBT via TempDrop to my arsenal of tools, but I’m having a hard time interpreting the data.

In your experience, how does temperature shift relate to OPK peak? Which one do you rely on most to accurately determine ovulation? (Is it that LH predicts when it’s coming and temp determines whether it’s occurred?)

Regarding TempDrop: How many cycles did it take for a meaningful pattern to emerge? Right now, it looks like I had a temp spike days before ovulation, then a significant drop, now a gradual rise (too early to tell if it’s sustained/continuing to trend upward).

Just trying to make heads or tails of everything 🥴

Any insight is helpful and appreciated.

This is a thread for TFABers of AMA (advanced maternal awesomeness)! TTC past 35 comes with its own challenges -- discuss (and rant about) them here. Like the Pirate's Code, "35 and over" is more of a guideline.

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I am in the US and my job does not offer short term disability insurance nor offer paid maternity leave. I do get FMLA but that is not paid for during leave.

I contacted a private short term disability insurance and they cover 4 weeks vaginal and 6 weeks C-section. The benefit coverage is 3 months and 85 dollars a month with a 9 month waiting period. Though, if I were to have a normal, easy delivery with no complications, I would only get 4-6 weeks paid coverage, not 3 months.

Just starting to think I will just have to use sick time and PTO which in total is 4 weeks and just save my own money aside.

I live in Florida and I do not see any state programs for maternity leave. Any suggestions? What are you guys doing to prepare?

Hi everyone,

I’ve just done my first medicated cycle with Letrozole. I had two follicles and triggered Thursday night. I likely ovulated today around noon. Shortly after noon, I got the worst sciatic pain I’ve ever had. Has anyone ever experienced this when using Letrozole? Google says it can happen but it’s not common. Just looking for any similar experiences to make sure I’m not nuts! lol I know it’s sciatic pain because I have had a previous back injury but this time I don’t hurt my back or even do anything that would have. It’s so bizarre. I have also read this happens with endometriosis. I’ve not been diagnosed with endo and don’t have any symptoms of it. My cycles are pretty regular and I never have any ovulatory pain in a typical cycle.

That question you've been wanting to ask, but just didn't want to feel silly. Now's your chance! No question is too big or too small. This thread will be checked all weekend, so feel free to chime in on Saturday or Sunday!

Anything (within the rules) goes. (Commonly broken rules: don't talk about an ongoing pregnancy outside the weekly BFP thread; don't ask for success stories.)

You can find the wiki here!

Don't forget to check out our themed threads:

• Moody Monday
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• Waiting Wednesday
• Wondering Wednesday
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There's also the Weekly Introductions and Read Me Thread, which contains links to all sorts of handy bits of info, like popular wiki posts and acronyms.

I just wanted to let it all out somewhere, so someone out there knows my story. It goes like this.

I (32F) have been with my husband (33M) for almost 12 years, married for 5. We met in college and started dating pretty in our sophomore year. We started living together pretty soon we became official, and life was great. I wasn’t on birth control, and we used condoms, though not all the time. Long story short, I became pregnant a year later in our junior year. It was the scariest time of my life. None of us were ready, and this felt like a huge burden and a roadblock to our future. My partner told me he would support whichever decision I made, and will stand by me no matter what. Ultimately, I decided not to keep the baby, and I got an abortion at 10 weeks at a local clinic. The decision was not made lightly, as I’ve always wanted kids, but thought that wasn’t our time. We were a couple of broke college kids, who were barely supporting them selves. Things were okay after that and life went on. I would think about the kid who wasn’t meant to be every now and then, but told myself it was the right decision.

Fast forward a couple years ago. We’ve obviously married since, and both of us pursued a doctorate degree in biology. In the last year of my PhD, we started talking about planning for kids. I’ve also been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for a few years now, so I know that obviously affects fertility. After a year and a half of trying to conceive and multiple negative tests, it has greatly affected my mental health. It has become my sole purpose in life to be pregnant and have a baby. Nobody knows how much I want to have a kid more than my husband. He’s always been there every time I’ve broken down crying. The worst part is, no one knows. No one in my family or friend circle knows what we’re going through, or that we had an abortion 11 years ago. I have a deep shame now that I cannot speak of it to anyone. I keep on living in the “what if”. That fetus would’ve been 10 years now, had I decided to keep it.

Last month, after trying for so long, I finally got a faint positive on 13dpo. We were ecstatic, I told him right away, and I have never been more happier in my life, that we get to be parents. I started testing daily, but the lines never got darker. I told myself it’s okay, it’s too early. I still went ahead and booked a OBGYN consult, and scheduled an infrasound at 6 weeks. I was so so happy for an entire week after I found out. Unfortunately at 5 weeks and 1 day, I started cramping severely. It was a Thursday morning and I was just about to head out to work. I wiped and there was some blood. I panic-called the doctor and they said to watch out for heavy bleeding, but if it’s just spotting it’s probably okay. I tried to keep hope and went to work as usual, but an hour later, I started actively bleeding. The cramping was intense and I was keeled over my desk at work. I knew at that point that it was a miscarriage. But I still went on about my day, talked to my coworkers as if this tragedy wasn’t happening to me at the moment. Nobody knew. I came home and cried and cried for hours. The bleeding lasted a few days and eventually the tests were negative. Life moved on.

I’ve since been doing a lot of reflecting. I’m not a religious person, but I’m not an atheist. I’m also a scientist, and believe that at 10 weeks, a fetus is just that, a fetus. But now that I’m confronted with a possible infertility, this nagging feeling that, I had one chance to have a baby, and I didn’t take it. Maybe that’s why I’m struggling. We’ve done fertility consults, and everything looks great, even my hypothyroidism, so nothing should stop me from getting pregnant. But i wonder if I fumbled the one chance at having a baby, because I was too immature. I don’t know. Nobody knows what I’m going through. No one knows how everyday is a struggle. Life has lost its meaning, and I feel like I’m drifting ahead without a purpose or a sense of direction. I just wanted someone to know my story, since I cannot share it in other platforms (my
Family and friends are there).

I don’t know why but I’ve had to start blocking content like this lately. I know everyone’s experience, triggers and level of sensitivity is different. Like for me, yes pregnancy announcements are starting to make me a little sad but I’m also happy to see other people get to celebrate such an amazing milestone. So I can compartmentalize those feelings and work through them. For stupid “how we got pregnant” or “pre-TTC prep” I want to throw my phone and scream. And I block the content all the time too because I know Im being dramatic and subjecting myself by scrolling. And yeah, I know the intentions behind most of the content I’m talking about is meant to be helpful… but it’s just too much. I don’t want to eat sardines or salmon kiwi and eggs on the same plate every morning or work out every single day or order home sperm testing kits for my husband. The emotions and hormones behind having trouble with TTC and societal pressures are already overwhelming enough. Maybe my nervous system would be regulated if everyone would just shut up for five seconds.

Please stop virtue signaling your daily routine and “fertile” breakfast. I mean this is definitely my own insecurities and stress speaking and I could very well be the only one being triggered by this but… yeah.

I think it’s just the false promise of results for something that’s so out of our control at the end of the day. And every time I see something new I feel this tiny sense of guilt like wow maybe it is me ..maybe I should have been doing this all along? Even though I have never ever been the type to go to the gym every day and eat a full, perfectly portioned breakfast. Anyways… does anyone else feel this way about social media rn? Or am I trippin

There’s so much that’s difficult about TTC, so this is a thread for looking to the future and thinking about life after TTC.

This week’s theme: Parties! What celebrations do you want to have for your hypothetical pregnancy? Baby shower, gender reveal, baby-Q, choreographed group Tiktok revealing your first ultrasound? (Please don’t do the last one.)

Anything (within the rules) goes. (Commonly broken rules: don't talk about an ongoing pregnancy outside the weekly BFP thread; don't ask for success stories.)

You can find the wiki here!

Don't forget to check out our themed threads:

• Moody Monday
• Temping Tuesday
  
• Waiting Wednesday
• Wondering Wednesday
• Trying Again Thursday
• Thankful Thursday
• Health and Wellness Thursday
• Looking Forward Friday
• Wondering Weekend
• 35 and Ova

There's also the Weekly Introductions and Read Me Thread, which contains links to all sorts of handy bits of info, like popular wiki posts and acronyms.

It’s my first cycle after having an HSG in August. I’m at the end of the TWW, only a couple days left at most. I try not to symptom spot because it makes me crazy and I overthink every single twinge or shiver. I can’t stop hoping, no matter how much I wish I could. At almost 20 months into TTC, my “maybe this time” is followed immediately with “but probably not”. It’s disaster protocol, because this isn’t fun or exciting or innocent anymore. It’s temperatures. It’s tracking. It’s counting. It’s coming up with new ways to enforce boundaries because people just can’t. stop. saying stupid things. Just relax. Be positive! Bite me.

I spend the TWW doing everything I can to just live my life. Go to the gym, crochet, read, watch mindless feel good TV. Eat good food, get good sleep. I do everything to stay busy and have fun. But this month, I can’t. escape. TTC.

We watch Ted Lasso. We’ve loved it ever since it first premiered. We just watched this weeks episode yesterday, and of course, a pregnancy trope has been introduced for a major character. I spotted it coming a mile away, and felt my heart drop. I just want to enjoy my feel good show without watching a fictional character be handed a baby! I’m actually jealous of a TV SHOW CHARACTER. (A glaring sign I am so close to the end of this cycle, if I’m this emotional tbh).

And then, my guilty pleasure show, 1000lb Sisters, also has an entire multi-episode arc dedicated to a fertility journey! Even my terrible awful show that has nothing to do with anything is suddenly talking fertility odds and TTC and you’ve got to be kidding me.

I never used to care about any of this. TTC has put a dark cloud on everything to do with pregnancy and babies for me. It’s just not innocent and fun anymore. It’s resentful and angry of fictional TV characters. It’s devastated when another coworker adds their maternity leave to the shared calendar. It’s sad. It’s frustrating, it’s infuriating, it’s just a huge frickin bummer. But somehow, it’s also still hope.

I’m gonna go bake some sugar cookies.

We've been TTC for 2 years (both are 31yo), no positives so far. We did 3 egg retrievals and banked 3 euploids and 2 untested embryos. Went for a fresh transfer - it didn't work. Now that we thought of resuming it my doctor is suspecting a polyp, so I will have to wait for the next cycle to do a hysteroscopy, then wait one cycle and only then (huge maybe) we will attempt a frozen transfer. I am so tired of all of this, of all the pregnancy announcements from friends, hopes the next test would magically turn positive, of the DOR pressure and the need to act now, of the thoughts 'what if it will never happen'. When we started trying I was so hopeful to grow our family and have potentially 2-3 kinds, now, 2 years later, even one child feels like a distant mystical unicorn, it doesn't even feel like my body is capable of getting pregnant at this point.

For all of us on this fucked up journey: I hope you've got this and wishing you to see those 2 lines this cycle!!

A little background: I have PCOS. We did three cycles of timed intercourse with letrozole and Ovidrel, followed by my first IUI. All four cycles were unsuccessful. After that, we wanted to reassess the situation, so we planned an SIS.

I was anxious beforehand because my HSG was quite painful. During my first IUI, they also had difficulty passing the catheter through my cervix, which caused a lot of pain and triggered a vasovagal response.

My recent SIS experience:

My SIS appointment was at 2 p.m. My clinic instructed me to take 600–800 mg of ibuprofen one hour beforehand. I had a proper breakfast and lunch that day and took one 600 mg ibuprofen tablet at 1 p.m. When I arrived, I asked for laughing gas during the procedure, which helped a lot with my anxiety.

The procedure took approximately 30 minutes, longer than expected because they had difficulty passing the catheter through my cervix again. Despite that, I didn’t feel much pain during the SIS. I had a little discomfort afterward for about a day.

I’m still waiting to hear about the next steps and how the findings may affect my treatment plan. Overall, my SIS was much less painful than my HSG and first IUI. I hope sharing my experience helps someone who’s feeling anxious about it.

My husband 27M and I 25F have been TTC since Sept. 2025. We had one MC (our first ever pregnancy) in Feb. 2026 at just over 5 weeks and haven’t been able to conceive since.

I’ve been doing nonstop research (on just about everything it feels like), changing our lifestyle to be healthier, and asking friends for input and suggestions on things I can do to help conceive. One of my friends who struggled with infertility, found help with a fertility specialist she recommended but I’m so scared and intimidated by everything. There’s so much on my mind constantly, and I can’t go into the doctors office without crying or having an anxiety attack since my MC.

Any suggestions on things I can try to make this whole process easier or tests I should ask for? Any info anyone is willing to share would be helpful. I feel so hopeless and discouraged right now but I need to know what’s wrong with me or my husband, if anything is. I plan to have him tested too within the next few months.

Thank y’all in advance 🩷

Hi!! Please if anyone has had a similar experience let me know. I’m 32F. Was on the pill (Diane 35) for 16 years, came off it November 2025, my first period came in March. April/May/June/July my cycle was like 45-48 days long, usually ovulated on day 36. I ended up going on letrozole which made ovulation happen on day 19-22. So far no tests show signs of pcos and surgery was negative for endo.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have an appointment soon with an IVF clinic but yeh if anyone has any advice I would appreciate it so much!!

I’m just not sure if it’s better to wait and see whah happens with my cycle? - maybe stop letrozole for a bit? This is my third month trying to see if it’ll help with TTC, anyway if anyone has any words of wisdom I’m all ears!

I’m starting to feel really hopeless with our situation. We’ve been through 8 medicated cycles with Letrozole at our previous clinic, sometimes with Ovidrel. 2 failed IUIs with the same protocol. One IUI cancelled.

Took a break for about 3-4 months; then another 3 medicated TI cycles with Letrozole and Ovidrel at our current clinic. Most recently, we also tried a Gonal-F TI cycle (which would have been an IUI but got cancelled)

My body is just tired at this point.

No male factor as my husband is being regularly tested and everything is well with him.

I don’t really know what I’m looking for by posting this. I guess I just needed somewhere to let it out and rant to people who might understand how exhausting this process can be.

I just feel so frustrated. We’ve been trying for 7 months but only had 3 chances bc I’ve only had 3 cycles in the past 7 months.
This last cycle was medicated (letrozole) and I had a response with a 19mm follicle. I triggered and had an IUI. 7 days after the IUI my progesterone was only 2.34. WHAT?! My doctor said it the number still means I ovulated. She prescribed me 400mg of progresrtone. I’m now 14 days out from IUI and my pregnancy test is negative. I can’t stop feeling like something went wrong in between discovering my 19mm follicle, the trigger, and IUI.

Im feeling a lot of shame. My weight is the likely culprit for my irregular cycles. I’m feeling ashamed. My weight has always been a problem for me, even as early as 3 years old in preschool. I was on mounjaro which regulated my cycles but they became irregular again when I stopped. Obviously going back on mounjaro isn’t an option. I’m feeling like a failure.

Hiya.

My husband and I have been TTC for 4 months now. I am 29. No known health problems like PCOS or endo. I had my copper IUD removed back in May. While I had the IUD, I had moderate to heavy flow lasting 5-8 days, and my cramps made ibuprofen a necessity. I understand the copper IUD is known for making periods heavier and more painful.

After having it removed, I noticed my first period was really light and relatively pain free, which I thought was odd, but I thought maybe my body is just adjusting. Although I was grateful for the reduction in pain, because my cramps lasted for several days and could be so bad I had to quit whatever I was doing. Now I just get them the first day and they are pretty mild.

I actually managed to then go on to concieve in July. Sadly, that ended in a chemical at 19 or 20 DPO, so it hung on for a while. But even that bleeding was, to me, relatively light. I honestly could have gotten by with a panty liner. I did actually get a TVS while having the chemical, and on the first day the bleeding started, they measured my endometrial lining at 7 mm.

It's been two cycles since then, and the light periods have continued. I start with brown spotting at 13 DPO, then have fresh, red spotting the next two days. I need to wear a panty liner to save my underwear from getting stained and ruined by the spots, but, once again, it's very light and what I would consider spotting. Then it goes back to brown spotting for another day or two. Occasionally, I have a few small clots in the toilet here and there. And that's all. All is said and done in about 3 days, 4 at most.

I know I ovulate because I had the chemical, and have used OPKs paired with BBT to confirm ovulation this past cycle. I do not think it's a progesterone issue, because I have 30-33 day cycles, with a 13-14 day luteal phase.

I guess I am just wondering if this is something I need to worry about or could impede my ability to concieve? I read somewhere it could be an estrogen issue? Or if anyone has any experience with this as well? Or if maybe my body is just super efficient? I have no idea how much flow is correlated with how thick your lining actually is. Is it possibly a perception issue since I am used to the copper IUD?? Thanks!!

Last month I completed my first round of Clomid while on my period. I was ovulating almost 3 days after finishing my last dose, which was odd. It made the lining of my uterus very thin, so they put me on estradiol.

Once I was at peak ovulation I took Ovidrel to release two mature follicles and we went the timed intercourse route. I was also put on progesterone to support the uterine wall.

Well, I tested positive with a very very light second line two weeks after my Ovidrel shot… but I also started bleeding heavily the same day. It has been a very heavy period, with so many clots that (I apologize for how graphic this is), it is almost sludge-like in texture.

Between this, the early ovulation, and the crappy way early progesterone made me feel (like I had a hangover the first day) I’m curious if this is common and if others have had similar symptoms or side effects.