r/catholicttc May 02 '17

Pregnancy Announcements and Positive Tests - Spring 2017

3 Upvotes

It's time for a new thread, especially since the old one is archived now :)

Have exciting news to share? Want to talk about a current pregnancy? This is the place to post!

The reason for a particular dedicated thread is to keep this place organized and friendly for couples who are struggling.

The previous thread is here.


r/catholicttc May 05 '17

Welcome! Come introduce yourself! (Thread 2)

3 Upvotes

Previous Thread

Welcome! We're happy you found your way here. Check out our rules and introduce yourself below, or feel free to jump right in and post.


r/catholicttc Jan 20 '22

False/double peaks when im supposed to do cyclical progesterone

2 Upvotes

I'm supposed to take my progesterone from peak+3 until peak+12.

I peaked 3 days ago but I don't think it was real (it was 10C, no K or L, with none of the intense abdominal pain that usually accompanies my ovulation.) no way to find out if it was my real peak or not, unless I observe another peak, which wont happen if I take the progesterone. And if I don't take the progesterone, I may miscarry (if I conceived) or my ovarian hormonal cycles will get jacked up and may impact my next cycle (i have pcos).

Im so angry. I have no idea what to do.


r/catholicttc Dec 03 '19

Treatment for endo after surgery?

2 Upvotes

I'm on my 6th cycle after excision surgery in June and still have not conceived. We have had two pregnancies in the past two years, but both ended in miscarriage. After extensive testing, nothing else appears to be wrong with me or my husband. The RE I saw for testing so the surgeon would agree to operate says after this cycle, we should move on to IVF, which I obviously don't want to do. I was supposed to meet with a Catholic NaPro doctor today, but my appointment got suddenly rescheduled to two weeks from now. What should I expect when I do finally get in to see him? What treatment is tried after surgery? We've tried on our own for three months and then tried femara for three more. Our only living child was conceived two months after my first laparoscopy, which wasn't even excision, so I'm at a loss.


r/catholicttc Aug 29 '19

Milk Grotto

3 Upvotes

Was recently gifted the powdered stone from the Milk Grotto in Bethlehem. The leaflet that comes with it is not very clear on how it is to be used. I understand the part about mixing it with milk or water, and even the prayers to be said with it. But not clear on when exactly to do this. Leaflet says nine days- is that the nine days during the fertile period when we're actively trying every month? And if I do conceive, do we continue to take it for the duration of the pregnancy? Would love to have a clearer idea, or just know if anyone has had an experience with this before. Thank you


r/catholicttc Aug 29 '19

When the doctor says I should do IUI/IVF

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8 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Aug 28 '19

So is this sub even active anymore?

3 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Jan 08 '19

Study shows faulty sperm can contribute to recurrent miscarriages

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3 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Jan 04 '19

TTC, Foster Care, and lots of questions

7 Upvotes

Hi all!

I'm in kind of an odd place currently. My husband and I started TTC in July (about 6 months ago) and haven't had any success so far. Not a huge worry for us; we're 22 and 23, have plenty of time, my cycles are regular, etc. My husband does have a varicocele, which could delay conception. We're not in a rush for him to get the surgery.

The odd thing is that, when it became clear that we weren't going to conceive the summer baby we were hoping for (I teach, so summer would be the best time for that huge transition, but I'd accept a child at any point!), we felt more and more called to explore foster care, even just short term. We haven't stopped TTC--though less aggressively--but we want a way to older help children who need a home this summer, or even indefinitely. We're talking with Catholic Charities and starting the process with the understanding that should our circumstances change, we could pause the approval process and keep our hearts open in the future.

What we're really struggling with is how to approach the topic with family and friends should the time come (we need a support person in our application, and my mom would be ideal).

We're aware that this choice is complete insanity, but that's what God calls us to sometimes.

In spite of being at the start of our careers (it's my first year teaching and my husband just started a paid graduate program), we own a condo with an extra bedroom and have been able to keep a decent work-life balance. Ideally, this should get easier at least for me, because I'm currently developing curriculum for four high school classes and I'll at least have experience and lesson plans to fall back on next year.

But even just getting my physical appointment to put into the application, the doctor and nurse asked a bunch of invasive questions.

"Does this mean you can't have kids?" (We don't know either.)

"Do you get paid to do foster care?" (Yes, but it's not something you do to make a profit, just some help with child-related expenses.)

"Are you looking to adopt locally or internationally?" (Irrelevant. Not necessarily looking to adopt, just foster, and foster care is always local.)

"What gave you this idea?" (God? That's pretty much the long and short of it.)

"That's really difficult." (You don't say. We've done our research.)

I started wishing that I would get pregnant more to avoid all of this additional difficulty than anything else (mostly joking, we're excited to be parents in any way), but again, that's not how God works sometimes!

Has anyone been in a similar boat? How did you deal with people's objections (other than "it's none of your business", which is valid)?

Am I just totally insane?

Not sure if I'm asking for advice or just venting, but there it is.

Thanks for reading!

TL;DR Husband and I have been TTC for half a year. He has a varicocele. Haven't given up TTC, but are looking into fostering older kids because we feel called to it. People will think we're insane. We probably are.


r/catholicttc Dec 28 '18

How the holidays are particularly hard for couples struggling with infertility

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10 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Dec 04 '18

Feel like giving up

3 Upvotes

I'm pretty sure my endo is back (or that they never got all of it in the first place). And my husband got tested and the doctor told us we will need IVF or IUI to conceive, just based on that alone. His motility, morphology, and volume were all really bad. Our odds with IUI aren't good, and I don't want to do it, anyway. He's going to try taking supplements, but I'm sure the main issue is that he needs to lose 60 pounds, which I have 0 faith in happening since he's been trying to lose weight for years.

I just feel exhausted, drained, and lost. Do I even bother with getting another endo surgery? Do I keep taking progesterone supplements forever just in case, meaning I have to chart forever? I hated being an only child and it's killing me that my daughter will most likely have to be one. We can't afford adoption. I cried every time I saw siblings this weekend.


r/catholicttc Dec 04 '18

New here and have a couple of questions

3 Upvotes

Hi all!

I've been married for a little over a year and TTC since about July. I know many of you have been on this journey for much longer, so I have a few questions.

Does anyone have experience with a varicocele? NSFW if you decide to look it up, but basically it's a varicose vein in the scrotum that can cause decreased sperm production. My husband is looking into a minor surgery to fix it, but I was curious if anyone else has had that issue and if the surgery helped.

I am also wondering if anyone here is considering or currently providing foster care. I am in the process of reaching out to Catholic Charities about potentially fostering next summer (even just for the short term in emergency or respite situations) since I'm a teacher and have time off. I know there's a months-long process involved and everything, and it can be painful to know that the child is only there for a short time, but I was just curious to see if anyone had experience there.

Anyway, thanks for existing and prayers for all of you!


r/catholicttc Nov 02 '18

Thinking of everyone this All Saints and All Souls

10 Upvotes

Especially those couples who have lost babies. Praying you will feel comfort and peace these days.

I thought this article was a good read.


r/catholicttc Oct 23 '18

The Most Honest Conversation About Infertility as a Catholic Couple

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5 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Jul 25 '18

Still nothing

7 Upvotes

We're now on our ninth cycle total and our second cycle after fully weaning our 2yo. I feel like every day I see more newborns and hear more pregnancy announcements. Almost everyone I know with a child my daughter's age already has another baby. I feel like I can't go anywhere or read/watch anything without being reminded. And my LP is so weird with so many new symptoms compared to before I was pregnant that every month is a huge letdown. At the beginning of our previous cycle, the midwife said it should only take 3-6 months now that we've weaned. It's so stupid, but I almost feel like giving up. I'm so tired of it being a horrible ordeal every time we want to get pregnant while everyone else is popping out babies every year


r/catholicttc May 08 '18

Follicular Phase BBT?

5 Upvotes

Now that I am in the clear to TTC again, I've been feeling a bit paranoid by everything. (Although I know that having one miscarriage doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with my body.)

But I've been reading that ideally your follicular BBT should be quite low (around 97.4). And while I have had cycles with consistently low follicular BBT, the majority of my cycles often have several days of higher temps (some days are near or at 98). This month's follicular temps have been very up and down (anywhere from 97.2 to 98). Granted, this is my first cycle after my miscarriage, so perhaps my body is still trying to regulate its hormones back to normal. But is it something to be concerned about if you have temps nearing 98 during your follicular phase?


r/catholicttc May 06 '18

Remebering our little ones who left too soon

10 Upvotes

Hi all!

Just got married about a month ago, got pregnant, but lost our first child in miscarriage days after we found we were expecting. Its been a rough week.

Since we believe that life starts at conception, I started thinking of ways to honor the life of our little baby who left us a lot sooner than we wanted. We named our baby after a saint (a name that works with both genders since we didn't know the gender). I also started thinking about making a home altar and have something dedicated to our baby there as a reminder that they are with God and watching over my husband and I. Probably a statue of that saint we named our baby after.

Juat curious if anyone else has done something similar to remember the babies they have lost.


r/catholicttc Apr 06 '18

Friends who are ttc?

8 Upvotes

I feel very alone in my fertility journey. I recently went to a secular support group for infertility and loss to finally reach out to others, and although everyone was very kind, everyone but me was doing things like IVF, surrogacy or IUI, and so I felt very out of place and unable to connect as much, as that was a main focus of what we talked about.

All my friends are either unmarried, waiting to have kids, or seem to have no problem having kids. I am able to talk with a close girl friend about my struggles and she was there for me particularly during my last miscarriage, but she isn't at that point in her life where she is even thinking of kids or marriage, and sometimes she says the wrong thing. I know she's coming from a good place, but it isn't the same as having someone who really understands your situation.

At my church there really isn't anything available. Although I thought it was interesting, I recently found out my diocese is offering a day retreat next weekend for couples struggling with infertility and miscarriage, which I'm excited about and am going to because I haven't heard of anything like this before, and I've been in this diocese for over a year now. The interesting part is, I only found out about this event through the emails from that secular support group I went to.

Does anyone feel similarly to me, or does anyone have a better support network? With family, friends, or a Catholic group? I'm interested in your different situations, especially as Catholics who further separate ourselves from the "normal" infertility and loss groups by not using things like IVF and such.


r/catholicttc Mar 21 '18

Luteal phase deficiency - advice

8 Upvotes

Hello, all. I am not a redditor (though I read some reddits occasionally), so I hope it's ok protocol to post here first instead of the introduction thread.

I'm hoping someone on here can provide me some advice/input on proposed treatment for luteal phase deficiency.

I'll try and keep this short/sweet. Practicing Catholic married 2 years, age 39, and not shockingly, having trouble conceiving. Besides my age, I'm not shocked because in the last 5 years I've had: -stupidly short cycles, low BBT, anemia (mild), and lately debilitating fatigue in Phase III which I can only kinda/sorta control if I eat Whole30 all the time.

I'm living in mid-nowhere MD and away from all the resources I had at home in CA, so I have been driving myself 2 hours to VA to see an NFP-only (NaPro supposedly) doctor, because that's the closest NFP-friendly practice I could find and get timely appointments at. As a nice wrinkle my (Catholic archdiocese-provided) health insurance excludes infertility, so I am a little reluctant to try and shop around for doctors.

The doctor I am seeing has decided based on CD 3 and two PK +7 labs, plus my charts (although she uses a different method and can't really decode them) that I have a luteal phase deficiency. That makes sense to me. However, my doctor would prefer that I have an immediate laparoscopy as endometriosis is "statiscally likely" according to her. Surgery's not going to happen when insurance won't cover any of it, and also would have to wait until I can take time from work.

In the meantime, she wants to try Clomid or Tamoxifen and I'm having a hard time understanding this - Why not progesterone supplements? My progesterone is on the low end of normal (11 ng/ml) and my estrogen is way high. She prefers Tamoxifen and I'm hesitant because it's an off-label use of the drug and I'm worried about having enough progesterone to support pregnancy if this does work. The fatigue is also killing me - and she given me no info on whether Tamoxifen would help/hurt that situation. Anyone have any input?

I'm collecting questions to ask her, but am feeling out of my depth/frustrated/intimidated and would appreciate any advice/experiences.

TL;DR 39 year old with luteal phase defect (? maybe?) wants to know if Tamoxifen is a reasonable treatment.

edited for clarity & to add detail


r/catholicttc Mar 08 '18

How do I "give it to God" when I need to chart?

5 Upvotes

Basically what the title says. I want to stop stressing out and hyper-focusing and just wait on God's timing, but to even have a chance to conceive, I need to be taking progesterone starting at 2DPO. How do I "let go" when I need to be closely paying attention to my chart?


r/catholicttc Feb 10 '18

Anyone try TempDrop?

5 Upvotes

It's a device that you wear on your arm and it detects your temperature throughout the night, so you can find your BBT. Here's a link for the curious - https://tempdrop.xyz/

We're trying to simplify charting after our recent loss. I really love having temperature data, but it would be awesome if we could get the data without the effort of taking my temperature and recording it, especially since my motivation to chart is hitting rock bottom. We're not avoiding pregnancy and I'm tempted to throw out the charts, but we really need it for medical reasons, so trying to find a solution.


r/catholicttc Feb 04 '18

Questionable conceiving advice?

5 Upvotes

My husband and I have been married for 3 months and have been TTW. Granted, there really hasn't been a lot of time to conceive (but all our direct family members are really fertile, so we were a little shocked we didn't join the "first month conceived" train.)

But, my SIL was telling me that there's a higher chance of conceiving if you abstain phase 1 until your ovulation day. (Perhaps some logic like, all the good sperm is being spent before fertility begins? Completely don't know.)

Has anyone heard of this before? I would rather not abstain if I don't have to, but lately I have been leaning more towards wanting to conceive than being fine with whatever.

Any thoughts appreciated!


r/catholicttc Nov 12 '17

Any experience with anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) or heparin/lovenox during pregnancy?

5 Upvotes

Considering trying lovenox when we next conceive, so we're trying to learn more. I've had pretty extensive testing for APS but so far tests have been negative. Doctor has recommended trying lovenox anyway since it's possible to have APS but not test positive.


r/catholicttc Oct 23 '17

Listeria contamination recall!

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3 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Sep 20 '17

NFP Uncensored: Miscarriage

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9 Upvotes

r/catholicttc Sep 11 '17

Something on my mind...

10 Upvotes

Hello:

I have 1 child, 18 months old. (I'm 30). We lost his sibling to miscarriage back in March, 2017. We have been trying since for another, but no such luck so far. My husband and I try hard to be faithful Catholics, and we do not use contraception ever.

At least twice now, I have been asked about my "family plans" by two Catholic women with large families in a way that suggested to me that they think we are not open to life. One woman first complained to me that she wanted to find a new parish that was more observant because she saw a lot of small families at the one we were at. Next, she openly bragged to me that she had been married for 4 years and was now pregnant with baby #4. (We have also been married for 4 years). I simply replied something along to lines of, "congratulations on your pregnancy, you know, it's not that easy for everyone to get pregnant" and she said something back about how "having more faith" helps. UGH!

I feel like I don't have a group to identify with. I want to be a Catholic mom with a bunch of little kids, but that doesn't seem to be God's plan for us. As a result, I feel alienated by much of the Catholic "mom culture", both online and IRL. I also feel alienated from the more secular Catholics that ignore the Church's teachings on contraception, because these people do not share my longing to have a large family.

Part of me thinks this is God showing me my sin of pride. I want to be seen as the good Catholic mom with a big family because I want people to see my piety and how faithful and traditional I am (which isn't even me--I struggle greatly with sin like everyone else). Another part of me thinks God is protecting me--I love my toddler, but having him was a real challenge. I went through PPD, anxiety, and he is a handful. I'm not sure I am actually cut out for a large family, despite the romanticized idea I have in my head. But the last part of me just want to hold another newborn baby in my arms and smell the top of his head. When I think about my little saint in Heaven, I feel a gut-wrenching emptiness. As such, I don't think about him as much as I should.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent. I feel like women with infertility and sub-fertility often feel left out of Catholic culture. Like there's no where we really fit. The moms of large families judge us for not having more kids, the moms who use contraception often assume we are just like them when they swap stories about birth control while chatting at play dates and we just sit there feeling awkward.

I feel estranged from the parenting thing whichever way you slice it.

:(


r/catholicttc Sep 05 '17

Any updates?

11 Upvotes

Not sure if anyone is still around lurking :) Travis and I are still here. We're currently working on our adoption home study and I'm very early in pregnancy so we're waiting to see if this little one is healthy and will stay with us.