Period cramps at 8DPO....what the ????

[ELP]

Hopefully the ewcm was the start of mucous plug, GL

[atomic sagebrush]

so no reason to get my hopes up Atomic? Bugger! I really need to not pay any attention at all to physical symptoms. I don't know why I keep doing it. And last cycle was crappy BD patterns anyway. I really think the ONLY way I can get pregnant now is to BD the SMEP pattern. Do you think DH's sperm volume could play a role in this Atomic? I just noticed yesterday in his sperm analysis we did few months back that his semen volume was low, even though all the other factors were OK. He just doesn't ejaculate much semen. Or is it just my dodgy eggs can only get fertilised if we BD SMEap pattern and as much as possible around O time?

I think you should not get your hopes up for any reason other than staring at a positive pregnancy test.

I literally just had this exact same thing myself this month with cramps 7-8 DPO and there is no way I am pregnant.

Hubs semen volume goes up and down dramatically, one sample tells you nothing, and interestingly is not always predictive of the amount of sperm in it. We had a guy on here (well, his wife was) and he had a massive semen sample and barely any sperm, and other guys have had small volume but lots of sperm in it.

Please understand that SMEP has nothing to do with "fertilizing dodgy eggs". A bad egg will die fast or not be fertilized (due to impermeable outer shells) or will be fertilized but will just stop growing. All SMEP does is try to ensure there is a lot of sperm on hand at any point in time an egg is released. It's just an additional guarantee of having lots of sperm during your fertile window.

[nicoler]

Atomic is 100% correct with regards to semen volume. Volume doesn't necessarily correspond with sperm concentration at all. If he was a bit dehydrated before his analysis, there could've been less semen volume. If your DH had another analysis tomorrow, it would likely come out almost the same as the one he had a few months back regardless of what his volume was. If you had 2 glasses with 5 marbles in each glass and added a cup of water to one glass and a 1/4 cup of water to the other glass, there would still be 5 marbles in each glass! Kind of the same thing with sperm concentration in seminal fluid.

[1moregirl]

Thanks for that info about semen volume. Totally makes sense and there was nothing wrong with the number of sperm in it so yeah...all good. 13DPO today...as soon as I woke up I was thinking...yep, AF is going to be here as I just felt like it was here, but still no bleeding. I hate this...I wish if it were coming that it would just hurry up and arrive already. I don't believe I'm pregnant so I'm not going to put myself through the disappointment of doing a test. I've been feeling really tired and really grumpy so AF has to be on her witchy way some time today. I'll be fine if it arrives. I really need to go out and buy some more ubiquinol today and up it to 200mg instead of 100mg and see how it goes. I usually get AF today at 13DPO but it is possible I am a day ahead since I didn't BBT this last cycle.

[atomic sagebrush]

Atomic is 100% correct with regards to semen volume. Volume doesn't necessarily correspond with sperm concentration at all. If he was a bit dehydrated before his analysis, there could've been less semen volume. If your DH had another analysis tomorrow, it would likely come out almost the same as the one he had a few months back regardless of what his volume was. If you had 2 glasses with 5 marbles in each glass and added a cup of water to one glass and a 1/4 cup of water to the other glass, there would still be 5 marbles in each glass! Kind of the same thing with sperm concentration in seminal fluid.

I am officially stealing this analogy!

[atomic sagebrush]

go Goldie go

The place I got to, it was like if it happened, it happened, but it probably wouldn't. It made it easier as the months passed to just decide I was gonna expect not to be pregnant and then if I did it would be like winning the lottery.

[1moregirl]

Thanks Atomic. I have been trying to think like this exactly. Obviously there was no BFP for me this time as AF arrived yesterday. I was a bit relieved though as at least my LP was 13 days long instead of 9 days from when the pains started. I have a new plan as from now. I do have to get myself back on ubiquinol, but otherwise I am going to make sure we BD right ON O day as I've been studying each of my charts from last year and the ONly 2 times I've gotten BFPs, my charts had SOLID crossroads indicating definite O on that day...plus we had BD ON O day. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it damn well is worth a try. Desperate times call for desperate measures right? Lol!

[atomic sagebrush]

As long as you also DTD at least on O-1 or O-2 as well as they both have been shown to have much higher odds of conception than O Day.

[1moregirl]

Thanks Atomic. From now on I will do SMEP. I saw my FS yesterday and I didn't really learn any more that I didn't know already, but he did say we could do a Hysterescopy on me using a 'twilight' anaesthetic (more like a sedation) instead of a full GA, so I was really happy about that. We made a tentative booking for November, but I think I might move it to January as it's going to cost us almost $1,000 and that's not a good time of year with rates due and Christmas around the corner. I just have to lift my game and try harder. I should've been doing this SMEP thing AGES ago. What have I been thinking? The FS advised that we should be BD every second night from CD 12 on ward....but this would sway more boy shouldn't it Atomic? He also advised me to take baby aspirin as soon as I get a BFP. But you know what? He only advised this after I told him I know of quite a few ladies in their 40s in the US where their FS's have advised them to take baby aspirin and progesterone. WTH? He said he didn't think it would hurt and might even help, since I have already had 2 miscarriages in a row. I wasn't really impressed with him yesterday. He clearly hadn't read his notes before I came into the room and he was under the impression he had already given me the Hysterescopy we'd discussed on previous appointments. I had to say 'NO. I haven't had one becasue I was too scared of having a general anesthetic.' Why do we often have to go round and round in circles with some doctors/specialists before we finally feel like we are getting heard or getting the treatment that we wanted to start off with? VERY frustrating.

[atomic sagebrush]

It's not that it would sway more blue in and of itself but that it sways more blue and it ALSO doesn't really up odds of conception that much. If you end up with attempt on O-2 and O Day, and the sperm from O Day haven't time to capacitate yet, that's really only one attempt in fertile window. So you incur the possible risks of the regular BD (since we have no clue how that works for swaying blue) and you haven't even improved your chances of conceiving. SMEP does raise odds of conception, even if it may be more blue friendly.

RE the aspirin, there is some new evidence that taking it when you don't need to may actually increase chances of miscarriage for some people and taking it has never been shown to help prevent miscarriage in anyone without known clotting disorders. So this is another nail in the coffin of me recommending aspirin. I just no longer feel good about having you guys take it without proven medical need. Could taking aspirin trigger a miscarriage? | Daily Mail Online Additionally given your previous experience with the bad miscarriage I am extremely, extremely hesitant for you to take it without a proven medical need (meaning, a demonstrated clotting disorder).

Progesterone has been shown pretty convincingly to me to be nothing more than a placebo for anyone with a 8 day or longer LP. It is not helping anyone get or stay pregnant even when it does extend the LP (even in those going HT!! surprisingly). I believe doctors either have not heard about it yet and are still operating under their old med school playbook or else they hand it over to women to basically shut them up rather than taking the time to educate them Progesterone May Not Help Prevent Repeat Miscarriage, Study Finds | Health | US News If the pregnancy is developing normally it will send the signal to your body to sustain the pregnancy, if it isn't, the pregnancy will end no matter what and all the prog. supplementation does is possibly make a doomed pregnancy last longer and leave you in the hard position of having to decide to stop taking it if things are not seemign to develop normally. :/

Doctors are by and large horrible. If you find a good one, cling to them like Super glue because they are few and far between.