u/Equivalent-Zebra-972

My partner and I (cis women) have been trying (ICI) with a known donor for 8 months and are starting to look into IVF. We made an appointment (six months out locally) and are starting to look into traveling out of the country instead (we're in the US). To do it 'close to home' would still require several hours of driving, over night stays in hotels, and out of pocket medical costs. We will also have to fly our donor out of state to give a donation somewhere it could be cryopreserved (even if we do it near home as our state doesn't have a way to preserve donor sperm and won't use donor sperm that isn't cryopreserved for a certain amount of time first).

How have other people coordinated with known donors internationally? Looks like shipping sperm internationally is not always acceptable and some countries don't allow known donor arrangements. Does it make sense to choose a country where known donors are legal and then fly him to wherever we go with us so it can all be done at once? Or will the same incubation period still apply that applies at our local clinic? He is essentially a sexual partner at this point because of fluid exchanges over the last several months of trying so the 'safety' of preserving it while waiting for STI testing doesn't provide any added benefit for us and is just creating a logistical barrier.

I will start emailing companies and asking for consults to find this info out, but there is so much information out there, I'm overwhelmed about where to start.

I have a mountain race this weekend and the area is impacted by smoke. it's 20 miles and about 6800 feet of climbing.

I'm watching the forecast and they are calling for AQI around 100 (has been changing from 95-160). if it's above 100 they will offer priority registration for next year, if it's above 150 they will cancel. If it's below 100 it will go forward as planned but they won't honor priority registration for next year. The race has a lottery to get into and I've wanted to do it for years.

I had a viral infection a couple of years ago that lead to months of chest pain and was unable to run more than a few miles for about 8 months. I was eventually diagnosed with asthma, but I also suspected pericarditis, I just ran into so many medical care barriers that was never determined... Anyway – I feel like my personal boundary should be closer to 50 or 75. They will let us know their final decision 24 hours before the event but I'm torn about making my own threshold and giving up my spot. What would you do?

I was diagnosed with subclinical hypothyriodism while trying to conceive a few weeks ago. I have wondered for a long time about this because I have a family history, am often cold, have been losing hair, have a low HR, low energy, low libido over the last couple of years, along with some other weird symptoms over the last couple years including a lump in my throat that was gagging me for a few weeks this winter. I am frustrated how long it took to get someone to check it but here we are. I have been feeling more energetic and sleeping better since getting on a low dose of levo. I also have lean PCOS and high cholesterol despite an active lifestyle and fairly good diet. We've tried 8 cycles and I'm 40 years old, I have an appointment with a RE to talk about IVF but it several months out. I'll have my thyroid levels checked again in a couple of weeks.

I am wondering if someone can check my numbers and see if I am taking the right things.
Specifically I am wondering why levo when when it's T3 that is more out of range than T4.
She said my iron is good, but my ferritin is low. Should I be supplementing iron? I think she might have assumed I had it in my prenatal and didn't prescribe extra, but it's not in there at all.
TSH was 3.21 uIU/mL (>2.5)
Iron 98 ug/dL (80-100)
T4 1.04 ng/dL (1-1.5)
Vit D 27 ng/mL (>55)
Ferritin 39 ng/mL (50-115)
TPO 35 IU/mL (0-34)
T3 2.9 pg/mL (3-4)
I know alot of these numbers are within range for the standard reference ranges but my doctor had her own ranges that she wanted me within for preconception (her numbers in the parentheses above).
I also have had low estrogen relatively to the day in my cycle a couple of times and on two separate ultrasounds a uterine lining less than 4-6 mm thick 3-4 days post ovulation.

I am taking a prenatal withOUT iron, selenium (200 mg), COQ10 200 mg, Vit D 6000 IU, 81 mg aspirin, fish oil, and I recently started 25 mcg levothyroxine.
Should I add Iron? Anything else I should add? I'm not taking any of this as medical advice fyi, just wanting to go into my appointments as informed as possible since it takes so long between visits and this is feeling time sensitive right now!

Any ideas for salty or savory running snacks? I don’t like eating sugary things all day. Sometimes I take pretzels but they’re often hard to eat/too dry. I have a long unsupported run this weekend and will have to carry everything at once

My doctor just put me on levo because we're trying to conceive. My TSH was 4, T3 and T4 were on the low side of normal, and TPO just a tiny bit high (35). Vit D 27. Everything else we tested was normal. I do and have had symptoms of hypo for awhile.

I started levo on day 7 of my cycle I believe. (and Vit D a couple weeks before that when I saw my blood work results, but before I saw the doctor)

It's day 19 now and I don't think I have ovulated yet. Normally I would have around day 14 or 15. I also had a physically stressful event on day 1 of my cycle (long day in the mountains that left me hungry and tired for a couple weeks after!) I'm trying to figure out if this weird cycle is more about starting the new med, or about the long day out.

Has anyone else experienced delayed ovulation/longer cycles after starting Levo? did it continue or was it just a cycle while your body got used to the new med? Thank you in advance!

I was recently diagnosed with suboptimal hypothyroidism while trying to conceive. It was something I’ve suspected for a long time but this was the first time anyone tested my numbers after 5 or so years of describing weird symptoms to my doctors. My mom and her mom both had it as well most of their lives.

It just got me thinking, how are people getting diagnosed? And how does it develop? obviously some genetics but wondering if folks feel like they know if something specific led to it for them.

My symptoms have included losing hair, lump in my throat, always being cold unless I’m soaking my sheets with night sweats, low energy/ fatigue, low libido compared to my past self. Some of this feels relatively recent but I can’t really put a finger on a time that all of this started. Some of it definitely had a concrete start (night sweats) but others just feel like me - being cold all of the rest of the time, lower energy.

My numbers aren’t all that bad so I’m wondering if this is the source of all of that.

Would love to hear your experiences with symptoms developing- did it start suddenly or come on slowly? How long did it take to get a diagnosis?

I was recently diagnosed with 'suboptimal' hypothyriodism while trying to conceive (TTC.) My TSH was 3.2, so within the reference range for someone not trying to get pregnant but she would like it below 2 ideally. My T4 and T3 also on the low side of normal/ less ideal for TTC. My prolactin is also on the high side for someone who is TTC.

My fertility doctor/new PCP went back and forth on whether we should treat it since my numbers aren't crazy, but my mom and grandmother were both diagnosed at young ages with it as well. And the classic symptoms sound like me too (cold all the time, starting to lose my hair, fatigue). Other things that seem relevant the more i read- anxiety, low libido, and I also had this weird knot in my throat that was making me gag constantly a few months ago that my past primary care provider brushed off as post nasal drip (didn't feel like that at all)).

SO my fertility has recommended I take a break this month from TTC and prescribed a small dose of levothyroxine. I didn't ask if the recommendation to hold off this cycle is because we need to sort this out first, or if it's because she knows I'm just burnt out on trying and paying such close attention every month to my cycle and symptom spotting, and figured this would be a good time to take a break.

Do you think it'd be safer to wait, or is there any harm in trying while we get this sorted? I will say, my wife and I are using fresh known donor sperm so it's not as simple as just baby dancing but also not like we are paying a lot of money for it from a sperm bank.

Other info-

I also have high cholesterol and PMOS although my cycles are regular and my blood sugar is good.

We are also watching my uterine lining as it has been 4-6 mm on two recent ultrasounds (around day 19 each) and I had low side of normal estrogen on my last blood work (day 21). I don't know if that is relevant to the hypothyroidism but maybe as it is also hormone related.

TLDR: suboptimal hypothyroidism recent diagnosis - wait to get levels sorted out before continuing to TTC or okay to keep trying? How long can i expect to start noticing some of my symptoms improve? Is there a better thread for this question than this one?

I’ve been using inito for a couple months but my wife is going to track her cycle this month instead. She’s on CD day 8 and we are out of strips with more in the mail. I think they’ll be delivered today.

Should she test later today when they get here, tomorrow first thing, or would it be better to wait until next cycle?

Her cycles are on the shorter side, I think 24-25 days for what it’s worth

I'm 9 DPO. I have lots planned the next few days to keep me busy but the next few days are always the hardest of the month for me, wondering if this might be the month but then talking myself out of it. Symptom spotting and then talking sense into my self.

https://preview.redd.it/wiuapeh17j7h1.png?width=2556&format=png&auto=webp&s=32c1abac52189bb8c77899e2287288b961d72abd

I’ve been TTC for 8 months and have a race in a couple of weeks. I will be 12 DPO and really hoping I’m pregnant at that time. The race is a mountain 50k and has the potential to be pretty hot. I’ve done a couple races this distance before but I feel a little undertrained this time. I think it will take me 7-8 hours. I did a 5 hr training run last weekend and felt decent. I think I’ll test the day before (11 DPO) but since tests aren’t all reliable at that time I’m not sure if I should reconsider running.

Would you run it if you tested positive at that time? Would you run it if you tested negative? There’s no way I can not test, I always do and I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy it if I skipped the test. I will keep running through my pregnancy but not sure if a long day is the best thing at that time. When I signed up for this I didn’t imagine things lining up to where I would be making a decision that late in the game, I kinda thought I would be pregnant, or I wouldn’t be, not that I would be potentially very early in pregnancy.

My wife and are using ICI and a known donor who lives 3.5 hours away. My LH started rising today (this afternoon), and my CM was egg white the last 2 days, less so today. We had him ship using donorhomedelivery.com 's shipping kit a sample to us yesterday - he sent it around 3 pm yesterday and we received and used it around 1 today. We had planned on going to visit him for a fresh try tomorrow, but that was when I was thinking I would ovulate Sunday and tomorrow would be peak day. Now I'm thinking I'm ovulating tomorrow. Since he is 3 hours away I am doubting the plan to go. I think it would be an easy decision to try if he was nearby, but now I'm feeling like a relaxing weekend without the 7 hour round trip sounds nice and I'm wondering if tomorrow is going to be a little late after all. Especially if we don't get over there until midday.

The question: Which would you do in this situation? A- Get up early and make the trek (7 hours round trip) and turn it into a little overnight road trip to try on ovulation day, OR B - stay home and garden, go on an run and take it a little easy and prioritize mental health and relaxation knowing that we did one try on peak fertility day with shipped sperm instead of fresh.

Extra info; I think B is what I really want to do right now, but I will do A if I feel like it increases our odds significantly. This is try #7, but I think our timing has been a little late a few times (late being mostly day of ovulation, which I know isn't really late, but we have been trying to aim earlier in general the last couple of months.)

Edit: my car got a flat tire and needs all new tires which we definitely can’t pull off and still make it in time. I got the call from the tire shop at 5:20, definitely didn’t think anything was truly wrong with them. I’m now accepting whole hearted votes for staying put and manifestation that we timed it perfectly ✨🍀👯‍♀️🌈

My wife and I have been TTC for 7 months, 6 cycles of home ICI with a known donor. I’m 39 and she’s 32, so far I’m the one TTC but we’re getting to a point where we need to start considering leveling up the financial and medical commitment if I was to continue trying. Previously we’ve talked about switching to her trying instead of IVF. I’m starting to feel ready to switch, or just be done with the highs and lows of TTC myself (I have been struggling with the TWW every cycle) but I’m having a lot of sadness about not carrying. My wife has insecurities about how I will feel about our kid if I don’t carry and feels hurt that I’m sad about not carrying. I once said that having a genetic connection would be really cool, and I feel less strongly about being pregnant (that part doesn’t sound fun). She’s really holding on to this and worried it will change how I feel about a kid she carries. I hear where she’s coming from but I will love our kid regardless. I still have these big old feelings about this decision right now though. In my mind we would have tried with for a second kid and we would both carry one. But making this switch now feels permanent because of my age, like I’m accepting that I won’t ever carry. I’m also not sure how it will feel if she gets pregnant quickly or if she struggles for a long time too and in that time I age out of being eligible to even try with higher level of care.
I guess I’m curious how folks have handled these decisions and feelings? We’re both in therapy and have done couples counseling when we started TTC as well, we also talk about it between us a lot. Looking for shared experience more than advice about how to talk about it with her. Most of our friends had a clear decision in their minds about this and never really considered both carrying.

I don't think we are interested in doing IVF or IUI at this point- instead we will see if my wife can conceive when we decide that we have explored our non procedural options with me.

Given that I probably won't try IVF or IUI is it worth seeing an RE before I fully move on from trying? I think we have surpassed what my OB can help us with, I'm loosing some confidence in her assessment of my situation.

There is one 1.5 hours away who has pretty restrictive policies for working with queer couples using fresh sperm (when doing IUI or IVF). From my understanding she will only do procedures with frozen sperm that has been in quarantine for 6 months from donors. With primary partners she will use fresh sperm. (side note - does this seem legally questionable to you?)

I suppose it's not really relevant what she does with sperm if we don't want to go a medical procedural route, but I am curious what she can might offer us that isn't one of those options. Maybe its worth cryopreserving sperm sooner rather than later in case my wife also struggles so that we're not resetting the clock again at a future point that we do decide we're willing to level up to IUI or IVF.

The link above has some information about what we have tried and what we haven't so far.

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