TTC - any advice

Hi All,

I am TTC for the last 8 months with no luck now. Although i have crohn's i'm lucky that my worst symptoms at present are constant bloating & painful trapped gas. But according to all tests (and i've had them all) there is no stricture at my last resection anastamosis and the intestine looks healthy (but i don't think they can get to see all of the small intestine with a colonoscopy). My doc is telling me it's just IBS causing my symptoms at the moment, but i'm not entirely sure about that.

So i was just wondering has anyone else had trouble TTC and did anything help? I was wondering would taking a course of Entocort help with conception in case there is mild inflammation going on? I have a very healthy diet and i'm taking folic acid, and an over the counter multivitamin specifically for women who are TTC. Plus i am pretty stress free & trying not to obsess too much about becoming pregnant. Although the longer it's going on, the more concerned i am getting that it may never happen for me.

Any advice would be so very welcome.

I am currently 24 weeks pregnant with twins.  Before getting pregnant this time, my husband and I tried for 4 months before we got pregnant.  I had a small bowel resection (second one) in May of 2012.  We started trying 3 months later.  Thankfully we didn't have to wait to long.  Don't stress as it will all work out.  Before ttc and currently  I  take Nature's Made prenatal vitamins and I take additional folic acid as well.  Don't stress, take your meds, keep up to date with all your docs and appt's and just go with the flow.  When your body is ready it will happen.  Good luck and have fun! 

Hi Skofbengsk, i haven't been charting my temp as i didn't want to be stressing myself out, but i am aware of ovulation signs, maybe i should start charting. My doc doesn't seem to think my bloating is gynae related because i have a regular monthly period, but i am not really happy with this (because when nothing is showing up in the crohn's department, everything is put down to IBS, which is very frustrating, it's almost like they don't care once the crohns isn't active. 'oh that'll be IBS, it's very common to have an IBD & IBS together' GRRRRRRRR. I am going to get an ultrasound this week to rule out anything obvious. What other tests can an ob/gyn do to investigate further?

Bella, congrats on expecting the twins, that's fantastic, double the fun for you I know just relaxing is half the battle.

Kazbern, i had laparoscopic surgery for adhesions in December as i thought this might be causing my problems, but it didn't help at all, i asked them could they have a look at the reproductive bits while they were in there but they said they wouldn't be looking for anything other than intestinal adhesions! Said they specialise in bowel surgery only. I have wondered about ovarian adhesions too. The irony of it is that my tummy has gotten so big over the last 6 months that i actually look pregnant - the bloating used to go away overnight but now it's bloated & pregnant looking 24/7 and the rest of my body hasn't gotten bigger so there's definitely something not right going on in there. I am 34 so i really feel like i am running out of time with every month that passes and i am losing patience with my doctors laid back attitude. Haven't thought about DH's fertility as he is younger than me, plus i just feel it's due to whatever's still going on in my tummy.

LiLa, it's best to take a big picture approach to fertility. Given that you're 34 and have a complicated history (Crohn's, resection) I would suggest that you find a reproductive endocrinologist now and start the process of establishing your fertility for real.

And yes, your DH needs to be tested. Male factor infertility is quite common (and getting more common, apparently). If you're like me and my DH, we were both subfertile, which made our success harder to achieve (but not impossible).

You should absolutely be charting. It's great that you are having signs of ovulation, but you could have temperature drops in the luteal phase that are problematic, or short follicular phases that are problematic...this is good info for you. The Reproductive Endocrinologist might or might not care about those things, but you'll have more knowledge about your own body when you finally get in for your first visit. Get the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It is a bible for people struggling to conceive.

One test your OB/Gyn can do right now is a baseline FSH. This is a blood test done on day 2 or 3 of your next menstrual cycle. You should call ahead to your OB/Gyn and talk about wanting this test so that the lab has a standing order when your cycle starts. You start counting day 1 when you have full flow, not when you spot (if your period starts with spotting). Day 2 or 3 go get a blood draw. It takes a few days to get the results. Elevated FSH is a sign of an ovarian dysfunction.

You need to wait for full flow. You should probably start looking for a reproductive endocrinologist/fertility specialist and have that DR do all this testing

The baseline FSH test should be done along with a measurement of E2, estrogen. If the estrogen number is higher than 50 the FSH measurement is invalid. The reason to wait for full flow is you want to take the measurement when follicular activity is almost zero. That happens at the very beginning of the ovulation cycle, usually marked by full menstrual flow. If you are charting you should be able to see this by counting 14 days or so from your last ovulation (everyone's different though, and your luteul phase might be longer or shorter than average). Follicular phases are more predictable and should be 11-14 days long. You want to take that FSH reading at the very beginning of the follicular phase. If you have an ovarian cyst that is lingering in the luteul phase it will skew the results (thus the measurement of circulating estrogen).

You can read all about this in TCOYF, the book I recommended above.

I hope GF continues to help you feel better!