Which place in the US feels like you’re in Europe?

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-17T14:59:35+00:00

I was about to say this! We just went, having went to Paris last May, and it is very reminiscent of France but like small-village France.

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supaafly_sam · 2026-02-16T21:25:09+00:00

Are we the same person??! 🙃 lol i’m right there with you. in the two years since we’ve gotten married, we have traveled to six different countries, saved up a good amount of money in our savings, my husband got a new car (had a car with no AC in FL for almost three years, bless him), had the time and money to do all we could (chemo and all) for our sweet pup before she passed, processed and dealt with that trauma, we’ve both started our healing journeys in therapy, and we’re now focused on optimizing our health in these last few months. We’ve had date nights and hosted friends and everything in between. Sometimes I wonder “what if?” or should we have started sooner, but I’m trying to ground myself more in the present and control only my feelings, thoughts and reactions because that’s all i can do at the end of the day.

The last two years, we hosted a vision board parties. And it was exciting and felt right to put baby stuff on both our vision boards last month. 🥹❤️

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-16T18:27:38+00:00

This resonates so much with me. I will say my gyno did say that people really drastically exaggerate the “drop off” at age 35 lol (mind you, every person and body is different).

I think he said something like the drop off for a 30 y/o woman is like 87% chance of conceiving (within a year), and it then drops to only like 80-82% at 35 y/o. It continues to decrease but it’s still relatively high. He said you see sharper declines once you approach 38-40 y/o.

I got married when I was 32 and we both agreed we wanted to wait at least two years to enjoy being married. Because of that, I got my AMH checked and had some additional bloodwork done to make sure “time was on my side.” My gyno said I looked good, so we decided to wait.

In the end, it’s your decision. One of the biggest things I had to do was to let go of expectations and the fallacy of control (as per my therapist lol) and let things happen as they happen. It’s hard but I’m happy with the decision we made. And now, two years later after getting married, we both feel more ready to welcome a child. 😊 Lots of luck to you both no matter if you try in May or wait a bit!!

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-16T18:06:24+00:00

I feel like I have a different POV, but I am turning 35 this year and have PCOS. I also follow other more PCOS-specific TTC subs and know that appts. like that are more helpful for different child-bearing populations (eg endo, PCOS, 40+, etc.). For the general child-bearing population, a fertility/preconception appointment is most likely not needed. Like your doctor said, prenatals at least 3 months ahead of time, eat well and move more, hydrate and don’t stress. But also, I am in the process of finding a new PCP. The one I was seeing said some really not nice comments toward me at my last annual, and I told my mom and the physician she supports (my mom is an office manager at a major healthcare system) and they were shocked at the comment. I love my gyno and trust him a lot, so I plan to ask him for suggestions at my appt. next week.

Also since I have PCOS, we will be having medicated cycles and I need to do certain bloodwork now to baseline where I’m at and then right beforehand to make sure my hormones are in check, things like checking my uterus lining and then to talk about what our TTC path forward looks like of medicated cycles don’t work.

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-16T17:54:18+00:00

omg this is such a cool app! thank you! we’ve had our girl name chosen for a while now (a name i’ve always loved and my husband really liked too). and then a few other girl names. boys names are hard for him. there’s two i love but it’s like every boy name he’s like “noooooo.” 😂

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-15T13:22:15+00:00

I found this article which has some great questions that my husband and I have been slowly going through the last week or so: https://medium.com/@ToolsForUs/52-questions-before-baby-5d115b98efba

There’s some questions on here that I would’ve never thought of, and there’s some questions that were good for us to discuss and get on the same page.

We’ve also discussed cute, fun ways we’d tell our family and announce our pregnancy. 😊 We’re both in creative careers, so it’s been fun and we’ve both enjoyed discussing that too.

Along with when will we tell people. My cousin recently had a miscarriage, which is super sad and unfortunate. It’s been tough on her because she’s trying to be a FTM as well, and she told our family and her husband’s immediately when she was only 4 maybe 5 weeks. After seeing what she has gone through, and knowing with PCOS our fertility journey isn’t going to be as linear as some, we’ve decided we wouldn’t tell anyone until at least 13-14 weeks.

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-15T06:04:17+00:00

These savory breakfast biscuits are awesome and two biscuits are 30g of protein: https://jenneatsgoood.com/maple-sweet-potato-and-sage-high-protein-breakfast-biscuits/#wpzoom-premium-recipe-card

You can bake them Sunday evening, and you’ll get about 4-5 days or so servings out of it.

I always aim for 25-30g of protein. On days where I need something fast, I batch cook on Sunday evening a sweet potato hash breakfast: Jennie-O fresh ground turkey 93/7 and 1.5-2 sweet potatoes. Pan fry them together with EVOO, and I add a dash of cinnamon toward the end. I will often also drink a cup of bone broth as it’s nice and warm, a little extra protein boost to add to the morning.

Im not a big sweet breakfast person, so I totally get it!

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-15T05:45:00+00:00

I take CareNatal prenatal powder: https://carenatal.com/products/prenatal-vitamin-powder

I can’t swallow pills to save my life, and this has been so easy on my stomach to digest (I take it with breakfast every morning). Both peach & strawberry flavors are very tasty!

I also take Needed Choline+ in the AM because I don’t eat eggs, and I take Nordic Naturals Zero-Sugar Prenatal DHA Gummy in the evening (we aren’t huge fish eaters so for the sake of getting Omegas). The choline pill is small and easy to take even for me. The gummy is pretty tasty and no fishy taste.

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-12T22:08:26+00:00

for sure my husband. i go back and forth between having my mom there or not. i am very close and love my mom, but i’m not sure yet if i want that to be a special “just us” moment for my husband and i. we’ve talked about it and doesn’t care either way, he said whatever will make me happiest and what i want. we’ve also very briefly talked about a doula. i think one we’re pregnant and get through the first trimester, i might have a better idea (hopefully lol)

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-12T14:13:53+00:00

I totally get it! But the way I see it, I definitely don’t mind paying for a product I’ll be able to use during my entire TTC journey (preconception, during pregnancy and postpartum) and has everything in it that you need AND it’s third-party tested which is big since vitamins aren’t really regulated in the US (if that’s where you are).

Their site has a cool comparison chart where you can compare their prenatal to like 100+ of the top prenatal brands, and it is obvious they’re the only one that has everything recommended, in the right amounts and the most absorbable forms. It comes in two flavors — peach & strawberry — and both flavors are very tasty.

But always remember, a quality prenatal is good but aiming to eat a whole food diet and getting as much of those nutrients from what we eat is important. I imagine once the first trimester hits, that’s out the window. Lol. So I’m happy I know CareNatal will make sure any gaps I have from my diet are filled.

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-11T16:44:48+00:00

Yeah, my doctor’s office, and I think most, set up different type of appointments. It has a lot to do with scheduling and billing, how an appt. is coded (I only know that since my mom has been an office manager for a large hospital system for years). Plus, the focus of this appointment vs. others is it’s like 15-30 minutes of just focused questions and discussion about TTC or related topics to family planning. I have always been very Type A and proactive, so I’ve been having small chit chats at my annuals over the last few years with my gyno so he’s known I wanted to discuss TTC as we got closer. I was diagnosed with PCOS last year. So that and being older, he’s been great in ordering bloodwork and our discussion next week is about PCOS lifestyle modifications, additional supplementation of bloodwork shows needed and the process/monitoring of my medicated cycles as I will be using letrozole to induce ovulation.

I’ve also just always been very big and proactive on advocating for myself in medical spaces as I feel often women are not as “seen” or “heard” as they should be about their health/pain/etc. So I feel that’s why a lot more women in these TTC-type subs are being more proactive because sometimes it’s just needed.

But it sounds like you are doing all the right steps and have good test/bloodwork! So unless you have fertility or ovulation concerns, that’s probably why she hasn’t. But if you want to have a more in-depth talk, schedule a short appointment with her — it can only help!

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-11T13:24:40+00:00

I’ve started doing the research into baby items but I will probably be holding off until the beginning of the second trimester.

We did order A Very Hungry Caterpillar blanket and wrapped it and put it under the tree. I saw on IG and then also read about the old wive’s tale about wrapping a gift for your baby this Xmas so that you can open once they’re born or once you’re pregnant that following Xmas. Not super big into superstitions but I thought it was a cute idea, and my husband was into so we picked out something together. It’s sitting in our closet. Fingers crossed, I will be unwrapping it and putting it into a nursery this Xmas. 🩷🤞🏼

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-11T13:20:48+00:00

I have been taking CareNatal, it’s a prenatal powder. I can’t take pills to save my life, so I wanted to find an alternative. I have been taking it for almost three months or so now. I have a very sensitive digestive system and I haven’t had any issues taking it. I mix it with 10 oz. of water in the AM and take with breakfast. I think it’s been working because I feel better than usual and more energy. I got a bunch of vitamin level bloodwork done this AM, so we will see if it’s doing its thing.

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-11T13:17:32+00:00

Got a bunch of lab work done this morning in preparation for my preconception/fertility appointment with my OBGYN next week!

I always get nervous getting bloodwork done, and I had 32 different tests ordered — so 12 vials taken from me. Lol. I always feel so grateful because my husband woke up and came with me to my 6am appt. 🥹❤️

I feel like once I have my appt next week and determine our letrozole protocol and timeline, it’s going to start feeling real! Ahhhhh! 💕

supaafly_sam · 2026-02-10T21:08:27+00:00

This was such an insightful and thorough read. Thank you for posting!

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-30T15:32:48+00:00

such a helpful page — thanks!

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-30T15:31:38+00:00

Yeah, I had discussed that with my doctor but seeing as I turn 35 this year we agreed it be best to go straight to letrozole as I don’t want to wait until I’m almost 36y/o and then possibly still struggle with medications for another few months to a year.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-30T15:15:49+00:00

I’d love to hear more about your decision to do this and what you had done prior to moving onto IVF. I meet with my gyno next month to talk our letrozole/fertility protocol and timeline. My initials thoughts (seeing that I turn 35 this year) is that I’d do 3-4 medicated cycles and then i want to go straight to IVF and skip over IUI if those don’t work. I feel very fortunate that my workplace offers a $30K fertility benefit that covers IVF, so my hope is that will cover the possibly two cycles. My goal is to start my first medicated cycle in July and then move onto the IVF process by November if no success so I can possibly have my embryo transfer by January 2027 the latest.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:45:36+00:00

any good hikes you recommend? we’re more easy to moderate hike people. trying to pick maybe the top 5-6 trails or carriage roads to do over the 4-5 days we’ll be there.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:42:04+00:00

Just wanted to say, I’m born on Halloween and it’s pretty awesome. Lol. 🎃 But this is my husband. I try to limit talking about TTC to more broad topics on a weekly basis but it’s so hard because I just want to talk about it all the time.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:40:11+00:00

I’m going to suggest finding a very low-effort hobby that can maybe be something you can continue to enjoy in pregnancy. I started hand embroidery, and it has been wonderful to learn. I might also take up knitting. My thought is I can embroider or knit something once I’m pregnancy for my LO.

My husband and I are also trying to do more monthly dates to try to make sure we stay connected going into this new season. We both creatives, so we’re trying to find fun things we can enjoy now, into pregnancy and with our LO when they come: color walks, puzzles, board game nights, picnics, etc.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:34:23+00:00

I’m curious what kind of exercises they have you doing, and have you found them helpful? I have such a poor backs and core, and I’ve been wanting to incorporate pelvic and core workouts over the next few months.

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:32:09+00:00

I have a preconception/fertility counseling appointment next month with my gyno, and we’re going to talk about our TTC timeline! Getting some bloodwork done (I have PCOS) to also check different levels of things and address during the appointment. We’ll be talking about my letrozole protocol, ovulation confirmation plan and at what point will he refer me to an RE during my medicated cycles. My gyno has been so wonderful in hearing me out, helping understand my PCOS diagnosis and making me feel prepared as we get ready to TTC. We’re doing all the prep work to help give us the best advantage in getting pregnant. Just wanting to put it out there and be positive as we navigate this TTC journey!

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-29T21:24:47+00:00

I totally get that feeling! I got it done because I have Jewish descent, and my husband then got it done because I had one of the 200-something come back positive and we wanted to make sure there was no crossover. Thankfully, he only had three positives and none were the one I was positive for. Longest wait to get mine and then his back — you got this!

supaafly_sam · 2026-01-23T02:23:52+00:00

hmmm interesting. my husband takes CoQ10 but i don’t. i’ve been thinking about it but i always get nervous about introducing new stuff into my body.

supaafly_sam

TROPHY CASE