So my periods have been like clockwork since I was 13. Every 26 days. I was able to get pregnant at 18 while having been on the shot for over a year, which was crazy since it was supposed to suppress ovulation and did for over a year. Then immediately after having my daughter my periods returned to normal. I’ve always been able to literally plan vacations around them, they’ve always been very regular. I heard that’s a good sign of fertility.

Typically my first day is always spotting, usually tat night so I know the flow is coming the next morning. Then the 2nd day is the heaviest, and day 3 and 4 are light, with day 4 usually just being spotting or only seeing something when I wipe, but never in my underwear. I’ve always been lucky with short periods and absolutely zero PMS symptoms. No mood swings, no nausea, no food cravings, no cramps , no sore boobs. Nada. My friend all hated me for it.

Now I’m 34 and we are ready to TTC our first child together. We aren’t actively TTC right now, more NTNP but we plan to start hitting it full force in the spring. I’ve noticed that the past 6 months or so my periods are getting even shorter than they used to be. Not only that, but I don’t have any actual red blood anymore, and no clots. It’s always just thick brown old blood. That become my new normal. This past cycle my period was only 2 days long, last cycle I actually had a confirmed chemical so my “period” was a day later than usual but otherwise normal. Even with the chemical I only bled old dark blood lightly for 2 days with a third day of spotting in the morning and that’s it. No clots at all in the past 6+ months when I’ve always had normal clotting my whole life. I’m also starting to get PMS symptoms at 34 that I’ve never had before, which is unusual for me. My nipples are sore for a couple days before, I get low backaches but no cramps, and some acne. I know that’s all normal for most people but when I tell you I’ve never had a PMS symptoms in my life, I mean never. I had to stop taking hormonal birth control earlier this year because my body just went haywire on it when I’ve always handled hormones very well in the past. I had been using Mirena IUDs from my daughter’s birth in 2005 to 2017 with no problem, then when I tried to have another one put in March 2018 my body went insane. Tried the NuvaRing, same thing. Tried the copper IUD and it slipped out of place. So now we are using nothing and my body feels better on a day today basis without any hormones in it. I’m just feeling like there’s been a major hormonal shift in my body and it’s freaking me out.

Should I ask to have my estrogen/progesterone levels checked to make sure that at my age I still have adequate endometrial thickening each month? I’ve had a series of chemicals since having my daughter 15 years ago, it just seems like nothing ever wants to stick. Granted in the past I’ve been happy nothing would stick because I wasn’t ready but now I can hear my biological clock ticking and I’m afraid I may need some intervention to make this happen. I know people have babies well into their 40s now but my grandmother took some kind of drugs when she was pregnant with my mom and aunts/uncles to prevent miscarriage that are now known to cause fertility issues in generations down the line. My mom is 65 and not yet menopausal, but her oldest sister started perimenopause at 29 and fully started menopause at 38. So I’m just afraid it’s early onset perimenopause or something because of the fertility drugs my grandmother took.

I do ovulate regularly, always on CD 15, confirmed by OPKs and temping. How long do you generally have to have be TTC with no luck before doctors will consider checking your hormone levels? I really don’t want to wait too much longer to get pregnant because of my age and all of these hormonal symptoms, so I don’t want to waste a year before a doctor will even look at me. Does no clotting necessarily mean that my endometrial lining is not thick enough for proper implantation? Sorry for so many questions, I’m just juggling a lot of emotions around this right now and trying not to borrow unneeded stress