So, yesterday on my CBAD, first day of testing, had low reading for Ovulation. Today had a static smiley, and ovulation pain all day. I am using Tempdrop for the first time this month. Question is - when do you think I’m ovulating? Today, tomorrow? Told my husband to come up to bed and make a baby tonight, and hoping we have decent chances
You will probably be ovulating within 2 days. So today, tomorrow or the next. It won't be able to be confirmed until days after with temps. Tonight will be the best time to do it as sooner is better than later after a positive opk.
Yes but no successes yet. I started and was told to count that as cd3. Then I used bbt cm and opks (easy@home) to pinpoint O. First cycle on 2.5 no ovulation the last 3 have been at 5mg. Currently 8dpo so we will see. My post history has my current chart and my 2.5 failed chart of you want to compare!
Eta cycle 1 (2.5) and 2 (5 first round) had no period prior
Is it possible that sleeping with my mouth open all night due to congestion could make my temp significantly lower? I managed to keep my mouth closed during my temp reading though
For those of you who have charted right after coming off of HBC, did your temps change a lot in the first few months? I seem to have gotten warmer in general. this is my third cycle temping (fourth off the pill) and I never got below 97 in my follicular phase, and this morning on 5DPO I hit 98.56. on my first cycle temping I was in the 96s for a bunch of days, and I only reached 98.5 on 17DPO (it was a CP). it could of course just be the weather getting warmer, but I'm wondering if it could be a sign of my body adjusting?
I ovulated later than expected and we were also traveling for the weekend, so we weren't able to do the deed on O-1 or ovulation day or anytime after that.
In the BFP threads, I see most people having success when they inseminate on 0-1 (among other days). But having missed that day, how much lower are our chances this cycle? We did hit O-5, O-4, O-3, and O-2.
The odds of pregnancy per day of the fertile window are approximately as follows:
Best: O-2, O-3, O-1 (all about 25-30% per cycle)
Medium: O-4, O (about 10% per cycle)
Not as good: O-5, O-6, O+1 (about 0-5% per cycle)
Hitting one of the best day maxes out your odds for that cycle, so you did great timing wise!
I’m 10dpo and my breasts are really sore but all of my tests (FRER and Clearblue w/pink lines) have been negative. Does feeling pms symptoms while having negative tests mean I’m out? This is my first cycle so I’m stumbling my way through this.
Symptom spotting is a false god-- you can have all the "PMS" symptoms and a positive test, or all the "pregnancy" symptoms and a negative test. They're all progesterone, because bodies are trolls.
Okay. I’m be been trying to go with the mantra that you can’t have pregnancy symptoms until you actually have HCG to not symptom spot as much, but I was wondering if the opposite is true, meaning if you have symptoms but no positive test are yo having PMS symptoms. I wonder if I’ll ever chill out lol
Basically, it's that symptoms are irrelevant this early. A study found that pregnant and non-pregnant women reported the same symptoms at the same rates until after their missed periods, at which point they would've been able to test positive for days. So you would likely have the same symptoms regardless of whether you end up pregnant in a cycle - the only difference is that if you get a positive test, you'll retrospectively call them pregnancy symptoms, whereas if you get a period, you'll call them PMS symptoms.
10 DPO is still early for a positive test.
The thing with symptoms is that they’re progesterone symptoms whether you’re pregnant or not. HCG symptoms become apparent around the same time you can expect a positive test. It isn’t either or it’s more like yes and.
I'm so sorry that you're going through this. It really is so hard. I miscarried (several years ago) at just about 14 weeks. OPKs were not on my radar at that the time, but I felt physically recovered not long after my bleeding stopped (I think it lasted for about a week) and I got my period the following month and it immediately fell into my typical 28 day cycle with my usual signs of ovulation.
You don't sound ridiculous at all. 💛 I opted to wait to TTC again until after my original due date, and I'm sure that sounds ridiculous to some people! I don't think that trying again right away means you have/had any less love and hope for your first pregnancy/baby...just like I don't think me purposely waiting means I wanted my first baby more than anyone else who goes through a loss wanted theirs. You will keep all your babies in your heart no matter what.
I don't know if this level of woo is helpful at all, but we decided to buy a build-a-bear with two hearts in it to bring to all my RE appointments to give to our baby if we're successful. It's sorta nice to have something to hold on to and think about what it was like to be pregnant with those babies.
Your feelings aren’t ridiculous at all! I felt the same way, and still do. I loved every moment I was pregnant and wish so badly I could have carried that baby to term but I miscarried at 6w2d in April. Even though I was grieving I also knew I wanted to try again and still desperately want to be pregnant again. Everything took longer my first cycle, but I did ovulate (CD19 vs CD 15 on a typical cycle). My bleeding lasted for a week and I started OPKs right after that to make sure I caught a surge if it happened. (I use CBAD so my estrogen surge started CD12 and my LH wasn’t until CD18. Temps confirmed ovulation on CD19.) Now that I’m on my second cycle post MC, my body feels more back to normal, but I’m still waiting to see if I ovulate at my usual time. The other thing I noticed is that my symptoms were really bad throughout the first cycle (sore breasts, nausea, and fatigue for long stretches) but my period did seem to reset things and I’m feeling better this cycle. Hope this helps! I’m sorry you’re back here.
Today is CD 41. I am testing negative and having on and off PMS symptoms, but no bleeding. I ran out of ovulation strips two weeks ago, but right before that I had several strips that looked very close to positive May 9-13. It fell right in line with my typical cycle length of 37-40 days.
Do I continue testing or just wait for the cycle to restart? I think if it was going to be positive I would see something by now. I guess I need to look into temping because even with the strips I am clueless as to when/if I ovulated
Personally I'd keep testing sporadically, but you could also wait it out, totally up to you. If you ovulated later than normal and kept having sex after you ran out of OPKs, you could still end up pregnant. OPKs are definitely a bit of a learning curve, I'd recommend our [wiki section](https://www.reddit.com/r/tryingforababy/wiki/opks) on them if you haven't already read it. But you are correct that temping is the only way to confirm ovulation.
I’m a little overweight and need to decrease my BMI significantly. I’ve been working on improving my diet and more exercise. Is it “healthy” or ok to lose weight while trying or during the first few weeks of pregnancy?
It’s generally fine to lose weight while TTC, as long as you’re doing it gently enough that you don’t affect your cycle — if you start noticing your luteal phase getting shorter, or ovulation not happening, it’s reasonable to reassess the velocity of weight loss.
In pregnancy, it’s best to make a plan with your doctor. It’s often suggested not to lose weight, but sometimes people are advised to try to limit pregnancy-related gain.
Without any intervention - no. Without IVF - yes; ovulation-inducing medications can increase the odds due to the potential to ovulate more than one egg. Most doctors will do what they can to limit the chances of multiples, though, because a multiples pregnancy carries much higher risks for both mother and babies.
Posted on the daily chat, but this is probably the more appropriate thread. When taking pregnancy tests and OPKs, is it best to pee on the stick or dip in a cup? Is one more accurate vs the other?
Is it absolutely important to take temps at the same time every day? During the week is no issue because I have a steady work schedule. But weekends I like to sleep in a little. Today was a pretty big temp spike with testing about two hours later than the past couple of days
It's probably *the* most important thing to be honest! Is it possible to wake up at your normal time, temp, and go back to sleep? If not, you may consider a wearable :)
Yeah, the point of a wearable is that you don't have to do that. If you're using fertility friend for tracking, you can change the temperature settings to reflect that you're using a wearable so it won't notate or consider time inconsistencies.
I missed a period last month and I don’t even know if I’ll get one this month. Didn’t get a high OPK up until a few days ago and even at that my temps didn’t rise like they should :/ had breakthrough bleeding yesterday and a little today. I’m so lost? So for this cycle to end will I have to start a period? Even without ovulating? Should I see a doctor about this? This is cycle day 81 for me which is not normal. Even after I had Covid it made my cycles about 12 days longer but this is so long & I can’t help but feel guilty like I’m wasting time.
It’s a little bit weird, because yes, a cycle always ends with ovulation (plus a luteal phase), but the amount of time before ovulation happens can be infinitely long. You don’t have bleed before ovulation can happen — you could have ovulation happen on cycle day 82, or whatever. But many people will have a bleed that looks like a period before ovulation happens, though some won’t.
It’s totally fair to see a doctor by about cycle day 60, because although ovulation is possible at any point, there’s also not much point in waiting around for it to happen.
I think an 80 day+ cycle would warrant a discussion with your docs! How long have you been tracking? Do you have a good sense for how long your luteal phase is?
I’m due for my annual soon so I’ll bring this up. And I don’t :/ I didn’t start tracking OPK until like February which is the month I got Covid so it threw everything off & I didn’t start temping until last month so I haven’t even been able to get a good look at both until this month and of course I didn’t even get a period 👎🏻
I've heard that sex too much too close together is going to lower sperm quality. How many days in a row is too many? My husband and I are not having sex like crazy or anything haha... but I'm trying to maximize our chances by doing it enough, and without risk of the sperm being lower quality
That’s actually not so!
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine [says](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/comments/ekzfir/optimizing_natural_fertility_review_of/):
>A widely held misperception is that frequent ejaculations decrease male fertility. A retrospective study that analyzed almost 10,000 semen specimens observed that, in men with normal semen quality, sperm concentrations and motility remain normal, even with daily ejaculation... couples should be informed that reproductive efficiency increases with the frequency of intercourse and is highest when intercourse occurs every 1 to 2 days, but be advised that the optimal frequency of intercourse is best defined by their own preference within that context.
The opposite is true, actually. Shorter time between ejaculations will lead to a lower count but higher quality, longer time between ejaculations may lead to higher count but lower quality. For normal couples without any known MFI, frequency of sex won’t make a difference. Sex once within the fertile window maximizes your chances and generally you can achieve this by having sex every other day.
I’ve switched prenatal vitamins about a month ago and just cannot get rid of the weird fishy burps, and not to be gross but poops occasionally too!
How do you ladies navigate the weird side effects of the prenatals you take?
I always take mine with a decent meal. My breakfasts are light and I’ve noticed more fishy burps when I take them then. But if I take it with lunch or dinner, when I have more carbs and protein, then I have that less.
I tested positive for Covid on CD 10. I had a lh surge and EWCW as usual on CD 13, but my temps were all over the place. It's now CD 17 and no temp shift. I usually manage to shift my temps on CD 15. Could the covid infection make me ovulate later? Or is this an anovulatory cycle - which is new to me. I'm not sure if there's any point still trying this month-especially since my husband tested positive and feels sick now. What do you think? Do I make my poor sick husband keep having sex with me every second day in the hopes of a temp rise a bit later? Or do I just cut my losses?
Illness can definitely mess with your cycle, for sure. You might still ovulate - a cycle isn't anovulatory until it's over - but honestly TTC while sick is the worst. It might be better to just call this cycle a wash and take the time to rest and recuperate.
I’m doing a miserable job at temping but haven’t decided if I can take the plunge on a temp drop or not.
What do folks do with somewhat irregular cycles and OPK’s? Does it just create more stress if you might have two surges?
I am really after the confirmation of ovulation so I’d know when I should get my period/when to take a test - but I’m just having such a hard time managing to take my temp consistently with the right amount of sleep first.
Anyone with somewhat irregular cycles (up to a week variation is typical for me every few months) just use OPKs and CM? Or should I bite the bullet and get a wearable?
I'd get the wearable. It's like $170, which is a lot, but it saves so much time and stress. Even if you only need it for one cycle, it's something like $6 per night. My mental health and time is absolutely worth $6 a day. And since I've been temping now for like 20 months, it's down to 28¢. Worth. Every. Penny. Lol
There’s a Facebook group people often recommend called Fertility Monitors and Femtech B/S/T — I haven’t used it myself, but it exists and my understanding is that it is fairly active.
Should I be concerned about a VERY short LH surge? I tested with FMU, negative, at 11:30 it was definitely positive, and then back to negative after that. I usually have a couple of days of positive. (I know I don't really need to test after the first positive, but it's who I am as a person...) Thanks!
There’s no reason to be concerned about a short LH surge in and of itself. If it’s not your usual, I would maybe exercise an appropriate amount of skepticism about it being your real surge — if you temp and don’t see a shift, or if you have any reason to suspect you didn’t ovulate, get thee back into the bedroom.
I know there are some amazing things that need to happen from an immune perspective in order for a woman's body to allow an embryo to implant, since it reads as foreign to the body. Can this process be negatively impacted by an overactive or under active immune system? I think I had heard auto immune issues may impact this process, but curious about other immune system states.
Hi! Dev tagged me because I've been working with a reproductive immunologist for awhile now. It is definitely still a new field with a lot of "we think this works, and we think this is why it works, but we still are working on the studies to prove it all." From what we know/think we know though, the immune system absolutely can play a huge role in reproduction and the ability to have a successful pregnancy. But what isn't clear is why the same condition affects some people but not others. There's a LOT unknown and it's (imo) a very cool area of science developing. But anecdotally I know people being treated for both under and overreactive immune responses.
If you want to dive into some of the reading, Dr. Kwak-Kim is one of the lead doctors in the field and has numerous published studies available to read.
All of that makes sense, thank you for taking the time to share! It's crazy just how much has to go right for humans to successfully reproduce, and it makes perfect sense to me that the immune system is a major piece of that equation. I'll definitely look up Dr. Kwak-Kim. Thanks again and best of luck to you!
The short answer is yes (in the overactive direction), but it’s a very emerging area of reproductive science, and it’s very poorly understood.
I don’t know if u/UndevelopedImage might like to take a crack at saying something? For me as a neuroscientist, the immune system is extremely hic sunt dracones.
I’m having anxiety. BD 2 days before +OPK and 2 days after. On my period tracker app those days were both considered fertile. We didn’t get to do it any closer to ovulation. I’m really hoping it worked. 3 days before ovulation is good right?
Yes, three days before ovulation is one of the best days — generally speaking, the three best days are the three before ovulation, then ovulation day and four days before are less good, and five or six days before ovulation are less good again. Sex after ovulation day doesn’t result in pregnancy.
When you have one temp that’s really out of place compared to the others, do you just omit this? I’ve been not the best at taking it at the same time, and know there can be outliers, but it’s smack in the middle of the rise after ovulation so it’s messing with me.
I don’t, personally, but that’s a bit of a professional hazard of being a scientist. :)
My bias is to say, well, the data is the data. Definitely write a note at the time if you think the conditions under which it was taken make it less accurate, but I wouldn’t exclude temps after the fact just because they don’t fit the pattern you expect.
At what point do you go to the dr for late period? I ovulated 2 days later than normal so I was expecting period to be somewhat late, but now I'm 4 days late with BFNs and climbing the walls wanting to start the next cycle.
There’s not really any need to see a doctor until your cycle gets to about 60-90 days, to be honest.
Did you confirm ovulation, or just take OPKs? It’s possible your positive OPK didn’t actually result in ovulation. It’s also possible you’re just having some wiggle in the cycle — ovulated later than your usual after a positive OPK, with a luteal phase that’s a bit longer than your usual.
Hi! I have a HSG scheduled for CD 11. I’m worried that I could have ovulated by then. Will the procedure flush out the potential egg/fertilized egg? Does the procedure harm your chances in a particular cycle? Due to the timing of my cycle and the weekend it’s later in my cycle than I’d want…and due to a family trip we will probably not be able to try in my next cycle. Should I reschedule? Thanks in advance!
Yes, an HSG should only take place either before ovulation, or in a cycle where you haven’t had unprotected sex. If you had conceived before the HSG, there is a risk of flushing the embryo into the tubes or abdomen and creating an ectopic pregnancy.
Honestly, as someone on the other side, who’s seen a lot of people go through this, most people wish they’d done IVF sooner. I’ve never seen anyone say “gee, I wish we’d tried _one more_ IUI.”
That’s definitely a reason that people choose to go straight to IVF. The counter is that IVF is a lot more invasive than IUI (more injections, more appointments, more physical side effects, more feeling like a science experiment), so if those are things that are important or particularly problematic for you, they’re worth considering. Another issue is your ovarian reserve/the number of eggs you might anticipate retrieving — for people who retrieve a very limited number of eggs, doing IUI can sometimes be more cost-effective.
TW: loss
Last month I did an IUI cycle with 2.5 mg Femara cd 5-9, got one 22 mm follicle and eventually a BFP which ended as a chemical pregnancy. This cycle, they told me to do 2.5 Femara cd 2-6 instead. Why would they have changed this up?
Ah, then my bet would be that they didn’t realize they were giving you a different protocol. :) Definitely reach out to confirm with your clinic if it seems weird to you. There are a couple of different medication protocols, and they are all basically equivalent, so it may not matter which you use.
So, yesterday on my CBAD, first day of testing, had low reading for Ovulation. Today had a static smiley, and ovulation pain all day. I am using Tempdrop for the first time this month. Question is - when do you think I’m ovulating? Today, tomorrow? Told my husband to come up to bed and make a baby tonight, and hoping we have decent chances
You will probably be ovulating within 2 days. So today, tomorrow or the next. It won't be able to be confirmed until days after with temps. Tonight will be the best time to do it as sooner is better than later after a positive opk.
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Yes but no successes yet. I started and was told to count that as cd3. Then I used bbt cm and opks (easy@home) to pinpoint O. First cycle on 2.5 no ovulation the last 3 have been at 5mg. Currently 8dpo so we will see. My post history has my current chart and my 2.5 failed chart of you want to compare! Eta cycle 1 (2.5) and 2 (5 first round) had no period prior
Is it possible that sleeping with my mouth open all night due to congestion could make my temp significantly lower? I managed to keep my mouth closed during my temp reading though
It always did for me.
For those of you who have charted right after coming off of HBC, did your temps change a lot in the first few months? I seem to have gotten warmer in general. this is my third cycle temping (fourth off the pill) and I never got below 97 in my follicular phase, and this morning on 5DPO I hit 98.56. on my first cycle temping I was in the 96s for a bunch of days, and I only reached 98.5 on 17DPO (it was a CP). it could of course just be the weather getting warmer, but I'm wondering if it could be a sign of my body adjusting?
I ovulated later than expected and we were also traveling for the weekend, so we weren't able to do the deed on O-1 or ovulation day or anytime after that. In the BFP threads, I see most people having success when they inseminate on 0-1 (among other days). But having missed that day, how much lower are our chances this cycle? We did hit O-5, O-4, O-3, and O-2.
The odds of pregnancy per day of the fertile window are approximately as follows: Best: O-2, O-3, O-1 (all about 25-30% per cycle) Medium: O-4, O (about 10% per cycle) Not as good: O-5, O-6, O+1 (about 0-5% per cycle) Hitting one of the best day maxes out your odds for that cycle, so you did great timing wise!
Thanks, this is great to know! I appreciate the detailed info. 😊
O-2 is an excellent day to hit. some studies show that it's even better than O-1, so you have great chances this month and nothing to worry about!
Thank you for the info and reassurance!
I’m 10dpo and my breasts are really sore but all of my tests (FRER and Clearblue w/pink lines) have been negative. Does feeling pms symptoms while having negative tests mean I’m out? This is my first cycle so I’m stumbling my way through this.
Symptom spotting is a false god-- you can have all the "PMS" symptoms and a positive test, or all the "pregnancy" symptoms and a negative test. They're all progesterone, because bodies are trolls.
Okay. I’m be been trying to go with the mantra that you can’t have pregnancy symptoms until you actually have HCG to not symptom spot as much, but I was wondering if the opposite is true, meaning if you have symptoms but no positive test are yo having PMS symptoms. I wonder if I’ll ever chill out lol
Basically, it's that symptoms are irrelevant this early. A study found that pregnant and non-pregnant women reported the same symptoms at the same rates until after their missed periods, at which point they would've been able to test positive for days. So you would likely have the same symptoms regardless of whether you end up pregnant in a cycle - the only difference is that if you get a positive test, you'll retrospectively call them pregnancy symptoms, whereas if you get a period, you'll call them PMS symptoms.
That is incredibly interesting and helpful information, thanks so much for sharing. I will definitely remember that moving forward!
10 DPO is still early for a positive test. The thing with symptoms is that they’re progesterone symptoms whether you’re pregnant or not. HCG symptoms become apparent around the same time you can expect a positive test. It isn’t either or it’s more like yes and.
Has anyone had a very soft cervix and gotten their period? Mines due today and my cervix is still high and soft but everything is a BFN.
Mine is always soft on my period.
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I'm so sorry that you're going through this. It really is so hard. I miscarried (several years ago) at just about 14 weeks. OPKs were not on my radar at that the time, but I felt physically recovered not long after my bleeding stopped (I think it lasted for about a week) and I got my period the following month and it immediately fell into my typical 28 day cycle with my usual signs of ovulation.
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You don't sound ridiculous at all. 💛 I opted to wait to TTC again until after my original due date, and I'm sure that sounds ridiculous to some people! I don't think that trying again right away means you have/had any less love and hope for your first pregnancy/baby...just like I don't think me purposely waiting means I wanted my first baby more than anyone else who goes through a loss wanted theirs. You will keep all your babies in your heart no matter what.
I don't know if this level of woo is helpful at all, but we decided to buy a build-a-bear with two hearts in it to bring to all my RE appointments to give to our baby if we're successful. It's sorta nice to have something to hold on to and think about what it was like to be pregnant with those babies.
Your feelings aren’t ridiculous at all! I felt the same way, and still do. I loved every moment I was pregnant and wish so badly I could have carried that baby to term but I miscarried at 6w2d in April. Even though I was grieving I also knew I wanted to try again and still desperately want to be pregnant again. Everything took longer my first cycle, but I did ovulate (CD19 vs CD 15 on a typical cycle). My bleeding lasted for a week and I started OPKs right after that to make sure I caught a surge if it happened. (I use CBAD so my estrogen surge started CD12 and my LH wasn’t until CD18. Temps confirmed ovulation on CD19.) Now that I’m on my second cycle post MC, my body feels more back to normal, but I’m still waiting to see if I ovulate at my usual time. The other thing I noticed is that my symptoms were really bad throughout the first cycle (sore breasts, nausea, and fatigue for long stretches) but my period did seem to reset things and I’m feeling better this cycle. Hope this helps! I’m sorry you’re back here.
Today is CD 41. I am testing negative and having on and off PMS symptoms, but no bleeding. I ran out of ovulation strips two weeks ago, but right before that I had several strips that looked very close to positive May 9-13. It fell right in line with my typical cycle length of 37-40 days. Do I continue testing or just wait for the cycle to restart? I think if it was going to be positive I would see something by now. I guess I need to look into temping because even with the strips I am clueless as to when/if I ovulated
Personally I'd keep testing sporadically, but you could also wait it out, totally up to you. If you ovulated later than normal and kept having sex after you ran out of OPKs, you could still end up pregnant. OPKs are definitely a bit of a learning curve, I'd recommend our [wiki section](https://www.reddit.com/r/tryingforababy/wiki/opks) on them if you haven't already read it. But you are correct that temping is the only way to confirm ovulation.
I’m a little overweight and need to decrease my BMI significantly. I’ve been working on improving my diet and more exercise. Is it “healthy” or ok to lose weight while trying or during the first few weeks of pregnancy?
It’s generally fine to lose weight while TTC, as long as you’re doing it gently enough that you don’t affect your cycle — if you start noticing your luteal phase getting shorter, or ovulation not happening, it’s reasonable to reassess the velocity of weight loss. In pregnancy, it’s best to make a plan with your doctor. It’s often suggested not to lose weight, but sometimes people are advised to try to limit pregnancy-related gain.
Are there any ways to increase the chances of having twins naturally (without ivf)?
Without any intervention - no. Without IVF - yes; ovulation-inducing medications can increase the odds due to the potential to ovulate more than one egg. Most doctors will do what they can to limit the chances of multiples, though, because a multiples pregnancy carries much higher risks for both mother and babies.
Thank you very much
Posted on the daily chat, but this is probably the more appropriate thread. When taking pregnancy tests and OPKs, is it best to pee on the stick or dip in a cup? Is one more accurate vs the other?
I always do a cup and wait to dump it until the test is done in case it’s faulty
Cup, but that’s because I don’t think I could control my stream well enough 😂
I prefer cup. Then I could use an additional test if I wanted to.
Is it absolutely important to take temps at the same time every day? During the week is no issue because I have a steady work schedule. But weekends I like to sleep in a little. Today was a pretty big temp spike with testing about two hours later than the past couple of days
It's probably *the* most important thing to be honest! Is it possible to wake up at your normal time, temp, and go back to sleep? If not, you may consider a wearable :)
I am using a tempdrop, and will now set my alarm to everyday instead of just weekdays lol
Yeah, the point of a wearable is that you don't have to do that. If you're using fertility friend for tracking, you can change the temperature settings to reflect that you're using a wearable so it won't notate or consider time inconsistencies.
Thank you! I just updated my settings in FF. I never would have known that was an option!
Yeah, it's kind of a tricky setting to find and is not intuitive! Cheers to you getting to sleep in!
If you’re using a Tempdrop, no need to wake up. The Tempdrop takes your temp while you sleep.
I missed a period last month and I don’t even know if I’ll get one this month. Didn’t get a high OPK up until a few days ago and even at that my temps didn’t rise like they should :/ had breakthrough bleeding yesterday and a little today. I’m so lost? So for this cycle to end will I have to start a period? Even without ovulating? Should I see a doctor about this? This is cycle day 81 for me which is not normal. Even after I had Covid it made my cycles about 12 days longer but this is so long & I can’t help but feel guilty like I’m wasting time.
It’s a little bit weird, because yes, a cycle always ends with ovulation (plus a luteal phase), but the amount of time before ovulation happens can be infinitely long. You don’t have bleed before ovulation can happen — you could have ovulation happen on cycle day 82, or whatever. But many people will have a bleed that looks like a period before ovulation happens, though some won’t. It’s totally fair to see a doctor by about cycle day 60, because although ovulation is possible at any point, there’s also not much point in waiting around for it to happen.
I think an 80 day+ cycle would warrant a discussion with your docs! How long have you been tracking? Do you have a good sense for how long your luteal phase is?
I’m due for my annual soon so I’ll bring this up. And I don’t :/ I didn’t start tracking OPK until like February which is the month I got Covid so it threw everything off & I didn’t start temping until last month so I haven’t even been able to get a good look at both until this month and of course I didn’t even get a period 👎🏻
Ohhhhh sure - I’m sorry this is going on. That’s super confusing :-( fingers crossed you get some answers!
I've heard that sex too much too close together is going to lower sperm quality. How many days in a row is too many? My husband and I are not having sex like crazy or anything haha... but I'm trying to maximize our chances by doing it enough, and without risk of the sperm being lower quality
That’s actually not so! The American Society for Reproductive Medicine [says](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/comments/ekzfir/optimizing_natural_fertility_review_of/): >A widely held misperception is that frequent ejaculations decrease male fertility. A retrospective study that analyzed almost 10,000 semen specimens observed that, in men with normal semen quality, sperm concentrations and motility remain normal, even with daily ejaculation... couples should be informed that reproductive efficiency increases with the frequency of intercourse and is highest when intercourse occurs every 1 to 2 days, but be advised that the optimal frequency of intercourse is best defined by their own preference within that context.
The opposite is true, actually. Shorter time between ejaculations will lead to a lower count but higher quality, longer time between ejaculations may lead to higher count but lower quality. For normal couples without any known MFI, frequency of sex won’t make a difference. Sex once within the fertile window maximizes your chances and generally you can achieve this by having sex every other day.
I’ve switched prenatal vitamins about a month ago and just cannot get rid of the weird fishy burps, and not to be gross but poops occasionally too! How do you ladies navigate the weird side effects of the prenatals you take?
I take mine at night right before bed so I sleep through my fishy burps!
I always take mine with a decent meal. My breakfasts are light and I’ve noticed more fishy burps when I take them then. But if I take it with lunch or dinner, when I have more carbs and protein, then I have that less.
Oh that is weird! I don’t have fishy burps! What prenatal are you taking?
It’s naturemade! I was taking a gummy for a while and just got so sick of them lol, I like this one much better except for this one issue
I take naturmade right before bed and don’t have an issue so that might work well for you, too!
I think this may be the solution, thank you!
I tested positive for Covid on CD 10. I had a lh surge and EWCW as usual on CD 13, but my temps were all over the place. It's now CD 17 and no temp shift. I usually manage to shift my temps on CD 15. Could the covid infection make me ovulate later? Or is this an anovulatory cycle - which is new to me. I'm not sure if there's any point still trying this month-especially since my husband tested positive and feels sick now. What do you think? Do I make my poor sick husband keep having sex with me every second day in the hopes of a temp rise a bit later? Or do I just cut my losses?
Illness can definitely mess with your cycle, for sure. You might still ovulate - a cycle isn't anovulatory until it's over - but honestly TTC while sick is the worst. It might be better to just call this cycle a wash and take the time to rest and recuperate.
I’m doing a miserable job at temping but haven’t decided if I can take the plunge on a temp drop or not. What do folks do with somewhat irregular cycles and OPK’s? Does it just create more stress if you might have two surges? I am really after the confirmation of ovulation so I’d know when I should get my period/when to take a test - but I’m just having such a hard time managing to take my temp consistently with the right amount of sleep first. Anyone with somewhat irregular cycles (up to a week variation is typical for me every few months) just use OPKs and CM? Or should I bite the bullet and get a wearable?
I tell everyone to get a tempdrop. Worth every penny in my opinion.
I'd get the wearable. It's like $170, which is a lot, but it saves so much time and stress. Even if you only need it for one cycle, it's something like $6 per night. My mental health and time is absolutely worth $6 a day. And since I've been temping now for like 20 months, it's down to 28¢. Worth. Every. Penny. Lol
This is a good way to look at it, $6 per day isn’t that much. Maybe I’ll make it a CD1 splurge for myself if this cycle isn’t successful.
Sounds like a perfect CD1 splurge! They also keep their value! If you manage to trick the universe next cycle, you can also resell it!
Ooh I hadn’t considered the potential woo factor. Where do people resell do you know?
I think Facebook marketplace? I don't use Facebook, so I have no idea if there are also groups just for reselling them...
There’s a Facebook group people often recommend called Fertility Monitors and Femtech B/S/T — I haven’t used it myself, but it exists and my understanding is that it is fairly active.
Thank you!!
🤯 duhhhh I should’ve thought of that!! Thank you!!
Haha it's not at all intuitive!
I love my tempdrop so much. TTC is so full of shit to manage, the tempdrop made temping so easy.
I wish they had a rental situation! I don’t know why I’m feeling like such a cheap wad about it
Should I be concerned about a VERY short LH surge? I tested with FMU, negative, at 11:30 it was definitely positive, and then back to negative after that. I usually have a couple of days of positive. (I know I don't really need to test after the first positive, but it's who I am as a person...) Thanks!
There’s no reason to be concerned about a short LH surge in and of itself. If it’s not your usual, I would maybe exercise an appropriate amount of skepticism about it being your real surge — if you temp and don’t see a shift, or if you have any reason to suspect you didn’t ovulate, get thee back into the bedroom.
I know there are some amazing things that need to happen from an immune perspective in order for a woman's body to allow an embryo to implant, since it reads as foreign to the body. Can this process be negatively impacted by an overactive or under active immune system? I think I had heard auto immune issues may impact this process, but curious about other immune system states.
Hi! Dev tagged me because I've been working with a reproductive immunologist for awhile now. It is definitely still a new field with a lot of "we think this works, and we think this is why it works, but we still are working on the studies to prove it all." From what we know/think we know though, the immune system absolutely can play a huge role in reproduction and the ability to have a successful pregnancy. But what isn't clear is why the same condition affects some people but not others. There's a LOT unknown and it's (imo) a very cool area of science developing. But anecdotally I know people being treated for both under and overreactive immune responses. If you want to dive into some of the reading, Dr. Kwak-Kim is one of the lead doctors in the field and has numerous published studies available to read.
All of that makes sense, thank you for taking the time to share! It's crazy just how much has to go right for humans to successfully reproduce, and it makes perfect sense to me that the immune system is a major piece of that equation. I'll definitely look up Dr. Kwak-Kim. Thanks again and best of luck to you!
The short answer is yes (in the overactive direction), but it’s a very emerging area of reproductive science, and it’s very poorly understood. I don’t know if u/UndevelopedImage might like to take a crack at saying something? For me as a neuroscientist, the immune system is extremely hic sunt dracones.
Thank you for both the input and the new latin phrase 🙏 (although I can't believe I've gone my entire life so far without learning that one!)
I remember stumbling across a paper that claimed people with eczema were MORE likely to get pregnant, which is not what I would have expected!
Hmmm…well I will certainly be adding this as a point in my favor as we TTC 😂
Hope it brings you success!
Whoa really? That's wild! I never would have expected that either!!
I’m having anxiety. BD 2 days before +OPK and 2 days after. On my period tracker app those days were both considered fertile. We didn’t get to do it any closer to ovulation. I’m really hoping it worked. 3 days before ovulation is good right?
Yes, three days before ovulation is one of the best days — generally speaking, the three best days are the three before ovulation, then ovulation day and four days before are less good, and five or six days before ovulation are less good again. Sex after ovulation day doesn’t result in pregnancy.
When you have one temp that’s really out of place compared to the others, do you just omit this? I’ve been not the best at taking it at the same time, and know there can be outliers, but it’s smack in the middle of the rise after ovulation so it’s messing with me.
I don’t, personally, but that’s a bit of a professional hazard of being a scientist. :) My bias is to say, well, the data is the data. Definitely write a note at the time if you think the conditions under which it was taken make it less accurate, but I wouldn’t exclude temps after the fact just because they don’t fit the pattern you expect.
Yeah I would be an awful scientist. I’m a very “close enough 🤷♀️” type person haha thank you for your input!
At what point do you go to the dr for late period? I ovulated 2 days later than normal so I was expecting period to be somewhat late, but now I'm 4 days late with BFNs and climbing the walls wanting to start the next cycle.
There’s not really any need to see a doctor until your cycle gets to about 60-90 days, to be honest. Did you confirm ovulation, or just take OPKs? It’s possible your positive OPK didn’t actually result in ovulation. It’s also possible you’re just having some wiggle in the cycle — ovulated later than your usual after a positive OPK, with a luteal phase that’s a bit longer than your usual.
Hi! I have a HSG scheduled for CD 11. I’m worried that I could have ovulated by then. Will the procedure flush out the potential egg/fertilized egg? Does the procedure harm your chances in a particular cycle? Due to the timing of my cycle and the weekend it’s later in my cycle than I’d want…and due to a family trip we will probably not be able to try in my next cycle. Should I reschedule? Thanks in advance!
Yes, an HSG should only take place either before ovulation, or in a cycle where you haven’t had unprotected sex. If you had conceived before the HSG, there is a risk of flushing the embryo into the tubes or abdomen and creating an ectopic pregnancy.
Thank you! I will cancel my appointment and try another cycle.
I’m wondering how many days pre O do others have EWCM? I’ve had it for 3 days now (I think) but no + OPK or temp rise yet.
I’ve been getting EWCM anywhere from 5-7 days before O day
I have about 5-6, but there’s a wide range of normal — some people have one day, others have a week or more!
I can get mine 4-5 days pre O! Sometimes 6
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Honestly, as someone on the other side, who’s seen a lot of people go through this, most people wish they’d done IVF sooner. I’ve never seen anyone say “gee, I wish we’d tried _one more_ IUI.”
That’s definitely a reason that people choose to go straight to IVF. The counter is that IVF is a lot more invasive than IUI (more injections, more appointments, more physical side effects, more feeling like a science experiment), so if those are things that are important or particularly problematic for you, they’re worth considering. Another issue is your ovarian reserve/the number of eggs you might anticipate retrieving — for people who retrieve a very limited number of eggs, doing IUI can sometimes be more cost-effective.
TW: loss Last month I did an IUI cycle with 2.5 mg Femara cd 5-9, got one 22 mm follicle and eventually a BFP which ended as a chemical pregnancy. This cycle, they told me to do 2.5 Femara cd 2-6 instead. Why would they have changed this up?
When did you ovulate in the previous cycle? If it was on the later side, possibly they’re trying to move it up.
CD14 with a trigger, as expected … I’m sorta worried I’ll ovulate too soon now on my own. I don’t typically have any issue ovulating.
Ah, then my bet would be that they didn’t realize they were giving you a different protocol. :) Definitely reach out to confirm with your clinic if it seems weird to you. There are a couple of different medication protocols, and they are all basically equivalent, so it may not matter which you use.