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who knew conceiving could be hard?!!! if i knew i would not hv been so paranoid abt contraception past few years!!! grrrrr!!! we have been trying for past few months however this month is the first month i have sat down (literally) and been using OPK and taking note of dates etc, prior to this is was all 'rough guess work' as my cycle is pretty regular 28/29 days....but have to admit we were not having sex regularly enough as i have know understood that we must be , esp doing the 'fertile' window! my question is that my 'LH surge' was for 2 days ( today is the second day) , so does that mean ovulation is yet to happen as it happens AFTER the LH surge, or could it be happening/happened after the first surge? Also , we are trying to increase the number of times we have sex during our fertile window , would every other day be enough or would everyday increase the chane even more? i have heard sperm can live for upto 5 days but i have also heard if the environment is acidic they die out pretty quickly....
fingers crossed ! this is the first month i am doing things 'properly' !!! good luck to all those trying !
Hi and Welcome! I'm Karin, one of the co-hosts of this board. Welcome to the wonderful world of TTC. Our journey has been 3 1/2 years long, and many other ladies on this board are on very lengthy journeys as well. Nobody ever said it was easy! The "have sex, get pregnant" theory should probably be considered somewhat of a fallacy!
That's good that you are using OPKs. Typically, you should ovulate between 12-36 hours following your LH surge. If you have a surge that is longer, it can happen following your last surge. I'm not 100% certain that this is always the case, but if you are still getting positive OPKs, then keep BD'ing until you are confident you are negative.
As far as when to BD during your fertile window, there are many different theories. There are some that state every day is best, and others that say every other day. It really probably depends on your personal situation. We tried both. For men with a lower sperm count or those that have problems with motility or morphology, it may be recommended to go every other day to have a better shot.
The environment for sperm to survive is dependent on you. The more fertile-type CM you have, the better. Fertile CM is that which is considered watery or of egg-white consistency. Typically, women get this right before they ovulate, and once the egg has been released, the CM dries up. Not the case for everyone, though. I, personally, don't get any CM hardly at all. If you are like me, there are over-the-counter remedies that you can use to help increase your CM - including eating baby carrots, drinking grapefruit juice, or using robitussin (the kind with guaifenesin only). You can also use a supplemental CM product like PreSeed or FertileCM.
Keep in mind that no matter what you do, it can take a normal, average, healthy couple up to a year to conceive. I know it's hard, but try not to get discouraged. You are asking the right questions, and doing the right thing.
and I'm Dawn (29) and I am the other co-host on this board. I can't think of anything to add to what Karin said so if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.
Good luck and I hope your stay is short and sweet.
__________________ Forever missing my angel 2010
Thanks Kerian and Linda for my new blinkies!!!
Thank you everyone I love justmommies, it's so friendly, supportive and helpful!
All your help was great, thank you very much . The LH surge has now gone this morning , so it was there when I tested Sunday and Monday , which would mean those few days and the coming 2/3 days are very fertile! My only query is that a lot of times I feel like I have ovulation cramping/aching on one side , would that be the point when I'm ovulating or can ovulation happen afterwards swell? Reason I ask is that I had these cramps on the night of my first LH surge ....whilst I thought ovulation happened 2/3 days after it?
Thanks again and all the best to us all! Sometimes I worry that there maybe something wrong or that we aren't doing the deed properly (if that's possible?!) xx
* I mean LH surge has gone down, I can still see a clear but faint line , much fainter than past 2 days
It's hard to say how correlated your O pains are with your actual O. Every person is different. Some will O right when they are having O pains, and some will have pains before, and some after. It's really hard to say. This is one of the great things about charting your cycle. You can make a note of your O pains each month, along with your OPKs and temps and CM, and you can see how all the signs line up each month to get a clearer picture.
Thanks! Well that pain was Sunday night and now it's Tuesday evening and I'm having mild cramping , slight backache and slightly nauseous (could ales be the heat!) , could this be ovulation?! If so I better get busy in a few hours and make another attempt at catching that egg tdy and tmw!
I can't add a single thing... Karin has hit all the bullet points I would've made.
Since you are not charting... there really is no way to be 100% sure when you've O'd. The pains can be an indication that it IS happening, that it is ABOUT to happen or that it has ALREADY happened.
I've had cycles where I felt tender in the ovaries for a number of days after I'd had confirmation of O. Things do vary a bit, so it really is hard to say.
My best advice to you would be to continue to try and think about charting your temps for next cycle. It can truly help to take a lot of the guesswork out of it.
I had been sort of tracking my temperature for past few days , not very accurately as i will start that next cycle but i have tried to take it around the same time every day and last two/three days it has been 36.4/36.5 which is usual for me and today it was 36.8 ! I have heard that to confirm ovulation has happened temp should stay hiked for 3 days constantly ....lets see ! But lets say it does stay hiked for next ew days, would that mean i ovulated yesterday ? we did BD last night and almost every other night if not every night since last 5 days or so....fingers crossed, i'm so tired ! it is so disappointing to try actively and not see a BFP....
GoodLuck to everyone who has been trying for their BFP, i hope everyone gets it soon !!!!
o wow ! if true, this would be the first cycle we have BD's so much in the fertile time, my first cycle TTC was so naive, i assumed that since i have a regular 28 day cycle, i must ovulate on CD 14 and we BD'd that day.....and that was it ....lol ! and the cycles after that has been pretty much the same with hectic work schedules and extreme tiredness after work it was hard to increase frequency. This is the first cycle i have taken these extra steps and we have BD'd CD 12, 13, 14 and 16 today is CD 17, first day of temp hike ( i think DH is very tired and i don't want to push him again today, and tmw we are going away so will probably save our energy for then !). Safe to say, if temp remains hiked from today, fingers crossed i have a better success rate this cycle !
They say BDing every other day during your fertile time should be fine. I would also continue to bd for a day or two after confirming O.
Everyone is different but it is possible to have O pains prior, during, and after so just has the other girls said the best way to know is with charting.
Also, it is possible to always have a line on your OPK just remember for it to be read as positive the line needs to be as dark as or darker than the control line .
Good luck!
__________________ Forever missing my angel 2010
Thanks Kerian and Linda for my new blinkies!!!
Hi everyone!! Thought i would update ! Today is cycle day 19 and i have been having these sharp twinges on the right side all day, on and off. Not painful but sometimes they are more sharper then the rest, where i stop everything and think 'hangon....what is that...ohhh' . They are like sharp shooting pain/pulse/twinge and doesnt last long and apart frm a couple of really sharp ones, nothing too painful. I know most people would say it could be implantation, but i hhave had something like this before , (only not this sharp!!!) And AF still arrived that time! LH surge was CD 14 and almost as strong CD15....could this be late ovulation?! I have not been able to chart temp as i was away for past 2 days and that messed up the time i would usually take it.....confused!!!!
Hmmm, honestly, not sure. I haven't ever felt implantation pains, so unless you are ovulating late, not really sure what it could be? Have you taken any OPKs lately?
Yes, opk showed LH surge on sunday and monday (CD14/15) , so we BD'd CD 13, 14,16,17,18 and if we manage today it Would be CD19 aswell ! Guess theres nothing to do but the TWW and speculate!!!!!
But have you continued to use them? If you are truly ovulating later, you could have had a surge on Sun/Mon, geared up to O, then not. You may be experiencing O pains now, in which case, you might be having another surge.
My gut tells me that you're in your 2ww, like you said, at which point all you can do is sit back and stress about every little thing your body is/isn't doing. That's what the awesome 2ww is all about
That's true!!! My opk sticks ran out so I havnt been able to test for past few days, nothing more I can do now except the TWW and BD over next few days if I have any energy left!!!!! Will be better prepared for next cycle for sure!!!!
