Home The Official TTC Thread!

[Tacori E-ring]

LL, just wondering b/c I got preggo on a 40 day cycle (so it is possible). I made sure we BDed EOD as if it was a 28 day cycle and 40 day cycle since I wasn''t sure what was going on with my body either. Good luck!

 

[lovelylulu]

Hi all!

ebree: I love your CD1 plans and it''s great that your DH is right there with you - support is so important. I can understand the cold feet - especially, since there seem to be such a variety of medical opinions when it comes to these issues. it''s hard to know what/who to believe. I''m hoping that this will be your month!

peony: i''m sorry that this month''s chart is proving to be a little wonkier than the last couple - but hopeful with a few more temperatures your consistent pattern will emerge. hang in there with the BD - your robot comment definitely made me giggle

robbie: i have the same issue re: remembering where everyone is in their cycle - I think it''s a great suggestion to tag our posts every once in a while as an update!

LittleL: I suppose there''s always a first time to

AFF on this thread instead of the normal

glad to hear it arrived and that things appear to be getting back to normal!!

and thanks for asking about me- i met with my new doctor on the 25th. i was *not* thrilled that the first available appointment with this practice was with a gentleman dr., but honestly, it was the most comfortable appointment that i have ever had. i typed out a big long post not that long after detailing all the events/discussions, but i got my own cold feet about posting the ins and outs of medical visits.

to give a brief summary, we had a very good conversation about all of my concerns, history, etc. and then after an examination he determined that there may be a physiological, non-hormonal reason for the spotting. after our talk, i felt pretty reassured about the whole thing and still have the option to take tests if I want, but I decided to give it a few more months before I really begin to worry. of course, this cycle, i forgot to properly set my monitor so we were *dancing in the dark* so to speak with our BD timing . . . I''m on CD 17 which could be anywhere from DPO 5-8.

to everyone else best of luck and thanks!

lulu cd17 DPO who knows

 

[E B]

lulu,

You might already know about this, but I've heard great things about taking vitamin B6 to lengthen your luteal phase. The girls on Fertility Friend rave about it. It might be worth a try!

(p.s. Thank you for the good wishes! I hope it's your month as well!)

 

[cdt1101]

hey ladies! Just wanted to log my time...it looks like I''m the furthest along this cycle...

8DPO CD 26

5 more days and i''ll test...assuming AFF isn''t here yet!!

 

[lovelylulu]

Date: 10/6/2008 6:53:30 PM
Author: EBree
lulu,

You might already know about this, but I''ve heard great things about taking vitamin B6 to lengthen your luteal phase. The girls on Fertility Friend rave about it. It might be worth a try!

(p.s. Thank you for the good wishes! I hope it''s your month as well!)

thanks ebree! but right now, my doctor doesn''t think that i have an abnormally short LP - fingers crossed that is in fact a fact

so i''m just sticking with my pre-nat for now . . .

 

[sunkist]

Date: 10/6/2008 6:14:44 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
LL, just wondering b/c I got preggo on a 40 day cycle (so it is possible). I made sure we BDed EOD as if it was a 28 day cycle and 40 day cycle since I wasn''t sure what was going on with my body either. Good luck!

So, Tacori, were you temping or just going by calendar days/ CM at that point?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 10/6/2008 8:34:05 PM
Author: sunkist

Date: 10/6/2008 6:14:44 PM

Author: Tacori E-ring

LL, just wondering b/c I got preggo on a 40 day cycle (so it is possible). I made sure we BDed EOD as if it was a 28 day cycle and 40 day cycle since I wasn''t sure what was going on with my body either. Good luck!

So, Tacori, were you temping or just going by calendar days/ CM at that point?

I was actually waiting for my AF to start temping...she never showed

I did not go by anything really. I guess it was dumb luck. It was the first month we tried. My doctor just said EOD was preferred. So I took the length of my previous cycle (40 days, I had stopped the pill before that one) and went by calender days. Before this thread I had no idea of the complex world of TTC.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Sunkist,

We are every other day marathoners, pretty much. Sometimes we aren''t, but mostly we are (especially toward the end of the BD finish line). With the longer cycles, it''s harder to pinpoint when to actually be doing it, so it ends up being too much pressure (for both of us) to feel like it''s a daily obligation.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/6/2008 6:15:36 PM
Author: lovelylulu

and thanks for asking about me- i met with my new doctor on the 25th. i was *not* thrilled that the first available appointment with this practice was with a gentleman dr., but honestly, it was the most comfortable appointment that i have ever had. i typed out a big long post not that long after detailing all the events/discussions, but i got my own cold feet about posting the ins and outs of medical visits.

to give a brief summary, we had a very good conversation about all of my concerns, history, etc. and then after an examination he determined that there may be a physiological, non-hormonal reason for the spotting. after our talk, i felt pretty reassured about the whole thing and still have the option to take tests if I want, but I decided to give it a few more months before I really begin to worry. of course, this cycle, i forgot to properly set my monitor so we were *dancing in the dark* so to speak with our BD timing . . . I''m on CD 17 which could be anywhere from DPO 5-8.

to everyone else best of luck and thanks!

lulu cd17 DPO who knows

Lulu that is wonderful news! Of course, the medical enthusiast in me is dieing to know all the details

, but I totally get not wanting to share everything! hee hee... sometimes I roll eyes at myself and all the gross stuff I have written on here. But it is very interesting to know that there can be simple physiological reasons for the type of spotting you have had, makes total sense but of course none of us thought of it. It just cements my opinion that there is really no "normal" and everyone is just so different! Here''s hoping you can truck along with a lighter heart knowing that all is well! No need to worry until there''s a need, KWIM?

Lysser yippee for at least one desired visit from AFF! LOL!. And I will have to chat with my doctor about this long cycle, I''m just not missing my pesky aunt all that much so I haven''t gotten around to it

I seem to be getting really fat though, so I should have my hormones checked or something!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Okay, here I am breaking it down again. For you to kind of "guess" at whether or not your ovulation has come (or is about to come) based on temp, it needs to be a dip of at least .4, over the last 6 days?

If so, no O dip for me. I thought it was too early on, but it''s odd because I have had some fertile CM. Odd. Maybe my body gears up, rejects, and then does the actual ovulation late every cycle?

Figures my body would do something odd like that.

 

[Festy]

Keeping my fingers crossed for all you end-of-cyclers! I''m kinda jealous.

FWIW, I''ve not found a single BBT in any store anywhere! I''ve been to every drug store known to man on the East Coast...I know I can get one online, but I kind of feel like standing on principle, you know? I''ve been making do with a regular digital thermometer and it seems fine. It sure as heck showed my temp drop right before AF. Sad-ish, but I agree with you, LL, it''s so cool to understand what''s going on. If only I could get the thermometer voice to be a little quiter first thing in the morning. "YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE IS 96.9 DEGREES! I hate her sometimes.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/6/2008 9:25:09 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
Okay, here I am breaking it down again. For you to kind of ''guess'' at whether or not your ovulation has come (or is about to come) based on temp, it needs to be a dip of at least .4, over the last 6 days?

If so, no O dip for me. I thought it was too early on, but it''s odd because I have had some fertile CM. Odd. Maybe my body gears up, rejects, and then does the actual ovulation late every cycle?

Figures my body would do something odd like that.

No dipping, no one cares about dipping on the TTC train. You are looking for a sustained temp RISE of about .2 to .4 ABOVE the previous 6 temps. The rise must last at least 3 days and should (hopefully) correspond with fertile CF.

I had about 6 days of fertile CF before ovulating in my good cycle, and many others have many more days. So it is possible that you have fertile CF for longer prior to ovulation. It is also possible like you said that your body gears up once before the real deal. That''s what happened last month! Really, though, you know your post-O temps are in the 98 deg. range, so unless the get up there and stay up there, no O-ing for you!

Oh, and it sounds like you are having CF but I don''t think the glass of water test tells you if its fertile or not... it just lets you know whether it is CF or sperm

If you are having that sticky-type CF around ovulation, then I think you need to try the water-drinking game. From now until ovulation, drink 8oz of water PER HOUR. This will keep you really hydrated and will make your CF more plentiful and moist. You really want CF that is waterier and not so sticky. The purpose of CF is to allow sperm to easily swim up into your uterus, so keeping it plentiful and wet is good because stickier CF would be hard for sperm to swim in! Blenheim and I both benefitted from drinking tonnes more water, so give it a try!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/6/2008 9:28:46 PM
Author: Festy
Keeping my fingers crossed for all you end-of-cyclers! I'm kinda jealous.

FWIW, I've not found a single BBT in any store anywhere! I've been to every drug store known to man on the East Coast...I know I can get one online, but I kind of feel like standing on principle, you know? I've been making do with a regular digital thermometer and it seems fine. It sure as heck showed my temp drop right before AF. Sad-ish, but I agree with you, LL, it's so cool to understand what's going on. If only I could get the thermometer voice to be a little quiter first thing in the morning. 'YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE IS 96.9 DEGREES! I hate her sometimes.

Festy, you can chart just going by you CF, but if you want to add accurate temps then you need a basal one. The fever thermometers are not accurate enough to detect ovulation, which can be indicated by a temp shift of as little as .2 degrees. Typically, the fever thermometers are only accurate to within .2 degrees, and there is a wide margin of error around their temp estimates. The basal ones are accurate to .1 degree with a smaller margin of error. Anyhoo, thought I'd add that!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Dang, all the lessons I learned have smeared together. I was so excited about a dang O dip and now I have to just keep waiting. I knew that 98 was my goal, but I thought maybe I found a quicker trip there.]

Blasted counting days and temp checking and charting and all the rules getting blurred around in my head.

Shoot!

I don''t drink that much water, but I have about 64 oz a day (that''s 4 water bottles). I guess I could up it.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Festy,

Cute, cute, cute avatar picture.

 

[peonygirl]

Hey gals. Do you know about any research showing that frequent intercourse decreases sperm count enough to affect one''s chances of conceiving? If we BD tonight it will be day 9 of the marathon. We don''t mind it at all, but if I O in 3 days or something, I don''t want there to be few sperm left! If I don''t get any responses I''ll ask DH to check my CM for me. . . that will help make a determination.

 

[peonygirl]

Okay, I had barely any CM, and what was present was creamy. I guess that we''re skipping it for tonight. I''m curious to see what my temp is tomorrow.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/6/2008 11:04:24 PM
Author: peonygirl
Hey gals. Do you know about any research showing that frequent intercourse decreases sperm count enough to affect one''s chances of conceiving? If we BD tonight it will be day 9 of the marathon. We don''t mind it at all, but if I O in 3 days or something, I don''t want there to be few sperm left! If I don''t get any responses I''ll ask DH to check my CM for me. . . that will help make a determination.

Unless there is a known problem, there is nothing wrong with every day. Many docs say every other day, which is fine apparently, but I don''t think that is based on research and may be more about allowing couples to manage a long stretch without getting tired of BDing. Many a PS baby was conceived with the every day marathon!

 

[robbie3982]

Hmm, so when I temped this morning I expected to see another low temp, but it was 97.5, which is the baseline for my post-O temps. Perhaps yesterday actually was an O dip for me. I normally don''t O until CD17 at the earliest (average is 20), but I O''d somewhere between CD 14 and CD 16 in August and back in 2005 before I was temping (but was still keeping track of cycle length) I had a 24-day cycle and a 26-day cycle, which means that with my 10-12 day LP, I O''d somewhere between CD 14 and 16 for the 26 day cycle and between CD 12 and 14 for the 24 day cycle. So, I guess it''s possible, but I have a feeling that my body is just trying to trick me and tomorrow''s temp will be low again. Looks like we''ll be BDing again tonight! I can''t wait to see what tomorrow''s temp does, which means I''ll probably wake up around 3am in anticipation. Blegh.

Here''s my chart:

 

[lovelylulu]

Date: 10/7/2008 8:36:50 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 10/6/2008 11:04:24 PM
Author: peonygirl
Hey gals. Do you know about any research showing that frequent intercourse decreases sperm count enough to affect one''s chances of conceiving? If we BD tonight it will be day 9 of the marathon. We don''t mind it at all, but if I O in 3 days or something, I don''t want there to be few sperm left! If I don''t get any responses I''ll ask DH to check my CM for me. . . that will help make a determination.

Unless there is a known problem, there is nothing wrong with every day. Many docs say every other day, which is fine apparently, but I don''t think that is based on research and may be more about allowing couples to manage a long stretch without getting tired of BDing. Many a PS baby was conceived with the every day marathon!

just popping in to say that my new dr. told me that the every day approach was fine! good luck

sorry to deprive you of the details DD, especially when i benefit so much from your own candid posts

but a girl''s got to keep some things private

 

[peonygirl]

Robbie, I totally think you may have Oed yesterday! I''m also curious to see what your chart does tomorrow.

 

[robbie3982]

I hope so! As far as BDing every day, DH and I had a 7 day streak last cycle that resulted in a BFP and it looks like I didn''t O until the day after our BD session, so, for us at least, it didn''t keep us from getting pregnant.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/7/2008 9:35:05 AM
Author: lovelylulu
sorry to deprive you of the details DD, especially when i benefit so much from your own candid posts

but a girl''s got to keep some things private

Hee hee, I get it, no worries! I was just bugging you.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 10/6/2008 9:28:46 PM
Author: Festy
Keeping my fingers crossed for all you end-of-cyclers! I''m kinda jealous.

FWIW, I''ve not found a single BBT in any store anywhere! I''ve been to every drug store known to man on the East Coast...I know I can get one online, but I kind of feel like standing on principle, you know? I''ve been making do with a regular digital thermometer and it seems fine. It sure as heck showed my temp drop right before AF. Sad-ish, but I agree with you, LL, it''s so cool to understand what''s going on. If only I could get the thermometer voice to be a little quiter first thing in the morning. ''YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE IS 96.9 DEGREES! I hate her sometimes.

Festy, where''d you get a talking thermometer?? I want one! Does it also save the temp in memory in case you''re too tired to know what she''s talking about? This morning I was so tired that I forgot to turn my thermometer on at first. I started to fall back asleep and realized I still had the thermometer in my mouth and thought, hmmm it''s taking a while today before I realized I hadn''t turned it on.

 

[mela lu]

wowowowowo!

Good luck Robbie! Let''s hope that was your big O

and you caught the egg!!!

LittleL - Yey on getting back in the game!

Rootin'' for you!

Fisher - good luck girl~ hope your chart reveals itself to you soon.

Peony - GL to you too!

cdt - hopefullly AFF won'' show and you''ll have a BFP in a few days

Ebree - Hi girl~ Hope this is IT for you

lulu - glad to hear you had a productive appt. Good luck with that dang spotting!

So many others....I want to shout out to you all, but know that I''m dusting you from afar!

BD your hearts out!~!

 

[Festy]

Dreamer - thanks for the reality check. I ordered a BBT online but will look around at lunch today to see if I can get one sooner.

Hi Robbie - hehe. When you put it that way, I guess it is convenient to have a talking one. No need to turn the light on to see the temp. It does save the last temp, too. But it''s a regular fever thermometer, some generic store brand, I think. So out it goes, along with the screaming thermometer lady. She scared the heck out of DH the first time I used it.

Fisher, thanks! My good friend''s 7 year old daughter made us thank you cards as a wedding present. One of the best gifts we received!

 

[NovemberBride]

Ok, quick question for you TTC expert ladies. As I mentioned in my first post, DH and I are not temping or anything aside from keeping track of what day I am on so I have no idea when I o''d. However, I have always had a very typical 28-30 day cycle. Given that, can you give me an idea of when it would make sense for me to start testing? I don''t want to test too early so that I end up taking 3 tests a month (we are trying to keep this process low stress), but of course I am anxious.

BTW - I am on CD 22.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/7/2008 12:13:42 PM
Author: NovemberBride
Ok, quick question for you TTC expert ladies. As I mentioned in my first post, DH and I are not temping or anything aside from keeping track of what day I am on so I have no idea when I o''d. However, I have always had a very typical 28-30 day cycle. Given that, can you give me an idea of when it would make sense for me to start testing? I don''t want to test too early so that I end up taking 3 tests a month (we are trying to keep this process low stress), but of course I am anxious.


BTW - I am on CD 22.

If you really don''t want to waste tests you should wait until your period is *at least* officially late. And maybe a few more days just to be sure.

 

[robbie3982]

I agree with Neatfreak. A 28-day cycle could mean a lot of things. You could normally O on cd12 and have a 16 day LP, you could normally O on cd18 and have a 10 day LP or it could be anything in between (or something else entirely!). Implantation usually happens 7-10 days after ovulation and then it takes a few days before you have enough hcg in your system for a positive. So, how far past ovulation you are is really what determines when would be a good time to test. I'd wait until you're 2 days late before trying to test.

ETA: Unless you don't care about wasting $ on tests when it could very well be too early, which many of us don't

. There are always internet cheapies and dollar store tests, though most of us have found that they aren't as sensitive as first responses. They sure are a lot cheaper though!

 

[E B]

Thanks for the encouragement, gals!

Well, I did it. I booked an appointment with an RE next Wednesday. The earliest the other clinic could see me was November, but I wanted to be seen sooner, and the doctor I have an appointment with sounds outstanding. He's very accomplished.

After I booked the appointment, I burst into tears. I don't really know why, exactly. Perhaps due to a mix of emotions. A mix of "why me" along with relief, I think. And fear. I'm still very emotional, but I'm trying to look at the bright side: I'm doing what's best for my future bean. I'm trying to be the most pro-active, protective mom I can be for a bean that doesn't even exist yet. That's how much I love it already.

I'm sorry for the pity party, I just have no one else to share this with. Is it too early to have a big glass of wine?