The Official TTC Thread!

[DivaDiamond007]

Date: 11/1/2007 3:33:57 PM
Author: lili
Jess--
Are you checking your CM (sorry if that''s too personal) as well?
I charted my BBT for 3 months just to make sure that I did see that temperature shift to verify that I am indeed ovulating.
In charting, I found that my CM is pretty much in sync with the temperature shift, so I just relied on that info.
I tried the ovulation kit, but didn''t get a surge. I am fairly certain that I tested within my window because my cycles are fairly regular.
If you cycle is not regular, the ovulation kit can be pretty costly as you may have to test more.

In line with what I''ve read in the fertility sites, I found that my luteal phase (the last day of your fertile CM to onset of AF) is typically around 13-14 days. So the first half of my cycle can vary about 1-2 days. With a 26-day cycle, my last CM would be on day 13. With a 28-day cycle, my last CM would be on day 15.

Anyway, good luck!

I am checking my CM and I''ve found that it is more like egg whites around ovulation and then tends to dry up when AF is due. I''m also getting a lot more CM since stopping the pill. Probably has something to do with the hornones in the pill but I don''t know for sure.

Meanwhile....

TMI ALERT.....

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I noticed last night when I went to the bathroom right before bed that I had a small amount of a yellowish/brownish discharge when I wiped. Not enough for a pad or even a panty liner. The consistency was almost like egg whites but not quite as stretchy.

My AF still hasn''t started (was due on Monday) so now I''m wondering what it could have been. I''ve been obsessively checking to see if I''m getting AF all day today at work and nothing. Slight back cramps, but that could very well be because I tend to slouch when I type. Ohhhhh, the wait is killing me! I promised myself that I would not test again until this weekend and I must stay strong!

~Jess~

 

[janinegirly]

ok, this is a TMI question....

i''ve heard alot about CM and "egg whites" but i''m still confused. Tgal makes it sounds like you def know what it is when you see it..but is it like egg whites as in raw egg or cooked egg? i feel so stupid asking that, but i just am sooo curious.

also what does it mean when sent "sticky vibes"?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Good luck Diva. Honestly I don''t remember a difference in CM but I could totally be wrong. I got really sick during what I think was implantation. Stomach problems. I really do think they were related. Right before I tested (and got my positive. I got 3 negatives prior) my upper back really hurt and the sides of my boobs. My doc seemed to think those were the right symptoms when I went for my first visit (since we had to wait for a blood test b/c I got a *faint* positive).

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:02:28 PM
Author: janinegirly
ok, this is a TMI question....

i''ve heard alot about CM and ''egg whites'' but i''m still confused. Tgal makes it sounds like you def know what it is when you see it..but is it like egg whites as in raw egg or cooked egg? i feel so stupid asking that, but i just am sooo curious.

also what does it mean when sent ''sticky vibes''?

Uh, well...

OK, if this is TMI, sorry...
Keep in mind, I have only seen this ONCE in 14 years and am no authority on CM. I was on the pill from 20''s on, and my first ovulation was the charm. What I saw when I wiped after going to the loo was like one big blob of slightly off colored snotty luggy. I mean, it was on my tissue and OBVIOUS.

I told TGuy I was ovulating because I had tw*t snot, and he nearly fell over. I apologize for the crudeness, but that''s honestly how I got pregnant.

 

[lili]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:02:28 PM
Author: janinegirly
ok, this is a TMI question....


i''ve heard alot about CM and ''egg whites'' but i''m still confused. Tgal makes it sounds like you def know what it is when you see it..but is it like egg whites as in raw egg or cooked egg? i feel so stupid asking that, but i just am sooo curious.


also what does it mean when sent ''sticky vibes''?

I''m sorry janinegirly, didn''t mean to laugh, but that kinda caught me off guard.
It is the egg white of a raw egg -- sometimes it can get pretty liquidy.
You''ll probably notice it on your underpants since it can get a bit wet at times (sorry if that''s too descriptive).

Anyway, don''t feel stupid for asking. Alot of people still don''t know about it.
I didn''t know what it was before I started reading the fertility websites.
Before TTCing, I would be so annoyed by this wet sensation that I get in my underwear during certain time of the month.
When I started TTCing, I wished that the duration is longer. Funny how things are so different when you are TTCing.
I remember hating the fact that my cycle is so short and wished that it was longer like 2 months or something.

Sending someone "sticky vibes" is sending wishes to the new mother that her baby will implant and successfully stick to the uterus until full term.
Miscarriages tend to occur during the first trimesters.

 

[somethingshiny]

Tgal~ I LOVE the name you''ve given it! I call it a *sneeze*.

I''ve done the charting, but I''ve always been the *sneezy* type, so that''s what I depend on.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:02:28 PM
Author: janinegirly
ok, this is a TMI question....

i''ve heard alot about CM and ''egg whites'' but i''m still confused. Tgal makes it sounds like you def know what it is when you see it..but is it like egg whites as in raw egg or cooked egg? i feel so stupid asking that, but i just am sooo curious.

also what does it mean when sent ''sticky vibes''?

It''s like raw egg whites. Super slick which is why it''s the most fertile type of CM. If you saw it, you''d know what it was, but because it is so slippery, it can just come out while you''re going to the bathroom and if you didn''t look for it, you''d miss it.

Sticky vibes are like crossing your fingers for someone hoping that the egg implants and sticks for a full term pregnancy

. Apparently early miscarriages are way more common than most people realize because they happen around the time you''d be getting your period so you don''t even realize you were even pregnant. If you''re charting you''d know it though.

 

[ellaila]

OK, y'all spend much more time analyzing your discharge than I ever did!

Here's a funny related thing: my husband cannot say the word "vaginal" correctly. Supposed to be "VAJ-inn-al" but he pronounces it like "vagina" with an "L" at the end ("vah-JINE-al"). I sent him the whattoexpect.com update for 31 weeks, and he asked about the "vah-jine-al discharge" -- cracks me up every time!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:25:12 PM
Author: ellaila
OK, y''all spend much more time analyzing your discharge than I ever did!

Here''s a funny related thing: my husband cannot say the word ''vaginal'' correctly. Supposed to be ''vaj-inn-al'' but he pronounces it like ''vagina'' with an ''L'' at the end (''vah-jine-al''). I sent him the whattoexpect.com update for 31 weeks, and he asked about the ''vah-jine-al discharge'' -- cracks me up every time!

Haha. TGuy doesn''t like clinical terms. I call it a Kunta-Kinte. He was like, what is that? I said, it''s just what a call a woman''s hoochy hoo. He asked if that was actually formal slang. I said I told him I''ve heard it before but I''m not sure, and if he''d like, I could call his a Shaka-Zulu. I had to pick him off the floor for that one.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:25:12 PM
Author: ellaila
OK, y''all spend much more time analyzing your discharge than I ever did!

Here''s a funny related thing: my husband cannot say the word ''vaginal'' correctly. Supposed to be ''vaj-inn-al'' but he pronounces it like ''vagina'' with an ''L'' at the end (''vah-jine-al''). I sent him the whattoexpect.com update for 31 weeks, and he asked about the ''vah-jine-al discharge'' -- cracks me up every time!

Or we just read/are reading TCOYF and had that moment of "so that''s what that is!" Lol.

 

[ellaila]

I hear ya, TGal. I call mine the Spanish (well, Venuzuelan at least, not sure about whether it applies to other countries) slang word for it. I guess it''s a pretty dirty word there but it doesn''t sound dirty to me at all, so I don''t mind saying it!

Robbie, I never did any reading up on fertility stuff, so I guess I just didn''t really pay attention to what my body was doing because I didn''t know what to look for! It just makes me laugh how when talking about making/having babies, nothing is taboo: coworkers talk about their sex lives, Internet friends talk about their discharge and names for private parts, etc.

 

[E B]

I'm bummed, because I don't think I had EWCM this month. I didn't check every day, but if it's supposed to be as obvious as TGal's was, I definitely didn't. TMI warning: I had sticky, and then creamy (now), but no EW.

I've heard it's normal for women not to ovulate their first cycle off the pill, but I wonder how true that really is. Can anyone who's read TCOYF confirm this?

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:30:42 PM


Haha. TGuy doesn''t like clinical terms. I call it a Kunta-Kinte. He was like, what is that? I said, it''s just what a call a woman''s hoochy hoo. He asked if that was actually formal slang. I said I told him I''ve heard it before but I''m not sure, and if he''d like, I could call his a Shaka-Zulu. I had to pick him off the floor for that one.

Kunta Kinte was the name of the character in Roots.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 11/1/2007 4:25:12 PM
Author: ellaila
OK, y''all spend much more time analyzing your discharge than I ever did!

I was JUST talking to my mom about this. I can''t wait NOT to be preggo so I can stop obsessing everytime I go the the bathroom. The first trimester it was about looking for blood or spotting. Then the second adjusting to the massive amount of discharge (panty liners are such a smart invention), now for leakage (or bloody show and my plug). Haha! It is never ending!!!

 

[snlee]

LOL all this talk of CM is cracking me up! I guess there''s no TMI here!

Jess, your brownish discharge might be implantation bleeding. Fingers crossed for you!!!!

TGal, tw*t snot! LOL!

I''ve been checking my CM like crazy this past month. I''ve never paid so much attention to it in my life until now since we are trying and I want to know when I''m ovulating. I definitely noticed a change and for about 4 or 5 days there was a slippery CM present. It was like raw eye whites. It was very stretchy the last day, which I think is when I ovulated. It''s supposed to change from sticky to creamy to a thin, watery, stretchy consistency. Ovulation occurs when lots of this thin, stretchy discharge is present.

 

[lili]

Ebree,

I wouldn''t be too bummed about it.
From what I understand, EW is just one of several indicators of ovulation.
You could have ovulated and not have EW. It may be that your hormone is a bit off.
It seems that you CM is doing something since it did go through some changes -- sticky then creamy.
I find that if I drink a little more water during my window, there seems to be more EW.
Don''t know if there is any credence in that though.
At one point, I was looking into getting those PreSeed fertility drugs that helps increase your EW CM.
One of the things that they said you need to do is drink lots of fluid while taking their drug.
It seems to make sense that the extra fluid in your system could loosen up you CM a bit.

 

[Blenheim]

TG, so THAT''s what EWCM is like? More TMI -- there was a day earlier this month when I had that and was thought to myself, "eww, my vajajay hocked a luggy". I wasn''t sure how to classify that, but I know now!

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 7:07:08 PM
Author: lili
Ebree,


I wouldn't be too bummed about it.

From what I understand, EW is just one of several indicators of ovulation.

You could have ovulated and not have EW. It may be that your hormone is a bit off.

It seems that you CM is doing something since it did go through some changes -- sticky then creamy.

I find that if I drink a little more water during my window, there seems to be more EW.

Don't know if there is any credence in that though.

At one point, I was looking into getting those PreSeed fertility drugs that helps increase your EW CM.

One of the things that they said you need to do is drink lots of fluid while taking their drug.

It seems to make sense that the extra fluid in your system could loosen up you CM a bit.

Thank you lili! I hope that even if I didn't ovulate this month, I will next. This month didn't really matter because we weren't trying, but I'm going to be on the lookout next cycle. I said I wasn't going to chart, but I might.

p.s. I've heard of PreSeed lube, but not the fertility drugs. I've also heard that taking Robitussin can help increase your CM, though I'm not sure how true that is.

 

[Blenheim]

According to TCOYF, Robitussen helps women produce more EWCM if taken at the right time in the cycle. I just thought that was interesting.

ETA -- Totally did not see that you just said that, EBree. I think that the reason is that it helps loosen up mucus in general, including CM.

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 7:26:56 PM
Author: Blenheim
According to TCOYF, Robitussen helps women produce more EWCM if taken at the right time in the cycle. I just thought that was interesting.

ETA -- Totally did not see that you just said that, EBree. I think that the reason is that it helps loosen up mucus in general, including CM.

Thanks, Blenheim! So it''s safe? Interesting! I might check it out of I don''t notice any in the next few months.

I really need to grab a copy of TCOYF.

 

[lili]

Date: 11/1/2007 7:23:21 PM
Author: EBree
I''ve also heard that taking Robitussin can help increase your CM, though I''m not sure how true that is.

I''ve read that in several websites, too. Like Blenheim said, Robitussin helps loosen mucous.
I also read somewhere that it can also benefit the male too.
I''ve never tried it myself just because I don''t like taking any type of medicines

Taking your BBT can be a pain, but it''s worthwhile to chart it for a couple of months
just so you can see what your body is doing and know if you are ovulating.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Ebree, I really didn''t think I ovulated (and obviously I did

) So don''t worry. I thought about getting PreSeed but was going to wait
b/c I didn''t want to spend the money and I wasn''t sure where to buy it. Seems like it could help. But really who knows.

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 8:13:23 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Ebree, I really didn''t think I ovulated (and obviously I did

) So don''t worry. I thought about getting PreSeed but was going to wait

b/c I didn''t want to spend the money and I wasn''t sure where to buy it. Seems like it could help. But really who knows.

Thank you, Tacori! That makes me feel better. As far as buying PreSeed, I think it''s available online. I''ll probably only look into it if I''m EWCM challenged. (knock on wood!)

 

[curlygirl]

I am laughing so hard I can barely type!!

TGal, tw*t snot has got to be the funniest thing I have ever heard!!!! I have to try to use that at some point although this stuff doesn''t usually come up in my daily conversations!!

Tacori, I know exactly what you mean!!!!! I checked the toilet paper religiously from the minute I got my BFP until I finally gave birth--always looking for something! It''s too funny the things we go through!

If it''s any consolation, I didn''t have EWCM the month I got pregnant. Actually, I didn''t want to have it. Ok, I''ll admit it--I tried some gender swaying techniques and I''m proud to say that my efforts were successful!! I really wanted a girl although I would have been happy with any gender as long as I had a healthy child. So I figured it couldn''t hurt to try some of the things I had read about. Apparently, when trying for a girl, you don''t want EWCM. I can''t remember why though! You want it to be creamy. So the point is, don''t panic if you don''t have the EW, you can still conceive!

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 9:09:32 PM
Author: curlygirl

If it''s any consolation, I didn''t have EWCM the month I got pregnant. Actually, I didn''t want to have it. Ok, I''ll admit it--I tried some gender swaying techniques and I''m proud to say that my efforts were successful!! I really wanted a girl although I would have been happy with any gender as long as I had a healthy child. So I figured it couldn''t hurt to try some of the things I had read about. Apparently, when trying for a girl, you don''t want EWCM. I can''t remember why though! You want it to be creamy. So the point is, don''t panic if you don''t have the EW, you can still conceive!

Interesting, curly! Is it because the Y sperm swim faster but X are heartier, so if they have a harder time getting to the egg, more X are to survive than Y?

 

[ljmorgan]

I am excited about this thread! This is my last week on birth control... I''m going off of it and will start charting

M and I plan to start TTC in Jan/Feb so we''ll see how it goes. I bought TCOYF but I haven''t read it yet. As people in this thread mentioned, I''ve heard great things about it. M and I were married in January and originally thought we''d start TTCing in 3 years... but the way things are going, the next year is looking good for us and we thought "why not?" I am so excited/nervous about this!

 

[Blenheim]

Date: 11/1/2007 9:12:38 PM
Author: EBree

Date: 11/1/2007 9:09:32 PM

Author: curlygirl


If it''s any consolation, I didn''t have EWCM the month I got pregnant. Actually, I didn''t want to have it. Ok, I''ll admit it--I tried some gender swaying techniques and I''m proud to say that my efforts were successful!! I really wanted a girl although I would have been happy with any gender as long as I had a healthy child. So I figured it couldn''t hurt to try some of the things I had read about. Apparently, when trying for a girl, you don''t want EWCM. I can''t remember why though! You want it to be creamy. So the point is, don''t panic if you don''t have the EW, you can still conceive!

Interesting, curly! Is it because the Y sperm swim faster but X are heartier, so if they have a harder time getting to the egg, more X are to survive than Y?

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/Gender-Selection-The-Shettles-Method.html

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 10:34:45 PM
Author: Blenheim

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/Gender-Selection-The-Shettles-Method.html

That''s where my original knowledge of x and y sperm came from, but I''d never heard about CM possibly influencing it. If the entire method is actually effective, it''d make sense!

 

[Blenheim]

Ah, gotcha Ebree. I haven''t really read anything about CM having an influence, but if I had to guess --

The typical progression of cervical mucous before ovulation tends to be sticky, creamy, watery, egg-white. If you''re trying for a boy, you should abstain and then have intercourse when you have EWCM so that it hits closest to ovulation. If you''re trying for a girl, you want to have intercourse a couple to a few days before ovulation and then stop, so EWCM would be too close but creamy might be a good indication that you''re at the right place in your cycle.

Another thing is that x sperm tend to be hardier than y sperm. EWCM is the ideal mucous for sperm to survive in, so probably creamy isn''t quite as good? In which case the hardier sperm might do better at surviving.

Again, just speculation on my part.


On an unrelated note, AF came today. I was expecting a killer period for my first one off of hormonal bc, but the only sign I saw of it coming was a temperature drop of .7 degrees in my temp between Tues and Wed. I''m very pleasantly surprised.

 

[E B]

Date: 11/1/2007 11:38:13 PM
Author: Blenheim
Ah, gotcha Ebree. I haven't really read anything about CM having an influence, but if I had to guess --

The typical progression of cervical mucous before ovulation tends to be sticky, creamy, watery, egg-white. If you're trying for a boy, you should abstain and then have intercourse when you have EWCM so that it hits closest to ovulation. If you're trying for a girl, you want to have intercourse a couple to a few days before ovulation and then stop, so EWCM would be too close but creamy might be a good indication that you're at the right place in your cycle.

Another thing is that x sperm tend to be hardier than y sperm. EWCM is the ideal mucous for sperm to survive in, so probably creamy isn't quite as good? In which case the hardier sperm might do better at surviving.


Again, just speculation on my part.

That would make sense. But, in that case, the chance of getting pregnant at all would be lower.

It's good to hear that your first AF visit off of BC is normal! I'm hoping for a similar experience.