The Official TTC Thread!

[StacylikesSparkles]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Yay, MP! Finally!

Um, I don't know yet, Coda. It's CD15 for me and I haven't gotten a positive OPK yet. I am also temping and tracking CM and I haven't had a temp shift yet either, so I am assuming that I haven't O'd yet; although CM suggests that I am approaching it (TMI alert- several days of creamy and now switched over to watery. I don't think I have ever been this aware of my vagina before ). I guess, since I have only been OPK-ing once a day I could have missed the surge, but no temp shift to confirm yet, either way. I picked up some more test strips at walmart today- they have the 20 for $20, too- so I can keep testing once I run out of the fancy ones tomorrow. So, we're just covering our bases and trying to be patient

And I want to join the Charting Is Fun Club- it's so cool to have real actual DATA and it's no inconvenience at all! I am a total convert.

Hopefully, I will join you in the TWW soon!

I'm so glad you're getting good use of the book! Isn't it crazy the stuff we DIDN'T know before all this trying for babies business? You are so hyper aware of everything and the more you do it, the more you just know when you're ovulating and when AF is coming, etc. I am hoping that the opk test and th charting will help secure a nice little bundle for you soon!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Coda, don't throw in the towel. You're definitely still in the game if you BD'd at all in that timeframe. Actually, for some couples it is better to only BD every other day, so you never know. Oh, and I was looking at my calendar, and there's a pretty good chance, I'll be ovulating this cycle right around the time we will be out of town for my sister's wedding, which means DH and I will be in a hotel room with the baby. So yeah, that wouldn't work without potentially permanently scarring our son emotionally Hopefully, I will ovulate before we leave or we may have to skip this month or get really creative....

All I'm going to say is that the bathroom counter in your hotel room can be put to good use. Sorry about AF showing up, btw. Stupid wonky cycle.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Coda, don't throw in the towel. You're definitely still in the game if you BD'd at all in that timeframe. Actually, for some couples it is better to only BD every other day, so you never know. Oh, and I was looking at my calendar, and there's a pretty good chance, I'll be ovulating this cycle right around the time we will be out of town for my sister's wedding, which means DH and I will be in a hotel room with the baby. So yeah, that wouldn't work without potentially permanently scarring our son emotionally Hopefully, I will ovulate before we leave or we may have to skip this month or get really creative....

All I'm going to say is that the bathroom counter in your hotel room can be put to good use. Sorry about AF showing up, btw. Stupid wonky cycle.

Ha! And yes, I really hope that was just a weird cycle. And I still think the B6 supplement possibly had something to do with it. I have my yearly doctor appointment scheduled for next week, and I may see what she has to say about me starting with a fertility workup again.

Aviastar, hopefully, you'll be pregnant in no time. I enjoyed charting too. But with a baby and irregular wake-ups, I just don't think temping would do me any good at this point.

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Ok, oh line reading goddesses! Positive OPK? Near Positive OPK? Today was the first day I tested twice, the a.m. test in in top, the late evening test on the bottom. All my other tests stayed super non-existent to super light, so this is definitely as dark as I have seen yet. This morning I marked this one as a negative, but I think I checked it too soon as it was not this dark. After I tested tonight I went back to check again- and now I am puzzled.

Certainly, I will be testing again in the a.m., so I can compare then too. No temp spike yet.

Interpretations, pretty please?


MP- babies have no memories this young, how do you think all those families of 12 came to be in one room cabins

 

[tammy77]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Avia, I'd say you're close but not quite positive yet. I'd bet money that you'll see a temp spike in the next 3-4 days at most. Have fun!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Aviastar, I agree with Tammy, it's not quite positive yet, but maybe today it was? You'll know it when you see it. Also, they do tend to darken up after they sit awhile, so that's probably why the morning test looked darker later in the day.

And I laughed at your 12 kids in a one room cabin comment. Seriously though, it really makes you wonder how people managed. I would be way too aware of the baby in the room and worried he would wake up.

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Thanks, Tammy and MP!! This morning's test was a bit darker still, but I think not quite totally positive yet either. Hey- on CD 18 with nothing but straight up blanks since CD 10- I'll take it!!

MP- My husband and I live in a 1,000 sq ft, 200 year old cabin. We have it split up so that our 'bedroom' is the whole second floor, but our actual bed is in the loft. Eventually, the nursery will be set up in a part of our bedroom, off in a little separate hallway/nook thing, until we can get the addition built in the next few years. There's a staircase and a ceiling in between where the crib will be and our bed, so it's enough distance for me to be comfortable with the mommy/daddy privacy needs.

But we've been lucky enough to meet the family that lived here in the 1940's and they raised EIGHT children here!

 

[tammy77]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

But we've been lucky enough to meet the family that lived here in the 1940's and they raised EIGHT children here!

All I have to say is....

Regarding your OPK, definitely sounds promising! If it's darker today, it'll probably be positive by tonight. I always tested best around 3pm. It made for some interesting bathroom trips at work. That said, it was nothing compared to when I finally got my bfp and was obsessively testing for progression.

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

But we've been lucky enough to meet the family that lived here in the 1940's and they raised EIGHT children here!

All I have to say is....

Regarding your OPK, definitely sounds promising! If it's darker today, it'll probably be positive by tonight. I always tested best around 3pm. It made for some interesting bathroom trips at work. That said, it was nothing compared to when I finally got my bfp and was obsessively testing for progression.

Tammy- when I got the email with your post in it it didn't have the actual smiley faces, but just what they are called. In this case:

eek: errr: eek

Which made me laugh, cause it sounds just like mattress springs!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

But we've been lucky enough to meet the family that lived here in the 1940's and they raised EIGHT children here!

All I have to say is....

Regarding your OPK, definitely sounds promising! If it's darker today, it'll probably be positive by tonight. I always tested best around 3pm. It made for some interesting bathroom trips at work. That said, it was nothing compared to when I finally got my bfp and was obsessively testing for progression.

Tammy- when I got the email with your post in it it didn't have the actual smiley faces, but just what they are called. In this case:

eek: errr: eek

Which made me laugh, cause it sounds just like mattress springs!

Ha ha! Exact same thing happened to me when I read it in my phone!

 

[tammy77]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

LOL!! You two are terrible...and funny!

 

[gem_anemone]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

aviastar - I just wanted to pop in a say that I never got a super dark line on the OPK tests and I ended up with a BFP. I think that it is easy to miss the spike unless you test a couple times a day. So I would not worry yet if I were you. Wishing you luck this month!!

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

aviastar - I just wanted to pop in a say that I never got a super dark line on the OPK tests and I ended up with a BFP. I think that it is easy to miss the spike unless you test a couple times a day. So I would not worry yet if I were you. Wishing you luck this month!!

Thanks, Gem! I do think I ended up missing it somehow. Sometime between Thursday and Sunday I did test twice a day and I did get lines of varying darkness, although none screamed positive to me. And I think one was a bum test cause it was just weird and splotchy in general. But anyway, I got a pretty clear temp spike on Sunday a.m. and FF has put my O day as Thursday, CD17. While that doesn't totally line up with the OPK's, it is close, it lines up with my CM experiences, and it does fit in to the 35, 29, 31 day cycles I've had for the past three months if my luteal phase ends up being the normal 14-16 days.

So, I do think I ovulated, even if I'm not totally sure which day, which is really what I was hoping to confirm. And we did cover all the possibilities FF says today is 4DPO, so I'll go ahead and stick with that, although I plan on keeping an eye on my temps and not testing till I have 18 days above the cover line.

Coda, how's this month going for you? Did you decide to do any tracking or testing?

 

[amc80]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

But anyway, I got a pretty clear temp spike on Sunday a.m. and FF has put my O day as Thursday, CD17. While that doesn't totally line up with the OPK's, it is close, it lines up with my CM experiences, and it does fit in to the 35, 29, 31 day cycles I've had for the past three months if my luteal phase ends up being the normal 14-16 days.

Wait wait, your temp spiked Sunday and FF put on on Thursday? That doesn't make sense...it should be Saturday. Can you share your chart?

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Aviastar, I was just going to say the same thing as amc. I think you ovulated on Saturday, and that seems like it would make sense with your almost positive OPK.

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I was confused about that, too. There's a little spike on Thursday, but a much more pronounced one on Sunday and FF didn't add the red dotted lines till Sunday. Here's the chart. You think Saturday makes more sense?

 

[amc80]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I was confused about that, too. There's a little spike on Thursday, but a much more pronounced one on Sunday and FF didn't add the red dotted lines till Sunday. Here's the chart. You think Saturday makes more sense?

Tough call...I had a month like that...I think you could have O'd on Thursday or Saturday. So when you could your DPO take that into account...

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

aviastar, based on OPKs, I would think Sat., but based on your chart (and even CM), it does look like Thurs. is a strong possibility. The good news is that you have all of your bases covered from a BD standpoint, so really the tough call is how many DPO you are.

tons of luck!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Aviastar, I can see why FF says Thursday. Your temps are a bit irratic, so it's hard to know for sure. But like NEL said, it doesn't really matter except for purposes of knowing how many DPO you are. If I were you, I would probably just pretend I ovulated on Friday and call myself 3DPO. Best of luck to you this time around!

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Thanks, all! I'm not going to stress about an exact day- just happy to have some confirmation at all!

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

And after all that FF says, this morning- We've detected a shift in your pattern enough to change your O date. To Saturday

 

[amc80]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

And after all that FF says, this morning- We've detected a shift in your pattern enough to change your O date. To Saturday

Ha funny!

 

[coda72]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

I'm out again for this month; AF arrived today. I'm somewhat upset about it, but I pretty much already figured out that it's not going to be as easy to conceive this time around. With me turning 41 soon, I don't know if I'll be able to conceive at all. I may not be ovulating as regularly as a younger person, so I'm going to try and be easygoing about it. I may get some OPKs if the next time doesn't work out, but I'm not sure I'm up for this tracking thing.

Good luck Avia and MP, hopefully you have better luck TTC than I did.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Argh, I had a whole post typed out and hit the wrong button!

Coda, I had a long message for you, but I'll try to summarize. I'm so sorry it didn't happen for you this month. If you are having regular cycles, chances are you are still ovulating regularly. The problem is that as we age, our egg quality declines, so you might just have had a cycle or two of less than stellar eggs. Hard to say. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I highly recommend you at least try OPKs. I know it sounds daunting, but it is really not that bad, and it will maximize your chances of getting the right timing and give you an idea if you are having a normal luteal phase, etc. Or else you might want to try BDing every other day throughout the middle of your cycle. I know you said you don't want to seek medical treatment, so I think tracking your cycle is going to give you the best shot of conceiving. Best wishes to you!

Aviastar, that's too funny about FF. Anyway, I'm really hoping you get some good news next week!

AFM, I'm on CD10, and starting to use OPKs. So far this seems like a much more normal cycle than last time, and I think the OPK this morning was starting to get a little darker, so hopefully I will ovulate this weekend or early next week before we leave town. I also have a doctor appointment on Friday, and I need to decide if I want to bring up fertility with her or just let nature take its course awhile longer. Logically, I know we should give it more time, and I shouldn't be in such a rush, but the other part of me is really impatient to get going again because who knows if we will be able to conceive again even with help. I think I just need to relax about it for awhile longer and not let it get all-consuming, but that's so hard for me.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Coda - I'm a big fan of these opks: http://www.amazon.com/Clearblue-Adv...id=1374676827&sr=1-6&keywords=clear+blue+easy I do not mess around with the cheapie test strips for opks (though I love those for pregnancy tests!) I just don't like guessing whether the line is dark enough or not. I like the certainty of the smiley face on the ones I linked. These are actually the advanced version, which is supposed to tell you earlier when you are about to evaluate, which interestingly never happened for me, so I would probably just go back to the basic version http://www.amazon.com/Clearblue-Digital-Ovulation-Test-Count/dp/B002VLYAOI, if I were to buy these again. I highly recommend these! Good Luck!

 

[aviastar]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Coda, I'm sorry you're out his month. We all know, logically, that this process can take some time and sometimes some help, but emotionally? It's tough. I'm so invested in my future child already and I see babies and beautiful pregnant ladies everywhere; all over facebook, and at the grocery store, and both my sisters this year. Especially when trying for your first, I think, it's hard to feel left out on top of feeling sad. Which doesn't at all diminish how genuinely thrilled you are for all the success stories! It's just a big mess of complex emotions. I've only been trying for 4 months now, but I'm right in the thick of feeling every crazy emotion out there! Which is really just to say, I know how sad you are and I'm grieving with you.

But don't give up! I'll echo what MP said about the OPK's; I've found them pretty easy to manage. The temps in the morning, too, are really simple. And, emotionally, it's really calmed me down this month. I know I ovulated and I know we did everything we could to make the best of that window. And now I know exactly how long and exactly what I should be looking for in 10 days (but who's counting, right? ). I like it.

So maybe give it a go for a month and if you don't like it you can always stop the next round?

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Coda, I'm sorry you're out his month. We all know, logically, that this process can take some time and sometimes some help, but emotionally? It's tough. I'm so invested in my future child already and I see babies and beautiful pregnant ladies everywhere; all over facebook, and at the grocery store, and both my sisters this year. Especially when trying for your first, I think, it's hard to feel left out on top of feeling sad. Which doesn't at all diminish how genuinely thrilled you are for all the success stories! It's just a big mess of complex emotions. I've only been trying for 4 months now, but I'm right in the thick of feeling every crazy emotion out there! Which is really just to say, I know how sad you are and I'm grieving with you.

Very well said Aviastar. It really is such an emotionally taxing process, made all the worse when it seems like it comes so easily to some people. There are just so many ups and downs, and it becomes all consuming because you're always waiting for something. I was such a mess when I was trying for my son, but believe me, the wait was well worth it. Sending good thoughts to both of you that you don't have much longer to wait.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

MP, I would at least mention that you've been trying to the dr. tomorrow. No harm in that, right? I feel like she should know that you've been trying again given that you needed a little help last time. I'd just be interested in her opinion--maybe this time around she'd recommend intervening a little sooner. Not sure, but it would be interesting to know.

Glad this cycle is more normal! Nothing worse than a long (and possibly anovulatory) cycle!

coda, thought I'm a test addict, I'm trying not to be a test pusher. Still, I have to agree with the other ladies. OPKs are cheap and easy and a good way to verify that you're ovulating when you think you are. If I were you, I'd give them a shot...and like aviastar said, if you don't like it, you can stop.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

NEL, that's kind of what I was thinking too. You're right that it doesn't hurt to hear what she has to say. However, this is the same doctor who pretty much poo-poo'd me when I saw her after trying for about 8 cycles last time around. Fertility is not her thing, but she did agree to run blood tests and then recommended I talk with the NP after those came back normal. But I still really like my doctor, and she was so awesome during the pregnancy and labor/delivery and when I was feeling overwhelmed after Ev was born. She'll probably be surprised we're trying again already, but it doesn't hurt to get things set in motion.

 

[coda72]

Re: The Official TTC Thread!

Sorry to drop out of this thread for a while, but it's been a rough week as well as a rough weekend. I do appreciate all of the advice all of you gave me, and probably next month I will be trying out OPKs. My presumed fertile period should be starting in the next day or two, but quite honestly with everything that's going on, I'm not at all in the mood for BD and TTC. But maybe we'll still give it the old college try this month, who knows. Sorry for not responding to each of you individually, but I really need to get back to being productive.