@carolvo1996 Ty I have begun using a couple different ones, just to compare, but my cycle appears to be wildly irregular (which I didn’t really know until now, it was perfectly regular no matter what form of BC I was on for the last 15+ years). So the apps are constantly shifting what they think my fertile days are. Practically daily. In other words they seem to be saying, “hmm, no idea girl, your guess is as good as ours”. And the OPKs and BBT data seems to be just as useless so far. Maybe I just need a few more cycles for things to even out or for some patterns to emerge? I dunno. Trying not to freak out just yet, but I’m already 35 and have waited this long to start trying, so time is certainly not on my side. Every time I start to think about it, I feel totally overwhelmed. I just wish it didn’t feel like trying to read tea leaves some days. Seems like it ought to be more scientific than this, doesn’t it?
@michalrobartabrax Doesn’t it make you so mad that we didn’t learn any of this in school health classes?!? I was shocked to learn we only had like a one week window of fertility each month. Instead they just pump us up with hormone birth control and scare us. I was basically just one step ahead of Daphne Bridgerton until my 30’s!
@carolvo1996 Seriously this info should not be news to us for the first time in our late 20s/30s when we first actually want to get pregnant. They terrify the crap out of us for most of our fertile lives, throw us on hormonal BC (which we also have no clue about), and then when it comes time to actually conceive we have no idea how any of it works. Ridiculous. We have a right to know more about our own bodies at a MUCH younger age, so we can make some informed decisions about them!
@michalrobartabrax It is overwhelming to begin with, but I promise little by little it will make sense. Also don't give too much thought to your age, there are a tonne of stories throughout reddit where people between 35 and 40, and even beyond have had success in their ttc journey.
@katrina2017 I’m not sure but if I had to guess I’d say a few days after your first positive OPK and a few days before your temp rise, somewhere in the middle. This is just a guess though knowing it can take a few days after positive OPK to ovulate but also that temp rise can be slow.
@katrina2017 Closer to your first positive OPK. They found that the average lag time between peak LH and ultrasound-confirmed ovulation was less than 1 day. The timing of the BBT rise relative to ovulation was more variable. BBT rise is a very reliable indicator that ovulation happened, but not of when it happened.
@kristeen But also a temp rise doesn't always mean ovulation. You can get a rise before ovulation when estrogen peaks, triggers the LH surge and drops before rising again to a lower level during the LP.. Estrogen being a cooling hormone, when it is lower temps are higher. This is why you might see a rise at or before your surge. It doesn't always mean you have ovulated yet.
Just my experience as a infertility patient with 3 years of charts to match to bloods and ultrasounds - and accompanying explanations from my doctors.
@megan_iola Also true and interesting - I hadn’t really thought about that. I have my first monitored cycle next cycle so I’ll be interested to watch how it all tracks, even if the reason I have that opportunity isn’t so great.
@kristeen Very interesting. I've been thinking for months that I am ovulating before the LH surge.
I have spotting and ewcm for about two days until my surge and the once I have my surge, nothing.
My doctor said this wasn't possible and everything I've read said this isn't likely. I'm just going to go with my instincts from now on and see what happens.
@dhsmith9ii For what it's worth, the last day of EWCM is thought to be the day you ovulate, so you might still be ovulating around surge time. But yeah my main takeaway from all this is that more data/signs = better.
@kristeen I sometimes have EWCM after ovulation (for a day or two -I usually have between 5 days of creamy and then 3 or 5 days of EWCM), could it be because I’ve got so much quantity and it’s actually old? I don’t know, I’m not TTC yet, I’m beginning to know my body, but I’ve always got A LOT, like I would go to the gyn when I was a teen because it looked like I peed on my pants. On the most fertile days I wet my knees when it surprises me hanging until there. I really hope it helps me when I start
@kristeen This is interesting. My OPKs surges never matched up with my BBT so I stopped doing BBT because it just caused me extra things to stress out and worry!
@kristeen Cool! Thanks for posting this I usually have a slow rise and it often frustrates me, especially when I'm 1DPO (based on my OPK now turned negative and tiny rise in temp) like today and I'm like...did I even ovulate!?
I have begun using a couple different ones, just to compare, but my cycle appears to be wildly irregular (which I didn’t really know until now, it was perfectly regular no matter what form of BC I was on for the last 15+ years). So the apps are constantly shifting what they think my fertile days are. Practically daily. In other words they seem to be saying, “hmm, no idea girl, your guess is as good as ours”. And the OPKs and BBT data seems to be just as useless so far. Maybe I just need a few more cycles for things to even out or for some patterns to emerge? I dunno. Trying not to freak out just yet, but I’m already 35 and have waited this long to start trying, so time is certainly not on my side. Every time I start to think about it, I feel totally overwhelmed. I just wish it didn’t feel like trying to read tea leaves some days. Seems like it ought to be more scientific than this, doesn’t it?
I usually have a slow rise and it often frustrates me, especially when I'm 1DPO (based on my OPK now turned negative and tiny rise in temp) like today and I'm like...did I even ovulate!?