Trying to figure out O date...

jilligan14

Hey all,

I posted about some of this in the TWW post but thought I'd create a separate post as I'm curious to see what others (aka more experienced charters) think about my strange patterns this cycle...

On CD25, I had eggwhite CM, a "peak fertility" OPK (advanced clearblue brand), and a huge spike in temp. I can't think of anything that caused that spike so am thoroughly confused by this since I know temp increases are supposed to happen 1-2 days after positive OPKs. I'm supposed to take progesterone the day after O but decided to wait another day or two since I had the +OPK on that day.

On CD26, I had a +OPK with the cheap strip kind (wondfu), a negative with the advanced clearblue brand, a drop in temp, but no fertile cm. Maybe this was ovulation day?

On CD27, I woke up early (5ish) and took my temp even though it was earlier than my usual time. It was 97.24. I fell back asleep and took my temp again at 7:23 (which is closer to usual time) and it jumped up to 97.72. I put the latter time into Fertility Friend and it showed my O-day as CD24, the day before I got my positive OPK.

I'm wondering which sign I should follow - the +OPKs? Or the high temp on CD25? Either way, I'm going to start progesterone tonight and just hope I'm not taking it too late.

Please take a look at my chart and tell me what you think: https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/59a9ac

THANKS!!

jilligan14

I just noticed some eggwhite cm again this evening. I'm so confused. Does this mean I haven't O'd yet? I was going to take progesterone tonight but now I'm not sure...

mattiep16

I would go with the OPK. Temps are a good guideline, but there is so much that can influence them - even getting up to pee two hours before you temp can cause a spike, or having more covers than normal. It's very rare for an OPK to show a false positive.   That said, I started progesterone 5 days after O and had my level tested just two days later and it was perfect for the LH phase.

jilligan14

mattiep16 said:

I would go with the OPK. Temps are a good guideline, but there is so much that can influence them - even getting up to pee two hours before you temp can cause a spike, or having more covers than normal. It's very rare for an OPK to show a false positive.   That said, I started progesterone 5 days after O and had my level tested just two days later and it was perfect for the LH phase.

Thanks for your input @mattiep16! I guess I'm a little skeptical of
OPKs because I had positives for the past two cycles but then progesterone
blood tests confirmed I didn't ovulate :-( But there have been a few
times when the OPK did correctly indicate the O-day (which happened
right after the +OPK). I have PCOS and because of this, I think my body
likes to play tricks on me - gearing up to O, showing all the signs, but
then not O'ing.

Anyway, I'm going to go with the day after the
clearblue advanced OPK (CD26) as I had a little temp dip as well as ovulatory
pains. I think I'll just discard that first high temp and rack it up as a strange fluke. I did start the prog last night but am starting to wonder if
it's absolutely necessary to take it immediately after O. It's
reassuring to hear that you took it five days later and you were good. I'm going to stop stressing about it so much...

emsmama15

@jilligan14, I think it's hard with PCOS because OPKs aren't always accurate.  Looking at your chart (I'm not an expert, but I've charted my own funky cycle for a long time), I agree with FF.  I think you had a clear temp shift, even with the dip the day after.  There's this thing I just read about last cycle - fall-back rise or something, where you dip the day after your big rise.  It doesn't seem to mean anything, but it has a name.  I think I googled "big temp dip after initial rise following ovulation" or some such ridiculous statement and was directed to tons of hits on this.  Anyway, I'm rambling, but I agree with FF on this one.  

Also, I started progesterone after my BFP with my first pregnancy (and had a ridiculously thin lining) and all was good, so I wouldn't stress too much about starting it immediately after O.  

Good luck!!!  

mattiep16

I agree with @emsmama15 knowing you have PCOS now since it can definitely fool OPKs.

jilligan14

@emsmama15 - thanks for the input! I'm still learning how to chart and interpret things with PCOS and have different signs and different times every cycle. It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one! My only concern about the day FF is picking is that the day after the dip, on CD27, I had 2 different temps. I took my first temp at 5:00am because I randomly woke up early, but my usual time is 6:30-7:30. I went back to sleep and retook temp at 7:23am. The first temp was low - 97.24 and the later time was high - 97.72. If I use the first temp, FF doesn't show any O-day. But if I use the later time, it shows O-day as right after that first spike. I'm really not sure which temp to use and am hoping I did O but I never know for sure until I get the progesterone test. (The temps are now going to be high because I'm taking progesterone).

Anyway, the obgyn wants me to take progesterone early because my levels are so low she thinks that implantation can't even occur, which is why she's having me take it so early. But I did get pregnant twice last year without progesterone so I'm thinking that those early days aren't as crucial as the later days.

jilligan14

Now FF moved my O-day to CD26 because of having several high temps in a row. My current high temps are from taking the progesterone but whatever, I'll just wait and see what happens. I really do I hope I did O and it wasn't another false alarm!

emsmama15

Probably because of the positive OPK too.  Your cycle is super confusing!!  Now, I'm intrigued to see what happens too!  Looks like you had good timing though! Fingers crossed!

jilligan14

Just wanted to let you all know that my progesterone test results confirmed ovulation! I'm still not sure which day it happened but am jumping for joy that my body finally ovulated on it's own!! Now I just have to wait....