Chart Stalk & Questions Thread Week of 4/24

pebbledam

This is a thread where anyone can feel free to request a chart stalk, second-guess FF's interpretation, or post TTC-related questions, regardless of where in your cycle you are. Sometimes FF is wrong. That's where we come in. Get your second opinion here. 

supercoolstephy

Hey guys. I've been told to move here and not "call it", so here I am. Any advice?

I haven’t gotten CHs on FF but they say I probably ovulated on CD18, and my CM and CP are all in the not fertile range, and my temp is down from yesterday, I had a peak OPK on Friday, and negative ones today (although the strips have shown negatives always), FF is showing a big red stop light telling me I’m probably not fertile, and if I play with temps for the next couple days I don’t get CHs.

supercoolstephy

Also, what do I do if I don't ever get CHs? Do I just stay in WTO until I get my period again? 

lulu1180

@supercoolstephy I can see why FF didn't give you CHs.  Your temp rise happened before your +OPK or peak reading on the CBAD.  Was there anything from those days that might have caused your temp to be artificially high?  For some, drinking the night before or sleeping poorly can affect temps pretty bad .

supercoolstephy

@lulu1180  nope. Nothing. Thats why I'm just confused and ready to call it because I know I'm not ovulating now. 

lulu1180

I'm going to page one of our grads @adirat who is an expert chart stalker to help @supercoolstephy

adirat

@supercoolstephy I don't know your story but why would you think you aren't ovulating? How many cycles have you been charting and/or TTC?

I agree with @lulu1180 that your fertile signs don't line up this cycle, but any number of things could be happening -- you ovulated CD17 or 18 and your temps were messed up by external factor or you haven't ovulated yet (I've know ttgp grads who got bfps ovulating CD30+) or you're having a singular wonky cycle. It happens. 

supercoolstephy

@adirat I think I have ovulated on CD18. I just don't have CHs and when I posted in the TWW they told me to post my chart here and not to move to the TWW because I shouldn't just call it. So thats why I'm here. This is my first cycle TTC and my cycles are usually 28-30 days. I just don't know where to keep posting at this point and will keep temping and tracking my cycle till AF comes since I'm guessing something messed up. The only thing I can think is I woke up at 2 most mornings last week to pee.

lulu1180

@supercoolstephy What time do you normally temp? 

supercoolstephy

@lulu1180 5/5:30am

zamoraspin

supercoolstephy said:

@adirat I think I have ovulated on CD18. I just don't have CHs and when I posted in the TWW they told me to post my chart here and not to move to the TWW because I shouldn't just call it. So thats why I'm here. This is my first cycle TTC and my cycles are usually 28-30 days. I just don't know where to keep posting at this point and will keep temping and tracking my cycle till AF comes since I'm guessing something messed up. The only thing I can think is I woke up at 2 most mornings last week to pee.

That is tough. I know last month I jumped on TWW too early because I was putting too much stock in my CF and was having trouble taking my temp consistently - the ladies helped me to realize I actually hadn't O'd yet. I think the signs are confusing and you may be right but I would keep temping, taking OPKs and BD'ing every other day at least for a few more days just in case. Is there anything you were taking or are taking now that might impact your temp? Or do you have allergies bad enough that you may be breathing through your mouth at night? 

EmilyLove25

@supercoolstephy Are you only using CBDA OPKs? I spend basically my entire WTO sessions complaining about it (WHY AM I STILL USING IT?). They have been wrong for me many many times. I typically get my peak a week before I ovulate (and confirm it with both a cheap OPK and temps). I use Wondfo OPKs (you can get like 100 for $20 on Amazon) to help me double check my CBDA. Believe it or not, the cheapies are more accurate for me! When you say the "strips" have shown negative always, do you mean cheap ones you are using? Would be curious what FF would say if you took out the peak reading. 

lulu1180

@supercoolstephy They typically say that you need 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep to temp so waking up at that time wouldn't affect your temps so much, especially because Friday was the only day last week that it would have really changed it.  I'm going to agree that you did O on CD18 based on the +OPK and CM but the temps are just really really wonky and throwing me off!  Do you know how to do a manual override on FF?  I would set O as CD18 and not set a CL

EmilyLove25

Hey, All: I'm just losing my mind with free time at work today and am having my longest LP to date. I can't say when AF is supposed to arrive because I "guess" that would have been yesterday... but I've added Vitamin B to extend my LP and suspect that is working. My question is what do you make of more or less flatlined DPO temps? If I get rid of the one at 7 DPO my temps are all basically 98.23ish. That suggests to me bad things. 

lulu1180

@EmilyLove25 Temps that are a little more flat are not necessarily a bad thing.  I wouldn't put too much thought into it.  

EmilyLove25

@lulu1180 Thank you! I'm so desperate to put thoughts into anything! 

supercoolstephy

@EmilyLove25 Ok. I took out the positive and the peak on CD 17 and it gave my CH's for CD15. I have been using the Answer brand OPK strips and the CBDA starting on CD14. The strips barely gave me a line for my tests, other than the control line of course. So I said eff it, I'm buying digital. Give me a happy face or a blinking happy face. I think if I'm not KU next month, which I'm figuring I wont be, that I'm going to pick up the Wondfo.



@zamora_spin No new meds, same as before. I was breathing out of my mouth this morning when I woke up. Ahhh this is all so confusing. haha

@lulu1180 I was thinking the 3 hour rule too, so I was figuring I was fine. And believe me, I wish I was sleeping past 5/5:20 every morning. I do not know how to manually add to FF. But I can look it up. I did take out the peak and positive OPK to play around with what @EmilyLove25 mentioned and got CHs for CD 15. So I don't know. Bodies are so weird. 

lulu1180

Yes they are @supercoolstephy, which is why I'm so glad to have this community that has taught me pretty much everything I know about temping and tracking and FF. 

doxiemoxie212

So, we were still TTA this month, so semi-irrelevant, but I was trying to get back into the groove of temping regularly since we're going to go back to TTC once AF comes and goes. Seems like the various symptoms aren't jiving? Thoughts? Do you think I actually O'd when FF says?

(And yes, I have a doc appt on Thursday to talk about all the GD spotting)

(Also, FWIW, I started temping/charting January 2016, and I typically O CD14-16 with a ~15 LP; cover line is almost always 97.9, and my temps rise super slowly, so I believe doc might say I have some low progesterone stuff going on. Symptoms fit. Whatevs.)

supercoolstephy

Ok. My last questions. Thinking back to last Thursday, when it says I ovulated if I take that peak out. I did have some right ovary pain that I was telling my friend about. Is that a sign? Maybe I was ovulating. Ok. I'm overthinking all of this.

EmilyLove25

@doxiemoxie212 What the what. I would think you O'd on CD 16-CD17 (like literally overnight). I'm hardly an expert though but fertile signs and temps line up. My chart had weird follicular phase temps (mountainous, sort of like yours) but it didn't mess up my estimated CHs. I'll be curious to see when AF arrives for you. I'd put you 9 DPO. 

lulu1180

@doxiemoxie212 I would put O at CD17 for you.  I think FF is just confused because the temps at 1-3 DPO are very similar to the temps on CD 9-13

@supercoolstephy This time I would not say you're overthinking it!  If you felt a pinching/pulling type of cramping feeling then, yes, I would say that would probably O pain and would further make the case for O at CD15!!

supercoolstephy

@lulu1180 yeah, it was pretty achey on CD15 and CD16 with heartburn on CD16. I'm going to pull that peak and go with that, which is a bummer because I got way more BDing in with CD18. Oh well. There's always next month. haha

pebbledam

@supercoolstephy - It really does take a few months to figure out what signs your body is giving you at differs times of your cycle. I definitely second the using wondfos along side the digital one. I like the digital one because it tells me when I should start using wondfos twice a day to catch my LH surge. I definitely have cramping during O, so log that pain! I would not have known I had O pain if I didn't track that info for the past 3 cycles!

Eta words are hard. 

EmilyLove25

@pebbledam Yes. This exactly. CBDA gives me a flashey smile (or last month just jumps ahead to a solid smiley  ) and I know it's time to get serious with my Wondfos. 

doxiemoxie212

I have a question - (TW) does anyone know if a doctor would typically be able to see fibroids in the uterus via ultrasound during an early MC? 

eggplantface

doxiemoxie212 said:

I have a question - (TW) does anyone know if a doctor would typically be able to see fibroids in the uterus via ultrasound during an early MC? 

I do know that fibroids appear on an ultrasound as a black mass, but I don't know about distinguishing between a fibroid and anything else. Are you worried you have a fibroid or was your doc unable to distinguish what was fibroid and what was pregnancy?

doxiemoxie212

@eggplantface I have to have an ultrasound on May 8 to find out if I have fibroids. Short answer: I have cervical cysts, and my doctor wants to find out if I have any uterus stuff going on before we TTC again (we were going to start trying again basically May 8).

Long answer: The reason I went to the doc (as posted previously here) is because I've always spotted a lot (esp during ovulation), but this past cycle it was A LOT of blood (but this has happened before). The internet (I know, I know) seemed to say either fibroids or low progesterone were the most likely culprits. I figured low progesterone would be more likely because 1) the symptoms fit more (low basal body temps, low sex drive, temps rise v slowly after O, etc., I don't ever have uterine pain even during periods, I struggle with anxiety, etc.), 2) it made more sense to me that this is one issue that has been going on for a while rather than a new issue, 3) (TW) I thought they would have seen the fibroids in Sept when they did 4 million ultrasounds during my MC. I also looked back at my charts, and I actually think I had a chemical pregnancy I wasn't aware of the month before my actual MC (my LP was 17 days, when it's almost always 14, but I didn't test because I was on vacation, and just figured I'd test when I got home, but then AF showed up so I figured whatever). 

That said, if you can't see fibroids on an ultrasound during a miscarriage, that could have been the issue the whole time, and they just didn't catch them then. IDK. Mostly a pointless inquiry since we'll find out one way or another in May, but my doc wants us to postpone TTC until we know which I'm a little annoyed about. 

eggplantface

@doxiemoxie212 I gotcha. In that case, I have no idea if a doc could confuse a fibroid for an early pregnancy and am very little help I do hope you get some answers and I hear ya on the waiting. It's the worst! Beware the Google rabbit hole because even if you have fibroids they might not interfere with pregnancy at all. And if your doc says they have to be removed, they are doing minimally invasive removals now so you might not be sidelined for long. It could also be nothing! I'm well-versed in fibroids so feel free to PM me if you have any questions. 

ETA clarification

doxiemoxie212

@eggplantface thanks! yeah, I'm not super worried about the potential fibroids actually. I'm more concerned that we're postponing TTC to find out that I don't have fibroids, and then we have to continue the waiting game to find out if I have low progesterone. I just want to test both now. But I guess she probably wants to wait to test progesterone, if necessary, after my period too, so whatever. Have to wait either way. Blargh. 

aalauren

Can we post a picture of a a LH strip in this thread? I think it's positive but not sure. I took one and I think the strip was faulty (you'd have to see pic) so I took another and I think it shows a positive? I'm newer with the strips. Wondering if it was positive but I don't want to post a picture that's not allowed. Thanks ladies! 

pebbledam

@aalauren - Please don't post anything that you've peed on in this thread. If you would like, you can PM me with the picture and I can give you my opinion.

lulu1180

@aalauren Generally, if you think an OPK is positive, chances are, it's not quite there.  I've had that thought as well and then when I took another later in the day or the next day and it was a blazing positive, I had no doubts

aalauren

Thanks @pebbledam and @Lulu1180 I had my doubts about posting a pee stick, which is why I asked! Mostly just wondering how to chart it...

eggplantface

@aalauren Even if it's almostsoclosetopositiveIcantasteit, it's still negative so put negative in your chart. But then you know it's close, so if you're a POAS addict you can pee on all the things to catch it!

LoveInDC

@aalauren FF lets you add pictures (I think @lulu1180 knows where?) If you want to reference/compare it later. But until it's blaring positive, mark it as negative.

lulu1180

@LoveInDC @aalauren You can add pictures of OPKs or HPTs in FF only if you have the VIP package.  If you do, when you go to enter data (temp, CM, meds, etc) scroll down to the very bottom and click on photos and then lightbox then choose the appropriate options, take a pic and save it.