Chartstalk/Questions Week of 10/02

thisnthat314

So, my husband went away for a few days and I slept iin so my chart has so many opn circles  im guessing there is no salvaging this month's chart? I cannot figure out it I even had O. Cd 16 I had what felt like O pains but my temps are stupid this month. Boo! Here is the chart. Thoughts? Part of me wants to just stop temping for this cycle.

adirat

I've often wondered if that study is about perfect usage vs. typical usage of BBT. (Kind of like with birth control -- perfect usage, it's 98% effective; typical usage, it's 80% effective or whatever the numbers are.) In typical usage, with people making mistakes and sleeping in and using crappy thermometers and misinterpreting charts and all those pieces, it isn't as effective as other things. Look how often people here ask for help because they missed temps, slept in, had a slow temp shift, etc. I think it's one tool but if you really care about pinpointing O you might as well do it in conjunction with CM or something else.

offtoneverland

@thisnthat314 If you discard the high temp on CD14 does it give you CH? I'm guessing you still probably don't have enough temps though. Nevermind, I was going to say possible O on CD15 but that positive OPK on CD16 throws it off. If I were you, I'd probably keep HIO just in case. Might not be much of a point in temping, but it wouldn't hurt to keep it up just in case. Although I have been enjoying my break from temping.
I want to say O on CD18 since CM dried up but the temps don't match. Is it possible you haven't Oed yet? What are your normal post-O temps?

jaylii

Hi all! This is the first month that I'm using OPKs. I bought a pack of strips off Amazon and took one a couple of days ago on CD 9. I did get a light line on CD 9, but that's considered normal since I'm moving towards O, right? 

Other question: With the strips, the line is supposed to get as dark or darker than the control line. Is that correct? Thanks for any help/info you can give me! I'm curious how things will go with OPKs this month. 

izza2

@jaylii - You'll usually get lines up to O, and they may seem to get darker (may not) leading up to O. The line should be as dark or darker than the control line for it to be considered positive.
Some people don't ever turn an OPK, and you may have a short LH surge that you don't catch if you only test 1-2 times a day. Last cycle I tested twice a day (mid-AM and PM) and never even got close to a positive. This cycle I tested 3 times a day (AM, noon/early-PM and later PM) and was able to catch my surge.

krash_

@jaylii I was keeping all of my OPK's so I could see a progression of them getting darker but for me all my negatives we equally light. When My CM started getting slightly EW and less creamy I started doing them AM and PM. One morning I finally got one that was as dark as the control. That evening I tested again and it was clearly darker than the control. The next morning I had another one just as dark as the control and I kept testing AM and PM until my test line almost went away, which was I think the next evening. 

Keep POAS! It's a good thing we have access to cheap ones and Amazon Prime is a god send. 

zamoraspin

The short of it: Y'all, FF did a forced update yesterday and now we are disagreeing (for the first time ever) about my O day. The weird thing is that when I played with my temps yesterday before the update FF and I agreed on my O day as CD12, now it says CD13. I am set on advanced. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Ultimately, it doesn't *really* matter as we'll have comparable EOD timing either way, but I am type A about this stuff and also wondering if anyone had their analysis change after the FF update. The long of it: I had an unusually short surge this month (compared to other months), on CD11 late pm I had a near positive OPK, positive OPK fmu on CD12, and then by the time I was able to check OPK again, about 6pm that night, negative OPK (but still very dark), and then much lighter second line at 10pm. It seems like my surge happened overnight and in the early part of the day CD12. For the past several cycles have seen my temp go down to 97.1 (that temp exactly) one to two days before O, be 97.1 on O day, and then have a slight jump up at 1dpo, with my temp doing a big jump on 2 or 3 dpo. 

This is my chart through today (it is not unusual for me to have fertile CM a day or two after O): 

This is my chart if I add in temps for CD15 and 16 (as recently as yesterday before the update, I only had to put in temps through CD15 to get CH on CD12):

This is my chart with the higher temps put in and also overlayed with three of my other most recent charts, cropped, orange is this month, you can see almost exactly the same temp pattern as other months, but FF puts O on the first day of temp rise: 

icecubeinthedesert

@zamora_spin, my CHs are in the same spot as before, but I still think FF is wrong. Weird though.

spottedginger

@zamora_spin I could argue either 12 or 13, but it is weird that FF would change its interpretation with the same set of data. If it helps, advanced is being wonky for me this month too (and insisting I O’d yesterday based on OPK, even without a temp shift). I am confident I will O today and see a higher temp tomorrow am. 

zamoraspin

@icecubeinthedesert I wish FF would let us put in the time of OPK as an option. That can make a huge difference. What does FF say about your chart and what do you think is right? 

icecubeinthedesert

My chart in spoiler. (please excuse my half-assed charting and all the open circles. Temp time doesn't seem to affect my temps too much, and DH started a new job this month, so getting into a new routine has been tough). While most my signs point to O on Wednesday, Thursday I woke up at 5am with o pain, took my temp, and seeing that it was still below my normal coverline, begged DH to get up and hio before his alarm went off, lol. My coverline is always 97.4-97.5, so while it went up, I think it was really fluctuation. And I usually get strong temp spikes too. CM not noted on Wednesday because I had trouble telling if it was semen or CM (I know the tests to distinguish, but I can't seem to see a difference). Bottom line is it doesn't really matter with our timing, but I'm surprised I got solid crosshairs.

zamoraspin

@icecubeinthedesert That surprises me too. I would tend to agree that Thursday is O day because even though you had a slight rise on that day, your history is one of big jumps and you also seem to know your signs well and sometimes we do know better than FF on those ancillary signs. FF is basically interpreting the same thing on both of our charts in two different ways and neither one is taking into account historical data - my first jump wasn't that high but I have a history of a low jump followed by a big jump, and your first jump wasn't that high but you have a history of big jumps. Weird. 

adirat

@icecubeinthedesert @zamora_spin Yeah I agree with you both.

Go home FF you're drunk.

fishsticks-n-custard

**lurker, siggy warning**

@lurvleybunchococonuts Ah, poop. I can't get the full text to load. Hard to say without reading the details of the article. I requested access so hopefully I can get it soon. 

I think @jrm_14 probably hit the nail on the head. It's very rare that anything in medicine has 100% accuracy. Hence the importance of tracking lots of signs to confirm ovulation. But, it's funny, I have no memory of them discussing a temperature shift during female reproductive physiology. Granted, that was over a decade ago so they might have and I just don't remember, but I know it wasn't stressed. 

Oh and to quote my husband, "Being a doctor doesn't make you infallible. It only makes you think you are."

lurvleybunchococonuts

@fishsticks-n-custard of course things arent 100% and yes I agree multiple methods are better than one. I suppose I just thought it was strange for the article to put that significant of a number associated with ovulation with no clear shift. As @adirat said, it might be typical usage vs "perfect usage" (which if someone can perfectly track bbt teach me your ways puh-lease). It was just a head scratcher based on other studies and everything else I've read for ttgp. Andplusalso it seemed like a good excuse to tag ya and make you stop by and say hi to us

Mmyles87

Hi ladies, I am hoping you can help me with my cycle this month. AF has always been very regular, usually 31 day average and O on day 16-17. This past month AF came on day 14. I ended up charting it as a period as it was just a little to much to be ovulation bleeding. I kept taking opk to try to make sure I wasn't going to miss O, but it is now day 19 of this cycle and still haven't had a positive opk. Has this happened to anyone else where AF turns up in the middle of your cycle? Im not sure if I should keep taking opk or just throw in the towel for this month. 

br0co1ii

@Mmyles87 I saw in the into thread that you just started temping. Do you have a chart to share? 

offtoneverland

@Mmyles87 If it truly was AF, then there's no need for you to take OPKs yet. However, if it was just some spotting I'd continue taking the OPKs in case. If you need help determining if it was really AF, you can probably google it or search it on the boards. There have been lots of discussions around here lately about what constitutes AF or spotting. If you needed to use a pad or tampon, then I'd count it as AF. If not, maybe it was just spotting.  I second the request for your chart as it would be helpful to see your temps too!

Mmyles87

@br0co1ii yes, I do. I got my bbt a few days into this cycle so it doesn’t start from the beginning. I am very new to charging and don’t trust my abilities to differentiate cm yet so that isn’t charted. My chart seems all over the place compared to other ladies charting. Probably because I need to get better at charting.  

icecubeinthedesert

@Mmyles87, I've had something similar. I typically O cd20-28, but one cycle I had some light bleeding/spotting that lasted 2-3 days starting around cd18. I started counting over, and ended up O'ing around the usual time after that. Chalked it up to a random annovulatory cycle. But keep taking OPKs and temping if you had been since it could be different for you. FWIW, I've been tracking for 2 years, and it's been my only annovulatory cycle. Others have them more frequently. If you've just come off BCP, it could be your body trying to regulate (**TW, loss mentioned** mine was a cycle or two after my first MC, so my body was probably re-regulating **end TW**).

Mmyles87

wow, sorry for the huge chart! I was on mobile when I posted that. Should I have done something different when trying to post a photo? 
@icecubeinthedesert Thank you for responding.  I haven't been on BC for years.. probably 10 years. (**TW, loss mentioned. I had a MC back at the beginning of June, but have had regular cycles and positive opk since then which is why I thought it was so strange. **end TW**) I will keep temping and taking the opk and hope for a positive one in the next few days. 

adirat

@mmyles87 I'm sorry for your loss. Same as @icecubeinthedesert, my only wonky cycle like that was after a loss/d&e, and my doctor said that is a normal variation after loss. Hopefully it's just a fluke.

Mmyles87

@offtoneverland thank you! It was hard for me to differentiate at first because AF for me is typically pretty light, but after doing some research I did count it as AF because it was more than spotting from what I was reading. I posted the chart above but this was my first month charting. I’m still trying to learn and I know my chart isn’t the best from what I’ve seen on here. It also seems very all over the place as far as temps. Is that normal for it to fluctuate that much? I have researched all the tips for taking bbt so I think I’m doing everything correctly. 
@adirat thank you! Yeah that’s what someone above said as well. It’s just so weird it happens 3 months after having regular periods. I guess maybe our bodies are just weird like that and don’t run like machines. I just wish they did when it came to ttc. Lol 

offtoneverland

@Mmyles87 Honestly, I think your temperatures look pretty good! They started kind of high and then dropped, but day to day temperatures don't matter so much as the overall pattern. Hopefully you'll see a decent temp rise eventually and then the pattern will be evident.

Mmyles87

@offtoneverland yeah, I figured I was to early to be able to see a pattern. It is nice to see though, and a great way to see if you do ovulate. Hopefully I’ll get a spike soon.