Charting ? and testing early ?'s

JamieFL

From lurking and just being on the Bump, I know that many women chart.  Would you say the majority of women here chart?  If you do, when did you start - right away, after a period of time or by physician's recs?  I don't fully understand FF, though I've visited it.  When a gal says, "chart stalk me", I take a peek but it looks scientific to me!  It seems complicated though but too many chart for it to be too difficult, I'm sure.

Also, I've always been regular with AF/cycles, thankfully even after BC. BUT, I didn't take a digital HPT with my DS until 17 DPO.  I had such AF-like cramps and bloatedness that it never dawned on me to take a PG test.  I truly felt AF was right around the corner.  Even after reading every piece of literature on pregnancy, I didn't occur to me that I would get those type of cramps. 

That being said, I've seen other posters get +HPTs at 9DPO.  Is this common?  I know that HCG builds up to a testable rate at 10 days past conception and 2 more days for implantation so it would never occur to me to test at that time.

 Thank you for taking the time to read this ramble of mine.  I'd appreciate any insight!  Thanks!

QE2

Charting is very easy and if you join Fertility Friend, you only have to plug in your temp and the site does everything for you. The book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" is an excellent resource. I started charting after 4 or 5 months of no luck and a gut feeling that something was wrong. I knew we had good timing because I used OPK's, and wanted to make sure I was O'ing.

It is not common to get a +HPT at 9DPO. That only occurs when the implantation happens earlier. Some women don't even implant until CD 10 or 11. Here is a chart that tells you the percentages. Good luck!?

HPT Accuracy Chart:

HPT Accuracy Results Percentages: (Based on a 25mIU sensitive test)

10 dpo : 35%

11 dpo : 51%

12 dpo : 62%

13 dpo : 68%

14 dpo : 74%

15 dpo : 80%

16 dpo : 88%

17 dpo : 92%

**Don't Test Early!!**

JamieFL

Thanks, I know TCOYF is recommended on the other boards, too.  I've decided to give it 6 months and then move onto other methods.  FF, here I come!

Thanks again for reading through it all!

AnotherChance

TCOYF is a must-read for any woman.  Great info in there.

Charting is super easy.  FF will walk you through the whole thing. 

I charted for awhile to get to know my cycles better, but right now I'm only charting by CM, not temps...laziness, really.  I'll probably start charting with temps in a few months if we don't get a BFP.  That way I'll have several months of charts in case we need to see a RE (we're going to try until the end of the year before we seek help).

ToshaGirl

I would say that overall on average, the majority of women chart around here (GP, etc).  Even if your AF is regular, you wouldn't know when/if you ovulate based on that.

It's really very easy once you get going. And, FWIW, I've seen many people say they regret not starting to chart right away.  The tutorials are very helpful.

GL!

Mrs.PeachyKeen

If you don't want to read TCOYF at least sign up for the FF course.  It sends you an email a day for about 19 days.  Great way to slowly get to know your body if you are apt to be overwhelmed with information

CharBart

definitley start temping...it gives you a great look at how your body goes through changes during your cycle.  I only started to understand FF after I started temping...it makes sense once you do!