Hawaii Babies
TTC
Hi guys,
Just looking for some advice here. We have been TTC for 7 months. When I went off of the pill, my periods were lasting over 40 days. My doctor told me that if my period is over 40 days, I'm probably not ovulating. On my last cycle, my period was 32 days so I thought we were back on track. This cycle, I am at day 40, without a period (and 2 failed pregnancy tests). I am feeling frustrated and want to know what's going on with my body. Any advice? Should I start charting or something? I know it is normal and can take up to a year to get back on track but I feel frustrated.
Thanks! Lindsey
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Re: TTC
Hi Lindsey,
A couple of thoughts...
1) It can take up to 1 year for a healthy, fertile couple to concieve. If you've been on the BCP for a while it can take a while for your body to regulate.
2) Have you been charting your cycles (beyond just noting the length between periods)? If not, I highly recommend using a Basal Body Thermometer to chart your fertility. You can find out more at www.fertilityfriend.com and in Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Wechsler.
3) If you've been charting, have you been timing your BMS with your O-date? My understanding is that you want to have BMS the three days prior and two days after your predicted O date just to cover your bases and catch the egg.
4) I really recommend using the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor...it's a little pricey, but SO convenient and accurate too (I used it while charting). If you plan to TTC more than once I think it certainly worth the investment. Sometimes you can find gently used ones on eBay. I bought mine brand new for around $200 from https://www.herballoveshop.com/product.asp?PID=15004 and it looks like it's down to $140 right now.
5) If you're over 35 I recommend talking to your OB/GYN since they recommend if you've been trying for 6 months to talk to your doctor at that point rather than waiting 12 months.
GL! Hang in there! Check out www.pregosaur.com for blog posts from other TTCers (I blogged my TCC journey there as Divasaur), ideas and encouragement. BTW, I have somewhat irregular cycles and conceived on CD26...had I not been charting, I wouldn't have known to keep going past my "regular" O date of CD15-16.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
completely agree. we didn't chart for the first few cycles I was off the pill & didn't get pg. So I started charting (after reading TCYF) & we were pg by the 2nd cycle of charting.
It will come, but it does take some patience! good luck & keep us posted!!!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
+1 for charting! My cycles were also very long and irregular. I got pg on CD28 - had I not been charting, I doubt we would have had any idea when I would ovulate. I temp'd and tracked my cervical fluid, and also used OPKs around the days I thought I would ovulate (based on cervical fluid).
So I would definitely recommend charting to start understanding what your body is doing - it will help point to any potential issues you may be having. And maybe there is nothing wrong at all, and you just need to improve your timing! It will help with that too
GL! and don't hesitate to ask more questions.
eta: found an email I sent to a friend about our TTC journey/resources...hope this helps, sorry for the length!
- Taking Charge of Your Fertility - https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Anniversary/dp/0060881909 - this is pretty much *the* resource for charting and understanding what your body goes through every cycle. It will be able to tell you whether you're ovulating, and whether you might have certain issues conceiving
-- They go through a bunch of fertility signs in the book - I only used my temp and cervical mucus (ugh, i hate that term). The first month I started tracking CM, I was really confused, but got the hang of it the second month.
- fertilityfriend.com - I neglected to mention this over the phone, but this is a free website you can use for keeping track of your chart. It's really easy to use once you get used to its clunky interface. And did I mention it's free? They have a bunch of "lessons" which you could use instead of TCOYF, but I liked that the book has a lot of details, examples of different charts, etc. I often found myself referring back to the examples in the book while I was trying to figure out what the @#$#% I was supposed to conclude from my chart. I had the lessons emailed to me every week, but i never actually read a single one.
-- They have a "VIP" option you can pay for which enables you to track more things. I didn't find it very helpful, so I was too cheap to pay for it - you can decide for yourself, since you'll have a free 30 day trial when you first sign up.
-- You can take a look at the charts for my last 2 cycles here - https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/amigirl. Note that my last chart is a lot clearer than the previous one. This is because I set my alarm for 5:30am and took my temp at a consistent time every day. It just varied too much the month before for me to figure out what was going on.
- Basal Body Digital Thermometer - this is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O6YCZY. Would be even better if it had a backlight, but it's fine. You just want to make sure it's digital, and goes down to a tenth.
- OPKs and HPTs - I found this site really informative when i started researching using OPKs and HPTs - https://www.peeonastick.com
-- I bought mine from https://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com. Super cheap, detects small amounts of hormones, and they often have 10% off coupons.
I eased into charting, starting simple and then realizing I needed to add more. First, I just took my temperature whenever I woke up and recorded the temp. Then, I took my temp whenever I woke up, recorded the temp and the time, and tried to track CM. Lastly, I took my temp at a consistent time every day, and tracked CM. The CM part is easy - you just do a quick check whenever you go to the bathroom, but temping, especially at the same time every day, is definitely a bit of a pain. =( I would give it a shot though, and see how it goes! The good thing about the thermometer I have is that it remembers the last temp, so I would hit the alarm at 5:30, stick it in my mouth, wait for it to beep, then roll over and go back to sleep. Then I'd record the temp on fertilityfriend when I actually woke up.
Definitely chart. And just because your cycles are long doesn't mean you aren't ovulating. When I got pg I ovulated around day 44 of my cycle. I knew because I was charting. My cycles were irregular too. When I got off the pill my first period came in 28 days. The next was 44 days. On the next cycle I got pregnant. But like I said, I ovulated way late. I also suggest using ovulation kits. How I knew I was about to ovulate was I noticed EWCM, then I got a + ovulation test. My chart confirmed ovulation.
Good luck!
{planning bio} {married bio} {baby blog}
Thanks for the advice. I am definitely going to start charting. I have tried the Ovulation Predictor kits but they haven't been working for me and have left me feeling frustrated. I know that it can take up to a year but we are so eager to get started. I am not over 35 but I have Lupus and my specialist has told me to expect numerous miscarriages. The Lupus cells attack the fetus or the sac much like they attack my healthy cells, which results in miscarriage. We are just so eager to get started as we feel that this may be a hard, long process for us. That being said, I am just trying to stay positive. I am going to go get the reccomended book and sign up on fertility friend asap.
Thanks for all of the advice and well wished. Nice to have some support!
I would start charting right away. I was on BCP for 14 yrs and then started charting right away when I got off the pill. Turns out I was ovulating but we were having sex on the day of ovulation, which my body needed us to do the deed the day BEFORE ovulation so it was tricky timing since my cycles were pretty irregular but after 8 months we were pregnant! The first time we had sex before ovulation we conceived. My OB told me that some women need to have sex BEFORE ovulation so that things all connect at the right time, which was my case...
I would read TCOYF like everyone mentioned and start charting. Also be sure you are taking a prenatal!
You might try the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor...I had better success with it than the OPKs since the CBEFM measures more than just the LH.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog