quitting charting?

baby&thesea

I started charting before we even started TTC, but now I'm considering quitting and just doing EOD until I get a positive OPK. I know my cycle pretty well and even in cycles when I ovulate late we try to do EOD because I don't know when it's coming.

 Has anyone quit charting? Did it help you or make you crazier? 

And on a similar note, do you think it's better to test early in order to catch chemical pregnancies so they go in your record or do you think it's better to just wait until you've missed your period by several days to skip the heartache? 

buckeyebaby814

I semi-chart, but only because I'm being monitored by my RE.  When not on treatment cycles I still chart because I O late (used to anyway) and I have short LPs, which I want to keep documented.  

As for the CPs and heartaches... I've had 4 early losses... had I not been charting I probably would not have known about a few of them.  I feel having my RE be informed of any pregnancy, whether it is a CP or m/c, is important.  Our treatment protocol changed as a result of my last two losses occurring.  

Also, I like knowing when to expect AF +/- 1 day  Do what's best for you though! 

DaisyZH

My doctor told me to quit charting after my first miscarriage.  She said that it would drive me crazy and that most women ovulate on day 14 anyway.  Um, yeah I know that is not correct and funnily enough she is not only an OB/GYN but also has a speciality in reproductive/fertility services.  It worked out for me at first, my next pregnancy I did not chart.  Now that I am TTC #2 I wish I would have started charting a lot earlier.  I have no idea what is going on, so if I did it all over again I think I would have been charting consistently the entire time.  That said, we BD every other day for the most part just in case since my cycle is so crazy. 

As far as testing early - I am the same as you, questioning which is better.  On the one hand I'd love to skip the heartache, on the other hand health-wise it's probably good to make sure your body has handled a miscarriage correctly, i.e. monitoring betas, etc. 

Laurakat81

I quit close to a year ago. It made me CRAZY but quitting helped a little (although initially I felt crazier because I felt like I had no idea what was going on with my body). I still use FF and keep track of various things but not temps. My cycles are fairly regular and I use OPKs when we're ttc. Plus I almost always get really strong O pains the day of O so for me it just made sense.

And now that we're doing IUI there is really no need to chart. 

LaTi07

I've taken 2 breaks from charting in the last year. The first one drove me more nuts than I already was. The most recent one was awesome, but made getting back into the swing of things difficult.

As for the testing, personal choice there. With the exception of my BSC Clomid cycles, I don't test until 12DPO simply because I can't stand the sight of a negative. As for potentially "missing" CP's, my doctor said it's better to have as much information as possible and he made a good point, whether I'm charting or not isn't going to change the outcome of that particular pg. What it will change is how we handle the next.

big_noise

I find as I continue down this road, having the charting data is making things a lot easier to process and plan going forward. I don't think I would be going in for the testing I'm getting next week without it. I also wouldn't feel as confident about going to acupuncture. I feel confident going in with some specific data. However, this is the way I process things. I understand how taking a charting break can help too.GL!