Ovulation how do you determine when?

rlmanning

Ok ladies. I was always told 14 days from the 1st day of your last period. My last cycle was 26 days. I remember you ladies saying this isn't always the best way to figure it out.
How do you determine when you are ovulating?

Sunidaze

I know many people have used fertility friend (the full website and apps) as a way to track their periods, temps, CM, etc.  I did...but always did the basic and still do use it - especially after earlier this year where I went through a period of time where it seemed my periods were coming too close together and I worried I was on the verge of menopause (and I still have some concerns over things, especially after after my last period).

jcsumm0

I used fertilityfriend.com.  They have great tutorials to help you understand it all.  I also highly recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility. 

You can look for signs that you are going to ovulate, which include a certain kind or cervical mucus and cervical position, and some women have other signs as well.  You can also use OPKs, although I never liked them myself.  But the only way to know that you ovulated for sure is to track your basal body temp. through your cycle.  After you have o'd your temp will go up and stay up.  From the first day of your cycle to when you O is a variable amount of time, although the "typical" time is about 14 days.  Then the time after you O is called your luteal phase.  It is about 10-14 days long.  Then you either get your period or a BFP!!

rlmanning

Thanks I will look for that app. I never thought to look for an app. LOL! They have an app for everything!

JavaVino910

jcsumm0:

I used fertilityfriend.com.  They have great tutorials to help you understand it all.  I also highly recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility. 

You can look for signs that you are going to ovulate, which include a certain kind or cervical mucus and cervical position, and some women have other signs as well.  You can also use OPKs, although I never liked them myself.  But the only way to know that you ovulated for sure is to track your basal body temp. through your cycle.  After you have o'd your temp will go up and stay up.  From the first day of your cycle to when you O is a variable amount of time, although the "typical" time is about 14 days.  Then the time after you O is called your luteal phase.  It is about 10-14 days long.  Then you either get your period or a BFP!!

All great info! I echo the recommendation for "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". Then, go lurk over on the Trying To Get Pregnant board. I'm so thankful for how much I learned about my body and fertility

rlmanning

Thanks for the book rec! I will pick it up this weekend. I haven't been to the TTC board. I will have to go lurk. I guess because I have a LO I never thought to lurk on that board. Thanks for the advise ladies! It's much appreciated!

amberpro

I tried OPKs, but they didn't work for me.  I never got a +.  The first month I temped and charted in Fertility Friend, BAM! Carter.  I discovered I Oed earlier than the "norm" and had been missing it.   This time I just went off what I learned last time and again... BAM!  Baby

rlmanning

Ya I'm so excited! Def. going to download FF on my lunch break!

LexGator

Don't just count 14 days -- every body is different! I ovulated on day 17-18 of my cycle, so if I hadn't been charting, I might have missed my fertile window every month. I highly recommend Fertility Friend as well. I still haven't had a PP AF (still BFing), but when she does return, I plan on starting to chart again. I'm already recording secondary signs into FF to see if there's any pattern, but nothing yet. I think charting is a great way to understand how your body works, and it doesn't require much work. GL!

gymnst1013

The only way to know 100% is to take your basal body temperature and even that will only tell you after the fact that you did ovulate.  I second (or third or fourth) Fertility Friend.  Very easy to use, but you do have to be diligent with temping the correct way for it to work.

PortlandValentineBride

I used the ClearBlue OPKs (ordered from Amazon) and got pregnant the first month using them.  I got my smilie on day 17.  I used them twice a day since I read some people were missing their +.  I only got one smilie face and am pretty sure that is the same day I conceived.  Good luck!  With a 26 day cycle you could be earlier than day 14.

M&M227

I used Fertility Friend.  Before DD I would ovulate on Day 19 and get my period on day 30.  So if I went with the typical 14 days after last period it might have taken a long time to get pregnant.

foxisoxy128

I used OPKs. I swear thats the only way I got pregnant with H because it caught my surge 4 days earlier than expected. I just bought some cheapies on Amazon.

I use iPeriod app on my iPhone now. My cycle is all over the place since giving birth and the app is right on target.

LauraOTR

Others have already covered it, but I'll chime in as another one that used FF. My cycles were about 32-34 days long, and I found out that I typically ovulated around day 19-21. I did use OPKs (cheapies from Amazon), twice a day and caught the surge each month (which is often the day before you actually ovulate).

lovebugkim

I use an app called P tracker to keep track of my periods, but it will also give you your fertile days plus your expected ovulation date based on your last menstrual cycle. It's actually pretty accurate. I however can feel or know the exact day that I ovulate.  Last month for instance, my app said I would ovulate on the 22nd which is when I should have o'd but didn't. Instead I ovulated the following Wednesday & knew it due to cramping & CM. Because of this my period came 4 days later than expected & when I put my info in, it change my O date to the exact date I knew I had.