Hi Ladies,?
I definitely don't belong on this board but felt this was the best place to ask my question. DH and I are going to start ttc as soon AF arrives in about 3 weeks and I am still up in the air as to whether or not charting is the way to go. My biggest fear is that charting will make me obsessive and I won't enjoy just being with DH. So my question is did pretty much everyone get pregnant by charting or are there people who just waited to see what would happen?
I have read TCOYF and am simply still trying to decide what to do.
Thank you so much for your help and for letting me intrude on your board.
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Re: Did anyone get pregnant by just letting it happen?
You're probably going to get obsessive whether you chart or not. As soon as you decide that you want to "try" you get your hopes up every month. Even if you don't chart now, you probably will.
We just looked up my ovulation date on the computer (so not scientific) but it was actually pretty right - worked second month that we started following that.
After 7 years trying to concieve, 3 failed IUIs and 2 failed IVFs, my third IVF was a success!
My Christmas baby turned into a turkey bird! Dillon Richard was born at 34 weeks, 5 days on November 28, 2009 after 10 weeks on bedrest for preeclampsia.
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Hi! We just had a lot of fun.
We got pregnant in the first cycle with both our son and this new pregnancy.... We are very lucky, unfortunately, it isn't that easy for everyone. My advice to you though just starting out is to relax and have fun. There is really no reason to worry about it in the beginning.
Good Luck!
While I charted for a few months before getting pregnant, I don't think it's absolutely necessary. I mainly charted because I was coming off the pill and wanted to see if I was ovulating. If you aren't stopping and hormonal birth control, then letting nature take its course might be best for you.
One the things I did learn from charting (aside from when I was ovulating) was to know when to have sex.......I think I read somewhere that it takes some couples longer to conceive when they aren't charting because they aren't time sex at the right time or they're not having enough sex.
It really depends on your timeline. If you aren't in a rush I guess you don't need to chart. The reason most of us recommend charting right away is that if for some reason there are any problems you already have a head start in knowing about your body. You will know when you ovulate, if you ovulate, how long your luetal phase is and a bunch more helpful info.
I didn't find that charting stressed me out. I enjoyed learning about my body. I probably spent more time then I should have looking/adding stuff to my chart but otherwise it went well.
That's how I got pregnant.
DH had just gotten home from Iraq. Before he left, we had decided to just "see how things went" when he returned. I never dreamed it would happen right away...I had everything all set to start charting the next month, but apparently that first month of just "letting it happen" worked for us. Not to say that charting is a waste of time, of course, because it works for tons of women.
we never charted. With #1 we were seeing an RE so, they basically told us when I was ovulating and so we knew when to get busy.
this time, it just happened...
if you are trying to get pregnant within a certain time frame or something then charting or at least using the OPKs is not a bad idea... if you are just willing to go for it and have fun and see what happens, then I say go for it.
Or at least try the first few months on your own without charting... and see where it takes you.
I say just learn your ovulation dates and try to get frisky around those days. My first born was a surprise and my second, was somewhat of a surprise. I stressed over it for the first month, and sex started to become very routine. So we both said eff it and stopped worrying.
I would just have fun & try for awhile. You read TCOYF so you know the signs to look for - you could use an ovulation calendar for a better window of the timing. If it doesn't happen as soon as you would hope, try OPKs the next months. Charting can be a pain...
Good luck!
We were definitely NOT charting. We always just wanted to let it happen when/if it was supposed to. We figured that if I was off BC for a really long period of time and nothing happened, then we'd start getting more serious about charting.
I think it's really important to just know yourselves and your situation. I'm an extremely busy professional, and knew that if I was going to go the charting route, I'd make excuses forever about it never being the right time. Moreover, I know I'd become obsessive every month, and I prefer to just enjoy sex whenever/however rather than treating it like an appointment. That's just me though. No matter what you choose, we hope to see you on here soon!
Besides just temping, we didn't do anything different. We didn't time sex or do it more than usual. I didn't take any meds to increase chances either. I would have gotten pg whether I charted or not (as long as we had sex that same day).
The good thing about charting was that I have pretty long cycles, so I would have either been going crazy not knowing or spending $$ on many, many pg tests!
We let nature take its course the 1st time around. ?This time I was charting to NOT get pregnant...and here I am KU so ya know...
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This is exactly what happened to us! And the reason that I will now be 20w2d on my wedding. But we were prepared for it, on the off chance.
I say relax and have fun for a while, if after a while you feel the need to chart then to that
Good Luck
I sort of knew my cycle from avoiding pregnancy for many years...
But we just let it happen...didn't prevent, had a lof of sex...and ended up pregnant the first month we "tried" for both pregnancies. Both times I was knocked up were from random and spontaneous acts, haha.
I didn't want to chart or do temps or do any of those things...I felt like it was too much pressure and for us it wouldn't have been fun.
Definitely to each their own though.
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I think thats whats I am gonna do we are not in any rush although I would love for it to happen sooner than later but I think for now we can just let nature take its course.?
I charted to avoid for a year successfully (meaning I didn't get PG). We went on vaca the first month we were ready to try. I didn't chart, b/c taking my temp at 6am is not my idea of vacation. We got PG that cycle. When I first came on here, I was shocked as to how many people chart to conceive. I really saw it as a tool to avoid (we're catholic.)
Charting taught me to understand my cycles, so there was really no need to chart that particular cycle. I am blessed with regular cycles, with very clear CM patterns. Through charting, I learned I O more around day 17-19 vs. day 14, and that is always the case.
You may be someone with straightforward cycles, or you may not. Charting can help you understand what is going on with your body. I think reading up on CM and charting that is a good place to start, you don't need to start w/temps right away. If things don't work out in the first couple months, chart temps to understand your cycle better.
whew, that was long!
Zach Rance 4 President