Is it possible not to ovulate one month?

[Lilmissjo]

Hi ladies

This may sound like a silly question to some but it is possible for someone not to ovulate one month? I came off the pill in november 2011 and have had a steady 33/35 day cycle every month.

I have been using OPKs this month as for work purposes I need to fall pregnant before July next year and this is our first month of trying. It's now day 25 and I havent had a positive (a questionable positive day 20).

For these reasons I was wondering if it was possible that some months you don't ovulate at all? As surely by now (day 25 of a 35 day cycle) I should have ovulated??!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jellybeanxx]

It is entirely possible to not ovulate for a month without any apparent reason.

 

[RedButterfly]

Yup, cycle just gone, I didn't ovulate.

 

[Lilmissjo]

Thanks ladies, i'd read somewhere that if you have a regular cycle you should be ovulating and got a bit worried!

 

[mommyB]

I just found out I'm pregnant and used an entire box of CB digi OPK's and did not get one positive! I'm assuming I missed the surge when testing. Instead we made sure to BD when I had EWCM and cramping.

 

[felix555]

OPKs are tricky when exactly are you doing them?

the month i got pregnant (resulted in a loss) i never got a positive opk

 

[Lilmissjo]

Congrats mommyB! How many weeks gone are you? This baby #2 we are trying for, with baby #1 i fell within the first month so really hoped i would be the same this time round (didnt use OPKs or anything with #1!!)

Felix - i'm doing them twice a day when i can, once a day when i'm at work. The questionable positive was taken day 20 8pm, the one before that was day 19 8pm and the one after at day 21 12pm in afternoon was clear. So not sure if i missed my surge, and had i done one at 12pm on day 20 that would have been a clear positive?? I've put a pic here so you can see and give your thoughts?

 

[Lilmissjo]

And sorry to hear about your loss Felix xx

 

[felix555]

personally the "20" looks positive to me?

this is the reason i started temping. the OPKs i only ever use as a guide, they're just not reliable

 

[jellybeanxx]

I've heard about some women who never get positive OPKs as their LH surge isn't enough to register as a positive yet still results in ovulation. The only way to know if you have ovulated is to temp.

 

[Lilmissjo]

I put the pic on the OPK gallery and someone said it looked almost positive and that perhaps my body was gearing up. But i'm now day 25 and no clear positive!!! To be honest we were at it like rabbits all weekend and few days prior so i'm hoping i did catch it!!!!!

I have read a lot about temping, what thermometer do you use? I did say if i wasn't pregnant this month, and don't get a clear positive on the cheapy OPKs i would get a thermometer! x

 

[jellybeanxx]

You'd need to get a special BBT thermometer, you can get them fairly cheap from Amazon or eBay.

 

[Lilmissjo]

Thank you, and you just test every morning when you wake up? Without getting out of bed?

 

[mommyB]

Congrats mommyB! How many weeks gone are you? This baby #2 we are trying for, with baby #1 i fell within the first month so really hoped i would be the same this time round (didnt use OPKs or anything with #1!!)

Felix - i'm doing them twice a day when i can, once a day when i'm at work. The questionable positive was taken day 20 8pm, the one before that was day 19 8pm and the one after at day 21 12pm in afternoon was clear. So not sure if i missed my surge, and had i done one at 12pm on day 20 that would have been a clear positive?? I've put a pic here so you can see and give your thoughts?

Thanks! I just found out on Monday morning and am only 4 weeks today. We got pregnant first cycle with DS and didn't think it would happen first time again, but it did! I thought for sure I was out because I never got a smiley face on my OPK's. I called the company and she told me I wasn't ovulating than. Little does she know I'm now pregnant! So it does go to show you don't need a positive to get pregnant. But I have 28 day, really predictable cycles. So it was pretty easy for me to know when I was ovulating. I wish you luck and hope that #2 is on the way real soon!!

 

[VellyBelle]

As the others have said, YES it is relativity common to skip ovulation from time to time, even with predictable cycles. It is also entirely possible to miss the surge for many reasons. The OPK's were not sensitive enough. The urine was too diluted or the test was taken at the wrong time or not often enough. if you test every 12 hours but the surge was only strong enough to read for 6 hours it could be missed especially if the surge happened in the evening and you tested in the morning.

I read somewhere that the LH surge usually happens later in the day and doing the OPK first thing in the morning will usually result in a negative test. My last positive OPK came at about 6 in the evening.

I had tested about noon that same day and it was negative. I also retested at midnight and it was still positive but it was negative again by noon the next day.

I tend to test often when I know I'm closing in on my predicted O day because before I learned to chart my cycle length I was always missing the surge. The first several months of TTC I honestly knew nothing about CM and BBT, OPK's LH or anything like that and I certainly didn't know when I was ovulating. I am by no means an expert but since November I have gotten 2 positives. One ended in MC in January at 6 weeks the other a chemical this month, so I'm certainly getting the hang of TTC.

 

[Lilmissjo]

VellyBelle - Thanks for the advice - i'm hoping i just missed the surge. I only test at 1pm and 8pm usually, but when i work i can only test at 8pm!! Did you look at my pic? Would you say that was a positive, almost positive, or a negative? xx

 

[Lilmissjo]

Congrats mommyB! How many weeks gone are you? This baby #2 we are trying for, with baby #1 i fell within the first month so really hoped i would be the same this time round (didnt use OPKs or anything with #1!!)

Felix - i'm doing them twice a day when i can, once a day when i'm at work. The questionable positive was taken day 20 8pm, the one before that was day 19 8pm and the one after at day 21 12pm in afternoon was clear. So not sure if i missed my surge, and had i done one at 12pm on day 20 that would have been a clear positive?? I've put a pic here so you can see and give your thoughts?

Thanks! I just found out on Monday morning and am only 4 weeks today. We got pregnant first cycle with DS and didn't think it would happen first time again, but it did! I thought for sure I was out because I never got a smiley face on my OPK's. I called the company and she told me I wasn't ovulating than. Little does she know I'm now pregnant! So it does go to show you don't need a positive to get pregnant. But I have 28 day, really predictable cycles. So it was pretty easy for me to know when I was ovulating. I wish you luck and hope that #2 is on the way real soon!!

Aww i'm so happy with you! Like i said before, i fell with #1 on my first cycle and i'd only just come off the pill like 2 weeks before as well! I thought with #2 i would come off the pill early and get to know my cycle better. Its usually 33-35 days and apparently, according to a few websites, i SHOULD ovulate between 19-21 days, again making me think that day 20 may have been a positive OPK!

Who knows, we'll see next week! x

 

[VellyBelle]

VellyBelle - Thanks for the advice - i'm hoping i just missed the surge. I only test at 1pm and 8pm usually, but when i work i can only test at 8pm!! Did you look at my pic? Would you say that was a positive, almost positive, or a negative? xx

I would say you caught the 'edge' of the surge and it was a fade in (pre-positive) or a fade out (post-positive)

Seeing how you tested in the evening and the surge usually happens later in the day you could have caught it just a few hours before it would have showed a full positive.

Or with the type of tests you use it could be a positive. I used tests that looked a lot like those and I never once got a line as dark or solid as the control. When I ran out of them I bought some that cost just a few dollars more. Not only did I get a true dark positive for the first time ever, the OPK's picked up faint traces of LH (fade in) for two days before the positive and (fade out) most of the day after.

 

[Lilmissjo]

Have you used Clearblue digital ones? I will buy some of those next month if I don't get a BFP!!!!!

 

[VellyBelle]

Have you used Clearblue digital ones? I will buy some of those next month if I don't get a BFP!!!!!

Mid steam and digital tests cost so *so* much and I test up to 4 times a day when I'm getting close to O'ing so I use 'Dip' tests instead.

I buy Wondfo brand tests from Amazon.com both OPK's and HPT's
I can get 50 OPK's for about $14.00 or 50 HPT's for $16.00 (I bought them both at the same time and got free shipping)

Their OPK's work for me but I don't know how reliable their HPT's are because I haven't gotten a positive while I have been using them.