TTC.. temping and ovulation kits..

[BellaBoo0512]

Me and OH are TTC baby number 2. Last time I didn't do any charts or ovulation kits.. We just dtd as and when and it took 11 months with a chemical and mc at 7 weeks along the way.

This time I stopped my pill last month and had a withdrawal bleed. Then I should of ovulated last week some time. I think I ovulated as I had cramping and some discharge which has now stopped.

Can someone help me with how to do the temperature charts and ovulation tests? I really don't have a clue!

 

[Joybell]

Best advice I have is to download the fertility friend app and do their free charting course.

Get yourself a basal body Thermometer from the chemist (only a few pounds) and get some cheapie OPK from Amazon or similar.

Good luck - fertility friend is a fantastic app

 

[spencerspiece]

It is better to start temping on a new cycle. U will need a bbt thermometer and a chart (I use fertility friend an ap on my phone) you take your temp as soon as u wake up around the same time every day (I even temp during menses) then with Opk you test your urine for lh surge (I use them but never had a positive) from cd ten (depending on your cycle lenght) Opk will tell you that u are about to ovulate and fertility friend will tell you that u have ovulate so they work well together, just wish they would tell you that you have conceived! Lol

 

[xQuinnx]

Hi there! I'm just about to start charting too I've used OPKs in the past and had a rough idea of ovulation through that monitoring CM. I've just downloaded fertility friend and it seems great like others have said it has really useful videos which explain things well. Really helped me to understand I couldn't get my head round it before, good luck!

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Omg it all sounds so confusing!

 

[Jezika]

Hi BellaBoo! I totally appreciate it can be daunting and confusing, but once you read about it and it makes sense, it will be perfectly simple (well, in theory! What you see your body doing as a result may be even more confusing!).

You can start by reading this about recording basal body temperature. As others have said, you will need to get yourself a thermometer especially for basal body temperature (BBT), because it is a lot more sensitive.

You can buy a BBT thermometer pretty inexpensively through Amazon (like these) and have them shipped fast (or see if they're available at your local pharmacy).

Then you can download Fertility Friend (FF) on your phone or use the website to actually log the temperatures that you take. It's pretty straightforward and will do the rest for you, but you might want to watch some of their tutorial videos. The charts that FF creates are like the one in my signature (you will see that my temperature line starts on cycle day 8 because that's when I started temping/charting).

If you want to use ovulation predictor kits (OPKs), read up on them here. Ignore the stuff about salivary ferning, unless you want to jump down that rabbit hole too (I have not... yet).

OPKs are also available really inexpensively on Amazon (like here, though there are probably other places too). Just from having had a quick browse, the Clinical Guard one seems to be pretty good value for money. I think people here tend to get a huge value pack of OPKs, and some come with cheapie pregnancy tests too, which is nice.

Once you've checked these things out, let us know if you're still confused. And good luck!

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Thank you for your advice I have an in ear thermometer that cost me a fortune when DS1 was a baby.. will that be okay?

I've downloaded the fertility friend app and it looks pretty straight forward ill have to look at the ovulation tests.. At what point in my cycle do I start to use them?

AF is due next Saturday so going to start temping when my new cycle starts.

Thanks again for your help, it's very much appreciated

 

[Joybell]

No definitely not. Needs to be a basal Thermometer which can be taken orally or vaginally to be accurate. Most chemists have these thermometers for a few pounds.
I also have the mega pricey ear Thermometer and was annoyed that I couldn't use it Haha!

 

[napamermaid]

Shoot im using the ear thermomenter why is this not ok?

 

[2ducks]

Yes for Fertility Friend, their charts are not the prettiest but are definitely the easiest to read! Just dive right in with using OPKs. I have a habit of only half reading instructions, so on my first OPK I thought it was positive when it was not. Remember the test line has to be as dark or darker than the control line or it is negative. I always have a small amount of lh in my system so I will always get a faint line.

I like to use Wondfo OPKs and Mabis BBT. Both are cheap on amazon.com.

 

[Joybell]

Ear ones aren't accurate enough and aren't designed for BBT. basal Thermometers are all designed for fertility charting and to read to 2 decimal places (ie 36.54 as opposed to 36.5) as the temp rise at ovulation is so small a normal ear one would round it up or down and wouldn't pick it up.

If you're going to the hassle of charting and taking your temp definitely spend a few quid on the Thermometer

 

[napamermaid]

Im cd6 and yave temped since cw1 with ear. Am i too late to change now

Will it not give an idea as to where i am after ovulation?

 

[Joybell]

It might. You could give it a go and see what happens. If I were you I'd go out and buy a BBT at the pharmacy and start ASAP on that so that you're sure.

 

[Jezika]

2ducks - how often to you use the Wondfos? I use them every morning, but I'm wondering whether than means I might have missed O (I'm hoping I have, otherwise my luteal phase is out of whack).

 

[Joybell]

With the cheapie strips jezika like wondfo and with almost all OPK you shouldn't be using FMU. Normally late morning /afternoon. The stuff needs time to build up through the day. Around likely O time you'll likely need to test several times a day to make sure you catch your surge. Last cycle I had a faint line late morning but blazing positive later in the PM which I would have missed if I hadnt tested again.

How long are your cycles normally?

 

[Jezika]

Joybell, that's so good to know! So if you hadn't tested in the a'noon, you would've just seen a faint line the next morning? My cycles are 25 days on average (based on 19 previous cycles). However, in the past five months they've been 23, 24, 25, 26 and 26, so it looks like they might be lengthening? (No idea why - I've not been on BCP for nearly four years).

 

[Joybell]

Yep exactly. I also temp so might have guessed from that.
I normally ovulate around CD18. Start testing around CD13/14 late morning and the lines start to get more obvious. Around CD16/17 I'll start testing a few times a day just to check.

Fingers crossed you just missed the surge on your OPK! Are you keeping your temp?

 

[Jezika]

Joybell - yes, I just started temping last week. Can you see my chart in my signature? What do you think? And how long are your cycles? I'm guessing if you O on CD18 they must be quite a bit longer than mine.

 

[Joybell]

Hard to tell from only a few temps. Last couple are also open circle - were they at different times? It's a good rise at day 10 but before your fertile CM so not sure! Also possible CD13 but it's not a massive temp rise (although again open circle temp so maybe wrong) . Might see more if it continues to rise. Don't give up hope. Keep temping and you'll be able to figure it out in a few days.

I have 30/31day cycles with a 12 day LP normally

 

[Jezika]

I think the open circles are there because I took those temps just after 7am. The closed circles are just after 8am. That's the only difference I can think of (it was driving me mad trying to figure it out!). And I'm not confident that I did not have EWCM before CD11. It's hard to tell and I try to be conservative. Actually, I just checked my other cycle app and I logged EWCM for CD8. I also think it's hard to tell because it can easily be confused with from BDing. I guess tomorrow's temp might be more illuminating. I've also had some strange cramping today, a bit AF-like. Initially it was not off to one side like I might expect ovulation cramping (though I've not ever been particularly aware of ovulation pain), and then it was maybe slightly to the right, but just general mild cramping.