Trying to pinpoint approx. ovulation...?

Question

Hi everyone,

Now that AF is out of the way, I'm looking toward plotting ovulation and fertile days. I plan to use my OPK (Clear Blue Easy) likely tomorrow which would be Day 10 of my cycle, since lmp was June 28, and before that, May 29.

I also plan to monitor CM, too.

Any advice/thoughts on my likely fertile time? My periods come, generally, every 28-31 days.

Thanks so much for your help!

Answer 1

Remember that a normal luteal phase to support pregancy is 10-16 days (time from ovulation to next period). So if your shortest cycle is 28 days, I wouldn't start testing until at least day 12. Unless you bought a ton of those OPK's I mean. On a 31 day cycle, you might ovulate until day 21! That's a lot of tests you'd go through. Watch your CM, if you are still totally dry, then don't bother taking the tests. As it starts to get sticky or creamy, then you can try.

The best way to pinpoint your ovulation is to chart your temps and CM. I started this month at day 16 of my cycle, and I could see a clear temperature shift that helped me pinpoint my ovulation to day 20 of a 32 day cycle. It is amazing. www.fertilityfriend.com has online tutorials to teach you how to do it, and it is easy. And you use it in combination with what you are doing, just that you take your temp before getting up each morning.

There is also a great book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler if you are interested in reading more about primary and secondary fertility signs and charting. Only you know your body and signs, so only you can figure out your exact ovulation (unless you are a dr. doing blood tests and ultrasounds!) Your body is giving you major clues in your waking temps, and you don't know for fact if you ovulate unless you see the temperature shift. Even if an OPK says +, it doesn't mean you released an egg.

Good luck, hope you get lucky and BD on your O day!

Answer 2

The average post-ovulation phase is 14 days, although it does vary. Mine is 13 days, for example. But your cycles fluctuate 3 days, so it's almost too much to go on an average to figure out ovulation by that.

CM and cervical position/texture are your best bets. Right before ovulation, your cervix will soften, from a feeling more like the tip of your nose to a feeling more like your cheek. It will also rise considerably and be harder to reach at ovulation time. You can check this with scrupulously clean hands and short fingernails, if you're not too up on your CM patterns.

Answer 3

all sounds good - try this website.... this is what we are gonna try this month - i read on here that even with perfect timing we still only have a 1 out of 4 chance of conceiving! How crappy is that?!?!?! We are having one he** of a time figuring all this out too so i had a bunch of tests this past month - we now know that i do in fact ovulate by day 22 of my cycle so that is good, next step hubby goes in to give a "sample" to be tested. He had said to me that guys make a TON of sperm but in the best case scenario only 4% of that sperm is able to fertalize so 40% of couples that are having issues conceiving is cuz of the men.

Answer 4

Monitoring your CM is the best thing. Here is a web page that is great for tracking your cycle, CM, ovulation symptoms, etc. I tracked on it for a few months, then when we were ready to TTC, we got preggo the first month.

Answer 5

In addition to using OPK I would also recommend charting
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/HelpCenter/FFBook/index.html
it will help you to determine when exactly you ovulated, length of your lutheal phase and you will understand your body better.