Sperm Meets Egg Plan

[Pollyell]

Hi everyone!

Going into our second cycle TTC, stumbled across the SMEP and a lot of couples seem to have had success with it. Has anyone else heard of this/trying it this cycle? X

[Gamechanger2019]

Hey I read about that yesterday I think I’m going to give it a go this month. Cycle day 8 will be Wednesday for me but I’ve been having this strange light bleed then short period so god knows! What about you when you due to be on cycle day 8?

[Pollyell]

Hey @gamechanger2019 great to hear someone else is giving this a try! It seems like a happy medium between "what happens happens" and going full on with checking CM and temp etc.

My cycle day 8 will be this Thursday so sounds like we are close together! My periods are pretty irregular though, last cycle was 60+ days, hopefully won't be forking out on endless OPK's! How long have you been ttc?x

[jblue2018]

Hi @Pollyell!
Me and DH tried our own version of this to conceive DD who is now 18 months and we are on our second cycle TTC number two.

I sound similar to you in the sense that my cycles can vary from 32-50 days which is incredibly frustrating. But because we conceived our daughter relatively ‘easily’ I’m not getting any tests done for my cycles at the moment.

We used SMEP but I can’t really afford to buy lots of OPKs and with irregular cycles it’s hard as no idea when ovulation happens !! So we basically started on CD8 and DTD every other day until I got my period 😂😂 exhausting ! But it worked 3rd cycle last time.

Lots of luck and baby dust! I got my AF yesterday so gearing up to start again !

[Pollyell]

Hi @jblue2018 thanks for sharing, that sounds like a really good alternative method without the faff of OPK! I just ordered a massive pack of OPk sticks otherwise I might have considered doing your method instead, will see how it goes.
Also always good to hear from someone else with irregular periods and pleased to hear you have an 18 month old, thats awesome!
Baby dust to you too! X

[Pollyell]

Another question for both of you - I decided to buy some Preseed lubricant as it mentioned it in the SMEP book. Should we just use that on the 3 day marathon? And normal lube the rest of the time? I didnt even think about the affect of lube until I read about preseed...

[NamechangeTTC]

I am!

We tried last month and are again this month.

We used preseed and now on conceive plus. Prefer the consistency.

[Pollyell]

Amazing @namechangettc! Good luck this cycle - how did you find the first month? X

[jblue2018]

@Pollyell I forgot actually we used conceive plus last time too. I think I used a small amount (the lube rather than the pessary ones) every time!

[NamechangeTTC]

It definitely seems to stop the burnout we had on earlier cycles @Pollyell as we got to a point that too many days in a row (9!) became unmanageable. I like knowing the schedule and it works for us, although I’ve still not hit peak on ovulation tests so we’re still working on every other day

[BriocheBuns]

I’ve only ever done SMEP once and we conceived that month but lost it.

I found it exhausting and when it came time to DTD 3days in a row I was burned out and it was so forced.

I personally felt like the sperm OH was producing was no good by then.

However, I would do it again purely because it’s the one way you feel like you really are trying everything to maximise your chances of conception x

[NamechangeTTC]

We preferred the conceive plus to pre seed. No luck with either but pre seed didn’t work as well!

[NamechangeTTC]

We’ve mistimed the “3 in a row” bit. Ugh. It is going to be 5. Cd 18 (every second day), cd19 (thought peak, not), cd 20 (peak). Still got 21 and 22 (today and tomorrow) then a gap before 24!!

[Gamechanger2019]

@NamechangeTTC good thing you’ve got that lube 🤣

[NamechangeTTC]

Yup 😂😂😂😂😂

[Gamechanger2019]

How people getting on? Mind that routine is tough work - we’re struggling with it 🙈 clearly need more practice.

[NamechangeTTC]

We did an extra day when I thought I’d peaked and I hadn’t 😂 tonight is the last night.

[Gamechanger2019]

Haha needs must @NamechangeTTC

[Pollyell]

Oh my goodness you both sound exhausted, hopefully managed to enjoy it! Looks like a good peak for you @namechangettc fingers crossed!

We are still on every second day, which is going ok but well more than we are used to normally! No sign of LH rise yet though had some EWCM this morning so will see how it looks this evening.

[NamechangeTTC]

@Pollyell good luck!

[jblue2018]

My period finished yesterday so I’m think we will start soon. Not rushing though as my cycles are long, never been shorter than 32 days so I’m fairly sure I won’t ovulate early out of the blue! How are you guys tracking your ovulation? Just opks or temping etc ? I find the whole thing so annoying but then again it’s annoying not knowing when I’ve ov’d!

[HoneysuckleHalliana]

We used SMEP and preseed to conceive our DD who is now 21 months. Worked first first time! I used the clearblue smiley opk, and it was great.

This time around thought about TTC again, got the preseed, but ordered the wrong opk (only realised on day 10) and it seems to be broken anyway . Thought we'd just guess our way to it and DTD every two days and three days straight near ovulation. That was the plan anyway, but we have been too knackered to follow SMEP properly. Fingers crossed that it has worked, SMEP with a toddler is hard work!

[Pollyell]

OPK completely negative today. It's quite frustrating having an irregular cycle and not knowing when to expect ovulation but onwards and upwards!

@jblue2018 I am just using the cheapie OPK sticks from Amazon. If this cycle doesn't work I might invest in the Clearblue one. Trying to keep an eye on CM on toilet paper but not actively checking it, don't want to get too bogged down in it all. I've seen people on here the temp checking can get quite stressful.

@HoneysuckleHalliana crikey SMEP is pretty full on as it is without having a toddler around, I can't imagine! That's annoying about the OPK, hopefully you managed to catch your ovulation in time. We have already lapsed a couple of times (OH too tired tonight but hopefully tomorrow).
x

[Memcf2]

Can I join you ladies? I am ttc baby number 2. Conceived first baby with no issues very quickly and naively thought it would happen again. Not so lucky this time. Now in month 5 of ttc and trying smep this month. Now on CD 12. So far have dtd CD 7, 9 and 11. Using clear blue opk but not using preseed or conceive plus. X

[NamechangeTTC]

Welcome @Memcf2

[HoneysuckleHalliana]

That's too bad, @Pollyell, hopefully the OPKs will pick up on something soon.

One of the byproducts of my previous pregnancy is super painful can-keep-me-up-at night ovulation pain. With my broken OPK kit I am hoping that the pain this month was a rough indicator of an LH surge.

Baby dust to all!