Halloween testers 🎃

@Billyv only 5. I think it's all in my head! 😂

@ChloeN I think you should totally do that!! But hopefully this is your cycle so you won’t have to!!

@Billyv oh totally, They play on womens fears and anxieties to make money. I have unsubscribed from natural cycles this month and just sticking with premom and fertility friend, I admit I do buy premom OPKs but I quite like seeing the peak! I nearly signed up to this site called ‘gyna’ they ask for your details and then tell you they can get you pregnant by a certain month, mine said March (i’m guessing its different for everyone depending on what details you enter) I was very nearly sucked in until it tried to charge me £179 or something. So wrong! I think we should all just go back to basics, have regular sex, take folic acid, cut down on alcohol and don’t smoke, try and be a healthy weight and stop obsessing!!! I think all these extras we obsess over are totally anxiety inducing! I didnt know about any of this stuff 5 months ago … I miss those days 😂

@Roxybabe i didn’t do anything first time I concieved, I was still stressed but maybe less so, I think I have a good idea when I ovulate so might just got with that! Hopefully there won’t be a next month but I’m not holding out much hope🙄

Oh also @OneHundredOtters how many dpo are you again?

Just having a lot of sex and not tracking is obviously the most sensible thing to do if you have reasonably regular cycles ...but we do find ways to torture ourselves!

@Roxybabe absolutely right, I'm very cynical about the advice on, say, the premom website blog as they obviously know worried women are going to be googling 'low progesterone signs' for example. So they create content on low progesterone to get you to click through from Google, ultimately to sell you OPKs or a wearable thermometer or something... it plays on your fears and makes it more likely you're going to buy a product from them. Pretty shitty really. I wonder how much of what's online on popular sites is just recycled content which hasn't been fact-checked...

I do buy OPKs though 😂

I've said I'd just do a couple of months of testing to get approximate understanding of my cycle and then just try and dtd as much as possible around the right time. With all the issues you are talking about it's probably about the same chance oh hitting the lucky spot.

It remains to be seen if I manage to stick to this though!

Feeling a bit crampy this evening. It's a very low down though. Maybe more of a vaginal cramp so not sure what that means.

@ChloeN I actually stopped BBTing this month and its been nice not obsessing, I think I’d find it hard not to OPK although I would love to try, maybe next month my strategy will be just to DTD every other day and hope for the best. Easier said then done though!

@Roxybabe i think if this month isn’t successful I’m going back to no tracking at all, it is so stressful sometimes!

@Billyv yeah and there is so much conflicting information on LH surge, BBT and ovulation. Thats why you are best to keep BD a few days after you think you think you may have ovulated, just incase, and as soon as you see your sticks getting darker!! I use premom and I do like the app however it always confirms ovulation as the day after your peak. I think they base so much on the sticks because they sell them and they want you to keep buying from them. Sometimes I wish I didn’t know all this stuff 😂 it makes me obsess over my charts and apps and trying to figure out the exact ovulation day which you just can’t unless you have an ultrasound scan and blood tests! But anyways I am rambling now! My point is you can never be sure when you ovulate so when ppl say they get a BFP at 8dpo, it could be they are actually 10 dpo… sorry rambling over 😂

@ChloeN yes I was surprised too! Really important to get on it as soon as you see that rise haha 🙂

@Roxybabe it's really interesting isn't it? I did have a slow temp rise when I conceived DS - and 2 LH peaks - both the slow temp rise and 2 peaks really freaked me out haha.

Thanks for the link!

I actually think I'm not pregnant this month. Like weirdly sure of it given I'm 2dpo(ish...)

@Billyv I never knew it was from the surge rather than the peak! I always assumed it was 24 hours after the darkest one xx

@Billyv there was also a study (not sure on reliability) but only 13% of women in a study had a temp rise 1 day after ovulation. The rest had a slower rise which could take a few days.

www.avawomen.com/avaworld/slow-bbt-rise-why-it-happens-what-it-means/

@Billyv I know, I have been in abit of a rabbit hole of reading about it!! Thats why I don’t think anyone can know the exact day!! Obviously you know roughly, I think alot of people just count the day after a positive OPK as a general rule of thumb but I think it really varies woman to woman!! Like right not I think i’m 5DP0, but I might be 4 or 6!!

Good luck @Hopefull1981 hope it works for you x

@Roxybabe I was reading about the timing of ovulation after the LH surge. I actually hadn't realised that the 24-48hrs is from the start of the LH rise, not the peak. Ovulation is apparently 8-20hrs after you peak. With the added complication there is a 3-6hr delay between the rise and the hormone appearing in your urine... So actually ovulation could occur 2hrs after you get your peak reading on an OPK? Which is crazy.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6821195/#:~:text=hour%20preovulatory%20period.-,Ovulation%20is%20considered%20to%20occur%2028%2D36%20hours%20after%20the,marked%20day%20to%20day%20fluctuations.

Lots of baby dust for you @Hopefull1981 ☺️

I have a horrible breakout on my chin! Started a couple of days ago and just getting worse 😩 I do get the occasional spot before AF but not like this! I’ve had a bit of dull ache in lower tummy as well a bit like with AF. Not due on for another 6 days so who knows at this point 😂 hope everyone having a nice Saturday x

Thanks ladies. @ChipAndDip On transfer day my embryos are 5 days old. Friday should be 9 DPO. I got a positive 3 days after my previous transfer so 8DPO. That ended in a nightmare miscarriage.

I am filled with so much dread that it won’t work or it will end in another miscarriage.

@Hopefull1981 everything crossed for you!! Xx

@ChipAndDip me too, due the 29th, I usually have a 11/12 day luteal phase, it’s my husbands birthday the 30th and I would love to be able to wrap up a positive clear blue digi as a gift!! But I feel like that would just be too gd to be true!

Hi ladies, mind if I join you? I’ll be transferring 2 embryos on Monday and will be testing on Friday. I need to start a medication if I get a positive so the earlier the better in my case. Oh it’s going to be one long TWW.

baby dust to your all 🤞

@ChipAndDip @Roxybabe
Snap for me too, 4 or 5 DPO! Just woke up from a nap actually, tried to last until bedtime but couldn't.

@ChipAndDip snap, I’m about 5DPO today, uti symptoms have gone today 🥳, felt crazy tired yesterday afternoon and had to nap which I never do but putting that down to uti/ antibiotic side effect! When is AF due for you?