Blinded by Science

[KittenFace]

Hi guys,

Brand newbie here, so please be gentle with me

After recently getting married, DH and I felt that it may be time to think about starting our family. After doing a little bit of research I am completely baffled, so rather than get into a big muddle of temperatures, ovulations and egg whites (bleurgh) we've decided to just go down the straightforward route of practise practise practise.

I have decided to record the dates of my periods to get a better idea of my cycle. However, I have been waiting for my period to arrive and still nothing (last period started approx 21st Aug).

Is this a 'normal' length of time? Should I take a test or am I being ridiculous?

28 days is an average length cycle, but many women fall either side of this. So far your cycle (assuming a start on 21 Aug) has been 40-ish days which is fairly long. I'd be inclined to test but don't be disheartened if you get a negative - it usually takes a while to happen.

Hi Kittenface,

I know you said you are not too keen on the "science" but you might like to consider looking a bit more into taking your temperatures. I say this only because it helps you avoid the exact kind of worry you are experiencing now e.g. am I late? when did I ovulate? When will I get my period? could I be pregnant?

I think there is a lot to be said for "letting nature take its course" Its fun and much more romantic than checking your knickers for egg white mucus, but it only really works if you can genuinely handle the waiting and wondering. Many people (myself included 2 years ago before DC1) can because they REALLY dont mind if they get pregnant or not this month. (I'm totally the opposite now, probably an age thing!)

If you are not in a hurry then I wouldnt worry about your cycle lengths, as Haliborange says it can take a long time to get pregnant, you are still considered "normal" by a doctor if it takes up to a year.

However, if you do want to get some easy to digest information about your fertility have a look at the tutorials on www.fertilityfriend.com or the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

best of luck whichever way you decide to go
xxxx

Thank you both for your helpful and quick responses

To be honest I wasn't really expecting anything to happen so quickly- we're not really in any great rush, kind of adopting an "if it's meant to happen then it'll happen" kind of view. It would be exciting if it were to happen so quickly, but also not the end of the world if it takes longer.

I've ordered some cheapy tests online, and presuming this one's a negative I'll start recording my temp and cycles and stuff so I'm prepared in the future.

Thanks again

You could try just having sex without protection for a bit.

There are a lot of people who have trouble conceiving, and you tend to hear more from them on the conception boards, but there are also a lot of people who conceive by having sex without contraception (they tend to move on to the pregnancy boards pretty quickly of course )

Especially if you have an attitude of "if it's meant to happen then it'll happen" I would drop the temperature-testing and pee sticks and just shag for a bit. :)

If you're not concerned about the sciencey stuff (ie temping etc) you could consider joining the JSing thread. We all pretend we like to let things take their natural course and are a good support network without the scariness of having to report in our cycle every second day type of thing.

Which ever way you decide to go though, I wish you the best of luck!

Kitten

If your cycles start to lengthen and stay long it is actually best having some blood tests done sooner rather than later to see what your hormon elevels are like. Usually such problems are due to hormonal imbalances or thyroid imbalance. It is therefore in your interests to get such things checked sooner rather than later.

OPK's and other methods like temp charting are not actually helpful if cycles are and remain consistently long. I would refrain from using such things at all in your case and look into having blood tests done instead. You would need to have your LH (luteinising hormone)and FSH (follicle stimulation hormone) levels looked at and compared against each other. LH and FSH are two very important hormones as they kickstart the ovulation process; if these two are awry then ovulation is affected. This test is done on day 2.

A "normal" cycle is a cycle length of between 21 and 35 days or with less than 4 days of variation from month to month. Cycles of over 35 days can more often than not be anovulatory ones.

Hello,

Thanks again for all the advice- turns out that AWOL period actually resulted in a BFP. Surprised is an understatement!

blimey, congratulations! see, the 'see what happens' attitude worked!

I was just thinking of what advice to give you and then your post appeared! Congrats!

kittenface wow congratulations!!! That is fantastic news. Wishing you all the best for a very uneventful next nine months hope you enjoy a healthy and happy pregnancy. Very happy to hear your good news.

Oh great stuff! Congratulations! xxxx