No change in CM

[googlewhacker]

I know I should wait a few months to get a pattern before posting on MN, but I'm too inpatient (and procrastinating from working!).

I'm 29 and ttc#1. Had been on pill for

Ahh just shag lots mid-cycle and enjoy it! I've been off the pill for a year now and just avoided mid-cycle romps as not officially ttc. Worrying does no good - vitamins and lots of lovely sex does

I think I've had too much wine.

Oh and I've finally persuaded DH to ttc this month - yay - so will be laid back for approx a fortnight then will join you in stress-ttc-land

Last post I promise - you mention your symptoms but not the sex hehe. Hope you're not forgetting that bit!

I haven't had EWCM for at least the last couple of years and have conceived 6 times in 3 years, so far. Unfortunately none of those have worked out but that's a different subject, obviously nothing to do with lack of EWCM. It does help with conception but I don't think you should obsess about it too much. You can always try something like Pre-seed or drinking grapefruit juice or Robitussin cough syrup.

The grapefruit juice really increased mine -quite dramatically after just three days of drinking a glass a day. I am also taking Evening Primrose Oil (just up to ovulation) The other really simply thing you can try is increasing your water intake. How many glasses a day do your normally drink?

Hey , thanks for the tips. I'll def go for vitamins, lots of bf, grapefruit juice and evening primrose oil. Also, now that you mention it, I have been very dehydrated this month. I did wonder if that would affect it. Thanks for putting perspective on it. I have a tendency to assume the worst, particularly reading other peoples syories on mumsnet. Good luck to all.

Ps isn't it weird that prior to tcc my head kept reading the signs in my body as "your always super fertile" and "one tiny mistake and you'll get yourself up the duff", whereas now I assume I'm totally infertile and therefor cannot be pregnant! Bit more glass half full required!

hi mummyabroad, ive seen you on a few threads and consider you a kindof expert now, so have a few questions, if you dont mind??? Im a lurker!!! Lol
1, what does evening primrose do? And how much do i take.
2, ov sticks, 2 lines, ov that day, b4 that day or after??
Heres my cycle af 21st dec, ov 31st faint line/1st clear line, sex two days b4 2days after and two times on 1st!!!
Af arrived 28 days later on 17th jan, regular cycles, not sure if im doing everything right????
Considering giving all the testing a miss and just swi for the whole month!!!
Hows things with you?? Are you cycles now back to normal? Thanks in advance, x

Hi MrsB I'm not really an expert I have just suffered more than my fair share of fertility problems and have tried to read my way out of them Seems to be working! I am doing well thanks for asking, I have been diagnosed and treated for Ashermans Syndrome I now have normal cycles and have just started TTC.. watch this space

Your questions:

1. It is supposed to improve quality of EGCM and regulate cycles. The only "sciency" information I have ever found is a study that proved that it is "useful" for treating PMS. I dont think there is any other medical evidence that it is good for TTC, but anecdotally there is lots of positive stories. I used it for a few months, didnt notice much difference in EGCM, but my skin and hair look amazing (I tried grapefruit juice for only 3 days and noticed a massive difference) You shouldnt take EPO after ovulation as it apparently causes uterine contractions and therefore can impede implantation.

2. Short answer - on the day of positive and keep going.

Long answer - I love ov sticks, but you should be skeptical of what they tell you. The instructions say you will ov 12-36 hours after the positive, but it could be even longer. Stress/illness/travel can delay ovulation, or cause it not to happen at all. Also if you have PCOS you may see positives all the time but not be ovulating. The OV stick detects the surge of Lutenising Hormone which is the messenger from your brain to your ovaries which says "ovulate now!" Just because you detect the message it doesnt mean that you definitely WILL ovulate or that it will happen within a set time. (sometimes the ovaries arent ready and will ignore the message) So dont stop SWI too soon. I dont stop SWI until I have detected a temp rise or feel that my cervix has changed back to non fertile position.

Also, sperm need several hours to be ready to fertilise an egg (they undergo a process called capacitation once in the uterus) so its always best to have the swimmers in there ready waiting on the egg not the other way around. That means you should SWI as soon as you see the positive (or have done it the day before) in case the egg pops out exactly 12 hours later

1. There is a lot to be said for throwing the tests out the window and just having sex often and when you feel like it. Its certainly better for your relationship. I also believe that your body subconciously tells you when you are ovulating too, I am sure the times when I feel more randy are when I am ovulating. (thats how DS was conceived, he was a happy accident ) The other advantage to sex being "natural" as opposed to "programmed" is that you are probably giving DH's sperm the right amount of time to be "restocked". Doing it too often (especially if DH is older or has low sperm count) can result in lower quality sperm. Also doing it too often can result in you both getting knackered and not being able to continue so you only ever do it at the beginning of your cycle and then give up!

BUT if you do want to try and program it all you can input your SWI and OPK data in www.fertilityfriend.com and it will give you a score so you know if you timing is good or not each month. Its a bit demoralising when you get a "low" score though. Not sure what you would have scored this New Year as (if i understand right) you didnt get a positive on the OPK (just one feint line and the control line)? If so, then we dont know when the real LH surge was so its hard to say when you may have ovulated after that.

Very best of luck! (and thanks for the ego stroke

googlewhacker I too would like to go back to those days when I thought I would get pregnant just by brushing up against a penis. Oh how things have changed !

1,2,4? sorry I cant count!