Tried and tested ways to chart ovulation?

[Crumm24]

Hello all! Am a casual MN lurker but first time poster. Am after some advice and am hoping to share in some of you lovely ladies' first hand experience!

Backstory: I have erratic cycles, ranging from 13 to 50 days (!) but usually in the 30s. I've recently been told that I have symptoms of PCOS (i.e. cysts and a hormonal imbalance causing irregular periods and bad skin), but that it's not full-blown enough to merit a full diagnosis of it.
For the last 6 months my cycles have been consistently between 34 and 36 days...until last month when AF showed up on day 24, and am now on day 44 with no sign! DH and I are only just starting out TTC #1, but currently still BFN - so when (if?!) cycle day 1 finally rocks around, what's the best way to chart/test to check if am even ovulating and when it's likely to be? Am not too much of a morning person, and since my doctor told me not to get hung up on basal body temperature, that's slipped a little in recent months. Is the CBFM really worth it? It's a big expensive, especially when it's early days on the TTC front and theoretically, I've been told things aren't perfect but not enough so that my doctor is concerned. I do keep an eye on EWCM, but am not the best as distinguishing the differences yet.

So, what are the best ways to start getting to grips with my cycle to maximise that BFP and identify any bumps in the road? TIA, and sorry so long!
XxX

Hi :)

A lot of us on here use Fertility Friend - it's very good, and free! www.fertilityfriend.com

Hth xx

Fertility monitor sticks and ov sticks can get really expensive if you have long unpredictable cycles. Temping is probably the cheapest way. I use Fertility Friend. Temping only confirms ov after it has happened though, so you need to be shagging regularly before that to be in with a chance of a BFP. It is no good as a warning system.

I was like you when ttc, period all over the place. I found the only reliable thing for me was the pee on a stick thing for fertility. But I got them off ebay, the very basic ones and they worked out cheap enough.

100 tests for about £15

I was trying for four years, and for the last year I literally did the test every day. When I was coming up to ovulate I would get a really faint line, so that was like a little warning, then when I did ovulate I would get the dark line obviously.

I'd second what eurochick says, the fertility monitor sticks don't tend to be a good option for PCOS. Some with PCOS also have a high level of the hormone that those sticks detect, so you don't get reliable readings.

Charting your temperature really is the best way to confirm you are ovulating. I have PCOS, and when I was undergoing fertility investigations, they said I wasn't ovulating based on a blood test one month. However, I know from 3 years of charting that I DO ovulate, just not every cycle (usually about 8-9 cycles out of 13). And it's never the same cycle day either.

If you struggle with mornings (I do!), a thermometer with memory and an alarm to wake you up at the same time every day will really help. I was originally just using a paper chart, but half the time would fall asleep again before I could switch on the light and record the temp. The Boots Digital Fertility Monitor saved me...not sure they are still selling them, but you can normally find them on ebay.

With PCOS, I find I have 'fertile' mucus a lot of the time, but combined with temp charting, you really do get to know the difference. Fertility friend will help you chart your signs as well.... for me after charting for a while I realised I would get sore nipples just before I ovulated. You never know, you might come up with your own person warning sign!

Get to know your own body, don't rely only on what doctors tell you. They were talking like I needed clomid and all sorts, but I've managed to conceive naturally 3 times.

Sorry, I probably should put in as a disclaimer that I had to get tested and it seemed that although my useless ovaries were going through the motions I wasn't actually producing any eggs clomid sorted that wee problem out though!