come and your tips with those of us ttc and struggling- how can we improve our chances!

[morecoffeepleaseholdthecake]

Ok, so we are ttc dc#3. Been trying for over a year. I can't predict when I ovulate as cycle is unpredictable (sometimes 2weeks, sometimes 3months). Patiently waiting for 1st appointment at fertility clinic to come through......

So, in the mean time, wondered if anyone else out there who is struggling to conceive or has had success after difficulty conceiving wanted to share their ideas or tips, supplements used, ways of predicting ovulate with a crazy cycle etc etc.

This is what I currently do-

Healthy diet (slimming world)
No alcohol
I don't smoke
Regular exercise
Pregnacare supplement daily
DTD as often as possible

This is where I struggle

Trying to predict ovulation as would literally need to test practically every day of the year with a home test kit and cannot afford that!

I have seen lots of supplements on line that are supposed to boost ovulation etc. Does anyone use these?

Thanks for reading :)

Oh. Should re read before posting should say come and share your tips in title........ although probably an appt typo!

I have had lots of luck by taking and charting my temperature - you can buy basic kits in Boots quite cheaply which is all I've ever had. I also found that acupuncture helped to regulate my periods when conventional medicine had decided I was a lost cause.

As with all these things, this is only my personal experience. There are no magic tricks.

Thanks ohgoshkins. Did you temp test daily and always in the morning?

Also, how long did you have a course of acupuncture for? Off to Google to look at local options and prices.

How much sex are you getting? If you can manage 3 times a week then you don't need to worry about timing it with ovulation.

however, with 2 children already that might be easier said than done. I would get some cheapo ov tests online - I bought them 100 at a time so daily testing was easily affordable, I think it worked out at 20p a time or something like that.
Observing your cervical mucus might give you some clues too - if you notice the clear stretchy stuff then you are at your most fertile. Perhaps read that taking charge of your fertility book that people talk about a lot on here.

If you are already on pre conception vitamins I wouldn't waste your money on pricey supplements that aren't proven to do anything.

Thanks katandkit. I have ordered cheap ones on line but still awaiting delivery......

Trying to have sex as much as possible. Varies from every day to a few times aweek due to my changing shifts at work- nights and days.

Off to Google book now.....

Hi morecoffee

I notice you said healthy diet(slimming world) - not sure what that is but I would say a varied diet including all the food groups incl dairy/full fat etc is important, as is maintaining a healthy weight. Too heavy or too light/thin can reduce ovulation.
Sounds like you are doing all the right things, to make it easier you could read taking charge of your fertility which will help you work out when you are ovulating without having to poas every day

Good luck

Definitely try temping. I never knew when I ov'ed either so generally we just had sex every other day till my temps went up - we got our window eventually!

You could try soy isoflavones but be careful as they can reduce fertility too.

Tbh I'd steer clear of stuff that stimulates ovulation (like soy isoflavones) if you're waiting to be seen by a fertility clinic - you don't want to complicate things iyswim? And I don't know how it would combine with the medical equivalent which you may end up being prescribed. Just my 2 penneth :)

I read somewhere that sex in the morning is best. I'm not sure why, it was in a pregnancy magazine, I think.

A bit difficult though if you've already got children/work/have somewhere to get to in the mornings!

i''ll second what others have said. cheap ovulation sticks from ebay or amazon and get a BBT thermometer from there at the same time. It does need to be daily though ( first thing, same time). Temping will give you valuable information about your cycles, though the rise in temp that should say you've ovulated will come too late for sex to conceive (not everyone gets a dip before). LH surge does not mean you actually go on to ovulate so you ideally need to do both or at least be confident you are ovulating. I'd stay off additional supplements for now, just keep up the pregnacare- same reason poster above gives, you don't really want to start messing about your hormone levels when you are going to be seen by clinic. For women who can't afford a clinic or don't qualify for an NHS referral i'd really reccomend high quality conception supplements (pregnancare are good but there are others out there with higher levels and cheaper than Zita west's). Also acupuncture is very good at regulating cycles, several women have had good success with that. Local prices where i am (south coast) are around £33-£40 per session - first app is always more. Agnus Castus (chasteberry) is also supposed to be very good at regulating cycles. It must not be taken if you're on any sort of hormone treatment.

Thanks everyone. My referral to fertility clinic is nhs dp long wait I think.

Will try out the Ov tests with temp tests and see how that goes.

Agnus castus had been mentioned by a friend in RL who's also ttc. Will maybe leave that for now.

Thanks again everyone :)

We got our bfp this month after quite a while of trying. Like you I have no idea when I ov. Also we were getting pretty tired of dtd so often! So this month we just did it every 3 days, throughout the whole month, even when I thought there was no way I'd be ovulating.

God knows it's just a game of chance, but I have to say that easing off on the quantity of bonking meant that we didn't get fatigued with it and grind to a halt towards the end of the month, as we have been doing!

FWIW I could have ov'd on either day 9 OR day 23 this month (going on cm signs)- so for us ladies with mad cycles it is worth keeping going all month long.

If you're happy to use ovulation test sticks try this plan. Though tbh I found the tests to be a bit crap difficult to interpret, I found it much easier to check my cervical mucus and cervix position. We took 2 years ttc DC1, with DC2 I had discovered the plan, it took 4 months. Good luck!

My cycle varied from 26 days to 41.. I didn't fancy BBT-ing & CM was all over the shop but started checking CP instead. Think after almost 2 years trying it took 3 cycles to conceive! My DH struggled with the whole every night or even every other night for more than a few nights so charting CP helped us concentrate our efforts. Good luck!

what is this bfp of which everyone speaks? we're on month 3 of ttc DC3 - I know 3's not much but gawd it's disheartening. Just got my period today, and am now wondering to leave it a few months to avoid ANOTHER xmas time baby if we get lucky - and equally not wanting to leave it incase this is going to be a long slog. Sorry - babbling on - was just lurking to steal tips and then felt chatty.

morecoffee - yes, you have to take temp first thing in the morning at as close to the same time as possible. Having charts of your temps will help the fertility appointment and the acupuncturist if you go down that route. The thermometer packs come with little books to record your results in and a good bit to explain how/what/why you do it too.

I also second KatandKit about the cervical mucas. I found that was extremely accurate at predicting ovulation once I got the hang of the differences (my acupuncturist told me what to look for, but I'm sure there are explanations on the net). I had acupuncture once a week for about three months before my periods became clock-work regular. This felt (and still does) miraculous after a lifetime of irregular, painful and heavy long periods. Now they are 29 days apart (well, not right now as I'm pg again!) and last 5 days without any pain. Incredible.

And my last bit of just-remembered advice is from a fertility specialist who told me and OH that sex every second day is the 'magic' amount. It's plenty to ensure a 'constant' supply of swimmers but not so often that you actually want to do the dishes more than you want to shag your OH by the end of your cycle.

Oh hell - I may as well add my most embarrassing tip in case anyone else is as much of a noddy as I am. I have suffered from UTIs a lot from early teenage years. My GP way back told me to always empty my bladder asap after sex as it would limit the likelihood of a UTI. So that's what I've always done, on autopilot, since I was a late teen. But... did I think to change my habits when ttc??? No. So basically I was washing away the swimmers before they had a chance to get in there and do their job. There. That's an embarrassing confession, but I don't mind if it helps someone else maybe.

and don't use lubricants, not even saliva, sperm don't like! Pre-seed is apparently ok to use.

Having such an erratic cycle can be a sign of underlying issues. I know you've already had two children, but are you a healthy weight? Has your weight changed a lot since your first two pregnancies? Have you ever had your erratic cycle checked out? Has it always been like that?