I'm a bit confused! I've read about ovulation and some different phases on the Internet and I don't think I understand!

[Toowittoowoo]

I am assuming that I understand correctly and that the best time to conceive is when ovulating? If I am correct can anyone explain to me in words of one syllable how i work out when I am ovulating?

Sorry, I'm sure I'm being a total idiot but I does seem a bit more confusing than I anticipated.

Conceiving DD1 was a happy accident so I didn't really think about it. Now TTC DC2 and I was just happy to let nature take its course but my period was late this month and it got my hopes up. When my period started today I was more dissapointed than I expected so i think we should try a bit more of a calculated approach.

Any advice gratefully received!

Hello - does this help?

If you have sex in the 5-6 days before you ovulate, and day of/after ovulation, you'll have the best chance of a sperm being in the right place to fertilise the egg as it comes out of your ovary (which is ovulation). This then travels down fallopian tube to then hopefully embed into your womb lining. Sex too early means the sperm die before egg appears, sex too late - ie after egg has already started to travel down the tube = not enough time to fertilise and develop before reaching womb to then embed = period will start.

How to know when you are ovulating:

• Read up on signs - there are links all over place
• Look out for Egg White Cervical Mucus (EWCM) - ie stringy and wet CM, more of it than normal.
• Do you get "Mittel Schmwerz" - pain on one side or other when egg is released from ovary
• Test using predictor sticks (OPK's) Clearblue digitals or Clear blue Digital Fertility Monitor
• Test using thermometer - "temping" where you can tell ovulation by changes in basal body temp (BBT). You have to take temp every morning before you get out of bed. But you get the best indicator

I use a CB Fertility Monitor as it tells me when the 5 days pre OV are starting so we can start "sex week"

I'd also join one of the ttc thread groups on here as we are all talking about it! I am on the ttc after a MC as had one in December when we first started to TTC for number 2 (DS is 2.5). It's a creme egg related one and we are vv friendly, but we do obviously talk alot about miscarriages.

There is a couple of active ttc#2 threads though

Hope that helps?

Forgot to add "normal" people would ovulate around 14 days after the start of your period - Cycle Date 14 (CD14)
BUT most people are not normal and you can vary alot hence best to test.

However most people do tend to start periods 14 days past ovulation (DPO) so if you can remember your symptoms in the past month maybe that would help to understand how your cycle works.