TTC #1 but ovulation is late

[Woolysurfer]

Hello everyone, I'm new here. Nice to meet you all!

My husband and I are now actively trying for our first child. For a few months I have been making a note of my periods and when I thought I was ovulating. I seemed to ovulate around day 14/15 on most months but on a couple I noticed some signs around day 21. I have been taking folic acid.

What worries me this month (first month of trying) is that I am yet to ovulate. I am using the Clearblue OPK and so far it has just been blank. I've also had very little cervical mucus so far. My period is due around the 22/02 so I am wondering if we should give up trying this month? I have read about short luteal phases and the risk of miscarriage and I don't want to risk it if this might be possible. What are your thoughts? Do LP defects cause miscarriages and are they late MCs or can you try again the next month?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm now worried!

Hi and welcome.

Firstly, can I ask how you are deciding when you have ovulated, are you monitoring CM or temping or just using the opk?

When you say you "noticed some signs around day 21", what do you mean? It is possible to get increased LH at times during the LP as it does fluctuate during this time a little, and increases just before AF. So you can have increased cm and other little signs during the LP.

You have not said how long your cycles are? or why you think you could have a short LP? so I can't really comment on this. Except to say that, short LP normally causes implantation issues more than miscarriages per se.

This is your first month of trying, and the stress of this alone could affect your cycle. Really you need to try to relax and just have frequent intercourse as and when you feel like it. Putting pressure on yourself will not help and could potentially delay ovulation!!!!

I will watch out for your reply to my questions and try to help more if I can.

Hey. I have changed my nickname but I am still here!

Until this month I have been judging ovulation on CM but this month I have been using OPKs and monitoring CM.

My cycles are approx. 28 days long, some 27 some 30.

This morning I noticed more CM and my OPK says I am now ovulating. This is now day 20 of my cycle. Now do we DTD tonight or leave it until next month? I want to conceive but equally I don't want to increase the risks of MC. Would this happen in the first month or could it be possible I would carry it until the 3rd month?

Thanks in advance for your help!

If your ovulation has been delayed it doesn't follow that your luteal phase will be shortened to keep your cycle the same length. It is far more likely that your period will just follow in 14 or so days.

Your cycle lengths are not fixed in stone - the first part (up to ovulation) can vary according to various things (stress, ill health, etc) but your luteal phase is usually pretty regular, though it may vary by a day or two. Only luteal phases under 10 days are cause for concern, but there is no suggestion that you have that problem.

Just be aware that OPKs cannot definitely tell you that you will ovulate - they only measure the rise in Lutenizing Hormone which might trigger ovulation. Some women experience a few rises of LH before they actually ovulate. There are only two ways to confirm ovulation - charting your temperatures to look for the post-ovulation rise and a blood test by your doctor.

You need to be having regular intercourse - at least 2/3 times a week. My fertility nurse told me that you have a far better chance of getting pregnant if the sperm is waiting for the egg in your uterus/Fallopian tubes. For this to happen you need to be having sex a day or two before you actually ovulate (sperm can live for several days but the egg will only live for 24 hours maximum).

You are only in your first cycle of TTC, so try not to get too obsessed/stressed now. It may take a bit of time, it may not. The most important thing is that you and your partner have a healthy lifestyle and are having regular sex.

CBay - you are stressing too much about this.

Firstly - Get rid of the OPK's immediately, they are not going to help you. If you wait for the OPK to be positive before DTD then you are leaving it too late. If you insist on using OPK's then use the sperm meets egg plan This will maximise your chances of concieving. (But does lead to sex being a task rather than helping your relationship.)

Everything Frankelly says is true, and I agree that the most important thing is that you and your partner have a healthy lifestyle and are having regular sex.

Next - regarding risk of miscarriage, you don't even know if you have a short luteal phase, let alone if it will cause problems. Only very short luteal phases of less than 10 days generally have any problems.

You say monitoring your cm you think you ovulate around day 14, and your cycle is approximately 28 days - that is text book perfect. Definitely NOT short luteal phase.

Cycle length of 27 to 30 days as you have is normal.

CM is a good way of monitoring fertility, though it is quite hard to do accurately, especially trying to distinguish between EWCM and ejactulate. If you see good lubricative CM, especially EWCM, then that is a good time for DTD.

Delayed ovulation does NOT reduce your luteal phase. Your luteal phase is a fixed length of time. The time before ovulation can vary due to illness, stress etc.

I am not surprised to hear that your ovulation is late this month considering how much you are stressing about ttc. If you ovulate today on day 20 and your LP is 14 days then your period will arrive late this month at around day 34. Don't go doing pregnancy testing early, it is expensive and will only stress you more.

Please do not stress about miscarriage before you have even concieved. I have had 12 miscarriages (and three wonderful healthy children). Miscarriage risk is decreased by reducing stress - so again I repeat relax. You cannot go having hundreds of tests to see if you can prevent miscarriage before you have even concieved. Even with all the tests, there is little that can be done to prevent miscarriage if it is going to occur. (short luteal phase is not something that you could easily change anyway, but you don't need to worry about that as you don't have it!)

Focus on making sure you and you partner are as healthy as can be and focus on keeping your relationship strong.

You say you "want to conceive but equally I don't want to increase the risks of MC. ", if you want to 100% guarentee no miscarriage - then don't have sex and don't concieve. Miscarriage is very common, many women miscarry before they even know they are pregnant. It is not something to be fearful of. If it is going to happen it will happen.

So if you want a baby, and your cm is now fertile and you opk is positive then dtd. You only have a 20% chance of concieving each month. You will have left it a little late for concieving this month already by waiting for a positive opk, but hey it only takes one sperm right!

Thanks girls, I'm not stressing too much about it but as it's our first month of trying it's all a bit new to me and I don't know what to expect. It just worried me a little that ovulation seemed a week late this month.

We are going to DTD tonight but I feel quite relaxed about it after reading your posts. So thank you! Fingers crossed but we will see what life has in store for us. Willitbe, we did have sex on Monday and at the weekend so hopefully that will help.

Hi girls,

I thought I'd update you all by saying I have taken two tests this week and both said I was pregnant! :)

I am really excited but not going to get my hopes up until the 12th week is up. I had what I thought was my period on Sat and Sun but after that there was very little spotting and since, hardly anything at all. I haven't had many symptoms except for fatigue and a couple of days of slight nausea, is it unusual to not have that many? My last period was on the 25th Jan and I ovulated around Valentines Day.

I normally have a 5-6 day period so decided to get a test when it only lasted two days. It was quite heavy so I am worried about that. Should I be? I have experienced cervical erosion in the past so might this have anything to do with it? The lines on the test were not very dark, probably half of what it says on the pack. But still acceptable according to the chart.

I've got a doc appointment next week so I am hoping to know more then, but should I be worried about any of the above or just hope that this is a successful and normal pregnancy?

:)

I'm just following on frm my earlier post - since then I have had one morning of nausea but very little else. My boobs hurt very slightly today but generally I have had no obvious signs of pregnancy. Even though I had two positive tests last week I wouldn't think I was pregnant otherwise. I still worry about the two day period I had and whether that means I'm not actually pregnant?!

Doctors this week but fretting right now! Any thoughts?