Temperatures rising, patience's getting low, according to our sources, the Summer Bus is the place to go (July/Aug Hybrid bus)

[birchygoo]

All aboard for hopefully a short ride! For those who have already hopped of the July bus and need the August journey and for those testing late July should they want to join.

If you want to be added to stats please add in following format so hopefully I wont miss you

birchygoo

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Name:
Age:
Cycle No:
TTC No:
Testing on:

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Hi girls, can I join the bus please? I'm more of a lurker but will try and post a bit more.

Name: Jellybean
Age: 25
Cycle No: 2
TTC No: 1
Testing on: 11th August

First cycle doesn't really count as it was straight off the pill with no bleed so not sure if this is officially cycle 1 or 2! We will call it 2 as I was doing opks etc last month. Decided to try and step away from the opk madness this month and try and be more casual (yeh right, we'll see about that!) excited that so many of us are due to test around the same time.

The rise in temp happens after you have actually ovulated - your basal body temperature is your temperature when you're fully at rest, it rises after ovulation.

So, an OPK will pick up your LH surge which means your body is gearing up to ovulate in the next 12-36 hours but it doesn't tell you if ovulation actually happened or not.

An increase in your temperature that remains for 3 days confirms that ovulation has actually taken place.

I use the two in tandem, OPK to detect LH surge and temping to confirm ovulation has actually happened.

If your temp charts are quite consistent you may be able to predict when you'll ovulate, apparently, not managed that myself yet!

This link may help www.fertilityfriend.com/courses/lesson.php?p=1;7;0;0

Very thorough Msglitterjunkie!

I'm jumping on board since we skipped ttc in July and not sure if we really will be ttc in Aug yet. Will see how things go

Sizzle
33
ttc #1
Cycle - I think 4
AF due 19/8

Thanks glitter. I think that's what I'll plan to do next month

I have another dumb question (I swear I'm actually averagely intelligent and thought I had a reasonable understanding of biology!)

If you don't ovulate for whatever reason one month do you still get a period and does it come at the same time? I've always been bang on 24 days (25 after my tfmr) the only times I've been late have been my 2 pregnancies and the second cycle after loosing dd2 which I'm guessing was the throws of deep grief.

If I've not ovulated would I still be getting a period on cd25?

Ah, yes, sorry for the information overload......my cycle is absolutely bonkers so have had to swot up and use all the gadgets and gizmos but v happy to help!

Ha! kitty I too thought of myself as intelligent before ttc. I quickly realised I was completely clueless!

Well when it comes to anovulatory cycles (when you don't ovulate) it really does vary from woman to woman.

For me personally it means my period comes very early - the last time it happened my cycle was 21 days which is absolutely unheard of for me. Some women have a really long cycle and some have regular 'periods' even though they are not actually ovulating (this is rare though, I think).

It's worth noting that a 'period' which comes if a cycle has been annovulatory isn't a true period - a bit complex to go into but if no egg is released then no extra progesterone is created by the body and eventually the lining of the womb stops growing, sheds and you bleed.

It just depends on how you personally are wired, so to speak! But please don't worry most women get one or maybe two annovulatory cycles a year and don't even notice, nothing major to worry about.

Again, apologies for the length of this post!

That explains a lot, thanks. I guess not ovulating is just another worry for me (there are a lot atm, I'm not enjoying ttc but pregnancy will be even worse tbh!)

I think I'll start temping and using opks from next month. May as well do all I can

Don't apologise MsGlitterJunkie, I'm learning lots here!

Evening all.

May I ask a dim question? If you're irregular then how do you know when to test? Over the last four months AF has gone from 1st of the month to 13th and then to 25th so I could test 26th/27th or with such irregularity and cycle lengthening, perhaps I steer clear from POAS until August.

Anyone in similar/educated experience?

Thx :)

Custard I am pretty irregular. My approach has been to hold out until six weeks after my LMP as this is a few days longer than my longest cycle. AF has always got me so far though this time round. I was more regular with first one and was very lucky to conceive on first month. So I am by no means an expert!

I guess if you know when you ovulated you could test 2 weeks after that? But you would need to do opks and temperature checks for that I guess.

Yes, I worried about not ovulating too kitty there's so much to worry about isn't there?! I went through a phase of absolutely hating ttc (combination of two miscarriages, crazy cycle and everyone around me seemingly dropping babies left right and centre) so I know how you feel.

I must confess I got very cross - very 'why me, this is so unfair' as felt forced into temping, tracking and OPKs because my cycle went totally loopy, one month 33 days the next month 21 days the next month 28 days (wtf?!) but no point in fighting it, got to go with the flow!

custard, I totally agree with spots - if you know the length of your longest cycle then wait a few days extra then test - my longest ever cycle was 33 days so I always plan to wait until day 34/ 35 but AF always comes first! Now I have a good idea when I ovulate (using OPK & temping), I wait 15/ 16 days after ovulation before testing.....again AF always comes first, grrrrr.

Happy to be of service any time banana!

Thanks ladies!! Makes sense. Just needed someone to point it out to me. Looks like I may be joining the August cohort regardless of luck oh well

Opinions please ladies

I said this would have to be my last bus for a few months as we have a holiday booked next year abroad (Crete) If We caught this time the baby would be 4 months old when we went which I thinks fine.

If we don't catch this cycle I am due af again on the 8th August and will be next fertile around the 22nd so if We caught then the baby would be approx 10/11 weeks old when we fly

My question is is do you think that's to young?

We have also agreed if I'm not pregnant before Christmas we'll be stopping ttc for good and making the most of what we already have because it does start to take over your life and we are very lucky to have 3 gorgeous boys ????????????

3pri you will know best how you handle small babies so you will know if flying at that age is a problem for you. Physically for the baby it is fine from about two weeks unless he or she has a major ear infection. And that you can't plan for. I think traveling with babes in arms is much much easier than with toddlers. Even from six or eighth month they are unpredictable in temper and depth of sleep so plane or car trips are beginning to get tedious and stressful already. With a little one at 10 weeks you can just pop them in a sling or in a pram or in your arms, throw a small diaper bag on your shoulder and if you breastfeed you don't even have to worry about anything much! And the weather will be grand so you don't need to carry lots of spare clothes. A nappy will do, and a sun hat. :)

I know lots of people who've taken small babies away at that age and it's been fine.

Hi ladies,

MsGlitterJunkie thank you for posting your insights on annovatory cycle lengths - I had wondered why my first natural AF came on at 28d, when my cycles pre-pill used to be longer. Also, this one was very light. It could be an explanation. I haven't been using OPK or temping. We've just been making sure we DTD regularly around what I think is the middle of my cycle. We're still fairly relaxed about it as we're only on month 2 TTC.

Literally all my friends, of varying ages, conceived easily within 4 months, 3 of them were still on the pill, and they certainly never mentioned OPKs, bizarre cycles or anything else we on here are experiencing...

iris I sympathise. No one ever mentions these thing unless you happen to have had an enlightened friend who felt sharing was important. Tbh I haven't told any of my friends about ttc and the trouble because I'm such a hypocrite it has consumed my life and no one wants to hear me talk about it again!
I don't know what the solution is. Maybe if once I'm pregnant I will spread the word. Confidence, eh.

Hi All,

Im out for July now AF got me early :( on the plus that means my cycles are becoming more regular.

Name: Emilygremily
Age: 20
TTC: No 1
Cycle: 2
OTD: 11th Aug

Name: Cearstaidh
Age:26
Cycle No:1
TTC No:1
Testing on:4 August ish
Only just come off the pill so not sure of cycle length.

Welcome cear!
Sorry af got u Emily, beginning of August is going to be a busy testing bus

Thankyou carrot and Auf, you've made me feel a lot better about taking alittle one abroad and given me an extra month at ttc :) I mentioned it to a friend the other day and straight away she said ow no! Far to young to take abroad I'm glad I'm not a bad mum in thinking it would be fine

princes how can it be considered bad to take a kid abroad - people do know that babies are born in these countries!!
You will have more time to spend with your kids as you will not have mundane day to day tasks. I say go for it!

Welcome to the bus everyone!

Most peoples information is up to date but if you have anything else you would like me to add let me know

Hi ladies, CD3 for me - boring part of the cycle!

What are your thoughts on giving up alcohol totally (eeek!) I've cut down since we started ttc and now only drink once or twice a week but I've read cutting out completely can help..!?

princes I'd also say go for it - I flew with DD when she was 9 mths old (and again at 11 mths) and was a bit of a nightmare as was difficult to get her to sleep. meanwhile a fellow mother was flying alone with toddler and v small baby in sling - by herself with no DH! it definitely looked easier - toddler was easily distracted by ipad, baby slept/fed the whole time. so I think best to travel with either v young or older toddler. 3 months sounds fine.

emu I give up drinking entirely when TTC mainly out of paranoia and to try to be as healthy as possible (though I did have a beer when AF showed up to deal with the disappointment). I don't think you need to do it though - I mostly did it for peace of mind.