Thread 9. TTC#1 The thread where we unanimously delete Ovia.

[StarkyTheDirewolf]

Symptom spotters, tww - ers, slightly hysterical hormone laden ladies! Regs, lurkers, intermittent posters! Our raison d'etre is 'am I pregnant?' Depending on how much Ovia (Whybird/Ovibitch) has pissed us off/messed with our fw she is either the oracle or a sanctimonious charlatan.

Just a warning, we move FAST! Our threads last on average, about a week before they're full.

Thread 9 , Welcome one and all! Group of weirdos, wee hoarders, covert opk or okp, depending on what your autocorrect decides addicts with a side business in CM management!

We do not judge, we enjoy TMI, we i encourage waiting to poas nobody listens and all the grossness you can find from a group of intelligent, articulate ladies. Fart stories make us laugh, stories about cervical mucus, pooing, cysts and nausea equally welcome.

Post your stats and add your dates. We have a register thanks to kat, I have been dubbed the resident piss stick queen loaaaaaads of bfp'ers who keep us positive! We don't have rules, we love a good symptom spot, we try to stay grounded and not be hysterical sometimes we manage it aswell

We like acronyms, we make some up: PET = Proper expensive test. We love the d(h)...which can of course mean 'dearest' or 'dickhead' why, what were you thinking?

jem best time to opk is mid afternoon. Lh synthesises in your body between 10-8, so doing one mid afternoon will increase your chances of knowing if you're about to ovulate. They are confusing at first, but if you buy bulk of the same brand and are consistent with doing them then they are quite enlightening. I wish I'd started tracking with opks 6 months before we started actively ttc, so I'd understand my cycle better. I'll explain. ..

Basically, cycle one in December, I started doing opk's at about 2 weeks after af. I was getting almost positives, then it was Christmas and I didn't take any with me to my dps. So when I got back, and started doing them again, I was still getting high readings on my test line. I didn't know when I'd ovulated. So this cycle I did an opk from the day after af finished. From my opk's I have quite a high natural level of lh generally (which would tally with last monthseason opks), but I got a day of a peak lh and then two days of solid positives.

Since then, my lh level has gone back down, but is still "high" for what other people have. (I have two fairly visible lines, but definetly not positive tests, if that makes sense) so I know my best chance of catching the egg was to dtd on the day of my peak, the day of my positives, and then for a couple of days after too. Because a positive opk only indicates that you are about to ovulate, not that you have released an egg yet. So in December, because I started doing opk's later, and then missed a few days, I completely missed my fw. Obviously opk's aren't fool proof in that, despite getting positives and banging like a shit house door in a storm all weekend, there's only a 15-20% chance of a sperm actually finding and penetrating the egg, then it had to travel and implant. There's 100 different things which can stop this.

This brings me on to early testing and why I don't think it's a good thing. A sperm can meet, and fertilise an egg, it can implant. If you were testing early, this would give you a positive pregnancy test. Then the egg fails to survive or implant properly and you start to bleed and have what's known as a chemical pregnancy, which is a very very early miscarriage. Unless you're actively ttc and testing, you wouldn't even know and would assume the bleeding was your period.

I'm a fan of opk's, because I have a long cycle, I also don't think I ovulate from my right ovary. I can feel my egg being released on the left (and have for years) I've not noticed it for a long time on my right. So with opk's I can keep track of if/when I'm ovulating. This month I bought 60 from amazon for abiut £8. Next cycle I will probably also temp, and I'm looking into lube which encourages sperm to swim (pre seed or balance active conceive gel) it sounds silly, but I want to maximise my chances each cycle. I get 9 chances a year, whereas most people have 12. Im also not sure I ovulate each cycle. Dh already has a child so I wouldn't necessarily qualify for help on the nhs, and there's no way we could afford it ourselves so I'm just trying to cover all bases!

Aaaand Starky manages to do yet another essay for everyone to struggle through!

That's really interesting, thanks Starky. I didn't realise how all or nothing it was, but it makes sense.

Gorgeous kitty cats

Right, new testing date of 5th March for when you next update the list Kat.

Starky what a well written piece!! You have made me really get why you wouldn't test too early.
Am feeling so much better now not in TWW.
How is everyone else?

Great message Stark :)

So much for the bring casual approach, roaringly positive OPK (looks even darker in real life) and trying to convince myself not to jump DH's bones when he walks in the door! Still trying to keep to our 'every other day' routine and it falls on tonight luckily.

As for the birth stories, I think I want a water birth. My friends who've had one thoroughly recommend it.

When my cousin had her first baby, she rather unexpectedly had him at home. A few minutes after he was born, her neighbours dropped a congratulations card through the door, obviously having experienced the whole thing through the walls with her!

Oops, forgot photo.

Gosh, my post was v rude. No please or thank you to our wonderful Kat. Apologies!

Hey everyone, absolutely bogged down with work so haven't been around yesterday or today :( did I miss anything? FOMO

Elle buy some yarn (good quality so it doesn't get sticky and frustrate you) and needles (4mm are generally good for beginners but size not crucial) and head to YouTube. There's loads of tutorial videos. You need to learn a basic cast on and knit stitch to start with. It can be quite slow at first. If you find knitting isn't your thing crochet might be. Most people tend to prefer one over the other.

I think I'll be joining you on 5th March Kathrino. Cramps seem to be real now 😒

Thanks guys aww! I love writing I will do my memoirs one day

I've just read sooo many articles and reseached so much that I felt compelled to share! I think one of the things that keeps me sane hahaha is that ttc is a game of chance! You can do everything humanly possible to increase that chance, but at the end of the fertile week day, it's all up to your insides!

And the annoying thing is that there's no hard and fast rule. Because for every rule, there's an exception! One of the girls from thread 1, was away for most of her fw, dtd once and is now getting on for nearly at the end of her first trimester. We're told how unlikely it is to be pregnant if you're late on af and you're getting bfn's on tests, exception to the rule; our choc!

We get freaked out by the idea of beginners luck. Cycle 1 is insane! And yet, there always seems to be people going "we weren't trying" "oops contraception fail" etc. You can buy tests and opk's by the hundred weight, and every website or article has something to say. When really, there's absolutely nowt we can do to control it! So we've just got to keep our fingers crossed and hope! And we'll all get there one day!

Thank you everyone
And thanks ct for the cat pics
You all cheered me up a treat. Just happy to know that others struggle. I definitely don't believe that people get pregnant so easily anymore and I am sure people lie about it.
Maybe a more relaxed approach is due. Maybe just opks and no more tempting for me. Maybe just forget about it all together.
I like that you guys put pics of your pets
I have a snake but I know some people are not kin so I won't post her pic
I bought some nice new yarn on the sale lemon and mint with some fluffy balls attached to the yarn. It looks so pretty

Keen not kin

jam that's a positive! Get banging!

elle ill link some basic crochet videos here too for you. I'm rubbish at knitting! My dm showed me the basics with crochet and I think I like it because it's faster. Once you've got the hang of it, you can do a baby cardigan or bobby hat in a couple of hours.

starky I sympathise because we have total twat head neighbours on one side, too. I won't even get started because the stress level is through the roof.

jam that is a pretty funny story about the neighbours posting a card. I did chuckle! Also, lovely positive opk you have there!

Feel like I can't contribute anything to you lovely ladies at the moment but I'm enjoying lurking!

cthulhoo your kittys are beautiful!

Sorry to hear that Co5mo. I'm trying to see a nice short 28 day cycle as a positive (given they used to be 35 days on average) but it's a bit rubbish all the same. Lots of and for you!

Checking in... Hope everyone's ok. Work today and class tonight so might not get a lost out until tomo morning. Have half an hour to try to catch up on last day!

I was having a good day until I tried to go home. Getting a train south out of London seems to have gone tits up. Bloody 'points failure'. Urgh

Hope everyone else is having a better Thursday!

Glad your feeling better ever . Beautiful cats ct!

Your essays are great starky you are very good at explaining things. Maybe once you have your baba you should write an "idiots guide" type book to TTC!

Hi ladies AF has shown up so going to enjoy a large glass this evening. Cd1 begins. ...

Hope all well, gotta catch up with everything.

Omg you have been talking ALOT today (I am not looking entirely but mainly at you stark!) I have got to 2pm... Have to go and learn foreign words for a bit now so might catch up later. Might remain forever behind.

Points to note...
Wtf is a doula?

Stark is new ovia. I think we should give her all our OPK photos and she can tell us when we are ovulating.

Omg I love ravelry. And pinterest. What did I do without pinterest in my life? And crocheting. I am currently in the process of making 4 blankets. Only two actively. Oops.

I'm a doula (in training) Kat
Basically I support the mum through labour and birth, by helping her with coping mechanisms and comfort, breathing techniques and massage and just being someone there purely for her well being. I help dads too by showing them what helps, encouraging them to get involved (you'd be amazed how many just sit in a corner on their phones!) and fetching drinks and snacks if needed/allowed. I love it and the new parents seem to love it too. I also help with newborn care afterwards, things like helping with breastfeeding, teaching how to bathe the little one, bottle making, etc. I get to see little miracles happen every month or two. I want to be a midwife eventually. When we move to the USA I'll hopefully be able to do this there.

kat 😋 haha sorry mate, I've been going on a bit today! A doula, I believe is a woman who helps, guides supports another woman through pregnant and birth.

Haha at me being the new ovia! Oh-very funny! Oh-very...ovary?! Get it!?

Starky, I totally agree with the testing early/chem thing, I'd rather not know.

Snowdog I want someone like you! Maybe dh and the parents can buy you for me for Christmas

Guys, I've got a foof-juice question. If CM is very watery in texture but is cloudy/grey/white colour, is it watery or creamy? If I put watery into FF it tells me I'm highly fertile, if I put in creamy I'm probably not fertile

Hello all. Just an update for you. Cd42.
Not had a positive opk yet but have stopped doing thrm religiously as i was getting obsessed. Almost positive last tuesday (third down) plus ewcm on the wed. Achey boobs for the last few days and a cm between ewcm and thick watery. Not sure what to think!