Idiots guide to... conception

[WelshBarbie]

I'm really new to these forums. I'm really new to TTC. Can someone kindly and slowly talk to me about..

BBT? How do I do it, what do I need to buy and what am I looking for?

Ovulation sticks - Any certain type do I buy? How often/when do I use them?

I'm clueless and falling into a deep google black hole and you're all so clued up on here I'm struggling to fully grasp haha.

Thank you

If you’re new to it, my advice personally is not to bother & just see how you go for a few months! It’s very easy to get obsessive & that can sometimes hinder TTC more than help!

Agree with @Melamine! Just see how it goes for a few months!

@Melamine I haven't had a period since coming off my pill 6 months ago and was advised both of these methods would be a good way to find out if I am actually ovulating? Or are these more for people who are struggling to conceive? Xx

Years ago, when i was struggling to conceive, I mentioned it to a casual aquaintance, who advised 'going at it like rabbits' !! Sex every night for a whole month....worked first time on three separate occasions (a miscarriage and then two babies 17 months apart)
(Thank you Mary in Redditch!)

Hmm well in that case, they may indeed help! I’ll let someone who knows more about sticks (which I’ve used but not successfully) & BBT advise. You might be wise to check out the threads about long cycles & the vitamins etc people take to try to improve that, too!

If you’re not getting your period you may not be ovulating.
Is there any indication on the pill packet how long it will take for cycles to go back to normal?

I’d go to gp.

@fuzzywuzzy It said it can take a couple of weeks to return to normal but coming into my 7th month without a period. Gp was very vague and unhelpful just saying it's different for everyone and because I was on it for 7years it could just take a while and sort of went off on a tangent about not able to help until I'd be struggling to conceive for a year. This was before had even started trying was just preparing to and wanted to know if I'm ovulating before I keep having sex and getting my hopes up each month. Thought BBT and ov sticks would be a good way to take matters into my own hands

You can have a period without ovulating, but you can't ovulate without having a period, so for the moment you aren't ovulating most likely. I'm not sure there is much point doing OPKs and temping until you have a period - you'd have to do OPKs every day in the hopes of catching your first ovulation and temps would only tell you you'd ovulated afterwards.

I'd just have some sex and chill until your period returns - it just takes a while for some people. Once you've had a period you could start more actively monitoring.

Might be worth mentioning to doc about testing for PCOS. Most women with pcos have infrequent or nonexistent periods and even when there is a period there is no guarantee that there was ovulation.

Maybe not what you want to hear but here goes:

We were ttc no 2 for 2 years - tried temping, opk’s SMEP, shagging every other day, every day, tracking my cycle with precision accuracy every month. Nothing.

At the end of last year we decided to stop trying. We thought the gap between ds and dc2 would be too big now, I’m getting on a bit, we’d gotten to the point where we had a bit more money as nursery fees had gone down and wanted to continue to enjoy it. So we decided to draw a line under it and accept ds would be an only.

The following month we had sex precisely once, for fun (for the first time in 2 years!) didn’t use contraception as I assumed we were infertile, and well I suspect you can guess the rest!

So my advice - relax, just have sex normally, don’t get stressed out about temping and bbt and timings, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

I’d advise giving yourself time to let your cycle settle down. Using opks is good but getting a positive result on them isn’t a guarantee you’re ovulating and not getting positives ever doesn’t mean you’re not ovulating. If you’re not getting a period, it’s likely you’re not ovulating.

I’ve been ttc for almost 2 years. Most of that time we used opks, tracked my cycle, had sex every day to every other day etc. For about 4 months I did the whole “just relax” thing and didn’t think about it. I’ve also had a HyCoSy done which is known to boost fertility a little sometimes. Absolutely nothing we have tried (and not tried) has worked and neither of us have any fertility issues that the drs could find.

It may happen quickly, it might not. It’s honestly the luck of the draw. Personally I’d start using opks and see how you get on with them. Can’t comment on bbt as I’m a bad sleeper so can’t use them. I use the cheap one step opk strips, you can get a pack of 30 off eBay or amazon for about £4. But if you’re periods still haven’t come back, you might have to ask your GP for a blood test to check your progesterone levels. They usually won’t do that until you’ve been trying unsuccessfully for a year but if you’ve been 6 months without a period, they will maybe make an exception.

Good luck!

Try going back to the gp but seeing one who specialises in this or similar. Yes they don't refer onwards till a year but they can do a day 21 and 28 blood test to check for ovulation, it's not an unreasonable request. If you've still not gotten any periods after ruling out pregnancy they may also be able to give you provera to start your periods.

I would second going to the GP about lack of period after 6 months - they might be able to give you something to kick start your cycle.

Did an OPK today.. lines in both test and control but test line was lighter than the control. According to packet this makes it negative, but if there was no line in test that would also of meant negative. Does that fact that there was a line, albeit a faint one, mean that there was some LH? Surely after so many months without a period if I hadn't of ovulated at all the line wouldn't of even been there?? Or am I overthinking this...

When I was breastfeeding DS my period hadn't came back and I did daily opks in order to catch the first egg. 6 months later when he was 19 months old I finally stopped BFing and my cycles came back. I had a second line on every single test. It was never positive but every few days it went "almost positive". Point being, a negative opk is a negative opk, and LH can be in our system despite not ovulating, as hundreds of my opks can testify!!!

I know how frustrating it is not knowing what is going on with your body.

Or you may have pcos where hormones are all over the shop and opks never work correctly. Seriously head back to doc for investigation why period have not returned after 6 months