Who’s trying SMEP this month?

[Firsttimer16]

Support thread for those giving smep a go this month! I’m CD6 so going to start soon. All fingers crossed that this works for us all this month.
Debating whether to buy CB OPK or just stick with IC - might do IC until around FW and then see if I can find a few old CB lying around to confirm a positive.
Anyone else giving this a go?

Knitting?
Yes I'm using ICs. I used the digitals when TTC DS2 and got solid smilies when the ICs weren't quite there and I definitely ovulated as my very noisy 18 month old son is pretty good proof of! So I would trust those more
Too! I don't worry too much about them not going completely dark as I use an Ava bracelet so that's pretty good at showing when I've ovulated (and predicting the window). For the purposes of SMEP I'm going with switching from every other day to every day when the OPK darkens like it has done today.

@Becca444 @noseringgirl finally got a flashing smiley CD18 😁 IC OPK got 50% darker this evening. We dtd yesterday. Do we go for 3 in a row now or wait for solid smiley

@NoseringGirl
I do not know how digital came out as knitting... those letters aren't even near each other.
Glad to hear that there is confirmed proof of ic being inaccurate with others too! Makes me really glad that I invested in the clear blue advanced!!

@Angelmiracle - awesome!!!
It's hard to know how to proceed...
Maybe do cb test twice a day? And plan to dtd every other day in the meantime?
You don't want to burn out before you get to ov!
DH and I are nearly burnt out now.

@Bas27 I was starting to wonder if there was some sort of fertility boost from knitting. I was ready to get my needles out 🤣

@Angelmiracle I'd personally try for every day if you can. Just in case!

@Angelmiracle sounds like you might get your solid smiley tomorrow so every day sounds a good bet!

@Bas27 yeah we burnt out last month Drs too much before static smiley lol and I had ovulation pain 2 days after the peak so I think eggy comes out 36hrs after the surge 😅

All being well I'll get peak tomorrow and will go 3 in a row then....👌

Drs > dtd 😂

managed to dtd last night due to do it again on friday however dh is at work till 11pm :(

We've managed a couple of nights in a row now I've had a positveish OPK. Hoping to get a few more nights in to make sure we're covered. I'm never sure about the skipping one day in SMEP, I worry that I can't pinpoint ovulation well enough to know when to do that day as my OPKs don't go completely dark.

We did our 3 days in a row, finishing Tuesday night, so had a much appreciated night off last night 😂

Supposed to BD again tonight, but OH Is working - not sure how effective this one time would be anyway to be honest.

I didn't find this month too intensive, we have quite high sex drives anyway and in a weird way I quite enjoyed it being timetabled so I knew when to go to bed early with my book 😂

The red days on my flo app were the chemical rather than true AF but my cycle seemed pretty much back to normal.
It was my first month using OPKs, I used the clear blue digital which was fab. It gave me a static smiley CD13 which is one day earlier than Flo said, so combined with SMEP I think it was good for timing.

Just the two week wait now 😣 Really want it to happen this month - determined not to test early though.

Hope everyone else is going okay ❤️

Hello wise ones. Am using OPKs for the first time this cycle. Does this look close to positive, would you say? This was yesterday early evening - CD12, and we dtd last night but DH is out tonight so I think tonight is off the cards.

My cycles are normally between 27-32 days; last one was 24 days, unusually short.

Thank you!

CD14 and no positive opks....using ics this month...all white barely any shadow....flo predict ov tomorrow...is this ok? or should i consider to buy other opk and test

@dee7409 I'd buy more, if they're pretty much white then it seems you're no where near. You can pick the up pretty cheap though. Are you testing twice a day? Not with fmu but with a good hold?

@piglet81 I'd say it's close, you might get a positive one today. If you haven't already had it today it'll probably be tonight I imagine.

Aha - just tested again and today's is much stronger. Might have to tempt DH home early after all

Thanks @DaisyMay25

Long time lurker here hiiiii! Okay if I jump on this train?

My DP and I are on cycle 3 of TTC, and this'll be the first month using SMEP. I started using OPK's from CD6 and am mightily confused, as on CD7 I got a faint positive line! Has anyone had this before? My periods are usually regular at 28 days, but now I'm thinking maybe we haven't had any luck so far is I've been ovulating far earlier than I thought?!

CD7 just seems SOOOO early. Don't know what to think!

Luckily we've been DTD every day since CD5, so I hopefully haven't missed anything

@piglet81 that looks positive to me! Go jump your DH!

@piglet81 that's def positive I think - go go go!!

@Kelsoid someone may correct me if I'm wrong but worth OPKs I don't think you can get a "faint positive" it's either positive (when the second line is as dark as the control line) or negative if it's not. The second line is often there throughout the cycle as you'll always have some LH in your body but it's when you get a sudden surge (which makes the line as dark as the control line) which is when your body is about to ovulate. So having a second line early in cycle is normal for a lot of people - just kee testing until it's dark enough!

Cd15 for me and no +OPK yet so just keeping to the schedule!!
I also don't find this too hard as I also love knowing the definite nights off so I can enjoy them! 🤣

@Angelmiracle I think we are in danger of that this month.
@winterwarmers is it going to be a late one? 😅
@NoseringGirl I'm not sure what the science is behind the Miss a day and then one more day. Part off me thinks it might be better to miss that one (DH needs some recovery time) maybe move it up so it's 4 days in a row? But also I think we've done the rest of it... why argue with SMEP and half arse it now?
@TheMagicTorch Tww together! Let me know if you get any symptoms. My boobs started hurting with ovulation which I'm not used to because of the implant for 9 years... not sure if it will even go away or not... before either af or bfp. ( BFPLEASE)
@piglet81 Now is the time! Fx!
@dee7409 I started on the ics this month. I realised I had no confidence in them as there was too much room for error. I'm ordered clear blue digital on Sunday and it's a good job because I got my static smiley from cb but not a positive opk ic!
@Kelsoid, @Firsttimer16 Is right... the opk will get darker when it is positive ... it should be the same darkness (or darker) as the control line. However, like I said to dee I don't trust them.

Thinking of every SMEPer today! ❤️

i think it may be a late one or may end up as an early one haha 😂

Question...I'm cd 15, flo tells me ovulation cd19. OPKs are negative. However I've started getting ewcm today.
It's my day off today - but it feels weird not dtd when I know I'm nearing ov and have ewcm. Should I trust smep? Or do it anyway?
The reason we started smep is cos we'd have several months doing it every day over a 2week period and know we did it over ovulation, but didn't get bfp so I thought we were doing it too much. So given that didn't work I'm trying to remain calm and not dtd too much....wwyd v

CD19 2nd day of flashing smiley and ic opk still same as last night's.
I'm having weird symptoms that aren't the usual. Really bloated since this morning very heavy boobs and crampiness in uterus as opposed to ovaries??!! Definite EWCM which I usually get too. Tonight is Drs so we may as well. Don't know why peak still hasn't showed!

@TheMagicTorch it looks like you both did really good with that!

@Firsttimer16 similar situation- symptoms but no peak and EWCM I'm going to stick to smep because if I don't I'll blame myself for not following it properly...

Stuoid phone 》》》》 Tonight is DTD