SMEP - can anyone help?

[RMarieClaire]

Hello.

Would love some advice on my fertile window and the SMEP plan.

I have been using CB OPK which measure dual hormones. I got my first High fertility result last Wednesday (6 days ago). We had dtd every other day for a week prior to that. Dtd Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Then got my peak Monday (yesterday) and had ewcm - dtd last night and was planning to again tonight or tomorrow early am. But now worried as SMEP says do 3 days straight, which would mean 5 days straight and I'm worried about reducing the, er, potency of OH. Clearblue and Ovia suggest dtd today, but I've heard good things about SMEP.

It's such a minefield and I feel very anxious about getting it wrong and missing our shot this month. My cycles are long - 32-35 days - and i don't tend to ovulate till day 23 or so so the next chance seems so far away.

Sorry for the essay! Thank you.

I would dtd tonight and tomorrow. Unless your partner is older or has issues with sperm everyday is usually fine.

If you dtd for 2 consecutive days before you got your peak (ie Saturday and Sunday) then you are not doing SMEP this month as you are meant to stick to every other day until you get the peak. So for this month you need to forget about SMEP and start again next month if you really want to follow the plan.

It’s totally up to you whether you give DH a break or crack on for 5 days straight! The NHS recommends every other day to give the swimmers a chance to recover a bit, but if there are no known issues with his sperm then many people are successful doing it every day....

I think you are worrying too much - dtd every other day including either your peak day or the days before and after is plenty!

FWIW the month I conceived we dtd once on peak day as we were on opposite shifts the rest of the week, turned out that was enough! There had been months before that where we’d done it loads more but didn’t conceive.

Thanks @Darkstar4855! I love hearing stories like this. Gives you hope! It does feel like a minefield. Crazy to think I spent my first 31 years obsessively trying not to get pregnant!

Thanks @MonkeyToucher - ah yes, best laid plans. We weren't going to Sunday but felt the urge just for the sake of it not just to conceive - such a novelty we had to go with it!

Also, I heard you usually see start of surge afternoon/evening so it's possible it started for me on Sunday as I tested at 5.30am on the monday - so if that's true it kind of works :)

When I got my positive opk we dtd 4 times in 2 days. We got our BFP the next month!