Sperm Meets Egg (hopefully)

[AllHopeAndNoResults]

Hi guys,

I’ve done a few threads on here for ttc but this month I am in a new positive state of mind and I am determined to get that BFP!!

I’ve been to the GP today who said my bloods have come back fine for hormones etc and just that I am very low on vit d (which I knew from last check up and have been taking vitamin tabs twice a day) anyway....

She has said there is nothing to suggest any infertility or that I’m not ovulating and that perhaps I am ovulating and not timing it. I was convinced at this appointment I would be prescribed chlomid, but no she said that I just need to come back in 2 months with a new blood test and see from there...

I came away disheartened and a little bit like I’d given up until I thought hold on she said there was no reason to suggest in infertile or have a problem therefore I am fertile and need to work harder! So I got online ordered loads of OPKs, preseed and a basal thermometer.

I also downloaded Sperm Meets Egg and I am determined this month to follow rule by rule. Sorry that was very long! But I am due AF any minute so will be tracking from about day 8 anybody want to do the journey with me??

Again sorry for how long that was!!

@Jen306 welcome Jen! We are all here to support each other and give advice and tips. Are you using anything to assist fertility?

Looks like everyone is investing in AVA hmmm maybe I should get one.

How is everyone feeling? I think we all seem to AF around the same time so this cycle we should all be pretty much the same and doing the TWW together?

@tinyole no I don’t think I’d be disciplined with temping either and certainly not doing it at similar time each day and before/without moving etc, whereas the Ava I read it really is as long as you’ve had a 4hour stretch of sleep it’ll give you that data. It’s just the cost and not sure if it’s actually any more use than OPKs - do you know if it can confirm that you have ovulated as well as predict ovulation?

So far we’ve been dtd roughly every other day or like 3rd day, then maybe twice in a row around ovulation. Tbh it’s quite a difference from our pre TTC days when it was more like once a week!

@Jen306 to be honest I don't know if it confirms ovulation but I'll you know.

I'm like you, we usually DTD once a week so it's a lot for us. My DH can't really do two days in a row, every 3 days is pushing it so we have to pick and choose our days. But we're planning on saving it to closer to ovulation and max out then.

I'm also like you and haven't really told anyone so it's great to have someone to talk to about the whole process

@tinyole I think ava would be really useful to get that data, and it's an easier way to take your temperature for sure. Don't think I want to cough up all the £ though.

Welcome @Jen306. Glad you've found cb digital useful. I've just started using it for the first time this morning so hope I'll get some smiley faces soon.

Thanks @Skyla01
Last month I had 4 days of flashing smiles before getting the static one on cd14, now on cd11 and got my 3rd flashing smile this morning.

@Jen306 that's useful to know. I started using them yesterday and got 1st flashing smiley this morning so quite excited! Hopefully to be followed by a static smiley later this week. Wasn't expecting too see the flashing smiley so soon.

@tinyole I think it's a good idea to save reserves for when they are needed. Cycle tracking is good for planning that. My OH is up for the task whenever but if we've been DTD a lot he can't always finish. So this cycle I'm trying to keep dtd regularly but also make sure we're doing it when it really counts. Bit of a tricky balance!

@Skyla01 yes I know what you mean it’s hard to find the balance- I also don’t want my husband to feel like the only reason I want to have sex is to make a baby which is hard when kinda working to a schedule of dtd.

Got my static smile this morning and dtd will try to again tomorrow too. Not sure we’ll manage Tuesday as well but I might have to try! Serious seduction tactics might be needed

Hi everyone, can I join? I've been ttc for 18 months, had a mmc in April but no other pregnancies before or since.

I'm under a fertility clinic and had an hsg last month so was hopeful for this cycle but af arrived on Friday, so am cd3. My cycles are only 25 days.

We've decided to do smep this cycle as a last ditch attempt before I have a hysteroscopy in August.

As my cycle is short, we're starting on cd7, fertile week is next weekend. I'm just using cheap opks, they should arrive in the next day or so.

Am also taking ubiquinol as am nearly 36 so convinced its my eggs. Dh's SA was all good. I have multiple fibroids, but hopefully the hysteroscopy will sort those out.... But if smep works I won't need it 🤞

Hi @venusStarr course you can join there will hopefully be others to come along and advise you better but welcome to this months cycle 😊

I’m out this month guys AF hasn’t arrived yet but I can feel her and I’ve done a test today and negative completely not even a whiff 😞 anyway we have a plan this month.

How is everyone doing?

@Jen306 I'll be so excited to see a static smiley! Does that mean you're most likely to be ovulating tomorrow? If you can keep it up for a few more days then at least you know you can have a break after that!

@VenusStarr welcome. Sounds like you've had a tough journey so far, sorry to hear that. Smep is a great way to maximise your chances this month! My cycles are long but if they were shorter I'd be following smep myself. Good luck!

@AllHopeAndNoResults sorry to hear AF is around the corner. But I would feel optimistic for your smep plan next cycle!

@Skyla01 yes I think so - they say 24-36 hours after Lh surge, so I think sometime tomorrow most likely. I’m on the lookout for other signs eg twinges and cm - although I find cm harder to monitor though now we’re having sex so much more often!

Think I’m going to see if we can try tomorrow morning before work then maybe Tuesday evening. We get up quite early for work so don’t usually dtd in the morning on weekdays but I feel that might be best way to get in right before ovulation and is a different tactic for us to try!

Hi everyone! Welcome @VenusStarr

I've had a busy weekend and AF is almost over so I'm excited to get going with SMEP!

An update on Ava- I've been drinking all weekend and it totally messed up my BBT chart but Ava still recorded a net lower temperature as would be expected with AF so I'm definitely loving it. At the moment I'm still taking my temps as well so I can compare and probably will do till the end of this cycle so I can see differences but I'm feeling fairly good about it so far!

How are you doing @AllHopeAndNoResults? I'm excited we'll both be getting going soon so lots to smile about!

When is everyone else planning on starting with SMEP or who has started already? @Jen306 @Skyla01 @Constance1234

@tinyole I’ve already started although not 100% on plan for various reasons! Got my peak OPK today!

@Jen306 sorry I think I missed a few messages and just went back and had a look! Yay for peak day! How often have you been testing with the opk day?

Tbh I’m feeling a little less optimistic as the days go by. I’m on day 37 and the longer my cycle goes the less likely SMEP will work 😭😭

I’ve noted down all this months AF symptoms so I won’t get my hopes up next month. The GP said with low progesterone my body could give me all pregnancy symptoms without the pregnancy 😕 so I wanted to make a note.

Glad to see everyone else is feeling good about starting. Have any of you prepared anything particular? I’m buying my preseed this week and changing over to CB digital 😊

Sorry just read through and can see peak days for some. Woohooo get to DTD!!

Hopefully we will be hearing some BFPs this month. Fingers crossed.

@tinyole you are convincing me more to get AVA. I think I’ll try this month manually so to speak 😂 then perhaps buy one for the cycle after. Thank god your AF is nearly over! You’re a little ahead of me and it all sounds promising for you eeek! Xx

@tinyole so I'm not actually following the smep plan. Forgotten how I ended up on this thread! Will use smep in the future if my cycles are shorter/regular. Currently DTD every 3rd day. Got flashing smiley on cb today which means start of fertile window. Maybe should be DTD more often now? But don't want to run out of steam. Waiting for static smiley which = peak fertility. Might wait for that or ewcm then start DTD daily.

@AllHopeAndNoResults I think smep can still work for you, just with a long cycle it's more effort required DTD-wise. So if you have the stamina still go for it! Otherwise perhaps delay starting it? I think the smep plan starts day 8 which is very early if you have a longer cycle. Maybe start day 15 instead? Remind me, do you always have long cycles?

@skyla01 no worries if you aren’t doing SMEP. Essentially we are all doing the same thing trying to conceive while dtd 😉 so all tips and pointers are welcome.

My cycles are long usually yes. Every so often I’ll have a particularly long and heavy cycle. I think that’s this month 😭

I’m trying to maximise as much as I can with vitamins, preseed (I’ve heard very good things) temping, CB OPK. I think the start day was day 10 but you say 15 so really I should check that in case I have it wrong. Perhaps I’ll just test my ovulation every day. Do people do that??

This is the thing I worry about, will I have the stamina? And when we was a little spritier (is that a word?!) we did dtd a lot and still nothing so I’m not sure how I feel.

But I will say I’ve never put this much effort as much as I am this month so maybe it will work who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Skyla01 Sounds like what you're doing is fairly similar to SMEP anyway! How have you found it stamina wise? I got a bit exhausted last cycle and we need to do it more often this month.

Does anyone else get really hot before AF arrives? I know the weather is warm but more like hot flushes?

Also do you guys advocate the CB opk over the cheapie ones? If so why? I've got loads of the cheapie ones and was planning on sticking with them 😂😂

@AllHopeAndNoResults I think smep officially starts DTD from day 8. I meant that if you have a long cycle you won't ovulate until later so to save some energy you could start regular DTD from a later date in your cycle, and still follow the smep plan from then. And yes I think some people test for ovulation the whole cycle until they get a positive.

@tinyole I've only just started regular DTD for this cycle, but it does feel like a bit of s chore after a while. Hence why I'm not going full smep. Will try and DTD every day if I think ovulation in imminent. I've only used cb opk, but I think people have success with both. If you find ic work for you keep with them. You'll save a lot of pennies!

@Skyla01 just checked in my notes and you are right. However for my longer cycles it advised to start dtd on day 10 and opk day 15.

If this works I’ll be completely gobsmacked because surely in my many years of trying I’ve had to at least dtd on the right day once?! Haha!

I’m going to opk every day though just to make doubly sure 😁

I personally like the CB digital OPKs more because they work with fmu therefore I take them at the same time consistently and don’t have to worry about taking one at work e.g. between 10-2 which most OPKs advise as optimal time. And dead easy to interpret but for me that’s just the added bonus.
I buy a box of 20 from amazon for around £30 and they do 2/3 months for me so that’s not too bad a price to pay. I guess if you have longer or less predictable cycles that would be different.