Post Pill TTC - Rave on

[Juno231]

It’s that time again, the 6th post-pill thread of ladies who are experiencing the highs and lows (mainly the lows…) of coming off the pill and TTC! Here you’ll find stories of delayed ovulation, crazy long follicular phases, crazy short follicular phases, light AFs, short luteal phases, long luteal phases, confusing temp charts and blindingly white OPKs, to name a few.

Join us, won’t you? We're a lovely bunch and we'd love to help you make sense of post-pill life if we can!

Welcome back:
@kay00
@Moocher90
@MintGreenLife
@Emmgrem
@Nellieee
@TheHotelCalifornia
@ams19
@chinchilly
@MancMama39
@sperr
@crabette
@charwils
@LauraT94
@TheDaydreamBelievers
@cams50
@robyn101
@abi555
@luna57
@tillybabs
@MissC07
@mrsmacmc

@AMS19 I hope everything goes ok tomorrow

@crabette Sorry to hear about your grandmother

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate all the support ❤❤

My first cycle after the withdrawal bleed was 38 days so this is my first month TTC and I need some advice.
I got a peak OPK on CD18 but have not got a spike in my temp yet. Can the spike post ovulation be a gradual increase?
I'm now also getting EWCM today on CD20, is this normal or could I have not ovulated yet?

@Katelyn99 yes you can have a slow rise after ovulation, it is not always a big spike for everyone. I mostly have a slow rise, like my one last month, I have attached a photo. It took 3 days to get a clear rise. It looks like with your OPK and temps on the rise you have ovulated. But best to keep temping and see what happens in the next few days to see if your temps stay up. You need a sustained rise for 3 days to confirm ovulation.

@Cams50 we DTD today so I feel safe again and I’ve told him he owes me an extra this month so 🤞 for a peak tomorrow and I can get another in 😂

@AMS19 hope you’re alright and will be thinking of you 💖

@ams19 sending you and your partner lots of hugs for tomorrow x❤x

@crabette sorry to hear about your grandmother 😔

Hello, hoping I can join. I'm just on my first bleed after Cerelle (usually no periods at all on it). I have endometriosis so it sucks. Had sex a few times straight off the pill but I guess nothing happened yet! Hopefully I stop bleeding soon. Currently having a crisis of TTC conscience because of all the Covid bad news. I'm worried about contracting it if I get pregnant, whether that's through going for scans, or possible MC and having to attend hospital... I'm vulnerable but not on any list, just chronically ill. But I'm past 35 now so can't really wait. Really struggling with anxiety :(

So today I do not know what to think.... my oral temp was 35.99 and my vaginal temp was 36.46....that’s a lot of discrepancy there. I don’t feel cold either. My temp has never dropped as low as 35.99 before!

I have ordered a new thermometer as not really sure why the discrepancy is so much.
My OPKs are still stark white from testing FMU but will continue to test later. My RHR is 70 too. Will also continue to BD just in case I have not ovulated

Anyone got any ideas?

@Moocher90 this may sound daft but maybe you've just been sleeping with your mouth wide open? I'd happily do vaginal temps only but it's such a clean up during AF 😅

@moocher90 haha, im a mouth breather. Best to stick with the same method (oral) for this cycle but experiment with a different thermometer or new batteries? Do you have your temps recorded in a chart to share with us?

@minipilling sorry to hear about your anxiety, I suffer with anxiety too... and have episodes of panic attacks, its not fun is it 😔 I wouldn't think too much about the outside world, just focus on your own personal mission to get pregnant 😊 it can take a little while so its good to get started, and your withdrawal bleed is a great start! Im 35 years old too and I have been off the pill for about 6/7 months, this is my 4th cycle actively trying.

@Kay00 and @TheDaydreamBelievers

Yes it is quite possible I’m a mouth breather. I ordered a new thermometer yesterday and it’s the femometer brand and it’s just arrived via Amazon so shall check it out and use it tomorrow. Maybe it’s the battery in my old one and not giving me accurate temps.

I will make sure I’m still BDing in any case every other day and temping and doing OPKs daily. Don’t want to miss the opportunity this cycle.

@Moocher90 sounds to me like your vaginal temp may be more accurate and you've already ovulated and are in the LP - would explain your OPK's being stark white as well. I use a vaginal thermometer as I intermittently snore/mouth breath and so could never be sure if oral would be accurate or not

@AMS19 thinking of you

@minipilling TTC is a great distraction from everything else going on! I only started this month and still have become obsessed with googling random things/symptoms and as a consequence watch the news far less which is good for anxiety!

@abi555 I think next cycle I’m going to vaginally temp to see if it changes much.

@AMS19 hope today goes as well as it can ❤

@crabette so sorry for your loss, seems even harder over the holiday period too

@Sperr I started using Clearblue as a friend give me the few she had left, bought more for next cycle but managed to use them all and never detected a peak. I used easy@home OPKs this month as much cheaper and feel like I can test multiple times a day

@Robyn101 I tend to get quite a lot of CM so it's pretty easy to find haha! I also did a lot of googling! Also love your Ronan Keating drop 😂

@Moocher90 your temps seem like they are in the luteal range. Have you tried using pm wee instead?

Really thought I was out on Monday evening. Had cramps (strong enough to warrant a hot water bottle) through til Tuesday afternoon, actually popped some period pants in my work bag. Kept feeling wet and running to the toilet but having a lot of lotion like discharge. No sign of AF yet, not sure what is going on 😂 I'm glad though (for obvious reasons) but also only 9dpo today

@abi555 @Moocher90 although vaginal temps as a rule are much higher than oral so there's no point comparing the two or assuming you're in the LP based on the vaginal temps I'm afraid. I'd guess mouth open as well - I get that every now and then! I just make sure to close it for 5 min and then try again.

@Katelyn99 how are your temps today? I wouldn't say it's normal to have EWCM after OD but it does happen so don't worry about it. Any reason why you discarded the cd19 temp BTW? If that was OD then FF might need an extra day to identify if it's been told to ignore that temp :)

CD11 today and my femometer LH reading was 28% which constituted a "High". It usually means a peak in the next day or so. Managed to dtd yesterday and will try and get another round in tomorrow!

Healthy eating has somewhat started. I weighed myself on Sunday and it was my highest ever recorded weight lol 🤣. Luckily I've lost 1.5kg of water weight since but really need to get my ass in gear!

@KGH5121 at least it’s not just me! I may just give up on OPK! It’s my third month trying and I’ve never caught a peak even when testing 2 times a day. I had gone back to the office which was why I was trying clear blue as I could do them in the morning but I’m in tier 4 now so back home again. I may just give up on them altogether 😫.

@KGH5121 yes for the last 2 days I have been testing around 4 times. When I get up, 1ish 6ish and 9/10ish. Today the same and still stark white OPKs. I’ve got my new thermometer so will test it out in the morning and see if it maybe the thermometer that’s playing up. And from next cycle will vaginally temp

@Moocher90 I now vaginally temp and I find it a lot better. My temps are a lot more steady. But I use a sensor I wear all night so I don't have to wake up at the same time everyday as that really just didn't work for me. But as Juno said they tend to be a bit higher than oral temps.

I got a peak OPK today so I am relieved it looks like the chemical hasn't messed up my cycle and I am going to ovulate the same day as last cycle which is a first since coming off the pill🤞. Managed to BD yesterday so will try and persuade OH tomorrow as well to make sure we are covered.

@Flowers222 in the previous thread I said I was going to try vaginal temping but didn’t 😳 but I will next time as I can’t be dealing with the inconsistencies and the unknowns of if I have or haven’t I ovulated 😂 I wake up everyday at 6am to do it to then get annoyed because the two temps are so much different and I totally understand that vaginal temps are higher but I didn’t think it would be 0.47 more maybe half that

Glad to hear you are peaking again since your chemical! Must be a relief to know it’s not messed up your cycle x

I will continue to BD every other day and opk and temp everyday.

@Flowers222 Do you use ovusense by any chance? I've just bought one as I wake at a different time for work on different days so trying to temp at the same time each morning is difficult (as well as the mouth-breathing thing!) Wondering how accurate you find it if so? I've read some good reviews but haven't spoken to anyone who has previously used it.
Good news about your peak - fingers crossed for this cycle!

@abi555 I see lots of ladies on reddit using it and it seems reliable enough for patterns that's for sure! There's def a few cycle's worth of learning curve for it at times though where it learns your body's pattern and therefore might produce slightly wacky results at first.

@abi555 yes I do use OvuSense! I'm currently on my 4th cycle with it and I find it really good. Makes temping really easy as you don't have to worry about doing it at the same time. It has picked up on ovulation for all my cycles so far and I use FF as well just as a check and seems accurate. I have attached one of my previous charts from OvuSense.

But as @Juno231 said there can be a bit of a learning curve, I don't think my predictions are right yet and I know some people get ovulation confirmed at weird times to begin with. There is an OvuSense Facebook group that I found really useful when first starting.

For the ladies who do temping, do you also do OPKs?

@Tillybabs I do! I think most of us do opks tbh. How come? I like the bbt to confirm I have ovulated but need the opk to know it's happening in advance if that makes sense?