Cycle help? Wasn't taught in school

[SweetSunflowerBoo]

Basically I was never taught anything in school years ago about cycles or implantation or ovulation or fertile time or anything! I am SSOOOO confused on it all!!

All I know is once a month you get your period and I honestly feel so embarrassed only clearly understanding that!!!

Can anyone dumb it down for me to what I need to know?

I got my period 8th jan-11th jan and starting TTC from today.

Cycle??
Ovulation??
Fertile days?? When do these all happen??
Implantation??
When to test??

ANNNYYYY information would be really helpful !! (Also I don't understand most abbreviations besides TTC)

Thanks!!

@SweetSunflowerBoo hi! Don't feel embarrassed. There's always time to learn new things! The first thing to do is to look back on previous periods. Have you recorded when they were? If not, start doing that from now on. That will give you an indication of how long your cycles are. No 2 people are the same but the 'average' cycle is 28 days with ovulation (if you are indeed ovulating) occurring about 12-14 days before your period arrives. The day you have a full flow (not just spotting) is counted as cycle day 1 (CD1). Based on the average cycle that means typically you would ovulate around CD14 and your fertile days would be the days leading up to that. This means it's better to be having regular sex BEFORE you ovulate so that there's plenty of sperm hanging about ready to fertilise the egg. DPO stands for days post ovulation. So for example, a week after you've ovulated you would be 7DPO. Typically this is when implantation happens but it can range from 7-12DPO. Some people get faint positive test from 8DPO but it's best to wait until your period is late for the most accurate result! I hope this helps. If you've not been tracking your periods I recommend downloading an app such as Flo or femometer to get you started. Some abbreviations off the top of my head that you might be confused about:

CD - cycle day
DPO - days post ovulation
DTD/BD - do the deed/baby dance (sex)
BFP - big fat positive
BFN - big fat negative
OPK - ovulation predictor kit

@Stabal thank you so much!!! That's really helped already. I just wish it was mandatory to teach all of this in school!
Yes I use an app to track my periods to help

Thank you!!

Why should a school have to teach this? I don't recall ever being taught about any if it in school other than girls have periods/unprotected sex gets you pregnant, the rest was learned from Google/life/period tracking apps, I thought that was fairly standard for anyone under 40.

@Garman why WOULDNT a school teach this??? Most of the population is female so we should know all this!! We shouldn't have to google it. Plus all the answers online are completely different.

@Garman what an ignorant response. This is exactly the type of stuff that should be taught in school, not this nonsense of "if you so much as look at a boy at any time you'll get pregnant" 🙄

@Stabal it's people like that who respond with stuff like that, that makes me feel embarrassed for even asking yet I have a right to know all this being a woman myself. We shouldn't have to look it up ourselves to learn

It really should be taught in schools, not just the basics. Both females and males should have much more Info and understanding on how reproduction works. I feel it helps that men understand what's going on in a women's body when ttc , helped my Dh when I sat down and explained it all.

Also think the first lady's response was on point and covered most of it, maybe only thing to add is you can get ovulation test strips that would help you pin point when ur about to ovulate (these can be cheap from eBay or think clear blue do one that's more expensive) Xx

We shouldn't have to look it up ourselves to learn

What? Why not? It's a basic skill to be able to learn independently.

Good luck TTC

That last line was genuine btw not sarcastic, I realise it reads wrong

Brilliant question, and a very good answer!! This is from a 45 year old with 2dc.

@CorianderBee

That last line was genuine btw not sarcastic, I realise it reads wrong

Thanks for clearing that up haha. I did read it a bit sarcastically at first

The only reason it's not good looking it up, Is because every website I go on is completely different and gives different answers so I'm not sure what is actually true or not now. I've read so many different things that I'm not sure the truth

@boymum88 I didn't mention the OPKs because she's only just starting to try and I think it can all get very overwhelming very quickly when you start all that stuff. For the meantime I think it's best to just have regular sex and see how it goes

@Stabal
I was pregnant September last year but had a miscarriage- so this month I've gone back in TTC with a new mind set so I feel getting to know all this may help me and ease my nerves by being more knowledgeable and prepared

I don't think I'll be using the OPK things because that's just a whole other level of confusing

@SweetSunflowerBoo so sorry you've been through that 😔 I finally fell pregnant in March last year after TTC for 2 years but miscarried in the May. Such a horrible experience to go through.

@Stabal I'm sorry for your loss too. It's horrible and tough to get through

Try here, I found useful.

www.befertilityaware.co.uk

@Bellevu thanks!

@Stabal

Thank you for your post I just posted my own thread with loads of questions but only one response so far (was helpful and it’s still early) but this was helpful for me too. I feel stupid too because I have no idea what a luteal phase is and had never even heard of follicular phase thingy and all that .. so many questions and I feel so stupid! So I’m just waiting now. I marry feb 14th in Tunisia, almost all booked and ready to go, and will be ttc from the wedding night. I am a traditional girl want to be married and secure first!!!

@corianderbee seriously? We need to know about Vasco da Gama, the Jurassic coast and all main rivers in Europe but not about how our own bodies function? Go look it up yourself is such a poor phrase to hide behind.

[quote Juno231]@corianderbee seriously? We need to know about Vasco da Gama, the Jurassic coast and all main rivers in Europe but not about how our own bodies function? Go look it up yourself is such a poor phrase to hide behind.[/quote]
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 well said