Temping / OPK help

[AliBear90]

Hello,
I am very new to ttc, I have a 2 year old but she was conceived within 1 month of coming of the pill so never had a chance to properly try if that makes sense. We now want to try for a second baby. Month 1 is about finished, just waiting for af to arrive (due in 2 days, frer bfn so sure we haven’t conceived this cycle).

Thing is I’m not sure I ovulated this cycle, as never saw any ewcm (until today weirdly) and that’s how I was going to track just using cm as I felt it feels less really like trying then, less pressure etc. Although really you know you’re trying either way so no real difference I guess.

Anyway I know very little about temping or OPKs but would like a way to pin down ovulation and ensure that we dtd at the right times. I’ve googled about them both obviously and was considering the easy@home ovulation strips with the premom app. However I’m not sure how these work with working 9-5. I’m sure I read they need to be done in afternoon, not fmu. Can they be done in the evening when I’m back at home? Say 7pm? Do they need to be same time every day? Do I need to hold my urine before doing them like with a pregnancy test? And I assume the app tells me when peak is etc? How reliable do people find them (particularly this brand)? And when do we have sex around this?

Other option is bbt, in which case I’m open to thermometer recommendations. I know that needs to be done first thing in the morning, same time each day before moving / eating / drinking / peeing etc. What happens if I get up late one day? Does that make a big difference? I like to sleep later on the weekends generally speaking (obviously not very late with a 2 year old but more 7:30am instead of 6am).

Sorry for all the questions, I’m just lost in which is the best option for me. Would rather only start with trying one method and add the other later if we feel we need to. My partner already thinks we shouldn’t do either and that I’m going to be putting too much pressure on it either way. But I like to feel in control and would like to know everything is timed right and also helps with knowing ovulation as to when best time to test is (ie 14dpo) currently my guess is anywhere that puts me between 16dpo and 11dpo today.

Thank you everyone for your answers!

Hi OP,

have you just come off the pill again? You might need some time for your cycles to regulate so ovulation might just be later (as in soon with your ewcm today).

I'm just going to share my experience - not saying that's the way to do but it works for me.

I used to temp with my first and second pregnancy. It takes a while to get into it and it will only confirm ovulation 3 days after it happened so it can't be used to make sure you get your fertile days right until it's too late and your fertile window has passed. I still loved it because it gave me confirmation where in my cycle I was and how long my luteal phase is etc.
I combined it with OPKs too. (Now I'm not temping but ttc I use the easy @ home ones, they have different ones and I buy the 50pck without the pregnancy tests as the OPKs are wider and I like them better). I use the Premom App too. I love it but you have to set your peak yourself -I think- it does give you high readings though, it's quite easy to use. I use them at least 4 times a day because I'm worried about missing the peak. Might be obsessive, but I only use them when I notice a change in CM. This has works great so far, we managed to conceive 6 times.

@AliBear90 I just do the OPKs at work if needed - I bring a little cup with me (came with one of my opk packs once) and it only takes 2-3 min to get a result just like a pregnancy test. But yes you do need to hold your wee a couple of hours and SMU is meant to be most accurate. You can still do it in the evening around 7 but you could end up missing your peak that way.

As the previous poster said - BBT is great but won't tell you in advance when to DTD as it only confirms ovulation after the fact. Perhaps you'd be most comfortable doing both so that in case you worry you've missed your peak you'd have the confirmation through BBT? That's what I ended up doing as I was always second guessing the OPKs. Waking up late occasionally shouldn't be a problem BBT wise, but perhaps avoid doing that on the days you think you might be ovulating :)

Btw it's common to get a second lot of EWCM around 6-8dpo so that could be where you're at right now?

Thank you both for your help, not come off the pill but did have my implant removed at the start of January, so could still be cycles being irregular. I had a withdrawal bleed a week or so after removed then a period a couple of weeks later then a 28 day cycle until my last period, and am currently day 26 of this cycle. I didn’t pay any attention to things last month if I’m honest as we used condoms last month as we we still needed to make sure we had everything 100% ready for trying for a baby (working out childcare costs / finances etc). I probably should have paid more attention to my cycle though as it might have made it easier to track this time.

So it sounds like opks might be more the way to go for me, and you’re saying smu after a couple of hours holding? And do they need to be the same time everyday or just smu whenever that is? Also do you start dtd as soon as you get 2 lines? Or do you wait until the test line is super strong? Sorry for all of the questions!

@AliBear90 SMU tends to be best but it doesn't have to be SMU - normally the instructions just say to avoid FMU and not to test past 8pm. As long as you have held it for a couple of hours and you're not overly diluted then it's fine. You might need to use 2-3 tests on the days where it looks like a peak is imminent though.

The peak is when the test line is as strong or stronger than the control line - once you get that it tells you ovulation is anywhere from 12-36 hours away so ideally you will have DTD regularly in the run up so you're not taken unawares. If you have a 28 day cycle then every other day from day 10 to 20 should cover you until you figure out when you tend to ovulate.

Some ladies have a second line building steadily in the run up, others go from nothing to peak in a day so relying on the second line pre peak to time DTD can be misleading.