CM experts? Advice gratefully recieved...

[hattyyellow]

Brain a bit slow as first day back at work.

I have regular cycles of between 28 and 30 days.

Last few months have only noticed one day of obvious dollop of(what looks to me like) EWCM on day 13...

Got it yesterday morning and we BD'd last night and day before..

What confuses me is how soon after EWCM is obvious, the fertile period lasts for how long?...how near does that mean the egg is once you've seen the EWCM? hours away? days away?

DH now away until Friday (day 16) - will that be too late?

Have been googling furiously but can't seem to find a definitive answer..

Hello there Hatty. Let me see if I can help.

CM patterns tend to go like this (I say tend because obviously everyone's different); you start off dry following your period, you may then begin to feel a little sticky. This soon turns to a creamy CM, which is said to look most like hand lotion. Following this, you should start to get your fertile CM - this can be watery followed by EWCM, just watery or just EW. Whichever combination you get, this usually indicates that your fertile period is beginning.

Your fertile CM will start a few days before ovulation and usually dries up the day after ovulation. Statistically, there is an average window of about 4 or 5 days in which you have the chance to conceiev in each cycle (and even if you time everything perfectly, there's still only around a 1 in 5 chance of conception occuring). As sperm can survive in fertile CM for to up 4 or 5 days, you should start having sex as soon as you spot some fertile CM. Once released, an egg has a life span of up to 24 hours. This means that you can increase your chances of conception if start to have sex as soon as you see fertile CM and continue until it dries up. Another good tip I read elsewhere is to try having sex every other day from when your period ends. I don't think that my DH would be up to that but you could be lucky!

With regard to the actual cycle days for ovulation and when you should have sex, it's difficult to be that precise because every woman is different and the the length of your cycle pre-ovulation can vary. Rather than try to pick out specific days, I'd suggest keeping an eye out for both watery and egg white CM and going for it as soon as you spot it.

Good luck - fingers crossed for you!

Oops, forgot to add that your timing looks good for this cycle - if you had some EWCM yesterday morning and you had sex both the day before and the day of the EWCM, you could well have some sperm ready and waiting for the egg once it's released. Without knowing your exact date of ovulation, I'd say go for it again once DG is back on Friday, as that's only three days on from when you first noticed your EWCM and there's a chance it still falls within your fertile window.

Cheers FP! I really appreciate your help...will drag DH off on Friday too! Fingers crossed this is our lucky month

Don't think I am an expert, but always willing to add my tuppence worth

The problem with CM is that it can differ from month to month, depending on varying factors, how hydrated you are, if you have a cold. And it differs from woman to woman. However, the general consensus seems to be that whilst you have EW you are fertile, because the semen can happily live in the EW for a few days, and once it dries up, you are apparently past your fertile phase for that cycle. The problem is, sometimes you may have the CM but it doesn't always show itself and so unless you go hunting then you might think you are not fertile, but you are. If you see what I mean.

The more hydrated you are, the more likely to are to see your CM, I would say.

But again, I am no expert. Don't think there is a definitive answer - no matter how much you google

Good luck

Cheers Ready, that's really useful stuff..didn't know that about hydration levels....

Cheers Ready, that's really useful stuff..didn't know that about hydration levels....

Well... it could be an old wives tale... but I do find that when I have drunk more water I notice more CM

Cheers all, this is really useful stuff - am making notes. Fingers crossed for this month!

Fingers crossed indeed