Have I even ovulated??

[RRM]

Hi, first time poster here.

First of all, my partner and I have been taking proceive since April, tablet form for me but powder for my partner as he is over 40.

We started trying last week, I got clearblue advanced ovulation tests and on 10th July this week it came up blank circle, then on Tuesday it started flashing smiley face, same for yesterday (tested twice morning and afternoon same thing) and today. I’m getting worried there’s no static smiley face?? Am I not even ovulating or have I missed the surge? We’ve been at it nearly every day so getting a little fed up now.

My last period was on 29th June, i usually have 26-28 day cycles. I always have ovulation cramps in lower belly from days 9-12 but this time it’s different, since Monday I’ve had deep ache on both sides of belly then the lower front and back. It comes and goes. Yesterday it was a deeper dull ache on right side where the ovary is and again today but on and off.
I’ve never had this kind of pain before. I had egg white mucus on Thursday 6th and 7th, but stopped after that surely I can’t have ovulated that early?

For the past couple of days I feel so hot, I need the windows open! Normally I feel the cold a bit more than other people. I’ve had my thyroid tested and everything came back good. Doctor told me some people are just a bit more sensitive to the cold than others and I’m one of them.
Also my nose got so stuffy, I’m not even poorly, I’m my usual self but all this new symptoms are so weird.

I’m only 14 days since my last period so I think it’s way too early for all this unusual deeper cramping?

Tracking your basal temperature will give you far more insight into your cycle and will confirm ovulation. If your period was on the 29th and you normally get ovulation pains around cycle days 9-12 then were you checking earlier than the 10th of July?

I know a few people who couldn’t get on with the Clearblue ovulation tests. Try the ic strips, they’re cheap and cheerful and consider tracking your bbt, it takes away the doubt.

Is it too late to track my body temperature now? As wouldn’t be able to compare today vs the week before.

I did a trial couple of months ago to see what my ovulation was like, I did testing from day 6, no flashing smiley face until day 12 but didn’t carry on after that. Now just the same this time around but I’ve continued testing, so that’s Tuesday, Wednesday and today with flashing face. Doesn’t make sense with the deep cramping I’ve had this week if I’m just having high fertility and no peak fertility.

I’ll have a look into the cheap strips, are they more reliable than clearblue?

Start temping at the start of your next cycle if you don’t fall pregnant on this one. You’ll need a basal thermometer anyway. Plug your temperatures into an app like Fertility Friend (free) and it’ll confirm ovulation.

I’m not saying the strips are better, I know know a few people who didn’t get on with the Clearblue ovulation indicator. I only used the strips and found them great and because they’re cheap you tend to test more because you should be testing around 3 times a day coming up to predicted ovulation.

I'm not sure about the clearblue because I use one step cheapie strips and always manage to catch mine but have to test twice a day from CD10 onwards coz sometimes it can happen a day later or earlier. But I have seen someone post on here that they had flashing smiley on CB digital for a week before they got the solid smiley so I'm not sure if that's normal. Maybe try the strips and you usually know your own body, I know when I'm about to ovulate I get a good lead up like 2-3 days cramping before it actually happens 🤞

I found the Premom app and strips very good. You get a better picture of your LH increasing before ovulation compared to the Clear blue. You take a picture of the strip and it makes a nice graph for you.

Egg white mucus can be a couple of days before ovulation, but it generally means it’s a “fertile” time.

Hiya, My cycle is similar to yours. I started on the 28th June and period ended on the 6th July. I have a 28 day cycle. Ive been tracking my cycle via momed strips and the premom app. My ovulation according to them is around 24hrs from now. Ive attached a screenshot so you have an idea of how the app works/looks. Youl be able to see my LH levels are high from this mornings test.
I would reccommend the ovulation strips from momed. They come with a little booklet/diary to track manually or you can do via the app as well as little cups to dip the tests in.

I just did another test this afternoon as had read that others got their lh surge in the afternoon when it didn’t show up in the morning test.
im not sure if it’s just me but the last 2 I can see a big difference from this morning vs this afternoon? The lines seem darker does that mean I possibly could have static face tomorrow?

if I don’t get pregnant this time around I will for sure use premom tests, I’ve downloaded the app. I’ve put all my symptoms and when I’ve made love, it still pinpoints my ovulation to be yesterday 🙃 I must have missed it then or I didn’t ovulate at all.

@RRM I wouldnt just go off the app tbh. According to the app my ovulation was 2 days ago but from my ovulation strips its around todayish. We are both on a similar cycle around a days diff, although everyones body is different I think you possibly may still have a chance 🤞. Let us know how you get on.. youve got this! ❤️❤️

Thank you, I tested again this morning, still flashing smiley face I’m devastated. The lines are lighter than yesterday so guess I didn’t ovulate this time. Never knew all this planned baby making could be so stressful 😢

Baby dust to everyone’s who’s trying 🥺

@RRM chin up 💐 how are you coping now? It has only been one cycle, and tracking LH takes time to understand. I’ve already got one baby, and I’m TTC the next one now - I still make mistakes with my OPK tracking, and I’m still experimenting to find the right brand and app for me. Day 14 came and went for me this cycle, and I kept testing, with no peak, and then all of a sudden I had a peak on day 20! So keep testing. Also, many women don’t show a LH peak, but only know they ovulate thanks to BBT. Are you tracking your BBT? It’s the only way to be sure you’ve Oved.

Stick with it, OP, don’t burn yourselves out, and try to lower your expectations - you can’t be left devastated every month, you’ll make yourself stressed and ill. Remember, there is only about a 20% chance of conception each month which is why it takes over 12 months on average. Best of luck to you, but this is highly likely to take many more months, and that is completely normal and healthy x

@FoodFann turns out I did have a bad cold from ear infection, I just got better earlier today and feeling all the cramps just this evening, the discharge is changing from dry to wet so hopefully egg white mucus will be along soon 🤞🏻 the cold might have delayed ovulation but I’m not keeping my hopes up. I did a test this morning, still flashing face. Got 3 test sticks left then that’s it till next month then will be using the premom strips.

it’s just getting me down when my mum just picked a month to try for my sibling and she got pregnant straightaway without issues so got me worried if it won’t happen the same with me. I was an accident, no issues with both pregnancies so was hoping I’d be lucky enough like her.

We don’t have a lot of time to keep trying, my partner is older and it’ll be our first baby so don’t want to leave too long. we were hoping to have at least 2 kids before he hits the big 50.

anyway, if it doesn’t happen this time around I don’t think I’ll try again next month but to use that month to pinpoint exactly when I have ovulation using strips and bbt and try again later. I don’t think I could have used bbt this week as I had high fever from the cold for couple of days.

if you don’t mind me asking, how long did you try for your first baby? I have
a couple of friends who got pregnant after a few months of trying, few others conceived by accident through one night stand or right after they got into a relationship. Truly strange how things work that way.

Trackong your body temp will only conform that ovulation has happened and it is too late to DTD but if you want to track for a while for your records go ahead but if you are actively TTC Then OPKs are the best. So.e women have 2 surges of LH on their cycle. And the 2nd surge is when ovualtion occurs.

Google Sperm Meets Eggs Programs.

@RRM yes it is truly strange! My Mum just let nature take its course and stopped using protection for 5+ years before a baby came along, then she was pregnant again 4 months post partum. Very mysterious!

The best way to make a baby is to have lots of sex. Simple as that. I know that sounds really patronising, and I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but if you want to make two babies pronto, you gotta get to business! In my humble opinion, pausing your efforts to try to pinpoint your ovulation is non-sensical. By the time you've detected ovulation it’ll be too late to dtd. You want to have already dtd before ovulation, so frequent sex is necessary. Also, just because you’ve pinpointed ovulation to day X one month doesn’t mean that’s your schedule every month. Mine changes a lot.

That said, we got lucky and only managed to have sex twice the whole month we conceived (day 11 and day 13). We used the SMEP in previous months (which is often successful because it includes lots of sex - every other day). It took 4 cycles to conceive. Now we’re on cycle 8 and still not pregnant with baby 2. These things take time, and like you’ve said, having a cold, or a stressful week, or eating the wrong thing, could all make a difference. Keep yourself healthy and most importantly stay happy and focussed on your relationship with DH. Best of luck to you x

Decided to do a pregnancy test this morning after bad cramps for the last couple of days with nausea last night plus sore boobs. Started having headache earlier today but far less cramping, although very very bloated I looked like I was 5 months pregnant this morning. Quite gassy and jumping between feeling like I need to do a BM then it’s constipated, I can see a very very faint line. If it’s real then I guess I did ovulate earlier than I thought and that I started testing for lh too late. so I might just be about 8 dpo, thereabouts. Not keeping my hopes up, will continue testing each day for both hcg and ovulation levels until ultra early digital clearblue confirms whether im pregnant or not which I can start testing this weekend as I’m expected af on 27th.

my partner and I did the deed almost everyday from 7th July till the other day just to make sure we cover all bases, so looks like we started just couple days before ovulation and continued afterwards thinking I’d ov on day 14-15 🙈

so guess it’s just a wait and see 🤞🏻.

Ooomg it’s looking hopeful @RRM very best of luck 🤞🏻 Let us know!

@FoodFann thank you! I will keep you updated with the progress if there is any. Tried out the easy home strips I ordered yesterday, as I hear it usually rises each day just before there is a bfp because of the hormones or something. Did one once it got here, it’s was 0.04 last night then 0.17 this morning now up to 0.21 late this afternoon so maybe it’s a sign things are going the way it is supposed to be 🤞🏻

let me know how you get on with this cycle, hope you get your #2 baby ☺️