I don’t understand how you get pregnant

[Tableaufox]

OK I’m not stupid, I get the basics. I also learned a fair bit from a friend who over shared in her journey for comfort and went on about LH.

I went off the pill a year ago, my periods were pretty normal with cycles going from 29-32 days. Heavy periods same as before I went on the pill 10 years prior.

DH and I are now wanting to conceive, it’s my first month where I knew I was ovulating (pain in ovaries every month! As well as the EW discharge). We had sex when I was ovulating.

I am now on CD33 but this month has been awful. A few days after ovulation I began getting UTI symptoms for the first time as an adult. I tried two diff antibiotics and I’m still not 100%. I’ve not read this being pregnancy related but I also never had a UTI before. I’ve done two early Clearblue tests, both negative. I now only have the digital one remaining.

When should I use the digital to be sure I’m not wasting it? For example, if my period isn’t here tomorrow and I test and it’s negative, does this mean I’m definitely not pregnant and have another issue?

I don’t really understand half the lingo on here or what I should be doing to help this all work :(

If your longest cycle has been 32 days I’d do the test with the first wee on day 33.

When did you do the tests?

If you're struggling to identify when your fertile days are, I found the clear blue advanced digital ovulation tests to be really helpful. It's designed to identify all of your (typically 4ish) fertile days in a given cycle, rather than just your peak (as standard ovulation tests do) so it lets you maximise your chances. I got pregnant second cycle using it.

I would take the test on day 33.

However, at this stage, you need to just be aiming to have frequent sex, particularly in the middle of your cycle. Exactly when you ovulate may be difficult to know from your cycle and as you're on month one, obsessing over ovulation windows and temperatures and all the rest of it would be a mistake. I know that's easier said than done.

But a fertility specialist once told me that most couples with no fertility issues and who are having enough sex will get pregnant within 3 months. Couples who DO have fertility issues will take upwards of 18 months.

I’m 36 I’ve been ttc the last 3 months had positive ovulation tests day 25/26 I’ve just started testing again and yesterday day 10/11 came up flashing smile I wasn’t expecting it so early my cycles are 40-54 anyone had this should I just start the deed now ?

My advice is have sex every other day from as soon as your period ends until a couple of days after ovulation. Then wait until you're sure your period is late to test.

Statistically most people don’t get pregnant their first month of trying even if they’re having sex every day (or every other day) and know when they’re ovulating. If you’re late, test. If your period hasn’t shown up in a couple of days test again. If your period doesn’t turn up in a week or so contact your GP.

I think having sex every other day after your period ends for the next 10-14 days is a fairly safe bet that you'll hit your fertile window with your cycle lengrh

For me, I realised that we needed to have sex pretty much the day after my period stopped. I'd tried 6 months waiting for the "fertility window" as per all the guidance (which I think is a few days after?), but my body was calibrated differently. As soon as we started earlier, I got pregnant immediately (both times).

About 12 days after you ovulated.

Today, but as I mentioned this desire to urinate often means I don’t have a “morning wee” and I also always wee during the night and always have. So I have always wondered when is best. So I did the test this morning with a few hours held wee. The other test was yesterday afternoon as DH really wanted to know.

I do want to be clear we had frequent sex (we were on holiday) but usually when I’m ovulating I avoid PIV as a contraception method

If you wait long enough in your cycle you can test any time of day. I would wait until after your period is due.

It took me 18 months to get pregnant after I had the implant.

It’s best to have sex regularly in the 4 days before ovulation, then on the day ovulation.

If you just wait till ovulation you might have missed your chance… you want the sperm to have made their way up the fallopian tubes and be ready and waiting for ovulation.

I started testing 12 days post ovulation (often referred to as dpo). This probably the earliest you can get a positive. Much more reliable after 14dpo.

The first time it took a year to get pregnant, the second time it was first go. It’s variable. Try not to worry and just have regular sex.

If you have to wee in the early hours and can't hold alllll night then wee in a little pot and you can test when you wake up properly. That's the only way I can think of getting a decent hold if you can't during the day.

As long as you don’t drink much water overnight your wee should still be nice and strong in the morning even if it’s not actually your “first” morning urine.

It just means that it might take a couple of days longer for a positive to show up. I want to say don’t stress about it, but I also know that I have done a lot of pregnancy tests at 3am 😅

When I was TTC I just used cheap tests until I got a positive on those, then used the digital to confirm - I also felt like I didn't want to 'waste' it. And to be honest, any other regular test should be able to pick up a pregnancy, it's just that the digital ones tell you how many weeks as well.

I just started doing a daily test from about 9DPO, and continued with those for as long as it took to get either a positive or my period arriving, I wasn't really counting the days to know when my period was due exactly.

You could also look at FRER (First Response Early Result) tests which are supposed to be super sensitive to pick up a pregnancy like a week before your period is due, if you can't bear the waiting.

I would wait til you are a good bit late so there is no doubting the result. No 'is there a line or not' debate.

OP don't worry about the lingo, ovulation tracking, morning urine. Women have been getting pregnant for centuries with none of that.
What worked for us twice was to start having sex the moment my period finished, every day, and continue until reaching the length of the longest cycle I'd ever had. I tested on the day period due for the average cycle length (for me 33).
I'd really recommend avoiding testing before a period is due. If you get a positive and then your period comes on time, it's a chemical pregnancy and not a miscarriage and just causes heartache, when in fact it was never going to be a successful pregnancy anyway. Unfortunately super accurate early tests nowadays encourage women to spend lots of money on expensive tests testing early and it's really not necessary, or emotionally helpful.
Make sure you're taking folic acid and vitamin D.