30 hour ovulation, help?

[SydneyFlower]

Hi lovely people. I’m a long time lurker but first time poster on this thread. Was hoping for some advice on TTC as my husband works away a lot so timing is really key for us.

Hoping someone can help with timings as I’m confusing myself a little bit here.

I got a smiley face on the pink clear blue tests (which don’t flash) on Monday, so dtd on Monday evening. My husband has since been away with work and tonight (Wednesday) I’ve started to feel cramps which I think may be ovulation pain. I guess that makes sense being 48 hours later as i have read that the tests can signal ovulation is coming in 24-48 hours. However when googling it it says the actual egg can take 30 hours to travel down, is this right? In which case the egg wouldn’t actually be there ready to be fertilised until almost Friday? By which time it would have been almost 5 days since we DTD (he’s away until the weekend).

Am I just being a bit stupid/missing something or should I actually be waiting 3-5 days after my smiley face to dtd (timing is key as he’s always away!)

thanks so much for reading my mega long post and any advice would be appreciated xxx

TBH, I never got on with urine OPK's, so changed to a reusable, saliva type. I could always see when I was ovulating, unlike the expensive urine ones. I'd read that the actual peak fertility time varies based on age, so in your 20's would be much longer than in your 40's. I would be DTD when you see smiley face and not waiting many days though. Could you organise a weekend away during your next peak time? I used to do this but not tell DH the reason. Just a little weekend away. Best of luck.

It depends on the individual. Ovulation from surge to release of egg can happen as little as 12 hours and as long as 3 days. You then have 12-24 hours to fertilise the egg and it then takes about 5 days to travel down the fallopian tube

Thanks so much, I have never heard of a saliva test and have been googling them, every day is a school day! Really appreciate your advice xx

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond 🩷 I guess I’m confusing myself about the travel time from the release of the egg until it meets the sperm (which is hopefully they’re waiting!!). I read 30 hours so wondering if I needed to add that on to the time from surge to ovulation but now I think I’m probably wrong!

My saliva OPK was bought abroad and called 'Maybe Baby' but other brands are available online in the UK. My UK friends have also never heard of them! Its like a tiny microscope. You put a blob of saliva on it, let is dry and the pattern when you look through the microscope shows whether fertile or not. A fern pattern is the fertile time.

@SydneyFlower once you see your surge have sex every other day for the next few days and you'll be covered.
Don't do it everyday as studies have shown it can be more harmful to sperm as they need time to replenish

Thanks for this, it’s so difficult to plan as my husband works away 3/4 days most weeks so have to hope the surge happens on a weekend but then I was wondering if I need to wait longer after that. Hope your TTC journey is going well, who knew there was so much to think about?! Xxx

@SydneyFlower The egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube. You ovulate 12-24 hours after a positive opk. The cramps you have are most likely post ovulation, sometimes a small cyst can form on the spot the egg was released.

@SydneyFlower The best days to have sex are the two days before ovulation. You want the sperm to be already waiting in the fallopian tube when the egg is released. Sperm can live up to five days, but more likely two days.

See article below:

”The days when conception is possible are the days just before and including the day of ovulation. Based on the MAXIMUM lifespan of human sperm and ova, (five days for sperm and one day for the ovum) this fertile window is at MOST six days. This MAXIMUM window is thus made up of the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation.
Though pregnancy is technically possible during this six day window, most pregnancies actually can be attributed to intercourse from within TWO DAYS before ovulation up to the day of ovulation.
This makes for a practical fertile window of just THREE DAYS each cycle: the TWO DAYS before ovulation and the DAY OF OVULATION itself."

Article on Fertile Window