Why does getting pregnant need to be this hard?

[TTCBabyHoward]

I'm not sure if I even ovulated because my darkest strip doesn't even look positive. I'm going to use my last two tests over the next couple days to see how dark or light the line gets but trying to pinpoint ovulation is clearly proving to be quite tricky haha! I've been trying for 6 months now, so praying every month that it's THE month ♥️✨

6 months is no time at all. You're supposed to try for a year before even worrying your gp.

Unless you are very tight on time (40s), I'd concentrate on good diet, plenty of sleep, reducing stress levels and just enjoying yourself.

Totally inappropriate and reported.

Sending lots of luck on your journey OP! X

@Meadowfinch she hasn't mentioned anything about GP?

I'm sorry you're struggling OP. It's a notoriously difficult journey no matter how long it takes. It takes over our minds and bodies and that is hard month on month.

I've been listening to a very useful podcast on spotify called 'Fertility Co.' It's full of useful information on how you can track your cycle naturally and boost your chances. It's quite a comforting listen if nothing else

One thing I would say is that your ovulation tests aren't all lined up on the app so the lines appear in the same area. This can make it difficult for the app to read the test.It also looks like the lighting may be slightly different, again with these tests it's really important to get the lighting consistent.The other thing is that by only testing once per day you could miss your peak. I test once per day until I see my LH start to rise, then I basically test like mad because I have a rapid LH surge when I ovulate, so it would be easy for me to miss it. I've attached my last LH tests so that you can hopefully see what I mean.
If you're not temping I would also recommend you start doing that. For me it really helped me to get to know my cycle and predict where things were going. I used Premom for LH testing, but Natural Cycles for temping (although I then added the temps into Premom to help their predictions too).

I find my tests weren’t accurate when I’d been drinking through the day so I’ve started just using fmu then smu for mine and I can always catch my peak that way. So 7am and 8am and that’s all. So I don’t test after morning at all. Maybe worth a try

I’d suggest taking a break from all the testing, planning and worrying. Enjoy yourselves and each other. Relaxation is often what works.

Your day 17 is your peak, mine never got darker than that and I’m on pregnancy 2. Just DTD every day once they start getting darker, and up til they get lighter, really don’t worry about being exact. And 6 months is nothing. You can’t pinpoint ovulation, it’s always an estimate.

I used bbt as well and measured my temp each morning around 6am. It just helped to confirm that ovulation did happen after the opk test.

Thank you for your comment! I already have diagnosed PCOS so there's no guarantee I can get pregnant or that I've ovulated etc but we shall find out and I'll keep trying before getting a doctor involved x

@Welshcake15 random question, but how do you make your tests line up so beautifully on the Premom app? Do you used the manual mode when taking a photo of the test?

@gigingerbiscuit24 Honestly, I'm not sure. I think making sure you're taking the photo on a white surface, flash off, in good lighting helps it read the test better. I was placing mine on the bottom of my bath and putting the light on. Basically just trying to keep it all consistent. I think it also reads the Easy@Home tests more easily too as they're slightly wider than some tests are. I rarely had to line up the test myself, but if I did I would be super careful about making sure the lines were matching up exactly.

This was also me. I used OPK strips and Ava for bbt. I like Ava because I could see the temperature rise and I could see I’d ovulated. Sometimes I’d get 2 LH surges in a (very irregular) cycle but Ava would confirm that I’d ovulated by the temp rise. It took me a year, but I have an 18m old. Second time around I tried to ‘let it happen’ for 6 months, but it didn’t, but as soon as I used the OPK I got pregnant a second time. I’m 37 now.