Ovulation / EWCM but only a circle on the CB test!?

[KKD90]

Hi all,

I entered my fertile window on Saturday, and according to Flo my peak should fall on Wednesday and the last day of the fertile window will be on Friday.

However - since Saturday I have been getting clear EWCM, and the OPK’s have been getting darker. I just tested another OPK and almost as dark as the LH, I did also do a CB test, and that is a solid circle! I am really confused. Is this normal, to see EWCM before entering the fertile window?

My cycle is usually 27 days. I don’t understand what is happening and I really thought I had my cycle and ovulation down. I have entered my 4th cycle, and I feel a little lost.

Can anyone shed light on when the best chances to try? We did the 16th and today!

Thank you so much x

Ewcm before ovulation is normal. You've been in your fertile window since Saturday so your body will likely be gearing up to ovulate. I would do it at least Wednesday and Friday to cover all bases.

I only used the CB digital and would usually get 1-3days of EWCM whilst still getting a solid circle, and then it would pretty much stop and I would get my flashing and then solid smiley! So I always took it as a sign I would get my LH surge in a few days. Worked for me as 7w today! Xx

Thank you for your advice! Can I ask if you remember the days you tried? I starting trying from 16th, yesterday and maybe today, not entirely sure as of yet! But just wanna make sure I’m getting the right days!

@KKD90 no problem! We basically aimed to DTD every other day from around day 9/10 of my cycle/when I got EWCM as I knew for me that gave me a good few days before ovulation (from tracking my cycles I knew I always ovulated day 13-15 of a 28 day cycle) and we always aimed to try and have had 3 goes in my fertile period, but without trying to stress if weren’t feeling it/were out etc)

From memory I think we DTD 3 days before ovulation, 1 day before ovulation and 1 day after ovulation the month we conceived, and I took ovulation day as the day after my solid smiley, ie every other day until I’d ovulated/given up 🤣 (we found this to be much less stressful than trying to do it 6x per day like some people seem to manage 🤣)

I actually conceived the month we had our first hospital appt for infertility so whether knowing we were getting the ball rolling with that made me slightly less stressed and that made the difference? Who knows!
good luck and let me know if you have any more questions as I’ve done a looooot of CB ovulation sticks 🤣🤣🤣

@KKD90 so in answer to your original question I would try to DTD mon/wed/fri this week if your peak day is Wed, and then you’ve covered all bases whatever day you ovulate!

@KKD90 this month we did 3rd, 5th and 7th and ovulated on the 8th. This was successful. Other months we did as much as every other day for about 8 or 10 days and every other day 4 days after ovulation and no success on those ones!

@PoppyPeaches @Wednesdayonline

thank you both, your advice is so super helpful. Being in cycle 4 and still no luck is a little difficult but hopeful, the thoughts that occur whenever AF has shown up is a battle at times - sometimes it actually makes me wonder whether me and my husband are actually DTD correctly, isn’t it just insane?!

I mean we DTD, it goes in and out. No bleeding, sometimes a little leakage, but nothing concerning. We usually wait until the evening so I can just lay and get some sleep. My other question for you both is, how do you know it is deep enough?

We had to inseminate last month using a syringe but essentially, it delivers the sperm and goes in the same way as a penis would. But I do wonder if it is going deeper enough. Do you have any advice around this?

thank you so much both! x

I completely understand what you mean - it took us 17m before our bfp and I used to lie awake worrying we’d not done it “right”, done the wrong position (my husband can only finish in certain positions when under stress, which TTC definitely is) and that my husband wasn’t finishing on or near my cervix, I know that’s TMI I’m so sorry!
I used to lie there googling whether sperm could swim up your vaginal walls in case it wasn’t put in the right place, ordered a fertility cup/moon cup to try and hold it all up there, even tried putting a tampon in afterwards as someone told me their friend conceived 4 children by doing this, I literally tried everything I could think of!!

I also used to try and lie down for ages afterwards, but in actual fact the month we conceived out of the 3x we DTD two times were in the morning, where I probably actually lay down for 20 mins and then got up for the day, so I’m not sure the lying down for hours after actually makes a difference!

sorry to go into such gross detail there but just wanted to stress that you’re not alone with all the crazy thoughts!

hugs xxx

@PoppyPeaches oh you darling. thank you for understanding, there is no grossness at all here! Everything you have explained is quite literally what I think of everytime we DTD - so thank you so so much ❤️

The whole finishing near the cervix, this is what confuses me because essentially, I can never really feel that. It goes in and out, but it doesn’t feel like it hits a wall or my cervix! It is just crazy.

I wanted to know how you got along with the moon cup? They are really scary, I just think what if it gets lost! Is it something you feel helped you concieve?

I really appreciate your honesty here. This whole process can feel so so lonely. xxxx

@KKD90
you are so welcome - your post resonated with me so much, I genuinely used to drive myself mad with it all - I used to constantly think that we mustn’t be doing it “right” as otherwise it would be working, as it seemed to work for everyone else!

no I had to luck with the cup - I tried it for a few cycles, but essentially found it uncomfortable and I don’t think I was positioning it correctly so was then concerned it was actually making it harder for everything to be in the right place. So I then stopped using it, and didn’t use it the month I conceived. They definitely can’t get lost though as your cervix is only open a tiny slit during ovulation so nothing that sort of size can get up there - so don’t worry about that!

my conclusion from it all is you just have to trust the process, and accept that even though it happens straight away for many people you hear about, for others it takes time even if everything is “right”, and we will never know why. Knowing that sperm apparently can swim up your vagina reassured me that as long as I was having regular sex, I shouldn’t worry about anything more than that 🤣🤣🤣🤣

wishing you the best of luck with everything!! Xxx