Charter's Anonymous

[LittleSilver]

I thought I'd start a thread for all of us who worship at the shrine of Toni Weschler, spend whole seconds analysing cervical mucus, slip over in the shower checking cervical position and spend two minutes every morning flicking their heads from side to side in a valiant attempt to stop a baby pulling the thermometer out of their mouths. Ladies, this thread is for all of us, may it see many many BFPs!

I don't know - she took tonnes of the stuff, but not sure what she tested for exactly to be honest (and I think the hospital lost some of them).

Hello all I have been lurking on this thread for a little while and was wondering if I could put my hads up and admit to the room that I am a new temp-taker and am already a fully-fledged addict?

I have PCOS so wanted to see if temping worked for my first cycle, and even though my temps were a bit up and down they seemed to do all the right things in the right places last cycle. They may be up and down as well cos I haven't quite got my head around taking it at exactly the same time each morning, although I do take it as soon as I wake up.

I have my AF at the moment so am about to embark on temping for cycle 2 so I really hope it all doesn't go to pot this time!

Grr poke them (pedant)

Don't worry too much empty everyone's bodies are different you won't really know what's normal for you until you've been charting for about 3 cycles.

If you're still concerned just enquire when the bloods are through whether they included your thyroid function. Maybe have a look at underactive thyroid symptoms & see if any fit you.

I really don't mean to encourage you to diagnose yourself with something but it might be worth a look? xx

I'd be tempted (ha!) to chart for a cycle, or at least a couple of weeks then go show the GP and ask for a thyroid function test. It is only a blood test, they did mine when I had my CD3 hormone test.

Yeah - I just know my GP is very keen to just fob me off with a monthly weightloss chat and hasn't actually offered anything much in the way of infertility help for the best part of a year.

Can I be a bit radical and suggest you change your GP? This is your life and you might find a much more sympathetic doctor? xx

He IS the sympathetic doctor - my old one just shouted at em about my weight - even shouted at me about my weight while doing a smear test (which is in no way obesity related at all).

Am there tomorrow for monthly weight check - and am going to try to write a crisis "look I'm at breaking point - please try to find something to help me with" letter detailing how badly infertility's affecting me now - it won't help but it's worth a shot.

Ah hon, that's awful. I think writing a letter is a great idea - I really hope it's a turning point for you tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you xx

just spotted this thread and felt I had to join in!

My acupuncturist lent me the book a couple of years ago, and 3 months later I was pg with DD second time round isn't being so easy - now a year later & have only had 2 m/c along the way

I use the s/w on my PC & use the message boards too (find me & say "Hi")

hi emptyshell - I really thought I wouldn't be able to do the temping thing, but it's really not that bad once you get the hang of it - I set my alarm for 6:30, take my temp, then go back to sleep if DD is still snoozing! - also.. can you go see a different Dr? (at my surgery I can just see anyone there)

I'm on CD14 & my temp this morning was 36.2 which is pretty normal for me.

I was getting some weird temps a few months ago & wasn't sure if my thermometer was broken... so started using two - one on each side of the mouth!

Hi rubberduckies and bessie - the two thermometer thing sounds exciting. It's always best to have a control, right?

And, empty, I second Decaf on changing your GP. Could you change surgery altogether? In the meantime, the letter is a great idea. Good luck.

Welcome new people! We are getting popular here, clearly Charters is the place to be

Will be thinking of you tomorrow empty, let us know how you get on.

Yes empty I hope you can find someone to help who is more sympathetic. I have a BMI of 29-30, and have done for bloody years, no matter what the devil I eat, so I feel your pain. My doctor has told me to lose weight as well and am trying really hard, and although I lost a bit when I started taking Metformin a few weeks ago I seem to have plateaued now, even though my eating habits have changed loads, cos I'm ill if I eat loads of fatty stuff now on these tablets.

I have a question for all of you - how do you feel about OPK sticks? I am sorry if you have discussed these on here before and I am repeating myself, just tell me so and I will read the whole thread . I have not used them yet as I want to wait for my cycles to settle down so I have a rough idea of when to start using them in the cycle, but do you all think they are worth the money? Can you get cheap yet reliable ones on the net?

Thanks

8rubberduckies - I would treat OPKs with caution - I used them the month I fell pg with DD & never got a +ive result!

Having said that, I now have a CBFM - and love it - I used it for 2 cycles & fell pg! Even if I do manage to temp at the same time every day, they can still be all over the place, so I feel like I need other info to back up my temps & CM & confirm when I have O'd

BabyValentine are you suggesting I'm obsessed? I don't have time for that, not when I've got all these charts to update

What is a CBFM?

8rubberduckies, Yes you can get cheap OPKs: here are some which are £5.49 for 30 or cheaper still if you get 60 or 90.

I've used a few which I got free with my thermometer, but because my ovulation day has moved a bit I have missed the LH surge completely on two months, and caught only the start of it on the 3rd month (forgot to actually test on the proper day after getting a very faint line, then a slightly stronger one on the two days before! )

Some people love their OPKs, but I wouldn't rely on them completely. They work on the assumption that the LH surge is always followed by ovulation, and that you only have one LH surge a month, both of which may not always be the case. Also, the LH surge is very short and even if testing daily, you can still miss it. So I would use OPKs only as an addition to CM checking, keeping an eye on the cycle day and temping.

And if you don't manage to get a +ve then don't panic. There are loads of stories on here of people who are pregnant after a cycle where the OPK never gave a +ve. If the other signs indicate that you are in your fertile phase, shag anyway!

(CBFM is ClearBlue Fertility Monitor)

Hi everyone. Just wanted to say that I've been out for the last few days from dusk til dawn and haven't been able to get on to MN at all. I am not ignoring you - I promise.

As soon as I get a chance i will read this thread and familiarise myself with the newbies.

Anyway, you're all welcome. This is a fab thread. To the person who was asking about the brick of a book - it is a wonderful read - honestly!!!!

And yes, charting is a bit addictive. I felt much more in tune with my body this time and i conceived quickly which was fab and I do think it was cos I knew where I was in my cycle etc.

Good luck to all. Nothing much to report here. Trapped wind, nausea and tiredness - plus a lot of knicker checking. Will be back for a proper read soon but not at my own house at the mo.

x

bessie, tonight I will be off to bed with my farenheit thermometer and DD's celcius thermometer. Might even do two charts

Hi hippy, pleased to hear you're feeling sick IYKWIM!

Any news empty? Hope you made some progress at the docs.

Hey pregnant hippy!

I agree with spilt and am personally wary of opks as I think that used in isolation they are gimmicky and marketed poorly. They don't definitively predict ovulation, they test for LH surges as spilt said, lots of poeple here on the conception boards say stuff like "Well, my OPK said I ov'd on x", well, you don't know that for certain, whereas if you charted you'd get a LOT more confirmatory evidence of that.

OK guys, a question. If your normal LP was around 11 days, but you ov'd about a week earlier than normal, when would you test assuming af didn't turn up?

Hello all newbies and welcome!

Silver I think my textbook answer is I would test around 14 days after ovulation, in the hope that I would get a -ve or a +ve, not a false -ve because of testing too early.

I think my honest answer is I would test on 11 or 12 days after ovulation, i.e. as soon as my normal luteal phase would be up.

How many days post ov are you?

hippy glad it's all going well. Has it sunk in yet? Must be very exciting going round thinking "I know something you don't!" all the time

silver, having waited until 3 days past my longest LP last month, I had a BFN closely followed by AF on DPO18 , so I'd be tempted to wait until 13 days...

9dpo, so 11 dpo takes me to Sat. If af doesn't turn up am going to try to hold out til Tues (14 dpo) as (whispers very quietly) it's DH's birthday on Tues and would love to surprise him with giftwrapped positive pg test.

I like your thinking! Now you just need to be really strong willed...

Ah Bless littlesilver, what a great present! I think you should go by however many dpo you are this cycle, rather than than thinking about past cycles.

Thanks for your hints and tips about OPKs

Hi,
Can I join?
I was attracted by talk of low BBTs! Mine is often around 36.1 in the first half of my cylce, and about 36.4 in the second half. Is this normal?