Tests are saying I’m ovulating 5 days after surgical management for miscarriage.. is this possible?! Do I TTC?!

[EllieJade95]

Hey everyone,

I had an MVA on Tuesday for surgical management for miscarriage. I decided to start testing my ovulation quite early on as previously when I was testing my ovulation to understand when I would ovulate, I had a peak at day 7.

I did a test this morning, so 5 days after and my clear blue has identified it as the peak with the smiley face that doesn’t flash. I also used one of the easy @ home LH strips & that says “high” - I’m wondering if it’s actually positive for me to ovulate this early on? I usually have irregular periods anyway so my ovulation could change but 5 days seems too early. It’s also the first strip I have done/first clear blue test I have done so it has nothing to compare to.

I’m slightly confused/panicking a bit on what to do - my pregnancy tests are obviously still positive but have got lighter so how will I accurately know if I do try to conceive, whether I’m genuienly pregnant!

Any help would be much appreciated - wondering what to do!

I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriage. My thoughts are that firstly you still have a wound healing so I would avoid intercourse until that has sorted itself and secondly you don't need to know how pregnant you are to the day or even week .I can see why you might find ovulation sticks a helpful guideline but don't get bogged down following their instructions for your sex life; that could be very disheartening.

Hi OP

So sorry for your loss 💕

It’s likely the ovulation tests are picking up the pregnancy hormone that’s still left in your system. I had a miscarriage through medical management at the end of last year and my pregnancy tests and ovulation tests showed positive for around 4 weeks after.

I would buy a box of the cheap strip tests for pregnancy and a box for ovulation and test regular to monitor the levels going down and back up again. There’s no harm DTD if you’ve stopped bleeding but would check with your doctor first as there is a risk of infection so soon.

I conceived straight away before a period after my medical management which unfortunately ended in a chemical. But then I conceived immediately again with no period again and I’m now currently 18 weeks with a healthy pregnancy. If I were to do it over again, I probably would have given myself one full cycle to let my body get back to normal but I totally understand that feeling of wanting to conceive immediately again 💕

Good luck!!

Sorry for your loss.

No, don't TTC. Weren't you told to avoid inserting anything into the vagina for at least 3 weeks? And recommended to wait until you've had a negative pregnancy test, and one period, before TTC again?

I'm very sorry you are going through this. I have been there.
When I had my MVA, I was told to wait at least 1 cycle before TTC. This is because you have an internal wound that needs to heal.
Your OPK is picking up the residual pregnancy hormone. Were you advised to do a pregnancy test 3weeks post MVA? This is to make sure that hormone has left your system and ensure there are no retained products. You won't ovulate until that hormone is gone.
My pregnancy test was negative at 3 weeks...it may have been negative sooner but I didn't test. I ovulated not long after and then had a period when I expected post ovulation.
I conceived 2 months later which sadly was a chemical but then fell pregnant the following month with my now nearly 2 year old.
Don't rush this....give yourself a month at least. I know there are woman who conceived successfully straight after but I didn't want to run the risk of more heartbreak because my womb hadn't healed enough to support a pregnancy.
Give yourself time and heal, emotionally and physically.
Xxx

@VanillaOat Thank you for your message 💜 I’m so sorry for your losses also.

I think you’re probably right, this is my pregnancy test this morning which whilst it’s lighter (I know it looks really dark, my previous tests were very dark and I also had to dilute the towards the end) it is still significantly dark so I feel like that is too much HCG in my body for me to ovulate - I know it doesn’t need to be 0 but I’m sure I read a few things that if it’s too high your body will still think you’re pregnant so won’t ovulate?

5 days does seem super early especially after a positive test, I also haven’t noticed any cervical mucus which I would usually have. It does seem quite early to try to conceive after the operation and I’m also still having a little bit of pain which I’m unsure is just part and parcel or potentially a UTI caused from it (did you have pain 5 days later? It’s not bad, just sharp twinges a couple of times a day and generally a feeling of fullness?).

It’s so hard because before this pregnancy I didn’t ovulate every month, so I guess I have Regis fear of what if I am ovulating and I won’t again for months :(

@Candyflosscrochet Thank you so much for your message and i'm so sorry for your losses, it's truly horrible and so isolating.

Yes, my nurse told me to wait a cycle before trying but from what I have seen this is more from a dates perspective. They also told me to take a test after 3 weeks to see if it's negative and if not, to go back to them. I've attached a picture in response to someone else on this thread, but it's still super dark so I just think it's really unlikely I would be ovulating- as you say it will still pick it up and seems like a large amount for my body to be able to ovulate. I have also seen people get pregnant before a cycle, but no one as early as 5 days post miscarriage! Most seemed to be about 2 weeks after which I think makes most sense.

I agree, I don't want to risk infection or damaging anything so soon after. I'd be worried my bleeding hasn't completely stopped anyway (I didn't bleed for the first two days, but then did after for 2 days and now seems to have gone) and i've also still had some pain around the bottom of my stomach - not constant but feels similiar to a UTI so i'm wondering if the MVA has caused one (i've seen that a D&C can cause one so assume it could be similar?) Did you have any pain after at all? Everything I see says about 48 hours after but not much for after that.

I think i'm going to be sensible and just wait - i'm just scared because I don't ovulate every month (or certainly didn't pre miscarriage) so get scared what if this is my one chance :(
xxx

@Whataretheodds Thank you ❤I was told to avoid sex until bleeding had stopped, but not told an amount of weeks - was told to test after 3 weeks to see if negative and if not to call them again. They did say about waiting for one cycle, but I believe this is for a dates perspective opposed to a health related one. I think it's best to wait though. 5 days seems insanely early with a strong positive pregnancy test.

I am sorry for your loss.
I got pg around a week after a mmc with surgical intervention at 12 weeks.
It was mentally very difficult and a complete surprise- my period hadn’t returned and we only dtd once.
It turned out fine though and she’s 18 now!

@Hoppinggreen Wow that is so soon! Do you remember if you had a negative pregnancy test/any signs of ovulation?

@EllieJade95 hey lovely, exactly the same happened to me, I wasn’t ovulating it was just the hcg left in my body making them go positive! I was confused because the LH seemed to rise and I got ewcm but the pregnancy tests were still lingering positive xx

No, I was waiting for my period to return but it hadn’t after 8 weeks.
Then I threw DHs breakfast at him and had a massive sobbing breakdown for no real reason and thought I might take a test - it was a strong positive.
I took another one a few days later and then went to my GP for confirmation

@ChloeN hi love! I think it must be the same for me. If my pregnancy tests weren’t super strong I’d possibly wonder but I think realistically there’s still too much HCG to ovulate! How did you know when you actually did that month if tests were a bit iffy? Xx

@EllieJade95 same here I was convinced I was ovulating because of the ewcm but it just wasn’t the same as normal months! I don’t think I actually ovulated at all, I just got my period 4 weeks after the mc bleed! Xx

Same with me, I had weird stringy cm and then my period came 4.5weeks after the surgery. I didn’t use opk in that first cycle. That first period was also odd- very very light/short and stringy blood. Cycle 2 returned to semi-normal and I used opk and bbt to check. (As a positive note: I conceived again in cycle 3 and I’m currently holding my 5 week old baby.)

You’re definitely not ovulating your pregnancy test is too dark. Ovulation tests go positive with the pregnancy hormone (hcg). Don’t bother with ovulation tests just now keep doing pregnancy ones until they’re negative then start ovulation tests. Took me 7 cycles post surgery for mmc to get pregnant with DS, this “your more fertile” shit is crap

It’s not crap in all cases, see my post above.
I had sex once a week past surgical management of my mmc and was pg

@Hoppinggreen but that's the thing isn't it, you fell pregnant following one loss, and the PP took a few months. For every person who falls pregnant the cycle following a MC there are others who do not.

I've had 5 MC and it's a mix between falling pregnant right away and taking a few months to fall again.

The months where I held on to the belief that I was more fertile and got a negative test was awful because I should have been "more fertile".

So to say someone is more fertile following a MC isn't always right and could be quite damaging.

@Blue2020 Congratulations on your rainbow <3 that fills me with hope! I don't like the idea of ovulation testing kits but I have irregular periods and previously wasn't ovulating every month so feel like they're kinda necessary for me!

I think it's obviously just the hormone picking it up but how shitty! It's like you don't just have the miscarriage you have to deal with all these extra bits..

@justwantobeamum That's my plan! I didn't do any pregnancy tests until day (5 days post miscarriage) but will take one every couple of days to see if it's getting less. If only our bodies had a big "reset" button.

I have seen things about being "more fertile" after MC, but I haven't really listened to that. I was really lucky and got pregnant the first time on our first "try" (I put in brackets as we weren't technically tracking anything and just happened to have sex around my predicted ovulation on my app) - I know this may not happen again and don't want to start getting in my mind i'm more fertile!

@ratherbthedevil I'm so sorry for your losses - I really hope you have your rainbow now <3

I think you are right, i've seen things online about some evidence to show you're more fertile for the first 3-6 months after a MC and have also seen a lot of women on here say they got pregnant straight away. I agree that it can be damaging to think you're more fertile, especially as our bodies are so determined by hormones that if you are stressing about it not happening you could completely throw ovulation off etc (I previously didn't ovulate every month and I think this was partly because of stress of pressure to) - I fell pregnant the first time we had unprotected sex at my time of ovulation, but this ended in MC and I am not naive to think it may not happen as quickly again. Whilst I hope it happens quickly again and sticks, it can definitely be damaging to think you're more fertile.

Really hope you have found some peace after everything you've been through. I'm finding this hard enough and it's my first. Sending you love!

I completely agree but everyone is different.
I actually wasn’t aware I might be more fertile, getting pg again wasn’t on my radar at all so I think it IS important people consider the possibility as given the choice I may not have got pg again at that point.
Having said that, as my GP pointed out a lot of people put themselves under pressure to get pg again following a MC so it can be a good thing.

I hope everyone gets the outcome they want asap x

Just wanted to come back to this post, I’ve been tracking my ovulation since I posted to see it dropping but it’s just confusing me even more.. as you can see there’s times when it goes down & then goes up again. I just can’t make it out! It’s clearly still high but what I can’t understand is why it sometimes gets higher.

I am now 10 days post surgical management.. also included a pregnancy test from earlier today to see it’s lightened but still there.

I know it's frustrating and confusing but while you are getting positive pregnancy tests I don't think the OPKs will be any help in determining if you are ovulating yet as the HCG will just confuse things.

The pre mom app is good but it's not an exact science so take the scores with a pinch of salt.

Personally I would stop with the OPKs and take a pregnancy test 3 weeks after the surgical management. If that's positive then contact your EPU, if negative then perhaps start with OPKs again. They say to wait once cycle for dating purposes so perhaps you can do that? I never did but then my MCs were pretty straightforward in terms of HCG going down and my cycles were like 3 months long.

For ovulation there are other signs to look for as well, EWCM, higher sex drive and temping can be quite useful.

I hope you get some answers soon

@ratherbthedevil Yeah that's what I think too. I usually wouldn't use an ovulation testing kit other than the clearblue one as I find the sticks really difficult to interpret and also think things like your lighting can affect your readings, I was just hoping I would be able to see it decrease but I haven't really seen that with the ovulation testing as of yet.

My pregnancy tests are getting lighter and lighter but it is taking a while. I'll be 2 weeks tomorrow, so hoping by week 3 it will basically be gone. It's just frustrating you have to deal with a MC, surgery etc and then there's still all these after bits. I think it makes most sense to wait until my first cycle since.. it's just annoying that it could take longer if HCG takes a while to go down.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this week will bring a big change!

@EllieJade95 hope you’re getting on okay! It’s so fustrating waiting for your tests to go negative but it sounds like they’re getting there!xx