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Newbie Questions

daniandcassiedaniandcassie Posts: 61
edited November -1 in Trying to Conceive
Hello. I'm new to this forum and am looking for advice anyone has to offer. Here is where I'm at...

My wife and I are ttc. We are both trying to track our cycles using the smilies and temps but so far we have not had any smilies or increase in temp to reflect o. We have somewhat irregular cycles so I was wondering how many months should we track our o before we AI?

We have purchased a speculum but haven't used it yet and don't really know where to start with that. Any suggestions?

There are so many things to consider it is quite overwhelming so any advice people have would be amazing!

Thanks!

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    KTZKTZ Posts: 1,240
    edited November -1
    There are a lot of different ways to approach the process. I would definitely get a handle on when you lh surge in relationship to when you O for at least one month before AI. Some people do it for six months or a year. The more info the better, it depends on how patient you are and how old you are.

    I would start using the speculum to watch the progress of your cervix. You can look up online how to put it in there. Or I am sure someone on this forum could explain it better than me. You can also check the height and firmness of your cervix with your finger. Keeping track of CM is very important.

    Fertility friend has great tutorials for keeping track of your fertility signs. The thing that helped me the most is the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Tom Weschler. He tells you everything that is at Fertility friend, and better yet, how to do it yourself so you are not depending on software to figure it out.

    I also learned a lot on this forum. You are already ahead of the game by learning from the amazing experience available here. (Did that sound like a commercial?) Whatever.

    Anyway, good luck. Have fun.
    Welcome to a crazy journey.
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    LucyGooseyLucyGoosey Posts: 320
    edited November -1
    How long have you been tracking your cycle?

    I would really encourage you to wait until you are sure that you ovulated. Not to mention if you are using frozen sperm you will need to know when to order, so you will need to be able to predict when you typically ovulate. Have you been tracking your other signs? Cervical Mucus? Cervical Position?

    I'm new to the forum as well. And I've been tracking my cycle for the last several months. I wanted to have as much information as possible before I do my first insemination. From everything that I have read, as long as you don't have any undiagnosed fertility issues, timing is everything.
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    PtownMomsPtownMoms Posts: 768 ✭
    edited November -1
    If your cycles are irregular I would track for probably 6ish months. You could also see your doctor to at least get a blood test to see what your levels are like. I met with my doctor beforehand and had some blood work and an ultrasound (I have a history of cycts). We declined any further testing...but would have went back to the doctor if we didn't have luck after 6months.

    I never checked my temp...but I did use the opks and I kept track of changes in my cervix. I would start testing with the line opks the day after af stopped. When I thought ovulation was close I would use the line test and the smileys. I would also check my cervix everyday and note any changes. When I was REALLY close...my wife would check my cervix visually and we used the speculum for that.

    I should also say that the month we got pregnant I actually got a positive on a line opk before I got a smiley. I did test with the smiley the next morning (about 9 hours later) and it was positive. But we based our insems on the first line opk.
    Carrie & Monica

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    BabyBugsArrivalBabyBugsArrival Posts: 523
    edited November -1
    I would definitely recommend seeing a dr to check out your levels if you have irregular cycles. I have a history of irregular cycles, but even when I was having pretty predictable cycles (every 32-35 days) I still wasn't ovulating all the time. My dr did bloodwork with my regular pap and so I didn't have to pay for all of it bc insurance covered part of the work up. We did cd3 bloodwork to check LH:FSH, as well as prolactin levels. Then, we did cd21 progesterone to confirm that I was not ovulating.

    As for the temping, if you aren't already on a schedule, I definitely recommend setting an alarm and doing it at exactly the same time every day. As much as it sucks to have to wake up at 6:30am on weekends or days when you don't have to get up early, that is really the only way for it to be accurate. I've never had alot of luck with the opk line tests, but now i realize that I don't ever get a dark positive on them. I do get smileys on the same day each month (i'm on femara fertilty meds) but the line tests always trip me up. My smileys only last for a short time...maybe 6 hours on cd 15.

    I wish you all the luck in the world...and hope you get some great feedback. Happy, sticky baby dust to you!
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    BabyBugsArrivalBabyBugsArrival Posts: 523
    edited November -1
    PS as for cervical position and mucus, I am not good at checking those things myself. I know some ladies have really obvious changes or are just better at finding the cervix, being able to feel how it changes, but I'm not one of those ladies lol. I can definitely tell when my cervix is higher (as O approaches) bc I can barely reach it, but I haven't noticed a significant change in hardness/softness. It always feels pretty darn soft to me. And, I never have much cm at all. I know when its lotionly of course, earlier and later in my cycle. In the middle of my cycle, as O nears, it gets clearer and thinner, but I never have the EWCM that some get. BUT, when we use the speculum we can definitely see changes in the cervix. It opens up and I can visibly tell that the mucus is more like ewcm. My dp takes pics with the iphone so i can see what it looks like.
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    daniandcassiedaniandcassie Posts: 61
    edited November -1
    Thanks everyone. Your tips are helpful. I have one more question for the time being...what is the optimal time for the AI? When you first get a smilie? Or exactly when you think you are Oing? I guess I will have to be more adventurous with the speculum and not be timid. :-)
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    kyhome123kyhome123 Posts: 93
    edited November -1
    I think most people do somewhere between 12-36 hours after smiley. I did it a little earlier because I thought I had missed my smiley by not holding my pee long enough the previous time I tested. The next time I got a smiley.

    I tracked my cycles for 3 or 4 months beforehand while DH was trying to decide whether we should use DS or get a vasectomy reversal. Of course the month my swimmers came my cycle went wonky and I o'd 2 days late!
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    PtownMomsPtownMoms Posts: 768 ✭
    edited November -1
    Our timing was right at positive opk (on a line one, not smiley), 12 hours later, and about 14ish hours after that.
    Carrie & Monica

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