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OPKs vs. Temps (long post, sorry)

katookatoo Posts: 324 ✭
edited November -1 in Trying to Conceive
Sorry, this is long. We're gearing up for our fourth month of at-home ICIs. I just had fertility blood work and an HSG done and the results were normal, so in theory, if we time things right I should be getting preggo, right? The problem is my temps and my OPKs do not line up and I don't know which to follow. The first month we used one iui/ivf vial. (We were so in love with the donor we snatched up his last vial not even realizing it was ivf.) During that first month I was only doing OPKs in the AM and we insemmed the same night we got a smiley on the CBE digital and a positive on the target brand strips. As it turns out, the morning I got the positive OPK was also the day my temp rose. My cervix was SHOW when we insemmed and closed tight the next morning. We didn't get pregnant. I thought maybe we had missed the fertile window so for month 2 I started doing the OPKs twice a day and, since I'm a data whore, I brought in a third brand of OPKs. For month two we ordered two ICI vials. We insemmed on CD13 based on cervix position and cervical fluid. We saved the second vial for the the positive OPK. We got a positive OPK on the CBE smiley on the night of CD14, but didn't get a positive on the first response until the next morning (CD15), got another smiley from the CBE too. (We never got a positive OPK on the target brand.) We insemmed with our second vial the night of CD 15. My temp rose on CD16. We did not get pregnant. For month 3 we bought two ICI vials. I ditched the target brand OPKs and used CBE smileys, first response, and first response digital. We insemmed on CD15 because my temp spiked and I freaked out. We got our first smiley on the night of CD16 so we used the second vial that night. My temp rose again on CD17 so fertility friend said I ovulated on CD 16. On the morning of CD17 all my OPK brands were negative. That night I got another smiley. I didn't get a positive on the first response and the first response digital until CD18. My cervix stayed SHOW until CD19. We did not get pregnant. So here we are at month 4. We've got two vials of swimmers showing up tomorrow, but I have no idea how to time my insems, especially after last month with two brands of OPKs not giving me a positive until after my temp rise. Any ideas???
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Comments

  • xxluvmyfiremanxxxxluvmyfiremanxx Posts: 77
    edited November -1
    from what I've seen its not all that uncommon to have OPKs and temps not match up. Are you seeing any pattern at all to when you are getting a positive OPK and when you are getting a temp rise? I only temp'd for a couple months and found it to be too stressful and I am starting to realize OPKs are not reliable either but I LOVE my ovacue and found that to be the least stressful and most correct. It is expensive though but well worth the money. I have only practiced with it a couple months and haven't been able to try it with insem but plan on doing that next cycle. I hope that someone here has an answer for you! good luck!
  • aplusaaplusa Posts: 1,919
    edited November -1
    Well, first off, you may not be doing anything wrong at all. You can have clear tubes (as your HSG showed), time your insemination perfectly using ultrasounds and the trigger shot, and place the sperm in the uterus in an IUI and not get pregnant. It just doesn't always happen no matter what you do as such a complex series of events needs to occur. If you look at the statistics, you'll see you can cross your t's and dot your i's and still have to keep trying.

    Having said that, would you mind posting your charts or images of them? I'm very visual and it's hard for me to understand without seeing what you are talking about.

    In addition to the HSG, did you have a fertility blood panel run? (I only ask since you've already had a HSG at this point.)

    I know I wanted every single cycle to work and it was crushing when it didn't, but sadly, sometimes it just doesn't work. :(

    (I am not a particular fan of products like the Ovacue for people using frozen donor sperm as I, personally, don't feel it narrows the window. BUT, my goodness a lot of people lately have been popping up using it ... So, if anyone of them have had luck, I think that would be interesting to hear about.)

    Good luck!
    7NZpm4.png
    Lucky Cycle 14: IVF!! Antagonist Cycle with Lupron Trigger
  • katookatoo Posts: 324 ✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks, ladies. Aplusa, I'll try and figure out how to share my charts when I get home from work this evening. I have the free membership to fertility friend and so far I can only figure out how to share my August chart.
  • xxluvmyfiremanxxxxluvmyfiremanxx Posts: 77
    edited November -1
    Aplusa the ovacue narrows it down better than OPKs. Since it tells you exactly when you actually ovulated. They also tell you to watch the numbers so that you see a pattern and can narrow it down further yourself. It's still not perfect but at least by knowing when you O'd you know if you actually stand a chance that month or if you didn't come close to timing it right. Makes the tww a little easier. :) but I will agree its not for everyone and if you can temp that is the best. I just found it too difficult for me.
  • katookatoo Posts: 324 ✭
    edited November -1
    If only I'd heard about the ovacue earlier! If we're not successful this month, we're going to move on to IUI with u/s monitoring and a trigger with an RE. I'm 34 and my partner is 39 so we want to be aggressive. We would have done the RE this month, but we have to see the RE-affiliated shrink to talk about donor sperm before the RE will accept my sperm shipments and insem me, and the shrink was booked out until the end of this month. We didn't want to waste this cycle though, since I just had the HSG, so we ordered another round for a final at-home attempt. I'm going to try posting links to my charts on flikr. I've never used flikr before so let's hope this works! May:http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9532262800/ June: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9532263342/
    July: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9532264118/ August (mid cycle spotting from HSG): http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/9529484125/
  • katookatoo Posts: 324 ✭
    edited November -1
    Oh, and I forgot to answer the question about the fertility panel. I had it done and the RE was very pleased with all my results. I, being the aforementioned data whore, independently googled all my results and I was pleased as well. On paper, I appear to be fertile. I probably am in real life to too. My biggest problem is probably that I want to be pregnant RIGHT NOW. Normally, I'm a very patient person, not so much now that we are TTC. :)
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