First of all- I apologize for the TMI of my last post to those of you who read it. I don't talk about sex that much, but it was a moment- so I posted!
So...back to...ohhhh....OVULATION. Since we are new on the TTC front, I have not invested in those handy ovulation tests to determine the best days to conceive. The Hubby and I decided we would give it a try on our own for a few months and just have lots of sex...however...I'm tired....really....LOL....and not in a bad way...but seriously- I'm not sure which day to take "off."
So, the craziness in me has been using google to pull up random ovulation calculators. I figured the more websites I went to, some key days would stand out and I would use that to go by. However, every single calculator is different and giving me different information- even though I'm entering in the EXACT information. So which one is correct?? I understand all the physical signs of ovulation and the counting, and I could take my temperature and mucus and all that....but is there not a standard calculation for figuring it out that works for most women??? According to all the calculators, I could be fertile anywhere between July 26 and August 4- but I'm sorry folks- that's a lot of sex.......
I need to figure out my body...I may just break down and buy the little tests....did anyone reading this have an easy way to calculate or a great website?? Advice?????
Since I just went through all this a few months ago, I'll share what I learned. Beware, TMI on it's way . . . .
ReplyDeleteOne of the most helpful things I learned was that while sperm can live 3 or so days in your tract (and have a better chance of living longer if you are close to ovulation since your chemistry changes to help sustain them) your egg is ONLY viable for about 24 hours. And it takes sperm several hours to reach the egg. So depending on when you do it, if you have sex the DAY you ovulate, by the time the sperm get to your egg, it's time may have come and gone. The ovulation sticks seem like the easy way out but not only are they expensive, they don't give you very much notice. Since they only give you about a 12-24 hour heads up, you are going to either need to get busy QUICK or miss your window. I would probably have bought them eventually but didn't think they were worth it early on in the game.
From my research, it seems as though having lots of healthy viable sperm on it's way or already there waiting for the egg to be released hugely increases your chance of conceiving. I found what worked for us is to plan to have sex starting about 3-4ish days leading up to ovulation and then every day until ovulation. In fact, the first month we tested this theory (which was our 3rd month of trying), we got pregnant! And that month we didn't have sex the night before or the day of my ovulation because I was out of town working! (Before that we'd have sex a couple days before and after I ovulated.) So if you can't start 5 days out, don't worry about it. Sperm don't live that long anyway!
As far as when you ovulate, how easy that is to figure out just depends on how regular you are. I'm super regular so it was relatively easy for me to know, especially when it came along with changes in mucous, etc. Apparently everyone is a little different in how long they go between their period and ovulation but, once they ovulate, the vast majority of women will have their period 14 days later. Anyway, if you know your cycle pretty well, the standard rule is, count 14 days back from when you have your period. So since my cycle was always 27 days long, I knew that I ovulated on the 13th day (with the first day of my period being day 1).
Whew! Sorry to ramble on but I hope all this helps. I don't think there is any one magic way to conceive that works for everyone. But I'm like you and I like to do my research. This is what I found out and what worked for us! Hope it helps and good luck with the baby-makin'. ;-)
~Layne
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI promise not to ramble again but I finally found the article I thought you'd like to see online.
ReplyDeleteHere it is:
http://www.whattoexpect.com/preconception/fertility/five-ways-to-tell-you-are-ovulating.aspx