Going for the ovulator predictor straight off the bat?
Hey ladies
I don't really post on here, as new to all this but am a regular on Hitched.
I came off the pill properly in May (had a spot of trying year before last but only like 3/4 months or so) but now really, really want to get pregnant and feel ready for it.
Plan was just to take it easy, ensure had lots of sex with hubby etc and didn't want to get involved with stuff like that. However, in last week 2 people have told me to get the ovulation kit. and this is starting to sway me. One is my colleague at work who said she planned all 3 kids like clockwork with the kit, and my friend who told me her good friend did as well.
As I really really would like to be pregnant now and very near future, do you think I should just go ahead and buy?
If so, which one?
p.s. if it helps. I'm 30, and would like at least 3....
Thanks
Replies
Hi CeeJay
Nice to see you and welcome to TTC
Unfortunately there is no magic wand that will ensure you get pregnant straight away (oh how I wish there was!), your colleague was incrediby lucky to fall pregnant when she wanted to all three times.
There are, however, lots of things that you can do to ensure that you are are having sex at your most fertile times...
Fertility monitors - quite a lot of us ladies are using the Clear Blue Fertility Monitors. They're about £100 in Boots, half the price on ebay and cheaper again if you get a used one. You pee on a stick every day that it asks you to (£20ish for a box of 20, most people will use 10 sticks per cycle), and it detects when your most fertile days are. Some people rave about the results that they've had with these (reading the Amazon reviews alone will make you a believer - they certainly converted me!) and others (including ladies on here) have been left less than impressed. Could you maybe ask your colleague if you could borrow hers to see how you get on?
Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs) - these are the much cheaper version of fertility monitors - you pee on a stick and interpret the line strengths yourself to determine your level of fertility. You can get great big multi-packs of these sticks for just a few quid on Amazon.
Temping - a lot of TTCers and fertility books swear by temping. By taking your temperature every morning before getting out of bed you can determine through temperature rises when you ovulated. Temping can also be an earlier indicator as to whether you might be pregnant. Your temp will stay high after ovulation if you have conceived, or drop if your period is on the way. Temping confirms that you have ovulated after the event, but helps you to determine which will be your fertile days on future cycles.
This cycle (which is my 13th month of trying to conceive) I have started to use a CBFM and temping. I'm loving temping, it's fascinating and much easier to remember to do than I thought it might be.
Good luck with your TTC journey, I hope it's a short one x
I don't think there is anything wrong with usuing any of the methods fig has described from the off. When i was TTC my daughter i waited until we were ready for a baby, and then i wanted one quickly!!! I knew it could take awhile but wanted to do all i could to help out. Also i'm a control freak and a scientist so i already knew a fair bit about cycles, OPKing etc.
I used OPKs for 2 months then charted. I got a BFP first temping cycle, which sadly ended in mc but conceived my daughter immediately afterwards, again with charting.
This is our first month TTC #2 and i have immediately gone back to charting and using a monitor. I could never be one to just 'see what happens'.
Completely up to you how you go about it but come and hang out on the TTC threads and pick up how things work etc and ask ots of questions.
Ke thing with any method is as much sex as possible!!!!!!!!
I would say not to start using ovulation predictor kits straight away, as you don't know how long you could be ttcing and it can end up taking over your life. I say go have fun and just have lots of sex. Good luck.
All the things listed above will only help your chances, not hinder. People say they make you more obsessive but I'm in the 'quickest and most efficient route' to just about everything in life so no reason why TTC should be any different to my mind. I got PG on first cycle I got a 'peak' on the clear blue fertility monitor. Turns out I was ovulating early at CD8, as opposed to CD14 where I had being wrongly focussing my attention.
i personaly prefer the clear blue digital ovulation predictor kit with hormone indicator, wow thats a mouthful ;-)
they are the purple sticks and they tell you 2 days before you ovulate, rather than the pink ones that tell you when your ovulating.
Based on this technology you can ensure that you have done all you can do in the lead up to ovulating, and you will then know when you ovulate !
I don't see why not.
You need to have regular-ish cycles to use one because it asks for test sticks on simar days each month. If your cycles are variable (by more than 10 days) then normal OPKs, either cheapies or digital ones will probably be more useful for the time being.
Unless you're one of those couples who shags daily, then these types of things can help you feel more relaxed and in control, knowing you won't 'miss your chance'.
Good luck!
Thank you ladies! What a wealth of information - I didn't even realise there were other options! I think I need to get learn all these abbreviations!
I think I may leave it a couple months and then just buy one. My periods only just beginning to stablise from being off the pill so I guess a couple more months gives it more time to get back to natural cycle!
Ahhh all feels abit exciting!
Thank you
I think they are pretty good to use, i have not personally used one myself though, and i have neither used OPKS as i have never got on with them, but i know people who do use them and they work for them.
Like others have said, and you have also just said yourself - i would give yourself a couple of months to settle down. Try and enjoy yourself. If you are 'regular' anyway in the DTD department, its likley you will be covering what you need to anyway.
Nice to meet you by the way too - hopefully you wont be around here for too long (in a nice way), but as you probably know, sometimes it can take one go, sometimes things arent so easy , so who knows
xxx
Ok stupid question - if you have what my friend calls affectionately *egg whites* for like 3 days in your cycle, that is your ovulation right? as in I don't need to predict it? Is that a stupid question - reading these boards has made realise how ignorant I am about these kind of things!
Yes you are right. Thats how i know when i am ovulating, along with AF type pains x