Unsure about ovulation??

A good friend of mine named Jeni is amazing when it comes to fertility and getting pregnant! Although shes no expert, would say that shes very knowledgeable, and seems to know quite abit about the subject! Through her helping another person, she gave me some information that she has said I can pass on to everyone else, in the hopes that someone else might find it useful.

I might start once a month doing a "ask Jeni" blog post where people can ask her fertility related questions and she will pass on the information she knows (please note, she is not an "Expert" and does not have any fertility medical training, she learned alot through research and is very informative)

here goes!

First thing's first: Your body gives you signs of ovulation. As I see, you have tried BBT and have not had a lot of success at it. BBT charting ONLY WORKS IF you do it at the same time each morning faithfully. It took me a while to gather the info I have and use it properly through research. Here is what I know after 18months TTC:

Signs of ovulation are as follows:
1.) Basal Body Temperature. Before ovulation, your BBT will stay lower. AFTER ovulation, your BBT will rise 0.4 to 1.0 degrees and stay above what is referred to as the "coverline" for 12 to 14 days. This 12-14 days is the Luteal Phase of your cycle after the egg is released and Progesterone takes over. At the end of the luteal phase, your BBT will drop because of a reduction in progesterone and your period will start. (Some LPs can last as long as 16 days)

2.) Cervical Mucus. As you approach your "fertile phase" of your cycle (5 or so days leading to ovulation) your cervical mucus production will increase and become more thin, watery and stretchy like eggwhites. Once ovulation has occurred, your mucus will dry up and go back to sticky and thick. Like paste.

3.) Cervical height and opening. Prior to your fertile phase and after ovulation until your period starts, your cervix is usually Low, firm and closed. Some women do not like this method because it requires you to insert a finger into your vagina and feel for the cervix. It feels firm like the tip of your nose when you are not fertile, and can become soft like your lips closer to ovulation. In your fertile phase, your cervix will also be higher up in your vagina and open. This will feel like a "dent" in the center of your cervix that is more noticeable when you are fertile and having the eggwhite mucus.

Some women even get a "crampy" or "bloated" feeling near the ovaries as ovulation approaches. For more information on your menstrual cycle and tracking your fertility, refer to http://www.tcoyf.com

On this website, you can try a free 15 day trial of Ovusoft software to track ovulation and purchase the program for a one time fee of 39.99 if you like it. This happens to be my favorite and the most helpful.

Try also to read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler, MPH. This is the book the program is based on. You can order it online, but it on ebay, or even possibly find it at a book resale store.

As far as the Fertility Monitor and long cycles, you are right. They do not help women with a cycle past 40 days. Unfortunately, most people like to think all women have regular cycles.
My recommendation for tracking ovulation is LH Ovulation test strips. You can purchase ovulation tests online at www.early-pregnancy-tests.com

You can buy the strips CHEAP compared to going to the store for 7 tests for 14$. Yikes. I bought mine in BULK, 25 or 50 at a time. I also used a product called PRESEED which is also sold on the site. It is a little costly for lube, but it is the only "Sperm Friendly" lubricant out there that actually helps sperm to be able to swim into the cervix. Some women have little cervical mucus production at ovulation and find that preseed helps. I am one of them, now 18 weeks pregnant.

ALSO, you may want to try Mucinex around the time of ovulation (7 days prior to 2 days after your first ++ OPK) Not only do the sperm need to be able to swim through the cervix, but they also need the mucus inside to be loosened up enough to swim through. You can take this based on the directions and drink LOTS of water. If you are near a Wal Mart, you can get their equate brand "mucus relief" and it will do the same thing as mucinex for just under 5$. The ONLY ACTIVE ingredient in these products can be GUAIFENESIN. Anything else will actually dry up mucus.

If you have been TTC for 12 months with irregular ovulation, you can also talk with your OB about a fertility drug-- Clomid. It helps to induce ovulation and is started at a low dose from day 5-8 or 3-7 of your cycle. They had to increase my dose to 100mg day 2-6 before I ovulated early enough in my cycle to conceive and "stick" as DH and I had 2 miscarriages prior to this pregnancy.