I just used an OPK but I'm one of the incredibly lucky ones with a 28-day cycle. We got pg on the first cycle that I used an OPK (we had been trying about 2 days too late).
I had two m/cs before this successful BFP. We were really good at getting pregnant, but staying pregnant was the issue. For our successful cycle, I did acupuncture and prescription progesterone supplementation. I also drank POM juice pre-ovulation to help thicken my lining, and ate pineapple core post-ovulation to help implantation.
I also charted and did OPKs, although that didn't wind up being entirely helpful because we were traveling (lots of drinking/weird waking times/sleeping in cold basements/etc) when I ended up O-ing, so the date still isn't really clear.
My BFP chart is here: www.fertilityfriend.com/home/brie2010. (The O date is manually set based on my due date, which was set based on an early ultrasound measurement. It's a few days off from the date FF picked.)
With DD1 we had been trying for about 5 months since coming off of BC (long periods so only 2 or 3 cycles). I lost 5 pounds and that was the month I got pregnant. Not sure if that was coincidence, but I don't think so.
With DD2 I had just fully weaned DD1.
We definitely didn't have sex everyday, but I'm sure that would work too if everything else is working.
Charting, opks, pre-seed, and... lots of people will argue this, but not having a ton of sex until it was the right time. We did no sex for a week and then sex the day before and after ovulation.
With both kids it took the same number of cycles to get PG (very strange). With the first we kind of winged it the first 2 months and then the 3rd I tried using OPKs. I don't think it really helped but we got pg that cycle. With #2 I used OPKs for the 2nd and 3rd cycle and got pg on the 3rd. We used Preseed for all cycles, including the successful ones. I'm not sure if it really helped but I figured it couldn't hurt if I was going to use lube anyway.
Charting, opks, pre-seed, and... lots of people will argue this, but not having a ton of sex until it was the right time. We did no sex for a week and then sex the day before and after ovulation.
DH would never agree to TTC again if we did this. I can't imagine either of us would be very pleasant to be around if we didn't have sex for an entire week when we were actually seeing each other every day.
FWIW, my OB/Gyn reco'd having sex every other day. I've never heard the skip-it-for-a-week thing.
Post by oregonpachey on Jun 7, 2012 10:41:50 GMT -5
Charting the first time (I did OPK's too but the timing always was off).
The second time, it was plain ole' sex. We weren't trying but we were trying to avoid during my fertile window. Yeah, that didn't work so well. Surprise!
Post by pierogigirl on Jun 7, 2012 10:42:28 GMT -5
I had really irregular cycles and we were getting referred to a specialist. We kept having sex every other day for months. It eventually worked for both kids, but it was not fun sex.
It was the luck of the Irish for us. We had been trying for over a year, just gotten back a bad SA result from the RE, and I was scheduled for fertility testing.
I was charting, so I knew when we conceived and it was on, or right around, St. Patrick's Day.
I didn't chart. My cycles are relatively regular (26-28 days), so we just tried to have sex every other day from days 8-20 and figured that would cover our bases.
Post by schrodinger on Jun 7, 2012 10:56:37 GMT -5
I don't know if DH had a sperm quality/quantity problem or not, but less sex actually did the trick for us. He was OOT for the majority of my FW and was only home for O-1 and O. We were successful on our fifth cycle with this timing. Every previous cycle we had great timing and got 4 of the 5 days during the FW.
Also, changing to a high quality fish oil supplement totally helped my EWCM. I had some, but not tons, before the change. I switched to New Chapter WholeMega and it was immediately obvious that it helped make more EWCM.
Charting, opks, pre-seed, and... lots of people will argue this, but not having a ton of sex until it was the right time. We did no sex for a week and then sex the day before and after ovulation.
DH would never agree to TTC again if we did this. I can't imagine either of us would be very pleasant to be around if we didn't have sex for an entire week when we were actually seeing each other every day.
FWIW, my OB/Gyn reco'd having sex every other day. I've never heard the skip-it-for-a-week thing.
We are generally once-a-weekers, anyway, so not a big issue for us, plus I hated TTC sex.
I watched a whole documentary on this- I wish I could remember the name. Anyway, there is a buildup of sperm if it's been awhile, so that helps, but there are some theories that the quality of the sperm is diminished if it's been too long. There is also a theory that, the more the man enjoys himself, the better, because that translates to more sperm.
I don't think there's any credible evidence that no sex for a week before ovulation helps at all. However, if every other day isn't working, it's worth a shot.
Post by doctorsbaby on Jun 7, 2012 11:02:52 GMT -5
I had been on some form of birth control for 10 years. My last month on bc I did a whole body cleanse from a homeopathic company DH gets a lot of supplements from. I got pg our first month of trying.
First time in 9 years of sex without BC. . .We only had sex once during my cycle, and was completely shocked I was pregnant since I wasn't charting. I was told I may have trouble getting pregnant. Not so much!
We'd been trying for 12 months at that point, so we knew WHEN in the cycle, but it wasn't working. Then my BFF gave me the rest of her OPKs, which I never did get the green light from them, but I figured we'd see the OB/GYN in late Dec, ask her WTF we were doing wrong (it was most likely not perfectly timing = OPKs) and in Jan '12 we'd try to get the timing right.
But uhhhhhhhh.... yeah. An awesome nooner worked for us!
If DH asks it was the vacation we went on and the tons of alcohol I drank. He would say its his technique and that next baby I cant say we have to go on vacation. I also temped, used preseed, started taking a boatload of vitamins, cried to the OB and told my mom I was broken because I cant get pregnant.