A normal cycle

Aleighaf · 10-11-2007, 03:15 PM

I am trying to have a baby and for the longest time I couldn't figure out why i couldnt get pregnant if i was getting my period, even though I only had it every other month. So for the past 5 months ive been tracking my period and I realized that i am on a 41 day cycle. It's EXACTLY 41 days every time (for the last 5 months anyway) Does this mean that i should ovulate on the 20th day? Also, is knowing my cycle giving me better odds at getting pregnant? I need some serious advice, im sort of clueless right now i guess.

Jenn29456 · 10-11-2007, 03:26 PM

Based on "normal" Luetal Phases (14/16 days) give or take a day. I would say you probably ovulate somewhere around Cycle Day 24 - 28 of your cycle. What I would do since your cycle is so regular at 41 days is use OPK's Day 20 up until you get a positive. I know that sometime they say that OPK's dont work for use because our hormones are all out of whack, but if you are o'ing. I think that definelty around that time you should get a surge.

Hope this helps

heartcore · 10-11-2007, 03:28 PM

Have you been diagnosed with PCOS? You can get your period without having ovulated in that cycle. Are you doing ovulation prediction kits? Charting your basal body temps? Those are the best ways to tell if you are ovulating.

I see you are from SC? So am I! What part?

Jodes · 10-11-2007, 04:59 PM

I ditto what the other girls said. You should ovulate about 14-16 days prior to your period starting. Charting my basal body temperature was how I figured out that I wasn't ovulating, even though I was having a period every 6 weeks or so.

Knowing your cycle (and if you're ovulating) is definitely the best way to start - that way you know what you're dealing with. If you're not ovulating you can decide what to do from there -- there are options and PCOS isn't the end of the road. I never ovulate myself and we're currently trying for #3, so that should tell you something

suziboo · 10-11-2007, 05:19 PM

Just to add to what the others said, I would use OPKs and chart your temps. For the first 4-5 months I was off BCPS I had a "regular" cycle of 40-42 days. After charting and a progesterone test, my dr and I figured out I was not O. Hope that helps!

TrishainAZ · 10-12-2007, 03:04 AM

Also.... read my ttc bible... Taking Charge of your Fertility.

La Blanca · 10-12-2007, 11:04 AM

Good advice from the PPs, but I would add that the average LP is 14 days; that means that, for lots of us, it is actually shorter than that. Ten or twelve days is considered the low end for a healthy LP (that's what mine typically was). So, if you are ovulatory, you might not actually be ovulating until around CD29-31. Also, even if you are ovulating regularly, the later one ovulates the poorer the quality of the egg. Dr. Samuel Thatcher's book on PCOS proposes that as you start getting closer to CD30, the eggs are getting too old.

Have you been to a doctor who knows his/her stuff about PCOS? For your own health, and to aid in your TTC journey, that would be my foremost recommendation.

HTH and GL!

sheepiegirl · 10-12-2007, 11:30 AM

Hey, you callin my egg old?! I ovulated around CD37 or so!

TrishainAZ · 10-12-2007, 12:06 PM

Generally that can be true... but I also have gotten pregnant on a cycle where I hadn't had a period in about a year and a half (my first ovulation after my pregnancy) so it certainly can happen. However, I do agree that it can sometimes make it harder. I was ovulating on my own, but apparently not *good enough* on my own every 40 days or so so when I added Met it shortened my cycles a bit (although still not that much... never got to 28 days) and just like the last two times I was on it... got pregnant in 3-4 months of using it.

La Blanca · 10-12-2007, 12:13 PM

I didn't say it wasn't possible to get pregnant when ovulating later than CD30, I just said that some doctors believe the egg has a tendency to be of poorer quality which, as Trisha said, makes it harder to conceive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrishainAZ

I was ovulating on my own, but apparently not *good enough* on my own every 40 days or so...

You sound similar to me: I've always ovulated on my own, but my cycles were anywhere from 39 to 58 days. Once my RE put me on Met and Clomid to get me ovulating in a timely fashion, I was pregnant twice in seven months.

sheepiegirl · 10-12-2007, 01:18 PM

I know, I was just kidding...