Official Trying to Conceive - Thread 13

cats2012

Just a quick de-lurk - my big tip is cough syrup. Google it. There's a particular type which thins mucus - and works for CM as well as your throat!

It's the only thing we did differently the month we conceived which is probably coincidence but you never know...! i did notice a difference and it cost about £2.50

A0503

Thanks cats, Iv heard this too, would you mind sharing what brand you used as I read some have ingredients that have the opposite effect! Xx

cats2012

So it needs to have guaifenesin in I believe. I used Benylin Mucus Cough :-)

A0503

Thanks cats, I may try it. I'm due to ovulate tommorow so may be too late this month now but will def try next month. What dosage did you do and when did u start taking it, straight after AF up until ov? Xxx

athensgeorgia

I heard about cough syrup last time I was TTC but never actually tried it myself. There were a lot of ladies trying it on the board I used then.

cats2012

I just took a teaspoon a day I think as the TTC forums said more but it did risk runny noses etc!! I found the small amount still made a difference. My cycles are super long so I started about a week before I thought I as going to ov, give or take.

angel11

Rachy hope the counselling helps x

Cats that's v interesting about the cough syrup, I might just put it on my (rather long) list of things to try next month.

Ok, so little snippets of info that I've picked up. Obviously I'm no expert, but here's what I've found useful for me, and may be of use to some others

First up, ewcm is the most important indicator of your fertility. It's basically your body's way of gearing up for ovulation, and helping the sperm make its way to the egg. It's one of those things that you know for sure when you get it, there's def no mistaking it, and it's very aptly named. I had thought for about a year that I was getting ewcm, but I wasn't, which became apparent once I did actually get it (or maybe that's just me being rather thick ) It is transparent & extremely stretchy (rather like egg whites ). Some people will notice it when they wipe or on their underwear, for others it'll just stay up near the cervix so you need to be making a point of checking your cm daily. For me, ewcm tends to be a blob kinda separate from my other cm. Some women will notice their ewcm before ov, some when oving, some after oving (alhtough for most it's before/during ov). Sometimes, ewcm can be mistaken for semen, or vice versa (they're a bit similar), but there's a few ways to tell them apart:
1. if you stretch ewcm between your fingers/thumb, it'll stretch to at least 1 inch, semen tends not to be as stretchy & will break easier
2. semen will dissolve in water, ewcm won't
3. ewcm will sit on top of toilet paper (like a blob), semen will sink into it.
When checking cm, you can check cervical position as well. Around the time of ov it'll be high, soft & open, although ewcm is the most important indicator.
For anyone interested, this is a link with some great info/photos re cm, cervical position, etc but be warned it is very much tmi http://community.babycenter.com/post/a40832935/how_to_detect_your_cervix_position_cp_and_cervical_mucus_cm_type_for_your_charts

There are loads of other signs/symptoms of ov, prob too many to mention here, but not all women will get them. For me, I get a slight pain/sensation in my side/pelvis (there's a name for it, which I can't remember), which is kinda like a tugging/pulling sensation, and which may correlate to which ovary is oving - not all women get this, of those that do, most get just before/during ov, but a small number will get it after ov. I also get tingly nipples, a much higher libido, and my mood is generally very high (happy, confident, motivated). Some other common signs are sore boobs, headache, spots, backache. It's a case of trying to get to know your body - fertility apps are great for this, note everything down every day, regardless how trivial it might seem, and you'll soon start to see a pattern emerging.

So, how to put this all together & try to figure out when you're oving. Your "peak fertility day" is the day that you have ewcm. If you have ewcm on more than 1 day, it's the last day you have ewcm. Ov will generally occur within 2 days either side of the peak fertility day, if you have any other signs of ov they might help to narrow it down a bit, especially if you get the ov/pelvic/side pain/sensation. So, for example, I had ewcm on Friday, so Friday was my peak fertility day. If I ov within 2 days either side of my peak fertility day, this would mean I ov some time Wed-Sun. On Sat & Sun I had ov pain, higher libido & tingly nipples, which would point to me prob oving Sat-Sun. My pattern over the past 3 months seems to be that I get ewcm first, & then the other signs come after.

Now, I chatted to my acupuncturist about being certain about if/when I ov. She said that you can't be certain that you def did ov unless you do an ultrasound - bloods (progesterone), temping, opks cannot confirm ov, but can help to build a picture of what's going on.

Opks - they detect the lh surge (which is what triggers your ovary to to ov). The lh surge happens 12-48 hours before ov, so once you get your positive opk you will likely ov within 12-48 hours afterwards.

Temping - bbt rises 12-24 hours after ov. Interestingly, both my GP & acupuncturist said that temps are extremely sensitive to the slightest little change in our bodies/environments, and they both don't recommend temping.

Blood tests - checks for progesterone levels. Progesterone rises after ov to prepare the womb for possible fertilised egg. If the egg is not fertilised, progesterone will start to decrease. Progesterone is at a peak 7 days after ov, therefore, the test needs to be done exactly 7 days after ov. Quite often surgeries will do the test 7 days before your period is due, but this is based on the assumption that you have a lp of 14 days, which obviously not everyone has, so it could very easily been done on the wrong day. With progesterone results, anything over 30 suggests that you probably oved, but for your womb to be able to support a fertilized egg, it needs to be over 60.

So I think that's probably more than enough for now. Sorry if I've bored you all to tears, I'm just getting my teeth into all this now & feeling like I finally understand my body a bit better. I'm sure plenty of you already know most of this, but there might be a few small things that can be of us to someone. Hope it makes sense & not too much gobbeldy-gook

penguingirl

Wow Angel that is very comprehensive!

CD30 for me and I'm still have bursts of agonising cramps. Think it's been about 5 days. They probably last about 20 minutes, make me want to cry/throw up and give me a hot flash. Very unpleasant. But still no sign of AF but I keep expecting her due to cramps!

newthrift

And AF has showed her ugly face, back to CD1. Really thought we might of been in with a chance this month...

angel11

Awh New sorry the witch got you xx