https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 14 May 2026 16:14:25 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340556 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:56:07 +0000 QBbride 340556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I charted before we ttc'd, just to get an idea of my cycles, when I ovulated etc. It was helpful but I don't think it was necessary. I didn't chart once we started ttc, I feel like it took the fun out of it. </p> <p>If you don't want to chart etc., just be sure you have sex at least every other day. What might be more helpful is using OPK's instead. You can have sex every other day, then when you get a positive OPK, you should have sex for three days in a row... that should cover your bases (assuming you are actually ovulating when you get a positive OPK - which isn't always the case if someone has PCOS).</p> <p>I get frequent UTI's, so I was always worried about peeing everything out. But think of it this way - it's not like peeing after sex is a good form of birth control. I would wait in bed 10-15 minutes if I could, then get up. We got pregnant really quickly, so I wouldn't worry about that. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340549 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:42:57 +0000 sarac 340549@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm currently trying to determine whether or not I'm ovulating, but temping is such a pain. If I don't get pregnant again in the next six months, I'll probably ask for a series of progesterone tests, which is how I found that I wasn't ovulating originally.</p> <p>I find the OPKs to be utterly irritating. If I were actively TTC again, I'd just make sure to have sex every two or three days from day 5 until about day 18 in my cycle. I personally find that to be far easier than fiddling with the OPKs or temping or any of that. But if you find that to be less hassle, then they usually do work pretty well.</p> <p>Also, sperm lives for a good little time. So really, if you just do it once or twice a week, you should in general be covered. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340537 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:19:40 +0000 ladyfingers 340537@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I always found my CM to be very confusing, but because I had been charting my temps for a few months, I knew I usually O'ed around day 20. So the month I got my BFP, I knew to BD a lot more that week. Then, like others mentioned, I knew when i O'ed so that I would know when to test. I thought of it like, temping and CM work together to build the most accurate portrait of my cycle. </p> <p>Also, you may O at different times (stress, travels, meds can all delay it) but your luteal phase is always roughly the same length of time. Temping can tell you when you O'ed so you can see if you have any luteal phase issues ( short LPs mean you could have trouble conceiving because your body doesn't have enough time to get that fertilized egg implanted). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340360 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:05:46 +0000 PurplePumps 340360@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks ladies!! I guess it's pretty helpful and something good to know my body better, especially since my cycles were pretty nuts when I'm not on BC. Already ordered my thermometer! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340131 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:21:05 +0000 JoJoGirl 340131@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Charting definitely only tells you in retrospect if you ovulated, but that information can be very helpful for a bunch of reasons. Planning for next month is one if your cycles are regular. For me, uur first 3 cycles we were using OPKs to determine O date and trusted the box when it said I'd O 12-36 hrs after a positive, and weren't super careful about BDing consistently before the + OPK, but always would the day of and the day after the positive. My cycles were pretty long (35 days) so BDing every other day for 2 weeks straight to cover the 'possible' O days wasn't reasonable for us. Once I started charting, I realized I was actually Oing the day OF the positive OPK, so we were missing the 5 days before, which are the most important. I would never have known that had I not been charting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340115 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:02:08 +0000 spaniellove 340115@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Cervical mucus is helpful in addition to your chart/temps, but it's not reliable enough. You might have cycles when you just don't have enough CM, or you could have multiple patches of fertile CM or you might not have any at all, and your temps (especially previous charts) would be a much better indicator of when you O. Also, there's no way to be sure of exactly when you O'ed unless you temp, so you wouldn't know how many days past O you are (which is helpful for knowing exactly when AF is late, when to test, etc). CM can't really tell you when you O'ed or even if you O'ed at all - it could happen on the last day of fertile CM, after, or before, and you could have fertile CM and not even O. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340102 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:48:31 +0000 sarac 340102@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I know that my first three clomid cycles, I had the very scheduled sex, I laid there for 30 minutes afterwards, all that. No luck. By the fourth cycle, I was over that. We had sex on the days we needed to, in general, but when we wanted to. And I stopped just laying there, and just went on with my day. Bam, BFP that month. So, I really don't think it matters so much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340057 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:30:48 +0000 Cherrybee 340057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm going to answer your second question first with this little snippet of info.... my 80 yr old aunt told me the other day that she was pregnant with her eldest when she got married because her late husband told her you couldn't get pregnant if you did it standing up (nice, Auntie, thanks for that!). And she did, of course! So, no, I don't think gravity causes that much of an issue - but I still lie down for half an hour afterwards to give the swimmers the best possible chance! </p> <p>In response to your first question, I sometimes get all the signs of O, fertile CM etc, and then don't O (for a week!). Temping helps me to realise that I haven't actually O'd - and so we keep up the BDing. As soon as I see that sustained temp shift I relax and stop pressuring DH every night! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340050 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:10:26 +0000 Silva 340050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a good example of why charting is useful:</p> <p>I started getting fertile-quality CM on day 12 of my cycle, it continued until about day 15 or so. I was charting my temp, and I knew I still hadn't ovulated. The CM stayed "creamy" and didn't go away as usual. I kept charting (and having sex!) for another full week before my temp spiked. I got pregnant that cycle. We would have stopped "trying" on day 15 if I hadn't charted my temp. I know I ovulated later than day 14, because the fetus is measuring right on target with when my temp spiked.</p> <p>it was also an early clue that I was pregnant, because my temp stayed really high...</p> <p>I like to go pee right after having sex usually (to "clean up"). When we were trying, I stopped doing that, and just went to sleep (if it was at night), or waited about 15-20 minutes before getting up. I had read that it is helpful to do this when TTC. Not sure if its true or not, but it worked for us!</p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340049 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:10:17 +0000 Shutterbug 340049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Charting is good to figure out the pattern of your cycle. It's also good to give you a heads up before AF shows up (your temp drops). As for the other question, I've heard that the important stuff shoots up where it belongs and what comes out is just... byproduct, haha so I think you don't have to stay laying down after (although it can't hurt) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/a-few-ttc-newbie-questions#post-340022 Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:26:31 +0000 PurplePumps 340022@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What is the point of charting and taking your temp to know when you ovulate? Is it just to learn your pattern for the future? From what I've read, by the time your temp tells you that you've ovulated, its too late to BD, and that you should have been BDing a the few days before.</p> <p>I've read a bunch about checking cervical muscus, that sounds like the more reliable method to determine when to BD, so why bother charting on top of that?</p> <p>This one sounds really stupid, but....I like to shower and clean up right after. My husband sort of joked about, 'gravity is working against us' and 'i need to leave "it" all inside of me'. Could I really be washing it away? Do you really *need* to lay there for a little while? </p>