This might sound like a stupid question but I was always curious why women charted and used OPKs? My DH and I just did the regular ole "do it every day for a week" routine. I could see how it could be tiring. So is that why women chart/OPKs to avoid having to do the "every day for a week" bit? Or are there other reasons that I'm totally clueless about? Thanks for your insight!
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My Hubs and I started starting when we married as a form of birth control and it worked well for us. When we made the choice to try for a baby, it was easy for us to know when to get busy. Charting is also helpful if you've been trying for a while and haven't gotten pregnant. Being aware of your cycle can be beneficial health-wise too. Both methods can help you identify any ovulation or luteal issues you may have.
Hope this mini-novel helps
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@maisymay: Thanks for the clarification! I never really thought about the health aspect of it. I just thought it was so that you only had to BD once or twice during that week and not have to worry about BDing the rest of the time.
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I chart and use OPKs because my cycles are fairly irregular. If I knew that I always ovulated at the same time each month, then I would go with the 'every day for a week' thing. But using the OPKs and taking my temperatures not only give me a heads up (we still BD every day for a week, haha), but also give me peace of mind that at least my body is working the way its supposed to.
We've been trying for 11 cycles now, and I'm still not pregnant, so my charts will be helpful to take into my OB-GYN when I go. -
@redsmarties: Definitely makes sense for women who have very irregular cycles. My cycles were always regular (28-30 day cycle) so I would just guesstimate when my ovulation date was BD 3 days before, day of, and 3 days after. We got pregnant fairly quickly using that method so I thought that's what all women did. LOL.
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I charted because I'm a crazy planner. I couldn't just sit there and not know exactly when I was going to ovulate. It would drive me nuts.
And I did get pregnant very quickly each time I TTC. I don't know if charting had anything to do with it because we easily could of just did the BD every other day... and we pretty much did anyway. But like I said, I just had to know. And I felt like I had a tiny bit of control in something that we really have no control over.
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I chart to be sure that I am ovulating regularly. It also helped me figure out that i have longer cycles. Now that I know that I'm taking a mini break from charting and winging it for a couple months.
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We started charting only, but after about 6 months of no luck we started using OPK's too just to confirm that things were correct. Also like @Artbee said, it made me feel like I had a bit more control in something that can feel way out of your control.
We really are not every day kind of people, work and life just get in the way, so every other day during fertile time is about as good as it gets realistically for us. Having both really helped make sure we made the extra effort during that best time.
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we charted because we wanted to maximize our chances of having a baby. if you didn't know when you ovulated, you'd be having some lovin' at the "wrong" times. and when you maximize it, you need a break before the next cycle haha.
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i asked someone the same question the other day.
why not just have sex every day for 30 days? then you would be guaranteed to catch your ovulation, even if your cycles were all over the map. -
@Mrsdaredevil: you and your SO must have SOME endurance if you could have sex every day for 30 days!
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@Mrsdaredevil: wouldn't work for everyone since some women don't ovulate every cycle. charting tells you if/when you do.
also something to keep in mind for those asking, you could have sex every other day, or even every day, or more than once a day, during a fertile window and still not get pregnant even if you do ovulate and do everything "right"!
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Some people chart just to to keep track of their cycles and to know days to avoid having sex if they don't want to get pregnant. Some experts advise that its best to have sex every other day when you ovulate rather than "do it every day for a week"
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We stopped preventing to get our first baby, but this time we kind of want to try the Shettles method to get a girl (even though we know it's not exactly a sure thing), so that is why I started charting... To know what days are supposedly more likely to get us a girl.
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If I hadn't used OPK's I would not have known I had a major problem and wasn't ovulating. They were truly a life and time saver. I can't imagine if we had to have waited a year to start treatments otherwise.
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