weeeeellllll.....

I started spotting today. I am so sad. I just want to lay in bed all day and wallow in my sadness.... but I have 37 reports to write for work (you know that I planned to do over the last week) and that is not an option.

Good Luck to everyone else this month. I am onto month eight. I am finally caving and using OPK's and DH is getting a SA.

So what OPK's should I use.. WITHOUT spending a fortune?

Also I think that DH and I are going to pretend he has sperm isssues this month and skip the Every other day method and just save it up for one really well timed Bd.. So what do we do.. Bd the day after we get a pos OPK.. and then after that, even if his supply is depleted, bd anyway? I just want to try to get that one saved up time exactly on the right day. What day do you O after the pos OPK?
Also what if you CM and OPK don't match up? Which is accurate? I can't believe that after 8 months on this board I haven't picked up the answers to these questions.

TIA.. I am kind of clueless to the world of OPK's

Message edited 1/1/2008 10:49:27 AM.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I'm sorry I know your frustration. It took us a while too Dollar Tree has OPKs (but I found I could only use them at home b/c you don't just POAS and I couldn't do that in a stall at work). So, I relied on Target brand OPKs for the work week.

Also, from what I understand "saving" it up is not recommended. Have you been BDing from CD10 on? What is your cycle like?
You usually O the day after you get a positive OPK.

Also, you might try using Deanna's Plan if you're not familar with it. I know it's worked for a lot of girls on here (including me).

Message edited 1/1/2008 10:59:24 AM.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

hey hon. i am so sorry about this month.

i used the CBE regular OPKs and i had no trouble reading the lines. OPKS are less expensive than HPTs in general, try looking in target (that's where i got mine).

if you *suspect* that the problem is DH's sperm, then i would BD the actual day you get a positive OPK - sperm are slow swimmers but can survive for up to five days, so it's better to have them "in there" before the egg is released, rather than the day of.

what worked for us was to BD when i got a positive OPK and the day after (which i think was the day i O'd since generally, OPKs are used to detect the LH surge that will cause you to ovulate in the next 12-36 hours, although it can take a bit longer than that.

i know for me my CM didn't quite reach the egg white consistency this month, but i used pre-seed when we BD, so i think that might have made the difference. on the day i O'd i was worried b/c i was actually very dry, but i have heard that happens to some women, and it doesn't seem to have made a difference since i used the pre-seed. if you want to order it i believe they have free shipping and no tax at early-pregnancy-tests.com.

i hope this helped, at least a little!

ETA: i don't know about "saving it up" but before your positive OPK you should be BDing no more than every other day, and it's ok to BD every day after the positive OPK. if you see the lines getting darker but not quite positive, i would hold off on BDing because you don't want to BD one night and then get your positive OPK the next day, the OPKs detect your two most fertile days each month when BDing should be most successful.

Message edited 1/1/2008 11:05:12 AM.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

Well we usually bd every other day from 10 to 20. But we have noticed (TMI ALERT) that day 10 dh's supply is wonderful.. day 12, a LOT less. and by day 14 there is almost nothing coming out at all. Like he isn't even sure if anything is coming out. If we go two days in a row.. there is much less the second day and then if we skip a day there is almost nothing on day 4. So that is why we are thing he has a low sperm count. He is pretty sure. But we need to go for a SA this month.

Why is saving up not recommended? My cycles are average 29 days but they really vary. This month was in the mid 30's. Sometimes I get EW on day 12 sometimes on day 16 and sometimes never at all. Sometimes I get a O pains. Like this month I got EW on day16 and what I thought might be O pains on day19 (which would totally make sense with me being sooo many days late. That would put me at 14 dpo today rather than a lot more).

Re: weeeeellllll.....

Re: weeeeellllll.....

Message edited 1/1/2008 11:15:57 AM.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I am so sorry Tricia! I know how stressful it is & at times quite fustrating. I think you are taking the right step with using OPK's! I have used pretty much most of the regular OPK's (lines) & they are MUCH cheaper in Target.

If you believe that DH has a low sperm count (from what you describe, I can see why you would think that), then I would wait to BD the day you get the +OPK & then 2 days afterwards. If you know the "roundabout" time you are going to O, make sure you BD at least 7 days before that so that DH is not chances the low fertility that can happen if you hold it for a long period of time.

I know that 2008 is the year for you & you are taking all the right steps to make this happen! I wish you nothing but the best!

Re: weeeeellllll.....

Tricia, Im so sorry I know how frustrating this is for you. This is going to be your year. Try and stay positive it is all going to work out. Im gonna say a prayer for you tonight before i go into work at chapel at work. im hear if you need to talk.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the support and advice. You all helped clear up a lot of my questions. Now I just need AF to arrive full force so I can offically start my next cyle.

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I felt very dissappointed this month too, but now I'm, excited for a new chapter. I believe 08 is going to bring on the babies!!! You are in my prayers

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I'm sorry Tricia!!!
I know how frustrating it is....I like the CBE lines (I got some at Costco for a good price) but if you're worried about reading the lines get the Clearblue happy face one, you can't go wrong with that one!!!
GL!!!!!!
I have a feeling the next months will be good ones for us!!!!

Also I think this month we're going to start every other day from day 10 and then each day I get a positive OPK....
We haven't done that yet..so I'm trying that method this month!!!

GL to you

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I used the Eckerd's OPK's for three months before i splurged and bought the CBFM and I am not sure if you want to spend that much but it worked great. For me it was so much more clear then the OPK's I could never figure out if the line was as dark as teh control line....Good Luck next month

Re: weeeeellllll.....

So sorry, all the girls have fabulous advice, good luck next month!

Re: weeeeellllll.....

I've been using the Answer OPKs. They work pretty well.

As for EWC M and Oing... this month I had EWCM for almost a week. When I Od- I had nothing!