new with a really dumb Q

hey girls!!! I'm new here, my husband and i are just going to start TTC this month...

Question- is it only possible to concieve during ovulation days?? I bought the OPK but i was wondering if theres possibility on other cycle days too? any experiences?

thanks and lots of babydust to all of you!!

Re: new with a really dumb Q

First of all, welcome! Hope your stay here is short and sweet.

Okay, as for conception... yes, it can only occur right after you've ovulated. BUT you'll here stories of women who say it happened at wacky times. The stories seem genuinie but are a little misinformed. According to some sources, sperm can stay alive in a young, fertile woman for up to 5 days. So it's possible to bd () 5 days before you ovulate and still get pregnant. So you might have girls telling you that they did the bd on a "non-ovulation" day, but got pg anyway. Not exactly correct.

Also, the OPK's are good indicators but they only tell you that you're ABOUT to ovulate. Sometimes your body gears up to O, then doesn't, and O's days or weeks later (or not at all). So you might get a positive OPK but actually not ovulate for days or weeks (this happened to me last month). And a woman who gets a positive OPK but doesn't bd for 2 weeks and still gets pregnant might go around saying that she did the bd nowhere near ovulation but got pregnant anyway. Again, that's not true but it's what it seems to her.

I know it sounds like a lot to learn, but spend a few days around the girls on this board and you'll pick up more than you'll want to know. Good luck out there!

Re: new with a really dumb Q

thank you SOOO much! i learned alot already! lol

it does seem very complicated, so i guess since everyone's bodies are different we just have to do a lot of !! the husband will be very happy...

good luck to you too!

Re: new with a really dumb Q

Yup, it's true........ you can only ovulate on certain days and thus there's a relatively limited window of opportunity during the month to actually get pregnant.

I was shocked by this when I first started trying because it was drilled into my head since HS that it's just SOOOOOOOO easy to get pregnant!

Re: new with a really dumb Q

Right?! In High School, they drill it in to you to be worried about getting pregnant all the time... they tell you it can happen during your period, they tell you it can happen if the guy gets naked next to you and you don't have actual intercourse... I spent the last 10 years of my life terrified of this stuff! Who knew it would be so difficult when you're actually TRYING???

Re: new with a really dumb Q

Re: new with a really dumb Q

If you get your , then your body is going through an "LH surge" - a whole lot of the hormone that gets your ovary to release the egg. You typically ovulate 1-2 days after the surge. Once you ovulate (the egg is released) it's only fertile for a number of hours so you want to make sure there are sperm there waiting to meet it. SO, put that all together and that means that yes, you should BD when you see your because you will ovulate 12-36 hours later and you want those sperm (which live for up to 3 days) there when it happens.

As to why some women get the smiley and don't actually ovulate, I don't know. I know it happens to people with PCOS, it happens sometimes after you come off the Pill, it happens because of stress. Anything that throws your hormones out of whack. You'll know if you ovulated, though, if you're temping.

Jeez, look at me: even in the summer I can't turn off my "Inner Teacher."

Message edited 6/28/2010 4:11:25 PM.

Re: new with a really dumb Q

thank you - very helpful!

Re: new with a really dumb Q

You've got a pretty small window just alot!