Need a Lesson in Counting

Hi Ladies!

I'm getting Married April 20th.
I'm on the pill and will be due for my period about one month after the wedding, on 3 month cycle.

I need a lesson on counting so I know when to start "trying", please help!

Also, a friend told me about a stick I can pee on to know when I'm ovulating?

Need a Lesson in Counting

Just stop taking the pill and start trying. I would not use counting days or anythign the first month or so since you are comming off the pill. Things can be off when coming off the pill so I would just go with the flow for a month or two.

Re: Need a Lesson in Counting

Welcome and Congrats on your upcoming wedding!!

It's good to start trying right away because for most of us it takes longer than we anticipate.

For now I would just try to count the days inbetween your periods. (when you come off the pill) They say 28 days is the average length but most women do not have perfect 28-day cycles! Usually you ovulate 14-16 days BEFORE your next period. So a woman with a perfect 28-daycycle would get her period, ovulate 2 weeks later (you usually want to conceive within 24-48 hours of ovulation but some women get pregnant when they had sex 5 or 6 days before- every person and instance is different).

After you ovulate you enter your luteal phase which is usually 14-16 days. Thats what we TTCers refer to as the "two week wait" because it seems to drag on forever!! This is the 2 weeks between ovulation and when you can take a test. But soem of us (like me) get anxious and try to test early! When you see us say 12 DPO that means 12 days past ovulation. 14DPO is usually when you can expect your period OR take a test to see if you're preggo.

Because you are just coming off the pill your cycles will probably be out of whack and irregular for the first few months. But when you're ready to start trying you can buy Ovulation tests at any drug store. (the sticks you pee on) Usually they come in packs of 7-21 so you can start testing like a week after your period and test everyday to see when you ovulate in your cycle.

In a perfect world a little math and a calendar would be all you need- but a lot of women have hormonal imbalances or other issues that they didn't even know about until they started TTCing. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing for you, but if not, you can get tons of advice on here about great doctors to see and an all around amazing support system!!

Message edited 2/22/2013 3:56:04 PM.

Re: Need a Lesson in Counting