July 22, 2020 at 6:55 pmSorry about the long rant. It may seem silly because I am on TTC cycle 2 (first one with ovacue)—please call me out if I am crazy— but I am very very sad and scared as AF should be showing up soon given some of the signs that I track.
The reason I am so sad is that from what I see my vaginal readings do not confirm ovulation. My temps seem to have shot up but I am unsure that it is a true trend because I have been tracking my temps using a wrist monitor and as I double checked in the past couple of days against vaginal temps (since ovacue gave me a doubt) I realized that the trends dont align (the bracelet indicates that temp is increasing significantly over the past 4 days while vaginal temps indicate a decrease). With that I am not sure where I stand anymore and I am not even sure that I ovulate. I know that even healthy women have anovulatory cycles but I cant help but feel very scared that something is wrong with me.
I am turning 34 in January and I worry about learning that I have a condition at this age. I blame myself for not starting TTC earlier. My husband and I got married in august, knew that we want children but for some reason wanted a honeymoon in a Zika location over the winter holidays—so we casually decided to start TTC this year.
And I also feel bad for not being stronger and letting myself go down such a downward spiral. Across this forum, I see strong women going cycle after cycle without complaining and yet I am numb from fear after 2 cycles of trying.
I realize that TTC is not only about sperm meeting egg. It is also a mental challenge and I was naively not expecting what toll it could take on me.
I now decided to reach out to a fertility specialist to at least get some checks done on female hormones. I am hoping that all will be ok. It may feel early but my thought is I might as well get checked: if everything is ok, I will have peace of mind. If not, I would rather know now, save time and try to adress right away if possible.
Since 8/2019ChartingwithAndrea
Since 8/2019
I'll try to address everything OvaCue here for you. Your vaginal readings and BBT can't confirm ovulation, only a vaginal ultrasound can do that. What the OvaCue and BBT can do is show trends that indicate ovulation may have occured. Annovulatory cycles are pretty rare and your OvaCue nor your BBT are not leaning in that direction. It is possible to have declining vaginal readings after ovulation. If your vaginal readings decline further after ovulation and your luteal phase is shorter than 12 days and this happens more than two cycles in a row, at that point you might want to reach out to your doctor to see if they want to run any blood tests. Just having lower vaginal readings during your lureal phase, one time, would not necessarily be cause for concern at this point.
Most of your fertile signs all line up for CD 14/15 as likely ovulation. Even when all signs line up and you plan intercourse perfectly, there is still only about a 25% chance conception will occur, which is why it can take a couple cycles of trying. In general, doctors refer you to a fertility specialist if you are under 35 and have been TTC for a year and if you are over 35 its after 6 months of trying. This can also depend on your insurance (assuming you are in the USA).
I believer after 6 months it can be recommend that your husband get a semen analysis as well.
You are doing what you can, planning intercourse really well. It can take a few months for conception to happen for most women.
Hopefully some other women can share with you their experience with TTC.
Keep us posted!
Andrea - OvaCue Specialist
Since 7/2020LuckyStar1983
Since 7/2020
Since 8/2019ChartingwithAndrea
Since 8/2019
Andrea - OvaCue Specialist
Since 11/2019gemsie
Since 11/2019
I’m sorry you’re feeling so anxious in starting TTC. My husband I also had our honey moon in a zika zone and so decided to wait!
I understand the worry about whether your body is doing the right thing - I have the same. I am trying some things that might also help your anxiety and there are some things you CAN do that might help you feel like you’re doing something. I do a fertility mindfulness/meditation from your tube most evenings before bed. Do a search, there are lots. I haven’t started yet but am trying to find yoga or fertility yoga also for relaxation. Are you taking any supplements or teas? Fairhaven do a Fertilitea (although out of stock at the moment) and I’m drinking just raspberry leaf tea. Moontime also do a fertility tea. And there are lots of supplements for aiding fertility as well. If you’re interested I’m sure Andrea could advise which ones from Fairgaven are suitable. I definitely found that doing some if these things settled my mind to know that I was at least doing something to help my body along.
Since 8/2019ChartingwithAndrea
Since 8/2019
You can find the Fertility Yoga DVD here. I think we are hoping to have a downloaded version in the next couple of weeks. We also have Yoga and Acupressure for Fertility download here.
Depending on your cycles and ovulation, we have a couple of fertility supplements. For regular cycles we recomend FH PRO and for irregular cycles we recommend FertilAid.
Hope this helps!
Andrea - OvaCue Specialist
Since 11/2019gemsie
Since 11/2019
Since 8/2019ChartingwithAndrea
Since 8/2019
I'll keep you posted once it comes up online!
Andrea - OvaCue Specialist