I still have a few more pre-TTC posts in my pocket, but now that we’re officially “makin’ babies,” I’ve got a whole host of new things buzzing around in my brain. This week’s issue: To chart/use OPKs or not?
When baby fever hits, your ovulation date becomes almost as important as your anniversary date. In fact the whole meaning of “O” changes. In all seriousness, someone was recently talking about “O faces” and my first thought was, “How do you even know what your face looks like when you ovulate?” Face meet palm. I remember when “O” meant something entirely different!
Anywho, around the ol’ Hive, it seems that charting and/or using Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs) are the most popular approach to TTC. OPKs give you a heads up that the Big O is on its way. Charting on the other hand, won’t indicate that ovulation is about to occur, but confirms after the fact that Meggy the Eggy did indeed make an appearance. It also helps you learn your body’s patterns so you can predict when you will likely ovulate and the length of your Luteal Phase (LP-between ovulation and when Diablo shows up). Charting just involves taking your Basal Body Temperature (BBT) and recording it on an app, like Fertility Friend. Both charting and OPKs are great tools and can certainly help women have a better chance of conception because it stacks the odds in your favor that you’re getting busy at the right times. I spent several months charting in preparation for TTC. I actually really enjoyed knowing what my body was doing and having “proof” that I was at least ovulating and my LP was about average.
After that paragraph, what would possibly be the case for not using one of these tools?
As much as I learned while charting, Mr. Blue and I made a conscious decision to stop charting before we started TTC for several reasons.
1. Less Stress
I fully admit that I’m a bit Type A, a bit control freak. As much as I enjoyed charting it sent me straight to cray cray town, and I know from reading the boards here and on various websites, that I’m not the only one that lets charting/OPKs suddenly become all consuming. Let me give you a peek into the inner workings of my brain while charting:
Cycle Day (CD) 9 – Too soon for O. Wonder if my temp has been consistent enough for an accurate baseline. Is my baseline oto low? Is that normal? Is something wrong with me?
CD 10 – I got up at 2 a.m. to go to the restroom. That’s probably what made my temp so low today.
CD 11 – Ahhh…it’s 4 a.m. and I have to go to the bathroom. Should I just take my temp now? Should I take at 6:30? I know that’s not officially enough sleep before temping. Hmmmm…maybe I’ll just take it now and use a BBT adjuster.
CD 12 – Nothing that looks like ovulation yet.
CD 13 – My temp went up .2 degrees. Could that be ovulation? It’s not as high as FF looks for to confirm ovulation, but…maybe I’ll just google and see what’s the lowest rise that can still indicate O.
CD 14 – Yes!!!!! I definitely ovulated! My temp shot up!
CD 15 – Temp went up just a bit more. I should get crosshairs soon. Definitely ovulation!
CD 16 – What??!?! Why did my temp just drop .6???? Did I not O? Is this a fluke? I need to google 3 DPO dips and see what this means. Surely it wouldn’t be an implantation dip this early.
Long story short, I analyze every tiny temperature rise or fall and get so uptight both waiting for ovulation and then watching every temp rise and fall after the Big O. Keep in mind, this was happening before I was even trying to get pregnant!
For me, I’m much more relaxed and stress free if I’m not charting. The control freak in me hates not knowing exactly when I ovulate, but overall I feel better. I’m hoping that my two-week wait(s) will be less agonizing if I can’t analyze every temp to try and guess if I’m pregnant. I know that “relaxing” won’t make me suddenly get pregnant, but I feel like it will make the process much more enjoyable!
2. I have a predictable cycle.
One of the best things about charting or using OPKs is they give you lots of information. They can help you determine that you’re not ovulating at all, that your luteal phase is really short, or that your ovulation date isn’t predictable, in addition to a host of other things. In the Baby Making phase, I place a high value on information about my body and what it is doing. Charting confirmed to me that my cycle is pretty textbook. It’s 27-29 days. I have always ovulated between CD 12-13. My luteal phase is consistently 14 days. Now that I have that information and know that my body seems to be pretty predictable, charting and using OPKs doesn’t seem quite as critical for me to utilize. It’s easy for me to get caught up in all the talk about charting and OPKs and feel like I’ll never get pregnant if I don’t do one or the other. But, that’s just not the case. Even if it takes a few months, the chances are that I’ll still get pregnant within the average length of time it takes to conceive, charting/OPKing or not.
3. A More Spontaneous Sex Life
I’m in no way saying that charting or OPKs will ruin my sex life, but I know I would be more likely to “demand” sex at a certain time if I absolutely knew when I was ovulating. I really believe that not knowing exactly when I will ovulate will help keep our sex life a little less calculated and unromantic. Instead of feeling like I need to focus on having sex for one five day period to make a baby, I’m more inclined to have no-pressure sex more often throughout the middle couple weeks of my cycle to make sure our bases are covered. Works for me! :)
I absolutely think charting and/or using OPKs is a great choice, but in my experience they can definitely add some stress that isn’t always necessary. If we don’t get pregnant by September, I’ll consider charting again or using OPKs. For now, however, I’m mostly really content to just have fun with Mr. Blue and hope for the best.
Did you chart, use OPKs, both, or neither?
Preparing to TTC part 6 of 8
1. Preparing to TTC by Checklists2. My Pre-TTC Toolkit by Mrs. Blue
3. My Preconception Toolkit by Mrs. Tricycle
4. Charting Fertility by mrs. green
5. Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor by Mrs. Bee
6. The Case for Not Charting or Using OPKs by Mrs. Blue
7. Starting our TTC Journey: Screening for Jewish Genetic Disorders by Mrs. Confetti
8. TTC, Pregnancy & Parenting Acronyms by Checklists
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I really like your approach. I’m on my third cycle of charting to avoid, and if my cycles continue to be very regular, I think I will do the same as you. Now that I know I’m ovulating, I feel more comfortable taking a more relaxed approach when we TTC in a couple of months.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
i think this approach is so smart!
for me using the clearblue ovulation test thingy told me that i wasn’t ovulating at all. i wouldn’t have known that otherwise, so i’m glad that i did use it!
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
We didn’t use anything besides the “possible fertile dates” that one of my apps gave me based on my period cycles. I was planning on using the OPK but never needed too as we got pregnant on our first cycle of trying.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@jessiejo17: Ditto. I was planning on ordering some OPKs for our 6th cycle, but I got pregnant on the 5th.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
I chart to avoid, but the side benefit is that it taught me to know my cycle really well if I were to need to know for trying (which I never actually needed).
persimmon / 1165 posts
We decided to do neither and the second month of NTNT, a BFP arrived! I was shocked that it happened so quickly. I assumed it would take longer.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I’ve never used OPKs and I’ve recently decided to stop charting. Charting did show me that my cycles are very regular. So I’m glad I tried it for a few months. I check my CM to confirm ovulation, and it’s usually around CD 18-20. I might take up charting again in the future when I want to avoid.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
I love charting. My cycles are ao unpredictable, that I need to chart to keep myself sane. For example, before charting, I had a 55 day cycle once. I kept convincing myself that I was pregnant for almost a month. As far as the up and down of daily temps, I don’t worry about them. It might be the scientist in me, but I’m pretty good at looking for the trends, rather than the individual daily temps.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
I just started charting after my mc. I decided it would be good information if I need to see a specialist (freakishly long cycles over here!!!). Also, it’s good for my personality to confirm O. Otherwise I would be like, oh I think I have, but have I, maybe I did a week a go, maybe I should take a test??? Haha.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
I love using OPKs, especially coming off the pill. Helps me to see how things regulate month to month. If they DO regulate and OPKs start stressing me out, maybe we’d drop them.
nectarine / 2152 posts
I like it but I don’t, ya know? I’m going to keep doing it for at least one more cycle after this one, just to have 6 months of charting info at hand and then probably stop to try to de-stress and get my mind off ttc…
guest
charting was the way to go for me, I did have somewhat irregular cycles, so it did help to establish trends. i too just tried not to overanalyze, but overall I thought it was more helpful for me to do. once i did get pregnant, I kept up with it for about 1 more month to reassure me that all was going good.
grapefruit / 4649 posts
I have been thinking about the best way for us to approach ttc and I think I am going to forgo the craziness of charting and opks for three months. I suspect that in the early days of ttc that could cause my husband to panic and back out!
I noticed that in the about section you are still listed as pre-ttc so you may want to change that. What an exciting change though!
persimmon / 1453 posts
My husband and I were using fertility awareness for years to prevent pregnancy. (I tracked physical signs & cycle lengths rather than temps.) I find it interesting to read these posts, because it never occurred to me that it could become a stressful thing! I’ve found charting to be a great way to understand how my body works.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I have charts going all the way back to 2007 when I went off the pill after being on it for 10 years. It was the only way that I could confirm that I was ovulating on a regular basis without the expense of OPK sticks and the length of my cycle (about 33 days). I remember when I brought the print out of my charts to my acupuncturist, he was pleased I had all the data just in case we had issues. Knowledge is power. Best of luck to you.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
I charted when we first started TTC. Charted as in… I wanted to know how long my cycles were, when and if I noticed changes in my cervical mucous and also to try mood swings… Aka PMS. Oh and to track ‘love connections’. (that’s what my iPhone app, Iperiod, calls BDing. I did temp but only to complete the whole package. Well before we started TTC, I went in to have my annual exam. It was techniquely my preconception appt. At the appt, my doc told me that I don’t have to temp and that looking for EWCM should be fine. So at that point I stopped temping. My work hours were all over the place so temping wasnt probably accurate for me. Fast forward to 3 months of TTC with no success. That’s when I started getting worried and started using OPKs (wondfo). Another 3 months later and that’s when I saw the doctor to ask about a SA and fertilty clinic referral. So then at 7 months of TTC, I’m back to temping.
I think I was pretty relaxed when we first started TTC.
Well, I wish you lots of luck as you start you TTC journey.
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
We have been lucky to conceive immediately both times. I did start to use a Persona fertility monitor the first time and a Clearblue monitor the second time and although expensive, I liked knowing that I ovulated and when. Especially the second time around, with a baby to care for, it would have been difficult for me to keep track of where I was in my cycle. I plan to use the Persona as birth control when we’re “done”.
guest
We are doing the same thing. We’re TTC but trying to be less rigid about it. I like this approach a lot better, but if nothing happens by September we’re going the Type A approach! LOL
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I don’t chart, but do use OPKs as I was unfamiliar with the whole TTC concept (e.g. when I ovulated). Now that I have a better understanding of my body, I think once all my OPK sticks are gone, I won’t be buying more.
Documenting and tracking has made TTC stressful and am wondering if it is attributing to us not receiving the BFP we all want so badly. Beginning next month, no more!
blogger / pear / 1964 posts
I could NOT handle temping the first few months — it was too hard to always take it at the PERFECT time in the PERFECT way – I was stressing myself out. By month 8 or 9 I decided to give it another try, and just told myself that any data I collected would be better than no data at all, even if I didn’t follow the directions, exactly. Much more relaxing!
pea / 18 posts
I charted for a few months before TTC, but I don’t think I could have handled not having all the information once we were actively trying. My cycles were pretty variable (from 27-36 days!) and I couldn’t imagine trying, but not knowing if I was even close. But we got pregnant the first month trying, so I stand by my method.
pomegranate / 3414 posts
First pregnancy we didn’t do anything, no charting or OPK. Second pregnancy I used OPK because we weren’t sure I was ovulating (I never got a positive but I obviously ovulated because I’m due 9/16).
guest
This made me giggle as I recognized myself so much. I have been trying to give up the charts and OPK for last few months but this time I’m defo going to do it. Good luck to you and all on the board x
guest
I’m so glad I’m not alone!! Your internal monologue is just like mine! I went off BC in November and tried to chart right away. It’s been frustrating and stressful and I spend more time Google-searching questions that do nothing except make me worry more. I think I’ll keep an eye on CF and track the length of my cycles, but for now, just let my body work things out. (and I see this is an old post & you’re expecting now, so that helps me feel hopeful
)