What do you trust more: Temps, CM, or OPKs?

[finnegansmom]

Just wondering if you only used one method of determining O, which you might pick.

I took a month off from temping and OPKs and happened to time BD with EWCM and got pregnant. This cycle, FF is saying I did O based on temps, which I can see why, but no EWCM...so I don't trust FF. I don't think I've Od yet. Just wondering what you put more faith in.

[MaerynPearl]

Temps. While for some women they may not be reliable... thats estimated to be less than 10% of women. Progesterone really DOES raise your temp once it is in your system. Ask any woman who has used progesterone... if they dont use it as of O day (its best to wait to confirm O before using it anyway as progesterone before O can hold off O and cause you to be anovulatory) they will see a temp rise once they start using the progesterone, likely a second temp rise after the one they already had from O.

EWCM can be there but not be visible. It doesn't matter if you are gushing EWCM like Niagara Falls... it doesnt matter if its all around your cervix when you check inside either... all that matters is its up in your uterus to guide those spermies where to go (and once you start DTD some EWCM from in your uterus will leak out to help clean off and guide the spermies... even if there was no sign of it pre-DTD.

OPKs only tell you if your LH is surging. You can miss the surge, surge and ovulate 3 days later, or you can surge and not ovulate at all. They are a good warning sign that ovulation may be coming but NOT something to trust as a sign that ovulation happened or when.

[finnegansmom]

Because I'm still nursing I don't put alot of faith in the OPK - I've gotten + and not Od before. I do enjoy performing bathroom diagnostic tests on myself hence I use OPKs.
When we used NFP as BC I only went on CM and it work for us...for years.

I'm just annoyed at FF right now to be honest.

[Tulpen88]

For me, temps are best. I tend to spot a lot and sometimes I have more cm after I O and neither FF or TCOYF will give me an O if I have it look at temps and CM. And I have terrible luck with OPKs (never get positives), so I don't use them. I always trust the temp shift.

[MaerynPearl]

Sometimes something as simple as not being hydrated enough can make EWCM almost nonexistent outside but still there on the inside... or changing supplements you take... or this... or that... lol theres a lot of factors in it.

I really would trust temps over anything else... but even temps can be wrong, especially when breastfeeding still.

Im trusting temps and EWCM over an early ultrasound which says I oed 4 days later than my chart says I did... when I had no temp shift in that time frame, no ewcm and started getting nausea the next day and bloody mucous when blowing my nose 4 days later... and a bfp at 6dpo... which I have had one at 6dpo before but I really doubt it this time. My chart was REALLY clear on O.

[~Demeter~]

I'm probably going to piss someone off but I don't temp... and I never have. I tend to pay more attention to my cm and my sex drive.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by Mumof3Nic

I'm probably going to piss someone off but I don't temp... and I never have. I tend to pay more attention to my cm and my sex drive.

Naw... temps arent NECESSARY for conception...

but if you want to pinpoint ovulation down to the day they are more reliable than anything else.

[karmab]

what a great question, finnegansmom. i hope more ladies add their thoughts, cuz i want to hear too.

i do share your frustration with ff this month! i am trusting that i o'd when i think i did based on some o pain and ewcm. ff waffled on me between 2 different dates on different settings. the second possible date, i have to agree, looks like a contender, but i was dry as the dessert. at the first date, i had ewcm- not niagra falls worth, mind you, but good enough. if it really was option b though, i think we did not time it well and my chances are not that good. hoping it was option a. i started prog after that, so like mae said, now my temp is up up up, and there will be no more o'ing this month no matter what, so i hope i got it right. i've got a slow rise, which is part of the confusion, but also part of the reason i've got the prog afterall!

i tried opks for the first time this month, and i think i started them too late and missed it. i think a lot of people miss it though, based on just what time of the day you test. the surge can come and be long gone within 24 hours, so you just might not catch it.

anyway, i'm confident enough that this isnt going to be the month that i just ordered an "ov-watch" for next try.

[shy]

can we add, what about CP? Though I am still not all that familiar to say for sure when it is high or soft, I am getting better about knowing when it is low and firm. If I really got a handle on CP I imagine it might really improve my charting accuracy.

When we used NFP as BC I only went on CM and it work for us...for years.

well we did too - that plus a ballpark "middle third" of the cycle as being unsafe. till very recently I thought ewcm day = O day (since I only get it once in the cycle), but learned that it actually preceded it last time I conceived.

I'm just annoyed at FF right now to be honest.

join the club. I am still not sure when I O'd

[PhotoJournMama]

I pay more attention to CM and use temps to "check" to see if I was right. For example, yesterday I had a peak day of wet/EWCM and this morning I had a temp rise this morning and creamy/dry CM so I'm pretty sure I O'd sometime yesterday. I guess I just think of them as one corroborating the other. I have never used OPKs and from what I have read they don't seem incredibly reliable (plus I am breastfeeding).

[TheDivineMrsM]

Originally Posted by PhotoJournMama

I pay more attention to CM and use temps to "check" to see if I was right.

That's what I do. I trust my body first (CM, CP, sex drive) and then use outside information, like temps and OPKS, to confirm my hunch. HOWEVER... I have a very regular cycle and obvious EWCM each month, so that makes it easier. Women with bodies that work differently may have a different answer.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by TheDivineMrsM

That's what I do. I trust my body first (CM, CP, sex drive) and then use outside information, like temps and OPKS, to confirm my hunch. HOWEVER... I have a very regular cycle and obvious EWCM each month, so that makes it easier. Women with bodies that work differently may have a different answer.

This is what I do. Though I do have wacky cycles but I can still get a good enough idea. I was actually using OPKs the month that I got pg with DS, they said I never O'ed.