Real timing of ovulation

[nyc55]

In the past few weeks I have read so much about ovulation and it time. This is our 3rd month ttc. I BBT and chart the temp and signs (not Cp, thats kind of hard for me and I feel a bit grossed out to do that).

But, I have read some medical opinions that ovulation is very hard to pin point exactly. The reason is LH surge and temperature rise take some time (even days) to show up in your system, such as urine or BBT.


any other ideas/suggestions/experiences?


I'd really like to know since I've started cramping and twinging in my lower abdomen 2DPO according to my FF chart, which would make more sense if I had ovulated earlier.

baby dust to all!

[karmab]

yes, it is very hard to pinpoint exactly, but seems to be pretty close, considering all the ladies who chart while under super monitored care of REs, getting ultrasounds of their follicles and bloodtests and trigger shots and all kinds of things where they know when they o.

pings and twinges in your pelvis can happen for all kinds of reasons at all different points during your cycle. i often feel ovulation, and my temp always rises accordingly to the timing of that pain- up the next day, but i also frequently have aches in my ovaries a few days leading up to o, and i consistantly feel discomfort from the corpus luteum after o. im not sure why, but i almost always have uterine cramping 2-4 dpo too.

anyway, back to the question, there can easily be wiggle room of 24 hours in your temp indicating o, but that's not far off, 1 day. think of it like this. say you temp every day at 7 am. you o that day at 12:01 am, and by 7 hours later, you have enough progesterone circulating in your body (and you probably do) to be picked up by your hypothalamus and your bbt to raise at least 2/10 of a degree. well, technically, it will say you o'd the previous day, even though you o'd one minute after midnight. close enough, right?

on the off chance that's not QUITE enough to raise your temp yet, by the next day following, your temp will certainly be up- after 31 hours, and it would chart that you o'd the previous day, as you did.

if you o'd at say 5:30 am, and you temp at 7 am, you might not have enough p4 to likely affect your temp, but it will show up by the next day, 25.5 hours later, and it will rightly indicate that you o'd on the previous day.

with all that said, i have been at this ttc thing long enough to know there are no nevers or always, no matter how much we believe there are. so might it take longer for your temp to respond? i guess it could. plus, you've got the human factor of maybe not taking the temp completely consistantly or in the absolute best technique, or having temps affected by ambient temps or a glass of wine the night before, or dh stealing the cover, or who knows what. but over all, you are looking for trends, not precision, and charts usually will give you enough info to figure out if there are hormonal issues with your cycles, and the approximate timing of the 4 or so day fertile window, and the timing does not need to be all that exact for bd'ing to be successful.

good luck to you!

[nyc55]

thanks Karmab for you response!

I have felt the twings before and after O, this time is quite different, cramps and stretching that I hope are related to good things happening... lol



I completely agree with your explanation. It just made me think that I shouldn't ignore the days leading to ovulation as I have done so far, concetrating mostly on the big day occasion.

Good luck to you too

[karmab]

o definitely! dont wait for the o! the best time statistically for conception are the two days before o, at about 30% on those days. chances drop down to about 15% if you are only doing it on the day of ovulation! sperm can live in favorable (fertile) conditions 3 days quite routinely, and as many as 4 or 5 days in some circumstances, so do it ahead!

this goes along with the timing of the temp rise too, and the viability of the egg, which is less than 24 hours, and probably closer to about 14 hours. we don't see the temp rise until the day following ovulation, so if you o in the 24 hours or so before your temp goes up, by the time you see a temp rise, the egg could have easily disintegrated 10 or more hours before. so always try to play it safe and dtd in the days before you suspect you will o. interestingly enough, if you only dtd on 1 dpo, you still have almost a 15% chance of conceiving, and that just goes to show the timing of the temp rise is subject to some wiggle room.

a good rule of thumb is to consider yourself fertile anytime you have watery or ew cm. if you dtd every other day during this time, you will be covered. also, listen to your gut, because if you do, you will also most likely notice an increase in sex drive that is strongly correlated with our fertile days.

[nyc55]

Karmab, I really didn't know that it was only 15% on that day! That's really insignificant, a very small window.


I heard the theory of sex drive and it makes complete Darwinian sense.. Human females don't exactly show off their colors or give visible signs like other animals, but they certainly do know when is the right time and they can definitely feel that.

To that effect, I have also read that dominant females have more sons that subordinate ones. (not that it matters). Which would make sense if these "dominant" females were succesful in seducing their mates and achieving baby dancing the days that they were feeling more sexual that would coincide with ovulation time, as compare to random bd wayy before ovulation that would give priority to sperms carrying female X.


I must admit that it is fun reading all that stuff in an evolutionary perspective

[bcblondie]

I do agree that there could be a bit of a delay there. But it's pretty close. Otherwise our LP's are longer than the average 14 days.

[nyc55]

bcblondie, that's another thing,

LP aren't exactly 14 days for everyone. They are different for different people, but tend to be approximately the same give or take one day from cycle to cylce. So the only thing that we know for sure is the LMP. Well, even that if we count it as the first spotting...


I think karmab is right that we are looking for trends, personalized charts and cover all the basis with the windows of opportunities given to us.

[bcblondie]

Originally Posted by nyc55

bcblondie, that's another thing,

LP aren't exactly 14 days for everyone. They are different for different people, but tend to be approximately the same give or take one day from cycle to cylce. So the only thing that we know for sure is the LMP. Well, even that if we count it as the first spotting...


I think karmab is right that we are looking for trends, personalized charts and cover all the basis with the windows of opportunities given to us.

Oh I know. I used to be a 14 day girl but after my miscarriage it got all messed up. On clomid my LP varied based on how strong my ovulation was. And after I had DS it was only 11 days. B6 has now lengthened it to 14 days. But Now I'm wondering if it's actually say... 16 days. Because often times I feel o pains on the day of my pos opk, but my chart says i didn't O til 2 days later!!

[nyc55]

yep, It gets quite confusing. I just have a feeling that my actual ovulation happens way early than the charts say.


As far as pains or signs go, I get all of them, sore bb, lower back ache, cramps, ewcm (not this cycle which was weird or maybe not visible to me) sensitive, emotional, high sex drive and so forth, but I can't tell which day ' O happened lol and of course the pains might have been bcs my body is getting ready for it or as a reaction to LH surge...go figure

I have very much clockwork periods, but if I can't pint point o timing than I can't say what LP I have . I guess I have to be OK with taking the charts as general guidance and be reassured that I O' during each cycle...