TTC #1 in our 30s -- September - Page 8

[Bel718]

Thank you everyone for the info on temping the "other" way. Is temping better than the OPK's? I'm guessing I should do both. This should be interesting... Wonder what DH will think...

Hey Birdie.Lee! Yay for EWCM!

[~Adorkable~]

the good thing to keep in mind with it comes to OPKs compared to temping is that you can really compare them they do two differnt things.

OPKs tell you when you are ramping up to O

Pros:

• they give you a day or two warning, important mostly if you have wildly varing cycles and could burn yourself out BDing every other day for a very long time each cycle.
• they dont require good sleep patterns or disrupting a family bed

Cons:

• they dont confirm O, you can get positives and not O
• they dont work for everyone, some ladies never get a pos, some ladies get them for many many days
• they cost money each cycle

Temping, tells you when you actually O'd

Pros:

• actually confirm O and sometime other issues about your cycle
• one quick thing to do, free once you have a thermometer
• lets you compare cycle histories over time
• lets you possibly see when AF is coming

Cons:

• does not give you warning about upcoming O (except for past history which can certainly be all you need)
• required some amount of consistent sleep pattern and discipline with waking
• daily temps can drive you nuts until or if you learn not to fret about them

in the end what you do will usually depend a lot of your type of lifestyle and cycle.

if you have a basically regular cycle i think temping is better to catch little issues and let you know everything is going smooth and to let you know good due dates for when you do get preggo, with OPKs only being needed if you need to time a insem or something like that.

if you have wildly irregular cycles and you have seen opks work well, then they can really help you narrow things down so that you dont burn your lovemaking good will out, but i still think temping is good to have as well to confirm things actually happened



ok i'll stop babbling now

[Teetina]

Hey Adorkable! We miss ya over here and we miss all your expertise too. Thanks for that list, its awesome. I hope your pregnancy is going well and that your move hasn't been stressing you out too much.

I just wanted to add that even aside from better temperatures, I love vaginal temping for the laziness factor. I can just put it in and sleep in a little more and not worry about holding it in place. If its in my mouth it might fall out if I fall asleep again quickly hehe. My thermometer gives a quick readout after a short time but continues gaging my temperature for another while after and becomes more accurate so for me its better to leave it in a little longer anyway.

If you try it, just be aware the the temperatures are a tiny bit higher than the ones taken by mouth so don't switch methods at a time that you might confuse a temperature rise with an ovulatory temperature rise.

Taxlady, I know you're gonna do a great job as our new threadkeeper!

[Blanca78]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

hi folks, poking my head back in to say hi!

wanted to put my 2¢ in about temping, i was never happier than when i switched over to vaginal temping, i was amazed how it smoothed the curve out. it also let me doze off on most mornings and leave it in place for the full 2-3 minutes that i have found actually really matter regardless of when it beeps.

Hi Adorkable! I can't believe you're so far along already, and one of each! Wow! Congrats!

I'm a mouth breather so temping vaginally was necessary in my case in order to see a clear temp shift. But it did the trick.

As for OPKs, I have never tried them because I find them expensive and confusing. However, after charting for two-three months and figuring out my body's patterns, I always found I could tell when O was coming w/no problem whatsoever, from CM. Sometimes it took a few more days than I expected (especially if traveling) but temp shift always confirmed the CM. I did have to check CM internally--almost nothing ever came out on the TP, but once I got used to checking internally I found I generally had plenty (although it definitely can vary month to month). I would just carry little alcohol wipes with me to sanitize my fingers.

ETA: I have semi-regular cycles--they can vary by up to a week. O varies from CD17-22 or so, and occasionally has been delayed more by travel.

[Bel718]

That is all great info! Thank you all! It has been very expensive since my cycles are so long and the results are hard to read...

[~Adorkable~]

yeah Blanca78, (congrats again and again darling!) like you my cycles were predictable if not perfectly regular and like you i checked internally and got pretty good at it. i O'd between CD14 and CD20 so it was not a huge range and CD16 or 17 was most of the time.

i did OPK for 2 cycles in the beginning and found them infuriating and never looked back