Ferning vs. mucous

[crunchy_mommy]

A friend let me borrow her ovulation (saliva) microscope and I thought it would just confirm when I already knew ovulation was taking place... but the patterns aren't coinciding so now I'm more confused.

I had some ferning last week with very strong ferning on Friday (then tapered off and no ferning at all now). So it looks like ovulation occurred close to Friday according to the microscope.

According to mucous patterns, however, I seem to be ovulating right now. Very light mucuous last week & fertile-type mucous yesterday & today.

So how can there be a 4-day difference between the two??

I can't temp due to inconsistent and incredibly frequent night-waking. My other cross-check is my energy levels, which seem to be at their worst and dramatically improve the day after (I thought) I ovulated based on mucous. So is the ferning thing less reliable, or are my mucous observations unreliable?????

[Laurucha]

I have never used one of those ovulation microscopes. But I do suspect that your interpretation of your cervical fluid could be wrong. According to the director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, egg white mucus actually comes after ovulation. I wish he explained that statement better, because it goes against what I was taught. I am guessing maybe it means that the most fertile mucus is actually watery, not thick. I am not sure. In any case, I would recommend backing up your observations with OPKs, since you cannot confirm ovulation with temperatures.

[contactmaya]

Originally Posted by Laurucha 

I have never used one of those ovulation microscopes. But I do suspect that your interpretation of your cervical fluid could be wrong. According to the director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, egg white mucus actually comes after ovulation. I wish he explained that statement better, because it goes against what I was taught. I am guessing maybe it means that the most fertile mucus is actually watery 

IF YOUR DOC REALLY SAID THAT, HE HAS GOT IT COMPELTELY WRONG. THE EGG WHITE WATERY MUCUS PRECEEDS OVULATION AND IS WHEN A WOMAN IS MOST FERTILE. CREAMY WHITE MUCUS OFTEN FOLLOWS AFTER OVULATION  AS IT COMES FROM PROGESTERONE.

ITS ALL IN 'TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR FERTILITY'

OP, I HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH CONTRADICTORY INFORMATION REGARDING EWCM AND FERNING PATTERNS. IF YOU HAVE MANAGED TO CONFIRM OVULATION, THEN I WOULD DEFINITELY GO WITH THE EWCM RATHER THAN THE MICROSCOPE. I SUSPECT  THE  FERNING INDICATES RELATIVE ESTROGEN LEVELS RATHER THAN TOTAL ESTROGEN LEVELS IFYKWIM.

IF YOU ARE BREASTFEEDING HOWEVER, OR SUBJECT TO  NIGHT WAKING THEN ITS A CRAP SHOOT. I OFTEN HAD SPORADIC EWCM WHIST BREASFEEDING EVEN THOUGH I WASNT ACTUALLY OVULATING. ONCE OVULATING HOWEVER, THEN MY PATTERNS BECAME MORE PREDICTABLE EVEN WHILST BREASTFEEDING.

COUNT ME IN AS ANOTHER PERSON WHO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION...

[Laurucha]

Contactmaya, I got that information from a book called If at first you don't conceive by Dr. William Schoolcraft. Under the heading "Fertility Myths," he writes, "There is a similar misunderstanding about tracking mucus changes---when the cervical mucus changes to a clear consistency like egg whites, ovulation has already occurred." As I said, I am assuming that this statement is at least somewhat misleading, because other authorities talk about egg white cervical mucus, though "clear and slippery" is probably a more accurate description. I think that it is pretty easy to misinterpret your own fluids. There can be a lot of variation between different women and different cycles, and the presence of other fluids (semen, natural lubrication, synthetic lubrication) can cause a misreading. For myself, I find checking fluid to be only minimally useful. I don't feel totally confident about when I ovulate unless I have at least two methods corresponding. Until I got my fertility monitor, I was wrong more often than not.