does this look right to you?

[tolovemercy]

Hi ladies,

Having been here a few times before, I know you all are chart pros.  :)   I'm pregnant again, this time quite by surprise.  I was charting when I conceived, but wasn't paying attention closely and wasn't entering my info into FF every day.  So, thinking I hadn't even O'd yet (this was my first cycle PP, btw, so things were a little unpredictable), a friend dared me to take a pregnancy test on a whim, and it was positive.   After I entered the rest of my info into FF, it gave me a date of O that looks pretty good, I think, but has me questioning it for two reasons:  1. The length of time between the last time we DTD and the day of ovulation, and 2.  The date of my first BFP would have been what, 8 or 9 DPO?  It was an internet cheapie, given to me- I don't know the brand.  I know both things are possible, but are they likely? Does anyone else see another possible day?

<a href="http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1aad2c">My Ovulation Chart</a>

[JMJ]

Congratulations!  Yep, that looks about right to me.  Charting is not an exact science, so you could have ovulated within about 3 days of that day.  Sperm can live about 5-7 days in fertile CM, so it is not really that much of a surprise given BD record.  An IC test at 9 DPO would likely be pretty light, but it's not impossible to get a positive by then.  If the information you put in is accurate, I can't guess that you would have ovulated before CD 21, and CD 24 is probably your best guess.

[Jaimee]

Congrats on your pregnancy!  Yep, I agree with CD 24.  As JMJ mentioned sperm can live up to a week in fertile CF.  Generally they say 5 days and if you DTD late on CD 19 and O'd early on CD 24, that's about right.  The same thing actually happened to me with my second... we DTD 5 days prior to O and got a surprise pregnancy!    And as for the HPT, many women on these boards test early and frequently with IC's and dollar store tests and several get accurate results even prior to 9 DPO.  Definitely within the range of possible for Oing on CD 24!

[hoping4just1more]

Ok, I am no charting expert, I just know what I have seen in my own charts. So I will tell you what I would think if this were my chart. I would think that I Oed on CD 19 or 20 (I always have a sharp drop in temp the day before or of Oing) and from my previous charts I did also have a temp drop which is what I considered to be a drop from implantation. So it almost looks to me as though you Oed CD 19 or 20  and implanted 5 or so days later on CD 24. FF gave me weird dates with 2 children as far as O day. But I knew by looking at them what day everything occured. I know people say you implant between 7-10 dpo, 7-12 dpo, and various other numbers, but I was told my family practice doc (not an OBGYN so he may have not known exactly what he was talking about) that it can occur as early as 5 dpo although not usually the case. How dark was your HPT?

But congrats to you anyways. No matter what the dates you are one lucky lady.  Have a totally awsome pregnancy!!!!

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by hoping4just1more 

I would think that I Oed on CD 19 or 20 (I always have a sharp drop in temp the day before or of Oing) and from my previous charts I did also have a temp drop which is what I considered to be a drop from implantation. So it almost looks to me as though you Oed CD 19 or 20  and implanted 5 or so days later on CD 24. FF gave me weird dates with 2 children as far as O day. But I knew by looking at them what day everything occured. I know people say you implant between 7-10 dpo, 7-12 dpo, and various other numbers, but I was told my family practice doc (not an OBGYN so he may have not known exactly what he was talking about) that it can occur as early as 5 dpo although not usually the case.

I respectfully disagree.  There have been numerous studies done and none have found implantation to occur prior to 6 DPO and that 84% of the time implantation occurs between 8 and 10 DPO.  I really don't think it makes sense for O to have occurred on CD 19 or 20 with temps that are not higher as a group than your other pre-O temps and with continuing fertile CF.  However, if you plan on getting an early u/s you can compare that date with your O date.  And beyond that, we're only talking a window of 4 or so days.  Personally I just take the latest due date I can get to avoid unnecessary interventions at the end of pregnancy.

But congrats to you anyways. No matter what the dates you are one lucky lady.  Have a totally awsome pregnancy!!!!

But this I totally agree with! 

[tolovemercy]

You are all so smart.    Thanks for looking at my chart and giving your thoughts.  

I think from a temperature and EWCM standpoint, CD24 really looks right.  And you're so right, it's not that big of a deal since it's only a matter of days.   Since I have done this before, though, I know that I have never seen a BFP before 11 or 12 DPO, and even then, they were serious *squinters*.  The line I saw at 8 or 9 DPO was *not* a squinter, at all, which caused some doubt about CD24 being the right day.  But, there's variables there, too, obviously.  Heck, maybe it's a girl this time.    Thank you again, wise ladies!

[JMJ]

hping4just1more, ovulation/implantation dips are a less-reliable way of figuring ovulation, and if you look, there is a dip on CD 24 as well.  It is much more reliable to look for a sustained thermal shift and CM dry up.  Statistics tell us that in almost every case, ovulation occurs within 3 days of Peak day (the last day of more-fertile type CM), in this case, CD 24.  As far as a thermal shift is concerned, we're in general looking for at least 3 temps above the previous 6.  In this case, that requires shaving the temperature on CD 19 (shaving 1 temp and in some cases two is allowable with charting rules), and then the chart shows a clear temperature rise beginning on CD 25.  The most likely day of ovulation by CM is peak day.  The most likely day of ovulation by temperatures is the day before the beginning of the temperature rise, and while both can be off by a bit, the fact that the signs perfectly coincide makes it even more likely that CD 24 was the date of ovulation.  There is research on the charted signs of implantation, but if I had to guess, it was around 6-7 DPO when the chart went triphasic.  The early implantation could account for the early positive pregnancy test.

I agree with Jaimee that taking the latest possible date is best.  Babies can be born 3 whole weeks "early" without anyone batting an eye, but by the time they're a week "overdue," there's concern about what if the baby doesn't come "soon enough."

[JMJ]

Speaking of which.... Jaimee, are you still holding that baby in?  Best of luck when the time comes!  I'll be looking forward to hearing your news!... in a few weeks, or whenever that baby is ready.

Edited by JMJ - 12/1/11 at 2:42pm

[Jaimee]

Yep, JMJ, this baby is taking his/her sweet time!  I'm 40w3d today and my first "over due" baby (and that's with the latest date I could get- based on conception, not u/s)!  6cm dilated and 75% effaced, but nothin' happening.  Go figure.

[JMJ]

Wow!  That's a lot of labor done for you before labor even starts!  That baby might be setting you up for a quick one!  Good thing babies tend to be better than we are at knowing when they're ready to come out.  I hope everything goes smoothly.

[Jaimee]

It was very surprising to me with my second when I found out I was 5cm and not yet in labor around 39 weeks and now at 6cm with this one.  But I've since heard many a story of multiparous women walking around at 5-7cm for a week or more before anything happened.  I posted another thread trying to find more stories and I'm really waiting to hear from someone that made it to 10cm without knowing it.  I bet there are a few!

[JMJ]

Wow!  That must make for a much shorter labor, then, I'm guessing?  I'm just remembering the 16 hours of labor I went though with my first before I couldn't cope alone, and my midwife got there and told me I was only 5 cm.  Sorry, OP.  I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[Jaimee]

I know... I was just thinking that we had hijacked this thread!  Oops!  Sorry OP!

Despite the pre-labor progress I'm not sure that labor is guaranteed to be super fast.  I mean my first was 20 hours and my second was 5- definitely significantly faster, but I've heard that even being at 7cm, it can take hours still.  I think the biggest difference is that you don't tend to start out with weak contractions, far apart, but instead suddenly fairly close and more intense contractions right away.

[JMJ]

Well, it sounds like it might not be a bad idea that you're prepared for a UC this time around!

[tolovemercy]

Lol, no harm on the hijacking.  With my first, I was dilated to a stretchy 5cm, 80% effaced when real labor started, and lasted for 26 hours.  Then, with my second, I was not dilated, not thinned out- NOTHING- and labor, start to finish was 8 hours.  With my third, I went into labor at a stretchy 4-5, and thought, hey, this is my third, so this should be pretty fast, right?  And then I labored for THREE DAYS before I finally pushed him out.  
 

Hm...not an encouraging thing to post- lol, sorry Jaimee.  That all to say, nothing's a guarantee, but that IS alot of work done before labor starts, and I think the three days thing is certainly the exception.  Hope your labor is swift and powerful and starts soon!

[Jaimee]

tolovemercy, thanks for the info on your births!  I love to hear all the experiences.  It's interesting to me how shocked I was when I learned I was 5cm and not in labor with my second.  I had never heard of that before!  And now I know it pretty common to be quite dilated or not dilated at all and boom! you just go into labor one day. 

JMJ, we're having a homebirth and basically doing it unassisted.  We have hired a mw, but asked her to simply be in the house and not an active participant in the labor unless needed.  So if it turns into a full UC b/c it's so fast, I'm not worried.