A question of timing

[sunderella]

Hi, all. My wife and I are trying to get preggers, and like so many lesbians out there, trying to figure out the timing so that our oh, so expensive frozen swimmers have the best chance of striking gold.

Here's my question. Pretty much every month, my OPK goes positive, but my temperature doesn't spike for two or three days. For example, last month I got a positive in the late evening on CD 15 and my temp went up on CD 18. We did the IUI in the evening of CD 16. For our next try, we're debating trying it the next day as early as possible (early am of CD 17, a day and a half after OPK pos), in case I am just catching the LH surge really early. We go to a clinic that does no interventions, so no trigger shots or other warning signs beyond the smiley face and charting.

I know it's also possible that I am ovulating the day after the positive OPK but it just takes my body a couple days to kick up the temp....

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experience to share?

Thanks....

[Photo Girl]

I've wondered the same thing. I'm in the opposite situation though Sunderella. My temp is already on the rise when I get my +OPK. I've been wondering whether that means I'm actually O'ing on the same day that I get my + or if it doesn't happen until later when my temp goes up all the way. 

[lisedea]

Timing is the trickiest thing about this all! You have not ovulated until your temperature jumps up (and stays up for three consecutive days--you should see a very clear shift). Everyone is different for how long it takes after the surge--using the OPKs and temping really helps to pinpoint the best time for you. If I were you, I would definitely wait until CD 17 for your next try--especially if you are only using one vial per cycle. The perfect situation would be to imseminate on one day and have your temp spike the very next morning. Good luck!

[KnittingTigers]

I don't have any great advice, but I will say that I think the smiley faces are on the more sensitive (and thus, earlier) side of detection. I don't think going later would hurt. 36 hours post surge sounds reasonable in this case, especially if your cervix is still open. You could also try doing two inseminations per cycle, which some people feels ups your chances. Also, feel free to come and join us in the Queer TTC thread for more feedback/advice/obsessing.:)
 

[MidwifeStephPDX]

Hi there,

There are two possibilities when you are a "slow riser" as I was too! One is that your ovulation is 24 hours after positive OPK but your temperature takes a little longer to rise. The other, like other posters have said, is that you are ovulating closer to 36 hours post positive OPK.
There really isn't a way to figure out which it is unless you do ultrasounds to figure out exactly when you're ovulating. I think based on that I would strongly encourage you to be doing 2 insems per cycle, one at 24 hours and one at 36. If there is a cost issue involved in your choice to only do one IUI, would you consider doing it every other month? Or doing one IUI and one ICI per month?

PS, the Stephanie Brill book, while in all other ways the bible for this type of thing, says that people who ovulate a couple days past OPK are having weaker ovulations-- that a strong ovulation would cause a serious spike in temp. I don't agree with this, and haven't found anything to back it up, so I wouldn't worry about that at all!

Good luck!

[seraf]

We found an ultrasound to be much cheaper than a second vial of sperm.

[luz1326]

I agree with Seraf - a couple months of ultrasound should give you a better idea of when you are ovulating compared to the +LH kit. Temperatures are useful but not flawless, especially since they do go up and down a little sometimes it can be hard to tell exactly. I did 6 months IUI always 24 hours after +OPK before I found out (through ultrasound) that by that time the egg is already gone! That's an expensive mistake to be making. Now it's back to square one, trying on the same day as +OPK... BTW I found that a pretty good indicator is how soft my cervix is - if I check it daily (just stick my finger in there and feel it) it feels softest on +OPK/ovulation day and hardens right up the next morning (once I've already ovulated). 

(I know this comment is way after the fact, but I figure someone like me might find this thread later on so... might as well share! Hopefully it will save someone some time and $.)

[outdoorsy]

Sunderella - I am going to be getting ultrasounds going forward and am so relieved. Like you, I went to a clinic that did pretty much no interventions (beyond Clomid). My ovulation is very hard to pin down. I had to switch to a reproductive endocrinologist. I wish I had sought out ultrasounds earlier, but I don't know if insurance would have covered it earlier.

[DarcySD]

seraf: How does this work? Do you get an ultrasound after your first insemination to see if/when you ovulated?
 

[seraf]

For Sara we went in on day 12 for an ultrasound. The egg was too small to trigger, so we waited two days, triggered and insemed 24 hours later. The ultrasound, because we were paying out of pocket, was $79. The trigger shot was about $100 for 2 doses (we only needed one). $179 was cheaper than using 2 vials to inseminate and way cheaper than trying again the next month. If I had realized how easy it was, I may have done that method with one of the earlier babies.

[nosreves]

i totally agree that the ultrasound + trigger route is the least stressful one if you want to nail timing.  that's what worked for us after over a year of OPKs, the ClearBlue Fertility Monitor, temping, watching CM, etc.  i was stimulated, so i had to have an u/s to check follicular growth and my lining thickness, and once i had a follicle over 17mm, i would trigger and then inseminate approximately 36 hours later.  

[DarcySD]

That makes sense. I thought you meant that you did the ultrasound to check ovulation after the insemination. We will go the trigger route next try. Thanks!

nosreves - Thanks for your input - we will try this next month
 

[elenapatata]

Question: do you always have to combine Clomid with the HCG trigger shot, or can you just do the trigger? Any benefit to just doing Clomid, no trigger?

[seraf]

Our littlest guy was conceived with just trigger.

[elenapatata]

How many attempts before you hit a home run?

[joyseattle]

I agree that digitals are more sensitive. I used internet cheapie strips -- which would give me and fade in -- and digital opks.  I always got a smilie face before I got a strong positive IC and would get multiple positives with the digital each month. After a couple months of using both in conjunction with charting (temp, cm, etc) I could tell when I was going to ovulate based on the strength of the opk the previous months information that I my temp rises the morning after I get a strong positive. We never got to the point of using ultrasound and/or trigger because we got our bfp last cycle with one well timed insemination. Best of luck!

[seraf]

We got him the first and only time we triggered.