Any successful pregnancies with late ovulation?

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Hi ladies! Just trying to figure out what to do here. I am a late ovulator (CD 20+) and my RE thinks that is responsible for my miscarriages. He wants me to go on Clomid to move up my O date. I am in the process of evaluating my options and was wondering.....

Is there anyone out there who has had (or is having) a successful pregnancy after ovulating late?

TIA! Best wishes to all!

[Tiffanoodle]

I ovulate very late, when I ovulate. I've had this problem for YEARS now. With both ds and this pregnancy, I only got the baby to "stick" by taking progesterone pills. Both times, I had d&c's a few months before conception. I was watching my cycles very carefully and it had gotten past "that point" (35 days) and I wasn't getting af. I called my Dr. and they put me on a 10 day cycle of progesterone to start af. When the progesterone was done, I still didn't have af, but I did have a second line on a pregnancy test.

On months that I didn't take the progesterone, I had a few very faint positives at 35+ days, but then af started. When I took Clomid for a cycle, I got 2 fairly large and very painful cysts on my right ovary.

Best of luck with whatever you decide!

[TrishWSU]

I have gotten pregnant twice ovulating around day 22 of 28 day cycles (DD and 1 mc at almost 11 weeks.) I don't know if this out of the norm or not (wasn't trying either time.) With this baby I started taking Vitex and my O day moved all the way up to cd 14 or 15 (it took a few cycles to conceive.) Since Vitex is an herb you will probably have to take it for a few cycles to see the results. Aside from that I would also suggest trying progesterone after O to lengthen your cycle. I am a little leary of jumping straight to Clomid.

[trini]

How long is your luteal phase? I thought that was what mattered most.

With ds1 I o'd on day 70-something. It was day 80-something with ds2. Although with ds2 I had a similar situation as the pp in that I was given a shot of progesterone to jumpstart my cycle so we could start fertility treatments again. When my period never came I found out I was pg.

[Tiffanoodle]

Oh, and for clarification, I have long cycles and what one Dr. called "late luteal defect" (late ovulation, basically) My "normal" cycle (if you could call it that) is about 35-38 days with ovulation around day 25-28. And then if I don't have the progesterone in my system, af takes over and the fertilized egg is swept away.

[doularosemary]

My dd who is 4yo was conceived on CD 30. I had been taking Vitex for irregular cycles and luteal phase defect. My luteal phase had been lengthening but my cycles were still irregular. I was very freaked out and had a progesterone test shortly after I found out and thanfully it was within normal range and I had a healthy pregnancy and baby girl.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Wow! Thank you all so much for the quick responses! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your input.

My RE thinks that my problem is with poor egg quality because my LH:FSH is slightly elevated. This results in less-than-robust eggs and a poor corpus luteum. I think my m/c have more to do with inadequate uterine lining, as my menses have always been light and short (plus I am underweight depite my best efforts). Maybe the two theories are both so related that you can't seperate them?

Well, the RE thinks that Clomid is needed to correct the problem, not just progesterone. He feels that, by inducing ovulation earlier in my cycle, the egg quality will be better. Both of my last pregnancies started to fail 6 days after my first BFP, although the gestational sac with my last one continued to grow when I went on progesterone. Thus I didn't m/c until 8 weeks. Hmmm... what if I had been on progesterone since ovulation??? Could that have made the difference?

Since my last m/c in October, I have attempted to move my O date up with weekly acupuncture. I have not yet seen a difference. I started Vitex last month and I know it may take more time to work. But I am sitting here on CD 33 with no sign of AF in sight. This, and the fact that I don't have all the time and the world to TTC #2 (DH wants to go back to school, DD is already 5, etc), is what is actually making me consider Clomid.... something that I never ever thought I would entertain. I tried to temp this month but you will see from my chart that it doesn't tell me much: http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1be3d6 I think the peaks you will see are inaccurate because I took my BBT two hours late on those days or I was sick.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

I have had 3 successful (and am in one right now, so 4 total) pg from late O. Mine is always VERY late, somewhere between day 20 and 30. With this pg, I never saw any indication of O, using the Clearplan computer. It was my first pp cycle and I just figured I didn't O at all. I gave up watching for O around day 30 but on day 50 I started feeling nauseated. BFP!I ha d a hard time getting pg the first time because I was assuming O around day 14. Once I started tracking it, I found it was much, much later and not reliably the same day each month.
Good luck with yours!

[kati_kati]

From your chart it doesn't look like you O'd at all in that time period... I'm pg now (due in a few weeks) after a late O - cycle day 24 or so, even though I normally O around day 18-20. I can't see why it would matter what day ovulation happens as long as the luteal phase is good. Good luck to you!!

[Peony]

Yep, my DD2. I used maca root and vitex to get pg with her after many wonky cycles.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

So do you think I could correct a luteal phase problem by just adding progesterone? Or do you think the correction needs to come higher up in the ovaries with Clomid?

[Belia]

Me! Me!

I don't know if this will help you, but I only tracked one cycle... and it turns out that cycle I got pg. I O'd on CD 23, and here I am! :

Prior to this my cycles had been mildly-wonky-on-the-long-side, but I wasn't TTC so I didn't pay too much attention. I was really concerned that my LP would be short once I did the research, though.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1da109

Here's my chart (if I linked it right.....) HTH!

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by ChesapeakeBorn

So do you think I could correct a luteal phase problem by just adding progesterone? Or do you think the correction needs to come higher up in the ovaries with Clomid?

Well first you need to know if you really do have an LP problem. I would start doing some serious temp/mucous charting. Put your thermometer under your pillow if you have to. Someplace you'll remember it as soon as you wake up. Maybe right on top of your alarm clock. Were you charting your CM for your entire cycle? Right now, based on that, it doesn't look like you've o'd yet.

[crazydiamond]

I have PCOS and thus a whacked out LH:FSH ratio plus a luteal phase defect (9 days at most). Most cycles I O on my own, though it's not until later in my cycle (CD 20-24 or so).

It took us a year of trying, but my doc was pretty sure that it was my luteal phase that was the biggest problem, not my late O. He said that egg quality does go down, but he didn't want to correct that until my luteal phase was corrected. He felt pretty strongly that as long as I was Oing before CD 25 or so, I was probably okay.

It turns out he was right. The first month I took progesterone to lengthen my luteal phase I got pg. O'd on CD 20 that month and went on to have my DD.

[Lindsey608]

I O'd on CD 23 last cycle and got my BFP 9 days later.

I started charting in August and realized I was having a 10 day LP.. I assumed due to DD still nursing. Worried that this might thwart our chances of TTC I read all about the different things ladies were doing on here to lengthen their LP's and decided to go with Vitamin B6 before trying Vitex or anything like that.

It worked like a charm. The first month I took 50 mg and saw no change. Upped it to 100 mg the second month and I had a 12 day LP.

3rd month I got my BFP

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Thank you so much for sharing your stories!!

Originally Posted by Shelsi

Well first you need to know if you really do have an LP problem... Right now, based on that, it doesn't look like you've o'd yet.

Yeah, I'm not so sure that I did O. I had some cramping for a few days back around the 15th (I thought it was O, but my temps tell otherwise. Plus I haven't gotten my period), followed a week later by spotting which has let up a little bit. That spotting leads me to think that my progesterone is low. I read in the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility that there are 3 kinds of luteal phase problems. Sounds like I may have the last 2:
1) The luteal phase is too short, which means your uterine lining starts to shed in the form of menstruation before the fertilized egg has had a chance to implant.
2) The luteal phase appears to be a normal length, but the amount of progesterone is not optimal to produce an ideal uterine environment for implantation.
3) The luteal phase appears normal, but the progesterone starts to dramatically drop just a week or so after ovulation, often causing premenstrual spotting. Again the progesterone is not high enough to produce an ideal uterine environment for implantation.

So, if I am not Oing until this late (now that I think of it, that happened with my first m/c) AND I have a luteal phase problem, does that mean that both Clomid and progesterone are in order? (If it turns out that I am not responding to holistic methods?)

[sarahn4639]

I don't know that we have the same problems but I always have longer cycles, 32-36 days and O is usually day 22-26. What helped me move it up and extend my LP (it was very short) was B6. I took 100mg daily with my normal prenatal and fish oil and I saw results in the second cycle on it. My DD was concieved on day 24 I believe, and this baby was concieved on day 21. I was able to move O day to day 20/21 and LP to 12 days. There is hope! Hopefully you can get things resolved quickly!

[thismama]

With my daughter, I hadn't had menses since November, and conceived January 25.

I have PCOS and had irregular, annovulatory cycles. I had started taking Metformin in October, had one 28 day cycle, one drawn out cycle and that is when I conceived. It can be done!

[NatureMama3]

Have you had an endometrial biopsy done for luteal phasing yet? if not do one! That is the ultimate test to see whether the problem is your progesterone or not.

Yes, I do think it can be fixed with JUST progesterone but it needs to be enough/right format (such as compounded vaginal suppositories or PIO) and some people need HCG support as well (HCG injections to support the luteal phase).

Have you ever tried Vitex to regulate your cycles?

[maxmama]

Originally Posted by ChesapeakeBorn

Wow! Thank you all so much for the quick responses! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your input.

My RE thinks that my problem is with poor egg quality because my LH:FSH is slightly elevated. This results in less-than-robust eggs and a poor corpus luteum. I think my m/c have more to do with inadequate uterine lining, as my menses have always been light and short (plus I am underweight depite my best efforts). Maybe the two theories are both so related that you can't seperate them?

Well, the RE thinks that Clomid is needed to correct the problem, not just progesterone. He feels that, by inducing ovulation earlier in my cycle, the egg quality will be better. Both of my last pregnancies started to fail 6 days after my first BFP, although the gestational sac with my last one continued to grow when I went on progesterone. Thus I didn't m/c until 8 weeks. Hmmm... what if I had been on progesterone since ovulation??? Could that have made the difference?

Since my last m/c in October, I have attempted to move my O date up with weekly acupuncture. I have not yet seen a difference. I started Vitex last month and I know it may take more time to work. But I am sitting here on CD 33 with no sign of AF in sight. This, and the fact that I don't have all the time and the world to TTC #2 (DH wants to go back to school, DD is already 5, etc), is what is actually making me consider Clomid.... something that I never ever thought I would entertain. I tried to temp this month but you will see from my chart that it doesn't tell me much: http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1be3d6 I think the peaks you will see are inaccurate because I took my BBT two hours late on those days or I was sick.

This is the thing I wonder about though: you say you suspect a problem with the endometrium, and your RE wants to start Clomid, which is an estrogen antagonist. This will not encourage a nice fertile endometrium, unless I'm missing something.