One attempt TTC girl

[CattyPad]

Hello,
As atomic adviced we will be doing one attempt per cycle. But, is it ok to "fully dtd" at other times of the month when you know for sure you can't get pregnant, like cd4? Or is there a reason we shouldn't and should use contraception?
And the other times, is pull out enough or not cause it may rise ph?
Thanks!

[essnce629]

You're only meant to dtd once in your "fertile window" which is about a 4 day time span-- 3 days before O and the day of O. You can dtd whenever you want, with or without protection, outside of that window. I would not dtd more than once in your fertile window, pull out or not.

[MamaCass85]

So only DTD 4 days before ovulation?

[essnce629]

So only DTD 4 days before ovulation?

No, you want to DTD only once in your fertile window. Most of us use OPKs and DTD once when we get a +opk. That will guarantee that you are DTD when you are fertile. A +opk usually means that you will ovulate in 8-48 hours. You want to DTD before you ovulate to make sure the sperm are ready and waiting in the fallopian tube when the egg is released.

If you don't want to use OPKs then you can DTD every 4 days from the end of AF and beyond. That will also guarantee that you only have 1 attempt in your fertile window.

[Sp4rkl3s]

Could it be too late if you wait for positive OPK? If you can't DTD straight away, and sperm need time after DTD to capacitate, and the egg doesn't always live very long, the one attempt could miss the chance for conception?
And depending when ovulation happens, if going for the 4 day pattern, you could be DTD 3 days before ovulation and straight after, which would reduce chances of conception a lot?
I'm still trying to work it out ready for my attempt this month!

[bluebonnet22]

Could it be too late if you wait for positive OPK? If you can't DTD straight away, and sperm need time after DTD to capacitate, and the egg doesn't always live very long, the one attempt could miss the chance for conception?
And depending when ovulation happens, if going for the 4 day pattern, you could be DTD 3 days before ovulation and straight after, which would reduce chances of conception a lot?
I'm still trying to work it out ready for my attempt this month!

re: OPK - you have 8-48 hours to DTD and still be in with a good attempt. For most people DTD the evening of (or after if you take your OPK in the morning) is plenty of time. That being said I screwed this up my first month TTC because I always ovulated 48 hours after positive OPK (for 6 months straight), so I DTD the day after my positive OPK and I ended up ovulating the DAY OF my positive OPK so my attempt was too late.

re: 4 day pattern. The 3 days before ovulation is the "worst case scenario", but you are still plenty fertile enough to get pg with 3 days before. Many people do a combination of OPK + every 4 days. In other words, they start DTD every 4 days after AF and still use OPK. If it's been 3 days since DTD and you get a positive OPK, some who have been trying for many months will add in an attempt (because they worry as you did that 3 days prior to O is too big of a cut off). I'll be doing this for my attempt this month, but it's only recommended if you've been on the diet and attempting for many months because technically it lowers pink odds a little bit to add an attempt like that.

[atomic sagebrush]

It all depends on if you are going for the "ideal" or the "real".

Under ideal circumstances you'd stick with one attempt. the hormones in semen ~may~ make you a little more boy-friendly. But in the real world in which we all must dwell, we need to keep hubbies happy too and my husband would not be real happy with nookie 1x a month.

I really really doubt DTD at other times of month is any way a dealbreaker (and we can see this becuase the every 4 day unprotected BD method is getting good results too.

[atomic sagebrush]

You're only meant to dtd once in your "fertile window" which is about a 4 day time span-- 3 days before O and the day of O. You can dtd whenever you want, with or without protection, outside of that window. I would not dtd more than once in your fertile window, pull out or not.

Yes, one attempt in fertile window, DTD out of fertile window at individual discretion (must keep DH happy!)

[atomic sagebrush]

So only DTD 4 days before ovulation?

timing doesn't sway. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/7691-trouble-timing.html

Having one attempt that can possibly get you pregnant (in the "fertile window" of O-3 through O day, ANY of those days, but just ONCE) has been geting 70% success for us for pink.

[atomic sagebrush]

Could it be too late if you wait for positive OPK? If you can't DTD straight away, and sperm need time after DTD to capacitate, and the egg doesn't always live very long, the one attempt could miss the chance for conception?
And depending when ovulation happens, if going for the 4 day pattern, you could be DTD 3 days before ovulation and straight after, which would reduce chances of conception a lot?
I'm still trying to work it out ready for my attempt this month!

1)Yes technically you can miss the egg this way if you ovulated very soon after pos OPK and took a little while to DTD. But it's not terribly likely that this will occur and in the grand scheme I would not lose any sleep over that possiblity.

2)Yes, it is possible that you could DTD 3 DBO and then after O. But again, that's the least likely possibility and it WON'T happen month after month You will eventually get the timing right.. The point of the every 4 day method is to remove the stress of having to hit the timing nail right on the head and so you have to be like, c'est la vie, I accept that some months this is not going to be the absolute best odds of conception, but it will work out for me eventually.

[Sp4rkl3s]

Thankyou very much.. That's clearer now.

[daydrmbelievr]

I am fairly certain we DTD 2-3 days before I O'd this month...
Currently on the 2WW. I really hope a pink little swimmer caught the egg this month. I have been swaying since May and I'm tired of not eating meat/ not working out (PLUS I just want my little lady already, LOL) :baby2:

[CattyPad]

Thanks for your input everyone, very interesting!

One more thing, on the days leading up to O, what should we do, as we have decided not to do FR, but don't want to abstain either as DH is 41 years old. And at what point should we stop unprotected dtd before O?

Thanks!

[bluebonnet22]

Take this with a grain of salt, but from AF - O I would use a condom or pull out to be on the safe side. I would just DTD as much as you want (every few days or every day or whatever you would normally do) until you get a positive OPK and then have one unprotected attempt.

OR

If doing the every 4 days method just BD unprotected every 4 days once AF is finished. In between the 4 days, you can DTD or not DTD, completely up to you. When DH and I DTD in between the 4 days we use condom or pull out.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks for your input everyone, very interesting!

One more thing, on the days leading up to O, what should we do, as we have decided not to do FR, but don't want to abstain either as DH is 41 years old. And at what point should we stop unprotected dtd before O?

Thanks!

Have DH release on his own or with you, with a condom, every 2-4 days. If you can avoid unprotected DTD, great. If not, I'd stop CD 9 if you usually O CD 14

[CattyPad]

Thank you! Will do!
Wish me luck for my pink attempt this weekend, eeeek! :DD:
And good luck to all of you!

[atomic sagebrush]

Tons of pink dust headed your way.

[CattyPad]

Last minute question....please :)
Does it matter when DH's last release was before the one attempt?!

CD14 today and still extremely faint lines in my opks :( maybe I should start testing twice a day now? Worried as I missed O lat month :(

[sweetdream]

Husbands release doesn't matter.

You Could test 2 a day. But prolly you O'ed just a bit later like lots while on LE

[bluebonnet22]

I second what sweetdream said - doesn't matter when husband last released, you might have O'ed late.

That being said, OPK are cheap (get a huge pack on amazon). If you usually O around CD14, I would start testing around CD10 twice a day. Otherwise I would just BD every 4 days and not worry about it. It's risky to wait to test until right around when you usually ovulate. You could easily miss O.

[CattyPad]

Thank you. I have been testing since cd11, as I want to do one attempt only this month. I am just scared of missing it like last month!!
I am on cm watch too so I am pretty sure it hasn't happened yet....!

[CurlyPie]

Question:

After AF if we DTD every 4 days during my entire cycle - can that be unprotected? Or would I end up DTD twice during my fertile window if we don't use a condom?

I ask because I'm not sure if I want to use OPKs this month, as I would like to be more stree free this month about ttc.

Thoughts please. Thanks!

[bluebonnet22]

Question:

After AF if we DTD every 4 days during my entire cycle - can that be unprotected? Or would I end up DTD twice during my fertile window if we don't use a condom?

I ask because I'm not sure if I want to use OPKs this month, as I would like to be more stree free this month about ttc.

Thoughts please. Thanks!
If you only dtd every 4 days you don't need to use condoms (and shouldn't).

[atomic sagebrush]

Question:

After AF if we DTD every 4 days during my entire cycle - can that be unprotected? Or would I end up DTD twice during my fertile window if we don't use a condom?

I ask because I'm not sure if I want to use OPKs this month, as I would like to be more stree free this month about ttc.

Thoughts please. Thanks!

Yes, that is unprotected (if doing every 4 day method)

Technically, if you have 'bad' luck you may end up with two attempts, one o-4 and one 0 day, but the odds of conception those days are pretty slim and so count "less" than if you had attempts on O-2 and O-1, for example. Most everything from O-4 will have died off and most everything from O Day would not have time to capacitate.

[CurlyPie]

Atomic, could I skip the OPK tests if I'm doing every 4 days?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes! That's one of the biggest benefits of every 4 day - no OPK