LH surge & ovulation timing?

[mamac27]

Is it possible to have ovulated and still get a positive OPK? Or does ovulation occur after the LH surge is no longer detected?

[maidentomother]

Both are possible and usually they aren't related, so you can't tell when you Oed based on when your OPK turns negative. Your LH surge can last hours or days (up to 2 is common, but 3+ can happen) and you can O the same day as your surge or not for several days. But most often, most women with normal cycles will O 1-2 days after their first positive OPK/start of surge. So in the absence of temps, scans or other info, that is what we assume.

[mamac27]

Thanks for the info! I got my first pos OPK at 9am on a Saturday. Based on CP & CM (it had gone slightly firmer and more closed & my CM was creamy) I thought I ovulated Sunday afternoon. But I had a pos OPK Sunday eve & my temp rise was only .07 on Monday AM (but on FF the circle was open not closed, suggesting something was slightly off & I was getting sick & think I temped earlier than usual). If I left my chart as is I got a dashed cross hairs for Ovulation on Monday. But I felt that ovulation was Sunday. So if I tweak my Monday temp by .03 my FF cross hairs change to Sunday and become a solid line. The positive opk on Sunday night combined with the only slight temp increase on Monday AM have me second guessing my initial thoughts that ovulation was Sunday afternoon. Why would my temp only rise so slightly on Monday AM? Also I had heard that if LH is still at detectable levels then I must not have ovulated, but...seems like it IS possible to ovulate & then get one more positive opk?

[atomic sagebrush]

Temps and OPK, while they're the best we got, are not as reliable as you're imagining them to be.

The truth is, no one can tell you whether you Oed on Sun or Mon. One day's temp can easily be off, even 2 days temps - that's why we look for the pattern instead of one days' temp rise, it's just not that accurate. We're talking about tenths and hundredths of degrees here - just can't pin it down so closely.

Agree with everything Maiden said, and whoever told you that if you have LH at detectable levels you will not ovulate, is incorrect. You are always making LH for various uses in your body and the OPK cannot tell you when you Oed. you can have it still positive after O, and have it have gone negative before you've Oed yet.

[mamac27]

Great! Thanks for that! I mean- if I'd know that we'd be discussing .03 in temp as the difference between when FF predicts your ovulation I might I just skipped the whole BBT charting! Or bought a better BBT thermometer!
It's great to hear that the LH surge can still be at detectable levels and ovulation could have already occurred.
Is there any particular reason that one might see such a small increase in temp? Does it indicate anything? Like perhaps I ovulated late in the prior day? or that there is something off with my hormones or health of my egg?

[atomic sagebrush]

Exactly, .03 a degree is the difference between 1/2 a snore and a dream about Channing Tatum LOL and very likely has nothing to do with anything really.

Temping is great for showing us THAT we Oed. It's not so great for telling us the DAY it happened and fo sho not to the hour (like no one can know if you Oed late in the day) Experts with high levels of training and best of the best technology could not pinpoint their day of O any closer than 1 out of 3 times.

Those slow rises happen sometimes. It can be, like I said, just a funny night's sleep or it can be that your body took a smidge longer to clear the estrogen or raise prog levels or a little of both. It doesn't mean anything is wrong at all and we see many a chart with a slow rise end up triphasic and pregnant.

[mamac27]

Thank you for all this! I need to calm the eff down.

[atomic sagebrush]

Keep us posted!

[mamac27]

I am pregnant! And I'm just so in shock and excited, but also trying to go over the sway in my head. Wondering if I should be a little hopeful for a girl or if I totally botched it and it'd be better to get excited about a 3rd boy.
I dtd on cycle day 11. With my first pos OPK on CD 14 & shifts happening in the afternoon of CD 15 (creamy, firmer). But with the only tiny temp shift FF put my O day on CD 16. I thought I was out. What are the odds of conceiving so far out? Then I tested (mostly so I could have a drink and not wonder) & was so so so surprised to see a blazing positive at 11 days past ovulation. So now I've gone back and picked it all apart! Wondering if it was a healthy egg, healthy sperm? If more likely my instincts were right and I ovulate on CD 15 with a more reasonable cut off of 4 days. Trying to remember how much I ate & if I snacked in the evenings and, and, and----basically drive myself a little crazy and allow it this first couple weeks of pregnancy. Then try to come to grips with what was actually done and not done and try to enjoy this pregnancy and get excited to be a mom of 3 irregardless of gender (but please let it be a girl for pete's sake)!
Thanks for everything!

[atomic sagebrush]

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer: It's normal to go back and second and third guess yourself when you see that positive test!!

Some people would be over the moon to conceive with that timing and at the very least you know it was a one attempt shot!!

Good luck and pink dust!

[mamac27]

Yes, I know it's a one attempt baby--that is about the only thing I know for certain, so I'll take it! I am over the moon to be pregnant again. It is such a miracle. I million things need to go just right & I am just so surprised to conceive that far out. But hasn't it been pretty well proven that the timing of the one attempt doesn't really sway? So I have no better odds of a girl than if my one attempt had been the day before ovulation, correct?
Again, thank you for being such a calming, informative, kind voice of reason & wealth of knowledge.

[atomic sagebrush]

:agree: Timing doesn't sway. But some people would be happy with that timing. :) One attempt is what matters.