Long cycles - what can I do??

Ladies, I'd love some additional help and suggestions on anything that I can do. I'm CD21 today, haven't ovulated yet, and OPK's are fading and getting lighter, so I'm worried that O is a long way away leaving me with another really long cycle. I was supposed to have an ultrasound this cycle to check for blocked tubes, etc. but was traveling for my kids school vacation and missed the dates that this could be done because of the travel. I've added one full fat yogurt into my lunches, am eating eggs daily, and also have salmon 1-2 days per week. I've also added avocado back into my diet as I feel like I was losing some weight and have always eaten this daily for as long as I can remember.

I'm going to be going in for my u/s after AF this cycle and also asking for clomid/femera. However, I'm kind of at a loss here at this point... I'm almost 36, my girls are already going to be 6&8 should I conceive soon, and every day that passes is stressing me out more and more. Is there anything that I'm missing that you would suggest? I literally never take any medicine so I'm weary of adding in more things as I'm worried that it will delay me further, but if there's anything that's worked for any of you, could you please suggest?

Pic of my opk's:

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Stress DOES delay O so while i know that is largely outside your control, it's not helping. I PROMISE that the days going by are not going to affect anything negatively and soon this will all be forgotten.

Do not worry about the lines on the OPK. Honestly if up to me, since they're only contributing to the tension (I suspect) I'd stop taking them and start BD every 4 days or every 3 days if you prefer. Re the OPK - it is normal for them to go darker and lighter and believe it or not if your hubby peed on those strips he'd get lines like that too LOL. Your body uses that hormone for other things aside form triggering ovulation!!

I do not want you to take any herbs or other medication. I think that will only delay things more. Get rid of the OPK's and start BD regularly.

Ok just a quick question after looking at your OPK - are you testing in the morning and in the night? Most OPK are not meant to be used in the morning (doublecheck directions on box) and you'll get best results after lunch into afternoon, so testing morning and night may mean you have surged but missed it in your urine since the concentration peaks mid-day

That makes a lot of sense, and I agree...I was going to not do any OPK's this cycle, but then I thought that I would stress myself out NOT knowing what's happening with my cycle and it would make me stress more. I swear, double edged sword!

I'm testing at 11am and then again either at around 6pm or 9pm, whenever I can get a hold for a 3 hour block. Is that throwing it off with the cheapies??

We are doing every 3 or 4 days, depending on how our schedules work with travel, etc. I'm planning on continuing that until I've confirmed O by temps.

11 may be too early, 6-9 may be too late. Test between 1-3 as that's when the concentration is at its peak. I don't think you've Oed but it may help.

If you're BD every 3-4 days anyway you shouldn't do the OPK. I know it's a little bit stressful but really it isn't in the long term, because doing the OPK you're stressing over doing them all the time and also stressing over the results and STILL not knowing what's going on LOL

That could not be more true!!! Good point!

Okay, so if I am testing, test once a day??

Atomic, took my opk just now (1:30pm) after a 4 hour hold and FINALLY a positive!! I'm not sure what to make of it since I didn't test at the right times previously, so it could have been positive yesterday also. We BD last night. Should we again tonight? Also posting yesterday's test at bottom (cd21) which could have been positive but was at 11am and diluted urine. Thoughts?!

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Atomic, I got so excited I forgot to mention that you were right, and thank you for pointing out that I was testing at the wrong times!! :agree:

I'm having some cramping all day long today, so wonder if I'm already Oing? I have a feeling it would have been positive last night and we BD last night, but I can't be sure. Looking forward to your thoughts!

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Originally Posted by maximbella

Atomic, I got so excited I forgot to mention that you were right, and thank you for pointing out that I was testing at the wrong times!! :agree:

I'm having some cramping all day long today, so wonder if I'm already Oing? I have a feeling it would have been positive last night and we BD last night, but I can't be sure. Looking forward to your thoughts!

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Sounds like great timing if you BD last night. Good luck. I've totally given up on OPK - far too stressful - E4D is a great method as it takes the stress out of it - we managed to catch the egg with it last cycle but sadly it was a chemical so will be trying E4D again this cycle.

Hope you get your BFP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maximbella

Atomic, I got so excited I forgot to mention that you were right, and thank you for pointing out that I was testing at the wrong times!! :agree:

I'm having some cramping all day long today, so wonder if I'm already Oing? I have a feeling it would have been positive last night and we BD last night, but I can't be sure. Looking forward to your thoughts!

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Well, we'll never know because you very well may have gotten a pos at 9 pm. It's just that the mid-day urine has the highest concentration. :)

RE if to DTD again or not - totally up to you. That's one of those things that I can't decide. I'd be inclined to if I was in your shoes since we don't know how long DH will keep playing along.

Oh and O cramps do not pinpoint ovulation, unfortunately. You can get them before, during, and after O.

True! Okay, we'll see what happens tonight when DH gets home from work. If we don't BD, I'll treat it as we were doing e4d without the opk's, which means we wouldn't be BDing tonight anyway. Right?!

i never used opk's for any of my non-sway pregnancies and i can honestly say i really dont enjoy using them at all! i find them stressful, but i used them last year for the first time ever with our successful pink sway so i felt i should use them again this time to keep things the same.

but.. we went away for a week last month and i couldnt be bothered with taking opk's while we were away so switched to e4d for that month, it was so much more relaxed not having to bother with those dreaded opk's! i got my BFP that cycle but if i hadn't i would have carried on with e4d rather than going back to opk's.

i would 100% do e4d over opk's for any future pink sways, e4d is so so so much less stressful, if your DH is agreeable to e4d then moving on from this month id drop the opk's all together, i really feel they can be more trouble than they're worth!!

good luck with your sway my fingers are crossed for a BFP for you soon :) xx

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Originally Posted by maximbella

True! Okay, we'll see what happens tonight when DH gets home from work. If we don't BD, I'll treat it as we were doing e4d without the opk's, which means we wouldn't be BDing tonight anyway. Right?!

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Well, remember though, that since your DH is not super on board with this it may behoove you to break the rules with number of attempts to boost odds of conception, since any month may be your last.

Totally up to you though

:agree: 4b2p - and I've never used them either!! I got my boys without them and my girl with e4d (even though we didn't realize we were doing that, it's just how it worked out)

Thanks ladies! DH was at a work dinner and didn't come home until late that evening, so we ended up not BDing again. It looks like I had a temp rise yesterday and the day before, so O'd either one of those days. If this isn't my cycle and DH is onboard for next month, I think I'll be doing e3/4d and not opk's...it stresses me more than it's worth for sure!

I got my cross hairs on FF today. It looks like it just fell with BD pattern e3d. Can you confirm this was one attempt in fertile window, or was there two?



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It looks like you had one attempt, maybe two if O was delayed. I wouldn't sweat it- I had either one or two attempts too and am pregnant with a girl! I too had delayed ovulation but didn't the cycle I conceived, at least that I am aware of anyway (I wasn't monitored that cycle).

I personally believe that in situations like ours, type of diet type and type of exercise sway the strongest.

🤞🏻so hard for a BFP! I'm sending you any pink baby dust that I have [emoji597][emoji92][emoji178][emoji254][emoji178][emoji94]!!

[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png

Thanks xx! Did you do e3d this pregnancy??


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I just BDed whenever my DH would agree to. It worked out to be 3 days before O, late night on O day, and 3 days after O. I either conceived from an O-3 or an O-2 attempt. Based on my early scan at 21dpo, I had already ovulated the day FF had given me crosshairs so I conceived from the previous attempt.

[emoji170]8/2010 [emoji170]6/2013 [emoji170]11/2015 [emoji170]
[emoji178]Baby Girl [emoji254]EDD 9/30/2017 [emoji178]

https://lmtm.lilypie.com/kIlmm5.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maximbella

I got my cross hairs on FF today. It looks like it just fell with BD pattern e3d. Can you confirm this was one attempt in fertile window, or was there two?



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We can't totally say since we can never be 100% sure when you Oed. Probably one, much less likely 2

Thanks so much! Testing in a week... [emoji120]


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