Some TTC things I've learned (long post sorry)

these are some things I've learned through my TTC journey the last 2 years or so. Maybe this can help some people who are new or need a few tips...or you're like me and just get bored and read every post lol. I didn't know this stuff till I did research and had a few women gave me this knowledge. These are not in any particular order. sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Now disclaimer before i start, I want to say that everyone's body is different nothing is impossible. There are always some exceptions to the "rules" also this is meant to be super friendly and not meant to hurt anyone feelings. if you dont agree with something that's fine. :)

okay here we go!

1) if you are super serious about ttc track and confirm ovulation. (Espically if you have pcos or hormonal imbalances etc.) Don't just trust the app. It's just a guideline. Just cause an app says you ovulated a certain day doesn't mean you did. Your body is it's own unique thing and does what it wants to do. One time I ovulated a week after the app said I did. And if I'd have not known that I would have thought I was a week late. A lot of women say "I'm 4 days late and I'm getting BFNs" Now not ALL the time but 9 times out of 10 its cause they ovulated later then they thought or maybe haven't ovulated yet. So they maybe testing too early. That's why some women say "I didn't get a postive till I was 5 days late" it's because they ovulated later then they thought.

2) i personally wouldn't just go off OPKs. Cause opks just let you know when you surge. It doesn't guarantee you ovulated.i used to think it did till I did more research. Sometimes women surge and never release and egg. This doesnt happen all the time but it can happen. Tracking you're temp can confirm if you ovulated for sure if you're doing it correctly. Get an actual Basel thermometer. They sell them on Amazon for cheap. Just look at reviews. make sure you temp around the same time. Don't get up or move before you do it. Just reach over, grab the thermometer and temp orally or vaginally. If you want more info about temping you can Google and find some good sites that explain how to do it. Temping can tell you the exact day when you ovulated or if you don't at all...which unfortunately happens to some women. Another reason is for some women opks dont work for them and or are hard to tell if they are postive.

3) here is just some random info. Okay lets say you tracked and confirmed ovulation. You got a postive opk and you did ovulate based off your temps. After the day you ovulated your period most the time will come in 14-16 days if you are not pregnant. (Now if you have a luteal phase defect or any other issues this is a bit different you) that's why its called the two week wait! :) Also it takes generally 6-12 days to implant.

4) I've heard that you need to BD every other day not every day during your fertile week. It give time for your SOs sperm to be strong... or something along those lines idk much about that. I personally wouldn't get to worried about that. Just BD and have a good time. If you want to BD every day, BD everyday! Of you don't, dont. But sperm lates up to 5 days so if you happen to miss a day or didn't get to one day its okay.

5) now this is from my personal experience and a few other women I've known had these issues. DONT USE BLUE DYE pregnancy tests!!!! stay away from those evil things.They are terrible for faint lines and false positives and dye runs. Espcially the Walgreens,cvs, target brands! I've gotten a faint line on a clear blue test and I wasnt even pregnant two different times. I've seen this happen so many times on this and other apps to women. Also if your early like 8, 9 or 10 dpo dont use them. Use pink dye. Blue dye is really hard to tell if they have faint lines or the start of something. I see a lot of women test with them and think they see something and then test with a pink dye a few days later cause they thought they saw a faint line on the blue dye test and find out they were not pregnant. Its heartbreaking. So just avoid the heartache and always test with a pink dye test.

6) be careful with internet cheapies. I love them cause they are cheap and are great for people who like to test early but remember they are cheap. A lot are faulty, have bad evaps and can give very convincing false positives. My last cycle I had two blazing false postives on some internet cheapies. I tested with first response several times after and they were all BFN. AF showed up on time.

7) this brings up another thing. If you think you get a postive on one test. I've learned the hard way always test with a Different brand just to make sure it's not a false positive and or faulty test. More so if you are using cheapies.

8) first response are super sensitive and I love them but dang they have terrible indents. They are so bad the indents show up on camera sometimes. So if it doesn't have color and or doesn't get darker in the next 2 days its probably a indent. :( I wish they would fix them so they were not so bad but what can you do...

9) dont look at tests out side of the time frame and when the test is dry. I've had some wicked evaps that look like lines. They had color and everything and I wasnt pregnant. But let's be real we all look. We have done it at least once in out ttc journey lol. If you do just know that anything you see that didn't show up IN the time frame isn't valid. If you are not sure always test again to be sure.

10) digital specifically the clear blue digital always have two lines of you open them up. I've opened a test before ( a few times actually even though I know I'm not supposed to) and have seen that faint second line...but I wasnt pregnant. Idk how those test work but i know there are always two.

11) Also you need more hcg to get a postive on a digital. If you get a faint postive on two line tests and not one on a digital dont stress. Just test in a few more days. It should say pregnant by then. You're hcg just needs to build. In general hcg doubles every 48 hours or so. Every women is different though.

12) always when in doubt call your doctor! If you think your cycle isn't right or if you have strange bleeding or anything that makes you worry....call your doctor. If your doctor doesn't listen then get a new one.

So this is all I got right now. I just wanted to share these things. Again every woman is different and nothing is impossible. Baby dust to everyone!!