Am I delulu?

Posting anonymously bc I know someone will come at me. I’m sharing this in hopes of helping someone who may be in a similar situation. This is not medical advice and everyone’s circumstance is their own.

My husband and I tried for over 2 years for our first. Dozens of labs, ultrasounds, and a few procedures later, we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Everything was fine, but we had no luck and it was definitely not for a lack of trying.

We were very fortunate to become pregnant our first full IUI cycle (clomid, trigger shot, inseminiation). I went on to have a healthy pregnancy and that baby is now 5.

We’ve discussed expanding our family for the last few years. I really wanted to avoid IUI again so I started doing everything I can to take care of myself and be more in tune with my body. Over that time, I started to suspect I was a late ovulator. It seemed far fetched bc my period was like clock work; every 28-29 days, never missed a cycle or had unusual bleeding patterns. I did use OPKs when we were trying to conceive but I never felt like I got them right. There were multiple months I would get what I thought was a peak result, then clear negatives for a few days and then another peak. A few times I did get ovulation pains later in the month where I thought I was just PMSing early. I also used the AVA bracelet and even with that there were a few months exact timing of ovulation wasn’t confirmed.

My husband and I would be so exhausted from BDing from days 9-16 that we would always take a little break after we thought we ovulated. After 2+ years we finally moved on to IUI, which controlled the timing of ovulation and we finally had success.

Fast forward to December, we decided to start TTC baby #2. For experimental purposes, we started our usual routine a little later in the cycle, targeting ovulation on day 18. Yall, why did I get a faint positive that first cycle! Unfortunately the line never got darker, and my period did start 2 days later so it was a chemical pregnancy, but I had never naturally gotten a positive pregnancy test, so it was actually hopeful.

It was still very emotionally taxing so we did take a break the next cycle, but tried again when I ovulated the end of January. Same strategy. Planned on ovulation around CD 18. It worked again! I am now 4w2d, multiple positive tests, lines getting darker, first ultrasound scheduled for 8 weeks. To say I am shocked is an understatement. I suspect I’ve been a late ovulator the entire time bc how can this be coincidental?

I am shocked this never came up during the course of fertility testing and treatment but it didn’t! When a blood test came back fine, we moved on to an ultrasound. When that came back fine, we tested sperm. When that came back fine, we tested fallopian tubes, when that came back fine we did a more in depth ultrasound, even a D&C just to make sure my uterine lining was smooth and there was plenty of real estate for an egg to implant … we did it all, and it was never suggested it might be as simple as ovulation timing.

Of course I have no real answers, just my thoughts.

Sending all my fertility warriors lots of baby dust and hugs xx