Anyone good with figures? Conception advice please!

[Yaywooohyes]

Hello all,

I would like some advice as to the chances of me getting pregnant- i'm confused about odds vs ovulation! My hubby and I have just started trying for a baby, and he works away a fair bit, so am interested to know if it's possible (or not likely) to get pregnant with these dates in mind:

1st day of last period 16th September, had intercourse 23rd, 25th, 26th and 27th September.

Any odds/advice/chances would be very much appreciated!

[MintChocAddict]

Think it depends on the length of your cycle. Most women apparently ovulate approx 14 days before their next period is due, so may help to count back from when you're next due than count forward from last period IYSWIM. Only learned this recently on MN.
Someone with far more knowledge than me will probably contradict this though!

MrsMcJnr who appears on a couple of the Conception threads has an amazing knowledge and understanding of all things conception, so might be worth seeking her out.

Good luck.

[Yaywooohyes]

Thank you, i will indeed seek!

This is really bad, but I don't actually know how many days my cycle is- I struggle to rememember when I came on prior to september! I'm always regular though, and can often tell when I'm due on...

I just am interested to see if hubby needs to start thinking about changing work shifts and upping his game so we are more 'specific', or if there's a fairly high chance at the times that I mentioned...

[MintChocAddict]

No worries.
I've learned just about everything I know about the whole confusing process from the threads on here.
There was a theory on either the June or July thread the other night which was quite interesting. All about alternate nights and effectiveness of following a specific pattern on the run up to and during ovulation. Could be worth a look.

[Yaywooohyes]

Cheers!

[snowleopard]

Get a diary and put a red dot on the day your period starts (though it's hard enough to remember to do even this, I find!) Then number the days from then on - that day is day 1, and so on. Then when the next period starts, do another dot and start at 1 again. Then you can see when ovulation might be - or even test/temp for it and mark on when you think it is, and you should see a pattern emerge. To conceive, they recommend having sex from about 5 days before to 4 days after ovulation I think, and every other day rather than every day (though that is not the special pattern mentioned already - that's just the basics).

[Yaywooohyes]

thanks Snowleopard- is there a reason why it's best to do the business every other day?

[snowleopard]

eehhm not sure, might be so the sperm has a chance to build up? Someone will know.

[Yaywooohyes]

Bumpety bump bump...

[smallone]

possibly so you have the energy to go the distance rather than giving up half way through! Sperm definitely lives a few days in there so there's no need to send in reinforcements everyday.

[smallone]

From your OP you had sex on days 8, 10, 11 and 12.

Assuming you have a 28 day cycle you should ov around day 14 so this could have done the trick. But ov time varies each month, if you were early this month then yes you should have got sperm and egg together, but if you were later, then possibly not.

Unfortunately, even if you get your timings right and you get sperm and egg together there is only 20% of pregnancy. Very frustrating I know.

[bambi06]

you can use those ovulation sticks from the pharmacy to work out when you ovulate anyway..do this a few months an dhopefully you ll work out when you normally ovulate..ive always used persona..as a contraception plus to get pregnant as it tell syou when youre about to ovulate.and tracks every month for you

[beanieb]

I think advice varys on the doing it every other day advice, infact most of what I have read suggests there is no reason to have one day on then one day off and it's better to just have as much sex as you can.

As far as your dates go you'll probably be better off finding out when you ovulate by looking out for egg white cervical mucus, using ovulation tests and/or charting your temperatures. I used to have a very short cycle (24 days) but ovulate very late (CD 16 - with CD1 being the first day of period, so if I had assumed I was ovulating mid-cycle then I would be doing it at the wrong time completely!

[TheUNITUBER]

The reason for the advice to have sex every 2 to 3 days is that having sex every day is not sustainable for many couples. So they go at it like the clappers for the first couple of weeks, then get tired and stop for a bit (maybe missing their fertile time), then resume again more slowly. Every 2-3 days is a bit more achievable for many people and means that they have sex throughout the month thus giving themselves a decent chance to hit their fertile time each cycle. Given that sperm live and can fertilise an egg for up to 5 days (3 days a bit more likely) sex every 2-3 days should suffice.

It's also, frankly, a much easier way of going about things if you don't want to get too technical and obsessed.

Another reason to have sex on alternate days is if your DH has low sperm count, in which case some people suggest that this gives it time to build up.

What you could do is aim to have sex every couple of days then, like beanie says, if you see cervical fluid that looks like egg white when you wipe, have sex for a few days in a row until you stop seeing egg white cervical fluid.
The cervical fluid indicates that ovulation is on its way and the best time to have sex is in the few days preceding ovulation and the day of ovulation itself.

[beanieb]

Hmmm... have to say I never manage it every day for two weeks! I think it's a little odd that anyone would 'go at it like the clappers for the first couple of weeks'... presumably this means from the end of your period until around CD 20. I know cycles are different for everyone but the average person would ovulate some time between CD 7 and CD 20 Surely?

perhaps I am doing it wrong - (am not pregnant yet) but i tend to go for it when I get my highs on my clearblue monitor and stop when I start getting lows again...

[TheUNITUBER]

Beanie, I just meant that if you try to have sex every day you might well run out of steam before you hit your fertile time.

Actually for me 2 weeks of daily sex would get me from about CD5 to CD19. Some months, no I don't ovulate in that time so I would be stopping too soon! The last time I got pregnant I ovulated on CD24.

Your method of going for it when you get highs on your fertility monitor is of course sensible, but if the OP does not want to start getting technical about it the way most of the books advise you to go is to have sex every 2-3 days and see what happens.

[beanieb]

AH - cool. I was imagining a two week shag fest and even I don't think I could cope with that!

[TheUNITUBER]

Dear God no. After 15 months of ttc I would deserve some sort of campaign medal if I managed 14 days on the trot.

[PussinJimmyChoos]

Am ttc too atm but DH had to leave the country suddenly last week...I don't chart or use OPKs but saw EWCM last Fri night (CD 15) and so ahem....the next day I had slight colour - which I always get when I ovulate so am hoping I'm in with a chance! We have only done it the once this month though due to him being abroad...I'm hanging on to the hope that once is enough! lol

I do wonder if I need to be doing it on CD 12/13 as well to catch the egg before its released but for the last two times of trying, it hasn't been practical...