Ladies, any ovulation test recommendations (or any other tips or tricks to get pregnant)? Have been trying for 4 months and getting anxious and depressed whenever I get my period 😔

There is a fertility bowl with a lot of good info on tracking, etc. I know it’s rough, but 4 months isn’t that long to be trying. Under 35, they won’t even refer you to a specialist unless you’ve been trying (and tracking ovulation to be sure you’re hitting the right days) for a year. If you’re over 35, they’ll refer after 6 months of trying.

I was trying for 5 months or so, then I used the cheap ovulation strips from Amazon every day after my period was over and finally figured out that I was ovulating late in my cycle—actually several days later than the apps predicted. Once I figured that out, I got pregnant right away. So it might be worth buying the cheap strips and seeing what you can find out!

I tracked three types data: First is your discharge, when it turns to egg white consistency, stretchy and slippery, which means you are nearing ovulation, probably sometime in the next few days. Second, ovulation tests, ie LH strips, I bought them on Amazon for cheap, try to do them at the same time every day, 2-3x per day for the couple days after you notice the stretchy discharge. Keep in mind that your LH surge may be very brief (as in, if you miss it by an hour you might miss it on the test), and you may also have more than one surge. Once you’ve got a positive on your ovulation test, that means you are having an LH surge, which is the hormone that triggers ovulation, typically you’re going to actually release an egg in the next 12-24h. That means it’s go time. (And remember semen stays in your fallopian tubes waiting patiently for like 5-7 days, so if you’ve done it a few times in the days leading up, you could get pregnant that way. But it doesn’t work in reverse, once the egg is released it can only be fertilized for about 24 hours, then too late.) Third data point I track is basal body temperature, take it first thing in the morning before you’ve picked your head up off the pillow, and track it every single morning so you can see your baseline. After you ovulate your body temperature should increase by roughly 0.5°F. That confirms you’ve ovulated. If you don’t see the temp spike, keep doing the ovulation test strips. Some women ovulate much later in the cycle. Takes a few months to really get the rhythm. Don’t get discouraged, healthy reproduction takes awhile, if you’ve been trying 6 months and still nothing call your doctor and see if it’s worth getting looked at 🩷

So I have only tried not to get pregnant this way, but check out the Oura ring paired with natural cycles (can be covered by insurance as BC). Prob easier to track Basel temp automatically ! Good luck!

I’m pretty sure my comment got moderated out 😆. But the gist was, get the Oura Ring and a Natural Cycles account. And have fun doing the deed (apparently we can’t spell it out, but you know what I mean). Easier said than done, but really really try to enjoy making your baby. Stress is counterintuitive to getting pregnant. Get enough sleep. Drink enough water. Take Vitamin D. Exercise. And have FUN in the room.

Also want to give a recommendation for the supplement protocol in “it starts with the egg” by former patent litigator rebecca fett

I used Inito and got pregnant on the first cycle

I went ahead and made a fertility speciality appointment at this point. People say 6 months but I had zero issues making an appointment after 3 because I could tell something was off (and was right). It’s 6 months with no pregnancy with no other issues but if you’re having any other issues (regular periods, preexisting conditions that’s could impact fertility, etc.) you can go sooner.

Cheap strips on Amazon work just fine. 4 months is not too long, especially if you haven't been tracking ovulation super accurately. Don't be discouraged. That said, if it's really stressing you out, make an appointment and just have a conversation with your provider (or anyone else you trust, really) to put you at ease because extra stress doesn't help.

As someone who has worked in a fertility company for over a decade, I’d recommend that you schedule a first consultation with a fertility specialist to get your baseline. You can usually schedule those online and you don’t necessarily need a referral (unless your insurance requires one), and first consultations are usually around $250-$300 (please note this can change and does not constitute an offer of a consultation or a quote).

Getting a baseline might give you a peace of mind and help you understand where you stand).

Good luck!

The vast majority of couples get pregnancy within the first 12 months. Still, my husband and I have unexplained infertility so I can relate to being on the wrong side of that stat and feeling anxious. There are still plenty of options if you are though.

Definitely try tracking your cycle to make sure you’re actually hitting the right timing. I was under 35 (33) but saw an RE after 6 months of trying because 1) my insurance wasn’t crazy strict 2) I was very confident in my tracking and knew we had been hitting optimal timing. If you’re over 30 and looking for community (and are also cool with learning about community norms) the ttc30 subreddit has a lot of valuable info and is a good community (even just the rules/info page has a ton of basic help).

Snuggling during the 2 week wait also helped me! I was very anxious and snuggling releases anti-stress, pro-implantation hormones.

It’s so hard to say it and to accept it, but be patient and try not to stress. It took me over a year of really active trying (using fertility strips and temperature monitoring) before I finally got pregnant. It’s really defeating every month when you don’t have that positive test, but I promise if you somehow stop focusing on what you can’t control and try and reduce your stress, it will be easier. I got pregnant the month I actually decided to take a pause on the intense tracking because I think I was just going with the flow!! I used Mira fertility and saw a fertility specialist but honestly, it was removing the stress that I think finally got me pregnant. Again, I know it’s hard to say, but I’m sitting on my couch with my little one in my arms after believing it would never happen for me!

I used the Mira hormone monitor and test strips. It tracks hormone levels and predicts and confirms when you’re ovulating. It’s a little pricier, but it’s easy to use and understand and more importantly, I was able to get pregnant while using it.

I used the Femometer app to track everything and found it super helpful. Highly recommend

The cheap Amazon strips were a little hard for me because I would forget to test at the same time when I was in office. But Clearblue really worked well for me (electronic ovulation at home testing) and gave me clear data that indicated I was ovulating later in my cycle than my apps had predicted.

I used the mira fertility testing and really appreciated having more information about my hormone levels and everything at my house!

The paper ovulation strips that work for most people didn’t work for me, so my fertility doctor recommended Clear Blue Digital Advanced because they work for almost everyone, and they ended up working even better for me than the more expensive analyzers like Mira.

Proov also sells at home tests to check your progesterone levels and other baseline fertility measurements, and there are at home tests for sperm analysis too (because that’s half the equation!), although I wouldn’t put off seeing a specialist for professional testing for too long. (Sometimes they can even find something that’s a very easy fix — like semen being too thick which can be thinned out with Mucinex to improve motility, or if you aren’t ovulating regularly they can give you medication to trigger ovulation).

Cutting back on alcohol, avoiding smoking, getting regular exercise are all supposed to be helpful too. Start taking prenatals now if you haven’t already. You may also want to consider supplementing with CoQ10, which helps egg quality.

Good luck!