Do you track ovulation? - October 2023 Babies | Forums | What to Expect (2024)

My baby is an IVF baby and we tried to conceive (ttc) for 2 years before doing fertility treatments. There are so many acronyms! I had to test for ovulation, even with the three IUIs I did.

They recommended the clear blue test that gives you a smiley face. I was using the Premom app with the sticks and that was also spot on when I’d compare to the clear blue. The smiley face means the next two days are the best days to ttc. I’m still breastfeeding as well but I’ve heard you can still ovulate without a period. I haven’t tested myself though.

I did like the Premom app with the @ home test strips because you take a picture and it reads it for you. I’d take a couple pictures to make sure the results were consistent, but I was also obsessing trying so hard to get pregnant.

Premom app is free and you can upload ovulation strips once you start taking them regularly.

You could try testing for ovulation regularly to see if you can catch your first egg (before your cycle returns) but if you don’t want to waste the tests you can just wait until it comes back and then start testing in your normal ovulation window and see what it says. If you want it to return sooner you could start trying till but night feeds but I waited until a year to do that and got pregnant after my second period with tracking ovulation

When I tracked ovulation using the pregmate strips (this is going to sound like overkill so might not be what you want to do), I tested my ovulation every morning starting when my period ended so I could see the progression of how the line would get darker as I was approaching ovulation to know exactly what my typical monthly ovulation day is. For me, it’s day 19. I would take a picture of the strip every morning so I could compare and honestly it was cool to see because you can clearly see, after a months worth of data, which day the line truly was the darkest (the day before ovulation) and then the actual ovulation day (no second line)

If you’re not in a rush, this might work for you. I did that method in combination with using the Flo pregnancy app and found it to be super accurate and helpful in becoming pregnant after months of trying, because I thought everyone ovulates on day 14.

Out of curiosity if you didn’t have any issues for your first pregnancy and it just happened why do you feel the need to track now?

It took me 4.5yrs to conceive my first and the tracking and all of that just added soooo much additional stress.

You definitely can get pregnant without getting your period back. I’m proof - currently 11weeks pregnant. Honestly just baby dance with your husband every 3rd day for about two months and you’ll likely be pregnant.. good luck!