Good websites to figure out fertility dates?

[DiscoDiva]

I track my cycle, but don't take my temp. I do track days of ovulation, menstruation, cramping, everything else. Is there a site where I can plug in those dates and it gives me a rough idea of when I am most fertile?

[Sevilla]

I'd do a google search on 'fertility chart' or 'fertility calculator' and something helpful should come up :).

You could also use Fertility Friend and just never enter in any temps.

[taraw]

Hi DD, I enter all of my info in FertilityFriend.com and just don't enter temps. However, if you don't enter temps the chart will never give you an O date, but it does help to keep track of the rest of your info. Sorry, I'm not more help.

[Stephanie]

I do the same thing. I charted for about six months, but got too obsessive about it. Now I just use fertility friend and put in all the other information. I usually temp right around the time that I think that I'll be ovulating so that I can see a temp rise. Last month I only had four temps on my chart. Also, if you are looking for a calculator to get an idea of best dates for trying (and you ovulate pretty regularly) you could try www.ovulation-calculator.com
Sometimes I play on that or I go to babycenter.com and do a search for ovulation calculator. I like that they give a date range. I highly recommend Fertility Friend, though. :) Hope that helps!

[~queen~]

Ovusoft will take your average cycle days and give you estimates for the next 3 months on when you can expect your period, your date of ovulation and color-displays the most fertile time period. Only thing is you have to pay for that and it stores it on your hard drive.

[Scooter]

If you already keep track of your O dates, then you must be paying attention to some other fertility signs? Are you using OPKs or checking CM...?

And in case you don't yet, you should try checking CM. It's the only way to predict ovulation and the only sign of your fertile time. Even taking temps isn't going to help you know when you're fertile--it just helps you know when you've O'd--so when you're not fertile.

And also, if you already know when you're Oing, then you already know when you're fertile--the 5 days leading up to it! ;)

[DiscoDiva]

I went to those sites and they asked about a Luteal phase. What is that? So, I guess I don't have enough info to really know when I'm O'ing or to plug into those calculators. Or do I?

Here's my average cycle, what do you ladies think?
Average period length: 28 days
Heavy bleeding on days 1-3
Spotting on days 4-7
CM starts usually around day 12 and continues through day 18-19
The worst CM and cramping is usually around day 17

What do you think? (And no, I'm not basing my birth control on your answers, so don't worry! I'm just trying to get a feel for how all this works if I do get more into charting.)

TIA!

[taraw]

Lutel phase is the time from ovulation to the start of your next cycle, when your period starts again. The Lutel Phase (LP) usually lasts from 12 to 16 days, but rarely varies by more than a day or two within individual women.

When you are getting ready to ovulate your CM will change to an egg white (EWCM) consistency (think clear & stretchy). When you have the EWCM is when you are most fertile. Most women will notice the EWCM a couple of days prior to ovulating.

I would strongly suggest getting a copy of the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). It is great book and very informative.

[DiscoDiva]

Thanks taraw, that is helpful!

So, I probably ovulate around day 16. Do you include the day of ovulation in your luteal phase? So if I O on day 16, it would be day 16 to day 27 for my luteal phase? (so a 12 day luteal phase?)

Never mind, I read more on a website that explained that the luteal phase starts the day after you O and ends the day before your period. So, my O day is usually day 6, my luteal phase is 10 days.

I'm most fertile on days 11-15.

Thanks everyone!

[Stephanie]

I'll be another to second Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I didn't know what all the hype was about when so many were recommending it, but I decided to get it after we had been ttc for awhile. I can't believe all the information that I learned! I almost feel cheated that I didn't know the basics of how my body works and I would have loved to have known before! :) If you don't want to buy the book, you can also check out www.ovusoft.com or www.fertilityfriend.com and they have tutorials that have all the same information as the book. A lot of it has to do with charting, but the other info is great to pinpoint when you are most fertile! Hope that helps! :D

[Scooter]

When you say the "worst of the CM", what do you mean? What kind of CM are you having on those days? After you O the CM is suposed to dry up, so if you're Oing on cd16, you shouldn't be having a lot of CM on cd17-19.

As for counting the days in the LP, let's say the day you O is cd16. The LP is the days AFTER O, so cd17 is the first day of your luteal phase. If your cycle was then 28 days, your LP would be 12 days. If you are Oing between cd17 and 19, then your LP is between 9 and 11 days. Anything under 11 days is considered short, but as long as you're not TTC it's not a problem.

[DiscoDiva]

I never said "worst of the CM" so I don't know who that is referring to. But, I think I need to do better tracking of CM to check for consistency (which I don't do right now).

How many days straight to most women have CM? I seem to have it for at least 4 days, sometimes more. Or, I will have CM one day, not the next, then have it again the next. Is that weird?

Scooter, thanks for the additional info! This is all so educational for me, I really do need to get that book (TCOYF) just to learn all the womanly stuff that I never learned before.

[Scooter]

CM starts usually around day 12 and continues through day 18-19
The worst CM and cramping is usually around day 17 Sorry for any confusion, this is what I was referring to. I slightly misquoted you, I added "of the" in there! :)

There are many different types of CM, so when you write you have CM for x days it's really hard to know what's going on. It seems like most women have some type of CM throughout their cycles. I think that's why it's important to find out what type of CM it is you're having for those 4 days, because some of it could be fertile CM and some could indicate you're not fertile. I think it's great you're considering getting TCOYF, it'll explain all of this info to you. It's also got descriptions & photos of different types of CM, so you can learn to differentiate among them.

[Reenie]

I use www.mymonthlycycles.com and I like it; it explains things that I don't know about...