Did you track your cycle differently the second time around?

[u/perpendicular499]

I am curious if anyone changed their approach when trying for another baby. The first time I feel like I spent so much time reading about every tracking method and trying to do everything right. This time I am wondering if people tend to keep things simple or if you found yourself tracking even more than before?

[u/ffbd39]

Our first wasn’t super planned (I was still tracking but not religiously). Currently cycle 3 ttc for baby 2. I just had a chemical last month so if anything my tracking has gotten more vigilant 😭 I wanted to be more chill but unfortunately I am not a chill person

[u/tippytappos]

I barely had to track with first. I told myself I’d be chill again but each month it doesn’t happen I seem to become more not chill and add another mode of tracking. 😅

[u/CrazyBusCrazyBus]

The opposite for me. Last time I did track my cycle using the Health app on my phone and paid attention to cervical mucus and timed intercourse but that was it. This time around I'm using OPKs and tracking basal body temperature. But it's also taking longer this time than last time

[u/999cranberries]

I tracked harder. I used Inito and never would have conceived without it because my cycles appeared to be normal length but my ovulation was delayed (with at least one unsuccessful attempt mid-cycle), meaning my luteal phase was actually too short for conception. I never would have realized this and figured out that I needed to lengthen my luteal phase with progesterone suppositories had I just used LH strips like I did for the 16ish cycles it took to conceive my first.

[u/jrussum → u/999cranberries]

How short was your luteal phase before?

[u/999cranberries → u/jrussum]

My last unmedicated cycle had a 5 day luteal phase, likely because of breastfeeding.

[u/jrussum → u/999cranberries]

Oh yeah that’s short! Im on the border so I was curious!

[u/999cranberries → u/jrussum]

My luteal phases were anywhere from 6 to 12 days before I had my first, and that time I conceived without suppositories to lengthen luteal phase. Had a couple chemicals as well, though. Personally I think the suppositories have been worth it, though waiting until 12-14 dpo to stop them on unsuccessful cycles did kind of feel like I was wasting time.

[u/Purple-Magpie21]

This time I know a lot more about fertility awareness methods. It's my first month TTC for n.2 and I'm charting on paper using Sensiplan rules (so tracking BBT, CM and cervix). On top of that I'm still using LH strips, but I hope to move away from them once I'm confident in applying Sensiplan. It took us 6 cycles (and a chemical pregnancy on cycle 4) to conceive our first, which is a perfectly normal amount of time for a couple in their 30s, but it didn't feel like it at the time... I'm 34 now and my husband is 40 so tracking is vital, we have to time sex as we don't have the same energy (or time!) we had when we were trying for our first. I'm learning a lot about my CM patterns and it's made it a lot easier to see when my fertile window is opening.

[u/TheGanksta]

I was still nursing my first when starting TTC for second and since I couldn't get a solid 4 hours of sleep I couldn't get BBT tracking to work. I tracked resting heart rate instead. It's kinda not proven scientifically but I could clearly confirm ovulation with rhr.

[u/pronetowander28]

Definitely didn’t take my temp every morning the second time because my sleep was not consistent at all. I relied on CM, ovulation pain, and my level of “ready for sex-ness.” Sorry haha but it got us pregnant first try with that second baby.

[u/Wise-Mix-8438]

The biggest change for me was realizing . I didn't need to try every method at once. The first time around I felt like I was constantly reading, comparing , and second guessing myself. The second time I picked a routine I knew I'd actually stick with , and tempdrop ended up being part of that because it fit into my day without much efforts.

[u/athousandships_]

I roughly knew about my cycles before both my previous pregnancies, ended up being wrong about my ovulation with #1 but conceived anyway. #2 was basically the same, I felt like I was ovulating, conceived instantly. It took one try each. This time I'm much more focused on symptoms and tracking tbh, I've spent months thinking about trying for this baby before we actually started so it's definitely more planned than my other kids. I have fairly regular cycles by now but ovulation can be +- 2 days and luteal phase is on the short side, I'm tracking by monitoring CM and also I get intense ovulation pain. I just had a chemical in cycle 2 of trying so I guess it works.

[u/ShadowlessKat]

I just got my period back recently, so we'll start ttc next month. I don't think I'm going to track things. At least initially. Aside from my period of course. But I think I just want to try being chill, at least to start with.