LH surge - How many days to DTD after?

[Anonymous]

DH and I were intimate the last two days, then I got a positive sign on the OPK this morning. He's ready to cry uncle since we've been at it a lot lately and let's face it, we're tired. We were just trying to time it to our best guess since the OPKs hadn't shown a surge for the last few months (another topic on it's own). Then lo and behold, now it's day 21 and we're wiped.

We definitely will tonight and tomorrow. But is it important to tack a third day on? Such a dumb question, but I really don't know.

[Anonymous]

oh, blah, I understand. I would try to do a 3rd day just in case it's 48 hours til ovulation. Try to tell yourself this ... would you rather do it a 3rd day or get a BFN? Harsh, but it helps get us through day after day....

[Anonymous]

No no no. A third day is absolutely unneccesary. You should ovulate in 24-36 hours after your positive opk, and having sex after you ovulate doesn't help at all. I would do tonight, and tomorrow night if possible. After that, give yourselves a break. I would try to have sex again around 5-7 days after ovulation, since that can help implantation.

[Anonymous]

doesn't the OPK predict it for 24-48 hours, not 36? Also, never heard that about implantation and sex -- why does sex help with implantation?

[Anonymous]

I've read there's a little bit of proof that morning sex can be more "powerful".

Why not skip tonight and do it in the morning.

[Anonymous]

The sperm can live for several days after sex, so it's more important to have sex before ovulating rather than right after. The egg only lives about 24 hours once you ovulate.

[Anonymous]

Have you temped to figure out how long you have between positive OPK and ovulation? I only have 24 hours.

[Anonymous]

They think that sperm makes the uterine lining more receptive for some reason.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. I haven't been temping, but will start if I get a BFN this month. Oddly, the OPK was dark again this morning. Plus, I've had a little bleeding today. Ugh, my body is so screwy lately.

I was relying solely on OPKs because they worked so well when conceiving DC (I showed the surge on day 21 then as well). But I think it's time to read the fertiliy book referenced so often on here.

Fingers crossed that mustering the energy tonight is easier than last night. Lol.

[Anonymous]

OP -- I am in same boat as you, but behind 1 day. Got a positive OPK today but both of us do not want to do it today and then 2 more days. We've been doing it for several days in a row now. I didn't know when I would be ovulating, and the OPKs haven't really worked for me before, so I was surprised when it showed it today. We weren't going to today but I took the OPK just as a precaution....

[Anonymous]

If you are relying on them solely, it is important to test twice a day. The test is assuming you are detecting the surge on the earlier side. If you get a negative 6 hours before the surge can show up in your urine and test the following day, you will think you have 18 more hours than you actually do.

If you do not want to run out and get the book, fertilityfriend.com has a lot of information. It is not as thorough as the book, but it can get you going in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

I agree that there is no need to BD on the third day. Even the second day is probably of questionable benefit. Most women will ovulate 36-48 hours after their LH surge begins. For most women, the LH surge begins early in the morning (5 a.m.). It takes another 5 hours or so to show up in your urine. To be safe, you should test around noon to make sure that you're catching it. If you tested first thing in the morning, there is a good chance that you missed the first day of the LH surge. For this reason, most experts say that a woman will ovulate approximately 12-24 hours after they get a positive result on an LH test. So, chances are that you ovulated the same day that you tested positive. Just in case you "caught" the LH surge on the first day, experts suggest that you go ahead and BD the second day as well. It is highly doubtful that you would benefit from BD on the third day, because you probably have already ovulated by that time.

[Anonymous]

But if an egg can live for 24 hours (is that right? Or is it more like 6-12 hours), then BDing on the 3rd day could still catch a live egg, correct? Esp. if you can do it earlier in the day.

[Anonymous]

11:54 here. Yes, an egg can live for 24 hours. However, I have read that it takes up to 9 hours for sperm to "make the journey" up the fallopian tubes to the egg. Also, *some* experts believe that it's best to have the egg fertilize in the first 12 hours because after that time, the quality is starting to go downhill... and that if the egg fertilizes after that point, it may be more likely to lead to a miscarriage or chemical pregnancy. So, my thinking is that if you are lucky enough to "catch" the LH surge on the first day, and you ovulate 48 hours later, then even if you BD in the morning on the third day, that would be about 60 hours since the LH surge, or at least 12 hours after you ovulated (and if the sperm take 9 hours to get to the egg, then you're at 21 hours post-ovulation). (And if the LH surge started at 5 a.m., and you BD at 7 a.m., then there's another 2 hours down.) All of this is a long way of saying that no, it's not impossible for BD on the third day, in the morning, to result in a pregnancy, but I would think that it was highly unlikely. It also assumes that you caught the LH surge on the first day. If you have a CBEFM that only tests in the morning, then you probably didn't catch the first day. If you're taking LH tests twice a day, then you are more likely to catch it the first day.

[Anonymous]

11:54 again. Oh, and I sympathize... it stinks when BD becomes an obligation. Kind of takes all of the fun out of it. Good luck this month!