timing intercourse....

[Anonymous]

This is my 3rd month (after a m/c; have 2-yr-old DC) of TTC. I'm wondering -- when do you time intercourse? First day of any sign of CM? Wait for positive OPK? Try for the day before you think you'll have a positive OPK? We've been timing it every day for about 9 days in the middle of my cycle (I ovulate around day 18), but now we're trying every other day. Also ... my husband has been "saving up" for the past couple days, so we're wondering if we should wait one more day to have an even higher count, or if we should start every other day today (the first day of some CM). Thanks.

[Anonymous]

If you don't have male factor, I would not have him "save up" for several days. The more frequently he ejaculates, the better (within reason! but every day or every other is fine). You want to have a good rate of "turnover" for the sperm, and more frequent ejaculation leads to increased sperm production (which is what you want - you want them fresh & healthy!). So I don't think holding off for several days is going to increase the count that much, and if everything is normal with your DH, his count should be sufficient with trying every other day or even every day.

It sounds like your timing is good if you are doing every day or every other and you are having intercourse in the few days right before you ovulate. I would start the first day you see any CM that is starting to trend toward fertile, and if you can start the day before your first positive OPK, that is probably ideal.

I also ovulate around the same time as you - usually btw day 16-19, and I'd start at day 13, just in case I happen to ovulate on the early side, I will still be covered, and if not, then we've gotten started and are getting any "old" sperm out of there and producing new fresh ones.

One thing you might want to try is the Sperm Meets Egg plan - you can google it, but you just start on a certain day depending on your average cycle length/ovulation day, try every other day until your first positive OPK, then try 3 consecutive days, take one day off, and try one more day.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your detailed answer. I'm wondering -- why do you think it's ideal to have sex the day before the first positive OPK? Do you think the day before is better than the day of the first positive OPK?

[Anonymous]

Last time we got pregnant after doing it every day starting at the first sign of CM and ending the day past ovulation (I was temping then).

We are following the same procedure now TTing for #2. I'm not temping (although will start next month if this month did not work), but using OPKs.