Long Cycle, Early Positive OPK, Late Period. Could I be pregnant?

[[email protected]]

My husband and I have been trying to conceive now since October 2004.
After doing many months of charting, I have learned that my cycle is
roughly 35 days long. We started using OPKs about 5 months ago and I
usually get a positive test between days 12-15. This seems kind of
strange to me because from what I've been reading, women with long
cycles like mine (of 35 days) typically ovulate around day 21. This
means that I must have a long luteal phase (about 20 days or so...
again, more than the average of 14 days).

Anyway, two months ago, I had a positive pregnancy test that I took on
day 30. It was faint, but positive. On day 35, I started my period.
I was sad that the pregnancy didn't sustain itself, but I was resolved
to keep trying. The next month, I did my OPK, but I never got a
positive test (I guess I never ovulated that month). This month, I got
a positive test on day 12. I am now on day 38 (3 days late, and I'm
usually pretty regular, I've never missed a period). I have taken 2
pregnancy tests. One on day 28 and one on day 36 and both tests were
negative.

My question to you all is... Does anyone else out there have a long
cycle, but an early ovulation (day 12-16) that had a positive pregnancy
test AFTER day 35? I would have expected to see a positive pregnancy
test by day 30 at the latest if I was pregnant. Every day that AF
hasn't arrived gives me hope that maybe I am actually pregnant and not
just late.

Oh, and does having a long luteal phase complicate conception at all?
I'm wondering if this has anything to do with why we haven't had much
luck conceiving up to now.

Thanks for any responses!

[V.]

I've not read a lot about long luteal phases being a problem, seems like
short luteal phases are more the big issue, but I did find this reference.

http://www.smartstork.com/reproductive.php

Here's the relevant quote:
"Low estrogen levels or dysfunctional ovaries, adrenal or pituitary glands
can be the cause of infertility in some women. The pituitary gland produces
FSH so that the ova can ripen within the follicle, it is the estrogen levels
in the blood that trigger the release of LH which in turn causes ovulation,
the disruption of hormones in the beginning phase of a woman's cycle is one
possible cause of infertility, by way of anovulatory cycles, extremely long
follicular phase or long luteal phase. "

If it were a long luteal phase every once in a while it could be due to a
luteal cyst, but I don't think those reoccur again and again.

Even though you've only been ttc for 9 months (and I know how those can be
the longest months of your life!), you might be able to get your OB/GYN to
run a hormone/endocrine panel on the basis of the long luteal phase.
However, having had one early m/c during the 9 month ttc period is actually
good news...you've conceived once in a relatively short period of time, so
it's more likely you'll conceive again. It is age dependent though, so you
might want to check out this chart.
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/preconception/fertilityproblems/6155.html
As you can see, 86% of women in their early 20s get pregnant within one
year, but only 53% of women in their late 30s do. Since only 15% of women
in this situation have infertility, that means the remaining 32% just need
to keep trying longer. One of the benefits (sort-of) of being older when
ttc is that many Drs will start doing fertility testing after 6 months of
ttc (clock running out and all that).

If you don't have "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Wechsler yet,
run out and get it.

Good luck,
Amy <---32 and pregnant after 3 yrs and two IUIs and lots and lots of
testing...

[Cathy Weeks]

wrote:

> My question to you all is... Does anyone else out there have a long
> cycle, but an early ovulation (day 12-16) that had a positive pregnancy
> test AFTER day 35? I would have expected to see a positive pregnancy
> test by day 30 at the latest if I was pregnant. Every day that AF
> hasn't arrived gives me hope that maybe I am actually pregnant and not
> just late.

My average cycle was about 31 or 32 days long, and it took us 8 months
of TTC to get pregnant. I looked at my old charts, and the month I
finally *did* get pregnant, I apparently (there was more than one dip)
ovulated on day 16, and then I waited until 10 days AFTER my period was
due to take a pregnancy test, so day 41, and it was only faintly
positive, then. That "faint positive" is now a healthy 3.5 year old
girl with red curly hair!

Cathy Weeks

[KC]

It could be that you are not ovulating with the surge of LH that is
detected with the OPK, but that you are ovulating a bit later which
could account for the seemingly long luteal phase.

KC

[Mary W.]

wrote:
> My husband and I have been trying to conceive now since October 2004.
> After doing many months of charting, I have learned that my cycle is
> roughly 35 days long. We started using OPKs about 5 months ago and I
> usually get a positive test between days 12-15. This seems kind of
> strange to me because from what I've been reading, women with long
> cycles like mine (of 35 days) typically ovulate around day 21. This
> means that I must have a long luteal phase (about 20 days or so...
> again, more than the average of 14 days).


Are you actually charting temperatures? Do you get a temp rise
after the positive OPK, and does it stay high for 20+ days? If
so, I'd find this strange, I don't know if its problemmatic, but
I thought my luteal phase was long at 16 days. Note that I think
you can get a positive OPK and not actually ovulate- so you may
actually be ovulating later in your cycle, and having two surges.
I never found OPKs worked particularly well for me. I did much
better with pinpointing ovulation with cervical mucous and temperatures.

Do you have Toni Weschler (sp?)'s book - Taking charge of your
fertility? Very enlightening.

Good luck!

[Serenity]

Avoid the OPK and just watch out for egg white mucus.
That'll get it every time.
S

[[email protected]]

In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
conceive. Like most women, I thought I would have no problem getting
pregnant, but that hasn't been the case. I think we'll keep trying the
full year before we look into infertility options. It's kind of hard
too because since I have such a long cycle, I get 3 less opportunities
a year to try (since my cycle is about a week longer than the average
woman, I lose 3 months a year). I'm not giving up. We'd like to have
2 kids if time allows. Like it was mentioned earlier, I'm hopeful that
eventually we will be successful because I know that we did conceive
once and that's a good sign.

I have not been charting temps. I started out charting my CM, but my
OB/GYN said that method wasn't as reliable as OPKs, mainly because it
can be mistaken for fluids generated during intercourse. So, I've been
doing only that method. I have been reading many posts about the
Taking Charge Of Your Fertility book, so I think I will take that
advice and get it today. I think I'll probably try charting my temps
too.

Thank you everyone for all of your comments! Still no AF... (keeping
fingers double crossed!)

[Cuddlefish]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
> 39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
> conceive.

I thought exactly the same way when dh and I started. I figured it would
take me say 4 months or so. I didn't bother with OPKs - all I did was look
for the tell tale egg white mucous and the temperature spike. I didn't have
to look long. ;) For me, it took hardly any time to conceive. :-) Now that I
am in the final weeks of pregnancy I am kind of wishing it took longer, LOL!

--
Jacqueline
#1 Due late Jul/early Aug

[KC]

Dayna,

I totally prefer cervical mucous and bbt charting to OPKs. It's alot
easier to figure out what's going on with the charting.

It took me 6 years of ttc to get my first dd. That was at 34. Now at
40 I have 3 kids, so you never know what life holds for you, but you do
have time if it works out. Oh, BTW, I do have long cycles too.

Good luck,

KC


wrote:
> In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
> 39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
> conceive. Like most women, I thought I would have no problem getting
> pregnant, but that hasn't been the case. I think we'll keep trying the
> full year before we look into infertility options. It's kind of hard
> too because since I have such a long cycle, I get 3 less opportunities
> a year to try (since my cycle is about a week longer than the average
> woman, I lose 3 months a year). I'm not giving up. We'd like to have
> 2 kids if time allows. Like it was mentioned earlier, I'm hopeful that
> eventually we will be successful because I know that we did conceive
> once and that's a good sign.
>
> I have not been charting temps. I started out charting my CM, but my
> OB/GYN said that method wasn't as reliable as OPKs, mainly because it
> can be mistaken for fluids generated during intercourse. So, I've been
> doing only that method. I have been reading many posts about the
> Taking Charge Of Your Fertility book, so I think I will take that
> advice and get it today. I think I'll probably try charting my temps
> too.
>
> Thank you everyone for all of your comments! Still no AF... (keeping
> fingers double crossed!)

[V.]

wrote:
> In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
> 39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
> conceive. Like most women, I thought I would have no problem getting
> pregnant, but that hasn't been the case. I think we'll keep trying the
> full year before we look into infertility options. It's kind of hard
> too because since I have such a long cycle, I get 3 less opportunities
> a year to try (since my cycle is about a week longer than the average
> woman, I lose 3 months a year). I'm not giving up. We'd like to have
> 2 kids if time allows. Like it was mentioned earlier, I'm hopeful that
> eventually we will be successful because I know that we did conceive
> once and that's a good sign.
>
> I have not been charting temps. I started out charting my CM, but my
> OB/GYN said that method wasn't as reliable as OPKs, mainly because it
> can be mistaken for fluids generated during intercourse. So, I've been
> doing only that method. I have been reading many posts about the
> Taking Charge Of Your Fertility book, so I think I will take that
> advice and get it today. I think I'll probably try charting my temps
> too.
>
> Thank you everyone for all of your comments! Still no AF... (keeping
> fingers double crossed!)

Good luck!
I know CM charting only has worked for many here, but for me it was not
reliable. Again, I rarely had any noticeable CM and when I did it was
too easy to miss "the peak". I found OPKs more helpful, and when
timing IUIs we finally bought a ClearPlan fertility monitor, which
worked wonderfully. I had trouble with determining the peak day by OPK
because I never really got a darker line than control, just darker than
the day before's test line. So, I could only tell the "darkest" line
in retrospect. Even with Clomid, the ClearPlan was very specific.
If you have an annual exam coming up, it might be worthwhile to ask for
the preliminary hormone panel to be done then, even if it's not been a
year.
Definitely chart temps though to see if you are actually ovulating
close to the peak OPK or if O is delayed a little. Peak OPK is usually
1-2 days before O and your temp goes up about 1-2 days after O, so if
you had a peak OPK on day 14 but temp didn't go up until day 19, you
probably O'ed day 17ish.

I understand the frustration about the long cycle too...mine was
32-ish, but with a late ovulation. Seems unfair to miss those cycles
every year!
Best of luck,
Amy

[Amy]

wrote:
> In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
> 39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
> conceive.

Your husband's age doesn't play much of a role in it. Men can father
children up until they die of old age at 110. They could do it even
before Viagra... :)

As for your age - relax! My aunts had kids when they were 42 and 43.
You've got LOTS of time. You're only 4 years past your peak fertility
(at age 27). Big whoop.

Having the attitude, "WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!" isn't going to help
you get pregnant.

> Like most women, I thought I would have no problem getting
> pregnant, but that hasn't been the case. I think we'll keep trying the
> full year before we look into infertility options.

If you haven't been trying for a full year, you aren't having a problem
getting pregnant. Again, thinking that you ARE could be causing the
problem. You've tried 9 times. When you think of all the things that
have to line up ***just*** right, in order to conceive, giving it 9
shots seems like very few. I'll bet you didn't start charting your
temperature and stuff right away, either. You probably just had lots
of sex for the first few months, and when that didn't work, you started
looking into TCOYF, etc.

> It's kind of hard
> too because since I have such a long cycle, I get 3 less opportunities
> a year to try (since my cycle is about a week longer than the average
> woman, I lose 3 months a year).

So, you've only tried 6 or 7 times, then. RELAX!

> I'm not giving up.

Of course not, you've barely started!

> We'd like to have 2 kids if time allows.

Pffft... You have time to have 10.

Ok, I'm 29 and due in August with my first. We started trying when I
was 27 (peak fertility, my ass). It was about 18 months before we
conceived - we found out we were pregnant the day before our first
infertility appointment (which was fun, because we went in and said,
"Wow, we didn't know you could fix this stuff over the phone - all we
did was call for an appointment, and poof!" :) )

I drove myself nuts for 18 months. Even though I know that I didn't
listen when people gave me advice, I'm going to give you my best
how-to-conceive advice.

1) Switch your husband to boxers, and tell him to use a desk or table
for the laptop for a while (heat). Have him take vitamins and get
exercise.
2) Live like you're already pregnant - take prenatals, don't drink or
smoke or use drugs, don't take medications that you wouldn't be allowed
to take while pregnant, eat really well, avoid all the crap you're
supposed to avoid while pregnant, etc.
3) Throw away the OPKs and all the rest of the junk until you've been
trying for 15 months (12, normally, but you have long cycles).
4) Have sex every two days.
5) Try not to think about having a baby. (I know, you can't do that,
but you have to try. It's a rule.)

After 18 months, we conceived when we had stopped trying (and now I'm
due in August. Brilliant. When it's 9000 degrees with 400 percent
humidity where I live...). I used to want to hit people when they'd
say, "As soon as you stop trying..." but it's true. You can't ovulate
if you're stressing yourself to death over it.

As Dr. Phil would say, "You've put this on project status..." and I'll
bet that's what is getting in your way. CHILL, already. Think about
it from an evolutionary standpoint - your offspring are unlikely to
survive if they're conceived in times of great stress, and you are less
likely to survive if you're pregnant in times of great stress (famines,
stampedes, etc.) so your magical body protects you from that by NOT
letting you conceive when you're under stress.

And do not tell me that you're not stressing about it, because I can
totally tell from the tone of your posts that you are.

You have eons left to conceive. You're just a baby yourself. Your
husband's an old man <g>, but that doesn't matter. Throw away all the
conception junk, get back to enjoying your sex life and your marriage,
and I'll bet you're expecting by the end of the year. If not, post
again, and we'll talk.

Oh, wait - your period is late. Well, calm down already. I hope this
is it. If not, take the conceiving thing off of Project Status for a
while, and see if that doesn't help.

And do yourself a favor, if you're not, and wait until AFTER Christmas
to see the fertility doctor - the last thing you want to be is 8 or 9
months pregnant in August, which is exactly what happens when you
conceive in November and December. I have Flinstone feet from the
edema. It's gross. There's a reason why very few people have two
late-summer babies. :)

Take care,
Amy

[Jenrose]

> cycle, but an early ovulation (day 12-16) that had a positive pregnancy
> test AFTER day 35? I would have expected to see a positive pregnancy
> test by day 30 at the latest if I was pregnant. Every day that AF
> hasn't arrived gives me hope that maybe I am actually pregnant and not
> just late.
>

I have known women who didn't trigger pg tests until they were 3 months
pregnant. For me, though, I tend to trigger them within about 48 hours of
implantation. Late implantation can indicate a less "robust" pregnancy--loss
rates for implantation 12 days after ovulation can be higher than 80%, vs. a
loss rate of 13% for pgs which implant 8 days post ovulation (as measured by
detectible HCG in the blood.)

With the pg I miscarried, FRER did not show a positive test until 18 days
post ovulation, and even that was ridiculously faint. Dollar tree tests had
turned positive a couple days earlier. I only used dollar tree tests the
next time and got a positive result (faint) at a whopping 8 days post
ovulation. That "positive" is now napping in my bedroom... :)

The testing roller coaster is Not Fun... but you're on the right track.

Jenrose

[Jenrose]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> In response to one of the earlier messages, I'm 31 and my husband is
> 39. I feel like we don't have the luxury of time while trying to
> conceive.

If you were, say, 37 instead of 31, I'd agree with you. But at 32 I got
pregnant twice in three months...

> Like most women, I thought I would have no problem getting
> pregnant, but that hasn't been the case. I think we'll keep trying the
> full year before we look into infertility options.

Good plan.

> It's kind of hard
> too because since I have such a long cycle, I get 3 less opportunities
> a year to try (since my cycle is about a week longer than the average
> woman, I lose 3 months a year). I'm not giving up. We'd like to have
> 2 kids if time allows. Like it was mentioned earlier, I'm hopeful that
> eventually we will be successful because I know that we did conceive
> once and that's a good sign.
>
And miscarriages are *extremely* common--and yes, it should be reassuring
that yes, you could concieve. That means that your tubes are open enough for
egg to meet sperm, that you have egg and he has sperm.

> I have not been charting temps.
You learn a LOT about your cycle by charting. DH would pop the thermometer
in my mouth when he got up, then write the number down. I charted on
Fertility Friend, which made things crystal clear.

> I started out charting my CM, but my
> OB/GYN said that method wasn't as reliable as OPKs, mainly because it
> can be mistaken for fluids generated during intercourse.

You might as well chart that... it, too, can be helpful to let you know
what's going on.

> So, I've been
> doing only that method. I have been reading many posts about the
> Taking Charge Of Your Fertility book, so I think I will take that
> advice and get it today. I think I'll probably try charting my temps
> too.
>
I don't think I ever did get a positive OPK with ovulation, though I did get
positive OPK's when pg...lol! (the molecule the OPK test detects is closely
related to hcg and hcg will trigger an OPK test while ovulation will NOT
trigger a pregnancy test.) For me, temp was a much, much better indicator.
And for timing sex, cm was vital.
Jenrose

[Ilse Witch]

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 12:48:43 -0700, dayna.abell wrote:

> Oh, and does having a long luteal phase complicate conception at all?
> I'm wondering if this has anything to do with why we haven't had much
> luck conceiving up to now.

I have no experience myself with long luteal phases, rather the contrary.
However, I was wondering if you have been monitoring your cycles from
before starting to actively TTC (try to conceive). If not, you may have
been experiencing more than one very early miscarriage, which lengthens
your luteal phase by several days. These pregnancies terminate since the
fertilized egg cannot properly implant for whatever reason, and so they
often don't result in a positive HPT.

The long luteal phases in itself would be a good cause to start looking
for a good reproductive expert and discuss this.

--
--I
mommy to DS (July '02)
mommy to four tiny angels (Oct '03 - Oct '04)
guardian of DH (age classified)
expecting twins (boy/girl) in August