Long Cycles & Late Ovulation

So after my missed miscarriage my perfect 28/29 day cycle was totally wrecked. I know it was the last thing I should have been thinking about at that point but I couldn't help it and I can't go back and change it, so why beat myself up over it. I'm going to be honest, I wanted to get pregnant again immediately. This is normal, people deal with grief in different ways. I was left with this never ending, empty feeling. This is my miscarriage Fertility Friend chart:

Sharing this chart actually brought back painful memories but I wanted to show this chart to show where my mind was following my miscarriage. Anyway, this is my chart for the next cycle:

As you can see, this is not a perfect 28 day cycle. I had more than 1 positive ovulation test, which shows that my body geared up to ovulate but didn't. An ovulation test that measures the LH (luteinizing hormone) in your body works by detecting the hormone right before you are about to ovulate, usually 24 to 48 hours beforehand. I would not even attempt to TTC without ovulation tests, they are a cheap and convenient way of detecting ovulation before it happens. I have used quite a few brands and I recommend using either this brand here

ANSWER Daily Ovulation Tracker for Any Cycle Length - 20 Test Strips and a Cup Answer Daily Ovulation is a simple way to determine when you are most able to become pregnant. ANSWER Daily Ovulation Tracker for Any Cycle Length - 20 Test Strips and a Cup

Or a lot of people I know prefer the First Response brand, kit contains 7 tests

First response easy-read ovulation test kit - 1 ea First response easy-read ovulation test makes it easy to identify your LH surge. First response easy-read ovulation test kit - 1 ea

Anyway, I will get more into the different test kits out there and how to use ovulation tests and other ways of detecting ovulation in the next section of this blog, let me get back to long cycles. I get excited when talking about ovulation tests because they are wonderful tools when trying to conceive.

Long cycles can be very frustrating, some women naturally have long cycles and it's normal for them but if longer cycles are not normal for you, this can definitely indicate something is wrong. I had long cycles for months, actually almost a year after my missed miscarriage and I did not get pregnant until my ovulation returned to normal. Unless you are seeing a fertility specialist there can be many things causing delayed ovulation.

Long cycles don't always have to mean delayed ovulation though, you can also have a longer cycle due to a longer than normal luteal phase, the luteal phase is the time between ovulation and the first day of your period.

What is considered to be a normal ovulation is by day 14, there are exceptions to this rule but it is assumed that if you ovulate too late in your cycle, this can mean lowered egg quality. From my own experience I truly believe that my delayed ovulation came from my body not accepting that I wasn't pregnant anymore, as well as there still being a corpus luteum cyst on one of my ovaries. A corpus luteum cyst is a cyst that us formed after ovulation, if the egg is fertilized and implanted in the uterus, the corpus luteum cyst provides progesterone protection to the developing embryo until about the 9th or 10 week of pregnancy. Since my embryo passed away at 8.5 weeks along, my corpus luteum cyst stayed behind, wreaking havoc on my cycle, while the baby was long gone.

To put it in lamest terms, my hormones were imbalanced. Believe it or not, even 5 to 6 months after miscarrying there was a few cycles that I actually was still seeing positive pregnancy tests, but then my period would start a few days later. I knew something was terribly wrong.

I was freaking out because I suspected there was still old tissue left inside me from the miscarriage and to be honest, there probably was especially considering that I had a "natural" miscarriage. No d&c and no drugs. I remember reading that it would take time for my body to get back to normal since I elected for a natural miscarriage.

I knew it would take time, anyone who is experiencing long or wonky cycles for any reason does not have to run to the fertility doctor right away. There are things that you can do at home to improve your fertility. So stay tuned and I will reveal everything I did to get my body back on track and how I got pregnant with my rainbow baby.