We have always wanted more than one child and when Lex was 12 months we were ready to start planning for baby #2. Unfortunately at the time of when we were ready to start trying, I still did not have my period yet due to breastfeeding. We had started trying anyways even without my period because sometimes you are lucky and catch the first egg, but that didn’t happen for us. If you read my last post you would know that I was able to get my period back at 14 months.

For my first pregnancy we were super lucky and got pregnant on the first try, we did not use any ovulation tests or period tracking at all since we were just starting out and wanted to just go with the flow. However, since we were already a tiny bit behind schedule with my period I decided to use ovulation tests this time to be as efficient as possible. We also don’t have as much time and energy to get frisky as often as when we were childfree. I quickly learnt that it took a little bit of practice to read an ovulation test properly. I found this guide to be very helpful. Basically in ovulation tests there is a test line and the control line. The tests indicate the LH amount in your urine and you ovulation after an LH surge. You have LH throughout your cycle so its possible to see two lines throughout your cycle. It is important to realize this because with pregnancy tests two lines mean you are pregnant! What you want to see is a test line that is as dark or darker than the control line, indicating a LH surge. Once you have the surge, you should ovulate in the next 24-48 hours (which means its time to get busy!).

I initially bought a 5 pack from the drug store and quickly learnt that 5 was definitely not enough. My period had just came back so it was still quite sporadic and I had no idea when I would ovulate. The typical ovulation period is day 14 of a typical 28 day cycle but it could range a lot between women. I downloaded a super useful app called PreMom that tells me when I should be ovulating and when to start testing. I bought a big pack of ovulation strips from Amazon, which I found to be way more useful for someone who is just starting to figure out their ovulation schedule. I started at day 7 as the app recommended and was slightly disappointed when day 14, 15, and 16 passed and I did not get a positive result. I was starting to wonder if the tests were working but many reviews on Amazon said to BE PATIENT and luckily I kept testing because I did not get my LH surge until day 29! Unfortunately, we did not get pregnant the first try but the tests did give me an idea of when to test. Since I knew my cycle was all over the place and my surge was way later, I decided to not test until day 16. I also kept an eye on cervical fluid because you want to be looking out for raw egg white texture, which means you are ovulating soon. On this cycle I was able to find my peak at day 18! It was really interesting to see how my cycle was shifting. Because of the ovulation test, we were able to ensure that we got busy during my most fertile days. All there was left to do was to wait around 14 days and do a pregnancy test!

All this happened while we were in Holland and we were back in Hong Kong doing our 3 week quarantine. I was starting to feel super hot all the time and would break out in sweat right after I ate. Jerry and I kept fighting over the thermostat because I was hot and he was freezing. I started to feel like something was up because Jerry is usually much warmer than me. I decided to take a pregnancy test a few days early and saw a super faint line!! I was so excited but it was also a weird feeling since the line was so incredibly faint. I read that in that case you should wait a feel days to allow the HCG levels (the hormone that pregnancy tests detect) to increase and to test again. It was so difficult to wait and I took another one in 3-4 days and the line was MUCH darker. It’s confirmed!

Using the ovulation strips was very helpful and it allowed us to make sure we got busy on my most fertile days. For this pregnancy we got pregnant at my second cycle. I think the ovulation strips were particularly important this time because my cycle was all over the place. As parents of an energetic toddler, it was really helpful to have extra information to make the baby making process more efficient. I hope that this post helps other parents who are also TTC! Lex was 16 months when we got the good news so the age difference will be 25 months.

We can’t believe we are going to have another baby and feel so blessed to be able to welcome another little love into our family!