Hi J

Sorry to hear about your TTC problems. Not very nice! But this forum is full of really nice people who I'm sure you'll be friendly with in no time and we're all in the same boat.

From what I can gather, most doctors won't refer you on until you've been TTC for a year (I know that's the case in the UK and from what I've read here it seems to be similar in Aus) but you can ask them to do some blood tests to see if you are ovulating or where in your cycle you are, let them know you are TTC and I'm sure most doctors are helpful.

I was on the OCP for 8 years and my cycles were 5 weeks, then regular 6 weeks, bit annoying from the TTC point of view but great from the lack of backache point of view. Some people don't get regular cycles right away, but once your cycles start (can take months) it's usual for them to settle down. Oddly enough, my cycles were anything from 3-7 weeks pre-OCP and having them within 4 days of each other is quite odd from my PoV.

If you don't want to do OPKs there are other ways of checking your ovulation time. You can rely on EWCM (egg white cervical mucus), which your body makes just before you Ov. This looks like raw egg white (I can't be the only one who wondered if it was poached or boiled and hoped it wasn't fried, right?); there's usually quite a bit of it and it's slippery. You can also do temperature charts (like those with fertility friend), but that's less passive than just lookng for EWCM.

Do you have any other medical problems which could affect your TTCing, including things like weight? How old are you? Are your cycles (for example) 4-5 weeks, or are they really mad like 3-12 weeks? Have they become less eratic the later you go (like 3 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 5 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 5 weeks... would indicate a bit more settled, though you remember the earlier ones more so may not have noticed it)?

Best of luck to you with TTCing and I hope you get your baby soon!
Ryn.