How long do you "wing it" before actively TTC?

How long did/do you advise just TTC without actively charting BBT or using OPKs? My DF and I are working around two more than full time jobs and (for him) work induced exhaustion, so I'm not sure how successful we will be if we're not actively TTC. We just stopped active prevention 2-3 cycles ago. I wasn't on BCP because of side effects, just using the barrier method.

I'll admit that I'm prone to obsessing, and I'm trying to just let it happen in terms of TTC. I'm keeping track of ovulation with an iPhone app but it doesn't always work for our work schedules to DTD around the time it says I'm ovulating based on the app. Any recommendations?

I think it's different for everyone. If you're worried you'll obsess about it and would prefer to relax, then I'd skip the charting etc. But do you think you might get disappointed if it doesn't happen quickly?

For me personally, charting and taking temps was a way of knowing what my body was doing, and when we should try a little more - the rest of the month is just for fun ;) Also with your work schedules it might be handy to know that even though you're both tired and normally wouldn't have a go that night, maybe you should just have a quickie to up your chances if you are ovulating.

Good luck!

ETA: You may want to pop into this thread to chat to some great ladies in your position: TTC 1-6 months

Welcome to BellyBelly!

Hiya, welcome to bellybelly! I guess it depends on your definition of active TTC - I never properly charted using an app or website, I never took my BBT... For me, active TTC was tracking days in my cycle, checking my CM and DTD actively during the fertile period, or what I thought was the fertile period.

So by my definition, you are already actively TTC :)

Another "depends" answer here.

I didn't even know about charting until we had been TTC#1 for 8 months. We ended up getting a referral to a specialist after 12 months and I was then very annoyed when the GP suggested we had only been seriously trying for 4 months because I had only been charting for 4 months. As far as I was concerned, we had been seriously trying the day I stopped BCP... The reason I was so annoyed was because we had seen the GP for a pre-TTC appt 3 months before we started TTC and she had never mentioned charting, so for her to turn around and say we hadn't been trying seriously because we hadn't been charting was very hypocritical!

When my sister started TTC last year, I encouraged her to chart from the beginning. She had always had irregular cycles before going on BCP, so I thought it would help her. Turned out to be a very good move because after 3 months her cycles became annovulatory and once she had charted 3 annov cycles in a row she was able to take those charts to her GP and ask for assistance.

If your cycles are regular, you're having sex regularly (at least every 2-3 days) and you are ovulating reliably, there's very little need for charting.

Of course, it could be worth charting for just one cycle to confirm that your cycle is following the pattern you think it is. I was caught out when we started TTC#2 because I figured after 3.5 years TTC#1 I knew my cycle well enough to not need to chart. When we started TTC#2 my cycles were the same length as when TTC#1, so I assumed I was O'ing at the same time. Turned out I was O'ing later than I thought and had a shorter LP than before, so our timing was off by about 4 days the first couple of (non-charting) cycles...

So, how long do you wing it? Well, how long do you want to?

We did for far too long. If you want to get started I would forget about winging it.
Truly wish we hadn't wasted so much time.
However, you might find winging it is enough. So it could be fun!

Hmmm.......

Thanks ladies! That is actually really helpful. juniper76, I had no idea that charting could make a difference in your GP's perception of how long you've been trying! That's good to know. As well as the variance in O'ing. I have a somewhat short cycle so not sure how accurate the -14 day rule is for me. Teeki, I think you're right, I might get disappointed if we TTC for more than 6 cycles. Maybe one or two more without charting and OPKs, and then I'm giving in to my obsessive side! Thank you all. :)

I never charted as such. I just worked out my approx O date based on my general cycle length (4-5ish weeks) and then tried to DTD every second day for about a week either side of that date. I figured it gave us the best chance of catching the egg. We were lucky that we got UTD very quickly doing this (all up 3 times in 5 cycles trying). That being said, if I were to do this for 3-4 cycles with no result then I'd probably start charting or similar.