Making sense of Maybe Baby!!!

Hi I'd like to start a discussion on Maybe Baby cos the patterns aren't always clear cut but after a month of watching, this is what I've noticed:

It's the size of the ferns that counts !!!

This is after being confused for a while because I was getting ferns with other little blobby bits during the time I knew I was definitely O'g.

*Pebbles with little tiny weeny ferny bits = cos the ferns are small and not well developed, this is what I'm calling the transitional pattern.

*Blobby pebbles, no ferning at all= this either means non fertile (if in the time I'm expecting non fertile) or maybe to try again with a fresh blob of spit. I do it first thing in the morning and sometimes my mouth is a bit dry so I wait and do it again, sometimes get a suprise!

*Ferns - big gorgeous long ones **quite amazing looking** with or without other blobby bits or pebbles - and not necc covering the whole lens - if the ferns are long and well developed pattern, I'm counting it as fertile!!

HTH those of you still working out what is going on with MB. I'd love to hear if any of you have some tricks to interpreting your MB and what it means to you. Also I'd love to hear if anyone has resorted to using CM on their MB - apparently that works but I haven't tried it yet!
:-)

Hi Marydean, i've been using the MB for a few months now although i had a break for a couple of months due to prgnancy and then sadly a miscarriage. I found that for me it doesnt really show when i'm in transition but really only when i'm actually O'g. I also use it first thing and like you i always wait for the first 1 to dry then do a 2nd check just to be sure and mostly although not always get the same result 2nd time round.
Elena
Oh and my ferns are usually pretty short - i just put that down to my age and possible dwindling fertility.
Hope that helps

Hi everyone,
I have been using MB for about 2 months now. It took me about 2 weeks until I saw ferning and was over the moon as I haven't had a period for 3 months. I ferned for about 5 days (pattern gradually increasing then decreasing). I decided to continue testing to see what happens and 2 weeks later, I started ferning again. Not really sure what that means now. Does anyone know if you can fern when you aren't o'g? I thought it may have been that I was pregnant (wishful thinking) but I took several tests and they are all BFN. Has started to decrease again now, so am just waiting to see what happens. Still no period, so who knows what is happening down there!!
I started trying to use test in the am, but the result was always blurry, so I tried taking it at night, but that was when I was ferning again only 2 weeks later, so now I do it after work on my way home in the car. Very difficult to look into the magnifying glass whilst trying to drive though!!!
Any feedback from other users would be great!
Kristen
:woman: 24
:dh: 25
:ttc: 11months

Maybe Baby can have varying success rates for differnet people- some get the distinct patterns as shown on the instructions/ websites, while others get ferning all the time!

I personally find this the hardest to use as not eating/ drinking before hand so you dont get the weird bits under the scope.

Just dont use it as your only method of Oing prediction.

Hi Kristen, I started ferning a second time (small ferns mixed with pebbles) five days before AF arrived. I got very excited as I had the idea that you can get ferning as a result of increased oestrogen levels when pregnant, but no such luck. The other thing that occured to me is that the ferning results from a higher salt content in your saliva so possibly I had been on a salty food jag (being premenstrual my diet gets very very baaaaaad).
:-)

The last cycle when I fell pregnant I used MB (which I had been using for months) as well as an OPK for the very first time. I got a + with OPK on the Monday and then I didn't get the real ferns with MB until about Thursday. We BD'ed from the previous Friday through to a week after MB said I O'ed, so we caught whichever one was right. I'm due earlier than I should be for my LMP so I think the OPK was more accurate than the MB.

I also found I got ferns towards the end of my cycle. My GP said its because its picking up the increase in progesterone that you have after ovulation.

Good luck everybody!

HI all, from reading the above, I'm beginning to get a little concerned about my possible dwindling fertility too. Since m/c'ing in July/ Aug & AF began 12 Oct, I have been using MB for the past month. The only pattern I got the whole time was pebbling. I don't even know what the ferns look like on the microscope. ie: I know it's a braching type of pattern, but I def'n didn't see any over the mth I've been on MB. That's not good is it? I have to say since coming off contraception in Feb, it took 4 mths before I fell pg. So that was good for us. And altho' we m/c'd my OB is sure I'm a healthy fertile 36 y.o. I'm wondering whether I ought to try the OPK as an alternative as from what I've read above it's a better method?
Thanks ladies & good luck to us all.

I got pregnant the first cycle of using maybe baby aswell as temp taking....

I found that i had pebbles before o'ing and then it went transitional pebbles and small ferns then Huge in your face ferns, mine stayed like the transitional ferns until i found out i was preg after the first month of using it....

My friend had one also and she never got ferns and she is also pregnant - they can be a little unreliable but Im still happy...

"Lushlou"

i also used it in conjunction with opk's and temping all together you cant miss

Hi Lou, please don't be concerned about fertility based on MB alone - it can be very unreliable for some women, some never get ferns and others get ferns all month long and both of these things fall within the parameters of 'normal'. Maybe if you're not having luck with MB it would be a better idea to try OPKs (once your DH gets home as they can be expensive) and maybe temping as that will give you a lot more information about what your body is doing.
HTH
:-)

i got some opks quite cheap through lullaby conceptions, they are an oline shop and they post them to you descreetly and you pretty much get them the next day if you choose express post.

Thanks Marydean- yes I've been temping, but will give OPK a try. Appreciate your feedback,

Lou, I'd definitely give the OPKs a go. I also had months where I got no ferning at all - including a month where I did conceive (but then went on to m/c) so I don't think the MBs are really all that reliable - at least not for me.

Hi Meegm, I was just wondering how many opk's do you use in 1 month and when do you start testing?
Thanks Elena

I'm having heaps of prob with my MB this month.. i've had ferning before, but this time mostly pebbles and I've lost the instruction booklet. Are you meant to WIPE a very thin sheet of saliva over it, or are you meant to dabble a blob of saliva on it (it takes ages to dry though!)

:hello: Deni! Well, I've had to experiment and I've ended up putting a bigger blob on than I think you're supposed to cos it takes longer than 5 -10 mins to dry. If I put any less on there it shrinks to the tiniest little part of the lens and that's just not enough for me. I try to be consistent and put the same amt on every day and get the clearest results that way. Just try to get a bit of spit without any bubbles in cos they destroy the pattern.

Good luck!
:-)

hi deni
interesting point so i just read the book to remind me! "using a clean fingertip place a smear of saliva over the glass, make sure there are no bubbles". Good luck
Elena

thanks girls. ok will have a look again tomorrow morning. I'm glad my friend lent me hers coz i'd find it more annoying if I'd bought it and couldn't read it properly!

hi ladies i have a question. i did the maybe baby test yesterday and there was only one line with ferns.only small though and today i did it again and there are ferns but they are not covering the whole lens. can someone please give me some advice on this it would be greatly appriciated.

it dosnt have to cover the whole lens - i when i got full ferns they were really defined like railway tracks almost - i would say it was partial ferning and you should O any day.

Hi Dea
that's what i used to get, (I haven't checked in a while due to m/c) and so i took that as ovulation. Probably not much help but thats why i'm about to start using the opk that i ordered online.
Elena

I used them in conjunction (maybe-baby & OPK's and also Temping) once you use all 3 of these techniques you can pretty much pinpoint ovulation....

I did it for 4 weeks and got pregnant straight away.

thankyou so much for that information. i think that i'll go and buy an opk to help me out a bit more if that makes sense. i don't know much about temping though?

Hi Dea,
I've just started temping as well, I got it online from lullaby conceptions (as well as the opk tests) and it arrived the day after i ordered it, it comes with a temping instruction chart and you also get an extra (different) temping chart, so it's pretty easy. having said that - I only started mid cycle and i think af is about to visit so i'm really just a beginner, let me know how you go!
Elena

I noticed with MB that my ferning seemed to have definite "cycles". I'm thinking that perhaps they are like an OPK and catch surges so that is why sometimes we don't see any ferning despite all of our other signs and symptoms telling us that we are, or have, popped the egg.

This cycle I am definitely PG, but didn't once see ferning on MB until yesterday when I thought I'd have a quick look to see what pregnancy looks like on the device.

I'd also agree that it's the size that counts. There is a huge difference between the fine, small ferning and the big, THICK ferning that signifies increased fertility. It's quite amazing when you see them for the first time!!

Lisa

Hey there, I got so frustrated using MB because it was so inconsitent for me. I was doing tests every morning upon waking as per the instructions and got transition and pebbles most of the month then ferning right before AF. Then the next month i would get ferning for a couple of days but didnt seem to fall in the right time according to my temp charting. Then the next month it would be different again :confused: The pamphlet that it comes with says that it doesnt work for women with high level of oestrogen so there must be heaps of them out there cos I have heard lots of people have had problems with MB.
I ended up selling mine online and buying OPK's instead. The ones that Lullaby Conceptions sells are really excellent and they are very sensitive for me and tell me exactly the days when I ovulate.
Worth giving them a go as they are cheap if you order the value packs.... much cheaper than the chemists and supermarkets!