Short Version:
- "Try" every other night starting Day 8
- Buy 10 ovulation predictor kit sticks Begin ovulation testing on Day 10
- When test is positive, "try" that night, plus two additional nights in a row Skip one night, then do one last "try"
- Take a home pregnancy test 15 days after your ovulation test was positive, if your period has not begun
- If your ovulation test never goes positive, continue "trying" every other night until Day 35, then do a pregnancy test if your period has not begun.
- Statistics coming in from the bulletin board show that about 40% of post-miscarriage women will get pregnant on the first try if they are faithful to the plan, about double the number of the normal population who are not on the plan. This assumes, of course, that you waited for a normal cycle to begin after your loss, and did not begin trying before having a period after a miscarriage. Many women do not ovulate in that first cycle.
Detailed Version:
- On day 8 of your cycle, counting from the first day you bled, begin "trying" every other night.
- Begin taking Ovulation Predictor Kits (or continue with your Ovulation computer) on Day 10. To make sure your OPK is working well, take your test in the afternoon or after work and do not drink any liquids or go to the bathroom for at least four hours prior to testing. (Morning is not a good time for OPKs, which look for the LH surge, which usually happens during the day.)
- When your OPK turns positive, begin trying every night for three consecutive nights, skip the fourth night, and then once more. Then stop! The waiting begins. Take a home pregnancy test 15 or 16 days after your OPK was positive if your period has not begun.
- Should your OPK never become positive, keep the every other day trying going until day 35.
- Remember that not every women will ovulate every month.
- As you are trying, make sure to "release" the sperm in your partner at least once during the gap between ovulation and new cycle Day 8 so that no more than 10 days elapse without new sperm production. Sperm is also a cause of genetic damage, not just eggs, so keep it fresh
Apparently, a blogger named Deanna created the Sperm Meets Egg plan in 1999 (http://pregnancyloss.info/sperm-meets-egg-plan/). Average Janes have generally positive comments about the method; many saying it worked their first month. Others say they like it because they don't have to chart temperatures. Detractors say it causes you to think about TTC too much and the stress is bad for baby-making.
I think it is a good plan for a woman who doesn't want to hassle with constantly monitoring her cycle and whose husband is willing to bed her every other night on command in order to get the baby. From conversations with friends, the stereotypical male who wants it all the time, if he even survived the first few years of marriage, is pretty much MIA once he is told when he needs to do it regardless of how long their day at the office was. So for those blissful bunnies - I say go for it!
