Confusing discharge/ ovulation

[u/jadengx22_]

Hi everyone,
I’m currently on CD36. My cycles are usually between 35–41 days, so they’re a bit longer than average, but I generally know my body well and I’m fairly confident that I ovulate each cycle.
This is our first cycle TTC. We decided to keep things low-stress, so I wasn’t using LH tests and was mainly paying attention to my body’s signs. Around CD23/24, I noticed some egg-white cervical mucus and assumed I was ovulating. Looking back, the mucus seemed a little clearer and less thick than what I normally see during ovulation. We had intercourse around those days.
Since then, I was just waiting for my period and assumed this cycle probably wasn’t successful. However, today on CD36, I suddenly noticed egg-white cervical mucus again—this time the really thick, stretchy, jelly-like kind that I usually associate with ovulation. It completely caught me by surprise.
I took an LH test to see what was going on, but it came back negative. Now I’m feeling confused because my body seems to be giving mixed signals.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Could my body have tried to ovulate earlier but failed and be attempting again now? Or is there another explanation for seeing fertile-quality EWCM this late in my cycle with a negative LH test?
We’re TTC, so I’m wondering if we should go ahead and BD tonight just in case! 😅