OPK question ladies!!

[Mrs Dragonfly]

Today is day 2 of trying out OPKs and I'm feeling a little confused.

Yesterday afternoon I had a negative, it was definitely not as dark as the control line. But this afternoon it's way lighter than the line I had yesterday, like it's a squinter it's so light. Does this mean I may have already missed ovulation all together? I'm only on CD13 so I find that hard to believe, but what would make my line so much lighter today when yesterday it wasn't terribly light?

Any advice is appreciated!!

 

[kalyrra]

Nope, it doesn't mean you missed it! Your LH levels will be higher and lower at random points during the day/week. For opk's, it's recommended to take the test at the same time each day for consistency. Never use FMU, or take one after drinking copious amounts of liquid. I think my test instructions recommended refraining from drinking large amounts of liquid for 2 hours before I tested?

Does that help?

 

[Mrs Dragonfly]

Nope, it doesn't mean you missed it! Your LH levels will be higher and lower at random points during the day/week. For opk's, it's recommended to take the test at the same time each day for consistency. Never use FMU, or take one after drinking copious amounts of liquid. I think my test instructions recommended refraining from drinking large amounts of liquid for 2 hours before I tested?

Does that help?

This helped so much, thank you!! I was drinking lots of water today - but with this heat it's hard not to! The time of day was a few hours different too, I'll keep on the original time for future tests

 

[LillyTame]

Here is an example of one of my cycles (this one actually) I think day 3 looks lighter but then it starts progressing again. You are gonna have different urine concentrations...the main thing is to be consistent and then you should see true progress....after my pos I did one the next day and it looked like 2 days before

 

[LillyTame]

And saving your sticks does help when watching for progression so I recommend it. I bought a small notebook.

EDIT: And I use a digi when I think I have a pos to confirm....instead of using one the whole time because they cost too much and as you can see...I have long cycles.

 

[Mrs Dragonfly]

And saving your sticks does help when watching for progression so I recommend it. I bought a small notebook.

EDIT: And I use a digi when I think I have a pos to confirm....instead of using one the whole time because they cost too much and as you can see...I have long cycles.

I am face palming at the thought that I threw the first two I did away as soon as I saw your progression pictures. Definitely will be saving the rest and the future ones!

Do you think I've started them too soon? The last two cycles were 37 days but last cycle I had 2 different times throughout that I had ovulation symptoms (pains & cm). So I started it a little early, no pains or much cm but I really don't want to miss it since I'm not 100% sure when I ovulate...

 

[kalyrra]

Do you think I've started them too soon? The last two cycles were 37 days but last cycle I had 2 different times throughout that I had ovulation symptoms (pains & cm). So I started it a little early, no pains or much cm but I really don't want to miss it since I'm not 100% sure when I ovulate...

If you can afford the tests, starting now is great! Especially since you're not entirely sure when you ovulate. When I first started using opk's, I actually started them the day my period ended, which was around day 7 or 8 for me, and stopped taking them after I saw the surge go back down. I did that for 2 or 3 cycles until I saw a consistent pattern, and found I was ovulating around day 15. So from then on, I just started using the opk's around day 12-17 to make sure that I did in fact ovulate.

So maybe you can try something similar, until you see a fairly consistent pattern, and can pinpoint a little better when you need to start testing?

 

[Mrs Dragonfly]

If you can afford the tests, starting now is great! Especially since you're not entirely sure when you ovulate. When I first started using opk's, I actually started them the day my period ended, which was around day 7 or 8 for me, and stopped taking them after I saw the surge go back down. I did that for 2 or 3 cycles until I saw a consistent pattern, and found I was ovulating around day 15. So from then on, I just started using the opk's around day 12-17 to make sure that I did in fact ovulate.

So maybe you can try something similar, until you see a fairly consistent pattern, and can pinpoint a little better when you need to start testing?

I started testing yesterday (CD12), once I get a positive for a surge do I continue testing or quit until af or bfp? Thank you for the advice, I'll follow something similar to yours while I'm trying to figure out where my ovulate date is

 

[LillyTame]

Yea...I agree with kylrra...if you have enough test (I buy in bulk 40-50 at a time from Amazon) it's good to start early until you learn your cycles...just try not to get stressed if it take a while for them to get dark. When I 1st started I started on CD10....but soon discovered I don't ov till CD 18-24...the last two cycles it's been CD27 for OV. So as I got more comfortable using them and trusting myself that I knew what I was doing and what my body was most likely to do...I pushed my starting CD to 14-16. And that would be early for me

You don't have to keep them all. If the 1st 2-3 are really faint, I would toss them too. When they start to get more obviously there then start comparing them. ( I didn't mean CD3 in my other post...I just meant the 3rd stick down, which was actually my CD21)

Most instructions do tell you to stop when you get your 1st pos, because you don't want to have to worry if you get more than one day of positives (we all know how our minds start thinking something is wrong lol but there isn't) But I have continued to test....I've gotten pos the next day and I've gotten neg the next day....I just treat day one as the one that counts and that starts my 3 day watch for OV. Remember...it's just showing the peak for LH NOT actually when you ovulate

 

[brunettebimbo]

Mine have been changing too! Are you temping too?

 

[popchick75]

I say continue to test so you can see how long your surge is. Some women ovulate at the beginning of their surge and others at the end. If it lasts for several days, that will make a difference in when you need to BD!

 

[Mrs Dragonfly]

Mine have been changing too! Are you temping too?

I'm not temping, I think it would cause more stress than be helpful at this point. Glad that I'm not the only one who's having them change too

I say continue to test so you can see how long your surge is. Some women ovulate at the beginning of their surge and others at the end. If it lasts for several days, that will make a difference in when you need to BD!

I'll probably have to pick up another set of tests. CD14 and still a negative, but I'm feeling that O time is coming up soon. I'm not usually a morning sex person but it was the first thing on my bodies mind when I work up. Sorry if tmi lol. No pains or cm yet though.

 

[kalyrra]

I'll probably have to pick up another set of tests. CD14 and still a negative, but I'm feeling that O time is coming up soon. I'm not usually a morning sex person but it was the first thing on my bodies mind when I work up. Sorry if tmi lol. No pains or cm yet though.

Actually, I think I read somewhere when I was researching for TTC#1 that morning sex was better as far as your man's swimmers... so maybe morning sex is a good idea!

And honestly... I find that sex is on my mind wayyyyy more often when we're TTC than when we're not.

 

[Mrs Dragonfly]

Actually, I think I read somewhere when I was researching for TTC#1 that morning sex was better as far as your man's swimmers... so maybe morning sex is a good idea!

And honestly... I find that sex is on my mind wayyyyy more often when we're TTC than when we're not.

It wouldn't surprise me if that were so, guess I'll have to become more interested in morning sex!

So true!! When DH brings up having children and ttc my clothes magically fall off