Why you should BBT chart & OPKs

[akcher]

There has been some members that have questions about OPKs and when they ovulated so I just wanted to post a note about OPKs and charting. Only using OPKs will tell you that you are about to ovulate but getting a positive OPK does not mean you will ovulate for sure. OPKs can be positive for a couple days, it's hard to tell which exactly day you ovulated. Some members are confused as to if the OPKs are positive or not based on the intesity of the line. Charting your temps will tell you once you ovulated but we need to time BD before we do. Ovulation will have occured for sure if you have a permanent temp rise in you chart. So using OPKs aalong with BBT charting, you will know exactly which day you ovulated.

From temp charting, you can tell also tell the length of your Lutuel Phase and when you should be expecting your AF. A normal LP should be 12-16 days with an average of 14 days. A short LP will effect your chances of TTC but it can be fixed.

I hope this helps answer some question about OPKs. If you all know this info, sorry for the rant lol!

 

[CherryBlossom]

sorry to sound thick but whats LP?

thanks for the post it has made OPKs make more sense

 

[akcher]

LP stands for Lutueal Phase. The lenth of days from when you ovulated to when your period starts.

 

[CherryBlossom]

but mine is about 18-19 days is that normal?

i have a 27-28 day cycle.
according to my chart (link in my signature) i ovulated on the 9th cd

 

[Arcanegirl]

If you ovulate earlier then its possible you may get AF earlier. The period between af and ovulation can be any length of time but your lp will alwayw be the same length (give or take a day)

Also a note to add, as already said you can get a positive opk but this doesnt mean you have ovulated for definate. Your body can gear up as if its gonna ovulate but then doesnt. meaning you will still get the LH surge. Charting will tell you for definate if you do ovulate.

 

[akcher]

From your chart I do see a temp shift but your OPKs you marked that they were negative. 18-19 days is longer than average. I only am familiar with short LP as I have that myself.

 

[CherryBlossom]

i didnt really know what i was doing with the OPKs the first few times so they might be wrong