A thread for anyone TTC with a ClearBlue Fertility Monitor!

I got loads of highs but it never spotted me ovulating this month. I'm still getting to know my cycle as this is my first one off the pill. I think that my CBAFM is as confused as I am! I'm going to skip the next month of testing (yeah, right. Like I can resist peeing on a stick...) and wait until I properly know my cycle. I just hope I don't take too long to bounce back from cerazette!

Fx - fingers crossed
Looked at my tests for the last 3 days running and there is a vv faint 2nd line it isn't darkening but its staying there

When i say left side i mean the point end that goes into the monitor first so its the furthest part away from the pee absorber

Ok just to clarify, are we working on the basis that the left side of the stick/left line is the line nearest the dipping end? So nearest to the middle of the test? Because that line for me has been getting fainter while the line furthest from the dipping part of the test has been getting darker. When it was darker than the first line, that's when I got my peak result. They more or less match today with the second line (edge one) being just a fraction darker I think.

Final result on my microscope is transitional at best but that took 4 tries (kept repeating the test to make sure as prev 3 tries came back with not fertile results which didn't tally with the monitor).

Sorry ChandlersFarang I wasn't ignoring you honest. Yay on the darkening lines for you. Best of luck that ovulation comes friday or that you won't have to wait until then (incidentally what does fx stand for? ). I personally don't think you'd be unreasonable to insist that your DH leaves a sample of his own behind for you to use just in case he is away when it happens for you . I finished the bottle of cough medicine last night to pull out all the stops but if nothing happens this cycle then will look at the grapefruit juice for next month.

I had evap lines first two days of testing every other day since that it has been one thick line on the left side of the stick that is getting fainter each day with cbfm sticks the fainter the line gets the closer you are to OV

I just googled it and it appears that these tests aren't affected in the same way so it is fine to store it but important to ensure it's fmu. Also found out that if you test via collected urine then you need to dip the test for 15 seconds. I dipped for 12 seconds this morning as for some reason thought the dipping time was 10 seconds to that helps explain some of the faintness.

Hopefully your highs will come soon hedwiggity. How do your test sticks look? I think roughly speaking, Line near edge of test - faint, inner line - dark = low. both lines the same = high. Line near edge of test - dark, inner line - faint = peak. So if you have previous days tests to compare them to, you may be able to guage if you are going in the right direction so to speak.

I just did my test and its another low only been using the monitor from CD3 so still time for a peak i don't think it made any difference using urine from 2am for an 8:30 test but thats just me

Thanks hedwiggity, I guess I just worry that the environment wont be good enough to let anything survive long enough to fertilise an egg lol. In any event, we DTD last night and todays temp was higher than yesterday (but no higher than it has been already this month). Test stick lines looked more or less equal this morning but after some drying time, the second line is still fainter than the first which means I am still at a 'peak' time. Microscope seems to be pointing towards non fertile though (have a sample drying atm) so should be in the tww now.

I did my test at around half five this morning as I have been struggling to sleep properly for a few weeks now. But does anyone know if the sticks are affected by the breakdown of the hormones like pregnancy tests are? HCG for example breaks down in urine if stored (this can be slowed down by storing samples in the fridge but ewww) so this can affect how well the test performs as a 20mIU/ml test may only be picking up 10mIU/ml in the sample and give a false negative iyswim. I have no idea if this happens with the cbfm sticks though. I have read it is better to test as late as you can in order to pick up the LH surge but on the other hand, how are you meant to do that plus use fmu when you wake up in the early hours?

Sorry for the rambling there. If you made sense of that then well done to you.

Fun thing about the monitor using the first pee of the day i just had mine at 2am !! Had to leave it in a blooming tumbler at side of the sink hope OH doesnt see it before my 6am test time or he'll think ive lost the plot

I just use a bit of pre seed when I'm dry I've had loads of dryness past month but this month i have a bit of ewcm i think it helps to not wash down below with soap i used to do in the shower but now don't unless i use the vagisil PH gel after dtd even if your dry it doesn't mean you aren't OV

Well there should be but in my case it isn't working right now which is a massive pain. Essentially you can take certain types of cough medicine to make your cm more like ewcm. It has to be an expectorant one like for chesty coughs and you are looking for an ingredient called Guaifenesin.

There's a cough medicine trick too?? My gosh.. I'm really falling behind here!

Thanks hedwiggity and guineapig1. The only thing that is concerning me slightly is the lack of cm (sorry for the tmi). It seems like everything is on track but that. I am using the cough medicine trick to try to help but it doesn't seem to be making a difference and I would hate for anything to scupper it when my body is finally doing something right.

The good side is that my cd17 peak should give you hope that it can happen even if it is a bit late.

Great news thegrandhighwitch! CD12 here but fourth day of high on the monitor. Really hoping for a peak sometime in the next week and trying to resist buying one of those microscopes which I had never heard about till now

wow congrats grandhighwitch always wondered what "ferning" was when i saw these scopes on amazon now i know :) hoping i get a peak this week too

So excited as I finally got a peak this morning! CD17 so I expect I will either have a longer cycle or a shorter luteal phase. Knew something was going right when my ovulation microscope showed much more ferning patterns than it had been doing. Then noticed the second line on the test stick was much more obvious than the first one which is way less noticeable now. Just need to wait for the temp spike to confirm once ovulation has occurred and DTD in the meantime and hopefully job done. I can't quite believe it as my previous pregnancies were via clomid so it's brilliant that my body is actually doing what it should be doing without any help.

Pics below are the ones from the microscope if you are interested in what it looks like. Pic one was on the 20th, two on the 23rd and the third one was from this morning.

phew thanks for that i can put my PCOS worries aside and stop annoying OH with my worries think im just going to wait and see and stop expecting a BFP i have until the 15th next month to get a BFP before next AF/monitor reset so lots of time

Sorry, should have said that the test on CD11 of that cycle was a high reading.

No problem blankfornames, happy to help where I can.

Sorry to hear your highs are coming late hedwiggity. IIRC you were the poster worried about potential pcos? If so, I don't think you have to worry as I beleive pcos causes extensive high readings on the monitor and so in your case, it points more towards a later ovulation than you thought. It is also possible that you will go from low to peak and skip the high bit depending on how quick your hormones act.

The last time I used my monitor for TTC it didn't ask for any tests until CD11 (I am looking back at my chart from then I don't have that good a memory lol). That was followed by two days of peak readings then one high reading and then that was followed by 12 low readings the last of which was taken the day before my BFP. I should stress that I was on clomid for that cycle so I don't know if that skewed the dates as it would have forced ovulation to occur. But it should mimic a 'normal' ovulatory cycle to a certain extent so you may well be on track. HTH.

CD10 and still no high thought today was the day well maybe tomorow

Wow TheGrandHighWitch thanks for taking the time to explain that!! I'll be line watching intently from now on! Jeepers, there's so much to learn.. and this is before little ones even come along!!

Ah, glad to hear I have just misread it then ChandlersFarang and there is some time yet. I am hoping that I have either ovulated and the monitor hasn't recognised it or will ovulate in the next few days. I have got 10 more days of test sticks left for this month or I will have to spend another £20 on them.

Re the lines, I think it is correct for the first line to fade as the other darkens. As far as I know, the first line represents estrogen which is needed to make you ovulate. As you near ovulation, the estrogen drops as the LH increases which is what sparks ovulation. The LH is what causes the second line to appear. After ovulation you get progesterone which is what causes your temp to rise. Incidentally a raised temp for 18 days after ovulation is apparently a definative sign of pregnancy and that was certainly the case with my second child (although I only charted up to the day I got a BFP then).

So in a nutshell it should be; The first line = estrogen and the more prominent it is, the higher the reading on your monitor. The second line = LH and the more prominent that one is indicates you should be approaching peak fertility. Neither should be as obvious afterwards as progesterone is used then and the tests don't check for that one.

Finally I would like to apologise for how often I have used the word ovulate/ovulation in this mammoth post .

Ah, that's good to know. I must start keeping the next few sticks and comparing lines! Thanks!