Why do women with regular cycles use OPKs?

[Whattodooo90]

Hi all

Please excuse my ignorance but I’m just wondering whether anyone can tell me why a woman with a normal cycle would do OPKs?

Sperm can live inside a woman’s body for a number of days so is having sex every couple of days after the last day of your period not enough?

I really feel as though there’s a gap in my knowledge/ understanding here and I’d like to learn more, thanks

To be sure, to get the timing of every other day right, to do it every day right around the time, it was nice to have the extra confirmation..

1. to get to know when in their cycle they ovulate
2. because not everyone can have sex every other day for 3 weeks. I for one don't have the energy! Great if you do, but if you've got stressful, hectic jobs, exhausting kids to look after, elderly parents to care for, or any other thing that makes life exhausting, then narrowing it down helps.

Also, they are usually something that people use when they have already tried months of just having regular sex.

Because it takes the guesswork out slightly.

Because then you can pin point ovulation to a 24ish hour window.

Because even regular cycles can be long and ovulation unpredictable.

Because they like peeing on sticks and OPKs are cheap and simple once you get the hang of them.

Because TTC can be soul destroying and once you've got over the original 'teehee we're going to have a baby so let's have lots of sex' and you're months in, it's just boring and long and stressful 😁

Because doing something is better than doing nothing

Ive wondered this when ttc threads pop up in active, and I see women testing when it’s their first month trying. I assumed it would be what you do if things aren’t happening, not as a default. It feels like an added pressure to me but maybe quite the opposite for some?

I was tracking my cycle using 3 different apps, and OPKs, and none of the buggers consistently said the same dates.

I felt that OPKs were the most accurate (and generally in the middle of the cycle trackers) but in the end I conceived without OPKs because I was also doing daily covid tests for work and the novelty of multiple daily tests wore thin after about two mornings. It added a good 5 minutes to my morning routine!

I had regular cycles. Couldn't fall pregnant. Tracked but still didn't work. Turned out I never actually ovulated 🤷🏼‍♀️ not idea how long that failed to happen.

I think this is true. Sometimes you just even want to feel like you’re doing something. Also trying to conceive is bloody hard work and unless you’re able to be chilled about it (which I wasn’t) then I wasn’t able to just not think about it and have sex every other day. I needed to know when it was happening and hit every available opportunity to get pregnant during that time 😂 it’s also a relief when ovulation is over and you don’t have to keep going 🤦🏼‍♀️😂 this time I’m telling myself I’ll be the once every few days person 🤔