cycles and ovulation sticks

[hayles789]

hi all can someone who knows please advise about what is day 1 of my cycle. I have read the instructions in the ovulation sticks which said that I should start poas from day 7 as my cycle tends to be 24 days. However, at the start of AF I get spotting. Is the spotting counted as day 1 or is day 1 when AF starts to get heavier? Sorry for all the questions, am complete newbie :S

Hi!

I have always counted day one as the first day of 'flow' rather than just spotting.

I hope that helps, and good luck!

i have heard the opposite! that spotting still counts as day 1....

sorry to contradict!

I usually count day 1 as the 1st day of real bleeding.... If in douby maybe you could start using the ov sticks a day early to make sure you don't miss it? Hope it helps! :)

FertilityFriend seems to log the first day of a "proper" flow as day 1, rather than spotting, if that helps?

Proper flow is cd1.

cd1 is when you have to use a tampon or towel, not just a pantyliner for spotting. I normally only have half a day of spotting so it doesn't make a massive difference and often period starts later on that day anyway. With a 24 day cycle you are most likely to ovulate round about day 10 or so. Starting on day 7 ought to be fine.

thank you so much for the very helpful replies. I think it's going to take a bit of trial and error to master all this. Have had two full days of spotting so far but then again my periods are never very heavy anyway so cannot complain.