Ovulation Kits - what do you recommend?

[littlepinkpear]

That's it really. Trying to give TTC a kick up the arse as I'm getting old and counting days doesn't seem to be working.

What's easy to use and won't cost a bloody fortune?

I tried boots own brand but have found them to be a bit crap so thinking of trying CB too...

Clear blue fertility monitor. It's great. I now have 2 children. I didn't realise I was a late ovulater. I'm about day 17.

Hi littlepinkpear - Clearblue Digital is amazing! Our first cycle, so the first smileys on CD 15 & 16 were super exciting! DTD on CD 14 & 15 = BFP today CD 27

A worthwhile investment. Good luck x

Good luck OneLiteToddleTerror. I really can really commiserate with you and was so relived when we had a clear time of when to dtd and when we could just be natural and let things happen on their own. You'd think it was a dream come true to dtd so often - but even in the best relationships - its does not really play out so wonderfully!

Do some googling around, there are a number of good options for getting more accurate ovulation days. You might also want to google fertility awareness or NFP which is the contraceptive side of figuring out when ovulation is but basically the same tools can be used for ttc. I personally love my Cyclotest because it takes the confusion out of charting (I'm not a numbers person and really was a lifesaver for us!

All the best!

What's cyclotest?

Cyclotest is what is called a "Sympto-Thermal" monitor. It is a small digital device with a built in thermometer.

Aside from testing your urine every day to see the LH surge before ovulation, your temperature when you wake up is an extremely reliable indicator of when you are about to ovulate. Most fertility charts use temperature, known as BBT.

In addition to BBT, cervical mucus (CM) also changes when you are about to ovulate. It becomes stretchy and sort of like egg white.

With the Cyclotest monitor, you take your temperature each morning when you wake up (there is a built in alarm) and if you notice stretchy CM you press the round button in the middle. The cyclotest displays your level of fertility for that day and the anticipated days. If no baby shows up on the screen, you are not fertile at all, one baby and you are in your fertile 'window' - about 5 days long, and two babies you are highly fertile - that usually lasts about 2 days.

It uses the basic outline of any good fertility awareness/NFP system but does the whole thing automatically. Personally, I found it to be a lifesaver because I am so busy and tired all the time, not a numbers person, and would be scared of making a mistake with imputing all my own numbers. And its not incredibly expensive like some other devices are.

Hope that was clear and helps!

Thanks for the explanation :)

Your welcome :)

I bought Asda own brand opk (five tests for £7) and tried it today but it said I'm not ovulating. No idea whether these tests are good or not but I have no reason to disbelieve it except that I seem to have ewcm at the moment. Any experience with the Asda ones?

I got basic ones on eBay - worked first month and also taught me that I ovulate 10 days later than I thought!

Ah right, that's good. Did you test everyday for around the time you believed you were ovulating or what?

I've been using these as I came off the pill a few months earlier in order to let my cycles settle down before we started TTC'ing. As Alohomora mentioned upthread, you do need to PIAC and let it settle to room temperature before testing but it's been a cheap way for me to work out what's happening - along with BBT using Fertility Friend.

However, if you want quicker results, the Clear Blue Fertility monitor is supposed to be very good and I actually have one waiting for me to use next month when TTC'ing officially starts! One word of warning though; I've read that although it gives you a few days of 'high' and then two days of 'peak', your most two fertile days are the last day of 'high' and your first day of 'peak'. The 2nd 'peak' day is normally the day after ovulation, which is generally too late to successfully conceive.

ItsSoFluffy - they look good. Have you been using one every day to chart your cycle? Can I ask, after you came off the pill did your cycle settle down quickly?

And what does PIAC mean?

itssofluffy: the 2nd peak day is not the day after ovulation! The first peak day you get means that you are having an lh surge. Ovulation follows 12-48 hours from that. So your first peak day is your most fertile day, but the second peak day is fertile as well (even if you have ovulated by then, the egg is usually still alive and fertile).

Blueamber - so, the fact that I appear to have rwcm at the moment could be a sign of impending ovulation? (If not just a side effect of coming off the pill. ..)

Sorry, I meant ewcm...

it usually means your body is gearing up for ovulation. But when you've just come off the pill it might not lead to ovulation immediately. Sometimes women can have a few patches of ewcm in their cycle as well.

Yeah, that's what I thought... well, I need to treat it as though I am going to ovulate (even if I don't) so I guess we'll be dtd every two days (or daily, if that doesn't lower sperm count or quality)

Itssofluffy - have just been on amazon and ordered those sticks you've been using. Looking forward to trying them out!

I think the CB monitor will have to stay on my wishlist as it's about £70!

Blueamber - sorry, I meant day of ovulation.

Just going from what I've read; the impatient woman's guide to getting pregnant - it says that the clearblue monitor is programmed to assume that the day of ovulation is the most fertile when it's actually the day before. The monitor gives a peak when it detects the LH surge and then another the next day. Therefore the 2nd peak day given is likely to be the day of ovulation, which isn't apparently as fertile as the day or two before. The author's opinion is that the last day of high and the first day of peak are actually your most fertile days I suppose it does depend on how often you plan to BD; if it's every other day once you get ewcm, then it doesn't really matter too much.

VJones - I have been quite lucky, my cycles have settled pretty quickly. My first month off the pill, I ovulated on day 19. The month after it went down to 16, but the month after that I ended up in hospital with gastroenteritis over the weekend I was due to ovulate. According to fertility friend, I didnt ovulate that month. That was April, and since then I've ovulated on day 19 ever since.

I bought my CBFM from ebay for about £30, and bought a box of test sticks separately. It's pretty simple to reset but it takes a stick to do so.

PIAC - pee in a cup

That's nice to know that you settled down quickly - hope it'll be the same for me! And will bear ebay in mind for a CBFM if I'm still ttc in a few months.

Right, if day one is the first day of my period, I am now on day eight of my first cycle after the pill. I appear to have EWCM which may or may not mean I am due to ovulate soon. Does anyone think it's worth me using one of my OPK sticks today to see if that's the case? And am I right in thinking that a positive reading means I am due to release an egg in the next day or so, and therefore I would be highly fertile for the next few days? Thanks -just need some help understanding it.

Clearblu 4 me