What's the point in ovulation kits?

[sophiedeana990]

Okay, so from my research and asking, it's actually best to do the deed and make sure sperm is in there BEFORE you ovulate, so that would be before I get a smiley on my pink and white ovulation kit.

If this is the case, it begs the question really, what's the point in all these ovulation kits, because if I were to have sex when I got a smiley, apparently, it might well not actually work because it's best to have had sperm waiting before this period of time.

I'm so confused :(

You don't ovulate until a day or two after you get your LH surge so when the opk is positive that's the perfect time to DTD.

To help you figure out when you ovulate so you can get the timing right in subsequent months!

Also, some people like to use them to confirm that they have ovulated at all.

Oh, so when I get the smiley it IS just a LH surge, and there's no egg there yet so nothing to worry about if I have sex on that day of the smiley?

They are problematic - you can have an LH surfer without actually ovulating. Also, many women do in fact ovulate the day the surge starts, so for them it would indeed be better to have sex a day or few before the smiley face

*surge

Is ovulating after a smiley face common? Or is it one of those things that are completely normal but not 'textbook' normal?

I think I read that the older you get the closer ovulation is to the lh surge. I'm 34 and always ovulated the day after my surge, confirmed by taking temperature. If you have sex on the day of the surge you should be fine but, as the other poster says, you can use them to learn about your cycle and maybe aim for the day before the surge is expected too.

I see, well if that's true I hope I'm the lucky one to ovulate after my LH surge since I'm only 21 :) Then again, who knows...

The problem is that some peoples surge only lasts for a few hours. So if you only test after work in the evenings and then ovulate in the mornings, you might miss the surge and not get a positive line. Other factors also affect them like the time of day you're testing and how dilute your urine is.

They cannot be used to confirm ov alone. They're best used to compliment fertility awareness, so use alongside temping, cm monitoring etc.

Personally I don't like them, used them for six cycles and have found they cause more confusion and stress which overrides the benefit. See how you get on with them but bear in mind they don't work for everyone.

Thank you DizzyNorthenBird, I'm keeping that in mind and thinking of just stopping the whole scheduled planning etc next month if I don't conceive this month, it's just too stressful and it's too hot!

Yes it wouldn't be healthy to avoid fluids to take a test in this weather! I'm not using them this month either, hopefully I'll be more relaxed but I can't stop temping as I'll be stressing out with wondering whether or not I ovulated

You're so young and you've got years ahead of you for falling pg. Leave the stress of scheduling to us oldies who have no choice but to be a bit more proactive with what time we have left!!

Haha, really?! Oldies before 45? You're young women ;)