Can someone explain OPK's please?

[StormcloakNord]

Just wondering if you lovely ladies could help with the whole OPK thing. TTC #2 and AF showed up this month. A bit sad, but I haven't been doing it properly I don't think I've just been going off what a period tracker has been saying. I was in Tesco yesterday and noticed the clear blue ovulation prediction kits for £30 . Do I need one of those every month? When do you know to pee on it? I'm totally clueless!!

Thanks in advance

You only need one kit, but will need refills of the pee sticks. I think the first month you're supposed to pee on the stick every day and that sets the baseline. I think I peed every day and dtd on the suggested days. Up the duff first month with first dd and second month with second DD.

There are much cheaper options off eBay/ amazon. They come with instructions, which you would need to read. Each brand is slightly different.

The long and short of it is that you per on a stick at least once a day (actually you dip it in a pot). If the stick is positive, it shows the presence of a good amount of lutenising hormone, which is a requirement 12-72 hours before ovulation. You might not go on to ovulate, as you can get a surge without ovulating, but if you ovulate, you must get a surge first (if that makes sense).

If not pregnant, most people get their period 10-16 days after ovulation.

If you don't use opks, the advice is do Dtd every other day. When using opks, you should still Dtd as often as possible. Sperm live for a few days before ovulation and take a couple hours or so to reach the Fallopian tubes. The egg lives for a max of 24 hours, so Dtd before ovulation is at more likely to lead to pregnancy.

That is great, thanks guys that's really helpful!