How to use opks

[Serendipper]

My periods are irregular since having my son and still breastfeeding. Would like to conceive again but not really sure when we should be trying as my cycles are varying so much. I’ve not used opks before so not sure how they work or when to use them. Which brands do you use? Any positive experiences?

Hi @Serendipper!

We've only just started to TTC and I used opks for the first time last month. I bought mine from amazon (wondfo brand) and it came with 50 ovulation tests and 20 pregnancy tests. I was a bit sceptical at first as they were really cheap but I'm so glad we did as I am now 5 weeks pregnant! I know we've been very lucky getting pregnant on the first try but I'd like to think the opks helped with timing! I documented mine in a little journal so I could see how my LH was progressing and when peak ovulation was! Have a look at the picture I started taking them the day after my period finished so cycle day 6 as I wanted to understand my body a bit more! It's nice to see the LH progression! I really recommend the brand I used as for a newbie it was super easy to follow! (Not going to lie I did think I was ovulating straight after my period!) But around cycle day 16 I had my peak! Hope this helps and best wishes to you! Much love C x

@Serendipper Thank you for this been looking for this type of post. I have just weaned DS and have just tried OPKs last month but seriously I don't know how to use it! haha! Anyway I haven't got any experience to help you, but here wishing you get your BFPs soon and good luck hun! x

@Ourfamily Congratulations! Hope you have healthy and happy pregnancy! Those progression line is amazing. I did hear the Wondfo ones are better. I'm using the One Step ones and I never got any positive!! wonder if I actually using it the wrong way. This is TMI but would you like to share when did you DTD? Thank hun! xx

Hi @Mrssendy!

Of course! Because we're newbies to all this we kind of DTD as much as we could! Sorry it it's TMI! Particularly when I got stronger lines on my OPK! I also looked for changes in my cervical mucus and when that happened we DTD! I used the flo app to track when we DTD it puts a little heart by the date and it also tells you your cycle day and period date - it's great! Much love, C x

So I got my peak tests around the 22/23 of the month so you can probably tell from the hearts when we DTD! Hope this helps x

I used them for DS and my current pregnancy. Turns out I am pretty regular, but I didn't want to run the chance of missing anything, because for DS I was trying after 6 months and for the current baby after 3.

I just did what it said on the packet: once a day after lunch from CD 11(?).

I conceived twice on the second try.

Good luck!

Oh, and they were those from the internet as well.

@Ourfamily thank you so much for this lovely! oh I bet DH thinks Christmas comes early with those DTD! haha! I do use Flo as well - they're good! I'm very sorry but there's another question I'd like to ask . When you tested the OPKs, how long did you wait until the positive OPK line showed? I waited until 30minutes and the lines have never got as dark as the control line :( x

@Serendipper haha! Yes! We both said we didn't want it to get too much and become a chore! If we hadn't of had our BFP this month we definitely would of DTD a little less the next month! I waited for 5 minutes and looked at the result then! They do dry down pretty accurately as well! Much love, C x

@kikibo your story really gives me hope!

@Ourfamily Haha oh so agree how it can easily become a chore! excellent thanks for the timing details hun! x