First time using Clearblue OPK - question

[cat8986]

Hi ladies

This is my first cycle using Clearblue digital OPKs after using IC for the last few months. My cycle is regular 28 days and I usually get my OPK peak around CD15-17.

I started testing CD12 which is later than I wanted but I had my smear test on CD12 and couldn’t have sex for 2 days before so didn’t see the point in testing. Maybe I was wrong... anyway,

On CD12 I got a blank circle as expected but on CD13 (today) I got a static smiley. Is it usual to go straight from a blank circle to static smiley? I was expecting at least a day of flashing smiley as my IC were always a gradual increase rather than a sudden surge of LH.

I won’t test again as I know the instructions say not to once you get a static smiley, but I wondered if this makes sense to anyone else? I haven’t any other signs of imminent ovulation which I usually get.

I will follow up with a IC this afternoon to see if it correlates with the static smiley though.

Because of not DTD the last 3 days I’m worried I could’ve missed making the most of my fertile window (expecting it to be happening from now) so will be doing lots of BD later and tomorrow!

I have attached the blue dye pics so you can see the progression. Pic 1 is CD12 and pic 2 is CD13. Does this look right to people?

Appreciate any guidance or shared experiences!

This is my IC test from afternoon wee...
confused!

@cat8986 hi! Is it CD13 for you today?
I started using the CB OPK on CD10 as thats when it arrived. CD10&CD11 were blank for me which I expected as I had only just started using them then on CD12 I got a static smiley! I was so confused as I didn't expect it but got right to DTD incase it really was my peak, I then used a cheapie strip that afternoon and it was a very dark line so that was definitely my O day.
I have attached my strips incase this helps you read yours.
Maybe the afternoon strip wasn't concentrated enough?
Don't know if I've been much help but if today is CD13 for you, get at it! xx

@BWaiting thanks for sharing yours! Yes, today is CD13 so will be DTD regardless, but frustrating that the Clearblue OPK doesn’t seem to be very accurate.

Your Clearblue line is so much darker than mine, and I somehow got a static smiley on such a lighter line in comparison.

That’s good to know that a static smiley can just appear like that if it happened to you! Your IC is soooo dark too! No question! I held my wee for 2 hours to make sure it was concentrated, but I think I’ll do another one later to see if there’s any progression.

It’s funny because I bought the Clearblue to avoid any confusion like IC did, and I’m right back to being confused 😂

@cat8986 I've also read somewhere that we shouldn't go off how dark the line is on the CB, someone told me to completely ignore the lines and just go off the smiley. Haha
Yes you buy them in hope you get a clear answer but then it ends up being more confusing. Because I started my kit late it stressed me out more when I saw the static smiley suddenly appear and realised we hadn't DTD two days before.
Good luck, it's still not too late today! 🤞🏼 x

@BWaiting oh I hadn’t read that, that’s good to know! I guess we get so used to trying to read lines, we can’t help ourselves when we’re not supposed to 😂

I’m in exactly the same position as you, started testing too late then the static smiley surprised me! DTD today and tomorrow to cover, and I’ve learned my lesson for next month, if of course I don’t get that BFP - fingers crossed for us both! Xx