When is Day 1? / when to start OPk?

[Fran919]

Hi all,

Hoping somebody can help? I’m unsure whether to count day 1 as the first day I spot or the day of a ‘flow’ fresh which has become 5/6 days after the first spot?

should I start OPK once I stop which will either be day 10/11 if I count from spotting or day 5 ish if I count from flow?

Thanks!

@Fran919 hello, the first day of your cycle is when you get actual blood flow, not spotting. When you begin opking will depend on the length of your cycle, are you pretty regular?

Day 1 is the first day of full flow not spotting.

in terms of opk’s it depends how long your cycles usually are? I start on day 8 but I ovulate any time from day 12-15 and my cycles are 24-27 days

On my first cycle doing opk I started right after my period stopped right until it started again just so I could get a feel of how my body works. Now I only do day 8 to 3 days after my peak has dropped back down to make sure it drops and stays dropped

@NatGee @allgoodthings84

thanks both, that’s really helpful to know. I always assumed it was from the first bit of spotting. I’m regularish every 33-37 days (that’s including the spotting beforehand) so I’ll go back through my app and work out what it is without the spotting.

I’ll start the OPK as soon as I finish / when they arrive and then right through as it’s first time, think that’s a good idea @allgoodthings84 I’ve potentially been missing ovulation if day 1 is later than I thought and clearly app is wrong!

@Fran919 i think it will still be the same length cycle as those days you’re taking off at the beginning you’re then adding on at the end if you see what I mean

@Fran919 but yes the apps would have been predicting your ovulation based on the incorrect day 1