Ovulation tests???

[SuzanneT]

Hi there everyone, I'm a newbie to mumsnet and forums in general, not sure what all the abbreviations mean so will have to type in long hand, but sure I will get there.

I have a 2yr old boy and we have been trying for another baby for 4 months nothing as yet.

We decided to try ovulation tests this month and bought Clear Blue Digital test kit £23!! nearly popped off at the price didn't realise place like Ebay sell them until reading here at a fraction of a price.

My cycles are anything from 24 to 31 days so started tesing on day 9, still nothing and on day 14 only one stick to go! Think I will be going shopping today.

My qustion is has anybody else used the Digital kit and what are there experiences, another concern I have is that I have been testing first thing in the morning as it says in the instructions you can. But since reading here the general opinion seems to be to test later in the day, have I wasted 6 days and missed my chance this month?

I didn't use the digital, just the sticks I bought online. Took two cycles to realise my ovulation wasn't at the normal time at all (around day 14). Mine was day 21/22!! Then only 8 day luteal phase before period arrived. Completely against the norm.
Have you checked your cervical mucus when you wipe? I watched this carefully then backed up my findings on the 3rd month with ov tests and Bingo! Having 2nd baby in 4 days!!
PS. We take ages getting me pregnant. DS took 1 1/2 years and this one was close to that, so I hope my experience helps.
Oh, and I used to test later in the day as morning was too strong to test.
Good luck
x

Thanks for that it make me feel alot better, like you say may take a couple of months to build up a pattern. It did take us a year for me to get pregnant the 1st time. Just impatient and as usual everyone else seems to be getting pregnant around you on the 1st or 2nd try!!
Good look with number 2 hope it all goes well you must be very excited.

Would actually advise you not to use opk's at all as they are certainly not infallible. These kits work on two misleading principles; namely that a rise in LH is immediately followed by ovulation (not true) and that there is only rise in LH every month (again not true). Also using such things can cause undue stress and the results of these are not always easy to interpret. They are also blooming expensive!!.

I would not use these anyway particularly with a cycle like you describe as there is also more than 4 days of variation from month to month.

Suzanne and Attila - I just wanted to explain that the ov tests helped me to understand my own cycle in a much clearer way. I'm not saying that because I used them, I got pregnant. I need to reiterate that my body works in a different way to what's perceived as the average, and once observing my CM and usign the kits 3 times, I was able to confirm this suspicion. Maybe the confirmation helped me to relax and thereby nature took its course.

Hi SuzanneT ... I bought the CB digital kit too ... and it broke after a few tries & would no longer give me a reading. So ... I called the helpline and got a replacement kit for free. The cost really is if you don't have that kind of money to throw around so I bought 30 test sticks from eBay (seller's id is Lookersgirl I think, or Babymad) ... they are working great & having paid £6 for so many, I don't mind using them often. I think it is better to wait until noon or 2pm before testing as I've had different results then. I wouldn't rely on them on their own - have been charting temps & monitoring CM - but I have found that the tests back up other signs that I'm about to ovulate. From what I can tell, from the moment you get your first +ve OPK result, you may ovulate anywhere from 12-48 hours later, with most women ov'ing the next day. Just remember, the tests tell you that your LH levels have increased - they won't tell you that you are definitely going to ovulate that cycle - which is why you should balance the tests with charting temps & monitoring CM or CP. quietone makes a really good point about CM ... from the moment I see EWCM I start testing with OPKs just so I can be economical. You'll find the system that works best for you though. Good luck!

quietone hope you have a wonderful birth!!

Thank you for all your kind help and advice. I will see how I go this month with the ovulation kits, you never know. And if nothing has happened will get some tests of Ebay and next month start the monitoring temp and CM.

I bought the clearblue ovu setx2 first time and started testing from day one after period finished,continued everyday until I ovulated.Same thing again after the 2 period ( Iknow,bloody expensive-but clock ticking!!)and figured out that I ovulate regularly like a swiss clock work- on the 5th day after the last day of my period. So anytime I want to know for sure I just start testing on day 2 after last day of period.

Been out a bought another set of clearblue still nothing yet. Have had the EWCM last couple of days is that a sign your about to ovulate, are ovulating??

It is a sign. The mucus needs to be thin and slippy to make the sperms journey to the egg possible apparently . I hadn't really taken much notice of mine until this month when I had a positive on an Ovulation test (another thing I had not bothered with before now) and then at the same time noticed a really big difference in my CM.

Carried on testing and on day 20 just as I was about to give up saw a smiley face, trouble is EWCM has about gone but have been doing plenty of bding so we shall have to see.

I peace of information which maybe useful for anyone using the CB OVK which I got from there help line.
I rang because of the question of when to test, most people saying afternoon or evening rather than first thing in the morning like I'd been doing and therefore thought I'd wasted all those days testing.
I was told that with there OVK they are so sensitive they will pick up the LH surge at any time of the day but the crucial factor been which I don't think is explained well enough in there leaflet is that you test every 24 hours. In the leaflet it says test about or approx the same time each day so I thought you had a little bit of leeway, so I tested mostly at 7am every morning but a couple of times it was 8am and was told this could make a big difference to the extent of missing your LH surge.
I thought an hours difference was approx/about the same time each day but obviously not.

As it is I tested at 8.15am yesterday and saw my smiley face!!!

Good luck! If nothing happens this time at least you know when about it will next month. I did the nonstop testing for 2 months and am pregnant now so as much as it was costly we got there fairly quickly!

Can I ask a question - do you get a postive with the ovulation test during or after the EWCM?

Hiya - last month I got a positive on the same day as I noticed EWCM but still didn't get pregnant

It was on day 16 of my cycle.

I'd say it's deffo in the hands of the goods when it comes to "exact moment" of egg released and fertilised!But to be sure, have a lot of sex for those 2 days,morning,noon and night worked for me!Twice we only managed "it" on the 2nd day of ovu and nothing happened. Read somewhere that the egg CAN live up to 24 hours but I think mine only managed 12.

has anyone every had a 'dodgy' test? AS in a ov test that didnt work? OR said you werent OV and you still got pg? Im not getting any positives on mine and im thinking i must be doing it at wrong time? Ive read so many conflicting things. In the test i have it says test around 2pm you guys here are talking about first thing, then i looked online last night and that said test early avo AND between 5pm-10pm in cast you miss it....

I am on cd 11. Not had ANY stretchy cm and no positive on ov test????

Mad4 - do you usually OV early in your cycle? If you are a 28-day kind of a girl, then you probably won't get a positive for a few more days yet.

As Attila highlights - OPKs are notoriously stressful and difficult to use/interpret. What 'they' don't tell you is that some women will never have enough LH in their urine to get a +ve (despite OVing) and others will have a higher level all the time, always showing +ve!!

I would say your time is yet to come this month!

well i was on a thread last night talking about this. Came off pill 4 months ago and so far have been on day 28,33,30 and 28 (this month) so im not sure what 'kind of girl'!!

I currently have a period type pain in my left side (ovary area) and i once asked if this could be ovulation. Someone told me THEY get a pain before ov. Anyone else? Got no idea how long this one will be! Plus dh away all month apart from w/es so having to go mad then and worried about missing my window!

hello mad4mybaby!
Sounds like ovu pain to me and you sound like you're a pretty regular kind of girl.Try not to worry about missing the opportunity-it really only makes it worse (I know!).It takes a long time to get pregnant sometimes but I also believe in "things happen when they're supposed to".Also stress can cause havoc with your cycle and delay ovu I read so try to "be aware" of when it's ovu time and one day you both will be in the same place at the same time and that magical spark will happen-I'm sure!
PS. We don't all ovu every single month they say and that's normal.