Please help me understand ovulation!

[2BabyOrNot2Baby]

Hello everyone, I'm just looking for a bit of friendly advice and maybe some tips on conceiving?

We already have a little boy and are ready to hopefully bring another baby into our family soon - although I know this isn't always possible as it took a year to fall pregnant with our boy.

I'll be honest, I don't fully understand ovulation testing and such, partly because I like things put verrrry simply 😅 but also I think because we didn't really track properly when trying first time round.

I've seen that ovulation tests will always show a positive, even on non-ovulating days so I don't really know where to start. I've had the beginning of a period show up today, and generally my periods last about 5 days, but I didn't have a period for the entirety of December and the period before that was the 24th November 🥴

Flo says that my best chance to conceive is in 31 days but surely that can't be right? Premom suggests 17th-22nd.

I'm very aware how dim I sound by this post but please don't judge too harshly, this is all new territory for me 😅 hopefully this post doesn't offend anyone as that's not my intention at all! x

Don’t worry I was exactly the same and now pregnant with my second child, I still don’t fully understand it!

I’d be wary if the flo app. It’s a great app for tracking your cycle etc but it works on an algorithm of a basic woman so it’s expected ovulation dates are not usually correct. When I started tracking ovulation I found that I either ovulated very early or late and not the days flo suggested.
I used clear Blue ovulation kits as they were the easiest ones for me to understand. I just couldn’t get the hang of the test strips. With clear blue you get a plain circle when you’re not ovulating, a flashing smiley face circle when you’re getting close to ovulating and then a static Smiley face shows when its high enough to ovulate within the next 48 hours. This also depends on your testing everyday as if you leave it a couple of days then you don’t know if you’re beginning to ovulate or at your peak right then and there.

I’d suggest dtd every other day in your fertile window (flashing smiley face on clear blue). Sperm can last in your body for up to 5 days so the more you’re doing it then the best chance you’ve got.

Ovulation tests are only positive when the test line is at its very darkest - usually as dark as the control line or even darker. So it's different from a pregnancy test where any line is a positive result. I use the cheap test strips and upload the results into the Premom app - it's not an exact science as it's just making a judgement based on darkness of lines, but it's quite good for helping to compare the results and find the darkest one. I also use the Clear Blue digital ovulation tests so that I can triangulate the results - so far I've always found that I get the static smiley on the digital test on the same day as my peak result on the strips, so that gives me extra reassurance that I know when I'm ovulating.

If your cycles are irregular it will be harder to know when to expect ovulation so it's worth starting to track once your period has finished as it will give you an idea of your LH baseline and make sure you catch your peak. The cheap strips are better for that though as the digital ones are really expensive and you could get through a lot of them if you don't already have a decent idea of when you're going to ovulate.

@Hiddenvoice I'm glad you've said that, I've felt so soft thinking everyone on this topic knows everything there is to know and like I was completely the odd one out 😅 I thought it was a bit odd - I tried testing last month and I got my darkest line on a day that's not at all what Flo was suggesting my peak to be so it's good to know that I wasn't losing my mind there!

@CluelessInLondon I've bought some ClearBlue tests to try but was a bit wary using them as I didn't have a clue what I was doing - I think I'll try the mix of strips and the digitals and hopefully I'll be able to grasp it a little easier that way!

I've heard a few people saying that the more you dtd during your fertile window, the less likely you are to get pregnant due to the sperm count, as counterproductive as that is. Is that true? I would've assumed that doing it as much as possible in that time frame would've given you the best possible chances 🙃

Gosh I'm sorry, I'm realising how truly simple I'm sounding. I know a lot of this could've been answered with some Google searches but it just doesn't seem to sink in 🫠

Thank you both for your answers, it's so appreciated 💗

@2BabyOrNot2Baby Don't worry, I had no idea about any of this until I started TTC - and I didn't really worry about any of it to start with, I had a miscarriage in September which made me much more determined to know what was going on in my body. It's been a steep learning curve since then!

You might find it useful to use the cheap strips for your first cycle tracking and then add in the digital ones in the second cycle once you have a better idea of when you might ovulate and whether your peak arrives gradually or very quickly. That way you can make sure you're using the digital tests at the right point in your cycle.

The usual advice is to DTD every other day during your fertile window - which is the best way to keep it simple! But there are no "rules" as such, and if you do something like SMEP (Google it!) then that suggests DTD 3 days in a row from when you get a positive OPK.

@CluelessInLondon ah thank you so much, I feel much less alone now! So sorry to hear that, sending love & hugs your way. Hopefully you'll get your rainbow soon 💖

Yeah I think I'll do it that way, god knows I spent a small fortune in pregnancy tests first time round and even this past month waiting for AF to show! Seems ovulation tests aren't much cheaper these days 🙃 I didn't even think about the quickness of my peak so thank you for mentioning that!

Ooo I've never even heard of SMEP before! I'll definitely look into it!

I know I sound like a broken record but thank you, I really am so grateful for the help x

Be very careful with the clear blue and read the instructions properly. you need to start them on a specific day of your cycle and take them at least once every 72 hours else it will reset. It works on setting a baseline and then measuring where there is a such in your hormone.

For the paper ones it works by detecting the pure hormone level in your urine. they say that it's only positive when it is darker than the control, not strictly true and it's more about when your see a significant increase in darkness. MOST women will get a darker line than the control but not all. Use the app to measure the level as well as it helps. I have never got about 0.5 (1 is usually classed as peak) and been pregnant three times

Once you get a positive on the tests you should ovulate around 24-36 hours later so get on it. Good luck!!

@Bells3032 Ah I didn't see this and I've started testing with the strips! I won't be using the digital until I've got a better understanding but will keep this in mind, thanks!

Thank you for this, I was a little bit worried about the number as it doesn't seem to be rising much!

Being cheeky asking another question here, I'm sorry 😅
But when you're scanning the test on the app, how long is it supposed to be left for? I left it about 5 mins yesterday and it was still pretty hard to see the test line as the strip was still pretty pink from being wet. Is there a time frame you're supposed to check it or does it not really matter?

5-10 mins absolutle max.

You still need to see a significant rise in the strips but don't necessary need a 1.

Check the instructions on the specific strips you're using as well - the ones I use say a positive can be read after 5 minutes but that if it looks negative to leave it for 10 minutes. Also, when you're uploading the result into the app, make sure you try to always have similar lighting conditions so that it's comparable to other tests. Don't get too hung up on the numbers though, it's the darkest result that's your peak but the app might never actually give you a 1 or higher.