OPK advice for a newbie

[wholeeverything]

Hi all, came off Mirena in May, had one 35 day cycle, and two 28 day cycles since then, so things have stabilised. I've been tracking CM and timing TTC around that, but didn't start OPKs until this month.

I used OPK on Day 10, 11, 13, 14 of my cycle. 10 and 11 were total negatives, 13 and 14 had lines, but not as strong as the T line. I forgot on day 12 (rookie mistake!)

Is it possible day 12 would have been my positive? Would the next days then be weaker?

Also, is it possible that if you test once every day, you miss the LH surge? I just read it might only last 12 hours.

So in terms of DTD, would a 12 hour surge mean you only had that window (or the previous day) to DTD?

Finally, are some brands better than others? Had a pack of Boots OPKs (the ones in the plastic holders) this month. Should I opt for others?

LAST question! Any recommendations for a BBT thermometer?

Lots of questions there:

Regarding if you ovulated on day 12, no one would be able to tell you. I would keep testing though. I use the Premom app to load them in and keep track.

I also test twice a day from around day 9/10. It’s hard to say what your surge would be like so cover all the basis and test in the morning and late aft/eve?

I use the cheap easy at home tests from Amazon. I buy a box of 40. Then test from around day 9/10 until after I have the peak. I usually ovulate on day 18 and it’s fairly consistent so some months I only test once a day on days 9-12 but if I didn’t know I would test more thoroughly.

No you technically have a 5-6 day window (-5 days before until 12/24hrs after ovulation). So -5 until ovulation day. In reality there’s a higher chance if it is the 2 days before and ovulation day itself. So if you dtd the day before the peak that’s great too, even 2-3 days before (smaller chance but still counts).

I ovulate the day after my peak. Everyone is different, for some it’s close to the peak and it can be up to two days after.

Highly recommend bbt. It confirms ovulation and takes away any confusion if your lh test is eg 0.8 that month did you ovulate? BBT says yes to me. I bought a cheap thermometer on Amazon (needs to be to two decimal places) and I use the fertility friend app, just the free part of it. It works incredibly well and even tells you you ovulated with cross hairs so you don’t need to guess at that. Of course bbt only works to confirm after the fact- don’t rely on it to DTD, you will have missed the boat in that case.

Good luck.

Thank you so much! I thought I'd done all my research but when you get into it it's still confusing.

Oh to add as well, in order for it to be positive the test line needs to be as strong as or stronger than the control line. It’s not like a pregnancy test where a feint line counts.

It varies for people, some have hardly any line through the cycle and then very strong just before/after etc. Some have a weak-ish line there throughout and naturally have a bit more lh in their system through the cycle.

Got it. So what do you mean by 0.8 LH so? If it's all or nothing?

Sorry, that value comes from Premom. I can’t show you my Premom values atm. Each time I upload the image of the test (technically I just take the photo in the app) it then says low/high and gives a value. It’s just how strong is the test line from 0.0 up to 1.8 maybe, I know know the top value. If it’s >0.8/0.9 then it would possibly count as high. Then if you upload another test with a weaker line it will change that high test to ‘peak’. I never get higher than 1.1, mostly my highest is 0.8/0.9 and bbt still confirms I ovulated from it.

If you don’t plan to use the app you can ignore this. It’s just putting a value on the strength of the line compared to the control line.

Great. Thanks for that, I'll give the app a try.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I find mumsnet really helpful for anything like this.

Tracking is the best thing I did. It also helped me to understand my cycles and learn all about the process. Like luteal phase, length, when I ovulate. Before I tracked I thought I fully understood by my cervical mucus, However I have had a few cycles where my cervical mucus dissappeared before ovulation or I ovulated late. I would never have known and just assumed my period was late or maybe I’m pregnant and get my hopes up when in reality i was still only mid way through the two week wait.

All that said though, if you have several days where you have more cervical mucus, that is your body telling you you’re fertile. So dtd on those days also gives you a good chance.

I'd recommend the PreMom app and easy @ home tests, it's much easier that the app can read the tests. But don't wait for a 'peak' result - have regular sex once the tests start to get darker, and keep going for a few days after. I never had a 'peak' result in the app but been pregnant twice.