Help with ovulation testing!

[beccarose25]

Hi everyone! I’m currently TTC baby number 2 and this is my first time tracking my ovulation. I have PCOS and an extremely irregular cycle so I know it might be tricky but I was just wondering if this means anything? The first ovulation test was yesterday and the one with the darker line was today - I know it needs to be as dark or darker than the control line for it to mean you’re about to ovulate/ovulating already - but does the fact that the line is getting darker mean I’m approaching ovulation? Any help would be appreciated! Also if anyone has tips for boosting fertility I would be grateful. I was 21 when I had my first baby and he wasn’t planned but the gynaecologist said he was surprised I was able to have a baby without help due to my ovaries being in a bad way… but he’s 3 now and I really would love for him to have a sibling

Hi - I bought a cheap pack of like, 100 off Amazon, and tested multiple times per day around when ovulation should happen, based on my regular cycle. You will probably need to test more days, with an irregular cycle. I was able to pinpoint the likely ovulation date, but my line never went super super dark, just basically similar to the control line. It should get darker leading up to the ovulation date, and then lighter once passed. I’m currently 9m pregnant with number 2, fingers crossed for you!

Well yes, it does in theory mean you’re approaching ovulation, but you’re always approaching ovulation in one way or another (if you ovulate regularly).

You just need to keep testing until you see the line get as dark as or darker than the control, keep testing afterwards to see it drop low and stay low.

I'd recommend the PreMom app and easy @ home tests, they're really cheap for a big pack, so you can take them twice a day, and the app reads the tests and adjusts predicated ovulation accordingly. It's best to have regular sex as soon as the tests start to get darker, don't wait around for the darkest line as you could miss it. I never got a proper 'peak' reading but still conceive twice.

In terms of boosting fertility, you and your partner can make lifestyles changes like healthy diet, exercise, no smoking or alcohol, reduce caffeine, limit stress.

Just an FYI, once you're on the 2WW, meaning you know for sure that you're def not ovulating, you can use ovulation tests to detect very early pregnancy, earlier than a pregnancy test!
I only know this because that's how I accidentally discovered I was pregnant. Obviously only works if you know for certain there's no way you could be ovulating so presumably you'd need a very regular cycle

I second buying a huge pack of cheapies and logging them in the Premom app (it’s free to do that). Here’s mine from this month - I also have PCOS so take 2 tests a day. I often see it get a bit darker leading up to a peak, but this month was like 0-100, it just depends. I definitely gave up buying the expensive ovulation tests

Thanks for the help everyone - I’m new to this so I’m feeling a bit out of my depth I guess! I got the easy @ home ovulation tests from amazon and downloaded the app too - very helpful recommendation as I had no idea how expensive ovulation tests could be!