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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

Do OPKs even work? Success (or not) stories please.

67 replies

tryingfornumber2 · 08/04/2009 09:03

I am a regular but have name changed for this.

Dh and I are ttc #2. We are on cycle 2. As we don't BD (gawd, I hate that term) as much as we did when we were ttc dd, we are trying to take a more targeted approach. Which basically means we are trying to BD when we think we are most fertile, romantic devils that we are.

So, last month, we were unsuccessful, and I really have the bit between my teeth now. I conceived dd in cycle 2, she is 2 next month, and I really don't want a big age gap, as I am an only, and hated it.

We decided to try OPKs this month, and I am now on CD11, I started testing on CD8, as per the instructions on the pack. However, I still haven't got a +ve, or rather my faces are not smiley! I only have a 25 day cycle, surely I should have ovulated by now?

The method that we used with dd was just to BD when I had the most EWCM, which I had loads of yesterday, and expected a +ve test today, but it was negative.

Now I am worried that I'm not ovulating. Can someone help explain it all to me?

OP posts:
leonifay · 10/04/2009 12:16

i'm trying ttc1, this is our 4th cycle i think, i've used opk's every time, i've used a mixture of digital and non-digital each month as i'm addicted to them and dont trust just one test! i get the positive each time but not the pregnancy
hope youi get your bfp soon

Lynsy · 10/04/2009 12:33

Well just to share I am having the opposite problem. Since Tuesday I have had a positive opk morning and night, and have no idea what's going on, funny though, smiley face or no smiley face, it still seems to make us worry that something is not right - maybe this is trying to tell us something

So for me I am hoping that a +ve turns into a negative, not sure how much longer dp and I can keep it up for

Lots of luck girls, I hope you get your bfp's soon.
x

lazylion · 10/04/2009 18:37

tryingfornumber2 - I tried BD on the day of most EWCM for my first baby, nothing happened for months. Then tried OPKs and found I ovulate 2 days after the EWCM without fail - even though this is late in my cycle. Now on pregnancy no. 4 (baby no. 3), but always used OPKs just to make sure (and because I too am a fan of the targeted approach). Keep doing the tests I say.

leonifay · 10/04/2009 19:06

lynsy just wondered if if was a strong positive or a weak positive, leading up to ovulation date you can get +ve's but there not as dark as the test line. i get a faint positive for a week leading up and a week after, this is one of the reasons i like to use digi ones along side the non-digi, they only show a strong positive if any of that makes any sense!!

crokky · 10/04/2009 19:10

I used the clearblue sticks with the smiley faces both times. I found them very good. What I did was to test twice a day when you really think you are ovulating. When I conceived DD, I tested in the morning, got no smiley face. Tested around 5pm got a smiley face, conceived DD. With DS, I think I got the smiley face in the morning and conceived that evening.

Lynsy · 11/04/2009 16:50

Leonifay - Makes perfect sense - I was using the digital opk's and just kept showing smiley face after smiley face - Thankfully this morning there was no smiley face, so have no idea what was going on the last few days.

LaDiDaDi · 16/04/2009 20:15

Aargh.

I'm now d24 and feeling v achey in my lower abdomen. Keeping going to the loo just to check if AF has arrived and also having to fight the urge to go to the shop and buy an early response pg test [mad] emoticon.

I hate ttc (apart from the BD, obv.)!

mimi70 · 27/04/2009 17:11

Maybe one of you can help me! I'm very confused with this whole opk thing..
this past wed and thurs I had alot of ewcm , so we bd'd wed night(technically thurs morning since it was after midnight!)-my ewcm stopped friday and I had the ovulation pains, I got a positive on friday afternoon , positives twice on sat, and twice on sunday. Husband's out of town untill this friday so I can't bd anymore untill then.. Do you think I have a chance at conceive since it was before the positive? Also is it possible i o'd before my positive since i had cramps and ewcm 2 days before my positive opk??? I'm so confused... I thought you got the cramps and ewcm when you ovulate not before !! any opinions??

waiting4baby · 11/06/2009 23:08

I was using the clearblue as well and didn't get any positive ovulation signs for two cycles. My Dr. suggests my hormone levels are just too low for these ones to detect. I'm using the clearblue Fertility monitor for two months now and have positive results for ovulation.

spina · 18/06/2009 16:55

Hi. I'm (sort of) ttc no 3.
Just thought I'd add my experience when we were trying for ds2. I did the whole chart/temp/mucus thing and when very aware of my cycle started to use OPKs. we didn't fall for ages and one month I did just one test and thought"sod this.I'm giving up on this obsession." Bet you can guess the punchline.

I got pg. In answer to your question, yes the kits work. however i don't think personally I could get pg when obsessing about the process!

Mon13 · 22/07/2009 09:05

Nah, the tests told me I had not ovulated at all.... Bump is growing nicely though!!
Mind you, I would use them again. Recommend checking on ebay for very reasonably priced batches of strip type tests. Those in the shops are such a rip off.

Mouette · 22/07/2009 11:55

Hi tryingfornumber2
We don't ovulate necessarily in the middle of the cycle, so I would carry on using the test until it turns positive. You can perfectly well ovulate on day 13 or 14 if you have a 25 day cycle.
However note that some of these tests are fiddly, usually you can't drink for 2 hours beforehand or go to the loo for 4 hours beforehand. Afternoon is considered the best time to try.
I used those tests (blue lines) when we were ttc after my mc. I found them useful as they showed I ovulated around day 14 not 12 as I previously thought. However I also found that cervical mucus was just as good an indicator. If you start having sex once the mucus turns clear and stretchy, you will hit the fertile window. In July last year we had sex the day after the mucus turned clear. We only had sex once that month. Nine months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after 3 years of trying. All the best xx

Mouette · 22/07/2009 11:56

I used Clearblue by the way.

FanjolinaJolie · 22/07/2009 12:41

tryingfornumber2 - it still quite possible you haven't ovulated yet. If your cycle is usually 25 days you could ovulate anytime 12-16 days before this, ie day 9-13 or even later. I usually have EWCM for six days (on and off) before I ovulate.

Trust the EWCM, when it is most abundant and watery, that will be your most fertile day.

Hope you get your BFP this month.

FanjolinaJolie · 22/07/2009 12:42

Sorry, just seen the date of the OP...this is very out of date now!!

Zoomum · 22/07/2009 13:37

I am using them now to try and conceive. I got a cheap bundle from Amazon (just a stick with 2 lines-£5.50 for about 30). I have found that I have to test for 4 - 5 days before I have had a surge in LH. So if i started tesdting on CD12, then it's not till CD15/16 or 17 that I've had LH surge. So perhaps keep trying.
Also i test in the early evening after not having drunbk anything for a couple of hours before hand.
You could also go to your GP and ask to be refered for blood tests to see if your hormones are all in place..

earplugs · 26/07/2009 22:23

Does anyone know if its possible to buy extra sticks for the clearblue digital OPK (the smiley face one?) or do you have to buy the whole thing again?
Have been unwell at start of this cycle (poss flu) and have not seen a yet this month despite using all 7 sticks! Maybe being ill has thrown egg laying out this month for me?

Beanmum · 29/08/2009 21:39

earplugs - I believe you have to buy the whole thing again, which seems incredibly wasteful but a good money-spinner for cb I guess

Fwiw, i tried cb ov sticks and found it really stressful as I hadn't had a +ve by day 17 of a 24-day cycle, so obviously convinced myself that I wasn't ovulating and would have secondary infertility... Am temping for the fist time this month, and I clearly have ovulated, so don't know if I had a month without ovulating or (more likely I think) I just don't produce a high enough level of lutenising hormone for the sticks to show +ve. Each to their own I guess

Nicolaplus1 · 14/09/2009 22:26

Hi i would say definately so i started using then in march 2008 after stopping my pill in jan, i bought some cheapie ones off ebay and started using them from around day 7 which is what i think they say the average person ovulates between 7-10/14.
I started panicking around day 11 or 12 after not getting a positive but i perservered and got a positive on day 17 & 18 and got a BFP in april and my DD arrived in dec 08.
I passed on the unused ones to a friend who had just come off the pill and she also got caught within 2 months and is due any day now.
Buy some if i hadnt i would i thought i ovulated like the average person!!!
Good Luck

ChoChoSan · 22/09/2009 14:53

I think OPKs are bobbins...I have never got anything more than a faint line on internet cheapies, or clearblue, and I have had fertility treatment where I have produced too many eggs AND i have been pregnant twice!

I do use them to get a general picture of when I will ovulate though, as at least a faint line shows up for a few days.

Temping is a pain in the arse, but much more effective, I think. Also, I don't ov til CD17, so don't worry that you are not ovulating...get temping!

Allyinoz · 03/11/2009 03:01

I don't get positives with OPKs. Try this site

[www.peeonastick.com]
which has lots of info and sets you straight, a bit!!

I have been temping. OPKs are frustrating you can miss the surge apparently!

Allyinoz · 03/11/2009 03:02

www.peeonastick.com

harmonie33 · 31/12/2009 17:30

Ive had success with the Clearblue Monitor.

sayitwithsam · 21/04/2010 21:40

I lost my first baby nearly two months ago and have been using the ovulation monitor to try again.
I got the expensive one from the pharmacy and it only came with seven sticks. I've not had a smiley face yet and think I might just switch to the cheap sticks you can get online. From the reviews I've read they work just the same. It says I can't pee for four hours before using it...four hours!!!! I have the smallest bladder n creation, it's not easy holing it in for that long.
Can anyone using just the sticks you test in a pot let me know if you have to cross your legs for that long as well?!

KaraThrace · 23/04/2010 13:20

SayitwithSam - I am sorry to hear about your recent loss.
I am using the cheap ones from the internet and I don't not pee for 4 hours prior to testing. I just test whenever I go to the loo the nearest to mid-day.
After one cycle when I used a lot of sticks I now only use about 4 as I know when it should be happening.
Good luck