First time ovulation tester - have I missed it?

[Darcy1996]

Hi all, I’ve never tracked my ovulation with tests, as I’ve always been pretty sure with a regular 28 day cycle, cycle tracking, mucus changes & ovulation twinges that I’ve known when it is. But….maybe I’m wrong, so why the heck not, will try anything 🤞🏻

Tests arrived at day 10 in my cycle & line then was visible but not darker than the control, so a negative, which I expected. Yesterday, I thought I had my usual ovulation twinge, but yesterday & today, the line is even lighter. Have I missed it? Have I been missing it all along? Next month I’ll obviously track earlier and see….

Tests say they’re 99% accurate

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Darcy. I would just stick to regular sex, every three days or more often if you want. That way if your tubes are fine and the sperm, you will hopefully catch the little one. Good luck. Diane

[Kmcdon]

When I was trying naturally I used the ones with the little faces. I think they flash if you are in ovulation time period and stay a smiling face if you are at peak ovulations (it could be the other way round though!). I found it helpful as gave you a longer period in which to try . Good luck l cc

[Darcy1996 in reply to Kmcdon]

thank you!

[CarlottaD27]

I used to use two almost every day of my cycle (just to cover all bases). I did two (one eve and one morning) because apparently some women have a very short surge so there may be only a short time to catch a true positive. Doing them every day also meant I could create a big line of them and see progression and track how the colour darkened, sometimes it looks like a positive but actually gets darker the next day to be a true positive!

For me, I have a short cycle and by tracking when I ovulated helped me pin point the problems I was facing (I was ovulating day 14 of a 19 day cycle), so it was beneficial above and beyond timing things.

As for this cycle, it may be that your body was starting to surge and the slight colour seen was the gear up to ovulation, so you’ve definitely still got a chance. Good luck!

[Darcy1996 in reply to CarlottaD27]

That’s really helpful thank you. I’ve been trying to test twice a day too, and I’m at day 14 in this cycle today. Physically I feel like I’ve just ovulated but the diminishing lines lead me to believe i maybe misjudged my physical symptoms and perhaps I ovulate earlier than I think - which is good to know for future I guess, so silver linings.

Thanks for such a full reply, appreciated

[ttcsolomummytobe]

Hi Darcy, I did alot of ovulation tracking for 6 months before starting IUI and during the months of IUI.

I would recommend limiting fluid intact and going to the bathroom for 2/3 hours before a test (hard in this heat I know) and testing every 12 hours, when you do start to get a rise consider testing every 6/8. Do you use a scanning app such as premom to scan your LH sticks? They are useful as it will show you a %. When it's light to medium test line it can be hard to compare to others from photos or dried tests.

I usually had a 4 day slow rising surge and then a very quick peak that could sometimes be missed if I wasn't doing the above.

The Clearblue smiley/flashing face ones are great too as they make it clear but you need to start them early in your cycle so it picks up the increase to them identify the peak, it can get costly.

[Darcy1996 in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

thank you - the cost did put me off the smiley faces sadly! I didn’t know about that app, thank you for that too. I guess if I have missed my surge, I’ll know more for next cycle

[ttcsolomummytobe in reply to Darcy1996]

I managed to get some Clearblue smiley ones off Vinted app for a fair price, also keep a look out in supermarkets and boots for the "close to date" items. My local Morrisons had a few packs down to about 25% of the original price as they only had a couple of months before the use by date.

Obviously I wouldn't use ones that were years off but a few months I don't feel would make much difference.

The LH sticks you use may have an app that you can scan them too. It's good because across the months it starts to predict the likely times. They are free apps but you can pay a subscription fee for extra support or someone to actually look at your charts etc.

[Darcy1996 in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

Thank you, I never would have thought of checking in those places. Appreciate that 💜

[ttcsolomummytobe in reply to Darcy1996]

I'm so glad you have replied to this today ,I have some clear blue smiley face ones 10 pack and a few odd stick ones that you would be welcome to for free, just cover the postage. I was guna put a post on here. I'm doing IVF now so no longer need them

[ttcsolomummytobe in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

If you want me PM me I can send pics

[Darcy1996 in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

Thank you so so much!

[ttcsolomummytobe]

Sorry just to add, what I would say is if you can afford to use more tests then consider testing from the end of your period. I had seen a few people on Reddit (a forum about test sticks) say they were certain their ovulation was around day 14 of their cycle and actually turned out going on the LH sticks that it the peak was at day 9 and others day 18. Mine vary from 12-16 usually.

Ovulation happens around 24/36 hours after peak I believe, as Diane advised regular sex is the best way you cover chances.

If you haven't already it could be worth seeing your GP around routine blood tests for fertility, there may be something that's a more simple fix. My second set of bloods showed my Vit D was terribly low. Unfortunately don't have a success story of this fixing it for me as I'm a single person but it could be something along those lines or maybe identify something more pressing, hopefully not but countless times I've seen people wish they had got things checked earlier. Hope this helps and good luck

[Darcy1996 in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

Thank you so much. I’ve had the blood tests but no particular reason not happening, & been told there’s nothing more they can do as I’m over 40…hence I’ll try everything including scratch cards to win lottery & fund IVF.! Thank you for your kind replies & hope you’re doing well on your path to parenthood too.

[ttcsolomummytobe]

Sorry it won't let me PM you pics. Here's the spares I have. Reply to my PM if you would like and we can sort postage etc

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[Darcy1996 in reply to ttcsolomummytobe]

So kind, thank you