Hi!

[Cheesecake]

Hi and welcome!

I use OPK's on top of temping and charting. The OPK predicts when ovulation will come between 12-36 hours before ovulation (or that's how accurate my tests are). Taht means that when you get a positive OPK, you can still have sex and get pregnant. A rise in temperature only happens after ovulation, so temping will confirm if you actually did ovulate, but if you notice the temp has risen, you might very well be too late. (An egg doesn't survive very long. There is the off chance of ovulating 2 eggs within 24 hours, so having sex on the day of your temp rise could still give you a pregnancy, but the chances of that are highly unlikely.

I use OPK's because I have CM issues (can't count on CM 100 percent) so I like to double up.

Hope that makes sense at all.

Oh, and if you want to use OPKs, buy them online, the cheap dip sticks. They're the same as the fancy kits, but cost a mere fraction.

[thoseareradishes]

NLfoodie pretty much covered it as far as OPKs. One thing to remember is that you might not ovulate even if you get a positive OPK; you should temp to confirm. If your temperature rises, then you know you ovulated; if not, you should keep using the OPKs and see if you get another positive and temp rise. So in other words, use OPKs until you see a temp rise or you get your period.

I like them because they give me a heads up- I should ovulate soon! It's just another tool to use to be sure you know what all is happening with your body. I use wondfos from Amazon.

Best of luck to you!

[Cheesecake]

Oh, and another reason I like 'em: even when my CM would be tell-tale, semen basically obscures CM. It's really hard to tell if it's fertile mucus or leftover semen that comes out.

[jenn1298]

www.peeonastick.com is a good resource for OPKs.

I use the generic Target OPK strips. They seem fine and aren't too expensive.

[vivaladiva]

Hiya!

[jenn1298]

Aug 9, 2012 18:37:56 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Welcome!

I think I need to get the sticks before we start right? Since we don't want to actually TTC until the spring and my IUD comes out in Sept.

I wouldn't get the sticks before you start. I get very annoyed by them every cycle and they can get expensive.