Talk to me about OPKs

[tarheels]

Is that typo? You O between 18 and 32? I hope you mean 22?

They say to test at lunch time and before bed, so like noon and 10. My pack of Wondfos came with 40, and they're so cheap that I used them with abandon. For you, maybe start at 15 JIC.

[tarheels]

Nov 8, 2012 19:16:22 GMT -5 swizzlestx said:

Nov 8, 2012 17:49:17 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Is that typo? You O between 18 and 32? I hope you mean 22?

They say to test at lunch time and before bed, so like noon and 10. My pack of Wondfos came with 40, and they're so cheap that I used them with abandon. For you, maybe start at 15 JIC.

Oh really? I've always tested like early afternoon (around 2pm) and then try to hold pee until I get home from work (around 6-6:30pm).

I usually manage to catch a surge, or close to it (which I typically count as positive because I know I have a very short surge).

I thought my info was from TCOYF but it turns out it's from Dr. Shettles. Whether you believe in the validity of his sex selection theory, I think his explanation of this is clear and logical:

"The LH 'surge' is well named. It is a sudden, dramatic release of the hormone [...] usually (but not always) occurring in the early morning. By the time this hormone shows up in the urine, several hours have pased. One of the best studies we've seen on the subject indicates that a woman is most likely to detect her LH surge when she tests between 11 am and 3 pm.

So if you are only going to test once a day, pick a time during those hours and test at the same time every day.

The same study indicated that the hours between 5 am and 8 am are the worst times to test. The second best time is between 5 pm and 10 pm.

If you plan to primarily rely on these tests to predict your ovulation, we strongly recommend that you test twice per day, once between 11 am and 3 pm and once between 5 pm and 10 pm. Try to leave as much time between the two tests as possible, while staying within those time frames. Testing at noon and again at 10 pm would be an excellent choice, giving you a ten hour spread."

Italics are his own.

Since you have a short surge, I can't speak for what you should do, but that's his usual advice. Maybe I could flip through the book and find if he says anything about short surges.

[tarheels]

Nov 8, 2012 19:09:49 GMT -5 TR said:

Nope, unfortunately not a typo. Although, checking FF confirms it was CD31 not 32. This cycle it was CD24, the average is CD27. Counting backwards it's been CD19(ish, this was after my mm/c and D&C), CD18, CD30, CD25, CD29 and CD31

Hm, definitely get the 40 pack available on Amazon! GL!

[jewel]

Nov 8, 2012 19:35:12 GMT -5 TR said:

I think I'll be visiting peeonastick.com (or whatever that website is) a lot to compare what the tests should look like!

I save my tests as I take them and keep them in a line from older to newer. Even if I don't get an actual dark positive, I can clearly see a lighter-darker-lighter transition. I can assume that I would have gotten a positive within 12 hours or so of the darkest line I do have.

ETA - I would buy a huge pack of wondfos and start testing at cd 17. I'd test once a day until you start to see the lines getting darker, then twice a day. I try to test at noon if once a day, or noon and 8pm.

[magpie]

I'll be watching this thread too (starting to use OPKs for the first time this month).

Just curious, for those who work--how do you test between 11-3pm?

[jewel]

Nov 9, 2012 9:14:04 GMT -5 magpie said:

I'll be watching this thread too (starting to use OPKs for the first time this month).

Just curious, for those who work--how do you test between 11-3pm?

I go home for lunch.

I'll also take a pee cup and test to work (and plastic baggie to bring it home)
if I have to.

[HoneySpider]

I never tested at work, too much hassle. I just did it when i got home (6:00ish). I would also do it in the morning even though you're not supposed to because that was easier for me.

[tarheels]

Nov 9, 2012 1:46:26 GMT -5 jewel said:

I save my tests as I take them and keep them in a line from older to newer. Even if I don't get an actual dark positive, I can clearly see a lighter-darker-lighter transition.

I do this too. I mark them with the CD and time with a fine point Sharpie. It's really helpful to see the pattern. I have a decently long surge, about 48 hours of various degrees of positive tests, and it's interesting to see it come and go.

I also agree with whoever said the Clearblue Easy digital picks up sooner for them. For me, I don't know that it's actually sooner, it's that I get a YES from the CBE in words, whereas the Wondfo is only telling me maybe, ya know? So I use both - the Wondfos when it's early and I just want to pee on something and the CBEs when I'm closer and legitimately wondering. I bought a 20 pack of CBEs on Amazon for $35 maybe, totally worth it for me.

[Cheesecake]

TMI, I'm sure, but then again, what isn't on this board??

I test at work, I have a pee-cup that screws closed. I go pee when I go out to buy lunch, so it's not weird that I have my purse with me. Pee in the cup, dip the wondfo immediately, wait until I see the control line showing (so that if it's a bust I can use a new one in the same pee), then pour out the pee. I toss out the silica packet from the wondfo package and put the wondfo back in there (pee side away from the opening) and place it in a separate compartment in my purse. I then stuff some TP in my pee cup, screw it closed, wipe the outside and put that back in my purse as well. I really rinse and clean the pee cup at home, because I don't want to be rinsing out a pee cup in the sink there when co-workers come in or something.

Depending on how busy I am, I'll either notice what time it is or set my timer on my phone and go back to my office and just "search for something in my bag" when it's time to check the result. (Unless my office-mate is out, then I just check without sneaking).

It honestly doesn't take more than 20 seconds longer than a regular bathroom visit would be, so no-one notices.


Oh, and before I had a 'nice' pee cup with a screw cup, I just put the pee cup in a ziplock baggie.

[magpie]

Nov 9, 2012 12:43:56 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

TMI, I'm sure, but then again, what isn't on this board??

I test at work, I have a pee-cup that screws closed. I go pee when I go out to buy lunch, so it's not weird that I have my purse with me. Pee in the cup, dip the wondfo immediately, wait until I see the control line showing (so that if it's a bust I can use a new one in the same pee), then pour out the pee. I toss out the silica packet from the wondfo package and put the wondfo back in there (pee side away from the opening) and place it in a separate compartment in my purse. I then stuff some TP in my pee cup, screw it closed, wipe the outside and put that back in my purse as well. I really rinse and clean the pee cup at home, because I don't want to be rinsing out a pee cup in the sink there when co-workers come in or something.

Depending on how busy I am, I'll either notice what time it is or set my timer on my phone and go back to my office and just "search for something in my bag" when it's time to check the result. (Unless my office-mate is out, then I just check without sneaking).

It honestly doesn't take more than 20 seconds longer than a regular bathroom visit would be, so no-one notices.


Oh, and before I had a 'nice' pee cup with a screw cup, I just put the pee cup in a ziplock baggie.

Damn, I'm impressed with your procedure! I think that I might be able to pull this off at work. Thanks for sharing!

[thoseareradishes]

Nov 9, 2012 10:57:39 GMT -5 TR said:

This is all seeming awfully confusing, lol. But then again, so did charting when I first started.

Its not so bad. Just pee on the stick once or twice a day, a couple of hours after you have had you last pee (you want it to be concentrated, so I limit fluids and don't pee for 2-3 hours). If the test line is as dark or darker than the control, then you are surging. I continue to test until it goes back to negative. I always have a faint line- faint lines are negative.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

I finally got my first + opk! This post inspired me to start testing 2x a day, and it was maybe positive this afternoon and definitely positive tonight.