OPK newbie - soo confused!

[MelliMae]

Afternoon :)

So I'm new to all the O testing - but have been testing for the past week on the 5th it was an obvious neg, 6th faint pos (but obviously there), 7th was really faint (almost non-existent) and then today was really faint again, we have BD'd every night. But still unsure if the faint is as good as it will get? Or is my cycle weird maybe.

I have a 27 day cycle, with a normal AF.

With my first we conceived by BD'ing around ovulation time once, so it was easy..

Any advice?

[maidentomother]

What CD are you? And what do you mean by 'faint positive'? OPKs aren't like pregnancy tests, the test line needs to be as dark as the control or darker to be considered positive. It sounds like you are still a ways out from O. It's normal to have some variation from day to day. What time of day are you testing? Remember to only compare tests taken around the same time of day, as LH levels fluctuate throughout the day. They usually peak late morning to afternoon, for most women, and your level in urine can be much lower other times of day.

I recommend doing some general googling and reading up on OPKs and how they work. Searching on here will bring up threads similar to yours with detailed answers, too.

If you're swaying blue, just keep BDing every day or at least every other day if you think you might O soon, that way you have multiple attempts no matter what. Plus frequent BD maintains sperm health.

[atomic sagebrush]

THere's no such thing as a "faint positive OPK". If you get a faint line, that is NEGATIVE. An OPK line must be as dark or darker than control line to be positive.

Your body is always making small amounts of the hormone detected by the OPK tests - it uses it for other reasons besides just ovulating.. IF your husband peed on the sticks, he'd get faint lines like that too. It's only when the hormones reach a certain concentration that they trigger ovulation and will register a true positive on an opK.

[atomic sagebrush]

Also just wanted to mention my Understanding OPK for swaying book here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/payments.php It's packed full of info about using OPK, with a special emphasis on how to use it for swaying

[MelliMae]

Thanks for your reply :) I was testing between 11am - 2pm as per the instructions. I didn't realise that the faint lines weren't positives, (instructions don't mention that, grr). I was CD 11, 12, 13, 14. But perhaps since I have a 27 day cycle I may have missed it (thinking I O'd CD 9 or 10) would that be right?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, you may have missed it. But keep in mind that you may also have a short LP (luteal phase) and still haven't Oed yet. If you have a 27 day cycle, it is very unlikely that you ovulate on CD 9-10 because your LP would then be 17-18 days. LP are typically 14 days maximum and can be shorter, so I am not totally sure you're out yet.

Sorry about the bad instructions!!

[maidentomother]

I have a 28-29 day cycle and usually O around CD17-18. My OPKs often don't darken until right before O.