Need some timing help (semi urgent)

Ok so my levels on Monday from my miscarriage were 6.6. They said they need to see it below a 5 and I should come back for a blood draw in 1-2 weeks.

I know I wasn't supposed to be doing OPKs but I'm nosey and have had tons of EWCM for the past few days.
Today I am on day 16 since the bleeding of my mc started. Passed the sac the next day (15 days ago).


This morning my clear blue ovulation advanced (the ones with the smilies and blinky smilies) was negative (just a circle).

This afternoon I have (what I think) is a positive OPK! I will attach it.

Last night we had sex for the first time since the miscarriage. But my husband told me he pre came a lot. And then he said he came but I didn't feel any cum. I always lay down for 3 minutes and then get up and wipe and usually there is like gobs and gobs of cum like falling out. Sorry this is graphic. There was no cum at all when I wiped or even when I put my finger inside? He was kind of embarrassed so I didn't question him further.

This has never really happened before. So would that count as an attempt? I didn't feel like there was any cum at all so I don't really want to count that as my attempt. I don't know if I should DTD tonight or tomorrow night. I always seem to have weird circumstances (nursing or my last two cycles were miscarriages) for my cycles and ovulate super late so I really don't feel like waiting another cycle to ovulate.

Also confused why the monitor said low fertility and I got a positive opk this afternoon. I'm going to take the monitor strip again and see what it says but I don't know if it will "know" it's not morning. Or maybe the other hormone that it measured in the morning is still low due to my miscarriage? My miscarriage was at 6.5 weeks but the baby stopped growing at 4 weeks and we only saw a sac. Natural miscarriage. Not a ton of bleeding and no cramps.

Also had 3 binge days over thanksgiving and have only done 2 days of cardio in the past 3 days.Attachment 28746

I'm officially stumped. I took another opk and the line wasn't dark at all. I went and bought to clear blue digital OPK (O or smiley) and it was negative.

I really, really doubt that this is ovulation. You can certainly count it as an attempt if you like but given that HCG is still in your system and the discrepancy on the OPK tests, it's not super likely.

The strips simply measure a hormone in your urine. That's all. Your body uses that hormone for other things and sometimes it will register that - it's not supposed to actually go positive but if it just reached a certain concentration, it makes the strip go positive.

Ok, thanks! I'm assuming that by today I am a 5 or under. I read so many different things about if you can actually ovulate with a bit of HCG left in your system. Some say you can and some say you can't.

I have to get tested for my HCG in 1-2 weeks to make sure it's under 0. I'm hoping I will ovulate before that and be pregnant during my next blood test but we will see!

Yes but Monday was yesterday and today is Tuesday and that means you'd have to drop plus start a whole menstrual cycle in a day and that just isn't the way it goes down, unfortunately.

Your HCG will go down where it's supposed to be and then your body will start doing its thing. It's not gonna grow an egg if it still thinks that you are pregnant, if that makes any sense.

Yes, what you are saying makes sense.

This morning I got a blinky smiley face on the clear blue monitor! Do you think it's not accurate? I will also test this afternoon on the regular OPK. I get what you are saying like my body just might be surging so I get positive OPKs? But it's not quite ready to ovulate yet.

If my body is ovulating, what do you think about the "pre cum" attempt. LOL. Should I use that as an attempt? Would the sperm be "bad" in that attempt? Or should I dtd today?

Another positive OPK this morning (different urine than the clear blue monitor thing): Attachment 28758

I think because you still have HCG in your system that is what is causing the positive opks, I had what I thought was a period so started using opks which were positive but instead of ovulating I was already pregnant which is what the opk strips were detecting. I think what you need to do is wait until your hcg levels are 0 before testing anymore as like atomic has said you will not ovulate if your body still thinks you are pregnant, which it will do until your hcg levels go where they are supposed to be. Hope that helps.

Hmmmmm I'm not sure about that. I only had 6.6 on Monday. I have been taking OPKs prior to that and they have all been negative. Wouldn't they have showed positive when there was more HCG in my system.

The clear blue monitor measured two different hormones (why you have to use FMU I think). So I find it weird that that was positive for ovulation this morning. And the Ewcm.

I don't know about that to be honest but like atomic said if your level was 6.6 on Monday there is no way that your level has fallen to 0 and your body geared up to ovulate already, thats far too quick, it just doesn't happen in the space of 2 days, the egg would need time to mature enough to be released, even if your levels had already gone down to 0 an egg would still not have matured in that time. I get ewcm now and I'm currently pregnant. Atomic also said above that the hormone detected by the opk strips can be used by the body for other things so even tho it may be present it doesn't necessarily mean you are going to ovulate. Would it be worth speaking to your doctor to see what they think?

I don't know. I'm just confused why a lower value of HCG would give me a positive OPK reading two days in a row and also a blinking smiley face today (the clear blue advanced fertility requires two different hormones to be present I think). Maybe I just don't understand the science behind it. I don't know if my midwife would really be if any help. She just said that I would likely get my period between 4-6 weeks after my miscarriage and that I would likely ovulate before then. I don't even know if they would be trained in OPKS. I guess I'll just keep BDimg every 4 days and hope I catch the egg.

Last Monday I was 47.5 for my HCG and this Monday I was 6.6 if that is helpful.

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Originally Posted by Dreamingofpinkafter2blue

Yes, what you are saying makes sense.

This morning I got a blinky smiley face on the clear blue monitor! Do you think it's not accurate? I will also test this afternoon on the regular OPK. I get what you are saying like my body just might be surging so I get positive OPKs? But it's not quite ready to ovulate yet.

If my body is ovulating, what do you think about the "pre cum" attempt. LOL. Should I use that as an attempt? Would the sperm be "bad" in that attempt? Or should I dtd today?

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You can get days of blinky smileys before O.

All that OPK measure is the hormone in your pee. You can get a positive test and not be actually ovulating if your body is just making that hormone for some reason. People with PCOS just get random positive tests, for example. If your husband peed on a strip he could get a line sometimes too.

My point is that if your HCG was still in pregnant range, your body literally CAN'T ovulate. It won't make an egg. Now is anything possible, yes absolutely (up to and including human error on your lab test) and you're fine to stick with the whoopsie attempt, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but if you're asking me if I personally think you're ovulating IF your HCG was still coming back as pregnant 1 day ago than in honesty I think it's a longshot. Stick with whoopsie attempt but don't stop testing, it may very well be that you'll be getting another pos in a week or two that's the real deal

I'm not sure if with the opks they just don't register hcg at higher levels. If I took one now (I'm nearly 28 weeks pregnant) I don't know if it would show negative or not. They are complicated things to work out really. I think thats probably the best thing to do, stick with every 4 days, that way you are covered just in case you do ovulate. It sounds like the opks are just stressing you out too much. Next time I sway I will not be using them, it did my stress levels no good as I was obsessing (which I didn't even realise at the time). I hope things work out for you.

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Originally Posted by Dreamingofpinkafter2blue

I don't know. I'm just confused why a lower value of HCG would give me a positive OPK reading two days in a row and also a blinking smiley face today (the clear blue advanced fertility requires two different hormones to be present I think). Maybe I just don't understand the science behind it. I don't know if my midwife would really be if any help. She just said that I would likely get my period between 4-6 weeks after my miscarriage and that I would likely ovulate before then. I don't even know if they would be trained in OPKS. I guess I'll just keep BDimg every 4 days and hope I catch the egg.

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It CAN happen though because it's the concentration in your urine that matters. That can go up and down. So it's possible to get a true negative and a true positive because your urine may be more or less concentrated. Even if you held your pee and didn't drink any fluids, sometimes more just comes out than others.

As a general rule, your body won't do ANYTHING till HCG is in non-pregnant range. It won't develop an egg, under normal circumstances. So HCG would have to be zero and then and only then would your body even START to make an egg. This just doesn't happen in a day, it takes 10-14 days. Now again, this doesn't mean it isn't happening (especially since it was an early loss I wouldn't bet against it) but I would expect that the HCG test they did might have been incorrect in that case. It happens. They get your results mixed with someone elses or someone screws something up.

Again, none of this means that you aren't ovulating, we're just trying to explain why it doesn't seem super likely from our end. :)

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Originally Posted by mandyp85

I'm not sure if with the opks they just don't register hcg at higher levels. If I took one now (I'm nearly 28 weeks pregnant) I don't know if it would show negative or not. They are complicated things to work out really. I think thats probably the best thing to do, stick with every 4 days, that way you are covered just in case you do ovulate. It sounds like the opks are just stressing you out too much. Next time I sway I will not be using them, it did my stress levels no good as I was obsessing (which I didn't even realise at the time). I hope things work out for you.

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The way that it works with the OPK is that it measures a certain component that the HCG tests measure better, so you won't get a positive on that till after you'd already get a positive on a pregnancy test. So if a person's getting negatives on pregnancy tests and positives on OPK that usually means ovulation, not pregnancy, but the spanner in the works is that people do get positive OPK sometimes without ovulating OR being pregnant.

OPK tests are crappy, unreliable and frustrating but unfortunately they're the best technology we have for pinpointing that surge.

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Originally Posted by Dreamingofpinkafter2blue

Hmmmmm I'm not sure about that. I only had 6.6 on Monday. I have been taking OPKs prior to that and they have all been negative. Wouldn't they have showed positive when there was more HCG in my system.

The clear blue monitor measured two different hormones (why you have to use FMU I think). So I find it weird that that was positive for ovulation this morning. And the Ewcm.

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Re the EWCM - that is hormones, not ovulation. You can get it at times when you're not actually ovulating. I had a false ovulation one time when breastfeeding and I had gobs of it but I never ovulated. :/

We're not trying to argue with you at all I just want you to understand why it seems a slim-ish chance to us. Doesn't mean it can't be, just that I would want you to continue testing and having attempts to cover in case it isn't. :)

Ok thanks! I don't really feel stressed by the OPKs. My problem is I always ovulate late and measure large on my first trimester ultrasounds, so it's like personally important for me to know when I ovulated because they always want to induce me. I just hate arguing with the doctors so I just would want an accurate due date.

The problem with the advanced clear blue monitor, is once you get the blinky smiley face, it won't let you put another stick in. It won't give you another blinky in a row. Now, I have another one from an old pack so maybe I will use that tomorrow and just see what is happening.

Thank you both for your help. I'm not trying to be pushy. I've never gotten false positives on OPKs before so this is new to me and also my first MC. Trying to make sense of it all. :)

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Originally Posted by Dreamingofpinkafter2blue

Ok thanks! I don't really feel stressed by the OPKs. My problem is I always ovulate late and measure large on my first trimester ultrasounds, so it's like personally important for me to know when I ovulated because they always want to induce me. I just hate arguing with the doctors so I just would want an accurate due date.

The problem with the advanced clear blue monitor, is once you get the blinky smiley face, it won't let you out another stick in. It won't give you another blinky in a row. Now, I have another one from an old pack so maybe I will use that tomorrow and just see what is happening.

Thank you both for your help. I'm not trying to be pushy. I've never gotten false positives on OPKs before so this is new to me and also my first MC. Trying to make sense of it all. :)

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Bless you, our bodies are strange and wonderful things and also very complicated so its no wonder you are trying to make sense of it. I only know what I have read on here, I didn't know much about it either but the ladies on here are fab and really know their stuff. Good luck hun, I hope everything works out for you.

Argh they keep changing the Clearblues, is the blinky the ovulation indicator now?? It used to be blinky for high fertility and then solid on surge. So people were getting blinkies for as many as 5-7 days before finally getting a solid or else then skipping the solid all together. :/ If they have changed it then I have given misleading info, sorry

Ack! No you are exactly right! I was confused and for some reason though blinky was peak and solid was high! Ok, now I can keep testing because it's still on high. Sorry. They haven't changed! And the cycle I miscarried I got like 8 days of blinkers before the solid!

Ok good thanks!! Appreciate the info

Hi atomic - sorry, I have a few more questions! This is my 4th day of a blinky, do you think if I do get a solid in a few days, I should count that as ovulation? Or do you think that could still be wrong? I know I can get a long streak of blinkeys as I did with my last cycle (and def ovulated).


The midwife said I had a standing order to get my blood draw within the next few weeks and I could really do it anytime I wanted to. I was secretly hoping that I could prolong that and would possibly be pregnant by the next one as maybe my HCG would be higher. Or would you go back in a week or so and make sure my HCG was close to 0? Monday I was 6.6 (from 47.5 the week before) so I have to be close right?

We were planning on just doing every 4 days and seeing what happened. But now I think I'd like to wait until I get a positive ovulation test just so I can get a good attempt in if that makes sense. The last time we dtd was Wednesday night (12/2) so I'm totally fine waiting another week or so for another attempt.

Sorry for all these weird questions. I'm not really obsessing about it and I know I can TTC after I get my first period too. But I would love a late august/eary September baby so I kind if want a good attempt. :)

If you get a solid then that is ~probably~ ovulation but don't be surprised if you get several more flashies between then and now.

If you're asking my personal opinion, I am a little bit old school on the testing in that I feel like knowing the numbers only makes people worry more and doesn't tell you as much as you might think because even with 0 HCG, your body may not decide to ovulate. But if you think it will give you peace of mind to know what's going on, by all means.

AGain, my personal opinion is that the e4d may be the best way to go for you. It will make you feel like you're doing something instead of obsessing over a pee stick that may not go solid for weeks, it helps you emotionally to have that intimacy with hubby, and he will definitely prefer it to the alternative. this may end up stretching out longer than we'd prefer and there is just no way to know that based on bloodwork. HCG of zero may not mean you're going to ovulate in a day or 5 or 14 even and so I'd just recommend e4d for now.

Ok thanks! I will keep the every 4 day pattern.

So this morning the clear blue advanced OPK went to low fertility! I didn't even think that was possible. So I basically had a few days of high fertility then bam low out if nowhere. No more fertile CM either. So now I'm wondering if this will be an aovulatory cycle. Crossing my fingers if it is anovulatory, my cycle comes back soon.

No, I don't think so, I think your body was making some hormones that the monitor detected and now it's not making the same concentration. This is not unusual for this to happen even in ovulatory cycles. :)

So I think I'm pregnant: I know it is very faint and I have no symptoms at all so maybe a chemical again. But is there anyway that you guys could look at my chart and tell me what my likely ovulation would have been? Or is this HCG coming back or something from my MC? I have had several negative tests before this. Attachment 28879


Attachment 28880

The pink bleeding days were from my MC. I hope I ovulated later than it thinks I did because I of the two attempts.

FRERAttachment 28883

This is one for the books! My suspicion is that the blood test result was wrong but the body is an amazing thing!!

I honestly cannot tell you, my gut instinct is the 3rd or even 4th.

I see it!!

Ahhhhh thanks atomic! I want to like hug you over the computer. Hahaha. My gut is telling me the 3rd.

I'll be getting my HCG checked Monday. Do you think they can give me a due date from those numbers? Or would that be wildly inaccurate? Judging from the darkness of the line, I would go with being 7-9DPO and the digital is still negative. But I know that's not accurate at all either.

And if it's the 3 or 4 I had two attempts in my window BUT I'm still confident in my attempt because of the MC. :)

Nope can't tell us anything, unfortunately. :/ just pregnant or not. A rough estimate but not specific like how we'd prefer. Dating scans later will be more helpful.

If you do get your HCG results and they still seem to be from the miscarriage you may need to have a D and C. You may have some retained tissue.

Do you think HCG numbers can go up? They baby stopped growing at 4 weeks (they said) and I did pass that tissue.

Plus this is from today: Attachment 28894

I think you're newly pregnant but something about the numbers does not add up to me so I think there ~may~ have been some mistake done in the HCG levels that's all. like they told you someone else's numbers or something to make your hcg levels seem higher than they actually were. Anything is possible and weird inexplicable things happen but people have to have some period of time between pregnancy levels of HCG and ovulating and conceiving.

So if you go back in and the HCG levels are dropping again/still then maybe something else is going on here, that's all. I would want you to be scanned just to be sure. AT 4 weeks the odds are between slim and none that there was anything retained, I'm just wanting to err on the side of caution.

Ok the office seems to be pretty pro active so maybe they would order a scan.

The weird thing was 2 weeks ago, the nurse was like "great the numbers are going down so well you don't need to come back" when I called.

Then the same nurse called back and said that the doctor said we must follow these numbers down to below a 5.

It's going to be apparent at the next bloodwork (or if that pregnancy test starts reading higher) if you're actually pregnant or not.

Below a 5 is where you need to be for your body to go "ok I"m not pregnant, I can start my menstrual cycle now" at which point it would have to take 10-14 days at the soonest to develop an egg and ovulate. So for you to go from 6+ on a Monday to turn around to ovulate on a Tuesday or however it all went down, it just doesn't all add up according to my knowledge on the subject (which at this point I feel like is pretty decent understanding).

I would even wonder if the 6 reading may have been from pregnancy 2 and not the miscarriage. Something is just not adding up here on the timeline and the fact that you had such an early loss typically would mean that you would bounce right back to being fertile quite quickly.

I am just feeling like, yes, you are pregnant, we will know more on the dating scan, but in the VERY VERY DISTANT possiblity that this could still be leftover HCG there may be retained tissue. I have only ever seen that happen like 2-3 times and they were all late first tri losses. I think you're pregnant, I just want you to have that in the back of your mind to ask about it in case something comes up and you don't make it back to the site for some reason between then and now. :)