ovulation test strips

[plantbasedxoxo]

i feel like such a dummy, but i cannot figure out these dang test strips! i have a box of 50 ovulation test strips, i have used them so far 3 days in a row. each day, the result line gets darker. my dumb a** cannot figure out what this means! when should we dtd if we are trying for a girl? when the line is as dark as the control line? will there always be a second line, or am i actually just ovulating right now? i should have just bought the digital ones, but these were so much cheaper! haha!

[ksmom]

There will always be a second line because we always have LH present in our systems to some degree. When the test line is as dark as or darker than the control line, have your one attempt.

[frankie2017]

If a test strip is almost as dark as the control line but then in 24 hrs it's lighter , does that mean I ovulated somewhere in between the two? This is also probably a silly question!


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[atomic sagebrush]

the digital ones are just as confusing.

sometimes as you approach ovulation, you will get a slow rise in LH and this will register as what is called a "fade in" where your tests gradually get darker till they eventually go positive. But just a second line does NOT mean it's positive and you can get them in varying shades all the time and not be ovulating and even your hubby can pee on the sticks and get a second line. It's because the human body needs that hormone in small amounts to do other things and only around ovulation do you make enough to register on the strips.

[atomic sagebrush]

If a test strip is almost as dark as the control line but then in 24 hrs it's lighter , does that mean I ovulated somewhere in between the two? This is also probably a silly question!


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No, it doesn't. You can have the test go lighter or even totally blank and still not have ovulated, or have it still positive and have already Oed. The tests register only the hormone that signals O to occur, NOT when the egg is released or not (unfortunately!)

[frankie2017]

No, it doesn't. You can have the test go lighter or even totally blank and still not have ovulated, or have it still positive and have already Oed. The tests register only the hormone that signals O to occur, NOT when the egg is released or not (unfortunately!)

Whaaaat!? That's crazy !


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[frankie2017]

No, it doesn't. You can have the test go lighter or even totally blank and still not have ovulated, or have it still positive and have already Oed. The tests register only the hormone that signals O to occur, NOT when the egg is released or not (unfortunately!)

Ohh I understand now - if the test goes lighter, I would have reached 'peak fertility' in there somewhere, but then you can O 24-36 hrs later. Is that right ?


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[atomic sagebrush]

Whaaaat!? That's crazy !


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yeah, the surge and ovulation are actually totally independent of each other. The surge is a message that your body usually heeds but doesn't always and on it's own timeline. OPK are like your boss puts a post it note on your desk that says "sometime within the next few days could you call so and so for me" and then you have gotten the message. The call will occur within the next few days most likely.

Now, your boss may keep putting post its on your desk even after you've called, or he may not put another one on your desk at all and just trust that the one was enough. Or you can even forget to call even after the post it (even after many post its) and or you can call on your own without ever getting a post it.

The surge, represented to our eyes by the OPK is like a message your body is sending to itself that it will usually heed but you cannot tell specifically by the time the post it shows up if O has occurred or if it is about to.

I would LOVE that technology but all we have are the OPK.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ohh I understand now - if the test goes lighter, I would have reached 'peak fertility' in there somewhere, but then you can O 24-36 hrs later. Is that right ?


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I'm not entirely sure I follow this, but you will ovulate 24-26 hours average after that first positive OPK. Not the darkest, the first. Even if your tests stay positive for days after that, and even if your tests go negative right away, it's still 24-36 hours later for most people, most months.

[frankie2017]

yeah, the surge and ovulation are actually totally independent of each other. The surge is a message that your body usually heeds but doesn't always and on it's own timeline. OPK are like your boss puts a post it note on your desk that says "sometime within the next few days could you call so and so for me" and then you have gotten the message. The call will occur within the next few days most likely.

Now, your boss may keep putting post its on your desk even after you've called, or he may not put another one on your desk at all and just trust that the one was enough. Or you can even forget to call even after the post it (even after many post its) and or you can call on your own without ever getting a post it.

The surge, represented to our eyes by the OPK is like a message your body is sending to itself that it will usually heed but you cannot tell specifically by the time the post it shows up if O has occurred or if it is about to.

I would LOVE that technology but all we have are the OPK.

I love this analogy, Thankyou Atomic.


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