So overwhelmed and would love guidance on the newest/most updated way to sway girl

[atomic sagebrush]

That's the problem - unless you're clairvoyant, you can't.

There are really only 3 days in the whole cycle you have a decent chance of conception. The day before pos OPK, the day OF pos OPK, and the day after pos OPK. So it's really not proving anythign that you happened to have 2 conceptions that day. it's a 1 in 3 chance that it will be one of those days. I do not think (and science doesn't support) that this indicates that you can only get pregnant that one day of the cycle. Studies show best chances of conception o-2 (usually day before pos OPK) and O-1 (usually day of OPK), with somewhat less the day after OPK and a small minority O-3. That's just the days of the cycle people GET pregnant so it's not at all unusual to see this type of pattern.

We have some people who try this method where they get a clearblue and BD the day of the second flashy smiley. It's ok if you want to try it, but do be aware it rarely works out the way people think. Lots of people get many flashy smileys, or go straight to peak with NO flashy smileys, or have a peak and then O is delayed for some reason - it just really doesn't work in any predictable way.

It's not something I'd bother with personally but it is your sway, your way.

[ForeverMyLove]

Thank you so much Atomic!! As usual, you are so knowledgeable and always put me at ease. That all makes perfect sense and I just happen to get lucky those times of conception and who really knows when it actually happened. It is so interesting looking at the charts though. So much more complicated than anyone would imagine. I trust you and don’t plan to rely on the flashy smiley. As you mentioned, it will be hard to know if a 3rd smiley will just happen to come the next day or none at all. It’s so tricky and not reliable but the best we have for all our irregular ovulation days.

So when would you BD? When I receive a solid smiley? Should I just get the tests that only show peak fertility so only solid smileys or do you suggest trying the tests with flashy smileys and solid smileys? I only plan to do the one attempt so I want to try my best to BD on the right day (or at least as best as I can).

Thanks so much again for all your help. It is definitely a tricky situation but I plan to try my best again at doing a good sway or one to the best of my abilities.

[atomic sagebrush]

I always recommend the day of the solid smiley simply because it's easy and is good odds of conception. But follow your heart - it's ok to try for a month on the second flashy or even to decide what do to kind of at the last minute - when u see that flashy ask yourself "do I want to try today" and do it!

I have no preference on the OPK, whichever you like best.

Good luck!

[ForeverMyLove]

Thank you! I appreciate it. One last thing, since the ovulation tests are unpredictable...what should I do if I BD on a second flashy smiley (my one attempt) and then I get another flashy smiley? I guess I would stick with that attempt unless I get a 4th flashy smiley and then finally a solid smiley, then maybe I should try again. If it looks like it will be 4 days before I actually ovulate, then maybe consider trying again. Does that make sense?

Also, when is the best time to test? The clearblue tests that have the flashy smileys say to test with first morning urine, but I have always heard that they are not like pregnancy tests and to actually test mid afternoon and try to drink less/hold your urine but maybe that is the other version with no flashy smileys...not sure.

As I write all this, I see why they are so unreliable. Every person is different and their hormones respond differently to the tests and then each person may test differently, etc...its crazy!

Thanks again! Sorry for the continuous questions.

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, that's the catch with the method. What I would do is if the test goes solid within 2 days, stick with attept you've had. If 4 or more (or you get a 4th day of flashy) have another attempt. If it's the "no man's land" of 3 days, either use the rule "for better odds of pink stick with the attempt you've had, for better odds conception have another attempt" or flip coin if you can't decide what to do.

While I generally suggest following the directions most brands of OPK are best used after lunch. Clear blue is supposed to be ok to use in the morning, but it's after lunch that the concentration of LH in urine is at its peak.

[ForeverMyLove]

Thank you! I guess we will see what happens. With 2 of my other pregnancies, I used the clearblue tests that only showed one solid smiley but now I bought the clearblue with flashy smileys. I probably should of just stuck with the old tests but I figured if they new ones work well for me, why not give them a chance. With the old tests, I could test in the afternoon where LH is highest, but it looks like they want you to test in the morning with the new tests and I am not sure how accurate it will be. Fun times ahead. LOL.

[atomic sagebrush]

keep us posted - that's how I learn is via your guys' experiences.

[ForeverMyLove]

Hi Atomic, so interesting update that I wanted to share with you. I started the OPK on cycle day 12 (I should of probably started a day or two sooner so the test could have had a base line regarding my estrogen levels) but it came back negative. I did the test in the morning when I just woke up. I think if I had started a day or two sooner it would have showed up as high fertility with the flashy smiley. So when I tested again in the morning after waking up on cycle day 13, it came up high fertility. I read on the instructions that once you get high fertility you can test more often as long as you drink normally and don't pee within 4 hours. I decided to test again later in the afternoon around 3:30pm and got a peak/solid smiley. I wasn't expecting that and was quite surprised. And of course once you get a peak on the test, the solid smiley doesn't go away for 48 hours. I was worried that it was an error or I did something wrong. So I had some other old strip OPK tests that didn't work for me before but decided to use them to see if it correlated. Well, it did so I figured it was a good idea to BD that night. I quickly put in some rephresh (just to use for the first month of ttc) so it would be at least 8 hours before BD. This morning I took another OPK strip (not the clearblue obviously as I can't) and it came back positive again and even more clear that yesterday's strip. So I am assuming that I will ovulate later today, tonight, tomorrow in the early morning hours or the afternoon tomorrow since its typically 24-48 hours.

So what I found interesting is that I wasn't going to test yesterday afternoon but instead just this morning. So if I hadn't tested yesterday afternoon, I would have seen the positive OPK/peak this morning and BD tonight and I might have missed my chance or maybe not. But I know its better to have sperm waiting for the egg and I might ovulate today so I wouldn't have had that if I BD tonight. I know people can obviously get pregnant soon after ovulation but I wanted the sperm to be waiting and ready. So not sure when I will actually ovulate but so glad that I did test again and hopefully it works!! It makes me think back to my other kids and ttc and maybe I missed the opportunity to have sperm waiting by not testing again in the afternoons.

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes as you've deduced starting Clearblues on CD 12 is too late. It needs the earlier hormone levels in your cycle to compare to (that's part of how it works)

So you did BD?? Sorry I'm having a hard time understanding the timeline.

We can't know on the basis of any of this whether you've Oed or not yet though (or how many hours it will be.) OPK just cannot get it that exact for us, unfortunately. YOu may have ovulated very quickly after the Clearblue and then the LH in your urine with the other brand of test was just leftovers. Or, you may not have ovulated yet (even if the test had been negative the next day!) Positive OPK only measure hormones in urine that signal ovulation, and NOT whether or not you've Oed yet.

[ForeverMyLove]

Yes, I did BD last night. So hopefully I haven't ovulated yet. Based on tracking my temperature on Fertility Friend and other signs like having EW CF and cramps today, I believe I will be ovulating later today or tomorrow. Obviously, you never know when you will ovulate and as you said the OPK aren't 100% reliable but fortunately, I have had other signs to sort of help me deduce when I might be ovulating. Like you said, the amount of time the LH hormone is in your body varies from person to person and probably from cycle to cycle so it makes it even harder to pinpoint ovulation. Hopefully since I got the high fertility indication yesterday morning and then the peak indication in the afternoon, it notices a shift in my hormones and picked up the LH hormone. And hopefully I will ovulate 24-48 hours later and not 8-12 hours later (meaning I ovulated already), but who knows. Either way, I was able to BD so we will see what happens. Sorry if my timeline confused you. I confused myself at times, too. LOL