Bought OPK and ready to give it a go!

Steena · #1 November 6th, 2009, 08:53 AM

Any tips or suggestions? It's not a digi so I'm nervous and don't want to miss it! From what I see in some of the other ladies posts I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for.
Do you normally pee on the stick.. or do the cup method? .. also, about what time have you gotten the best results? I really appreciate any help I can get!

TIA

TeresaSuperMama · #2 November 6th, 2009, 11:09 AM

I definitely pee in a cup, but I suck at peeing on things. I usually pee at 10am and then at like 4pm or so. I usually only pee once a day until I start seeing something close to a positive then I'll test twice a day.

amychristian · #3 November 6th, 2009, 11:32 AM

Looks like Teresa and I have the same OPK testing methods!

I prefer the cup because my "aim" on sticks generally lacks accuracy, but cups are bigger. I like the one that Early Pregnancy Tests dot com sells. It has a little handle for those of us who are challenged in that way. On the sticks, I somehow always manage to pee on the test window, and one time I did that the FRER didn't even show a control line! So I stopped doing the midstream tests at that point

Steena · #4 November 7th, 2009, 04:19 AM

Thanks

I saw some people test 2 times daily, but didn't know if it was entirely necessary. I can understand the 2x a day once I start seeing something on the tests though. I'll have to run out and grab one more pack of opks.
Is the window for this surge really small? I know ovulation has a small time window, but is this surge I'm testing for something I could easily miss?
I feel like such a noob but I don't want to miss this opportunity.

amychristian · #5 November 7th, 2009, 04:37 AM

Right, so start testing twice a day when you start to see them getting darker but NOT positive yet. Do it once around 10AM or so, and again later that night (maybe 4-6 PM).
LH surges can pass you right by, too, if you don't catch them. For instance, if you look at the thread I started yesterday ("WDYT? Am I Ovulating?"), you will see that I got positives yesterday evening but they went back to negative today. AND, my test today looks exactly like my test from yesterday morning (negative), meaning that if I had NOT taken yesterday's evening tests, I would have never seen the surge. That is why, I believe, it is crucial to test twice a day once they start getting darker. It is possible to miss it in a 24-hour period.

Steena · #6 November 7th, 2009, 06:23 AM

Thank you SO much for all of your help! I'm so glad I joined this site! You ladies have been super helpful! This whole process can be so much more work than some people think!

I have the most irregular cycle and my body is always doing it's own thing lol.. I'll be sure to follow your advice and hopefully I can make the best of this next week!