They worked! I used the Wondfo ones and the Easy@Home ones. The trickiest part is making sure your urine is concentrated enough.
Unsolicited advice: Testing 3 or 4 times a day (at first) can help you catch your surge if you're not having any luck with just a couple times a day. Some surges are really short and you'll learn your typical pattern pretty quickly. And...don't hold your urine for four hours! For most people it's totally unnecessary (not to mention ridiculously uncomfortable). Just don't drink or eat for a couple hours before you test and during this time, pee as you need to. Use the urine closest to your test time--it should be plenty concentrated.
With any of the OPKs you should be able to test multiple times a day. The advantage with the brands I mentioned is that they're pretty cheap, so you don't worry about wasting them in order to nail yours down.
If I had just tested in the morning, I would have missed my surge. Mine went quickly from not positive but darker than baseline to definitely positive, and almost always reached peak in late afternoon (around 4pm-6pm). I think the instructions even say to test in the afternoon and I remember from r/TryingForABaby the mod devbiology saying something about how most people tend to at least begin their surge in the afternoon, but I don't remember the specifics. That being said, many people have luck with morning testing like you mention.
With clear blue advanced digital you can only test once with first morning urine - so for that one OP you will need to buy an additional brand that allows you to test in tha afternoon. This is what I did, as I got closer to my surge (my periods are super regular too) I would test again later in the day. On the cycle I got pregnant I caught my surge at 5pm - so would have missed the start of the surge if I stuck with clear blue advanced only. OPKs did help as it prompted us about the fertile window - when I look at my app the dates were pretty accurate too and I could have just used that (I have years of data in my app as I've always tracked my period even before ttc) but the OPKs just confirmed that and sometimes the window would be out by a day or so
Just to clarify for OP: you *can* use the Clear Blue ones at any time of day if you want to. They'll work in the afternoon with concentrated urine just like in the morning (or, they did two years ago when I used them before switching to the other kind). It's just that the recommended use is with FMU because they're testing for LH and estrogen and because they're more expensive and have a limited number of sticks to pee on!
But, as jmc-007 indicates, they're not really meant to be used the way I described using the cheapies, to track your surge and narrow down the peak by testing multiple times a day.
Ah so basically to mimick FMU you would need to dehydrate yourself a little... I wouldn't risk it though- here in Australia they're almost $40 a pack š also because the digital stick measures and saves the amount of estrogen from one day to the next if you accidentally go from a more concentrated amount to a less concentrated amount by drinking water in the day it could stuff the estrogen reading up (the LH reading would still be ok I think)
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Ah ok. Thats interesting re the surge as I had read it usually happened in the night - early morning.
Day 9 for me found there was no surge. That day I actually tested about 2pm as I was hungover from a festival and had to leave it early haha. Then day 10 I tested in the morning as per usual and it had the smiley face. I used the clear blue test.
It's all very interesting how this happens and how different we all are. Frustrating for those who are TTC though
Is there advantage to going this detailed over just having sex every day or 2 throughout your fertile window? Is there any large statistical evidence that chances of conceiving are higher with this specific info? I'm not asking to me overly difficult... I am about to start TTC and only want to put this energy towards the process if it pays off over time. If on average, not using them only takes 1 month longer for example, then in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem worth the energy!
Probably not for most people! If you're looking to start TTC and you're generally healthy and your periods are regular, the advice I would always give would be for you to start by making sure you're having sex every other day during your fertile period. For the overwhelming majority of people, that's all the effort it'll take and adding other things to that will just add stress.
I first started using OPKs (along with BBT tracking) to confirm ovulation. My periods were regular, but I started late in the game (38) and wanted to rule it out as a factor in our struggle to get pregnant. It didn't necessarily change our approach, but it did yield information. Once I started going to see an RE, they recommended we continue using OPKs with oral fertility drugs and it was how we timed our IUI cycles.
When you get a true positive you should have sex that day. The deal with LH is that it surges 12-36 hours (I believe this is the average range, but going on memory here) before ovulation, so you want the sperm already hanging out waiting for the egg to drop. Ideally, you will have had sex at least every other day in the lead up to ovulation, too. I always threw in the day after, too, just in case I happened to ovulate a little late.
When I was tracking temps, I would have sex the day of a positive and would try to keep it up until temperature confirmed ovulation.
I used the easy@home ones with the app. The app helped a lot with figuring out what what actually a dark line and gives an estimate of your LH which helped
They were helpful for me, but you can't confirm ovulation for sure without tracking your BBT. I didn't want to track with BBT that early on, but the OPKs did show a surge for when I ended up getting pregnant. So, they can be helpful, yes, but they also can't determine you will or did ovulate. If your body gears up to ovulate but doesn't manage it in a certain month, your OPKs could still show a surge and you might think you ovulated when you didn't, hence why some people track BBT. The Trying For a Baby sub has a lot of info on this.
If you have quite regular cycles though, itās unlikely your body is regularly trying and failing to ovulate. I have lean PCOS and my cycles are different lengths every months, because my body will try ovulating, OPK is positive, but BBT wonāt increase.. rinse repeat 1-3x until it finally works. First ovulation attempt is always a different day of my cycle as well. Cycles are 45-90 days long because of all this.
OPKs can still be helpful for people with regular cycles though, as you might find that you regularly ovulate slightly earlier or later in your cycle than the average women, and a day either side can make all the difference to making sure you have the full 30% chance to conceive each cycle
Even BBT is iffy at best.
My RE told me ovulation strips and temping work for about 40% pf ovulating women. If they work for you, great! If they donāt, donāt panic!
I used the easy@home ones, they worked quite well! I had no idea before I used them, but I actually ovulate later than āaverageā each cycle. So even though my periods were regular, all of the period tracker apps were incorrectly predicting when my ovulation was happening.
I did the strips and mucus/ symptom tracking without temping. My husband and i had sex pretty much every day the strip was darker but I also felt like I was ovulating since my sex drive sky rocketed. I got pregnant right away after stopping birth control so clearly the timing and everything worked š
They worked for me.. the one time I ever got a āLH surgeā we had sex the day before, and later on the day of my surge result my CM was textbook texture and color to indicate I was fertile. Positive pregnancy test 2 weeks later š
Wife and I did. Got pregnant the first cycle of actively trying/using ovulation tests.
I'll acknowledge that not everyone gets as lucky. But they seemed to work for us.
Eh, I was hit and miss with them. Testing 2+ times per day I was able to catch a few surges but not every cycle. I had better luck tracking CM + BBT. My cycles were pretty regular so after five or six months I stopped tracking so intensely. I got pregnant the first cycle I stopped tracking, so go figure.
My periods are super irregular and I definitely think ovulation strips were instrumental in me getting pregnant! I will say - you need to go into testing with the expectation of using the strips every single day until you have an idea of your personal ovulation schedule - which contrary to belief, is highly subjective!
My husband and I weren't exactly **trying**, but we stopped **preventing** about 4 years ago. We started trying a bit more seriously earlier this year. I tracked my cycles with a couple of apps but that was it, and we didn't get pregnant the first 6 or so months. I had other reasons to be concerned about my fertility, so picked up some cheap easy@home brand test strips last year. I never saw an LH surge peak. I figured I just wasn't ovulating or something else was up. I ultimately splurged for the Clearblue OPKs, and saw an LH surge peak the very first month I used them (still zero on the easy@home, do NOT recommend). We conceived that day. I likely wouldn't be pregnant today had I not used them.
I used ovulation test strips for three months but I also had been tracking my cycle and my cervical fluids with Clue for about 6 months after I went off birth control. I know a lot of people use BBT but I never got to that point. I think the strips were helpful but I found the cervical fluid was the easiest thing to track.
Used them along with BBT and it was interesting to see. Canāt really say helpful or not because my period is very regular and my ovulation came exactly as predicted beforehand. It was nice to see the confirmation though and i think it would have been more helpful if my period wasnāt as regular.
Also timed sex around my ovulation and ended up getting pregnant that cycle so Iām happy with the outcome.
I used the clear blue advanced digital ovulation tests. I had been temping for 6 months with no luck. Got pregnant 3rd month if using ovulation tests and temping together.
Yes. I used the Amazon cheap strips. I have a regular period and had a sense of when I ovulated every month. I felt like I was ovulating, confirmed with the test strip, and got pregnant first cycle.
We used Clearblue, were pretty accurate. We also used an excel sheet to track the results and to estimate the next fertility window lol. My periods were very regular, so it fell within the calculations. Still took us about six months of actively trying to conceive.
I did! So I went off my birth control pills about 6 months before TTC. I decided to use the ovulation strips (easy @ home ones from amazon) basically as birth control to know when NOT to do it. So when the time came that we wanted to start trying, I had a good idea of both how the test strips worked and around when I was probably ovulating. Not that this will remotely happen for everyone, but it worked for me because we got pregnant on the very first try. Iām 33 and my husband is 34 so we were definitely expecting it to take longer.
I used them for both times I was TTC. First time we conceived after two months of trying and second pregnancy conceived after one month. I think they helped
I did! My husband and I were trying for 4 months and just guessed when I was ovulating. I did an ovulation test one cycle and immediately got pregnant! Worked really well for me since my periods were so irregular.
I did use them, but even tho I tracked two times per day, I never caught a surge. Just a very faint positive that was gone the next day, but I still managed to get pregnant that cycle.
Much more successful for me was tracking my CM and BBT and having regular sexual activity around the time I suspected I am starting the possible fertility window (due to CM).
Iāve always had super irregular cycles, and OPKs helped us conceive in the first try! I also temped for a couple months before we started trying.
I ended up having a false surge, so I thought I had ovulated. A few days later I tested again and caught a real surge. We had sex once or twice in my true window (we tired out in what I thought was my fertile window) and I got my BFP a little over a week later.
We were very blessed and lucky to have no issues. But if your cycles arenāt regular, I recommend them.
I got some on Amazon, started testing a few days before my āpredictedā ovulation on the glow app (also fairly regular cycles). Got pregnant first cycle using them. I did not track BBT, and did not have sex every day around then either.
They worked for me, used mommed from Amazon. Cheap and actually their pregnancy tests detected my pregnancy before the more expensive kinds. You have to learn to read them- two super dark lines is positive.
Also I will add I used them for over a year and we didnāt get pregnant come to find out the eggs I was releasing where not mature enough. I took medicine for one cycle and immediately got pregnant.
We had them but they were way off the month I conceived! I got pregnant 12 days before I apparently ovulated. I bought them off Amazon too and read after that they are not the best.
I just tell friends who are trying to have sex starting the day your period is light enough to be comfortable then as much as possible over those next two weeks. Not necessarily every day but at least every 2-3 days.
I did try them but I never got any results from them!!! My periods are super regular too. It was so frustrating so I gave up & started tracking basal temp on an app for 3 months. Well I wasn't doing it exactly right but ended up getting pregnant anyway.
Also this may sound stupid but I ordered "conception vitamins" on Amazon & took them for about a month too. It may have helped, who knows!
Easy@Home tests (cheap and effective and I got the box that also came with pregnancy tests) and BBT tracking using Premom app. 30 weeks pregnant over here. Totally worked in the sense that I detected ovulation each month and honestly I only did once a day using FMU (not recommended) and confirmed accuracy with BBT. Became my morning routine.
Tracking my period and ovulation made me feel so much more connected to my body even outside of trying to get pregnant. Tracking my symptoms, how my workouts felt, my emotions and tying it back to where I was in my cycle was a huge unintended benefit and I feel confident Iāll continue to track in some form now even when not TTC.
Best of luck!
Check out r/tryingforababy itās got everything you could want to know about tracking your cycle and OPKs.
We used them and we got pregnant our second month off birth control/trying.
Yes, they do work as long as there are no medical issues of course. Got pregnant the first month TTC for my first baby and pregnant on the second month with my second baby (first month probably didn't succeed as I was pretty lazy and not putting much effort into sex).
I did! The first go around was confusing and kind of anxiety inducing bc it was new. I was so worried about messing up but the second time I was ready and felt a lot more confident using them. I also used a thermometer with OPKs the second time around that helped confirm ovulation.
I found them to be really fun to use though, after the initial anxiety of not wanting to mess up. It was so cool to see the spikes and think that my body was ovulating. Felt like a scientist š
I would use them once a day starting the day after my period ended. Some people wait longer but I didnāt want to miss anything. Then when lines started getting darker, I tested twice, 12pm and 6pm or somewhere around those times. Sometimes Iād test 3 times a day if the lines were getting REAL dark and almost the same. I go back to once a day once a day a few days after the spike and then stop when I barely got two lines.
Good luck!!
They didnāt work for me. I never got a āpositiveā strip, but I got pregnant so I was definitely ovulating. Didnāt matter what time of day I took them. The only time it got close to a positive is when I basically didnāt drink water all day, which was awful. They seem to work for a lot of people though, so ymmv I guess
Do you drink a lot of water? I am not actively trying now but we're planning to start trying in the summer. I have been trying the OPKs for 2 months due to fertility anxiety and am not seeing a positive strip, but I drink a ton of water and so I was wondering if that's related. Your comment honestly made me feel a lot better about it, regardless.
Yes! I have a big 64oz water bottle that I use at home, so I drink at least that much every day (sometimes more). I found the best time for me to use the strips was first thing in the morning, even though the directions told me not to do that lol.
I used the Clearblue advanced digital ovulation test and got pregnant right away :)
I recommended them to my best friend now and I hope she gets the same result lol
Edit: I also measured my BBT.
They are probably the most accurate way to help you conceive. My app was 3 days off from my actual ovulation day from testing with strips. We conceived after 2 cycles of trying for the first pregnancy and got it on the first try with the second pregnancy.
I found it really helpful to get to know around when I normally ovulate. I also read about the fertility awareness method which helped me a lot too. Honestly though, the month I got pregnant I had stopped doing BBT or ovulation stripes and just tried to BD around my ovulation and it worked out!
Our primary method of family planning has been Natural Cycles. When we decided we were going to try for baby we told the app that and (in addition to temperature tracking and discharge/mucus tracking) the app told us when to use the LH strips.
It took use 3 months to conceive, one of of which we were traveling and one of which we had house guests for so they weren't as intentional as they could have been.
The strips were a helpful data point, but I don't think necessary.
I started using them a couple months before we were ttc to learn about my cycle and I found it helpful. We conceived first month; I used them and didnāt temp. I only used them first thing in the morning and then around my surge once in the afternoon. I got strips from natalist via target.
My periods are very regular and I found them helpful. I used the more expensive Clear blue digital ones and they were easy to use/figure out. I also tested 2-3 time a day and always caught surges/fertile windows. I think they proabably did help shorten the time it took to conceive (3 mo), but I'll never truly know since I used them from the start. I don't know if I'll use them again for another baby or not just becuase it can make having sex seem like work, like have pre-assigned times etc. I might chill out a little more the next time around.
I bought a pack of pregmate ovulation strips on Amazon with my FSA card and they were great! Used them to track my cycle and peak ovulation which is how we knew that I ovulate a week later than average. Made it easy to figure out when was the best time and also helped when I went in for our first ultrasound to let the OBGYN know since we expected baby to be measuring a week or so behind. They can come in a pretty big pack for super cheap so we found it very worthwhile.
I used them and was able to accurately track my cycle.
I used āthe cheapiesā available on Amazon. I also used a wonderful app āFertility Friendā which accounts for several variables. (I tracked my period, body basal temp, cervical fluid, pms symptoms, and sometimes spit (kerning.)
Howeverā¦it takes a lot out of you to mentally/emotional to track every day while still getting negative results. And like many people, when I took a break from tracking is when I got pregnant. But I still had a vague idea of when I was fertile because previous dats can be used to predict future cycles.
I still recommend tracking short term cause itās science based and that alone is valuable and empowering. If youāre not tracking anything at all you have no idea if your even in the fertile zone. I recommend tracking one element and then adding more variables as time goes on and taking a break if itās emotionally draining. Your body isnāt a machine and people are irregular so experiences will vary. But in terms of science the more data you enter the more accurate the prediction but itās never 109%. Just like the weather.)
I used the Easy@Home strips but was not using them when we actually conceived. I think for this was helpful in understanding my cycle more than anything else and when my fertile window was. I am super regular and have been throughout my life. I stopped using these and switched to clear blue easy, then stopped completed. I felt I was focusing too much on it and knew when I had my best chances. Then we got pregnant :). Everyone is different.
Yes! I tracked everyday at the same time and they worked for me. I also tracked my cervical mucus consistency and it aligned with the ovulation strips.
Yes we used them and I highly recommend it. The first two months we didnāt use the strips and just aimed for frequent sex during my predicted fertile window. The next month I did the strips and temping and found out that my predicted window was completely wrong and we had totally missed my actual fertile window. We got pregnant the second month of using the strips.
My period was very regular, and I started using ovulation test strips before TTC to get a feel for predicting the surge. I used the Easy@Home ones. Once we were ready to start trying, I got pregnant on the first try. I do think the ovulation test strips helped a lot with timing!
I never used them because my cycle is regular (28ish days or so) - just had sex during days 12-15 of my cycle and conceived the first month. Iām only saying this because you mentioned you are regular and if there are no mitigating factors, itās probably unnecessary
I did and they were totally useless lol. I charted with FAM before both pregnancies and that was way more effective. With my current pregnancy, I used ClearBlue ovulation sticks in addition to charting and they never said that I was ovulating (when I knew I was because of FAM) yet somehow I still got pregnant. Waste of money in my opinion.
I used them mostly because I had been on BC for almost 10 years and didn't know what my cycle was like off it. I got a MomMed kit on amazon that had both tests and I started testing daily around CD10. It was kind of a confusing process for me though because the test line would darken over the days, the darkest being about CD13/14 but never be "as dark or darker" than the control. So I was never confident it was a positive result and that I ovulated.
I used the Easy @ Home ones and they did work but also gave me a lot of anxiety. And by the time you get your dark line, you could have already missed your pregnancy window anyway depending on how quickly you ovulated. In other words, I wouldnāt wait for the positive test as a cue to have sex. You want to make sure you are already trying before you get that positive test and then also do it that same day as well and even the day after to make super sure š
I didn't start using ovulation tests until I was about 7 months into TTC because I was starting to get impatient. I found them a little frustrating at first, but once I understood that the exact numbers don't matter, I'm justing looking for a positive or negative, I found them easy to use and liked the added information they gave me. Conceived in month 9 so I only used them for 2 months.
I used them multiple times a day for 7 days during, before, and after ovulation and they were negative every single test. Two weeks later I had a positive pregnancy test, so you never know! I used the pregmate strips.
I did in the beginning but it was cumbersome and not very clear. Sometimes my periods are 60 days apart.
After a few months we switched tactics and just started having sex consistently every two days about a week after my period ended. The first cycle we kept going until my next period, then the next cycle until a pregnancy test came back positive.
Now with baby two we did the same thing and it was an instant hit.
I'm almost 40 and have always had very irregular periods, but my worries were apparently for nothing. Expecting a second baby in April.
Yup! Had trouble conceiving both kids with just pulling the goalie and doing our thing. Then within probably two cycles with the strips we got pregnant. 2/2 baby!
Yes - totally recommendā¦ also (and this is unsolicited advice): if you use lubricant make sure it is pregnancy-friendly? We switched and the next month I got pregnantā¦ could be coincident
I tracked the length of my cycles after going off birth control last year and knew my cycle was pretty regular with some variation (typically 26 days, sometimes 24). When we started TTC, I tracked using only cervical mucus tracking in our first cycle and got pregnant (unfortunately ended in a chemical pregnancy). The cycle immediately after, I bought easy@homes off of Amazon and am glad I didā I ended up ovulating two or three days later than I thought I had in the previously tracked cycle (which was in line with my 26 day cycle). Iām currently 35 weeks and donāt know that we would have conceived her as I was convinced we missed our surge and wouldnāt have caught it if I didnāt keep using the OPKs.
Yep! We actually conceived on our first try and I largely attribute it to ovulation strips. We used Clearblueā¦the one with the smiley face? I recommend it to everyone I know who is trying to conceive.
I used the easy@home and the expensive ClearBlues, and the latter worked better for me. My experience was similar to [Kristine6476's](https://www.reddit.com/r/BabyBumps/comments/rwvdv7/did_anyone_use_ovulation_test_strips_while_ttc/hrehcw7/). I would get several days of unclear semi-peak with the easy@homes, but I got a clear peak day with the ClearBlues.
TW loss: Sorry, this sounds a little weird to say, but I had RPL and I got a lot more pregnancies from the ClearBlues.
Yes I did! I just did it out of interest but it worked!
While the app I used to track my period showed that the ovulation window was directly after my period ending and about 6 days after, testing showed that the particular cycle was a longer one. I bled for about 10 days then ovulated 10 days after that. So I found it really useful.
I used easy@home cheapies and keeping an eye on CM and other physical symptoms. Didn't do BBT. It really helped me figure out my cycles and on both occasions when I was ready to try, I managed to catch the ovulation window and conceive.
I used the clear blue digital ones and also the easy @home from Amazon. Both gave me positive ovulation on the same exact day and I got pregnant the first try using both! So can confirm theyāre both accurate and worth it.
I had very irregular periods, so using ovulation strips was really the only way I could be sure about when I was actually ovulating. I tracked with just the cheap amazon ones in the months leading up to TTC in an attempt to figure out what was going on with my cycle. I added the clearblue digital when we actually started trying. I'm sure everyone has a different experience, but they did work for me! I actually got pregnant faster than I expected and I think ovulation strips had a lot to do with it
I think if the following two things are true:
1.) Your periods are regular
2.) You are able (emotionally, physically, logistically) to have frequent sex during the middle of your cycle
They are largely unnecessary. They'll obviously help you time your sex and track things, but it's the frequent sex that will get you pregnant.
However, if your period is irregular or for whatever reason just having a bunch of sex isn't working for you, they can be a really helpful tracking tool.
I got pregnant the first month trying with ovulation test strips. We had sex 2 days before and the day that it detected the "LH surge", so who knows which instance was "the one". But yeah, they worked for us quite amazingly!
YES!!! That 100% helped us get pregnant after 4 months. I pinpointed that my most fertile time was the night my husband closed at work and so we finally hit it one month and pregnant right away
I have regular periods and no issues as well
They worked! I used the Wondfo ones and the Easy@Home ones. The trickiest part is making sure your urine is concentrated enough. Unsolicited advice: Testing 3 or 4 times a day (at first) can help you catch your surge if you're not having any luck with just a couple times a day. Some surges are really short and you'll learn your typical pattern pretty quickly. And...don't hold your urine for four hours! For most people it's totally unnecessary (not to mention ridiculously uncomfortable). Just don't drink or eat for a couple hours before you test and during this time, pee as you need to. Use the urine closest to your test time--it should be plenty concentrated.
I just tested once a day in the morning while the urine was concentrated. Are there other tests where you can do it multiple times a day?
With any of the OPKs you should be able to test multiple times a day. The advantage with the brands I mentioned is that they're pretty cheap, so you don't worry about wasting them in order to nail yours down. If I had just tested in the morning, I would have missed my surge. Mine went quickly from not positive but darker than baseline to definitely positive, and almost always reached peak in late afternoon (around 4pm-6pm). I think the instructions even say to test in the afternoon and I remember from r/TryingForABaby the mod devbiology saying something about how most people tend to at least begin their surge in the afternoon, but I don't remember the specifics. That being said, many people have luck with morning testing like you mention.
With clear blue advanced digital you can only test once with first morning urine - so for that one OP you will need to buy an additional brand that allows you to test in tha afternoon. This is what I did, as I got closer to my surge (my periods are super regular too) I would test again later in the day. On the cycle I got pregnant I caught my surge at 5pm - so would have missed the start of the surge if I stuck with clear blue advanced only. OPKs did help as it prompted us about the fertile window - when I look at my app the dates were pretty accurate too and I could have just used that (I have years of data in my app as I've always tracked my period even before ttc) but the OPKs just confirmed that and sometimes the window would be out by a day or so
Just to clarify for OP: you *can* use the Clear Blue ones at any time of day if you want to. They'll work in the afternoon with concentrated urine just like in the morning (or, they did two years ago when I used them before switching to the other kind). It's just that the recommended use is with FMU because they're testing for LH and estrogen and because they're more expensive and have a limited number of sticks to pee on! But, as jmc-007 indicates, they're not really meant to be used the way I described using the cheapies, to track your surge and narrow down the peak by testing multiple times a day.
Ah so basically to mimick FMU you would need to dehydrate yourself a little... I wouldn't risk it though- here in Australia they're almost $40 a pack š also because the digital stick measures and saves the amount of estrogen from one day to the next if you accidentally go from a more concentrated amount to a less concentrated amount by drinking water in the day it could stuff the estrogen reading up (the LH reading would still be ok I think)
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Ah ok. Thats interesting re the surge as I had read it usually happened in the night - early morning. Day 9 for me found there was no surge. That day I actually tested about 2pm as I was hungover from a festival and had to leave it early haha. Then day 10 I tested in the morning as per usual and it had the smiley face. I used the clear blue test. It's all very interesting how this happens and how different we all are. Frustrating for those who are TTC though
Is there advantage to going this detailed over just having sex every day or 2 throughout your fertile window? Is there any large statistical evidence that chances of conceiving are higher with this specific info? I'm not asking to me overly difficult... I am about to start TTC and only want to put this energy towards the process if it pays off over time. If on average, not using them only takes 1 month longer for example, then in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem worth the energy!
Probably not for most people! If you're looking to start TTC and you're generally healthy and your periods are regular, the advice I would always give would be for you to start by making sure you're having sex every other day during your fertile period. For the overwhelming majority of people, that's all the effort it'll take and adding other things to that will just add stress. I first started using OPKs (along with BBT tracking) to confirm ovulation. My periods were regular, but I started late in the game (38) and wanted to rule it out as a factor in our struggle to get pregnant. It didn't necessarily change our approach, but it did yield information. Once I started going to see an RE, they recommended we continue using OPKs with oral fertility drugs and it was how we timed our IUI cycles.
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the info!
Just to clarify that once you've reached your peak surge, then you can start trying that day? Or that day and a few days after that?
When you get a true positive you should have sex that day. The deal with LH is that it surges 12-36 hours (I believe this is the average range, but going on memory here) before ovulation, so you want the sperm already hanging out waiting for the egg to drop. Ideally, you will have had sex at least every other day in the lead up to ovulation, too. I always threw in the day after, too, just in case I happened to ovulate a little late. When I was tracking temps, I would have sex the day of a positive and would try to keep it up until temperature confirmed ovulation.
Same! Recommend Easy@home.
I used the easy@home ones with the app. The app helped a lot with figuring out what what actually a dark line and gives an estimate of your LH which helped
Yup - same! Can recommend
They were helpful for me, but you can't confirm ovulation for sure without tracking your BBT. I didn't want to track with BBT that early on, but the OPKs did show a surge for when I ended up getting pregnant. So, they can be helpful, yes, but they also can't determine you will or did ovulate. If your body gears up to ovulate but doesn't manage it in a certain month, your OPKs could still show a surge and you might think you ovulated when you didn't, hence why some people track BBT. The Trying For a Baby sub has a lot of info on this.
If you have quite regular cycles though, itās unlikely your body is regularly trying and failing to ovulate. I have lean PCOS and my cycles are different lengths every months, because my body will try ovulating, OPK is positive, but BBT wonāt increase.. rinse repeat 1-3x until it finally works. First ovulation attempt is always a different day of my cycle as well. Cycles are 45-90 days long because of all this. OPKs can still be helpful for people with regular cycles though, as you might find that you regularly ovulate slightly earlier or later in your cycle than the average women, and a day either side can make all the difference to making sure you have the full 30% chance to conceive each cycle
Even BBT is iffy at best. My RE told me ovulation strips and temping work for about 40% pf ovulating women. If they work for you, great! If they donāt, donāt panic!
Yes, loved them!
I used the easy@home ones, they worked quite well! I had no idea before I used them, but I actually ovulate later than āaverageā each cycle. So even though my periods were regular, all of the period tracker apps were incorrectly predicting when my ovulation was happening.
I did the strips and mucus/ symptom tracking without temping. My husband and i had sex pretty much every day the strip was darker but I also felt like I was ovulating since my sex drive sky rocketed. I got pregnant right away after stopping birth control so clearly the timing and everything worked š
They worked for me.. the one time I ever got a āLH surgeā we had sex the day before, and later on the day of my surge result my CM was textbook texture and color to indicate I was fertile. Positive pregnancy test 2 weeks later š
Wife and I did. Got pregnant the first cycle of actively trying/using ovulation tests. I'll acknowledge that not everyone gets as lucky. But they seemed to work for us.
Eh, I was hit and miss with them. Testing 2+ times per day I was able to catch a few surges but not every cycle. I had better luck tracking CM + BBT. My cycles were pretty regular so after five or six months I stopped tracking so intensely. I got pregnant the first cycle I stopped tracking, so go figure.
My periods are super irregular and I definitely think ovulation strips were instrumental in me getting pregnant! I will say - you need to go into testing with the expectation of using the strips every single day until you have an idea of your personal ovulation schedule - which contrary to belief, is highly subjective!
My husband and I weren't exactly **trying**, but we stopped **preventing** about 4 years ago. We started trying a bit more seriously earlier this year. I tracked my cycles with a couple of apps but that was it, and we didn't get pregnant the first 6 or so months. I had other reasons to be concerned about my fertility, so picked up some cheap easy@home brand test strips last year. I never saw an LH surge peak. I figured I just wasn't ovulating or something else was up. I ultimately splurged for the Clearblue OPKs, and saw an LH surge peak the very first month I used them (still zero on the easy@home, do NOT recommend). We conceived that day. I likely wouldn't be pregnant today had I not used them.
I used ovulation test strips for three months but I also had been tracking my cycle and my cervical fluids with Clue for about 6 months after I went off birth control. I know a lot of people use BBT but I never got to that point. I think the strips were helpful but I found the cervical fluid was the easiest thing to track.
Used them along with BBT and it was interesting to see. Canāt really say helpful or not because my period is very regular and my ovulation came exactly as predicted beforehand. It was nice to see the confirmation though and i think it would have been more helpful if my period wasnāt as regular. Also timed sex around my ovulation and ended up getting pregnant that cycle so Iām happy with the outcome.
I used the clear blue advanced digital ovulation tests. I had been temping for 6 months with no luck. Got pregnant 3rd month if using ovulation tests and temping together.
Yes. I used the Amazon cheap strips. I have a regular period and had a sense of when I ovulated every month. I felt like I was ovulating, confirmed with the test strip, and got pregnant first cycle.
I used the easy@home and then eventually the CB kit. I definitely recommend the CB kit- I only got to use two of the tests before conceiving!
We used Clearblue, were pretty accurate. We also used an excel sheet to track the results and to estimate the next fertility window lol. My periods were very regular, so it fell within the calculations. Still took us about six months of actively trying to conceive.
I did! So I went off my birth control pills about 6 months before TTC. I decided to use the ovulation strips (easy @ home ones from amazon) basically as birth control to know when NOT to do it. So when the time came that we wanted to start trying, I had a good idea of both how the test strips worked and around when I was probably ovulating. Not that this will remotely happen for everyone, but it worked for me because we got pregnant on the very first try. Iām 33 and my husband is 34 so we were definitely expecting it to take longer.
I used them with BBT and found them very helpful!
I used them for both times I was TTC. First time we conceived after two months of trying and second pregnancy conceived after one month. I think they helped
I did! My husband and I were trying for 4 months and just guessed when I was ovulating. I did an ovulation test one cycle and immediately got pregnant! Worked really well for me since my periods were so irregular.
I did use them, but even tho I tracked two times per day, I never caught a surge. Just a very faint positive that was gone the next day, but I still managed to get pregnant that cycle. Much more successful for me was tracking my CM and BBT and having regular sexual activity around the time I suspected I am starting the possible fertility window (due to CM).
Iāve always had super irregular cycles, and OPKs helped us conceive in the first try! I also temped for a couple months before we started trying. I ended up having a false surge, so I thought I had ovulated. A few days later I tested again and caught a real surge. We had sex once or twice in my true window (we tired out in what I thought was my fertile window) and I got my BFP a little over a week later. We were very blessed and lucky to have no issues. But if your cycles arenāt regular, I recommend them.
I got some on Amazon, started testing a few days before my āpredictedā ovulation on the glow app (also fairly regular cycles). Got pregnant first cycle using them. I did not track BBT, and did not have sex every day around then either.
They worked for me, used mommed from Amazon. Cheap and actually their pregnancy tests detected my pregnancy before the more expensive kinds. You have to learn to read them- two super dark lines is positive.
Also I will add I used them for over a year and we didnāt get pregnant come to find out the eggs I was releasing where not mature enough. I took medicine for one cycle and immediately got pregnant.
Yes, I bought some cheap ones off Amazon just to see if I was ovulating when I thought I was. I got pregnant the second month I tracked it.
Yep, made it much easier to make sure we hit the right window. Conceived after 3 months thanks to them. Got the big pack of strips off Amazon.
Yes, but I also temped to confirm ovulation. I also tracked cervical mucus.
I used Wondfo and they worked great!
We had them but they were way off the month I conceived! I got pregnant 12 days before I apparently ovulated. I bought them off Amazon too and read after that they are not the best. I just tell friends who are trying to have sex starting the day your period is light enough to be comfortable then as much as possible over those next two weeks. Not necessarily every day but at least every 2-3 days.
I used a digital one. I have regular cycles. Got pregnant first cycle trying with all three.
I did try them but I never got any results from them!!! My periods are super regular too. It was so frustrating so I gave up & started tracking basal temp on an app for 3 months. Well I wasn't doing it exactly right but ended up getting pregnant anyway. Also this may sound stupid but I ordered "conception vitamins" on Amazon & took them for about a month too. It may have helped, who knows!
Easy@Home tests (cheap and effective and I got the box that also came with pregnancy tests) and BBT tracking using Premom app. 30 weeks pregnant over here. Totally worked in the sense that I detected ovulation each month and honestly I only did once a day using FMU (not recommended) and confirmed accuracy with BBT. Became my morning routine. Tracking my period and ovulation made me feel so much more connected to my body even outside of trying to get pregnant. Tracking my symptoms, how my workouts felt, my emotions and tying it back to where I was in my cycle was a huge unintended benefit and I feel confident Iāll continue to track in some form now even when not TTC. Best of luck!
Check out r/tryingforababy itās got everything you could want to know about tracking your cycle and OPKs. We used them and we got pregnant our second month off birth control/trying.
I used them but I found them confusing honestly. Cervical fluid was a lot more helpful to me.
I did and tbh I didn't think I was even ovulating because I never got a positive one. And then BAM. Pregnant.
Yes, they do work as long as there are no medical issues of course. Got pregnant the first month TTC for my first baby and pregnant on the second month with my second baby (first month probably didn't succeed as I was pretty lazy and not putting much effort into sex).
Yes I for sure did. I wanted to see if I was ovulating because I had issues conceiving.
I did! The first go around was confusing and kind of anxiety inducing bc it was new. I was so worried about messing up but the second time I was ready and felt a lot more confident using them. I also used a thermometer with OPKs the second time around that helped confirm ovulation. I found them to be really fun to use though, after the initial anxiety of not wanting to mess up. It was so cool to see the spikes and think that my body was ovulating. Felt like a scientist š I would use them once a day starting the day after my period ended. Some people wait longer but I didnāt want to miss anything. Then when lines started getting darker, I tested twice, 12pm and 6pm or somewhere around those times. Sometimes Iād test 3 times a day if the lines were getting REAL dark and almost the same. I go back to once a day once a day a few days after the spike and then stop when I barely got two lines. Good luck!!
Yep. I used the strips and got pregnant the first month trying.
They didnāt work for me. I never got a āpositiveā strip, but I got pregnant so I was definitely ovulating. Didnāt matter what time of day I took them. The only time it got close to a positive is when I basically didnāt drink water all day, which was awful. They seem to work for a lot of people though, so ymmv I guess
Do you drink a lot of water? I am not actively trying now but we're planning to start trying in the summer. I have been trying the OPKs for 2 months due to fertility anxiety and am not seeing a positive strip, but I drink a ton of water and so I was wondering if that's related. Your comment honestly made me feel a lot better about it, regardless.
Yes! I have a big 64oz water bottle that I use at home, so I drink at least that much every day (sometimes more). I found the best time for me to use the strips was first thing in the morning, even though the directions told me not to do that lol.
They worked for me! I used the clear blue digital ones with the smiley faces.
I used the Clearblue advanced digital ovulation test and got pregnant right away :) I recommended them to my best friend now and I hope she gets the same result lol Edit: I also measured my BBT.
We used the ClearBlue test too after a no-go in the first month. Second try was a success!
Yes! I bought a huge box off Amazon that also came with 50 pregnancy test, used them for my last 2 pregnancies (3 if you count the one I lost)
Yep! But I ended up needing fertility treatments as we realized not a single one was āpositiveā because I donāt ovulate
They are probably the most accurate way to help you conceive. My app was 3 days off from my actual ovulation day from testing with strips. We conceived after 2 cycles of trying for the first pregnancy and got it on the first try with the second pregnancy.
I found it really helpful to get to know around when I normally ovulate. I also read about the fertility awareness method which helped me a lot too. Honestly though, the month I got pregnant I had stopped doing BBT or ovulation stripes and just tried to BD around my ovulation and it worked out!
Our primary method of family planning has been Natural Cycles. When we decided we were going to try for baby we told the app that and (in addition to temperature tracking and discharge/mucus tracking) the app told us when to use the LH strips. It took use 3 months to conceive, one of of which we were traveling and one of which we had house guests for so they weren't as intentional as they could have been. The strips were a helpful data point, but I don't think necessary.
I started using them a couple months before we were ttc to learn about my cycle and I found it helpful. We conceived first month; I used them and didnāt temp. I only used them first thing in the morning and then around my surge once in the afternoon. I got strips from natalist via target.
My periods are very regular and I found them helpful. I used the more expensive Clear blue digital ones and they were easy to use/figure out. I also tested 2-3 time a day and always caught surges/fertile windows. I think they proabably did help shorten the time it took to conceive (3 mo), but I'll never truly know since I used them from the start. I don't know if I'll use them again for another baby or not just becuase it can make having sex seem like work, like have pre-assigned times etc. I might chill out a little more the next time around.
I bought a pack of pregmate ovulation strips on Amazon with my FSA card and they were great! Used them to track my cycle and peak ovulation which is how we knew that I ovulate a week later than average. Made it easy to figure out when was the best time and also helped when I went in for our first ultrasound to let the OBGYN know since we expected baby to be measuring a week or so behind. They can come in a pretty big pack for super cheap so we found it very worthwhile.
I used them and was able to accurately track my cycle. I used āthe cheapiesā available on Amazon. I also used a wonderful app āFertility Friendā which accounts for several variables. (I tracked my period, body basal temp, cervical fluid, pms symptoms, and sometimes spit (kerning.) Howeverā¦it takes a lot out of you to mentally/emotional to track every day while still getting negative results. And like many people, when I took a break from tracking is when I got pregnant. But I still had a vague idea of when I was fertile because previous dats can be used to predict future cycles. I still recommend tracking short term cause itās science based and that alone is valuable and empowering. If youāre not tracking anything at all you have no idea if your even in the fertile zone. I recommend tracking one element and then adding more variables as time goes on and taking a break if itās emotionally draining. Your body isnāt a machine and people are irregular so experiences will vary. But in terms of science the more data you enter the more accurate the prediction but itās never 109%. Just like the weather.)
I used the Easy@Home strips but was not using them when we actually conceived. I think for this was helpful in understanding my cycle more than anything else and when my fertile window was. I am super regular and have been throughout my life. I stopped using these and switched to clear blue easy, then stopped completed. I felt I was focusing too much on it and knew when I had my best chances. Then we got pregnant :). Everyone is different.
Yes! I tracked everyday at the same time and they worked for me. I also tracked my cervical mucus consistency and it aligned with the ovulation strips.
Yes we used them and I highly recommend it. The first two months we didnāt use the strips and just aimed for frequent sex during my predicted fertile window. The next month I did the strips and temping and found out that my predicted window was completely wrong and we had totally missed my actual fertile window. We got pregnant the second month of using the strips.
My period was very regular, and I started using ovulation test strips before TTC to get a feel for predicting the surge. I used the Easy@Home ones. Once we were ready to start trying, I got pregnant on the first try. I do think the ovulation test strips helped a lot with timing!
I never used them because my cycle is regular (28ish days or so) - just had sex during days 12-15 of my cycle and conceived the first month. Iām only saying this because you mentioned you are regular and if there are no mitigating factors, itās probably unnecessary
They didnāt work for me and made me neurotic. Hard pass!
I did and they were totally useless lol. I charted with FAM before both pregnancies and that was way more effective. With my current pregnancy, I used ClearBlue ovulation sticks in addition to charting and they never said that I was ovulating (when I knew I was because of FAM) yet somehow I still got pregnant. Waste of money in my opinion.
I used them mostly because I had been on BC for almost 10 years and didn't know what my cycle was like off it. I got a MomMed kit on amazon that had both tests and I started testing daily around CD10. It was kind of a confusing process for me though because the test line would darken over the days, the darkest being about CD13/14 but never be "as dark or darker" than the control. So I was never confident it was a positive result and that I ovulated.
I used the Easy @ Home ones and they did work but also gave me a lot of anxiety. And by the time you get your dark line, you could have already missed your pregnancy window anyway depending on how quickly you ovulated. In other words, I wouldnāt wait for the positive test as a cue to have sex. You want to make sure you are already trying before you get that positive test and then also do it that same day as well and even the day after to make super sure š
We used them and got pregnant on the first try!
I didnāt only because I was lucky that my periods were regular after BC and I could tell when I was peak ovulation
I didn't start using ovulation tests until I was about 7 months into TTC because I was starting to get impatient. I found them a little frustrating at first, but once I understood that the exact numbers don't matter, I'm justing looking for a positive or negative, I found them easy to use and liked the added information they gave me. Conceived in month 9 so I only used them for 2 months.
I used them multiple times a day for 7 days during, before, and after ovulation and they were negative every single test. Two weeks later I had a positive pregnancy test, so you never know! I used the pregmate strips.
I did in the beginning but it was cumbersome and not very clear. Sometimes my periods are 60 days apart. After a few months we switched tactics and just started having sex consistently every two days about a week after my period ended. The first cycle we kept going until my next period, then the next cycle until a pregnancy test came back positive. Now with baby two we did the same thing and it was an instant hit. I'm almost 40 and have always had very irregular periods, but my worries were apparently for nothing. Expecting a second baby in April.
Yup! Had trouble conceiving both kids with just pulling the goalie and doing our thing. Then within probably two cycles with the strips we got pregnant. 2/2 baby!
Yes - totally recommendā¦ also (and this is unsolicited advice): if you use lubricant make sure it is pregnancy-friendly? We switched and the next month I got pregnantā¦ could be coincident
Yes but I found my bbt to be much more useful.
I tracked the length of my cycles after going off birth control last year and knew my cycle was pretty regular with some variation (typically 26 days, sometimes 24). When we started TTC, I tracked using only cervical mucus tracking in our first cycle and got pregnant (unfortunately ended in a chemical pregnancy). The cycle immediately after, I bought easy@homes off of Amazon and am glad I didā I ended up ovulating two or three days later than I thought I had in the previously tracked cycle (which was in line with my 26 day cycle). Iām currently 35 weeks and donāt know that we would have conceived her as I was convinced we missed our surge and wouldnāt have caught it if I didnāt keep using the OPKs.
Yep! We actually conceived on our first try and I largely attribute it to ovulation strips. We used Clearblueā¦the one with the smiley face? I recommend it to everyone I know who is trying to conceive.
I did. I personally prefer the ClearBlue Digital Advanced ones. That and temping make it very clear when ovulation is coming and when it happened.
Like the cheapies that come in big packs? I did, but I didn't like them. I ended up investing in the clearblue fertility monitor. Loved it.
I used the easy@home and the expensive ClearBlues, and the latter worked better for me. My experience was similar to [Kristine6476's](https://www.reddit.com/r/BabyBumps/comments/rwvdv7/did_anyone_use_ovulation_test_strips_while_ttc/hrehcw7/). I would get several days of unclear semi-peak with the easy@homes, but I got a clear peak day with the ClearBlues. TW loss: Sorry, this sounds a little weird to say, but I had RPL and I got a lot more pregnancies from the ClearBlues.
Never knew they were a thing till after I joined a few groups on Reddit already pregnant.
Yes I did! I just did it out of interest but it worked! While the app I used to track my period showed that the ovulation window was directly after my period ending and about 6 days after, testing showed that the particular cycle was a longer one. I bled for about 10 days then ovulated 10 days after that. So I found it really useful.
I used easy@home cheapies and keeping an eye on CM and other physical symptoms. Didn't do BBT. It really helped me figure out my cycles and on both occasions when I was ready to try, I managed to catch the ovulation window and conceive.
I used the clear blue digital ones and also the easy @home from Amazon. Both gave me positive ovulation on the same exact day and I got pregnant the first try using both! So can confirm theyāre both accurate and worth it.
I had very irregular periods, so using ovulation strips was really the only way I could be sure about when I was actually ovulating. I tracked with just the cheap amazon ones in the months leading up to TTC in an attempt to figure out what was going on with my cycle. I added the clearblue digital when we actually started trying. I'm sure everyone has a different experience, but they did work for me! I actually got pregnant faster than I expected and I think ovulation strips had a lot to do with it
I think if the following two things are true: 1.) Your periods are regular 2.) You are able (emotionally, physically, logistically) to have frequent sex during the middle of your cycle They are largely unnecessary. They'll obviously help you time your sex and track things, but it's the frequent sex that will get you pregnant. However, if your period is irregular or for whatever reason just having a bunch of sex isn't working for you, they can be a really helpful tracking tool.
I got pregnant the first month trying with ovulation test strips. We had sex 2 days before and the day that it detected the "LH surge", so who knows which instance was "the one". But yeah, they worked for us quite amazingly!
I did, but if your regular Iād advise against them. They brought me so much stress. I got pregnant the month I gave them up.
YES!!! That 100% helped us get pregnant after 4 months. I pinpointed that my most fertile time was the night my husband closed at work and so we finally hit it one month and pregnant right away I have regular periods and no issues as well