beginner help please!

pakiprn@yahoo.com

i have been trying for 6 mos on my own and nothing, nada, zilch!! so i decided to go get an opk, and am hoping i am using it correclty, just used one stick a few mins ago and got a very faint line, i wasn't really even sure i did that part right, anyway, if my period was 1/13 this is the week i should start to test right?

also for those of you that do this btw 2-4, do you just do it at work? wait til you get home?

as you can see i have a dd, pure luck ladies, it can happen! this time around it is taking work. I am going to be 39 soon and the clock it ticking!

TIA

 and good luck to you all!

Mrs.McIrish

Do you have any idea what day of your cycle you usually ovulate? Are you temping? I O on day 12 so  if I had started AF on January13, my positive OPK would have been Sunday (ie you'd be too late now if you were me).   If you have no idea when you usually O, I would suggest temping next month on Fertility friend.  for now, I would keep POAS 2x a day and one should definitely be in the afternoon.  Yes, test at work.  It's annoying but what can you do. I work until at least 7pm so I always pee on things at work now..

I usually start off with a faint line and it will get progressively darker as I get closer to O. But this cycle surprised me a bit as it was really really faint on Friday morning and positive by 2pm...

HappyMrsK

I would suggest reading a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF) if you have not already done so. It has some good information in there. OPK's only detect a surge and sometimes women can have the surge and still not ovulate. It's like the body gears up to ovulate (the surge) but for some reason actual ovulation does not occur. Hopefully that is not the case with you. Temping is really the only way to confirm that ovulation has in fact occurred.

Some women do use OPK's twice daily to not miss their surge. Some women have faint lines that progressively get darker, others don't. For an OPK to be positive though the line has to be as dark as or darker than the control line.

GL to you!

boymamaco

I agree with the previous posters - go pick up a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and sign up for Fertility Friend. FF is free, AND they have all these quick tutorials which make it really easy to learn.

It seems intimidating at first, but you'll get the hang of it quickly. Knowledge is power! I sometimes use my OPK in the afternoon, and yes, I do it while at work. I make sure I don't pee for 4 hours (yes, that is hard) to build up the concentration, and then I just take it into the stall with me. I usually wait and read it in the stall, OR sometimes I take it back to my desk with me. Ew, I know. LOL

amandaleigh1

Doing the OPK at work is tough (though I have done it with the pee on a stick variety)-- nowadays, I find it especially difficult to do at work since I like to buy the internet cheapie dip strips-- so I need to pee in a cup first, then dip the strip. I generally hold my pee until I get home. This can be hard. I need to get a "travel" pee cup, so I can do this better at work

 One easy kind of solution to timing independent of OPKs is that: first you temp every day, and you have sex every other day after your period ends until you experience your thermal shift. That way you won't miss your fertile time...

boymamaco

By the way, you might want to change your screenname to something other than your email address. Just for privacy. You never know the creepers to boards like these.