Ovulation/TTC Experts... Come on in!

babymillie

Posting this for a friend who is semi-TTC.  I told her I'd post her question here since you guys are experts on all things TTC! 

Here is what is going on (email from last week):

"About 2 weeks ago I started using those Cl earblue ovulation tests (more just to see if I actually ovulated).  Nothing on Friday or Saturday, Sunday comes and I get a happy face.  When I took the test on Monday it was back to the empty circle.  So b/c my period is every 41-43 days I track it on my phone and it tells me what days I should technically ovulate, which happens to be today.  So this morning I used another ovulation stick and it came out with another smiley face.  WTF??  Can you ovulate 2x in one cycle?"

 

Any insight?

 

 

OrangeFelt

I am by no means an expert, and am just starting out on this whole peeing on ovulation sticks myself, so someone else might want to pipe up here, BUT..

I had a chat with a friend over the weekend who has been trying for 3 years, and I asked her if she used these tests.. her answer was, yes, but with her a LH surge =/= ovulation. So maybe she had two days where she surged, or maybe the tests were just faulty?

My friend here has longer cycles that are irregular, and had issues tracking it even with OPKs.  In this case, it might be better if your friend tries temping to keep track in conjunction with the tests just to get a base idea of when it all happens.

babymillie

Thanks for the insight!  Good luck peeing on your sticks! 

AustinBride06

Ditto OrangeFelt.  An LH surge detected by OPK tests does not mean she's ovulated.  Just means that her body is gearing up to do so.  If she charts her temps, she would be able to see a temp rise the day after she actually ovulated.  Other than an ultrasound, that's really the only way to tell if she's ovulated.  

About a year ago, I got +OPKs but then never got a temp spike until about a week later.  Turns out, the actual ovulation was probably delayed because I was sick/super-stressed.  My cycle was 37 days that time.  So definitely possible to get two positive OPKs spaced further apart.

Also... I've heard that some OPKs will turn positive when you're pregnant.  Just sayin. 

babymillie

AustinBride06:

Ditto OrangeFelt.  An LH surge detected by OPK tests does not mean she's ovulated.  Just means that her body is gearing up to do so.  If she charts her temps, she would be able to see a temp rise the day after she actually ovulated.  Other than an ultrasound, that's really the only way to tell if she's ovulated.  

About a year ago, I got +OPKs but then never got a temp spike until about a week later.  Turns out, the actual ovulation was probably delayed because I was sick/super-stressed.  My cycle was 37 days that time.  So definitely possible to get two positive OPKs spaced further apart.

Also... I've heard that some OPKs will turn positive when you're pregnant.  Just sayin. 

hmm... thanks!  and omg!

agran

I can't believe I opened this and consider myself an expert.  My RE has me use the smiley face opks too because he says they are the most sensitive and fool proof.  The surge just means your body is about to ovulate but then sometimes it doesn't (stress, illness, other factors) and then your body tries to surge again to ovulate... os it may be her body just had to double surge to ovulate.  So I'd get busy with DH both surge times just to be safe.