Seeking Advice on Ovulation Kits

Hi P.,
I used a digital one with the smiley face. I can't remember who makes it. It's the way to go. It's how I got pregnant!
S.

Hi! The cheapest way to get the sticks is through a website called early-pregnancy-tests.com. You can order combo kids with pregnancy tests and ovulation tests. It's MUCH MUCH cheaper than buying at the store!

I second the previous poster who recommended the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, coupled with the ovulation tests (I have used Clearblue) - I would have missed the very brief window for ovulating had it not been for the book. In fact, I got preggo twice, but only used the ovu tests once - the book is really what did it.

Honestly don't even think about getting pregnant. I successfully became pregnant without trying. Granted I was not on any birth control nor did we use condoms& we wanted to get pregnant. But because of trying and stressing about it, we did not get pregnant. The second we said lets not think about it & just have fun but have sex more often than before. I successfully became pregnant within a month with my son now 16 months & I am now 15 weeks with our second. So good luck and don't "think" so much about it or "try" so hard and trust me it will happen.
However I have also heard the Clear Blue Easy works well for some!

Hi P.,

I tried the Ovulation test avenue and had no luck because I was starting the tests too late. "Most" women ovulate on or around day 15 of their cycle, so most tests provide 7 days of testing strips advise you start testing on day 11 or so. What you are actually testing for is a surge of hormones that happens 24-36 hrs before you ovulate. My problem was that my cycle is shorter than average and also was a little different each month, so I never knew what day to start testing and usually by the time I started testing, I had already missed my ovulation, or at least missed the LH (hormone) surge. So after trying this with no success, my OB suggested I tried tracking my ovulation instead. I was quickly able to find out my ovulation schedule, which was that I ovulate on day 9, and was able to conceive. We now have a beautiful baby girl. Good luck with everything, I know how frustrating it was wanting so badly to conceive and it taking longer than I wanted.

~G.

The ovulation kit never really worked for me, however, the temperature taking did. Got pregnant easily that way. Its cheaper and just requires a little bit of time a day....
Good luck

Unlike pregnancy tests which work better in the morning, ovulation kits should be used in the evening. I never got a clear reading when I used in the morning, but as soon as someone gave me this tip, it was much better.

Hi P.,
I used the clearblue easy fertility monitor. It worked really well for me and we had our second child because of it!
Here's a site you can check out:
http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/clearblue.html

I had better luck with monitoring my morning temperature than with the ovulation kits. I found that sticking a thermometer in my mouth as soon as the alarm went off, and before I rolled out of bed, worked the best.

I had a lot of trouble with the ovulation kits. They kept turning up inconclusive, like half the "control" line would be pink. It just got so expensive. Then again, my cycle was very wacked and I could take the temperature charts to my fertility doctor to figure out the problem.

Best of luck! Christy Y

Hi P.,

Interesting question! My understanding is that ovulation kits are actually not helpful because they detect ovulation after it has already occured - and, at that point it is too late to conceive. Have you heard of the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility"? It's a wonderful book that teaches you to identify your biological signs of ovulation and track your cycles. As a result, you can figure out exactly when you are ovulating and plan intercourse accordingly. Hope this is helpful. Good luck!

S.

I was using ovulation kits before I got pregnant. It didn't seem to be working for me either. I was trying for almost a year. I finally has hormone testing done out that I wasn't ovulating. After more testing I found out I had Polycystic Ovaries & was insulin resistent ( the two are related). I went on metformin to control blood sugar, and kept using ovulation kits. Eventually the ovulation kit showed I was ovulating, and I got pregnant and 40 weeks later had a baby boy! Buy those ovulation kits in bulk online. If it takes a while for you to get pregnant you will go thru a lot of them.

Hi P.,

My husband and I used a lot of different ones. We even tried the expensive computerized kit, but some how it did not work after the first time we used it. We finally ended up using the Digital Clear Blue Easy disposable kits. I preferred the smile face over the blue lines.

It is really what you are comfortable with. The $250 machine becomes less expensive if you try for a few months. I have had friends that have been very successful with the computerized machines. So much so that they have used them for a couple of pregnancies.

One tip for all of the kits...be sure to store them outside of the bathroom. Just a little moisture will distort the test.

Actually another tip...remember to trust your body too. It really is the best indicator.

Good luck P. :)
R.

I couldn't figure them out but, I bought a program for my palmpilot called HeyBaby and it would do all calculations for me and would let me know when my most fertile days were based on my own cycle. Once you are pregnant it tells you day by day what is happening developmentally and growth wise with your fetus....it is really fascinating. I know the ovulation estimate is not exact but it helped me.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Because my cycle was also far apart and then normal and I had trouble conceiving my first child. After I gave birth, they found out I had Hypo-thyroidism which is an underactive thyroid and does effect ovulation.

Hi P.,
I've never used an ovulation kit, but I've been practicing Natural Family Planning for 15 years, and it is amazing. Your body gives you all the signals you need to tell you when you are ovulating, no matter how irregular your cycles are. Mine ranged from 20 to 40 days, but were usually around 32. Anyway, check with your local Catholic church, who should be able to hook you up with someone who can teach you what signs to look for. I've found the Ovulation Method to be the most scientific/detailed. It's also called Naprotechnology, or the Creighton Model. If you want some specific tips, email me, and I'll give you some signs you can start looking for right away. Don't want to get into gory details if you have no interest.

I would also check out the website mycycle.com, it helps you keep track of all your body signs in one easy to find place!

A.

As I understand it, it is the your progesterone level which fluctuates, causing you to ovulate and trigger the ovulation test to change color, After using the kits for a month straight with no result, i called my doctor ( I had been trying for several months to concieve) and he did a blood test and realized I didn't have enough progesterone to ovulate on my own. He gave me a progesterone pill and I was pregnant the next month!
good luck

You're probably going to get a few people who suggest this also, but I would invest in the book, "Taking Chrage of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. It is the reason I had two girls! It teaches you to use many signs that you are ovulating rather than just counting days, since cycles can be irregular and differ from month to month, as you know. You learn how to track your ovulation by taking your temp first thing in the morning, watching for signs of cervical mucus, and listening to your body (for example, I always get cramps when I ovulate). Put all those things together and you are able to be very sure when you are ovulating. I personally never had luck with the ovulation predictor kits, but I loved this book and it also taught me a ton about just being a woman and all that means from a physical standpoint. Whatever you do, good luck!!

I agree with the others that charting is a good way to go and tends to have a higher chance of success than using the ovulation kits alone. Web MD used to have an amazing site called Web MD Fertility Center -- I got pregnant with both my kids using their site. You could punch in your temp and other signs throughout your cycle and they had nurses and drs. who would review your chart, confirm whether or not you ovulated, on what date, etc. It must've shut down in the last year. The closest thing I found is :
http://babymed.com/Tools/Fertility/Calendar/Default.aspx
It's not the same type of tool or interactivity, but at least you can create an ovulation calendar that will help you roughly understand the dates you should be looking at. I also had irregular periods so I would suggest you punch in the shortest cycle you've ever had. It's better to try too early (and keep trying) rather than realize later you missed the window entirely. I got pregnant with my 2nd ( I was 36 ) the first cycle I charted and I used an ovulation kit in conjunction with charting. Good luck!

have you tried the book "taking charge of your fertility"? it's fantastic!! it ought to work very well, even for someone with a variable cycle (mine is too). it's worked for me and several people i know. she gives lots of great advice for people who have trouble conceiving.
best of luck
T.

I used the Clear Blue Ovulation Kit and it worked the 1st month. Good luck.

Dear P.,

Don't waste your money on ovulation kits. Get the book "taking charge of your fertility". It comes with software to help you track your cycle and know exactly when you are ovulating. You can also skip the software and use one of their charts. I have very irregular cycles (24 to 36 days) when not on the pill and I got pregnant on the first try using this method.

good luck,
A.

Hi there!

I've tried the disposable kind-many brands but always found them a little tricky to read. Some of the cheap ones I bought on line were horrible. I finally bought the electronic one, and it is much easier and clearer to decipher. The monitor and testing supplies may be covered under your employer's flexible spending account, if you have one. The best price I found was on drugstore.com.

good luck!

Hi,

I had my first baby at 39 and second at 41. Both times I used a Clearblue Fertility Monitor. It's a little pricey, but worked great!

B.

I just conceived for the first time and I used the First Response and the Answer ovulation kits. The Answer gives you 20 strips which is more than enough. The First Response gives you 7. I thought the results were a little hard to read until I got a positive response which was obvious. I tracked my ovulation day for two months which ended up being about 12 to 13 days after my period. We made sure to start trying 5 days before I was to ovulate on the 3rd month and it worked. I think I'm fortunate because it didn't really take that long and I know some try for months before any luck.

I didn't read other posts, so you may have already gotten this advice, but I used a website called "saveontests.com" to get my ovulation and pregnancy tests when we were trying to get pregnant with our second (and 17 months later, i still hadn't started a cycle yet, so we didn't know if I had even STARTED ovulating yet... managed to get pregnant before the cycles started again though, so that was a nice plus!!). Instead of paying big bucks on the kits at the store we found this was a great alternative to have many on hand for pennies, as well as pregnancy tests, since I didn't have a missed cycle to guide me to buying a test.

Good luck!

Hi P.,

I don't know about Ovulation Tracker Kits but can I make a suggestion? When my husband and I were trying for our second baby, I used a book called 'Taking Charge of your Fertility'. AWESOME AWESOME book, I cannot say enough about it. It helped me track my ovulation and also look for the signs my body was giving me since my days changed from here and there month to month. Also I got onto ebay and bought some ovulation strips as well as some pregnancy strips. You could get a package of 20 ovulation strips and 5 pregnancy strips I think for $20-30. And they worked!

Good luck!

E. P.

My cycle is irregular too. I tried the regular ovulation tracker test sticks, but with little luck. I then switched to a fertility monitor (I used one by clear blue easy) and had much better luck. It's expensive, but I felt it was worth it in the long run.

My 1st suggestion would be (though more expensive) to get 2 packs of the ovulation detectors per month. Then I would recommend starting to use them earlier then the instructions suggest and continuing until they are finished (I think there are 7 in each pack) or you get a positive result. The reason for this, is that I know a lot of people who ovulate much earlier or later than they think they should given the length of their cycle. A friend of mine thought she wasn't ovulating because she would finish all seven tests without a positive signal. She found out a month or so later, after deciding to use 2 packs, that she was in fact ovulating only later in her cycle. Taking them in the late afternoon/early evening is also a good idea. Good luck!

Hi P.,

My husband and I had problems conceiving so I used these kits in the past regularly. Once you learn the signs of ovulation then it is easier to get as close to your ovulation date as possible. I believe they come with 5 test strips so you have some wiggle room. Once you start to notice that your cervical mucus is getting thick like egg whites then I would start testing. I know it seems odd to be aware of this but it will be helpful. Just take some of the fluid in your fingers and if it is stretchy when you separate your fingers then your body is getting ready to ovulate. I also get a pain on the side I am ovulating on. I didn’t know why this was happening or notice a pattern until I started using the kit. Like clockwork, the test kit would be positive and then I would get a pain in my side. This was a confirmation for me that the test kits were accurate.

Hi P.. Go to babyhopes.com and order their ovulation sticks. You pee on them every day and it will tell you if you are ovulating or not. I used to get my period every 40-50 days and learned I was NOT ovulating every time. I had another friend who used them and figured out she was ovulating on day 11, not day 14. So go figure. But they sure work! Good luck!