TTC - Your First Child

Hi, I'm new (although I did post once or twice earlier this year). I also posted on the main TTC board, since I wasn't sure what the difference was :)

My husband and I have been trying since March. My doctor says she won't run any tests until it has been a year, but she suggested using an OPK. So I bought a box of CVS brand, with 20 strips. The instructions say to use it in the morning, but everything I read says to use it in the afternoon. So, I've been doing both (about 7 am and 3 pm) for three days now. I am on day 15 of this cycle (the last few cycles have been 31-32 days). I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for. When I do it in the morning, the test stripe looks pretty close to the control stripe. In the afternoon, the test stripe is barely visable. Can anyone help me understand this better?

Thanks,

Christina

Welcome (back)! I don't know that I'll be much more help, but I'll pass along what I've heard. I have read (on another website, where I believe the poster had done her master's degree work in peeing on sticks, except I'm sure it sounded much more academic than that. anyway...) that most tests use urine from later in the day because typically the LH surge starts in the morning, and shows up best on most tests around 5-6 pm. I also used CVS brand strips earlier in this cycle, and just did FMU, but never got a positive result. So I blamed the tests and switched to a later-in-the-day brand.

So long story short, I don't know why CVS tests work that way. But welcome! And hopefully someone else will have an actual answer for you!

Yeah, no kidding! I started to completely dread getting up to go to the bathroom for the first time each day that I was using those, because it was *such* a hassle (and pre-coffee to boot!). Like it's one thing to do the thermometer (because I can fall asleep again while doing that), but the bathroom.... Of course now with the afternoon ones I'm using, I have to time out when I stop drinking beverages and try to not go to the bathroom for 4 hours prior to testing. When I was teaching, I could go hours and hours without using the bathroom. But at home 4 hours is like a lifetime!

Anyhow, from what I've read (same source I mentioned before), 4 PM is a really good time to do it. Ideally you'll not take in any beverages or use the bathroom between noon and 4 so that the urine is concentrated. Good luck!!