I stopped taking the pill a few months back and I wanted to see if my body was getting back into normal cycles.
So I thought I would do some OPKs (ovulation predictor kits) to see if I got an indicator of ovulation.
These are used mostly by people who are trying to conceive to have an indication of when they ovulate, so they can make sure they have sex on and around those days.
These tests don't prove ovulation happened, but can give evidence toward showing that it happened.
OPKs look at the level of lutenising hormone (LH) which sharply peaks when ovulation occurs (again no guarantee that an egg is released).
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| The hormones in the female reproductive cycle is quite amazing. |
You can get cheap test strips or expensive digital kits (I like the cheap ones) and you just dip them in your late morning/mid afternoon pee.
Unlike a pregnancy test, you don't use first morning pee.
So here is a month's worth of things that have touched my pee.
This was a few months after coming off the pill, my cycles are normal.
On CD 10 (cycle day 10) I had to test twice because the first OPK was a dud.
It gave a smeared control line and the test itself was cut thinner than they normally are cut.
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| The dud is on top. |
It was late that evening and was back to negative (with a line) the next day, so you could miss it pretty easily.
For a more certain indicator of ovulation, you can try Basal Body Temperature testing (BBT).
But I won't do that unless I need to because waking up at the same time each morning to take my temperature is not my idea of fun.
A positive OPK is enough for me at the moment.
Price: 5/5 ($10.65 for 30 tests)
Effectiveness: 5/5
* The next month I felt funny on cycle day 13 so I did one test in the afternoon and BAM positive OPK on one test!
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| A bit faded because it is a few hours old... I'm great at doing things in a timely fashion. |
Don't be afraid to get in tune with your body.
