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Meg's OPK Odyssey
I am currently in lactational amenorrhea (literally, "lack of menstrual flow due to breastfeeding," known colloquially as "LAM.") It has now been 1 year since my daughter was born. I have no idea when I will return to fertility. For fun, I purchased 25 One Step OPK's from saveontests.com and will take one every day until they run out. Odds are I will not see a positive during this time, but I may see my LH ebb and flow as my body "considers" a return to fertility. This will also demonstrate how there are many variations in how a negative OPK may look. It is also normal to see an OPK get darker or lighter before a "surge" (positive.) To recap, an OPK is not read the same way as an HPT. There may be 1 or 2 lines on an OPK, but it is considered negative until the test line is as dark as, or darker than, the control line. (See OPK FAQ for more info.) So, follow my OPK Odyssey . . . it's like a pee-test soap opera or something. The control line is on the right.
Intermission:
Though both tests were negative, the "new" kind was about half the darkness of the control line. The "old" kind (the kind I've been using throughout the Odyssey) barely had a second line at all.
Tonight I "double dipped" again. Incidentally, the "old" kind (from saveontests.com) are 2.5 mm in width, and the "new" kind (from babywishes.org) are 5 mm in width. I have two 2.5 mm tests left (the "old" kind) and will double-dip both of those with the new 5 mm tests. Stay tuned!
Well! You can see tonight's tests are wildly discordant. The 5mm test is aaaaalmost positive. The 2.5 mm test is definitely negative. I e-mailed pics to the websites where I purchased the tests; so far I've heard back from babywishes.org with a pretty standard customer service line ;) that their tests are "more sensitive than most" and that, when dealing with OPK results, "all that matters" is whether the test is negative or positive, not "how negative" it is. P.S. I am, apparently, an idiot. I previously stated that both tests are the same brand, merely the 2.5 mm and 5 mm versions; I was in error. The 2.5 mm test is from saveontests.com; it is sensitive to 25 mIU/mL. The 5 mm test is apparently exclusive to babywishes.org and is sensitive to 20 mIU/mL. This whole time I've thought they were the same thing, so the results puzzled me-- everyone, now: "Duh, Meg!" Okay, well, goes to show you that those 5 mIU really make a difference in line darkness ;) For what it's worth, I prefer the babywishes.org tests because they're easier to see!!! --Meg, blushing and crawling under her Rock Of Wrongness Incidentally, it is possible to get a positive OPK and not ovulate after all. See this FAQ for more info. Confusing little things, aren't they? :p Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment of As The Stick Turns Pink!
And there you have it . . . back to very negative. My supply of the original 25 OPK's has been exhausted. Is the show canceled? Or is it renewed for another few weeks? ;) Update: March 20 I "canceled" the Odyssey due to a doctor's visit that revealed my estrogen levels are extremely low (due to breastfeeding.) I was told that I would probably not be able to ovulate with levels this low. So, peeing on OPK's seemed superfluous. Of course, that didn't actually stop me. On March 16, I took another OPK (but did not post the pic until now.)
And for some inexplicable reason, despite knowing my estrogen is kaput, I tried again on the 18th.
And then tonight . . . my Pee Catcher was calling to me. On a total whim, I peed in a cup, dipped the OPK, put it on my desk, and forgot about it. After a few minutes I remembed it, looked over . . . and my jaw dropped.
A positive OPK! How did that happen? Remember, it is possible to get a positive OPK and then not ovulate. So my low estrogen may very well be prohibiting actual egg-action. Fortunately, I resumed my NFP charting again several days ago, so if I do ovulate, I will be able to confirm it with a thermal shift and cervical mucus dry-up. So! It seems my little soap opera has taken one of those last minute unexpected turns (you know, like my cousin's secret love affair with my long-lost twin brother who faked his decapitation in a car accident after he recovered from his amnesia.) And hey, whether or not anything (read: ovulation) actually comes of this . . . now at least there's a pictorial example of OPK's going from negative to positive! Stay tuned ;)
It's been so long since my pee made a test do anything fun I've been addicted. I used another last night, and another one this morning. Both positive! (For women trying to time sex and conceive, there is no need to keep testing after the first positive. The surge can last for a couple of days, so it's possible to see a positive OPK for awhile. This is normal, and for all intents and purposes, the first positive OPK is the important one.)
Having fun yet? ;) (See-- surges can last awhile!)
Aaaaand we're back to negative. Looks like my surge is over. It lasted 24+ hours. I have not yet experienced a temperature rise. We'll see what the next few days hold!
Well, that's a decidedly negative OPK to round out the evening.
As a caveat, however, you can see I was charting for a very short time before my positive OPK (since, to this point, nothing was going on, thanks to LAM.) The two temps on my positive OPK days were disturbed so I omitted them above. (I was also charting cervical mucus, but have not included it above; suffice it to say that it corrolated with my temperature.) When using NFP to avoid pregnancy, you should not take shortcuts in your charting or omit information; that lowers the efficacy rate. Additionally, in rare instances a woman may experience a thermal shift and cervical mucus dry-up without having ovulated. This is unusual, however. So . . . it looks as though, by pure chance, I caught my first postpartum ovulation on an OPK, confirmed by a thermal shift and mucus dry-up. All that remains is to wait for . . . dum-dum-dum . . . my period. Often women experience very short luteal phases when they first resume cycling after giving birth, so this may happen sooner rather than later. Happy Odyssey! Final Update, March 31: Sure enough, today LAM ended. My luteal phase was 8 days; rather short, but not uncommon for the first postpartum cycle. Guess I'm back in the charting game!
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