Do you have a predictable menstrual cycle and know your ovulating days? If not, you have nothing to worry about as you can find some helpful information in this article. In case you are trying to get pregnant, you can use an ovulation predictor kit to know your most fertile days. Similar to the pregnancy test strips, these kits are available in most drugstores and generally come with five to ten sticks. Read on to find out how this kit works.
How Ovulation Predictor Kit Works
When you purchase the kit, the package will have instructions on how you should use the first test strip. This is usually several days before the time when you would start ovulating. This ovulation kit, unlike the pregnancy test, will measure the level of your LH or lutenizing hormone. The LH usually surges in a woman’s body before ovulation. With a predictor kit, you can identify this surge and determine the days when you are most fertile, even if you are having irregular menstrual cycles. Of course, it will be difficult for you to determine this date with irregular cycles. So, when is the best time to start using the test strips?
To know this, you can subtract 14 from the amount of days in your shortest cycle. This would give you the number for the earliest day when can ovulate in your menstrual cycle. After getting this number, you should subtract several more days before using the first strip. As an example, for a short 28 day cycle you would ovulate on the 14th day.
If you want to know your ovulation day before the time, it’s best to test on the 10th or 11th day to identify the LH surge. Every cycle will not be this short, so you should continue testing if you want to get a positive result. A good recommendation is to get two kits if your cycles are very variable to avoid running out of test strips.
It is important to mention that an ovulation predictor can do a good job when it comes to measuring hormones, but you have to use it correctly to get accurate predictions for your fertile days. The best time to test your ovulation is during the afternoon. LH is usually present in the afternoon hours, so if you do the tests in the mornings you can miss the surges. When testing, try to do them the same time daily or as close as possible. This will allow you to get more accurate results.
Finally, an ovulation predictor kit uses a color matching system. So, a positive result will be indicated by a second line with the same color as the control line. If you keep these things in mind, you can expect about 99% accuracy from the OPK to know the days when you are most fertile.
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