Are fertility monitors worth it?

[Anonymous]

I used regular OPKs for 3 months and never got a positive. I bought a Clearblue and have used it for two cycles. I got a positive on days 15 and 16 last month but didn't get pregnant. This month I also got 2 days of positive on Days 14 and 15 17 of my cycle so I don't know if I got lucky yet. It was worth it for me just to know that I can get a positive for ovulation, I was convinced something was wrong and that I wasn't ovulating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cycle is a bit strange in that it's usually right at 28 days, but sometimes I ovulate on day 9, sometimes not until day 13. I've used the monitor for a total of 5 cycles and gotten pregnant three times. I'm a fan.

OP back. I'm afraid this is me, too. My cycles are pretty regular but my periods are very light and I can have random spotting for 2-3 days before and 2-3 days after normal flow so it is a bit hard to tell exactly when it is starting and ending - which makes it harder to predict when ovulation is occurring. I have not found the OPK kits to be very useful or accurate, so I am ordering a basal thermometer as my next strategy (well, that and basically having sex as often as possible between periods, which will also make my husband happy). I'm 35 and starting to flip out a bit after trying for 5 cycles without success. . .perimenopause tends to start in the mid-late 30's in my family, so of course I am assuming every negative thing. Should I contact my OB/GYN for a hormone test if nothing happens during the next cycle?

[Anonymous]

I do not think they are worth it. I just took my basal body temperature and charted, and from there, it's pretty clear. I don't even have regular cycles. Temping and charting are the way to go, in my humble opinion.

[Anonymous]

This is 10:34. I got a positive pregnancy test this week. So, I used the Clearblue and got pregnant on my second month. Maybe it was chance? I think it gave me a better picture of when I was ovulating and would recommend it to people.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations 10:34 --- that's great news!

[Anonymous]

I temped, charted, and monitored CM for A YEAR and nothing was working. So PP who assumed those are enough...they AREN'T. Particularly if you're having a lot of sex ( ) trying to get knocked up, CM is almost impossible. And temping doesn't work so well for everyone.

I got pregnant the first month on Clearblue easy monitor. Turns out I was ovulating way later in my cycle than my charts and temps indicated.

So yes, it's totally worth it!

[Anonymous]

I had a similar experience to 13:09. I got pregnant the second cycle after my miscarriage. The people at Clearblue told me to wait one cycle and begin the monitor again. It turned out that I was ovulating at day 23. It was really useful to have this information for the doctor so they could correctly date the pregnancy. If they had used the date of my last period, they were ready to diagnose me with another miscarriage. However, I gave them the date of my peak days on the monitor and they readjusted the calculation. Now, everything is right on point. So, I totally feel it is worth it. Besides the fact that it is kind of expensive and a bit of a pain in butt to test every morning, it can't hurt and can only help. It could also help you give information to a doctor if you are ovulating irregularly or not at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a similar experience to 13:09. I got pregnant the second cycle after my miscarriage. The people at Clearblue told me to wait one cycle and begin the monitor again. It turned out that I was ovulating at day 23. It was really useful to have this information for the doctor so they could correctly date the pregnancy. If they had used the date of my last period, they were ready to diagnose me with another miscarriage. However, I gave them the date of my peak days on the monitor and they readjusted the calculation. Now, everything is right on point. So, I totally feel it is worth it. Besides the fact that it is kind of expensive and a bit of a pain in butt to test every morning, it can't hurt and can only help. It could also help you give information to a doctor if you are ovulating irregularly or not at all.

13:09 here. Yes to info for doctors! Because I ovulate at day 19 (!), my doctor wanted to set my due date almost a week too early based on LMP. When I gave them the information from the monitor, the reset my due date. DD was born at 40w5d, so it's a good thing they reset or I may have had to do an induction for postdates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is 10:34. I got a positive pregnancy test this week. So, I used the Clearblue and got pregnant on my second month. Maybe it was chance? I think it gave me a better picture of when I was ovulating and would recommend it to people.

YAY!!!!! I was just about to rain on your parade slightly - to note on your earlier post that actually the CBFM does not actually indicate with certainty that you are ovulating, only that your body has had an estrogen rise and LH surge that would indicate it is gearing up to ovulate. The actual ovulation is only confirmed by progesterone. Your body will probably give you hints (sore breasts, temp rise) that you have ovulated, but I think a doctor actually needs to confirm via hormone levels to see if you've actually ovulated.

I may be wrong on the details but very sure about the CBFM not actually acurately predicting ovulation - just when you are about to ovulate.

I was hesitating to correct you because you seemed so relieved. Now you're pregnant so I don't worry that I'm upsetting you! Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Op here again, thanks everyone. I think the lesson is that I probably need to use the test strips every day once my period starts. I've been using them for two months during the "most likely" period and have never seen a true surge. I am wondering now if I don't ovulate far later in my cycle like some of you. That, and I am going to sex it up constantly in between periods this month and talk to my OB about next steps. My cycles are shortening slightly, my periods are shorter and lighter, so hormonally I'm pretty sure there's some changes going on. It's going to take far more work than I thought to get this right, I'm afraid.