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If you think you know when you ovulate during your cycle, think again.  One of the main reasons healthy, fertile women fail to conceive is due to poor timing of intercourse.  Ovulation predictor kits are essential when you are trying to conceive because they help to identify your most fertile days.  This will greatly increase your chances of becoming pregnant.

Why do I need an ovulation kit?

Most women have been taught that the average length of a woman’s menstrual cycle is 28 days, and that ovulation occurs on day 14.  However, cycles can vary greatly, especially for those of us who stop taking birth control pills in order to conceive.  You might find that you have much longer or shorter cycles, and ovulation does not necessarily occur halfway through your cycle.  Ovulation predictor kits can help you pinpoint when you are about to ovulate, so that you can time intercourse accordingly.

For example, let’s say a woman has a 32-day cycle, and she ovulates on day 20 of that cycle.  If she assumed that she ovulated on day 14 and had intercourse around that time, she would be off by 6 days.  Keeping in mind that sperm can only survive inside a woman’s body for a maximum of 5 days, this woman would miss her actual ovulation date every time.  By using an ovulation predictor kit, she would have identified that her ovulation occurred later than she had been expecting, and she would be able to plan for intercourse at her most fertile time of the month.

How do ovulation predictor kits work?

Just before ovulation, your body produces more luteinizing hormone (LH) in order to help the mature ovum release from its protective follicle.  Ovulation predictor kits detect this LH “surge” and indicate that you are in your fertile window.  When your ovulation test shows a positive result, it means ovulation is likely to occur within 24 to 36 hours.  You are most fertile in the 2-3 days before ovulation as well as on the day you ovulate.  Many women choose to test twice a day to be sure they do not miss their LH surge, thus increasing their chances of becoming pregnant.

You have a much better chance of becoming pregnant if you can predict when ovulation is likely to occur.  However, an LH surge does not guarantee that you will ovulate, and some women experience multiple LH surges throughout the course of their cycles.  The only way to tell if you actually ovulated is to track your basal body temperature and look for an increased thermal shift which indicates that ovulation has occurred.  Read more about basal temperature charting here.

Where can I buy ovulation predictor kits?

Ovulation predictor kits are available at most supermarkets and discount stores such as Ralphs, CVS and Wal-Mart, but they only carry the digital and midstream varieties.  There are several kinds of ovulation predictor kits, but they all provide the same results.  The cheapest ovulation tests are available online, and some websites even offer free shipping.

• Digital tests like the Clearblue Total Digital Ovulation Test ($18.95 for 7 tests) have a digital readout display which many women find is easier to interpret than traditional lines.

• The most common ovulation tests are the midstream versions, such as the First Response Easy-Read One-Step Ovulation Predictor Test Kit ($15.95 for 7 tests), which are held directly in the stream of urine.

• The most cost-conscious ovulation kits, which are an attractive option if you plan on testing twice a day, are the BabyHopes Ovulation Test Strips.  You can choose the quantity of tests you would like, and they cost from $0.60-$1.79 per test, depending on how many you order.  Plus, BabyHopes offers free shipping on every order!

• Finally, consider buying a combo pack of ovulation predictor kits and home pregnancy tests such as the Combo Pack 40 (LH) Ovulation Tests + 10 Early Detection (HCG) Pregnancy Test Strip Pack by DMI ($10.52 on Amazon) to get the most for your money.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health
This book is a must-read for any woman who wants to learn more about how her body works. Whether you are trying to conceive, or you want to avoid pregnancy without the use of traditional birth control methods, Toni Weschler’s Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) will teach you more about your body then you could ever imagine. Learn how to use simple fertility signs including peaks in morning body temperature and changes in cervical position and cervical mucus to determine when you are ovulating and when you are most fertile.

Read what women are saying about this book:

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“I honestly thought that just being a woman ~ I knew all I needed to know to get pregnant. I am 35 now and ready to have a baby, so I stopped taking the pill and waited 2 cycles and thought all I had to do was plan our night of fun close to Ovulation “Day 14″. Was I ever wrong!!

After trying unsuccessfully on my own for 5 months, I started to question my fertility. I purchased ovulation test strips and they wouldn’t show a peak ovulation. I found others online who were trying to conceive and recommended this book. Once I received the book, I couldn’t put it down! I was amazed at what little information I actually knew about my cycle ~ my own body and what it had been telling me all along. I just didn’t understand it.

I learned not everyone ovulates on “Day 14″, for me it is actually “Day 23″. I assumed I wasn’t ovulating and got frustrated at day 20-21 and would stop testing. I now know to look for signals to show when I’m ovulating and now test in the correct window.

By reading this book I now have a clear understanding of my cycle. At my age, I want to have a baby sooner than later, so I plan on taking a more aggressive approach to my fertilization. I talked with my doctor after 6 months, rather than 1 year. With the help of this book and charting, I was able to explain my cycle and show my doctor all my charts. I was able to provide all the information needed to show I have a short luteal phase. By providing this information to the doctor, we will be able to treat the ovulation problem that much quicker. My doctor commented that I was extremely organized and it really helped things along.

This book is very easy to read and understand. You will be able to clearly read your own body signals during your cycle, and have a better understanding of your fertilization ~ whether you want to become pregnant – or not.

I will share this book with other women and would recommend it for every woman!”
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“I bought this book after 4 unsuccessful months of trying, which was after 3 months of waiting after having 2 miscarriages. Since I’d gotten pregnant right away with my first child, I figured there might be something I needed to learn and I couldn’t have been more right. This book is an absolute must for anyone, whether you’re trying to get pregnant or not. I learned more about my body in the day and a half it took me to read the book than I ever did in any of the sex ed classes in school. After 4 months of what we thought was perfect timing and no success, we thought there might be a problem. I bought the book to learn about detecting ovulation and potential fertility problems. I got pregnant the first cycle I charted because of the knowledge I gained about ovulation and its signals. I learned through charting that I ovulated on Day 21 rather than Day 14. I was also able to determine I was pregnant without even taking a test! I’m so thrilled about the knowledge I’ve gained by reading this book and I feel much more in tune with my body now that I am pregnant. I urge any woman to get this book if you are at all interested in your body, pregnancy achievement, or pregnancy avoidance. This book is very well written in plain English that is easy to understand. The illustrations, color photographs, and numerous charting patterns were especially helpful to me. I can’t say enough about this book!”

Chances are, if you are trying to conceive, you have heard people talking about basal body temperature charting. Many women have found that they can conceive much sooner if they chart their basal body temperature (BBT). So why is this possibly the best way to get pregnant? In this article, we define BBT and explain how you can use it to help you take charge of your fertility.

When trying to conceive, it is important to understand how your hormones work during your monthly cycle. During the first half of your cycle (from the first day of your last period through ovulation), estrogen is the primary hormone in charge. The estrogen is what produces an egg each month to be released from your ovaries. This part of your cycle is called the follicular phase. The second half of your cycle (from ovulation until your next period) is called the luteal phase. During this time, the hormone progesterone takes over and will be the primary hormone in charge until it drops off just before your next menstrual period.

Why is Basal Body Temperature Charting Important?
It’s really quite simple. When estrogen is in charge, your body runs slightly cooler than when progesterone is in charge. When your basal body temperature increases, or “spikes,” it means you have ovulated. So, while ovulation predictor kits can tell you when ovulation is pending, they really only give you a window (a positive ovulation test means ovulation will likely occur within 24-48 hours). Charting your BBT, on the other hand, will tell you when ovulation has occurred, so you know for sure when your timing is most effective.

How Do I Get Started with Basal Body Temperature Charting?
You will need a good quality digital basal thermometer, which is much more sensitive than a traditional fever thermometer, but you can purchase one for about the same price (Babyhopes.com sells one for $10.95: Click here). Your basal temperature is your temperature when your body is at rest, first thing in the morning.  To make sure you are charting accurately, keep a notebook and pen on your nightstand and take your temperature before getting out of bed each morning.  This should be done every day at the same time, which may mean that you will have to wake up early on the weekends to record your temperature.  Some people prefer to use computer programs or websites to chart.  Fertilityfriend.com is a free program that tracks your temperature and other symptoms to make charting easy.  Click here to see a sample chart and join Fertilityfriend.  Some websites also offer printable graphs to record your information on (try this one from Storknet.com).

What Should I Look For?
When you have ovulated, you can expect to see a spike in temperature ranging from about .5 to 1.6 degrees. You are most fertile in the 2-3 days before ovulation, and up to 24 hours after ovulation has occurred. You will know for sure that you have ovulated when you have 3 consecutive days of increased temperatures. Of course, three days after ovulation is too late to become pregnant, so it’s best to have intercourse as soon as you notice a temperature spike. You may need to chart for a couple of months to see when you tend to ovulate. Try to have intercourse every day in the days leading up to ovulation. To identify your exact fertile window, and for the best way to get pregnant, use a basal thermometer in conjunction with an ovulation predictor kit. If you do not see a consistent rise in temperature in the second half of your cycle, it is possible that you are not ovulating. In this case, you can bring your basal body temperature chart to your doctor to seek possible treatments.

Source: www.storknet.com

We have heard many tips and tricks for getting pregnant.  From taking Mucinex for increased fluid production, to propping up your hips and letting gravity do its thing, to old wives’ tales about determining the gender of your baby (have sex on odd days of the month for a boy; have sex during a full moon for a girl)…But what REALLY works?
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If you are pregnant, please share your pregnancy success story with us and with mommies-to-be that are in need of a little baby dust.  How long did it take you to get pregnant?  Did you do anything crazy to try to get pregnant?  Do you have any pregnancy tips or tricks that you believe worked for you?  Any tips on getting pregnant that you’d like to share with those trying to conceive would be greatly appreciated!  Congrats again on your BFP!

Are you trying to decide which pregnancy test to buy?  Or do you have a favorite brand that you’d recommend?  (Leave us a comment below if this is you!)  I have reviewed the EPT Pregnancy Test and the First Response Pregnancy Test (Early Result).  Here are my findings:

The EPT test, ironically called the Error-Proof Test, uses a blue dye that is prone to false positives, or at least vertical lines that can resemble faint positives.  Beware of pregnancy tests that use a “plus” sign to indicate pregnancy, as many of these tests use blue dye.  Other blue dye pregnancy tests include Clear Blue +, Equate +, Fact Plus, and several store brands such as CVS and Rite Aid.  Notice the faint blue vertical line in the left “test” window on the EPT:

It is important to note that the horizontal test line on the EPT pregancy test is not a solid line, but actually a series of four dotted lines.  In the picture above, you may be able to see that there are a few dots that show up above the horizontal line and to the right of the the vertical line as well.  I also noticed this on one other EPT test that is not pictured.  Due to the stray dots and vertical line, this test resembles a faint positive.

The First Response Pregnancy Test, on the other hand, uses a pink dye that is notoriously more accurate than the blue dye.  Other pregnancy tests that use pink dye are Accuclear, Dollar Tree brand, and BabyConfirm by Confirm Sciences.  The pink dye tests generally use one vertical line to show “not pregnant” and two vertical lines to show “pregnant.”  The lines are clear, bright, and solid rather than dotted.  Also, since they do not intersect, they are less likely “bleed” into one another.  The picture on the left shows a negative First Response test (top) and a negative EPT test (bottom).  Notice how the pink line is much clearer and the blue dye test shows a faint “positive” line.

Many women, myself included, have been misled by blue dye pregnancy tests such as EPT.  I would therefore strongly recommend purchasing a pink dye test such as First Response Early Result ($15 for 3 tests). If cost is a concern, consider purchasing a package of generic test strips from Amazon ($6 for 25 tests).

Is there a pregnancy test that you swear by?  Leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts on the best pregnancy test on the market.