Lilypie Pregnancy tickers

Monday, August 8, 2011

Ovulation Woes...

Okay, so there is a TON to catch up on including:
  • We “passed” our psych eval (w00t!)
  • We chose a donor (holy shit!)
  • We ordered sperm today (whhaaaat?)
I’m thrilled and I will write all about it when I have a chance. Lately, all my spare time has been taken up looking for donors… I think that’s a pretty good excuse ;)

There’s something going on that I wanted to do a call out to see whether anyone had experienced this: When I was at the clinic (CD10), I bought an OvuQuick OPK from reception. I decided to test starting on CD11, even though my cycle is 27 days, so it was a bit early. 

First test = positive. Very clearly positive on CD11 (Picture #1). 

Now here’s the thing… I’ve tested every single day since then – 6 days – and all tests have come back clearly positive, including today’s (see pic #2) on CD16.

I can’t find an explanation anywhere. I’ve heard of woman who test positive for 3 days max, but never double that. I called the nurse this morning, and she just said, “that’s weird… that’s not normal”. I tried to make it clear that I’ve been taking these tests according to the clinic’s (and the manufacturer’s) instructions and am not a dumb ass. She says I could come in for an ultrasound to figure out when I ovulate, but I kind of want to know a ballpark. BBT are not consistent because I am never asleep for more than 3 hours straight (I pee often). Cervical fluid/position is inconclusive day-to-day. 

I don’t want to waste a grand next month with a shot in the dark (literally?), and I feel as though I’m even more confused about my cycle now :(

Any advice? Anyone ever had a super long LH surge? 

I want to figure this out so that we can get going next month!!

T=test
R=reference

Pic #1 (CD11)













  


Pic #2 (CD16)




12 comments:

  1. Congratulations on getting started!

    I loved going in and letting them ultrasound for ovulation. I think its much more definitive than the OPKs anyway. They would schedule me for an ultrasound based on my CD - tell me when to start testing - and using the both of them schedule the date for insemination. One month I went in for 3 ultrasounds, but they were able to measure the follicles to know right when ovulation was imminent. If it was running weird, they gave me the trigger shot to make me ovulate perfectly.

    Good Luck!

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  2. This may not be a scientific suggestion but were these tests in the same box? If so maybe they are just a bad batch and you could try another box of tests or even another brand. I was told by another woman who is ttc that she had problems with first response so she only uses clear blue and had better results.

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  3. Huh. I'm of no assistance on your OPK mystery, except to advise trying a different brand next month? Perhaps your particular hormone cocktail doesn't agree with that test. If you're worried about losing another cycle to bizarre results, what about buying a couple of different test kits and using them concurrently? I dunno. I really just posted to say congrats on the first three bullets. Exciting stuff!!

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  4. I would go with the ultrasound method. It worked for my son and dil when she was not producing nature eggs. They gave her medicine to produce eggs to maturity and when they injected my sons sperm worked first time for twin boys.

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  5. I do not trust those sticks 100%. I would recommend you have some uktrasound scans to check for ovulation, much more accurate.
    Well done for making great progress!!

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  6. eeeeee!!!! (on the donor & sperm purchase!)

    i agree with the others re: getting the ultrasound done. not sure what's going on with those sticks...very odd

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  7. According to that "Lesbian Conception" book, (http://maiamidwifery.com/books.htm), they recommend checking at least 3 of the following: cervical fluid, cervical position, ferning (http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/ovulation-tests/saliva-ovulation-predictor.htm), intuition, and those ovulation sticks (maybe among other things, I forget). Also, if you're using an ovidrel trigger shot, (obviously, the ultrasound is awesome, too) it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.

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  8. That doesn't seem right at all. Sorry for the craziness! Stupid tests.

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  9. The OPK's never worked for me. My RE had me try but it read positive when the blood test indicated I was not ready to ovulate. As others have said, the U/S is very reliable.

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  10. i hated reading those opks that made you go cross-eyed looking at little lines and trying to decide if they match. it was a little more expensive, but i went with the easy-to-read digital ones that either gave you a happy face (yay! LH surge!) or not (boo ... no OV). SOOOO much easier. good luck! =)

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  11. Hey Lex -

    I know I'm really late chiming in here, but wanted to share my own recent experience. I also tested positive for many days in a row, and only had my concerns put to rest when my OB did an ultrasound to confirm I had ovulated the day after the first positive test (I just happened to be in for my check-up).

    I also ran it by the nurse practitioner at our sperm bank, and she said testing positive several days in a row is just fine - it just shows your spike going up and then down. She said they only get concerned when women test positive from the get-go and keep testing positive. It can mean there is a hormonal issue that needs to be addressed.

    So, all that to say - have you had a hormone panel done recently? If not, I'd get that done asap. If there are underlying issues, you can have them addressed before you start trying, rather than wondering why things aren't going as planned. Also, I HIGHLY recommend getting whoever is doing the insemination to do an ultrasound before inseminating. For that small additional cost/trouble, you can know whether or not the timing is right.

    Regardless, I'd also start testing even earlier in your cycle - if you're a 27 day, you could ovulate on the very early side. Day 9 or 10 is not unheard of at all! (Our bank has us use First Response 7-day OPK - they've found it to be the most accurate, almost always showing the first positive test the day before ovulation. And they're pregnancy rates are amazing!!)

    Good luck!!! :)

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  12. I've been using OVULATION PREDICTOR for a long time and I still get butterflies when that little smiley shows his face. :) I got one from the internet by searching on Google HOME CEHCK OVULATION TEST KIT it was great!

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