OPK pic and question. Is this + or wishfull thinking?

[hoping4just1more]

Ok. I have been taking opks here and there but today I actually got stumped. I understand the test line needs to be as dark as or darker than the control line, but does that apply to the whole line? I have only a partial line. I am using the OPKs from babyhopes.com if any of you use those how do you usually get your lines. Are they full on or partials?

I am going to try and post a pic in this thread so you all can see what I am talking about but I am not quit sure how so bare with me. I might be doing some editing until I get it posted correctly. My camera is kind of crappy but I am anxious to see what the answer to this question is because even if the pic does not do my opk justice, the thin line that is on there is as dark as the control line in person.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3433/sdc10482f.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Kimmiepie]

I think it is a dud and I would try another.

[karmab]

oh no, that is not positive. when they are positive, there is no question. and i dont know why that line is so thin like that.

[hoping4just1more]

I am almost thinking I have a bad batch because any line I have gotten with them is thin like that. I actually have another brand of tests (that I despise) but just for comparison purposes I might use both of them with the same urine in a minute here and see what happens.

OPK's are usually my method of choice when TTCing so I know what they should like when +, I have just have not run into any that have partial lines. I am used to getting the full thick line that puts the control line to shame.

[CLH_X3]

I think it might be a defected batch, that line looks wayyyyyy to thin!

[karmab]

maybe you can email that pic to the company and see if it's a bad batch, if they will refund your money, or if that's how they are supposed to be.

i think there's the secret to opks- well, first, i dont know much about the kind that tell you 50% of the line has to be at least as dark or whatever. i think that is what causes so much frustration. i have never had a problem with an ic like wondfo's or a $tree. it's either pos or it's not, and the secret to reading them may be, unlike hpts, hold them at arms length! dont look too close. if at arm's length, the test line is as dark or darker than the control- it's positive. if it's not, it's probably not. here are mine from today. the top one is from about 11 am, and i guess if you look at it reaaaally close, part of the line is as dark as the control, but i just looked at it and said it's negative, because it is. now, i knew then there was a good chance it might go pos today or at the latest tomorrow, because yesterdays was very faint, and i usually get a fade in like that, so i checked again at 4 pm, that's the bottom one and it is no doubt absotively posilutely positive.

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...os/mdc/005.jpg

[TTC]

I used to get thin or light lines and would think I had a bad batch until recently I saw a REAL positive and it was a solid block as dark as the test line. I was always sure my other ones must be positive since some of it would show and thought I had some that were made wrong, but in the same batch once I got a real positive I knew to ignore the ones that weren't fully solid. But to have peace of mind I would purchase another one even if it's an additional cost otherwise I don't think it's possible to come to terms with it

Here's an answer i found for you in another thread the page over asking about if the faint line means positive, that I thought it applies for you too. It sounds like unless your brand is Answer, then you do have a positive because the (thin) line is as dark as the control:

"if you are taking Answer brand tests 50% of the width of the line or more has to be as dark as or darker than the control. (Because they for some odd reason only get dark on the one side and can look positive when not because they have a thin dark edge)

pretty much any other brand, any amount of the line that is as dark as or darker than the control is positive."

[hoping4just1more]

@KarmaB-->Great pics......that helped so much!

@TTC-->That is what I had read on the instructions so I was kind of just getting reassurance on here, but little did I know that so many would consider it a negative test. I am still trying to catch my first egg after DD2 so this kind of line is like a major deal for me since I pretty much always get nothing at all. I am really kicking myself right now for not temping because now I am not going to find out for weeks if that was a line or not.

[karmab]

hoping- cm and cp are just as good if not better at telling you what is going on anyway. do you check those? if you have bbt therm on hand (or can run out to the grocery store/walmart/pharmacy tonight) you can still start temping tomorrow and you might just get enough info to tell. what cd are you? otherwise, i would keep taking the opks and checking cm/cp and see what happens. for next cycle, if there is one, you might want to try amazon.com maybe for ics. i think ebay has them too. i havent used babyhopes before, so i dont know specifics about their stuff, but i get mine from amazon, usually free shipping and good prices too.

[hoping4just1more]

@Karmab--->still hoping to catch the first post pardom egg before DH goes to Afghanistan. Which is only 3 weeks away. I had a garage sale today and a midwife happened to stop by (8 months pg with a 9 month old LO and tubes tied ) and she swore that with nettle tea I had a high chance of producing an egg within a few weeks. But I did consider running out to buy a BBT since that is the only way I would for sure know, however I had no time today. But I think I may run out and get one tomorrow while DH is sleeping in the morning. I had issues with him a few weeks ago saying things that made me feel bad about taking all these OPKs and the suggestion on MDC was to just keep that side of TTCing to myself. Although I am about 110% sure he saw that OPK today and he all of a sudden wanted to DTD a few times today which is not normal for us. So that made me feel really happy. But yeah......BBT.....gotta get one in the morning. I have no idea where the one I used last time we were TTCing is. We have moved a few times since then.

[karmab]

good luck! i hope you get an egg! and thank you to you and your dh for his service.

[karmab]

just for fun, here's an update.

here is the previous pic i posted above, from cd11, showing the fade in, 2 opks, 5 hours apart- the first one is neg, the second is pos- http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t.../mdc/005-1.jpg

now, for the new pic:
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...os/mdc/006.jpg
the top one is from yesterday (cd12) at 2 pm. still very positive. i only did one yesterday- generally, once i get a pos, i will check once a day till it goes neg AND (a new regimen, because of things ive seen with my mdc friends here) until i get crosshairs.

the bottom one is from 1 pm today, negative. i'd give it about an 8.5 out of 10- it's still quite dark, but it's negative.

here's my chart. http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/2caf4e

hope this helps someone out there! i love opks, i think they are great backup, they just can take a bit of trial and error before you figure out the poas regime that is most effective.

[TTC]

Karmab - thanks for sharing your chart. That is really great, I am motivated to start taking my temp too, I just need to get a thermometer! I feel like I've wasted a whole cycle not doing it.

hoping- I hope that was a positive and wish you lotsa luck!

I tested positive Friday evening and even this morning I'm still getting a positive OPK so not sure what that means if the surge is high for so long. I know you're supposed to stop testing after the first positive but I can't help it. Sat afternoon was the darkest, then got fainter and then darker again.

[karmab]

Originally Posted by TTC

I tested positive Friday evening and even this morning I'm still getting a positive OPK so not sure what that means if the surge is high for so long. I know you're supposed to stop testing after the first positive but I can't help it. Sat afternoon was the darkest, then got fainter and then darker again.

here's what i think about that. as far as this widely-held belief that after your first opk you should stop testing--- after a lot of experience with this myself, and listening to a lot of other ttc'ers experiences, i think you are absolutely right to continue testing, here's why...

in a perfect world, we get our first pos opk, and we o 36 hours later, right on schedule, right? not so fast. in a lot of cycles, this is not what happens. sometimes for whatever reason, we get a surge, it isnt quite enough, we dont o, and we get another surge 24 hours later, 48 hours later, or a week later, who knows, and that's when we o. this is not uncommon. if you arent temping especially, this is a recipe for a missed egg, because you get 1 pos opk, think you are o'ing, bd, and then stop, thinking your fertile window is passed. even with temping/checking cm and cp, it's confusing. this is why i am now continuing opks clear through until my temp confirms ovulation with a sustained thermal shift and crosshairs. it's also possible to o twice, even though we are taught this will always happen, if it does, within 24 hours, the truth is we dont know all the answers...

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...e-a-month.html

this isnt even taking into account the fact that you might get a dud batch of opks, or even just one defective one, and it throws you off. we know for sure that hpts are often more sensitive than they claim to be, we know this from betas. if you get an opk that is more sensitive- this is a BAD thing, because you can end up with a false positive. we dont want opks to be positive below 40 mlu, because we always have lh floating around, we want to know when we have a true surge, not just an uptick.

the other thing is, if you do continue taking them, take them correctly- best time being 2 pm and never with fmu (unless the instructions say to- but i dont recommend this brand either,) and they are TRULY positive, not misinterpreted, (and this is why i do NOT recommend any brand that says you have to have 50% of the line whatever, too much ambiguity open to interpretation!) if you truly have more than 4 days of opks pos in a row, this is a possible sign of pcos, and that is information that is good to have sooner rather than later in your ttc journey. there are many things that can improve conception and pregnancy rates with pcos, but it's something you need to talk about with a hcp.

ttc- in your case, if it went fainter, if it was not positive in the middle there, i would say you had the surge/no o/re-surge scenario. keep watching cm/cp, even if you arent temping. you can even start temping tomorrow am- run and get a bbt therm at any pharmacy or even grocery store. you may still have time to get information that would be helpful this cycle, especially if you are not o'ing in the next day or two and these opks are false alarms.

[TTC]

Karmab - thank you for sharing all that good info, it makes so much sense. I'm glad I've continued testing OPK after the inital surge and the article you posted talks about how many women ovulate twice/month. This might be off topic but the info in that article has me concerned for my situation. My nurse had prescribed progesterone from day 11 and I ovulated on day 13. She told me to take it starting on day 11 to the end of my cycle.

I was unsure about this at first because I've read online all the ladies talking about taking it AFTER ovulation whereas she had me start on them BEFORE and DURING. The article you posted said that high levels of progesterone prevent an egg from releasing thereby preventing ovulation. My sonogran showed I had 2 follicles and the same day she had me start taking the progesterone. It's highly unlikely both would get conception considering they were on the small side and even people w/ 4 usually get just one successful so it's not fair she didn't consult with me first about it. I'd rather have had both eggs release and double my chances of at least having one pregnancy. I hope I"m wrong though, am in my 2ww.

[karmab]

ttc- wow. you can not take progesterone before you o. it will prevent you from o'ing. being so close, im hoping you didnt have enough p4 on board to keep an egg on the verge of popping from holding back, but this is most definitely not how progesterone is prescribed. most hcps will have you take it from 3 dpo (when you can confirm ovulation via a thermal shift x 3 days) through to af (or 14 days when you can take a hpt.) ive got my fingers crossed for you.

[karmab]