Help! Electronic test says neg. but I see a faint line.. and only 3 DPO!

[Dedeesunshine86]

ETA: I am def. new at this... The I accidentally pasted link to my chart in the middle of my post haha.. please check it out

Hello everyone! I haven't introduced myself properly yet but I am coming out of lurkdom because I'm going crazy!  FertilityFriend basically said I O'd on Tuesday, which makes sense because my temps steadily dropped...then spiked the next day and my cm went from watery to creamy afterwards.  So I am only 3 DPO today if that is correct.  So I tent to obsess over looking for prego symptoms during the dreaded 2WW and I took one leftover EPT electronic test that said "not pregnant" but I know about how lines can come out very faint when its really early do of course I had to beat a dead horse and rip the thing open to see for myself. I swear I saw an EXTREMLY faint 2'nd line. so faint it's only BARLEY visable when held up to the light at an angle... I cant even get it to show up on my (not so quality) camera phone. me and DP have DTD pretty much every day for since AF and every day around ovulation .a couple times twice a day.  This may be my imagination but when I squeeze lightly my breasts feel tendehttp://www.fertilityfriend.com/ttc/index.php?interface=0r, and oddly enough my left feels fuller than the right.. and a little hard inside..like the empty milk ducts feel swollen almost (I BF my first 2) Ive also been unusually tired today and yesterday but that may be a coincidence.

     So this is my first month charting.. the only thing I can think of is that my ovulation date was earlier than I thought.. but my cm and temps point VERY clearly to tues which means im only 3 DPO... could this be possible?  the faint line is DEF. there!  for what it's worth, I did take this test in the evening yesterday, not the morning. and Ive been urinating alot today.. and yesterday.  I'm too embarresed to tell DP until I get some advice in case it's just wishful thinking...

TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dedee

ETA: I forgot to mention that I had a big temp dip yesterday.. don't know if I could have ovulated earlier than FF said.. and maybe it was an implantation dip?

Edited by Dedeesunshine86 - 10/28/11 at 12:05pm

[JelloPanda]

http://www.peeonastick.com/hpt/digitalsecret.html

Two lines don't mean anything.  The display on the test is right, "reading" the stick after you rip open the test is useless. At 3dpo, the egg hasn't even implanted yet  (Usually around 6-10dpo). 

Good luck, and try to hold off testing a big longer!

[Dedeesunshine86]

Thanks,  the mind really does play tricks during that 2WW! I'll wait to test again until at least 10 days..keeping my fingers crossed!

[Jaimee]

Hi Dedeesunshine!  Welcome to MDC!! 

JelloPanda is completely correct, you cannot consider any lines outside the viewing window to indicate a BFP.  Many negative tests develop lines outside the viewing window when used.  Even if the line is within the viewing window, it must appear within the proper time frame (usually 10 minutes) and be colored to be a BFP.  If the line shows up afterward and/or is too faint to really tell if it's there or properly colored (not grey), then you must consider it a BFN... for now.

Like JelloPanda mentioned, the embryo will implant somewhere between 6 and 12 DPO, but 84% of the time it will be between 8 and 10 DPO.  3 DPO is impossible for implantation, plus usually the embryo needs a couple of days beyond implanting to build up enough hCG to trigger a positive on an HPT.

I am unable to view your chart.  To share your chart with us, go to the share button beneath your chart and copy and past the url.  It should look something like this: http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/25f63a (with different letters/numbers, obviously).  If you repost, I'd be happy to take a look at it and see if O might have been earlier.  But from what you're saying about your temps and CF it's much more likely that you had a BFN and just need to wait a few more days to test again!  Good luck!

[Dedeesunshine86]

I saw the link didn't work I think this should... http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/386e9e  thanks for the info.. I was totally jumping the gun.. I just looked at my chart again and it def. looks like I did ovulate on that date...  I should probably test again around the 10'th or so..keeping my fingers crossed!  I also just recieved my Vitex this morning which I'll start taking after AF (if it shows)

[Jaimee]

Hmmm...  the interesting thing about your chart is that your temps are not absolutely conclusive.  While your CF does point to CD 20, it is possible that you did not O until CD 22 when your temp truly spiked.  Not to mention that you had random spotting on CD 22.  Is that typical for you?  It could be O spotting or hormonal fluctuations.  Just something to keep in mind when testing.

Is this your first chart?  If not, do you have others you could share as a comparison?  If so, I would highly recommend taking your temp all the way through your cycle so that you can get a better picture of what your pre-O temps are like.

[Dedeesunshine86]

It is my first chart.. and I only started halfway through Oct. so its not even a fulll month's worth of charting yet.  That's interesting about the temp.. I thought that the O date was always the FIRST temp spike after a slow decline so mine looked like that BUT, I did have the spotting on the 22'nd.. but It was right after we DTD so I thought my cervix was just irritated (It seemed to "get bumped"  hard alot that time lol.  well I was just looking at the little hearts on my chart so if I DID ovulate on CD22... at least we DTD on that day and the 3 leading up to it.... which is what I was aiming for so eather way I think I still have good chances since we did it every day of the fertile window, whether I ovulated on CD20 or CD22.

[Jaimee]

There are a lot of variations on charting rules and there is always a bit of an art to it in the end since women aren't machines and these things are not always exact.  So even though your temps were dipping and then spiked, that doesn't necessarily mean that first spike was your O spike.  Usually when we talk about a temp dip prior to O, it's just one day of a dip and then the spike, not a steady decline.  The fact that your temps did steadily decline is actually a bit odd, considering you started past AF when your temps should be fairly consistent.  As your chart is now, we don't know if the higher temps or the lower temps are "normal" for your pre-O phase in order to correctly decipher while spike is truly your O spike.  Often when you're dealing with nightwakings, breastfeeding, etc. (any of those true for you?) temps can be more erratic so it becomes even more necessary to see the overall pattern instead of just a dip and a possible spike.  If you do not get a BFP this cycle, hopefully you'll have a much better idea of what your follicular (pre-O) temps look like by charting from CD 1.  Anyway, you're right though, that whether it was CD 20 or 22, you DTD throughout and a two day difference is not so much when it comes to testing.  Good luck!

[Dedeesunshine86]

I think it may be eractic because I havn't managed to temp at the EXACT same time every day.. usually DH get's up for work around 8:15 and I temp then, but sometimes Ive woken up closer to 7 and figured it would make more sense to temp then than to go back to sleep and temp at 8:15 (since you need the 3 consecutive hours of sleep, or whatever they say)  also, a couple of night's I had slept after having a couple glasses of wine (which I'm not doing anyways now during the 2WW in case the little bean sticks)  also, Ive always had  temps (even before ttc) that seem on the low end of the scale (It's unusual for me to be the average of 98.6)  oh and less than half the time I wake up with DH's arms still around me so I'm sure that would make a slight difference as well.  at least we usually manage to dtd at every other day  even if I cant pinpoint O exactly yet.  The only thing that made me confused was that weve DTD for periods of time almost every night for about a year and a half now with no luck but we wernt ACTIVELY ttc.. (no charting or anything) and we both used to drink almost every eve. and smoke ciggarettes (yuck... I know) but I would have quit as soon as I found out I had concieved.. Im new at getting back into the crunchy lifestyle I used to have...so also I think my body is still getting back into baby-making mode after a few years of having an unhealthy lifestyle.  I have 2 kids from a previous relationship, ages 4 and 6.. and back in the day when I got very easily preggers with them.. (I fell off the healthy/ natural living bandwagon for a few years)  I was 18 when I concieved my (planned) dd and had a much healthier lifestyle like mine is now so im sure it will have a better chance of happening.. and Im only 25 so i know I still have eggs left, of course.. I just hope the unhealthy lifestyle I lived for a couple years didn't effect my ability to concieve this present day....

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by Dedeesunshine86 

I think it may be eractic because I havn't managed to temp at the EXACT same time every day.. usually DH get's up for work around 8:15 and I temp then, but sometimes Ive woken up closer to 7 and figured it would make more sense to temp then than to go back to sleep and temp at 8:15 (since you need the 3 consecutive hours of sleep, or whatever they say) 

I have personally found that taking my temp around the same TIME is much more important for consistency than the 3 hour block of sleep.  I've charted for years with frequently nighwaking, breastfeeding LO's and always seen a clear biphasic pattern when I aim for the same time.