How to Use an Ovulation Test ?

If you are trying to get pregnant, it’s useful to know when you are ovulating, so that you can work out the optimum time to have sex and get that sperm to work its magic.

Ovulation

Every month a number of eggs are released from your ovary and one of these eggs, normally settles in your fallopian tube to await insemination. It doesn’t stay there for long though, only up to around 24 hours if it is not fertilised.
However, if there is sperm present in the fallopian tube (sperm can live up to 7 days after it enters your vagina) then you are in with a good chance of becoming pregnant. But, as you can see there are only a few days every month when this opportunity arises. The best time to have sex is two days before you ovulate and whilst your ovulating. That’s why it is important to know when you are ovulating.

How to Work Out When You Ovulate

There are a number of different ways to pinpoint when you are ovulating. You could use the calendar method, but you need to have regular cycles to use this effectively. You could take your basal body temperature with a special thermometer and plan your results on a chart. This takes effort. Or, you could note the changes in your cervical mucus, which you might not find easy to do. All these methods are useful, but they can be time consuming and not very helpful if you’re periods aren’t regular.
An Ovulation Predictor Kit (OPK) is an accurate method of predicting when ovulation occurs, so that you can make sure your partner is at home, or your sperm donor is ready.

Saliva Kits

A saliva Ferning Kit, measures the salt in your salivary glands. It will give you unlimited tests, so it good value for money. It is a mini microscope and you use it by placing a drop of your saliva on to the lens and then allowing it to dry. Within 5 minutes you will be able to look through the microscope and see the image of your saliva. If it is forming a crystal like pattern, it means you are about to, or you are already ovulating. It is best to use the kit first thing in the morning, before you have had anything to eat or drink, or you have cleaned your teeth.

Urine Kits

Urine tests will look for the luteinising hormone (LH) which increases in your urine one or two days before ovulation. You use the kit by collecting your urine in a pot and dipping one of the sticks that come with the kit, into the urine up to the level indicated on the instructions. Don’t do it first thing in the morning, it is best to do it late morning, or in the afternoon. Make sure you haven’t had much to drink two hours before the test, because otherwise your urine could be diluted by the intake of liquid.

Once you have placed the stick inside the pot and it is wet, take it out of the pot and lay it on a dry flat surface. The results should take about 10 minutes to appear and the coloured bands will let you know whether your LH levels are raised or not.
Regular sex is obviously the key, but an ovulation kit is an easy to use method, especially if your periods are irregular. You can buy them from your pharmacy, on line in places like Amazon, or at your local Walmart. They are useful to use if you are not able to have sex on a regular basis because your partner works shifts, or away from home, or you are a single mother wanting to use a sperm donor.