Test brand advice and suggestion

[Vintageling]

Hi as a newbie to ttc I'm wondering what Opks and pregnancy test every one liked and that you would suggest to others.
Trying for baby #1 and I really don't know what brands to buy or even the names of some that I see spoken about as I'm not sure on some of the slang names used like frer.
Thanks in advance

 

[LucyR]

Ive always stuck to well known brands such as clear blue and first response but I have tested with cheap ones and when positive always retested with the branded ones to double check. I used clear blue ovulation kits as it gives you a smiley face rather than trying to guess depending on line strength

Hope that helps a little

 

[Vintageling]

Thank you yes it does help it's difficult for me to get information from friends as i moved only a few months ago to live with my other half and haven't really got any friends here yet

 

[LucyR]

Oh really that must be hard I’m sure your make friends quickly

 

[Vintageling]

Yea I have met alot of his friends and 4 of them have partners but I only see one regularly but I can only talk to them about ttc if my other half gives me the green light as not sure he wants his friends knowing at the moment

 

[LucyR]

Yeah it’s a hard balance between having someone to talk and ask questions and people knowing intimate stuff about your lives

 

[Vintageling]

Yea and I don't want to tell everyone myself I have a close friend who knows from back home and my sister knows we are planning to ttc but doesn't know we actually are

 

[LucyR]

Well enjoy TTC hope it all goes well for you

 

[Vintageling]

Thanks hun this is first cycle so enjoying it so far

 

[MoominGirl]

Welcome to the world of TTC!! Hope it's a short journey for you. You will find lots of opinions on this so you will need to find what works for you. I'm very happy to share mine

We were TTC for 3 years in total which was a long slog and by the end we were totally fed up and exasperated so apologies if this sounds really negative but on the other hand I also think you can argue that it's also quite practical. That's what I'm telling myself!!

I found that OPKs helped me to get to know my cycle. After sorting out a few problems, my cycles were very regular and predictable. I only used cheap OPKs (you can get a pack of 30 or more off Amazon etc) as I found they worked well for me. Yes the Clear Blue smiley face is very nice but I just couldn't justify the cost as I peed on a lot of sticks in 3 years!! My cycles were 25-27 days long and I always got my positive between CD11-CD13. In the beginning, I started testing from CD7 but soon cut that down to CD10. I stopped once it was positive. Lots of ladies do multiple tests a day. I tended to just test in the evening and maybe again in the morning if I thought it was getting close. As my cycles were so regular, I would have stopped doing them as there was no question that I was ovulating every month but I found it very useful to know that af would get me 2 weeks after the positive. It meant there was no false hope and I was totally clear on whether I was late that particular month.

As for pregnancy tests, I never kept any in the house!! I know that totally goes against the norm around here but I just didn't see the point in testing early. As we were trying so long, negative tests staring me in the face was the last thing I needed. I was better off just waiting for af since by this point I knew when she was going to arrive. I refused to test until I was actually late - I'm talking days as the time we actually caught was the first time I'd ever been late in my life and I wanted to be really sure. I couldn't have dealt with faint lines and maybes. Obviously if you do want to test early, most of the ladies on here go for FRER (first response early response) as it's one of the most sensitive. If you wait as long as I did then any test will do!! Once there's a good line, most ladies like to do a Clear Blue digital. These are quite expensive so you don't want to be wasting them by testing too early but it's nice to see the printed words.

Hope this helps!

 

[Elven]

Hi as a newbie to ttc I'm wondering what Opks and pregnancy test every one liked and that you would suggest to others.
Trying for baby #1 and I really don't know what brands to buy or even the names of some that I see spoken about as I'm not sure on some of the slang names used like frer.
Thanks in advance

I honestly just used the cheap ones. I would buy a pack of OPKs and pregnancy tests off Ebay and only used those because they worked perfectly fine for me and allowed me to do OPKs 2-3 times a day without spending tons of money. I only bought a branded pregnancy test when the cheap strips came back positive two days in a row.

Not saying you need to do that, but personally those helped to give me an idea of what my cycle was like. Ultimately I think it's just trial and error with these things, just see whatever you feel most comfortable and happy with. x

 

[Vintageling]

Welcome to the world of TTC!! Hope it's a short journey for you. You will find lots of opinions on this so you will need to find what works for you. I'm very happy to share mine

We were TTC for 3 years in total which was a long slog and by the end we were totally fed up and exasperated so apologies if this sounds really negative but on the other hand I also think you can argue that it's also quite practical. That's what I'm telling myself!!

I found that OPKs helped me to get to know my cycle. After sorting out a few problems, my cycles were very regular and predictable. I only used cheap OPKs (you can get a pack of 30 or more off Amazon etc) as I found they worked well for me. Yes the Clear Blue smiley face is very nice but I just couldn't justify the cost as I peed on a lot of sticks in 3 years!! My cycles were 25-27 days long and I always got my positive between CD11-CD13. In the beginning, I started testing from CD7 but soon cut that down to CD10. I stopped once it was positive. Lots of ladies do multiple tests a day. I tended to just test in the evening and maybe again in the morning if I thought it was getting close. As my cycles were so regular, I would have stopped doing them as there was no question that I was ovulating every month but I found it very useful to know that af would get me 2 weeks after the positive. It meant there was no false hope and I was totally clear on whether I was late that particular month.

As for pregnancy tests, I never kept any in the house!! I know that totally goes against the norm around here but I just didn't see the point in testing early. As we were trying so long, negative tests staring me in the face was the last thing I needed. I was better off just waiting for af since by this point I knew when she was going to arrive. I refused to test until I was actually late - I'm talking days as the time we actually caught was the first time I'd ever been late in my life and I wanted to be really sure. I couldn't have dealt with faint lines and maybes. Obviously if you do want to test early, most of the ladies on here go for FRER (first response early response) as it's one of the most sensitive. If you wait as long as I did then any test will do!! Once there's a good line, most ladies like to do a Clear Blue digital. These are quite expensive so you don't want to be wasting them by testing too early but it's nice to see the printed words.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm pretty clued in with my cycles to be fair but I never trust ovulation pain as I have a chronic pain condition so I never trust if it's actually o pain or fibro pain. I take my bbt when I remember before jumping out of bed and thanks to this site I'm starting to monitor my cm so fingers crossed. I'm going to try opks again now i understand them more just so I can 100% pin point my ovulation to give us the best chances as I'm sure we missed ovulation this month but I could be wrong

 

[Vintageling]

Hi as a newbie to ttc I'm wondering what Opks and pregnancy test every one liked and that you would suggest to others.
Trying for baby #1 and I really don't know what brands to buy or even the names of some that I see spoken about as I'm not sure on some of the slang names used like frer.
Thanks in advance

I honestly just used the cheap ones. I would buy a pack of OPKs and pregnancy tests off Ebay and only used those because they worked perfectly fine for me and allowed me to do OPKs 2-3 times a day without spending tons of money. I only bought a branded pregnancy test when the cheap strips came back positive two days in a row.

Not saying you need to do that, but personally those helped to give me an idea of what my cycle was like. Ultimately I think it's just trial and error with these things, just see whatever you feel most comfortable and happy with. x

Thanks it's just with brands and all that I literally have no idea I do have a pack of opks I got with my bbt thermometer but I didn't understand them very well but I understand them better now so will try again with them on the next cycle

 

[Princess81]

I personally find the Tesco pregnancy tests to be really good

 

[Vintageling]

Thanks hun my closest supermarket or anything is morrisons and also poundworld lol the rest is a good mile and half away

 

[IVW]

On the occasion in the past where i thought there might be a chance i was pregnant (when not actually wanting to be) i always bought them from poundland - If i was pregnant then i am sure it wouldnt have got that wrong....i would hope anyway

since then, thats what i have been buying - stupidly only now have i realised that my cycle is longer than i thought. Idiot here thought it was 28 days, so was doing tests when i was late - turns out i wasnt late and my cycle is 31 days - what a plonker - so in that situation, i am glad i only bought them from poundland only 6 months wasted lol!

So since my cycle situation, i have then bought the ovulation strips from poundland to see what happens with those - not holding out much hope, but either way we know when we need to dtd - i think it was more curiosity sakes as to the reason why i bought them and my sister nagging in my ear - 'but are you actually ovulating'

I dont see the point in forking out loads on expensive tests if the cheaper ones tell you yay or nay in some way.

My sister then gave me one of the expensive ones she had - so will saver that for when i have done ten of the poundland ones and can justify weeing on an expensive one

 

[Vintageling]

I didn't see any in poundworld but I grabbed a morrisons own for just in case this month I'll totally fork out for the more expensive ones if I get a bfp on the Morrison's test

 

[Crumble]

Thank you yes it does help it's difficult for me to get information from friends as i moved only a few months ago to live with my other half and haven't really got any friends here yet

Hi!!! I do leave near Liverpool....well, not that far away

 

[Vintageling]

Thank you yes it does help it's difficult for me to get information from friends as i moved only a few months ago to live with my other half and haven't really got any friends here yet

Hi!!! I do leave near Liverpool....well, not that far away

Hi awesome. I haven't long moved here I'm originally from north Wales but moved to live with my other half.

 

[Crumble]

Thank you yes it does help it's difficult for me to get information from friends as i moved only a few months ago to live with my other half and haven't really got any friends here yet

Hi!!! I do leave near Liverpool....well, not that far away

Hi awesome. I haven't long moved here I'm originally from north Wales but moved to live with my other half.

I moved here 5 years ago from Italy.....I know the feeling to be "on your own" when you are new to a place