In case you are at the beginning of the journey of getting pregnant, the ovulation test strips could help you a lot to understand the way your body is working and to be able to predict when to have intercourse.
This is because these kits tell you about your fertile window when the egg is released.
How do the test strips work?
The main point of these tests is that they test for LH or luteinizing hormone. This is a hormone that is always present in the body of women but there is a major increase during the most fertile days. This peak is also known as LH surge.
It is important to track the level of LH in case of the test strips for ovulation because this is a hormone which makes the ovary release an egg.
This is the period when women are the most fertile: a few days before ovulation, during ovulation and a day or two after the egg is released.
Timing
When it comes to using ovulation test strips there are some moments on the day when you are more likely to catch your LH surge.
Based on this you should make sure to test between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. or between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. it is also a good idea to test twice per day to catch the surge.
One thing to remember regarding test strips for ovulation is that although you could know that you have your surge because of a blood test, the kit could show it only later when the hormone reaches the urine too. The best thing you could do is to use the test about the same time every day.
Ovulation and LH surge
As it has been mentioned before, the ovulation test strips test for the LH level of the body. This reaches its peak about 24-36 hours prior to ovulation. According to this, you should have intercourse during this period because you could get pregnant even if you have intercourse before you ovulate.
Conception
Some of the specialists say regarding the test strips for ovulation that you should have sex about 48 hours after your surge to increase your chances of getting pregnant.
Nonetheless, as it has been mentioned before you could also get pregnant if you have intercourse a couple of days earlier.
Once the ovulation test strips show that you have a surge you could try to conceive because even though you didn’t ovulate yet, the sperm survives for a couple of days and it could fertilize the egg as soon as you ovulate.
Considerations
It is said that the test strips for ovulation are quite accurate, but there are some things that could alter the results, like drugs, such as menotropins. There are also some conditions that could result in elevated LH results. The hormone levels could get more elevated at the onset of menopause too.
The women using ovulation test strips could see that during some months they don’t ovulate. It is possible for women not to ovulate during each cycle and it means that in that given month they don’t have the possibility to get pregnant and naturally there is no LH surge either.
The conditions that could affect the results of the test strips for ovulation include polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. To make sure that the test will offer you reliable results, you should talk to your doctor to ensure that you don’t have any conditions that alter the results.
As you can see, the ovulation test strips are a good way to notice your fertile window.
