Women need to exercise control in tracking their fertility. Most women have difficulties keeping in touch with their cycle to know when they are most fertile and infertile, especially when trying to get pregnant. The ovum becomes inviable after 24 hours if fertilization does not take place. Thus it is easy to know when the ovum is being released from the ovary when using the ovulation kit.
Besides, many women make errors while using these kits, which leads to wrong results. Also, some lack knowledge on how to use them correctly. Therefore, this article will focus on how to use the test kits to monitor your fertile and infertile windows accurately.
A Quick Look at the Ovulation Time and Why It Is Important to Check It
The discharge of the ovum from the ovary is what is known as ovulation. The discharged ovum goes through the fallopian tube whereby fertilization may occur if it is met by a sperm. In case this fails to happen, it is then passed to the uterus and shed off through the vagina.
The egg comes out in the form of secretion and not in the way of blood during your periods as most people would think. This whole process of ovulation is governed by the abrupt increase in the level of luteinizing hormone.
For ovulation to take place, the follicle-stimulating hormone has to trigger the ovarian follicle so that the egg is released. Estrogen is also produced to stimulate the pituitary gland to lower the FSH production and start producing more LH, which causes the ovum to leave the ovary. That is a brief explanation of the events that precede ovulation.
Contrary to what many people may think, the egg is not released from the ovary every month. There are some months you may not experience ovulation, and this is what is also known as an anovulatory cycle. In this cycle, however, you will still receive normal menses since your uterus would be preparing for a possible pregnancy. Therefore, your endometrium must eventually shed off.
You are most fertile during the ovulation time, so take note of these days. It’s important to develop a routine of checking this period, especially if you and your partner are trying to get a baby or if you want to avoid pregnancy.
Moreover, monitoring this period has some other health benefits. For instance, the lack of ovulation could be an indicator of an underlying medical condition such as hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Also, without ovulation, the level of progesterone drops. A deficit in progesterone results in bone loss and abnormal menstrual bleeding. This may contribute to perimenopause and PMS symptoms.
What Is an Ovulation Kit and How Does It Function?
It is also known as the ovulation predictor test kit. Just from its name, it predicts when the ovum will be released from the ovary. It forecasts days or even hours when the ovum will be released. This is possible because the kit immediately picks when there is a surge in the luteinizing hormone, which takes place before your ovulation. The kit tests the amount of this hormone in the urine. Therefore, when it is concentrated, it will be noted by the kit. Lack of this hormone means that there will be no ovulation taking place.
The common kits usually have two lines, which include the control line that indicates whether the kit is working and the test line, which is in charge of determining the concentration of the luteinizing hormone in your urine. If there is a presence of the LH, the test line will be darker compared to the control line. Similar to pregnancy kits, you can choose to pay more or less money based on the design or technology you prefer.
The digital versions monitor both estrogen and LH levels. This makes it possible to determine more fertile days. Hence you can have pregnancy sex days before ovulation, or you otherwise avoid the sex. The stripped one, which resembles the pregnancy test kit, will only detect the rise in the LH, and hence you will know your ovulation day immediately before it happens, for example, 12 to 36 hours before taking place. Your choice will depend on how comfortable you are to interpret the results since they can be challenging to read at times.
How to Use the Ovulation Test Kit
I always emphasize reading instructions first. When you follow instructions to the latter, you are highly unlikely to go wrong or get inaccurate results.
You should also understand your menstrual cycle and estimate the middle of the cycle so that you can start testing days before your ovulation to avoid using many strips on days very far from your ovulation. You can count around 7 days after your periods, and then you can start testing.
One can use the ovulation calendar or calculator applications to know around what time you ovulate. If you experience irregular periods, it’s okay since these kits come with several strips, and thus you can do frequent tests. To ensure you get the correct results when carrying out your ovulation test, you should follow these twelve steps:
- First, you should ensure the container you are urinating in is sterilized.
- Take out the test strip from the box or the paper that it is wrapped in.
- Hold it in a vertical position and make sure the arrows on the strip are pointing downwards.
- Go ahead and urinate on the sterilized container.
- Dip the strip in the container approximately at a quarter-inch and hold it in the same position for up to five seconds (placing the strip in the container of urine for a longer time will lead to poor incorrect results).
- Ensure the strip is not dipped past the stop line.
- Take the strip out and lay it flat.
- You can then read your results 5-10 minutes later.
- Look at the control line. If it cannot be seen, then your test is not valid.
- If the test line appears to be darker than the control line, it is an indication of a rise in LH, which signifies that ovulation will occur in 12-36 hours.
- If your test line is dark, you do not need to take another test.
- Do not test using the first-morning urine since it is concentrated, and the LH may not be detected. Try to collect it midmorning at around 10 a.m. or at 8 p.m. The collection time should be maintained every day that you will be taking the test.
Keeping track of your fertile window or ovulation day is easy because there is a science behind it, and detection methods like the predictor kits have simplified the process. If you are planning to have a baby, then using ovulation kits is an effortless way to go. Of course, you can use other methods such as the basal temperature method, but I can assure you that this is the most accurate method as long as the instructions are followed properly.
Most of these kits give 98-99% accurate results. Therefore, if you have constantly been asking when do you ovulate, then you can burst this bubble by trying out these ovulation kits. If you are trying to have a baby, you should also keep in touch with your gynecologist for more professional advice.