After trying to conceive for the last 9 months I decided to invest £20 in an ovulation prediction kit to see if that would improve my chances. I'd read about these in a baby forum which I frequent and they were well recommended by those who had used them. I bought the ClearPlan kit as it is ... Read review
...by the same manufacturers as ClearBlue pregnancy tests.
~~~~ How They Work ~~~~
The CleaPlan kit comes with 5 tests which you should use on 5 consecutive days. The tests detect the level of lutinising hormone (LH) in your urine. LH should always be present but will levels will rise just before ovulation. Once you have detected your LH surge you know that you will ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours. Making love at your most ... ...These should not be used as a contraceptive method due to lifecycles of sperm and ova.
~~~~ When To Test ~~~~
The ClearPlan instructions give you a table showing when you should perform the tests. Ovulation takes place 12 to 14 days before your period and the table shows when you should start testing. You simply work out the length of your cycle then see how many days after the start of your last period you should test. The ... more
After trying to conceive for the last 9 months I decided to invest £20 in an ovulation prediction kit to see if that would improve my chances. I'd read about these in a baby forum which I frequent and they were well recommended by those who had used them. I bought the ClearPlan kit as it is made by the same manufacturers as ClearBlue pregnancy tests.
~~~~ How They Work ~~~~ The CleaPlan kit comes with 5 tests which you should use on 5 consecutive days. The tests detect the level of lutinising hormone (LH) in your urine. LH should always be present but will levels will rise just before ovulation. Once you have detected your LH surge you know that you will ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours. Making love at your most fertile time gives you a better chance of becoming pregnant. These should not be used as a contraceptive method due to lifecycles of sperm and ova.
~~~~ When To Test ~~~~ The ClearPlan instructions give you a table showing when you should perform the tests. Ovulation takes place 12 to 14 days before your period and the table shows when you should start testing. You simply work out the length of your cycle then see how many days after the start of your last period you should test. The tests should be taken at roughly the same time each day and you should not have passed urine for 4 hours preceding the test. This means the best time to test is first thing in the morning as you are unlikely to have been to the loo in the previous four hours.
~~~~ Testing ~~~~ To perform the test you should unwrap a test kit, remove the cap and hold the tip in your urine stream for 5 seconds. If you prefer you can collect your urine in a container and immerse the tip of the stick for 20 seconds. Once you have a nice wet tip you can replace the cap and hold the stick downwards. Results are ready to read in 3 minutes.
~~~~ Results ~~~~ The "window" on the test will show two blue lines, the one nearest the arrow is your surge line and the other one is a reference line. The reference line also lets you know you have tested correctly, if there is no reference line you have done it wrong. If the surge line is paler than the reference line you have not begun your LH surge and should continue testing daily. If the surge line is similar to or darker than the reference line you have detected your LH surge and should ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours. Therefore you should make love that day and the next as these will be your two most fertile days. If you haven't used all of your five tests then you have some left over for next month.
~~~~ Does it work? ~~~~ Well that question is really like "how long is a piece of string". The test is said to be 99% accurate in laboratory tests. It's not really possible to guage real accuracy as of course there could be many reasons why you fail to fall pregnant. I have heard stories from a number of women who did get pregnant following the use of a kit. One thing it does is help you become more aware of your cycles which is helpful.
~~~~ My Experience ~~~ Well I started testing on Friday when I got a dark blue reference line and no surge line at all. Saturday I had a pale surge line and Sunday a darker one, I made sure lovemaking followed that day. Monday I had no surge line again. Now the kit says that your surge line should be similar or darker than the reference line and on Sunday it was similar although not quite as dark. Monday afternoon (no surge Monday) I had a pain which could well have been an ovulation pain, it was certainly within 24 to 36 hours of me detecting my surge. I have one test left over which I will use (or hopefully not need to use!) next month, as I have a very regular cycle I'll use it on the third testing day which was when I detected my surge this month. I do feel more in tune with my body the pain which I know I have felt before I now think was possibly an ovulation pain, in other months I haven't made that association.
~~~~ The Bottom Line ~~~~ The test although expensive can help to put your mind at ease by pinpointing your ovulation date. This helps you to better understand your own cycle and could well aid you to becoming pregnant. I won't buy another one as I now think I know the information I need. I tell you what though, I wish I'd taken biology at school!
easy to use, extremely cheap, Very early accurate results
A right devil to open, which way the window should be on, Using the second one before I went back to the bin to retrieve the first one, what I would have done with the second one though,I haven't a clue (*)
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