Two Lines!! (On an OPK, that is...)

This morning, I took my OPK at about 6:30 AM and I didn't see much right away in the first minute or so, but by the time I came out of the shower I was definitely seeing the early signs of an LH surge. I know what these surging OPKs look like by now, and in the proper context of really nice abundant eggwhite CF and an soft & open cervix (yeah, I'm not squeamish about checking this, especially after reading the Taking Charge of Your Fertility book), I knew that the egg is about to POP!

I checked again at 2PM, and this time the OPK was just a tiny shade off of positive. I know from past experience that it would be truly positive within another hour or two. I called the nurse and basically told her that the OPK was really close, and that it would definitely be positive if I checked it again... At this point she started sounding really confused, and that she might advise me to call back tomorrow, so I just said, "Actually, never mind. It IS positive." So we are on for IUI#1 tomorrow AM!! S will do his part at around 9AM. And I will come in at 11:30 or 11:45 AM. The nurse told me that one of the doctors is doing an FET (frozen embryo transfer) at 11AM, so I will be getting my IUI when they are finished with that. I need to be at breast cancer clinic (my work) by 1PM, but I'm going to lie down and wait at least 15 minutes afterwards no matter what. I don't want those nice washed spermies to dribble back out. If I'm a few minutes late for clinic, too bad! They can get by without me.

I'm a little bit paranoid, though, because my left ovary is no longer aching today. I wonder if it is possible to ovulate BEFORE the LH surge (ie overnight last night). I hope not, because I don't think the egg will be alive at 11:30 AM tomorrow. I'm trying to trust the idea that you don't ovulate until 12 to 36 hours AFTER the LH surge, but I don't understand why my ovary feels so normal now. WAH! Argh! Or... I can also stress about the opposite scenario. Maybe tomorrow at 11:30 AM is too early. Well, I'm trying not to worry and just realize that there is nothing I can do about it, and hopefully the reproductive endocrinology industry knows what it is doing.

Well, since I have at least one potential friend-in-real-life reader who has not dealt with OPKs (hi KT!), I will show a picture to demonstrate what the heck I am talking about. I know it seems a little crazy to be labelling and taking pictures of OPKs, but... well... trust me, this is normal typical behavior for people who read a lot of TTC stuff on the internet.

The idea is that the OPK is positive when the test line (on the left) is as dark or darker than the control line (on the right).

Note the beautiful progression from almost invisible just yesterday evening, to a definite blush this AM, to pretty dark this evening. On the last one (CD15, 6PM), you have to trust me when I say that when it was fresh, the test line was actually blaringly positive and uniformly darker than the control line. After these things dry, the dye tends to pool at the left most aspect of the test band.

BTW, for anyone who is still buying these things retail -- you must get internet OPKs!! I started with Clearblue Easy OPKs from Target back in March or so, and paid about $15 for 7 OPKs. Now I pay about $24 for 50! I am so much more comfortable testing several times per day when I know that each stick is 50 cents, not $2.00! And they work perfectly for me.

I'm sure I'll be updating again tomorrow night! (And, yes, I'm hoping to hope! Please let Scott have a good post-wash count, and please let me O at the right time... whatever that is!)