Tonight's the Night!! (Clearplan Home Ovulation Test)

Member Name: Lucille

Product:	Clearplan Home Ovulation Test
Date:	24/04/01 (2268 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Let's you know when it's that all important time

Disadvantages: Very expensive, You must have a regular cycle for it to work.

At the end of 1997 we decided to start a family. I had never been very good at keeping tracking of my periods; I was always getting caught out when it started, so I didn?t have a clue when it would be the ?right time? of each month for me to get pregnant. I knew that there are two days each month when you are the most fertile, I just didn?t have a clue when it would be for me. So I brought a Clear Plan Home Ovulation Test.

The test works by looking for a surge in the amount of luteinising hormone in your urine. This hormone is always present, but 24-36 hours before an egg is released levels increase greatly. Therefore by knowing when the surge happens, you can know which are your two fertile days, and by having sex on those days you give yourself the best chance of becoming pregnant. This is especially important as the egg only stays in your body for about 24 hours. If you miss this time slot, all the sex in the world won?t make a baby.

The test itself is very easy to use. Firstly you need to use the chart supplied to find out when to start testing. The chart covers cycles from 21 to 40 days. It simple tells you how many days after the start of your last period you should start using the tests. You then get five sticks in each box. They look just like pregnancy tests, and are used in a very similar way. You must test around the same time each day, and as you should not have passed urine for four hours before testing, first thing in the morning was the best for me. You either hold the tip in the urine stream for 5 seconds, or you collect some in a clean container and put the tip into it for 20 seconds. You then put the cap on and wait 3 minutes. On each stick there is a little window where two lines appear. The furthest away from the arrow is the reference line, and the one closest to the arrow is the surge line. If the surge line is paler than the reference line you have not started the hormone surge, and will need to do the same thing the next day
. However if the surge line is the same or darker than the reference line your surge has began. You should ovulate within 36 hours, and therefore will be at your most fertile.

I used the test for 4 days before my surge began. My husband and I then acted accordingly for the next three days, (just to be sure!), and then we had to wait 2 weeks to find out if we had been successful. We were very very lucky because, after only one month I was pregnant. I went on to have my lovely daughter, who is now 2 ½ years old.

Then, this November I became pregnant again, without using a test. Sadly at the end of January I miscarried the baby at 10 weeks pregnant. We were advised to wait and have a normal monthly cycle and then we could try again. We have just finished our first month of trying, without any luck, and I have decided to use a test again, but for a different reason this time.

Although my periods have come back, I can?t be sure that I am ovulating. After all, that part of my body thought it could shut down until after August when the baby I lost would have been born. I don?t want to put myself through the agony of waiting for a period if I have not ovulated and so could not possibly be pregnant. Also, if I?m not ovulating I can go back to my doctor for advice. So I?ve brought another test, and in a week?s time I can start using. Even if I don?t become pregnant again next month, at least I will know that my body is ovulating, and I can just let nature take it?s course.

Although the test is very good, (and for us successful), they are very expensive, £19.99 in Boots today. I would have though that anyone with long-term fertility problems would find this too expensive if they had to keep buying one month after month. They are also not so good if your cycle is irregular. As I mentioned you only get five sticks to test with. If you start using the test even one day too early, you may miss the surge line. However, if your cycle is regular, t
his shouldn't be a problem. I would still recommend the test either to help you at the start of trying to conceive, or like me to check everything is back to normal after a miscarriage, or simply after a gap between pregnancies.

So let?s hope that in a month?s time I can either update this opinion or write another about Clear Plan?s other product the Clearblue pregnancy test with positive news.

*****************Update********************

Unfortunately I fell foul of the problem with irregular cycles. I felt sure I was on a 28 day cycle, and started testing 9 days after the start of my last period, which was the recommended time on the chart. However, after using the five sticks I had not ovulated. I was also charting my temperature, and according to that I ovulated 4 days after using the last test, so I must be on a 35 day cycle. As I said before the test are best when you are regular with your cycles.

I still hoping that I can update this again in a week or so time with good news!


************Update 2********************

I was able to use a clearblue pregnancy test this week, and was delighted to find it was positive! We are very happy.

Summary: