do ovulation strips work?

Happy Small Business Saturday everyone! I'm enjoying being cozy and LOVING the rain here in Orange County, California!

As some of you know, Duke and I have been trying to get prego for six months now. I had it in my head that I would get pregnant quickly and have number two in no time. Not necessarily the case...(unmet expectations?)

FACT: It takes the average couple SIX MONTHS to get pregnant. Why did I think it would be so easy? Most likely because I knew I got pregnant with Kai very easily (AKA unplanned), so I assumed if we were actually TRYING to get pregnant it would just happen. WRONG. SO SO WRONG. I even had moments of worry and fear. I thought I needed to get Duke tested (my doctor even wrote him a prescription to go give his specimen) to see if something was wrong with him (his sperm). EXTREME MEASURES. (and no Duke didn't go to the clinic...I wasn't that cruel). haha! Oh my gosh... isn't it funny what some of us think and do when things aren't working out just how we had planned? Ridiculous and ridiculously funny! Duke felt I wasn't trusting God with His timing, and I thought I was merely being proactive. However, he was partly right and I realized I have to trust God with HIS timing for us to have a baby.

OVULATION PREDICTOR STIPS

BIRTH CONTROL
I went off birth control last March 2016 after only being on it for nine months. My doctor told me it would only take one month for the birth control to basically stop working and be out of my body completely. A couple months later I was told by my naturopath that it can sometimes take up to three months before your body's normal cycles start working again (with no birth control). But apparently, the hormones from the pill are gone within a couple days. Once I stopped, I had a very slight "withdrawal bleed" and then started my period a month later.

Three months ago I started using these little babies right here- the ovulation predictor strips. They help me to know when I'm ovulating so we can get this baby thing on a roll. : ) They come in a pack of 20 and include a little plastic pee cup. Sounds fun right? Well, not really but I think they have some accuracy. 

The strips test for your LH Surge. This is when the body produces a large amount of the luteinizing hormone (LH) right before ovulation. This LH surge will tell your two most fertile days that pregnancy is most likely to occur. Basically, I have been looking for two dark colored lines and then tell my hubby it's time to get it on. He thinks I'm not getting pregnant because I'm stressed about these dumb strips - he has a point. : )

Each month has been slightly different, so I've had a bit of a hard time reading when I'm ovulating. I'm now beginning to see a little consistency on average the third and 4th days after ending my period. 

I recommend buying a kit on Amazon (SEE HERE) if you are wanting to know when you ovulate! Woohoo!

Happy ovulating and baby making, mamas! 

Love, 

Cate
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