Documenting Ovulation
Twenty-four to Forty hours before ovulation, the pituitary gland releases a surge of luteinizing hormone. Detecting this surge of hormone with a urine ovulation predictor kit allows proper timing for intercourse or intrauterine insemination.
There are many ovulation predictor kits available on the market today, including tests displaying colored lines, digital readouts and electronic fertility monitors.
We recommend Clear Blue brand’s digital ovulation test. It is affordable, easy to use and clearly displays results that are easy to interpret. We see lower levels of false positives and negatives on this test.
Some patients don’t get accurate results when using urine ovulation predictor kits due to hormone irregularities. For those patients, determining the time of ovulation can be done with ultrasound and blood testing.
Once there is a positive result on the ovulation predictor kit, we recommend intercourse or insemination in the following 24-40 hours.
Ovulation can be confirmed by testing progesterone blood levels. After ovulation, the Progesterone level starts to rise and should be peaking about a week after ovulation. If blood testing at that time reveals a Progesterone level greater than 5, ovulation is confirmed. If progesterone levels are lower than 5 at that time, progesterone supplementation can be added.
