Friday, January 25, 2008

HPTs.

Big blogging day. 3 post in one day and it's only noon.

I'm a talker and blogging seems to calm me when I'm anxious. I guess there's no harm in blogging a lot, except for my readers. I find that when a blogger I read posts many blogs in one day, I end up getting behind and I sometimes end up missing some. I try not to - I make an effort to go back and read them all, but I'm sure I'm the exception.

If you fall behind in a blog you read, do you read back to catch up? Or do you just skip the old ones?

If most people just skip, I would feel that I need to write less, because although I'm not writing to any particular audience, I am writing to be "heard". And if I'm writing too much dribble, the things I think are important might be missed. So be honest - is my dribble getting in the way of you being able to read my blog? Am I simply typing ~too much~?

I find myself thinking about something and I want to "ask the world" about it to get their viewpoints. In this case, I'm thinking about HPTs. (see? this is nothing important to blog about. And if this post got in the way of something I did want people to read, like the "quick note about age differences in dating" post, I'll definitely try to curb my blogging.)

  • I abhor blue dye HPTs. They are the devil incarnated. Which actually doesn't make sense, since "incarnated" means embodied in human form. What I mean then is the opposite of incarnated. It's the devil in the form of a pee stick. Blue dye tends to give evaporative lines, dry or wet. Being an infertile, I've looked at many dried up pee sticks, looking for some type of a line. (When other infertiles tell me they actually throw away their sticks at the 3 minute mark and never look at them again - I think they are either lying or they are actually and alien) And while there are some pink dye brands that give dried "ghost" lines, these blue dye tests give these false ghost lines while wet! The +/- blue dye tests are the worst. I got a definite "+" once, only to have another stick give me a negative before and after the "+". Evil!!! To put this into perspective: I've gotten three false positives from blue dye tests and I've only had 2 boxes in my poas history! That's a lot of sticks. Believe me. Well into the hundreds. I'll test early, starting 9dpo - and I'll test everyday, many times twice a day, until AF shows her face. Even when I know that my 14dpo hpt is totally accurate, I'll still test. Oh - I've even been known to poas after AF arrives - somehow thinking that maybe AF isn't actually AF.
  • FRER are always my confirmation hpt. As stated above, I am a poas addict. To be able to afford my addiction, I buy in bulk. I get them for as cheap as 50 for $25. That's only 50 cents a piece! On my worst days, using two sticks, it only costs me $1. That, I can handle. See, when I want to poas, it's because I'm obsessing. Once I actually get that BFN, I'm cool for now. Of course, I'll want to poas the next day, but for now, I can stop thinking about it. Anywho - FRERs used to be super sensitive - picking up in the 10-15 hcg range. Now they pick up 25, but still, that's early. FRERs have never given me a false positive. FRERs have never given me "ghost" lines. I trust FRER. I know if I see ~something~, I'm seeing a bfp. I've used a good amount of these too - because when I see ~something~ on my internet cheapie, I'll pull out a FRER to confirm. If I could buy FRER for 50 cents each, this would be the only test I would ever buy.
  • Digital hpts suck. No lines to quint over. No dried tests to look at. Bah. Plus, digitals need more hcg than what you can see as a "faint bfp" on a regular stick. So I would end up with a BFN early on if another stick gave me a BFP. No POAS addicts would think this was cool.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

For me, I check your blog constantly to see new updates so I like your "dribble". I don't think it gets in the way though and I always go back to read old posts if I've missed something, on anyones blog.


I agree about the tests too. But of course for me, I have to add Dollar Store Tests suck...but I think they just hate ~me~ LOL.

Anonymous said...

i just wanted to say that i love the dribble too. my usual plan is scroll to one i've seen before and then read up.

Angela said...

*looks around smugly* I throw my stick away after three minutes!
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And 20 minutes later I dig it back out to check again. Which is why I always clean the bathroom trash can right before Aunt Flo comes due.

IdleMindOfBeth said...

thats why I love my google reader, I know exactly how many posts are "new to me"

about HPTs.... the first step to fighting addiction, is admitting you're an addict. well done! (grin)

I've been thru waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many pee sticks of varying variety (OPKs, HPTs, and CBE Monitors) to feel anything but angst about any of them. I've never, EVER seen a positive on either of the first 2, so on the occasion that I *need* to POAS, I just use Dollar Tree. If by some god-in-heaven created miracle I were to actually see a 2nd line on an HPT, I'd probably run out & buy every brand I could get my hands on, just to see how many pretty 2nd lines I could create.

Until then, it's Dollar Tree for me. And even that, maybe 1 every cycle on average (many cycles not at all, some cycles 2 or 3)

Monica Fayth said...

I just think it's kinda funny that you spent about 4 paragraphs asking if you blog too much ;)

I totally understand about the hpt's. There have been several cycles when I don't test b/c of my temp and then I start spotting. But then around cd4 or so, I think maybe it wasn't a normal AF and I'm feeling "different" somehow so I just gotta make sure.

jenn said...

Do not limit your writing! I actually get disappointed when I don't see massive posts to catch up on!

*says the pot ;o) - I really need to work on posting more lately!

charmedgirl said...

OMG i am so addicted to pee sticks. SO ADDICTED. when i read your post, i hated that i knew exactly what you were talking about. HA! and the first time i saw that digital test on tv i knew i'd never spend a penny on it.

and i don't think it's crazy to pee with your period. i used to pee on sticks when i was as huge as a whale with triplets, you know, just to see the lines come up. in 2005. and i still have them...

ok, that's enough.

B said...

Um, where do you get your FRER's that cheap?! Share the wealth! ;)

nancy said...

I buy internet cheapies in bulk. Not FRERs. My post was about how expensive FRERs were and that is why they were my confirmation ones. :)

Searching said...

I read to catch up, so I'll make my way through all of them. Write on!

I'm with Angela. I might toss it, but at some point I do dig it back out. Glad I'm not the only one. :)

Anonymous said...

only covered on my husband's insurance for ivf but covered on my insurance for everything else...at least that's how i understand it. and to answer your other question...i just read the most recent blog and don't get hung up on the blogs i miss- it's unnecessary stress.

Anonymous said...

You said: Plus, digitals need more hcg than what you can see as a "faint bfp" on a regular stick

My CBE Digi picked up a positive when my beta was a 7.

I find they are much more sensitive than the other brands.

GL!

nancy said...

Anon - yup. The company publishes "50 mIU/mL" as their sensitivity, but some women say it picks up levels under 10. So I'm only going to go on what the company publishes, not the rates some women end up getting. I don't think they ALL pick up "7". But thanks for pointing that out and correcting my statement.

It's weird - for all the tests that pick up less than 10 in studies, those are all the ones with problems of false positives.

q said...

Whether or not I go back to read missed posts depends on who the blog author is. If they have a smooth writing style, are an easy read, or are going through somehting I have been following then I will go back and read them all.

I never liked the + or - tests. I never used an internet cheapie. I kept my sticks for ages looking at them for any sign of anything.

Anonymous said...

As far as blogs go, I use the Google reader, so I read all posts. If I've gotten behind on someone's blog, I still read all the posts, but I don't always comment on them all. Of course, I don't always comment anyway.

As far as sticks are concerned...My name is Amanda. I'm a POAS-a-holic. I prefer dipping, though. Does that make me a dip-stick-a-holic. Snicker.

I don't mind the blue dye. But I've also not had an evap line. I did write my first positive HPT off as an evap, though.

I currently stock pile Dollar store cheapies. I love the fact that it is an exact process with them. There's no did-i-wet-it-enough did-i-wet-it-too-much thoughts. 4 drops and I'm done. But of course, when I get another positive...I will once again buy 3 or 4 different brands to confirm. I don't think I'll ever buy another digital, though. I prefer to see a line that could possibly darken or show up quicker.

I hope you have reason to go out and buy a ton of FRER this cycle!

Shinejil said...

For me, the whole POAS process makes me so insanely hopeful--by peeing, I'm allowing the possibility that this time is different. So I can't do it. At all. Am I an alien, too? Or merely an IF coward?:)

Pamela T. said...

I would like to be online fulltime but alas that's not an option for me. Since I monitor some 80 blogs each week, I'm limited by time so I don't get a chance to read every post but I do see the headlines and try to comment where I can.

As for HPTs -- they are evil little devices aimed at draining our discretionary incomes. I about fell off the stationary bike today reading my People magazine and seeing a full-page ad for a digital HPT. No small ad buy -- so clearly they're selling lots of the little monsters and trading on our inability to step away from the hope that one day they'll signal what we want to see...

Denise said...

I always try to go back and read the older posts that I've missed. I'm too anal to just pick up where the writer is today without getting the back story.

I think pee sticks are evil. I used them religiously through my non-treatment cycles and my UIU cycles, but after one evaporative line that had me worked up in a tizzy, I gave them up cold turkey. However, that's easy to do when you keep getting cancelled and timing makes it impossibly to try naturally. I haven't decided on what to do for this cycle if I make it to the 2ww. I'm sure I will give in and test a couple of times. I just can't help myself.

Jenera said...

I don't think one can post too much.

If I check in and see multiple posts and maybe I'm in a hurry, I'll quickly scan but come back later to read further.

I just keep reading until I get to one I've read before. though if one is particularly entertaining, I'll read it again.

Jenera

Kaci said...

I don't think you post too much. I'll check in, skim, but I haven't had time to comment so I didn' "catch up" until today.

Possible triggers ahead - I am a big fan of the dollar tree tests. I bought OPKs and HPTs there. I have been known to POAS (or more accurately, PIAC) after AF and well into 2nd tri, so I can understand the addiction. I have to disagree about the digital though - I found it very nice seeing the word "pregnant" pop up...of couse I only used it after lots of other positive tests.

I'm keeping things crossed for Thursday!!